#in the future alex told me we can adopt a child or two. &i really really want to adopt children who were also victims of abuse. i can't take

[july-19th-club]

Recap for Roswell: New Mexico S2E10: “American Woman”: tsela vie 

4/5 ⭐s

In “American Woman” we meet two more characters who have been oft mentioned but never seen, though only one of them turns out to (so far) not be involved in one of the many conspiracies or secret-keeping situations that envelop anyone who has ever lived, or known someone who has lived, in Roswell, ever, at any time. One of these people is Diego, the fiance Liz ghosted after a project they were working on got de-funded and she abruptly realized she only liked him when they were working together, panic-fled to her dad’s house, and started the plot of the show. 

The second is the third Manes sibling, Gregory, who is as lean as his brothers are baby-faced and, from what we see of him, significantly better-adjusted than either of them. They have a cordially estranged relationship (when the gang arrives, Alex sets about awkwardly introducing his friends until Gregory reminds him that they all went to the same high school). While Alex and Flint stayed more in their dad’s orbit well into adulthood, Gregory has distanced himself in what seems like a pretty healthy way. He now lives on a Diné rez where the boys’ mother grew up, and to which the gang has road tripped to track down more alien family history.

It’s a relief to me that there are only two major plotlines in this episode - we’ve had a lot of ones recently where the action was scattered across six separate people doing six very different things, which both made the recaps really long and made the action feel crowded. Here, things are more self-contained, and aside from a few instances of weird dialogue, it’s a strong 4-star ep. 

The road trip plot, which begins with a lot of fun Isobel bits and a general sense of excitement - we’re on our way! to learn about ourselves and share a car for hours! - becomes sober as soon as the actual learning about themselves starts to happen. Gregory has been briefed on the parts of the alien backstory that can be reasonably told to him without revealing the alienness, so he shows the siblings around town - first to Louise’s gravesite, then to visit an old man who knew her personally. There’s a little gravestone indicating a child, but that’s only half the story - because the child survived, and was adopted. 

Some of the flowers at Louise’s gravesite are the hard-to-come-by blue ones whose pollen can be used to dampen alien abilities. Of course Michael secretes some (assuming, I imagine, that he won’t have to levitate anything until he can take them out of his pocket). Hmm...little star-shaped flowers...ground stars? Like it fucking says on Maria’s preserved-flower necklace? It takes the characters far longer than you’d think to put this bit together. I can now say my theory about the DeLuca family was 100% correct. Louise, who survived the shootout, was ferried by Tripp to safety and later had a baby girl, Patricia (who would be Roy’s daughter). Patricia grows up, has a baby girl Mimi, who of course grows up to have our very own Maria. With only one alien in her family tree, Maria doesn’t flag medically as extraterrestrial, but there’s enough of Louise in her for a little bit of power. Her great-grandmother couldn’t have known how alien abilities would manifest in a human child, or alter that child’s brain. And we still don’t know why Patty was listed as having been involved in a Caulfield experiment - it’s possible that was just a coverup in order to disguise an even more dangerous truth. 

So our road trippers head home, marinating on what they’ve learned today. While the pod squad think about the past, Alex is encouraged to think about the future. There is a particular kind of stagnating hope that you learn as an adult child of an unstable or abusive parent if you haven’t completely put that parent out of your life. They have less power over you than when you were a child, so you’re able to grant them the benefit of the doubt sometimes, and maybe even try to see them as someone who can be vaguely redeemed. This is the position Alex is in. It’s a shuffle anyone with a similar upbringing will recognize intimately: really, Dad’s been a lot better lately, I mean, he sucked, no doubt about it, but he’s better than he was. Gregory illustrates the other way of coping with the dissonance: If you want to forgive him, go for it, he says, I’ll hate him for you. Neither way is right or wrong - they’re both just responses, that can be healthy or unhealthy depending on the individual. When they manage to push past that Manes machismo for a second and have a fucking hug, it feels like they both really needed it. 

Relatedly, given that we’re visiting a place with strong personal meaning for Alex, I guess I went in expecting more; knowing Jesse he can’t have been the most respectful partner for an indigenous woman, which seems like one out of many good reasons to divorce the man. But what are the boys’ relationships to this side of their family? It looks like Gregory’s the only one for whom it is a part of his daily life, but how does Alex fit it in, if at all? Did it have an impact on the fact that he specialized in codebreaking and encryption in the military? Does he speak much Navajo? Does it occupy the same comfortable-but-not-comfortable mental space as his gayness, or is it more of a positive or a negative or is he simply estranged from it? What about his gung-ho brother Flint? I know I just said that one of this episode’s strengths was the decision not to spread the focus too thin, so I guess what I’m saying is, it’s something I hope gets explored in the future, because to give it more weight in this episode would’ve meant moving Liz’s plot to avoid overcrowding. 

And Liz’s plot is even more sober than the road trip: she’s at the hospital taking her dad to his bloodwork and visiting Jenna, and ICE starts raiding the building. Despite the blatant illegality of ‘detaining people waiting for medical procedures,’ they start hauling people in, including Arturo. From there it’s a cumulative twenty minutes of screentime and several agonizing hours of plot time, Liz alternately panicking and steamrolling in her attempts to be heard, and getting roundly dismissed by people who don’t care that her dad has been a mild-mannered restaurateur for the past thirty years, or that she’s literally got his green card application docs in her purse, or that he doesn’t have his meds. If all this sounds lesson-y or pointed, it’s not. Sometimes even a soapy show needs to spend time in real life, and real life’s terrors. The ICE scare in “American Woman” is the mild, optimistic version of how this stuff works, because Jenna is there and supportive and helpful and uses her whiteness to grease wheels, and the ex-fiance shows up and has strings he can pull, and Arturo’s able to get home that same day, and he doesn’t spend the rest of the show in a concrete cell with a foil blanket and fifty other sardined-in people, or dying of treatable illness in custody. It occurs to me at some point in these proceedings that Michelle, for all the dismissive and rude things she’s said about the Ortechos over the years, absolutely knew their immigration status and never once considered reporting them. 

Just as I appreciated the slower pace, it also pays off to have most of this episode’s content be as grounded and realistic as it is terrifying or saddening. We’re gearing up for the last leg of the season here, and we’ll be in for intense, fantastical plots then; it’s smart to get our commentary on adult adoptees and childhood abuse and human rights in a quiet place where the audience will be able to appreciate it, rather than squeezed in between power battles and government kidnapping schemes. 

And the consequences of today’s two main plots do not leave us ripe for easy resolution. With Diego back in her life, and feeling like she owes him, Liz’s easy relationship with Max seems all too likely to be complicated by the realities of having a past. The stresses of not having a past are wearing away at Max’s new leaf, and he’s angsty and snappish and says he feels completely alone, which there’s no right way for Liz to take. They make up, this time, though, and Max’s jealousy towards Diego reads so admirable that I wish Isobel and Michael were here to needle him into admitting the tiniest sliver of bisexuality. 

And down in the junkyard lab, Michael and Alex have one of their heated little argumentative discussions, because (as I’ve come to consider it) they are simply too fundamentally good at challenging one another. Sometimes this is healthy, and useful - sometimes they just frustrate each other. Today, it’s the latter. Alex’s occasionally savvy investigative juices are flowing, and he wants to see what his dad would do if presented with the alien artifact. Maybe he would lead them to more artifacts - maybe even some of Nora’s work - but as Gregory reminded us, he’s been erring badly on the side of not enough caution about Jesse lately. And no matter how Michael points this out, Alex just reads it as the usual pod squad skittishness, and keeps pushing. He pushes them right into an unwinnable argument at the very root of the distrust and fear and isolation they’ve been living in all their lives, pushes hard enough to get himself pushed right back out the door...and into the waiting arms of an unseen assailant. 

At this point, one thing, to me, became clear: Alex was never meant to ‘go talk to recruits;’ as came up several times in conversation earlier in the episode, to the point where it stopped being background dialogue and became part of the viewer’s pool of potentially relevant stuff. In this case, ‘relevant’ means ‘a fiction that he probably never even questioned’ — and one that gives his captors several days before anyone will think to worry. 

LITTLE STARS ON THE GROUND

Isobel styling her hair in the milkmaid-type braid we see Louise wear a lot in the flashbacks is really a lot, for me, personally, especially since I don’t know if you can clearly see her hairstyle in the one photo they have. The idea of her doing it on accident just busts me up somehow 

Forrest, still constantly squinting in what I think he thinks is a sexy way, asks Michael if Izzy is his girlfriend. “EW?!” “Gross.” “Is that how I present?” Another mark in his disfavor if you ask me 

Michael spends much of the early episode attempting to be the buffer zone between Maria and Isobel’s sniping, and then everything gets both deadly serious and much, much funnier when it becomes clear that Izzy is Maria’s....maternal great-aunt? Something like that, anyway. 

One thing thing that confused me: in the first-season episode “Songs About Texas,” the gang meets a fake faith healer whose mom has some stories about a nonverbal woman who lived on a reservation and whose abilities the faith healer has created a mockup of for her act. I assume now that she was talking about Louise, but I didn’t get the impression that the characters have at all made this connection. 

Harry mentions noticing how Tripp has changed as a person, and Tripp expresses a sentiment Alex echoes at the end of the first season: a gradual disgust with calling oneself a good person while continuing to obey directives without question. We’re slowly getting a picture of a man who spent much of his life echoing the party line while privately working entirely against it. Within the framework of his worldview, which was undoubtedly very different from his dissenting descendant, he still attempted to form his own understanding of right and wrong. 

Trying to suss out the road trip setup: looks like Max is driving (though it’s Izzy’s car), Alex is navigating (because, although he is the smallest of the guys, he’s the one who knows where they’re going so can’t sit in the back), and Michael is crammed in with the Isobel-versus-Maria show (an attempt to keep order, but being too gangly to sit in the middle, doomed to fail). Five-to-six-person trips in minivan or hatchback-sized cars is always a recipe for bitching, no matter how much you all like each other. 

If we wanna talk lines of the episode, they go to Jeanine Mason, as the greatest fear of Liz’s life, one which she says she’s built her life around, finally hits her. 

Michael’s very awkward way of expressing to Isobel that, if she ever did want to have a kid and human procreation wasn’t an option, he would, as a non-biologically-related member of her own species, happily donate toward that goal and how genuinely touched Izzy is. Neither of them are thinking about re-populating their dying alien race, just about the fact that they might want to be parents. It’s honestly quite sweet, if a bit weird. 

#the hardest part of these recaps is coming up with good puns for the subtitles and the little bottom bulletpoint things #but i think ive done myself well this time #roswell nm

[holylacydoll]

🖤

#like it really haunted me. i had intrusive thoughts worried about her for like a month and i could barely sleep #my friend told me to stop letting it bother me so much. bc even his sister who these things had happened to didn't act this way. #and idk i cant help it. i lost sleep when my like then 12 year old cousin was assaulted by another cousin who she was close with. #i just. it makes me so sick. but its so much worse when its someone you know personally suffering the way you did. and you cant do anything #i just want to keep all the nice people safe & then castrate & t*rture everyone who's hurt someone i cared for. everyone who's ever hurt #anyone in such an awful way. i really hate violence bc i was ab*sed and 99% of the time will always try to solve things in a clean way but #my blood just absolutely boils and i feel disgusting. i hate anyone who ruins innocence and purity and trust in such a way. they're just #monsters. how can you live with yourself? i hate them. they have no souls. i would personally t*rture them all but i wouldn't kill them. #bc i think they dont deserve death. death is escape. i would want them all to rot in prison for their remaining days & just be hurt. often. #its sick & sadistic of me to want this. but i dont care. i hate them. #in the future alex told me we can adopt a child or two. &i really really want to adopt children who were also victims of abuse. i can't take #the pain of their past away but i just want to help give them a better future. #ideally i wouldn't give birth at all & just adopt but alex wants us to have kids or whatever. #i hope im infertile ugh. but i agreed to it. even though i only want to adopt. so this is compromise for us. #i dont see the point in bringing more life into this cruel world when i could just take in those already victim to it's antics and #try my best to help them instead. but fcking compromise. #i cant help them all and i wish i was dead #why do i have to live in a world like this #i want to die i want to die i want to die i wajt to die #let me leave this fcking shitty world behind i HATE EVERYTHING WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE #i feel the screaming at the top of my lungs & throwing sh*t. i hate the human race with every fiber of my being and im ashamed to exist as #part of it. i wish that earth would get hit by a gamma ray burst and that we'd all die #well no. other animals are good. besides dolphins & other animals that r*pe & stuff. i really hate dolphins. they're considered very smart #but apparently with higher intelligence comes terrible morals? like i want all the sweet animals to live. ones who only kill to survive. #not for fcking sport. lately ive been having crises over my arachnophobia. im so terrified of spiders that i cannot move if one's where i #need to go. but like. spiders are pretty good animals if you think about it and most are harmless. but i still have my brother or cat kill #them for me. i really do this with any bugs. but its so cruel and unfair. to cut an innocent creature's life short bc it scares me. it's #very hypocritical. i get bullied and judged for how i look. yet when i see bugs all logic goes out the window & i do the same to them. #all i can think about is getting it away from me. i think most people view me the way i view spiders. i should sympathize with them and not #judge them for how they look on the outside. but im so scared

[rebelwrites]

Chapter Nine: Pancakes and Regrets

Summary // Chapter list / Masterlist

A/N as always I love to know your thoughts

Join The TagList Here 💜

The sunlight beaming through the gap in the curtains, brought Xavier peacefully out of his slumber, he let his eyes adjust to the light that flooded the room before looking down to a sleeping Brooke, her limbs had tangled themselves with his and he couldn’t help but smile. This wasn’t the first time they had woken up like this, but something felt different this time. Something in the air had changed. Maybe Xavier needed to go on the path of self destruction to realise what was truly important. He knew Brooke needed to heal in her own way and on her own time, and that it was going to take baby steps to get there. But in this moment all that mattered was that she had started to trust Xavier and felt safe around him and that was good enough for him at the moment.

“Morning” Brooke whispered, not wanting to break the little bubble of comfort that they had created.

“Hey sleepy,” Xavier smiled, kissing the top of her head.

“Thank you for last night Xav,” Brooke whispered.

“Anytime my bumble bee,” Xavier said, squeezing her tight.

“Question” Brooke laughed “why bumble bee?”

“I did wonder when you were going to ask about that” Xavier smiled as he played with the ends of her hair. “Well everyone has always called you Bee, ever since the day you were born. But I wanted to be different, I didn’t want to call you what everyone else was, so when you were brought home from the hospital you were dressed in his black and yellow baby grow thingy that my mom and dad got you. And I dunno it just reminded me of a bee and the name just stuck. I may have always told people off if they called you bumble bee”

“That is cute,” Brooke smiled looking up at Xavier. “I don’t want to but I best get up and get a shower”

“Meet me downstairs when you are done, it’s pancake day” Xavier smirked

“I know” Brooke giggled before leaving his room leaving Xavier laying in the middle of the bed, with a grin on his face.

He was happy and didn’t care who knew it. As he rolled out of bed he heard a knock on his door before it slowly opened revealing his dad. Who took in the butterfly stitches on his son’s forehead and the dark shadow of the bruise that was forming around his right eye and sighed.

“We need to speak about last night, son” He said leaning against the door frame.

“I will be down in five, meet you in the kitchen yeah” Xavier nodded, gone was his cheery mood.

He knew this was coming, he knew his actions would cause repercussions with the family. He was hoping they gave him a bit more time than first thing in the morning to discuss it. Running his hands through his messy blonde hair, he used his fingers to pull out some of the knots before grabbing a hair band and pulled the golden locks into a messy bun. Grabbing whatever clothes he could find before he headed downstairs to face whatever his consequences from the night before were.

As he walked into the kitchen he saw everyone sitting around the table, with just one look on their faces he knew he was going to get a grilling about the previous night.

“Look before you start going off at me, at least let me have a coffee and a smoke first” He mumbled as he poured himself a black coffee before heading out onto the deck.

As soon as he finished his cigarette, he made his way to the table.

“Son you acted like a child last night” His father sighed looking at his only son with disappointment “going to the club to get beat up on purpose, leaving us all extremely worried as the last time this happened. Well you know”

“I realise that now” Xavier sighed, not looking his father in the eyes.

“Xav we understand okay” Craig said putting his hand on Xavier’s forearm “This isn’t an easy situation to be in for any of us”

“I am truly sorry” Xavier said looking up with tears in his eyes, this was his family so he didn’t feel ashamed of looking weak to them. “I know my actions last night were definitely not of a future president of the club, sorry to have let you down”

“Son, you know we are here for you” Alex said softly “And next time you need to release some anger come find your old man yeah”

“Thanks pops” Xavier smiled as he stood up, he knew everyone in this room had his back, and if he needed to fall back on them for support he could. As he knew full well a person can only take so much before they crumble into pieces. “Now who is hungry”

“Thought you would never start breakfast” His mum winked “I’m starved”

“Bro I just want to ask, how do you do it?” James asked Xavier as the two of them started breakfast.

“Do what?” Xavier questioned looking puzzled.

“Brooke has only been home for a week now, yet she trusts you the most” James said, with some sadness in his voice. He was once close with his sister and wanted nothing more to have that back but she spent more time with Xavier than anyone else.

“Honestly I don’t know” Xavier nodded, he didn’t need to say it, everyone knew he was developing feelings for Brooke.

“I think it is the same as when they were kids” Lily smiled “Always inseparable and always pulling bloody pranks” Xavier laughed at the memories of some of the pranks they pulled.

Brooke felt lighter this morning and she couldn’t work out why, but she hadn’t felt this good in a while so she didn’t question it as she walked into the kitchen.

“Morning” She smiled as she headed straight for the coffee machine, pouring herself a large mug of the caffeinated goodness.

“So sweetheart, we have a surprise for you” Craig smiled pulling his daughter into a hug. “I know you mentioned about seeing your friends and the family that raised you and it got me thinking. I really want to meet the people that have looked after my baby the last couple of years”

“Okay” Brooke nodded.

“So I may have got in contact with them yesterday and booked flights for them to come and see you” He smiled. “I believe your adopted parents, brother, Lexi and Nate are coming”

“Really?!” Brooke grinned, “Thank you dad, I can’t wait for you to meet them”

Brooke hid it well, yes she was excited to see everyone again, but there was one person who she was worried about. Nathaniel Baker. Seen as they had a bit of thing going on when she was back in London. But now that she was here there was definitely something going on between her and Xavier and she didn’t know how either of them would act considering they were both alpha males. It could only end in disaster.

“They will be here tomorrow,” Craig smirked.

“I can’t believe it” Brooke gasped hugging her father tight “Thank you so much”

As it was Sunday, there was no club business to deal with so everyone was still gathered around the kitchen table, the plates from breakfast piled in the middle and the coffee was flowing. Brooke sat next to Xavier with her head on his shoulder just taking everything in. This was what she had longed for most of her life. Yes she had a family back in London but they never did things like this, so the fact that Sundays were a family day made Brooke excited.

“So Bee” Alex grinned resting his head on his fists knowing their sunday ride would be complete now “What do you say we go for a ride today, we normally go for a family ride to the lake every sunday”

None of them had seen a grin so wide.

“That sounds amazing,” Brooke beamed as her green eyes shone brighter with excitement. Since she got here she hadn’t got to ride her bike as much as she had liked so this was perfect.

“There is one condition, my little Bumble Bee” Xavier smirked.

“What”

“I get to ride your bike,” He winked.

“Deal” Brooke giggled “But you put so much as a scratch on her I will come for you in your sleep”

“Don’t worry I will be gentle with her” Xavier laughed placing his arm around Brooke’s shoulder, kissing the top of her head as everyone started their own conversations or clearing the breakfast pots.

What he didn’t expect was her next move.

Brooked looked at Xavier, gently placing her fingertips on the dark hue that was forming around his eye, causing him to wince slightly.

“Promise you won’t let yourself get beat up because of the past anymore” She whispered looking into his blue eyes.

“Promise” He whispered letting his eyes close, taking in her gentle touch.

#rebel writes original #can love save a life?

[fan4196]

Hey everyone!

After reading all those amazing Jolex fanfictions last week, I got inspired and stared writing myself and here is the result.

I hope you enjoy this fix fic for the horrible ending Jolex got.

Also a big thank you to @angry-slytherin for beta reading! 💜

-

Twenty years

Jo is standing in the kitchen, preparing dinner after a long day of work. She's exhausted, tired, all she wants to do is sleep. But there are hungry mouths she has to feed. Two to be exact, but those two eat like four.

They have always been like that. Jo can remember long nights when she had to feed two hungry mouths all by herself. And of course they were always hungry at the same time. Maybe because they are twins.

Jip, twins.

A really easy decision that Jo made almost 20 years ago.

Crazy how time flies by.

But to be honest Jo is quite happy that it passed by so quickly.

And she is happy that she has her twins.

Back then, 20 years ago she wasn't really sure if she made the right decision.

Back then she reacted quite irrational.

20 years ago she was left heartbroken.

Alone.

By the man that had always promised to never leave her.

And then he left.

To be with another woman and their kids.

He left. Left her alone in a way to big, way to empty, way to quiet loft.

Sure she had Levi living with her for some months but when he moved out, she made a decision.

She didn't want to be alone anymore.

She wasn't quite ready for a new man on her side.

And to be honest she didn't need a man.

There has never been a man in her life that she could trust fully.

She thought she could trust Alex but in the end she saw who was left in her corner.

Only herself.

So she made a decision for herself.

And got herself what she never had.

A family.

Yes.

After way to many calls and way to many appointments in offices that she knew way to good from her childhood, she adopted her little boy.

The little boy she held in her arms back than as the safe haven volenteer.

And through all that process of adopting him, it came out that he had a twin sister, which was submitted by their mother at another fire station.

So in the end Jo adopted both twins.

And she didn't regret it one minute.

It was the best thing she had done. For herself and for them.

She gave those two the home she never had as a child.

And those two gave Jo stability and joy that she had really needed in that time.

Without them, she was sure, she would have fallen into that dark hole of depression again.

"Mom?"

Totally lost in her own world the loud screaming voice of her son gets Jo back to reality.

"In the kitchen."

With that her son walks through the kitchen door and sits down on the island, opposite from his cooking mother.

"Could my friend maybe come to dinner? She's in town with her dad to visit some family and I kind of invited her already because she really doesn't want to go there. Please?"

That's something he learned really quickly. Puppy dog eyes. Something his mother couldn't say no to.

And he hoped it would work this time too.

"Yeah why not." Jo shrugs her shoulders and smiles at her son.

You can't tell her but he really loves how easy going and cool his mom is. She always has been like that.

She didn't have it easy as a single mom but she really did her best.

He had never felt not 100% loved by his mom, even though he and his sister weren't her biological kids.

She really gave them the best life. Even after a long and hard work day she always found her time for them. Back when they were little she had always played with them after work. Or years later sat with them until late in the night to learn for an important test. Or like now cooks for them after a twenty-four hour shift in the hospital.

"Thank you." He is about to leave the kitchen, when he hears his mothers voice again.

"Parker Joseph, where do you think you're going?"

With a sign he turns around in the hall and plops town at the kitchen island again.

"And now you tell me something about that friend. What's her name? How do you know her?"

He hates that smirk on his mother's face. Sure she was easy going but she also always wants to know everything.

He signs while looking at his mom.

"Well her name is Ally and she's not from here. She's from the East and visits family here in Seattle. With her dad like I already said. I know her from college. She's in my anatomy class and we are lab partners. And- I like her, ok?"

He's looking directly into his mother's eyes to clear his point.

"Ok."

She's smiling back at him with a toothless smile, still stirring in the pot in front of her.

"Sounds like she's pretty cool. I'm excited to meet her. What time did you tell her to come?"

Parker takes a quick look to the clock on the oven.

"Ah- I told her 8 but I don't know, her dad is dropping her off on his way to his friend's house."

Jo also checks the clock which shows 7:31.

"Alright than you could make yourself helpful and set the table."

As told Parker stands up from the bar stool and grabs plates, knives and forkes out of the clean dishwasher and starts to set the table.

"Ahm- There's one more thing. Could you maybe change before she's coming?"

He's not looking at his mom while asking that.

"What? What's wrong with my clothes?"

Jo's looking down on herself and couldn't really find anything wrong with her outfit.

She was wearing sweatpants and an old oversized t-shirt.

"Well nothing. I think you look cool. You know I like your style mom, but Ally said that her dad wants to meet you before he is leaving her here, so..."

Parker is now sitting on one of the chairs on the dining table and waits for his mother's reaction.

"Aww you want your mother to look appropriate when she's meeting her future daughter in law's dad."

With another smirk on her lips she's teasing her son.

"I never said that I like her that way, mom."

"Yeah, sure."

With a wink she stops stirring the spaghetti sauce and walks over to where her son is sitting.

"I'm gonna go change now, alright? Could you have an eye on the spaghetti, so it doesn't burn?"

With that his mother walks out of the kitchen and through the hall up the stairs to change.

She puts on a pair of jeans and tucks the old t-shirt she was still wearing in. On her way back down she makes a quick stop at Emery's already open door.

"Emy, dinner is ready."

"I'll be there in a second. I'm gonna change real quick for our special guest."

With a laugh Jo's leaving her daughters room and walks down the stairs, when she hears talking from the front door.

She turns around the corner of the hallway that leads to the front door, when she stops dead in track.

Two big eyes stare back at her.

Everything around her is imediatally silent.

And she's just staring. 

Very slowly she's coming out of her numbness, to find her voice again.

"Alex."

#jolex fanfic #jolex #jo wilson #alex karev #fanfic #fanfiction #grey's anatomy #fan4196

[lambourngb]

1 Hi! I saw the Michael wants a family w/ Alex thread & saw you're maybe planning a fic. First off I am such a fan and feel free to delete this if it in anyway offends bec i I swear it's never my intent. It's your fic and you can 1000% write w/ever you want. I can't figure out how to reply to the thread but I saw someone putting in a request not to shade M for not wanting kids. So I thought maybe it'd be okay to reach out too w/ a concern (i hope I'm not overstepping, if so ignore me please).

2 I get that the idea of including her in the 1st place was from a comment who wanted a fun petty moment (no judgement) but it grew to addressing Michael's passiveness. I just wanted to put it out there that I hope incl. her doesn't come off as if she's the 1st option for this. Given the OG text post, it'd be great if Alex is the 1st person Michael thinks of when thinking about a child. The idea of it being a last resort or that he went to someone else 1st just makes me so anxious and sad.

3 I feel like Alex deserves better & that Michael chooses him because he wants to not bec he has no options so I hope it isn't written like that. The show forcing things is tiring me out and it's making me anxious about things I'm usually pretty chill about. I don't even know if you will write it and I don't mean any harm. I hope you're not mad and I didn't offend & this isn't coming off as whiny or demanding, I was just rly hoping to reach out to voice a concern. Thanks for reading.

Hi Nonnie- first of all, thank you. I’m glad you enjoy my writing! That’s always nice to hear. And second of all, I’m not offended and I completely understand your anxiety about Alex being a second choice here with Michael. I’ve always believed that Maria has been Michael’s second choice in canon. He’s convinced himself that things are too hard with Alex and it’s best to give up. I hate that for Michael because it says a lot of things about his non-existent self esteem and his abandonment issues. Anyway, my “Michael wants a family” story is just a nebulous idea at the moment and is obviously something I won’t dive into until I finish off Last Year’s Wishes. I basically smack my brain with a rolled up newspaper and say “No! focus on the thing you started before you start another!”.

When I am ready to dive in- here’s what I’m thinking and hopefully this helps gauge your future interest in this story- like Last Year’s Wishes, I like to write from one limited point of view. I have only tried briefly to write from Michael’s POV, but I feel like this story has to be told from his and that’s intimidating as hell, haha, especially because I feel a deep connection to Alex.

What we know from canon regarding kids and a family is- Michael wants a family. Other than Isobel leaving the door open for herself in the future, he’s the only one who has definitively said he wants kids. I don’t know how Maria or Alex feels about kids, Maria I think I can guess on (more on that below), but Alex, other than saying that Roswell felt like home for the first time because of Michael (triggering Maria’s iconic line “Home can be a person”) hasn’t said much in the way of marriage and family. The fact he bought or rented a house in Roswell, instead of the cabin - maybe that signals he wants to set down roots? Maybe he just hated the commute from the cabin?

Maria is a little easier for me to make a guess over, and I could be wrong, but she’s been working extremely hard to support herself and her mother for many years. Did she dream about being a singer? Did she ever want to leave Roswell? We don’t know, but she is savvy with money and is constantly looking for opportunities to better her position in life financially. And that financial security is still shakey with her 24/7 hustle. Nursing home care in the US is so costly it could be considered a crime, and with Mimi not being old enough to qualify for social security or medicare, that cost is on Maria’s shoulders. From a young age- Maria’s entire focus on the future was based around the knowledge that she was going to have to take care of her mother. I don’t know if that leaves energy for the idea of taking care of a child. Maria also knew she too would face this neurological disorder at some point and become a burden herself. Now does the bracelet stop her decline? How long does the pollen’s keep things in check? And if she does keep her mind healthy and intact, what sort of thing would she be passing on to a more-than-50 percent alien child?

Again I could be projecting my own feelings here, but I just get the vibe that Maria has a lot of caretaker burnout still and is reaching for things that make her feel good in the moment but is in no hurry to take on another big future responsibility outside of making enough money to survive.

And what does that mean for Michael’s relationship with her? If he wants to have a long-term relationship with Maria, he would have to let go of the idea of kids. Here’s the thing, that Michael himself said, he’s good at giving up. He gave up college, he gave up on hope/people, he gave up on the idea he could have a happy ending with Alex- everywhere you look in canon, you see him holding up empty hands when it comes to things he wants and basically saying “I tried for a bit, it was hard, so I’m done trying” (and personally I think he tried for 10 years with Alex, the longest and most stubborn grab for happiness).

Other people get him to keep pushing past that impulse to give up - Liz when it came to curing Isobel, Liz again when it came to saving Max, and Alex- when it came to looking for some hope in a dark story (Nora and Tripp). So I want Michael to be the one who pushes himself past that impulse. I want him to come face to face with his oldest, most wanted desire (A family) and draw a line in the sand, and so no, “I want this, I want this for me” and not back away when it causes conflict with someone else.

But here’s the thing, Michael’s so used to “going where you want me” that I think even in the face of Maria saying “you know, kids aren’t in the future here” he would still try to make it work. I have long joked that I ship everyone on RNM with a therapist (except for Kyle, who is perfect) but I really want Michael to seek out help. I think he would go, but for entirely the wrong purpose- in my story, he would go see a therapist and say to them, “I can fix a busted transmission, but I can’t fix this. Can you help me with this? She doesn’t want a family but I do. How can I change myself”

And oh boy is that a pandora’s box for a therapist. Digging into the meat of you don’t think people will stay so you push them away- Alex, then when they do express they want you, you don’t believe it will last so why bother trying again. In the process of Michael trying to fix himself so he can preserve his relationship with Maria, he discovers though guidance - that he can’t be a good partner if he’s not good to himself, and letting someone else’s desires supersede his own isn’t healthy. Then finding the balance after you figure out you can say no- because compromise is also important.

Somewhere in this mess is Sanders, who after hearing that Michael’s ready to ditch the idea of being someone’s dad, shakes him by the shirt collar. Explaining to Michael that just maybe he should have tried harder all those years ago to be someone who could adopt him, that shame never leaves him. Trying twice was good but not good enough, who’s to say the third time wouldn’t have been successful? But somewhere along the line Sanders decided it was easier to be the old gin-soaked junkyard dog than be someone who was willing to do the work of sobriety. Does Michael want to follow in his footsteps? Leave some kid in a place they don’t belong if he has the ability and desire to provide a home? And Michael decides he is done telling himself it won’t work out, that he wants this with an impulse stronger than his self-defeatist instincts.

And that is the death knell on his relationship with Maria- incompatible.

Then, because I’m a Malex shipper through and through, there’s Alex. He’s shown up for Michael all through season 2. And in my eyes, they’ve worked on their friendship (drown in those 2x04 feels) and Michael calls him for advice, lays out what’s going on with him and Alex supports him on that path to being happy. Alex gently probing him about how long he’s had this dream of being a parent, hearing how it predated senior year, but after senior year Michael inserted Alex into the dream. Michael sharing even after everything, he still thinks of Alex of being there, maybe an uncle? And Alex, overwhelmed by how serious Michael was and maybe still is? Takes it slow, this can’t be a rebound, just urges him to take the small steps, like mentoring with Big Brothers/Big Sisters or through the YMCA.

Those logical steps get escalated when Michael discovers a hitchhiker stowed away in flatbed of his tow trunk after a stop at a rest area. He sees himself in this angry, but desperate kid. He doesn’t want to give the kid up and so he calls on Alex yet again, to do a background check to make sure the story is true and then pleads for him to help. Make Michael foster-parent worthy in the eyes of the law. I don’t know if this skirts the fear you have that Alex is the last resort? In my mind, his two oldest desires are having a kid AND having Alex, and once he works out he can have the first, he realizes that all is not lost with Alex as well.

Anyway my very long thoughts on this story I AM NOT WRITING RIGHT NOW: a take on ‘fake engagement because of CPS’ where Alex installs Michael into his house all so they could give a home to this stray kid. 

#anon ask #writing thoughts #wip #malex fic prompt #Anonymous #my thoughts on this predate that post i commented on #basically i spend a lot of time thinking up ways for M*luca to break up #i need a break up that leaves me not hating anyone #and if Maria just decides she's just not into Michael while Michael is all in? Yikes #dude is not good at trying again after defeat #michael guerin deserves good things #therapy is needed stat for this disaster #tags added after my commute to work

[rather-impertinent]

To Build A Home

A/N: This is a little something I wrote based on the promo for this week’s episode. This is my first Grey’s fic so I hope it isn’t too terrible! If anyone has any requests please let me know 🥰

“Jo, stop pacing,” Alex said gently.

Jo continued to pace on the wooden floor, seemingly having not heard him, anxiously chewing on the sleeve of her thick cardigan.

“Jo...”

“I can’t stop pacing!” she hissed. Jo quickly regretted her tone and sighed, coming over to sit beside Alex on their couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “What if she doesn’t remember us, Alex?” she asked in a small, quiet voice after a few moments had gone by.

“Well, she’s not gonna remember us,” Alex pointed out matter-of-factly. When Jo looked at him with a round mouth and sad eyes, Alex chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, rubbing it in comfort. “Jo, you’re a surgeon, you know babies don’t usually recognise faces until they’re about 2 months old. Last time we saw Evelyn she was 3 days old and some really bad people left her at a fire station. In a couple weeks she’ll be a year old, and we get to celebrate that with her. We’re actually pretty lucky, you know, adoption can take years, so 11 months is not too bad.”

“‘Not too bad’?!” Jo repeated incredulously, looking at her husband. “Waiting has been hell!”

“Yeah, but in the grand scheme of things we’re pretty lucky.” Jo was right, though: the waiting had been hell. Their cell phones were on loud speaker at night not in case of having to respond to any incoming traumas, but in case they received a phone call from the adoption agency. It was hard to believe the waiting would be over by the end of the day. “So, did we decide if we’re gonna go with Eve, Evie, Eva, Ellie or Ella?” Alex asked, trying to lighten the mood. He fidgeted impatiently with the soft ears of the rabbit plushie he’d bought for Evelyn seven months ago, during the first of two false-starts.

Alex’s jest elicited a laugh from Jo, though they were indeed still undecided as to what shorthand they’d use for Evelyn. “No, we didn’t,” she said, still chuckling, “we’ll get a better feel of that when we hold her.” Jo glanced around the fully baby-proofed living room and noted the unopened toy box with a sense of trepidation. How the hell was she going to be a good mom? She’d never even had a decent version of one in her entire life. Maybe that was a start: knowing how not to treat a child.

“You’re gonna be such a good mom,” Alex told Jo, as though reading her mind. He gently nuzzled his nose against her cheek in hopes of easing the anxiety that was radiating off her.

Just then, the doorbell rang and echoed loudly throughout their new home. Both Jo and Alex felt as though they’d had a bucket of ice water thrown over them as they involuntarily leapt to their feet.

They turned to each other and Jo’s let out a shaky, nervous breath. “How’s my hair?” she fretted, combing her fingers through her loose curls. She wanted to look friendly and motherly but calm and professional at the same time.

“You look perfect,” Alex assured her. “How’s my shirt?” He fidgeted with the already closed buttons.

Jo ran her hand over the pale blue button-up and gently straightened the collar. “Looks great; wrinkle-free.”

“Okay,” Alex said, exhaling in relief. “Let’s do this.” He held out his hand to Jo, who accepted it gladly. He’d always be her anchor in a storm.

On the surface, Alex looked the definition of cool, calm and collected, but Jo could tell by the damp warmth of his palm and the way he gripped her hand that he was just as apprehensive as she was.

“Hey,” Jo said gently as they came face-to-face with the front door - with their future. Alex’s brows knitted together as he looked at her. “I love you.”

A small smile tugged on the corners of Alex’s lips. “Love you,” he murmured back before leaning in to kiss her gently, already feeling more relaxed. He reached for the doorknob. “You ready?”

Jo inhaled and exhaled. “Ready,” she affirmed as Alex peeled open the front door.

“I come bearing gifts,” Allison McLean, the social worker responsible for Evelyn’s welfare, greeted excitedly in a sing-song as she bounced the baby in her arms.

Over the last few months, Jo and Alex had gotten to know Allison really well, and it was nice that she had always rooted for them.

Despite the vote of confidence, the process of adoption had been a long and stressful one, mainly because of stupid mistakes in their pasts and Jo’s name change complicating matters slightly, but all their worry melted away as soon as their baby smiled at them.

She leaned forward and away from Allison towards Jo - as though she recognised her.

Stretching out her arms and taking her gently, Jo felt a strange but powerful wave of love wash over her as Evelyn’s eyes stared straight into her own. “Hi Evie,” Jo whispered as she bounced the infant before taking her chubby little hand and kissing it. “I’m your mom.” Jo found herself grinning as she announced it out loud for the first time. “You’re safe with us now, sweetie. I promise, I - we - will never let anyone hurt you, okay?” A single tear trickled down Jo’s cheek: she would have given anything to hear those words from a parent figure. But it heartened her to be in the position where she could speak those words to someone else; it had come full circle, and the pain could stop here.

Alex drew swirling circles on Jo’s back to comfort her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He kissed her temple for reassurance. “Mm okay, my turn,” he announced after a moment, holding out his hands in eager anticipation.

Jo shot him a doe-eyed, Bambi pout. “But I’m not done yet,” she clucked, smooshing Evie’s smooth cheek against her own.

The sight before him took Alex’s breath away and he lost his train of thought. “Shut up,” he eventually said, significantly gentler than he’d intended. “Don’t hog her, she likely won’t even talk to me from the age of eleven through to twenty, so it’s only fair I get some time in now before she hates me,” Alex argued logically, not knowing that the child looking at him with big, round blue eyes would never hate him even when she tried.

With a small sigh, Jo conceded his point and carefully handed off Evie, warmth pooling in her stomach as she watched how natural Alex was with babies. “Hey princess,” he greeted softly, gently waving her hand so she could get used to . “I’m your dad,” Alex informed her, narrowly avoiding bursting with the pride of it. Evie babbled something nonsensical in response. “Yeah, I know, it sucks but I promise we’re better than a cardboard box at a fire station,” he joked, to which even the adoption agent had to smother a smile.

“Much better,” Jo emphasised, kissing her rosy cheek. She then began to stroke it as Alex continued to hold their baby. “I promise I’ll learn how to cook just so that we can all eat at the table like a proper family, like the ones you see in lifetime movies.” Jo’s tone was almost dream-like.

Alex chuckled. “Lifetime movies suck, Evie, but not as much as your mom’s cooking.” Jo lightly nudged him in protest. “On thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll go to your aunt Meredith’s and she’ll have someone there who’ll know how to cook a turkey. Or we’ll go visit my mom, your grandma, or she can come here, we haven’t really figured it all out yet. But anyway, get excited, because we eat a lot of pizza here. With vegetables, of course,” Alex added as an afterthought for Allison’s sake.

Jo chuckled and fondly rolled her eyes at her husband.

All of the adults were relieved and pleased to see how placated Evie was in her new surroundings, which would be her forever home.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Jo’s eyebrow raised competitively as she thought of an idea. She grabbed Evie’s free hand to gain her attention and wagered to her husband, “Hey, I bet you ten bucks I can make her smile more than you can.”

Alex scoffed, “Pfft, are you kidding? I’m a peds surgeon, I make kids smile for a living. Mom’s pay me ten grand to make their kids smile.”

“Great, then you’ll definitely be able to hand over that ten dollar bill when you lose,” Jo gloated, already making faces at Evie, who looked between her new parents questioningly, as if unsure whether they were really fighting or not.

“Oh, it’s on, Karev. Better fluff up the sofa cushions for when I kick your ass at this,” Alex bragged, his self-assurance at an all-time high. This was his game, and the touchdown was in sight.

Simultaneously, they launched into the Olympics of pulling stupid faces, each unwilling to be outdone by the other, the aching facial muscles were no deterrent.

Unfortunately for them, Evie seemed much more interested in the stuffed bunny that was waiting patiently for her on the couch than her crazy parents’ attempts to make her laugh and smile.

“Oh, you wanna meet bunny?” Jo cooed at her, having followed her curious gaze to the couch. “Your dad picked her out just for you.”

“Why don’t I give you a moment to show Evie around the house and then we’ll have one last look over the papers?” Allison offered as she examined that Evelyn was more than safe in the arms of the two strangers who were already smitten by her very existence. “I think I’ll grab myself a coffee from that place round the corner. Can I get you two anything?”

Jo and Alex continued battling to see who would get offered a wider smile from baby Evelyn and almost didn’t hear Allison’s question. “Oh, no, thank you,” Alex said warmly as he was yanked out of what felt like a daydream. Jo continued to pull silly faces at Evie, who gurgled in contentment at all the loving attention she was receiving. A look passed between Jo and Alex. “We have everything we need right here.”

#jolex #jolex fanfiction #alex karev #jo karev #grey’s anatomy

[princessselene126]

TLC Second Generation (Wincin)

Alright folks, Winter and Jacin have eight children. Yes, you heard me right. Six of them are adopted and two are biological. Initially they didn’t plan to have any kids at all. With how Winter’s mother died they were concerned about the same thing happening to her, and they also didn’t think that they’d want to adopt because they were content alone. Yeah… that changed pretty fast. 

Unlike the others, these kids are in the order of when they came into Winter and Jacin’s life, not when they were born.

Codex “Dex” Clay was born on 15 March 129TE, adopted 133TE

He has Indian features. Dark brown eyes and jet black wavy hair. He’s skinny and lanky. He stops growing at 5’10”

About 4 years old when they find him. They don’t know his actual birthday so they have it set as the day he was adopted.

Asexual™ 

Winter found him in an alley next to a bioelectricity security block factory that she and Jacin were checking up on outside of Mumbai. 

She was cautious when she approached him, asking his name and where his parents were. When he said he didn’t have any parents, Winter offered for him to stay with them until they could find him a family. She didn’t plan on keeping him in the beginning because she wasn’t sure she was fit to be a parent.

When Jacin sees the malnourished child for the first time his first thought is “we need to get some nutrients in that boy stat.”

After taking care of him for a few weeks, Dex already starts to look fuller and happier than when Winter found him. They bring up starting to find him a family, but he starts to cry. He thinks Winter and Jacin are his family. He wants to stay with them.

Winter and Jaicin are hesitant, but they can’t say no to this little boy they’ve already grown attached to. “Look at him, Jacin. He needs us.”

So that’s that.

He was very shy at first, but warmed up to Winter immediately. Jacin took a little more time, but he got there after a few weeks. He continues to be shy whenever he first meets someone for the rest of his life, but after a few conversations, he gains a lot of confidence and talks to people like they’re his best friend.

He’s smart, very strategic. He’s great at chess and other strategic games. There’s this one video game that he’s gotten so good at he’s now one of the top 10 players in the world.

He’s kind just like Winter. He remembers the time he spent alone on the streets as a small child and doesn’t want anyone to ever feel that way. So when he gets older he starts charities and organizations to help out homeless kids.

He’s also pretty responsible because he’s the eldest in his family and of all the rampion kids

Andromeda “Star” Caemron Clay was born on 10 April 135TE, adopted 10 April 135TE

She’s named after the galaxy/constellation and her biological mother.

She has Asian features. Medium brown hair and black eyes. Her skin is on the lighter side, kind of like Uncle Kai’s. She’s generously curvy and 5’4”

Uses glamour to make her eyes pale blue, add a beauty mark to her cheek, and constantly change her hairstyle and color

Bi Babe™ 

Can manipulate bioelectricity pretty well

One of Winter’s servants (Caemron) fell pregnant after a… non-consensual night. Caemron didn’t want to keep the child but she also didn’t want to abort it. Winter found her crying in a closet about it one night. She consoled the Caemron and said not to do anything yet, that she’d help her figure it out. 

That night Winter goes to her husband and says “We’re adopting a baby.” Jacin blinks a few times, asks if it’s really a good idea to do that now that they were finally getting Dex settled. But once he hears about what happened to Caemron, he can’t help but agree. They could take care of a second child, no big deal.

And since Caemron knew her baby would be in good hands, she agreed, thanking Winter over and over again.

When Andromeda was little Jacin and Winter called her their star and the nickname stuck, so everyone calls her Star instead of Andromeda

Because she was adopted at birth, she’s never known a different life. Of course she knows that she’s adopted, she doesn’t look a smidge like either of her parents. She knows that Caemron is her mother and they spend time together.

Caemron was the one to teach Star how to sew and embroider. She’s really good at it and enjoys making things for her family. Those drapes? Star made them? The dress her mother wore for the peace ball in New Beijing? Star made that too.

She’s an excellent violin player as well.

Many would think that because she enjoys traditionally feminine hobbies, she would act more feminine too… yeah no.

Star is incredibly outgoing and loud. If her favorite sports team loses, the entire house will know about it. Whenever they visit the Benoit-Kesley farm, she’s the first one to jump in a mud puddle or into a hay pile. Of course she’ll mend some of Scarlet’s clothes while she’s there, but not during the day when the sun is bright and the air is crisp.

Summer Solstice Clay was born on 5 June 136TE

Her middle name was decided right away, and Jacin suggested that her first name be Summer because she’s due in summer and it matches her mother and grandmother’s names.

Summer gets her mother’s curly black hair, high cheekbones, full red lips, long lashes and darker complexion. She gets her father’s piercing blue-gray eyes, and more muscular stature. She’s a little curvy, but not like her mother. Basically looks like an Amazon warrior. She’s 5’8”

Lovely Lesbian™ 

Technically has the ability to manipulate bioelectricity, but she’s more like Jacin and can’t do it very well.

Summer was not planned… at all. Winter and Jacin were busy taking care of one month old Star when they found out Winter was two months pregnant. There was definitely some panicking over how in the stars they would take care of 7 month old and newborn at the same time. When they eventually calmed down, they were happy, though concerned about Winter’s health. Winter was perfectly fine though, maybe even better than Scarlet was during her pregnancies. 

Anyway Summer is the apple of her father’s eye (snow white pun intended)--a daddy's little girl since the moment she was born, and that has yet to change. 

When she was little Jacin would curl up in bed with her and read her stories about princesses that saved the day, no princes required. She took those stories to heart, declaring that she would never need a prince herself--boys were gross.

Even though Jacin is now a doctor, he maintains his guard required physique for a long time and teaches Summer how to fight and shoot a gun. They consider training sessions their bonding time. “There’s no better stress relief than kicking someone’s ass” according to them

She enjoys spending time with Star outside getting dirty. They cause Scarlet many headaches whenever they visit the farm because they track mud everywhere. 

She’s more mischievous than her sister though… so mischievous that Jacin jokes (in that dry voice of his) she should live with the Thornes because she’d fit in better. Summer just gives him a pretty smile and then convinces him to get her a puppy for saying such a mean thing.

Oh yeah, she loves animals like her mother. They still live in the palace and so she visits the menagerie often. She and her mother make sure all the animals have enough room to roam and wander around without being cramped like they used to.

Alexandra “Alex” Evret Clay was born on 31 July 139TE

Dead name is Alexander which meant “defender of the people.” Before she transitioned, Alex made it feminine but kept her middle name because she liked honoring the grandfather she never knew.

Her skin is perfectly between her mother and father’s, so a medium brown. She has straight black hair. Eyes are dark brown, and she too inherits high cheekbones and long lashes from Winter. After transitioning, she develops slight curves. She’s 6’0”

Trans(mtf) Demisexual™

Starts going by she/her when 12-13

Can manipulate bioelectricity extremely well just like Star. Before she transitioned, she would use her bioelectricity to appear female.

After having Summer, Winter and Jacin decided to have another child since Winter handled pregnancy well. Winter easily got pregnant again and they agreed that Alex would be their last child. They were kind of right… Alex was their last biological child.

Alex always knew she was a girl. She loved wearing dresses and trying on makeup, and she never felt masculine. She felt awkward in her body--like something wasn’t right. There was a voice inside her head that kept asking “but what if I was a girl?”

She told her parents when she was 12-13 and they understood. They’re fully supportive, having known that their child was trans for a while already. The only thing they ask of Alex is that she wait until she’s done growing to transition because otherwise the procedure could negatively affect her. She agreed and they started calling her by she/her pronouns. 

The nice thing about the future is that gender change surgery is perfect now. She has fully functional female reproductive organs and she doesn’t have to take estrogen her entire life because they implant something that produces it naturally.

She’s elegant. The way she walks and carries herself is so much like Winter Alex loves getting dressed up and going to balls and galas and feels at home in luxury. 

She’s kind like her mother. This girl has a heart of gold. She would give up the luxuries she adores so much in a heartbeat to help someone.

She’s smart. She wants to be a doctor like her father one day, specifically one that does surgery for gender transitions. Because she’s gone through it herself, she thinks she’ll be able to relate to her patients better than doctors who haven’t gone through it themselves. 

The only real flaw Alex has is that she’s not very reliable when it comes to her family. When she does eventually become a doctor, her patients are her first priority. If something feels wrong to them, then she’ll make house calls

Tadita Clay was born on 14 December 131TE, adopted 8 August 141TE

Her name is Omaha and means “runner.”

Native American features, dark brown eyes, straight black hair, and a round face. Her skin is tanned. She’s skinny and has a boyish figure. She’s 5’5”

Uses glamour to make herself appear a bit curvier when she’s older, but doesn’t make any significant physical changes.

Straight

Can manipulate bioelectricity, not perfectly but not poorly either

Tadita’s father dragged her into the hospital one day after she’d broken her arm “falling out of a tree.” Considering her eye was starting to bruise and she had trouble breathing, Jacin didn’t buy that story for a second. He asked the father to head back to the waiting room, claiming it was standard procedure.

Once the man was gone he asked about what really happened. Tadita was hesitant of course. She’d seen other doctors who didn’t believe her when she told them what her father did to her home. But she knew that this doctor was married to Princess Winter… and if he was married to her than surely he would believe what Tadita said.

So when the ten year old girl started crying about how her dad hit hit her if she didn’t do what she was told, Jacin pulled her into his arms and promised her it would be okay.

Jacin comes home with Tadita that night and Winter smiles at the little girl, welcoming her to their family.

It takes many years for Tadita to work through her childhood with therapists.

Because of her background, she’s incredibly shy and timid. She has trouble looking people in the eyes when talking to them.

She has pretty bad anxiety. Unexpected loud noises scare her and make her want to hide. She obsesses over being on time for things. A wrong sentence she said years ago haunts her when she tries to sleep at night. She knows there’s nothing she can do to change it, but she still worries.

She has the patience of a saint. Which is good because she went from having no siblings to having four in the span of five minutes. She’s always willing to play with her little sisters when they ask her.

She’s an excellent writer. Part of her therapy was to write a journal entry every day about whatever she wanted. It started as therapy but transitioned into a hobby and eventually a passion. She’s always writing about her day or about some random idea she got while helping Caemron with laundry.

Now the last three kids were all adopted at the same time. 

Cleopatra was the daughter of a Lunar ambassador who got lost on a trip to New Beijing when she was nine. Her family went back without her much to Kai and Cinder’s frustration. Kai and Cinder sent people all over the city to find the girl, but she never showed up, eventually she was presumed dead and people stopped looking for her.

Cleo uses her glamour to trick people because she’s now a poor street kid

When Toni was five, his father ODed (and his mother died years before), leaving him in foster care. He didn’t stay there for very long though. He ran away from the mean lady he lived with the first chance he got. 

Three years of living alone and only taking care of herself later, Cleo finds Antonio dirty and crying in an abandoned building. 

Without a second thought, Cleo basically went "well I guess this is my child now, I'm taking care of him and will bite the hand of anyone who goes near the precious baby. 

They were on their own for two years before Niko came into the picture, a very touchy ten year old who got caught trying to steal food. 

A policeman was trying to ship Niko off to a home, or possibly to a juvenile detention center, before Cleo came in, worked her magic and pretended to be Niko's mom. 

Niko tried to leave after that, like “thanks for the favor, peace out” but Cleo wasn't having that shit

The three of them were their own little street family after that, often plotting little schemes to get food, or cash from rich people's pockets.

It's Cress who notices Cleo one day when she and Winter are walking around New Beijing. There's this clearly rich guy, and he's doing his absolute best charming a girl who looks so young in comparison to him that Cress shivers. Cleo moved in close to the guy, her arms wrapping around to steal the expensive portwatch on his wrist.

Winter asks her what's wrong, and Cress points it out 

Since she has the bio block, Winter immediately understands what’s going on. She and Cress follow Cleo and are about to confront the teenager about but they stop in their tracks when they see the girl greet two young boys and say “Tonight we eat like kings.”

Winter is gonna make sure these kids eat like kings every damn night. She walks over to them. Cleo is a street kid and not an idiot so she gets defensive, pushing Toni and Niko behind her.

When Winter says “let’s get to the palace and get you kids some real food and clothes,” Cleo is hesitant. She looks at Toni and Niko and realizes that the best thing for all of them would be to go along with it, so they do.

It was the best decision she ever made.

Cleo is 16, Niko is 11, and Toni is 8 when the enter the family

Cleopatra “Cleo” Clay was born on 1 January 130TE, adopted 29 Feb 146TE

Her parents named her after Cleopatra VII because lunars are obsessed with great leaders.

Middle eastern features, full lips, green eyes, olive skin. Looks kinda like a faminine version of Wolf actually. Her hair is dark brown and often worn in a braid or braids. Figure is pretty average, not fat or thin. She’s 5’8”

Pansexual Homoromantic™

Can manipulate bioelectricity extremely well, probably the best in the family.

Since she grew up as a motherly figure to Niko and Toni, she’s a natural leader. She may have come into the rampion family much later than the others, but she immediately fills a parental roll with Dex, Lovell, and Tadita. Those four are in charge when their parents are away.

She’s a really good listener when it comes to people younger than her. Older people (aka authority figures) not so much. Cleo is always willing to lend an ear to her siblings or any of the rampion kids. A lot of people wouldn’t think this about her because of her street time, but they’d be surprised. She helps them work through feelings about crushes or friends or parents.

She’s a very good judge of character. Living on the streets for six years will teach you when someone is or is not genuine in actions/motivations. This is the main reason she agreed to go with Winter in the first place.

when someone first meets her, she can come across like she's a bitch, but she's just trying to gauge the type of person they are. Jacin does the same thing, so he respects her and they get along really well

Feels the need to help Winter and Jacin out a lot because they took her in. She does dishes and cleans up toys and that type of stuff, even though they have maids to do it. Don’t get Jacin and Winter wrong, they’re glad she helps out, but they wish Cleo didn’t feel like she had to pay them back for being decent people.

Niko Clay was born on 1 February 135TE, adopted 29 February 146TE

His name is a form of Nicholas and means "victory of the people”

Pale skin, hair so blond it’s almost white, and deep set, stormy blue eyes. He has a lanky build and is thin, a swimmer’s body. Tall 6’2”

Asexual™

Trouble maker, but not in a bad way. He pulls pranks on his family often. Dye in the shower, filling an entire room with balloons, putting sugar in salt shakers, etc, etc.

Daring. This boy has absolutely NO fear whatsoever. He’ll jump off the barn into hay piles with Jolee. He’ll swim as deep as he can into Artemisia Lake. He just does anything and everything he can to “live life to the fullest.”

Too smart for his own good. It’s more street smarts and common sense smart than book smart though. He does poorly in school, but if you need him to help fix something or help you around the city, he’s your guy.

He has some selfish tendencies. Used to only looking out for himself, so it's a bit hard for him to transition out of that. He gets a bit better about it though, he slowly starts looking out for others in his family, not just Cleo and Toni.

Athletic, loves to swim and is really good at it. I’m not sure if the world still hosts the Olympics, but if they did, he’d be the michael phelps of the third era. He’s also really good at fencing. It’s not useful for anything really, but it’s really fun for him to do.

Also likes video games. He and Dex have tournaments together. Dex usually wins since he’s nationally ranked, but Niko puts up a pretty good fight.

Antonio “Toni” Clay was born on 4 April 138TE, adopted 29 February 146TE

His name means “priceless”

Latin features, tanned skin and medium brown hair. He has dark brown eyes and a baby face. He has a heavier build, but is strong. 5’7”

Straight

Toni has some depression problems that don’t set in until after puberty. He doesn’t understand what’s going on for a while, doesn’t know why he suddenly feels so sad or empty. There are times when he gets overwhelmingly tired or anxious for seemingly no reason at all. Thankfully Jacin notices what’s going on and gets Toni the help he needs.

Minor PTSD issues similar to Tadita’s. He was in the room when his father ODed and though he couldn’t understand exactly what was going on because he was so young, he does remember it as a traumatic experience

He wants to make people happy, so they don’t feel the same way he does inside.

Very funny. Uses humor to cover up his sadness. Sarcastic, dry, raunchy, and (on rare occasions) self-deprecating. He’s just always cracking jokes.

He managed to get into theater at a young age. One of the first things they did as a family after Cleo, Niko, and Toni were adopted was go to a performance in Artemisia. He was absolutely entranced, the entire time and after the show declared “I want to do that.” It’s a great way for him to express himself. 

Got very into archery before he realized he was depressed. He likes drawing the bow and then letting go. It feels like he’s firing away all the demons in his head.

Second Generation Masterlist

#tlc second generation #next generation tlc #tlc next generation #wincin #princess winter #jacin clay #winter #jacin #winter and jacin #jacinter #mine #my headcanons #my post #headcanons

[crazycoke-addict]

The white privilege of Bryce Walker

13 reasons why is a Netflix drama series in which their one goal is to have people from the outside world discuss about the issues that are happening in the world yet we are afraid to talk about like teen suicide, bullying and rape culture. However 13 reasons why tends to lack this and believes that teens committed suicide because they had a bad day and we should be nice, but even though someone can be nice to another person, that person will probably die the next day because they were struggles like battling mental illness. It also glorifies the serious topic and someone on YouTube pointed out that the reason why we’re so interested in these characters because the pain and the struggle they are going through: Jess (PTSD), Tyler (ptsd), Justin (drug abuse), Monty (family abuse) etc. but if they weren’t dealing with those problems than it would just be a normal high school drama show. However there is one thing that I do believe they get right and that is the white privilege of Bryce Walker.

Since people aren’t big fans of this show meaning that when Bryce Walker got three months of probation, there would have to some sort of outrage involving Bryce’s sentencing. Yet since their goal is to have people discuss about the issues happening in the show, then Bryce Walker’s sentencing is a real issue in today society and even in the past. Let me describe you who Bryce Walker is: he’s a rich, white student whom plays Football and Baseball. Guys like Bryce Walker always get away with everything they do and even if they do get caught their sentencing is complete bullshit. From the outside one of the people I can think of who is similar to Bryce is Brock Turner. Brock Turner was caught raping an unconscious woman and instead of getting 14 years in prison like he was supposed to be, he got 6 months and was in jail for 3. Brock Turner comes from white privileged whom was Stanford swimmer and you bet that the media would make sure you don’t get forget that. In one scene, Mrs Baker mentions reading a newspaper discussing about how Bryce is making a comeback due to him playing against Liberty High on homecoming. The reason why Bryce got 3 months of probation is because the judge didn’t want to damage more of Bryce’s life. Judges tend to let the rapist go off easy because like Bryce, they are probably a rich white men who probably has a scholarship for sports. The judge whom was part of the brock turner case says that the reason why he gave Turner a lighter sentence is because he’s a really good athlete and longer sentence “might have a severe impact on him”. Judges are twice as likely to reduce a sentence when the attack knew the victim. It’s also shows in the court of law, Rapist’s life is more important than the victim he caused trauma to.

I’m not sure if you could say that race is involved but if it does it plays on both side. The first one being is who the victim was. Jessica Davis was raped by Bryce Walker after months of being convinced to speak out, Jess finally decides to but even her story and her even speech coiled sway the judge to send Bryce to prison. The reason why race comes into this is because Jess is mixed race, she’s half black and half white but her skin is bit more darker. 1 in 5 black Women have been raped in their life and 11.2% high school girls like Jess have reported rape. It gets worse, Black Women are less likely to believe and it’s because adults tend to view them as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers. Under the Jim Crow laws, black Women were facing systemic sexual violence and between 1940 to 1965, only 10 white men were convicted of raping black Women and girls in Mississippi despite the fact that it happened regularly. So when Jess was telling her story and even told her speech, he didn’t see her as a teenager who went through something traumatising, he saw a black woman who should’ve known better because she looks more responsible and also adult like. In the show, Judge also says that they should focus on the choices they make in the future, he was implying that even though Bryce was the one who raped Jess, it still somehow her fault. The other part, the double standards between races. Like I keep saying Bryce Walker is a white privileged rich boy whom got off with slap in a wrist, however another character whom just as worst as Bryce, !montgomery de la Cruz who is a latino that comes from an unprivileged abusive home is sentence to prison for his actions. What Monty did Tyler was completely horrifying and he did deserve to go to prison, but it shows the double standards between the two characters. Both characters are completely worse due the pain they inflict on others, yet Monty is the one who gets sent to prison while Bryce is allowed to walk freely. This happens in real life a lot even when the person who gets put to prison, their actions are probably not that extreme compare to the other person.

Season 3 tried to give Bryce Walker a redemption of some sort and not many people were happy about this. But if you look at Bryce’s arc during the season before his death and you compare it to other people like him, you notice there have always this belief that rapist deserve a second chance and people give it to him. Louis C.K was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, he disappeared but came back like he never even left in the first place. Woody Allen is accused of child molestation by his adopted daughter, Dylan and he’s allowed to directed movies whenever he wants. Chris Brown has a history of violence yet he’s allowed to make music. Bryan Singer has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple men and this has been going on for 20 years yet he was allowed to direct movies and tv series. Bryce was still allowed to attend school and if he lived, he could’ve return to liberty high. He was allowed to still play football. If Bryce even graduated I’m pretty sure a college would let him in. Bryce Walker didn’t have a redemption in anyway and I think it’s more can he really change? And we got our answers minute before his death when he said he wanted to ruin zach’s life. A few people in the show believe he could change and was on the right track like the judge, his mother, Ani and Mr Porter. But people like Jess, Alex, Zach and even Clay have a hard time believing that someone like him could really change. The reason why he couldn’t change was because he was more focus on the world not letting him than focus on himself proving the world that he can. He also needed to accept that Mrs Baker And Jess aren’t going to forgive him and nothing is going be back the way it was.

#13 reasons why #white privelege #bryce walker #montgomery de la cruz #jessica davis #injustice #brock turner

[shadowsong26fic]

The Family of Spies AU

AKA ‘Shadowsong should not have unsupervised access to multiple fandoms at once: Exhibit A.’

I kid. Mostly.

Anyway, it’s that time again--time for an AU Outline! It feels like forever since I’ve done one of these. …and by ‘forever’ I mean the last one was the SPN/Person of Interest crossover back in January.

This one is, uh, also a fairly niche crossover. It’s inspired and helped along by @tigerkat, who introduced me to one of the two fandoms and whose Star Wars OCs I’m borrowing to make it work. (Also, one or two bits in here are more or less lifted from our IM conversations on the subject

Basically, the short version is, I’ve been watching Nikita, and TigerKat and I have put together this whole extended family for Kallus and Zeb and one thing led to another, wires got crossed in my brain, and here we are.

Welcome to my Star Wars/Nikita fusion.

So, first, some relevant background:

In everything TigerKat and I developed, Alex and Zeb end up collecting/adopting four kids. (TigerKat, feel free to correct me on any details that are Off in any way!)

First kid they adopt is Mirah, shortly after the events of ANH.

Mirah is Human, and around three or four at this point; her parents were part of an extremely pacifist sect, of the kind where even defending yourself against someone trying to kill you is Not Okay. The sect was wiped out (probably not by the Empire, last I heard?) and Mirah was the only survivor; she watched her parents died right in front of her. Alex ended up there on an unrelated mission, and brought the little girl back to base.

Turns out, she’d gotten Attached and would not sleep without him close by.

(I mean. He’d gotten Attached as well but there is a Conversation to be had here, and he and Zeb haven’t actually had it yet, so…yeah.)

So, that’s how they get Kid #1.

Mirah later grows up to be essentially a mob boss/puts together a semi-legal syndicate. She doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in the law.

Second kid is Orryn, something like a year or two later, I think?

Orryn is a Donogh (species name subject to change; they’re basically like human-sized rabbit hobbits), and four or five years older than Mirah. His father and older brother were killed when he was born, and his mother eventually found her way to the Rebels after that. Donoghs tend to have very large families, so the fact that he’s an only child is a little Weird.

His mom is a friend of theirs, and when she dies, Alex and Zeb take Orryn in as well.

He is very Soft, both physically and metaphorically (like I said, rabbit hobbits), and like the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet.

(Mirah learns very quickly to weaponize her brother’s Sad Eyes. She’s very good at getting what she wants.)

The other three kids all end up taking Zeb’s last name; Orryn keeps his original one (his people are matriarchal and matrilineal).

He grows up to be a mechanic, and has a more typical family for his species with nine kids.

Third is Shamie, who’s roughly halfway between Mirah and Orryn; they get adopted a month or so before ESB.

I’ve written about them here; but the most important bits--

They’re Human, agender, and a former street thief/pickpocket. They help Zeb out when a mission goes sideways after his local contact fails to show up, and Zeb decides to keep them, because he really can’t leave them there for a long list of reasons. They’d been on their own for close to a year at that point, and were roughly eight or nine.

(The conversation where Zeb checks in with Alex about this is very entertaining, because he texts to confirm that a third kid is okay in the middle of a firefight. Alex is less than thrilled.)

Shamie and Mirah are basically platonic soulmates. There’s just a sort of click when the two of them meet.

They grow up to be a priest of a sun/fire deity.

Fourth is Hanula, better known as Hanny.

She’s a Lasat baby who they adopt a few months after Endor, after Zeb mentions to the elders on Lira San that he and Alex have been considering a fourth kid, maybe starting with an infant this time, and maybe someone of his own species this time…

Some time not too long after that, Hanula is placed in his arms and he’s told ‘good luck.’

She’s stabby, as in she likes to Stab Things as a baby (usually with, like, a fork), which later gets translated into cooking--she ends up as a Chef.

While she does turn up, of course, she’s not super relevant for this crossover, but she’s Delightful so I thought I’d share anyway XD

(There’s also Alex’s sister and her sons, plus, uh, the various grandchildren, but they’re also not super relevant to the crossover. I can share details about them if anyone’s curious, though.)

As a note, I’ve only seen like half a season of Nikita at this point; so while we’re starting from the same basic premise, I don’t really expect this to converge with actual future plot points like at all. So.

Also, as a result of that, this outline will probably also take on a certain resemblance to Alias and/or other similar Spy Dramas.

Anyway. So. Let’s get this show on the road.

Kallus takes on Nikita’s role in this--Death Faked For You; trained to be a super spysassin by a Shady Black Ops Group from his late teens/early twenties. Much like Nikita in her canon, he meets someone while on an extended cover assignment and falls in love.

Division is less than thrilled with this, and so arrange orders Zeb’s death.

(Obviously, this doesn’t take, because I am Not About That. But Kallus genuinely believes Zeb is dead, which is what pushes him to break free, much like Nikita’s reaction to Daniel’s murder.)

(Zeb also thinks Kallus is dead; he, of course, got picked up by the Ghost crew, but more about him later.)

Mirah will take on Alex’s role (which is why I started referring to Kallus that way, even though in my head and in this outline up to this point he’s mostly Alex XD).

Probably a blend of the two backgrounds--her parents/the sect she grew up in were taken out by Division; probably with the cover story that they were a Dangerous Cult, but the exact reason was more likely Profit or something. Since they mostly weren’t? At least not in the ‘need to be dismantled’ sort of way.

Kallus, like Nikita, was on hand and made sure that the little girl survived, but wouldn’t/couldn’t follow up since he was still a mostly-loyal Division agent at that point. He tracks her down after he breaks free, and they start working together.

She eventually talks him into the idea of her infiltrating Division, as that will better suit their plans to dismantle the organization.

(…really, most of this early part is not super different from Nikita and Alex. Mostly summarizing for anyone reading this who’s unfamiliar with the show.)

Shamie is an older/prior recruit; they’ve been here a few months. Their marksmanship is pretty much bottom of the barrel, so far as the current crop of recruits go, and their hacking skills could use some work, but they’re one of the best at hand-to-hand/other close-quarters combat, and they’re probably top third with explosives and other detail work. And they’re generally a pretty phlegmatic person. Not many of the other recruits keep cool under pressure as well as they do.

They’re probably fairly close to being evaluated and promoted to full Agent status when Mirah is brought in.

The two of them, as in their normal lives/timeline, immediately click. Mirah reports back to Kallus, confirming her infiltration was successful, and also mentioning Shamie.

“Remember what I told you about making friends,” Kallus warns her. “Losing them will be hard. And you can’t know how loyal this person is to Division. Be very careful.”

Mirah internally rolls her eyes, because she’s not dumb, she knows that.

A few more quick parallels, for the Higher Ups at Division:

Arindha Pryce stands in for Percy.

She just has the right blend of Genuine Competence buried under Not As Good As She Thinks She Is to match up with him.

Founding member and leader of Division.

Thrawn stands in for Amanda.

Like, okay. The two of them, for a variety of reasons, have vastly different management styles.

But in terms of his actual skillset and the role Amanda plays, at least on paper? Which is to say, supervising training/constructing covers/monitoring recruits and agents and their mental states?

(Plus, the whole…resident torturer/interrogator/etc. thing…)

Yeah, he could pull that off.

Pellaeon stands in for Michael.

Because I love him.

Also the Vastly Different Dynamic between the Head of Division, the Whatever Amanda’s Actual Job Title Is, and the 2iC/Head Field Operative with these three as opposed to Percy, Amanda, and Michael entertains me.

(Pellaeon is more loyal to Thrawn than Pryce, but only if it came down to an Actual Contest between the two of them would that ever be relevant. He’s extremely competent, but occasionally a little too involved with the recruits, in a fairly paternal sense. Especially since he’s probably a good twenty years older than Michael. But I digress.)

So, Mirah is successfully inserted. That goes pretty much the same as in Nikita canon, completely with Kallus making a splashy return to Division’s radars.

(Probably not at Zeb’s grave, though; if Zeb even has an actual grave.)

She starts interacting with other recruits, including Shamie. The two of them click pretty quickly, all things considered, but given the circumstances…yeah, they keep a certain level of distance, at least for now.

…well, at least on the surface, anyway. Mirah is even more determined to burn Division to the ground if they breathe harm in Shamie’s direction.

(For their part, Shamie may or may not start to notice a few anomalies, but they keep that knowledge to themself for now.)

For a few months, it’s pretty much the pattern the early S1 episodes have--Mirah will get details on an official Division op, pass them along to Kallus, he’ll be on hand to foil it. She gets activated briefly once or twice, but is mostly just working as a regular recruit for her cover.

Plus, you know, evading Thrawn’s suspicions; all that good stuff.

Pellaeon does take a liking to her--she reminds him of Kallus, who was one of the better recruits, and he keeps an eye out for her, much like Michael does for Alex in canon.

Shamie gets activated for their final evaluation/first kill mission about two or three months after Mirah gets recruited. They succeed, but some of the aftermath/followup confirms their previous suspicions about Mirah, and they’re left sort of struggling with what to do about it.

On the one hand, they’re a fairly loyal Division agent at this point, and what Mirah’s doing is probably going to get a lot of their fellow agents, maybe even some recruits, killed. And they know that probably some of what’s been reported as Kallus’s activities is exaggerated, or at least spun to make him look Evil and Division look better, but they know there’s a grain of truth to it.

On the other...they spent a few years, as a child, working for a thief-runner/gang. This was…not a good situation. Gotta keep the baby thieves in line. And they’ve seen other recruits get canceled before. As much as they don’t necessarily want to go against their superiors in Division (again, gotta keep the baby thieves in line; they know what the consequences of that would be), they also know that that loyalty does not go both ways. They are expendable. All of the recruits and agents are.

And they like Mirah. And if they don’t look out for each other…well, who will?

Besides. It’s not like they have any actual proof. Bringing this to Pellaeon, who likes Mirah, or Thrawn, who likes no one--let alone Pryce--seems like it’ll backfire.

So, they stay quiet about what they’ve guessed, and wait, and watch, and work.

Things change when Orryn is recruited.

Mirah and Shamie both take one look at this sweet, gentle boy and have the same thought--he won’t last. He’ll be cancelled within a month. Maybe sooner.

Pryce questions the choice of bringing him in, too; it was Thrawn’s idea. No, he’ll never make field agent, but the boy’s good with mechanics, and computers. If he can survive the training process, they can put him to use there.

Sort of considering him for Birkhoff’s role.

Shamie, even as a full agent, doesn’t have the access or the tools they need to spring Orryn, as much as they want to.

But Mirah--Mirah has Kallus, and a way to contact him.

“This isn’t about my friend. This is about a sweet kid, too sweet for Division, who will be killed or broken if we don’t do something,” she says. “And isn’t that part of what we’re doing here? Trying to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else?”

Kallus is torn. Because, on the one hand, she’s absolutely right--it’s why he was reluctant to send her in undercover (oh, yes, the thought had occurred to him) until she suggested it.

But on the other hand, getting a recruit out of Division without compromising Mirah’s emergency exfiltration strategy is going to be Hard. And as much as he wants to help this kid, he also wants to help/protect the one he has already.

He tells Mirah, eventually, that he can’t promise anything, but he’ll start working on a plan.

Mirah…

Remember what I said earlier, about Mirah tending to get what she wants?

Mirah gets to work on her end. The way she sees it, if she figures out a way to get Orryn outside somehow, whether it’s getting him temporarily activated like she was that one time, or some other excuse, then Kallus won’t have a problem rescuing him.

Of course, she’s just a recruit herself, and she can’t muck around with that without compromising her cover. She’s half-tempted to just shove Orryn out her escape tunnel, her own exit be damned, but Kallus specifically told her not to do that, so she holds back.

The opportunity comes when one of Mirah’s prior breaches is discovered, two or three weeks after Orryn’s brought in.

Possibly the shell program she and Kallus have been using to talk; possibly something else and she didn’t cover her tracks quite well enough (i.e., breaking into Pryce’s office). No one’s tied it to her, not yet, but things are Tense.

Kallus asks Mirah if she needs an extraction, and she again brings up Orryn. “I’m good,” she says. “But the sweet kid I was telling you about…”

“We talked about this,” he says. “And I am working on it, I promise.”

But before either of them can do anything, Orryn ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and one of the guards is convinced he’s the mole.

Thrawn points out that this doesn’t make much sense--the serious breaches started well before Orryn was brought in.

Pryce agrees, but insists on letting the situation run its course, to see if it can flush out the real mole.

And Mirah has a Thing about people she’s attached herself to getting hurt.

Mirah manages to somehow get Orryn out of wherever he’s being held. She sends a quick message to Kallus--“Sweet Kid coming out, they think he’s me”--and takes him to the exit tunnel.

They are pursued, of course. By the overzealous guard--and by Shamie.

Mirah gets Orryn into the tunnel and prepares to stand her ground.

Shamie catches up first.

And handles the situation Very Differently from the way Thom does in Nikita canon.

“I’m not turning you in,” they say. “You got Orryn out?”

“Yeah.”

They nod. “Good. Okay. They think he’s the mole, but they’re gonna realize someone helped him escape, unless--”

And then the guard catches up.

There is a Fight. The guard manages to shoot Shamie (not seriously; through-and-through in the upper arm), who tosses Mirah their gun, and she fires back, putting two in his chest.

“…we can work with this,” Mirah says, pressing her hands onto where Shamie’s bleeding. “If we…if we stage it so he pointed the finger at Orryn to cover his own crimes…”

“You have any evidence we can plant on him?” Shamie says. “M’good at that. Planting evidence.”

“Yeah,” she says. She has a key card, and a few other bits and pieces. Shamie, hands shaking slightly, positions them appropriately. “And Orryn…”

“Was also a plant,” Shamie decides. “Sent in when the guard’s cover got shaky, to extract him. But he managed to get away in the confusion. We underestimated him.”

Mirah thinks about this for a minute, then nods. “I think I can sell that,” she says, as more guards start heading their way.

“Good,” Shamie says. “…talk later.”

Mirah nods, and Shamie blacks out, leaving her to spin the lies they need to survive this.

A few hours later, Mirah touches base with Kallus to confirm Orryn got out safely, and to inform him he has another inside agent.

So, the situation has improved somewhat! Unfortunately, it’s also been damaged--since the shell program was found, Kallus and Mirah don’t have secure communications. That first message she got out, about Orryn and Shamie? Yeah, she can’t use that route again, or she’ll establish a pattern.

On the other hand, Shamie is a full agent, which means they have an apartment and the freedom to move around and set an in-person meet. Which Kallus wants anyway, to evaluate Mirah’s friend.

(And, if they check out, to spoof their tracker and give them freedom of movement. Always a plus.)

So, Shamie and Kallus use another one-off communicator to set an in-person meeting, so they can talk.

“You did help Mirah and Orryn,” Kallus acknowledges, after they’ve run through their prearranged confirmation signals. “That counts for something.”

“But you think it could just be me establishing a cover,” Shamie said.

“The thought occurred.”

Shamie doesn’t say anything right away. “I hear all kinds of things about you,” they finally say. “Some of it seems true. Some of it seems exaggerated. I know you’re Division’s enemy, but that…” They shrug. “I trust Mirah. And she trusts you. That’s good enough for me.”

“And Division?”

“I know how gangs work,” they say, flatly. “I used to work for one--they ran a bunch of kids, pickpocketing. Thing about gangs is, most of them do some good in their community--take care of external threats, or whatever. That’s how almost every gang started, anyway. Division may have more money and fancier gadgets and a bigger community, but they work the same way. And most gangs, even if they keep helping their communities sometimes…somewhere along the line, it turns out to be about profit and power more than anything else. But that’s not the issue. The issue is…you can tell, when a gang’s leadership, the loyalty they demand from their members…you can tell when they reciprocate.”

“And Thrawn and Pellaeon and Pryce don’t,” Kallus says.

“Pryce for sure,” they say. “Pellaeon does, but he’s more loyal to Thrawn than the rest of us. Thrawn…is harder to read.”

Kallus considers that for a moment. “You know, what we’re doing--it’s dangerous. I can’t protect you. I burned my one extraction route getting Orryn out.”

“All of my choices are dangerous,” Shamie says. “But like I said. I trust Mirah. She trusts you. I don’t trust Division.”

Another moment of silence. “Here’s our communication protocol,” Kallus finally says. Because Mirah trusts them. And I trust Mirah. If I don’t trust her--what am I even doing here.

Shamie also, as it turns out, has valuable information Mirah didn’t have access to. While not as successful as Kallus, there’s another group working to take Division down; getting involved and throwing off some of their ops.

“Should we reach out to them?” Mirah asks, when this filters back to her.

“No,” Kallus decides. “Most likely, they’re another mercenary group. Trying to be another Division, another Gogol, and take out the competition. There’s a slim chance that they’re actually on the level, but if they’re not…Best to stick to ourselves and avoid drawing in any outsiders.”

The kids agree, because he’s the expert, and drop the subject.

He does, however, ask Shamie to keep tabs on this other group as best they can without compromising their cover. Which should be easy enough.

(Of course, Shamie can only tell him as much as Division knows about them, which isn’t much. They’re a small group, probably a five- or six-person team, and they tend to ghost in and out of situations without leaving much evidence behind…)

The other new advantage they have is Orryn.

Remember why Thrawn wanted him recruited? He’s good with tech and gadgets?

Orryn gets a look at Kallus’s setup, particularly when he’s trying to figure out how to re-establish communications with Shamie and Mirah.

“I can fix that,” he offers.

Kallus blinks. “Plan was, establish an identity and get you out of the country, into hiding,” he says. “Which I will do, I’m working on it, but--”

“Division hurt me, too,” Orryn says. “And Mirah and Shamie are in trouble, and so are you. I want to help.”

Kallus eyes him. He knows, just as clearly as Mirah and Shamie did, that he cannot take this kid into combat. On the other hand…he would’ve been recruited for a reason. And Kallus is well-trained and skilled, but there might be something to said for raw talent and an expert touch.

“All right,” he finally says. “We’ll prep an exfil for you, just in case, but it’ll be some time for me to put it together anyway. We’ll see how things go.”

Orryn nods, and gets to work.

And so pass the next few months, with Mirah working her way up towards qualifying and passing the information she has access to, and Shamie and Orryn supporting Kallus in the field.

Eventually, Mirah goes on her qualifying evaluation, and passes with flying colors. She’s an interesting counterpart to Shamie--she’s a sharpshooter and just as deadly as they are in hand-to-hand, but she doesn’t work as well with the explosives and so on.

Meanwhile, Shamie is a very tactile person--if it’s a hands-on task, especially one that requires a lot of detail work (such as setting up a bomb), there are very few people who can match them. But they have issues with distance kills and with the computer stuff.

Mirah is set up in her apartment, not too close to Shamie, but enough that they can meet. They’re in the same city.

The two of them, on their own, are pretty terrifying assassins.

Shamie is fairly innocuous-looking; dark hair, dark eyes, skinny, blends into a crowd. They’re also the most chill/calm person in the known universe, so people tend to gravitate to them in a crisis. And they’re kind. Genuinely kind, in a way that invites people’s trust.

This is what makes them an excellent priest in another life. And in this one…Beware The Nice Ones is a trope for a reason.

Mirah, on the other hand, is much more overtly intimidating. Unless she’s making an active effort to pretend otherwise, she exudes Danger. She is ruthless and practical.

She is also extremely skilled, good at manipulating people, and very hard to convince to back down.

Now imagine the two of them working together.

Unstoppable and terrifying.

And Division (and Kallus) are both aware of this.

So, they actually end up partnering quite a lot.

The four of them are circling closer and closer to closing in on Pryce and taking her out permanently--Thrawn as well, and Pellaeon as a third priority, but Pryce is their top target--when things Change again.

Mirah and Shamie are put on a wetworks op that requires a team. Probably similar to that one prince dude and the museum.

They feed Kallus the intel, as always, and he comes up with a plan to foil it.

But there are a couple of issues.

He needs Orryn for this op, for one thing. And not just as background, on-site.

When he scouts around to do his own prepwork, there are some technobabble things he need handled, but they need to be within range. Twenty yards, twenty-five on the outside.

So, his first priority--well, maybe not first, but certainly Up There--is to plan out Orryn’s escape route if things go wrong.

The second issue is that Shamie thinks this might be another mission the Unknown Third Party may also crash. Since they still don’t have a lot of intel, that’s potentially another five or six people coming in.

And that’s if they’re correct in that it’s the mystery team, and not Gogol or someone already on the radar.

But the opportunity to interfere with Division and save a life or two is too good to pass up, despite these problems. Kallus plans his counter-mission, and they get to work.

Phase One of the mission goes fairly well. Shamie does confirm a third party is involved, but at first, their presence doesn’t cause too much difficulty for either Our Heroes or Division.

Shamie gets the assassination target pinned down somewhere Kallus and Orryn can extract them; Kallus gets the victim to the prepared escape route, and then returns to deal with the secondary objective; the one that required Orryn--some sort of hacking/virus/Planting Evidence type thing.

Well.

So my Art Skillz are far from up to par, but here’s a general overview of the layout of the scene where they do:

...so I can’t figure out how to make tumblr embed it without throwing off all the rest of my formatting so, click the link.

Where things go wrong is when Kallus gets a good look at the closest member of Team Unknown.

Who is very, startlingly, distractingly Familiar.

And he does the worst possible thing he can do in this situation.

He freezes.

Naturally, another member of the Division team sees the opportunity and takes it.

He gets hit three times in that second--chest, abdomen, upper thigh. Serious injuries.

Mirah immediately runs to him, laying down cover/suppression fire at her supposed Fellow Division Agents.

(…yeah, remember that whole bit about her parents dying in front of her? She’s. Uh. She’s come to view Kallus as a second father. This is Not Okay.)

Shamie follows, of course; she gets to Kallus.

They hesitate for half a second. “…get him out of here. I can handle this. Go.”

Mirah nods and drags Kallus back to the van--

--only to find that Orryn has been taken.

She can’t--she can only be in one place at a time. She’s good, but she’s not that good. And Kallus, her teacher, her unofficially-accidentally-adopted dad, is dying in front of her.

She gets into the driver’s seat and books it.

Shamie fires after her, but…well, marksmanship has never been their strong suit, so they fail to stop her.

This is basically Mirah’s worst nightmare made real.

Her dad is dying.

Her brother is missing.

Her other sibling is trapped and about to be probably tortured.

She is holding together by a thread and the only thing keeping her going is if she falls apart now, Kallus will die.

Okay. Time to do something about that. She can’t do much, but she can do even less about the other things, so. Time to do something.

She gets a tourniquet on his leg, pressure dressings on the other wounds, but she’s pretty sure his lung’s collapsed and she doesn’t know how much other internal damage there is. Her training in field medicine/dressings Will Not Cut It on this one.

Now, Kallus has a contingency--he always has contingencies, he loves contingencies--but Mirah doesn’t know his medical contingency and he’s too unconscious and bleeding-out to tell her.

She can’t take him into an emergency room, obviously, but there’s an urgent care center close by. And Orryn’s stuff is still in the van. Which means she can hack into their records find out who’s coming off shift--because there will be someone coming off shift--and stick a gun in their face.

Which is exactly what she does.

She drags the doctor into the van and points her at Kallus.

“Fix him,” she snaps, but she stops pointing the gun at her at this point--she needs her attention elsewhere to drive and fend off Division agents in pursuit, among other things, and surely this doctor will be overcome by that whole Need To Heal thing. Hippocratic oath. Whatever.

Doctor stares at him. “He needs a hospital, I can’t--” Even as she moves towards him.

(Because there’s that whole Need To Heal thing. Hippocratic oath. Whatever.)

Mirah starts the car. “I’m not gonna tell you again.” She tosses the doctor their first aid kit--which is pretty Extensive. Not on the level of the one at the safehouse, but still impressive. “Anything you need that’s not in there, I’ll get at a pharmacy. Now. Do your damn job or I swear to God.”

The doctor looks at Mirah one last time, then turns her attention to Kallus, and opens the kit.

“Good,” Mirah says.

(And then, while the doctor is stabilizing her dad, as soon as she can pull over for a second, she gets rid of her tracker. She has the standard one, in her thigh.)

(And probably kills a Division agent or two pursuing them along the way…)

When the doctor has finished patching Kallus up as best she can with the supplies on hand and what Mirah stole from a convenient pharmacy, she says, “He really should be in a hospital. He needs a transfusion, and should be on IV antibiotics. And I think there was damage to his femur I couldn’t fix without imaging.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Mirah says. Note to self: rob a blood bank. And a hospital. Saline won’t cut it. I wonder how hard X-ray machines are to steal…

“I’m guessing you know how to change the dressings, and how often to do it,” the doctor says.

“Obviously,” Mirah says. She grabs a handful of money, and shoves it at the doctor--she did her job, she should be paid for it; people should always be Appropriately Compensated for the things they do and in this case that means actual money--as well as the badge she’d pulled out of the doctor’s purse. “You can go. Oh, and, Doctor Sloane? This never happened. You never saw us.”

“Right,” she says.

“Because if you say anything,” Mirah says, “I will hunt you down and kill you. Clear?”

“…crystal,” she says, and takes the money and walks away.

Mirah takes a few more distracting turns (with a couple pit stops for those last few Necessary Supplies), a very roundabout route, and eventually makes it to the safehouse. She gets Kallus set up as comfortably as she can, under the circumstances, on one of the beds, manages to take thirty seconds to check for any messages from Shamie or Orryn, and then curls up in a corner and just…melts down.

Like I said Mirah’s Worst Nightmare.

Let’s check back in with Shamie, who is about to have an extremely rough several days.

Because they get to go spend some Quality Time with Thrawn in full interrogator mode.

And they get the works--torture, hallucinogens, manipulation, everything. To figure out how much they know about Mirah’s compromised loyalties, back to Orryn and everything.

When that comes up, they repeat their older story--that they spotted Mirah pursuing Orryn and the guard, and followed. They got there, there was shooting, and they were sure it was Orryn, or the guard, but maybe it was Mirah. They know she killed the guard, and Orryn was never good at combat skills, just tech…

After somewhere between three days and a week of this, Thrawn can’t get Shamie to admit anything incriminating, and leaves them in a cell to report back to Pryce.

“I would estimate there’s somewhere between a twenty and fifty percent chance that Mirah managed to turn them,” he says.

“So, we cancel them,” Pryce says.

“We could,” Thrawn says. “But that is not my recommendation.”

“Oh?”

“I recommend surveillance,” he says. “My prior sessions with Shamie indicate that they’ve had very little human connection or affection in their life. Even we, for all we provide them, have a tendency to view our recruits more as tools than as individuals. It is absolutely within their makeup to latch on to the first person to treat them and value them as an individual. Which may mean they joined Mirah and Alexsandr’s crusade--or may mean that affection blinded them to things they should have seen in Mirah. If the former, they will lie low for a while, but eventually grow complacent and reach out to their partners. If the latter, they will redouble their efforts to prove their loyalty. And their skillset is not one we can replicate at this time--there’s one recruit showing a certain promise, but they’re very new, at least a year away from graduation. Assuming that particular recruit actually lives up to their potential.”

“So,” Pellaeon cuts in, “letting Shamie live, either way, we gain something valuable.”

“Precisely,” Thrawn says.

Pryce considers for a moment. “Very well, I’ll bow to your expertise. Shamie can return to their prior status. Add more cameras to their apartment before sending them home. And I want to upgrade their tracker.”

“I agree,” Thrawn says. “This would be an excellent time to test out the kill chip program.”

So, Shamie is kept in medical for another day, to have the surgery for the new implant and patch up some of the more significant damage from their interrogation.

They use one of the Contingencies to send a quick message to Mirah and Kallus, confirming they’re alive, and that they have a new tracker and may not be able to keep in regular contact for a while.

So! Let’s see what became of Orryn in the meantime, shall we?

And to do that, we actually have to jump back five years, to the night that made Kallus leave Division and vow to bring them down.

Zeb was military, special ops. He met Kallus when the latter was living on extended cover, and Zeb was about to get out.

They met in some kind of dojo/gym/whatever, and had one of Those sparring matches.

(You know the ones I mean. Where it’s like 30% fight and 70% foreplay?)

They danced around the issue for a while; Zeb knew Kallus works for the government somehow, and is pretty sure he’s either CIA or NSA under some kind of NOC (non-official cover). Eventually, though, they get together.

They have about six months, with Kallus staving off Division as best he can, and Zeb going through the process of finishing out his military service/resigning his commission--as soon as he wraps up one last investigation--and then he proposes.

And, yeah, he thought about waiting until he was completely out, but then he figured--there’s only so much time in a life, and why waste it?

Kallus is getting everything together so the two of them can disappear, when the Cleaner comes.

I’m…not sure exactly how this all works, so we’ll handwave all this. Basically, each walks away thinking the other is dead, and can credibly believe this without a body.

I think probably Kallus saw Zeb go over a cliff or something after getting shot, and Zeb found a whole heck of a lot of blood when he climbed back up to where he’d fallen from, and figured it was Alex’s.

Ooooh, better idea--while he’s climbing back up to help Alex--he thinks this attack has to do with him. With that last investigation, which was actually into some kind of Hinky thing that was either Division or Gogol…

And now the building is on fire. And Alex was still in there.

He tries to run in, but the building is too unstable, and the entrance collapses in front of him. Burying Alex--or whatever’s left of him--completely.

Kanan finds Zeb kneeling in front of the rubble, and takes him home.

He and Hera patch Zeb up, and basically explain what they do--which is something to do with trying to uncover groups like Division; essentially terrorist/assassination/murder-for-hire organizations that operate under a thin veneer of government officiality.

“Modern-day privateers,” Hera says. “Only we’re not at war, and these people commit atrocities at least as awful as the ones they’re supposedly trying to avert.”

“We work in secret,” Kanan adds. “Because when we try to work out in the open…”

(Yeah, this is how Depa died in this AU. She started this operation, possibly with Cham Syndulla, and things went Badly.)

“We think you caught on to the operations of one of the groups we’re trying to identify,” Hera said. “We don’t have a name for them, but they’re US-based, with ties all over the world.”

“Most of…most of what I had on ‘em was in the house,” Zeb says.

“So, we start again,” Kanan says.

“But…at this point, Zeb, you’re legally dead,” Hera says. “We all are. You won’t have the access to intel that you used to.”

“I don’t care,” Zeb says. They killed my fiancé. What does it matter if they killed me, too? “I wanna bring them down.”

Kanan smiles, and offers him a hand. “Welcome to the Ghost Crew.”

So, for the next two years or so, the Ghost Crew, along with Zeb, does more or less the same thing Kallus has been doing--try to suss out Division operations and interfere with them as best they can.

Of course, they don’t have insider information.

They don’t even know the name of the organization they’re hunting.

Plus, Division isn’t their only target, even if it’s the one Zeb’s most interested in. They also interfere with Gogol when they catch on to their missions, and a few other organizations throughout the world.

So there’s only so much they can do, and while they are certainly a nuisance to Pryce et al, they don’t have the same level of impact that Kallus does when he comes out swinging.

Naturally, things shift a little when a mission goes slightly less than as planned.

It’s mostly under control--it was primarily surveillance at that point; Zeb was in a restaurant scoping out their target. Unfortunately, one of said target’s bodyguards ID’d him; maybe not specifically as Ghost Crew but certainly as a Threat to their principal.

That’s about when the shooting started.

Zeb can’t get to the front door; the bodyguards now actively trying to both kill him and extract their principal are in his way; so he heads for the kitchen instead.

Yeah, he could try to pursue and complete his objective, except it was a capture mission, not a kill, and he can’t get through that many guards and get out with the target. Not by himself.

He yells at the staff to get down and stay down, and most of them listen. There’s a couple of cooks, a waiter who was grabbing a couple plates to run out, and a kid washing dishes.

Of course, Zeb loses his footing somewhere along the line and skids. He recovers fast, but the closest guy chasing him did not have that problem and is too damn close for--

--or Bad Guy could get smacked in the face with a soapy cast-iron skillet, courtesy of Dish Washing Kid.

Split second to consider the consequences, but there are two other shooters in pursuit; so Zeb does the sensible thing and grabs the kid so she doesn’t get hurt, and finally makes it to the exit. Steals the first convenient car he sees, and books it.

Once he’s pretty sure they’ve lost pursuit, he turns to the kid, who’s--shit, he’s not good at guessing kids’ ages. Maybe twelve? Shit--anyway, an actual kid, which complicates things.

“Uh. Sorry about back there,” he says. “Listen, I’ll take you back to your parents in a couple hours, after the heat’s died down, I promise.” Pretty sure the bad guys aren’t gonna hunt you down if they couldn’t grab you right then and there…

“Foster parents,” she corrects. “They’re okay, I guess, but it’s not like they actually pay attention to me. They own the restaurant.”

“I should still get you back to them,” he says. “Better for you in the long run, kid.”

“Hanny,” she says. “My name’s Hanny.” She looks at him expectantly, but he doesn’t respond in kind.

“Right,” he says instead. “In the meantime, uh…” He pulls off--they need to switch cars anyway--and takes a second to text Hera.

“So I accidentally kidnapped someone.”

“…accidentally.”

“Yeah, there was shooting, had to run through the kitchen, she hit a guy with a frying pan, couldn’t leave her there.”

“Right,” she responds, after a few seconds where he can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “How much of a fuss is she making?”

“Uh. None at all, actually.”

“All right. Bring her here, we’ll figure out how to handle this later.”

“Thanks, I owe you another one.”

He gets Hanny back to the safehouse he and the Ghost Crew are currently using.

Hera glowers at him for a minute, then makes sure Hanny is settled in an inner room before going out to have A Word.

“Zeb? That’s a child. An actual child.”

“Yeah, I know,” Zeb says. “Still couldn’t exactly leave her there. I’ll take her back to her parents…well, foster parents…”

“Our rule is, we don’t hurt kids!” Hera says.

“Does she look hurt?” Zeb says. “Look, this wasn’t my fault. I went through the kitchen, she got involved all on her own. Not like I told her to bash the guy over the head with a skillet!”

“I know,” Hera says, and takes a breath. “I know, sorry. I shouldn’t’ve snapped at you. But you need to take her back sooner than later. Tonight, if you can.”

Zeb nods. “Uh. Soon as I get her to actually tell me who her parents are. She said they own the restaurant, but…”

“Yeah, you probably don’t want to go back there.” She considers a minute. “I’ll see what I can dig up, get you an address.”

“Good,” he says.

“Why can’t I stay here?” Hanny asks, from the door.

“…because you’ve got parents--”

“Foster parents.”

“Who are probably worried about you,” he finishes.

Hanny snorts. “No, they’re not. They’ve got six of us, and mostly use the money they get from the state to keep their shitty restaurant afloat. They won’t miss me.”

“That’s a shitty situation, I get it,” Zeb says. “It’s still better than staying here.”

“Why?” she demands.

“Because I’m legally dead, for one thing,” he says.

“But you’re not actually dead,” she points out.

“I also do a lot of really dangerous things,” he says. “What you saw in that kitchen back there? Ordinary Tuesday for me.” Which is, yeah, a bit of an exaggeration, but…

She rolls her eyes. “Not like I’m asking to come into another shootout with you. Just stay with you instead of the Smiths.”

“Why do you want to stay with him?” Hera cuts in. “And ‘because he’s not the Smiths’ isn’t a good enough answer.”

Hanny chews that over for a minute. “I like him,” she says. “He actually gives a damn about something other than his stupid restaurant, or self-image, or whatever. And he apologized for kidnapping me, which is sort of weird, but nice, I guess? I don’t know, I just do.”

“…that whole bit about doing dangerous things,” Zeb says. “I can’t really look after you.”

She rolls her eyes again. “I’ve been looking after myself for ages anyway. Besides. I’m seventeen.”

He and Hera stare at her.

“…would you believe fifteen?”

Zeb’s less sure about that one, but the look on Hera’s face is answer enough.

“Okay, thirteen, but still. Plus, I cook. I’m really good at it, too. Especially when I have access to decent knives. I’m guessing that’s not a problem here?”

Well, okay, it’s not like they have a lot of kitchen knives floating around, but he could--

…shit.

Zeb turns to Hera. “…sorta running out of counter-arguments here…”

Hera looks from him, to Hanny, and back again. “…fine. I’ll babysit when you’re out in the field.”

Jumping back to the present!

So, Zeb doesn’t actually spot Kallus at this point.

Or, rather, he sees that another party is involved, and does out of the corner of his eye spot the guy going down and then Division agents running at him, but not enough to actually identify him.

He alerts his team to the presence of the Third Party--who they’ve been aware of, since Kallus and his team went active a few months ago.

(It was Sabine’s idea to nickname the team Fulcrum. Since they seem to be a pressure point that really gets to the Shadow Agency they’re chasing, and might be enough pressure to move the lever and make actual progress…)

(Look, it made sense in her head at the time, whether or not the others bought the reasoning, and it stuck.)

Of course, they’re not sure if Team Fulcrum is actually on their side, or just looking to cause Generalized Chaos. Or take Shadow Agency down to take its place. After all, they seem to have an almost personal vendetta against the Shadow Agency and some of the tactics they’ve used…

Ezra and Kanan slip around to the Fulcrum van, and find Orryn inside. They see this sweet kid, assume he’s a hostage, and extract him. There’s no way their team will get through the firefight between Division, Mirah, and the reinforcements intact, so Kanan calls Zeb back, they get Orryn into their vehicle, and they go.

They get Orryn back to their base, and he makes it Very Clear that he was not, in fact, a hostage.

“The people that had you in that van--”

“Were not Division,” he says. “They’re the ones who rescued me from Division, after I was recruited.”

“…I’m sorry,” Hera says. “We made a mistake. Division--they’re the government agents who were attacking that building back there?”

Orryn blinks. “…you didn’t know that?”

“We’ve never had a name for them,” Kanan says. “Maybe we should start from the beginning. I’m Kanan, this is Ezra, Hera, Zeb, Sabine.”

“Orryn,” he says. “…you’re trying to bring Division down, too?”

“Damn right we are,” Zeb says.

“…okay,” he says, and fills them in on what he knows.

Which is, comparatively, not all that much. He didn’t see too much of the internal structure--he wasn’t there for long enough--but they have names and so on to attach to them.

He tells them how Division recruits people in their late teens/early twenties, and trains them as assassins. He tells them how Mirah went in as a double agent, and she and Shamie and Kallus broke him out. He tells them how they tried to get him into hiding, but he offered to stay and help with their tech, which is what led them here.

(He doesn’t, of course, know Kallus’s real/full name--not something shared readily; and even if it was, that might not be the full name Zeb knew him under, so Zeb remains in the dark.)

(Part of why Orryn’s being so open about this is because he’s gotten a pretty good idea of the kind of team Hera and Kanan are running here; he also…it’s something to focus on other than the Very Strong Probability that Kallus is dead, likely Mirah with him, and Shamie, and…)

(On the other hand, if his new family is somehow still alive, they could use all the help they can get. And maybe Kallus would’ve been more cautious, and Mirah would’ve been more suspicious, and Shamie would’ve held back a little more, but Orryn knows how hard this fight will be, and how much they need genuine allies. And so he makes the first move/takes a leap of faith.)

So, to sum up the last few sections before we move on, here’s where we stand after the FUBAR mission where Kallus finds out Zeb is still alive:

Kallus has been badly hurt--near-fatally--and is more or less out of commission for the foreseeable future; not to mention whatever long-term/permanent damage he might have sustained.

Mirah’s cover is blown, and while she pulled herself together after her meltdown once Kallus was safe, she’s still teetering a little on the edge, especially as more and more time goes by without hearing from either of her siblings.

Shamie is fighting desperately to maintain their cover, still deep in Division, but now with little to no support.

Orryn is with Zeb and the Ghost Crew, with no idea if any of his family is still alive, and missing a few Key Pieces of Information that might help smooth things over.

(Yeah, this day went Super Well for everyone.)

After a couple days, though, a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel--Kallus wakes up.

Okay, technically, he’s sort of half-woken up a couple times, but this is the first time he’s been lucid enough to actually process being awake and/or interact with Mirah.

She sees him trying to sit up and is instantly there.

“Stay down, you’re hurt.”

He sinks back without too much argument, and she takes a second to make sure he’s really awake, really back with her, and then, as people with her particular personality and background are likely to do, covers up her fear with “How dare you.”

“Mirah…”

“You got yourself shot! You froze!”

“I know, I--”

And then the look on her face, she’s clearly just barely holding back from bursting into tears (which, she’s done enough of that over the past three days damn it) and he just…wordlessly holds out his arms, offering a hug.

Very, very carefully, she curls up next to him and clings, and she does burst into tears at that point, and stays there until she’s cried herself out.

“…sorry,” she says, when she gets her breath back.

“It’s fine,” he assures her. “And…so am I. For scaring you.”

She nods. “I know it wasn’t on purpose.”

He laughs a little, which is a mistake, because that hurts, but manages to get out, “when I get shot on purpose, it’s generally not this…bad.”

“I know,” she says, then hesitates before blurting out, “Iloveyou.”

He’s taken a little bit by surprise--he was her handler as much as her friend, and that’s not exactly conducive to…but he can’t deny that he’s come to think of her as a favorite niece, or maybe even a daughter, and…

Between being caught off guard, and the pain, and the bloodloss, and the drugs she’s probably got him on, he can’t find the words to respond.

So, of course, she tries to backtrack.

He cuts her off, “love you, too, Mirochka.”

(LOOK fandom has decided he’s a Space Russian ANYWAY so for this AU either one or both of his parents was a first-generation Russian immigrant so FAKE RUSSIAN DIMINUTIVES FOR EVERYONE. Also it makes me smile. So there.)

She brightens and clings again. Very, very carefully.

But he can already feel the room start to spin and blur at the edges. “Probably gonna pass out again. Don’t be afraid.”

“Okay,” she says. “Just don’t die.”

“Of course not,” he says, already fading. “Still have work to do.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not allowed to die when we’re done, either.”

“Right,” he manages to say, before he’s out again.

The next time he’s fully conscious and lucid is just after Shamie finally managed to send word they’re alive.

Which is, naturally, his first thought. To ask about Shamie and Orryn.

Mirah tells him--Shamie’s at least alive and free enough to make contact, but Orryn is still missing.

Kallus, at this point, is half-convinced he hallucinated Zeb--it would make more sense, obviously; Zeb is dead, he knows that, he saw him die, and yet…

On the other hand, he finds himself desperately hoping it wasn’t a hallucination, for more than just his personal needs. If Zeb has Orryn, then he knows Orryn is safe.

“I tried to get him,” Mirah says.

“I know,” he says. “It wasn’t your fault. None of this was.” It was mine.

“What happened?” she asks, and the question had to come sometime, but he’s not sure he can explain. Not sure he should, as on-edge as she is already.

But she’s asking, so he does the best he can.

“I thought I saw…someone,” he says.

“…interesting pause there…”

“A ghost.”

“…cryptic. Are you gonna keep doing that, or…?”

He looks away. He can’t bring himself to say his name. “It couldn’t have been…I know it couldn’t have been, but I saw him, I was sure, and for a moment, I…I lost control. Again.”

I let you all down.

“…again?”

He struggles for a moment, then says, “I told you, before you went into Division…I told you why I left, didn’t I?”

It takes her a minute to get it. “…oh.”

“I only…I only saw him for a moment, and I may have been seeing things.” He takes a shallow, shaky breath, and blinks rapidly for a moment. “But if it was real, and Orryn’s with him, then he’s safe. I am certain of that.”

Mirah nods. “Then I’ll go find out.”

“Be careful,” Kallus cautions. “Division will be out in force, looking for you. And Shamie can’t--they have to keep their head down. Even if they’ve managed to satisfy Thrawn for now--” He starts to get up, because he needs to hit the ground running on this one, pain and shakiness be damned--

“Don’t you dare,” Mirah snaps, pushing him back. “I’ll be careful. Trust me. Papa.”

“I do,” he says; his head is spinning again and he’s gone chalk-white. “Just…don’t get overconfident.”

“I won’t,” she promises. “Go back to sleep. I’ll text every hour.”

“Please,” he says.

“I will,” she promises, and by the time she’s out the door he’s unconscious again.

Of course, by the time she gets back, he’s somehow managed to muster the strength to get himself over to the computer.

“What did I say?” she says, annoyed.

“I did sleep, for a while,” he says. A little breathless, but he’s still conscious, and it doesn’t look like he’s torn any of his stitches, which is probably a goddamn miracle.

(Of course, they are long overdue a miracle or two.)

“I found footage of the incident,” he says. “Target had security cameras all over. I wanted to see if…see if I could track Orryn that way.”

“And?”

He shakes his head. “But I can be sure Division didn’t take him. I accounted for all of them.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes,” he says, then hesitates. “Nothing more from Shamie, which…I don’t know. You find anything?”

“Maybe,” she says, and hands him a blurry photo, of Orryn--with Zeb.

The world spins around him again, just like it did back in that firefight, because there’s no mistaking it this time.

Mirah mistakes his reaction for him being about to pass out again; he vaguely hears her mention going to kidnap Dr. Sloane again; he cuts her off.

“No, it’s…it’s him.”

“Oh!” She considers for a moment. “Good. I’ll go get him.”

He nods; he can feel his heart beating erratically and knows he should probably do something about that--relaxation exercise, get horizontal, something--but first thing’s first. “Tell…no.” He can’t think of a good verbal code, but he has something even better.

Using the chair to hold himself up and keeping as much weight off his injured leg as possible, he starts over to the wall.

“Let me--” Mirah starts.

“Wall safe,” he says. “Keep forgetting to program your fingerprints.”

She makes a face. “And you’ll go to bed as soon as you get whatever it is?”

“Yes, fine,” he says. He makes it to the safe, and opens it, pulling out a fist-sized stone and handing it to her. “Show…show him this. He’ll know you’ve seen me.”

“I will. Now, bed.”

“Right,” he says. But his head is spinning and it seems so very far away right now. I possibly overdid it. “I’m just going to…sit here for a moment first. Catch my breath.”

“Fine,” she says. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I know.”

There is, of course, a slight problem with sending the meteorite instead of some kind of verbal message. One that, if Kallus had been firing on all cylinders, so to speak, he would’ve figured out.

A verbal message can’t be pulled off a dead body, after all.

…yeah, Zeb pulls a gun on Mirah when she shows up.

She restrains herself from responding the way all her training has told her to respond to a gun in her face, because she knows how important Zeb is to Kallus. “Rude,” she says instead.

Zeb snarls at her. “Where the hell did you get that.”

“From Papa,” Mirah says, like it should be obvious. “Are you going to let me in?”

Papa? Zeb had never imagined the monsters that killed Alexsandr--who did the kind of things Orryn described--would have children. “…no,” he says. “You’re going to take me to Papa.”

It’s the best, most solid lead he’s had in forever, more concrete than Orryn in terms of tracing back to the specific people who killed his fiancé, he finally has an actual agent, a string to pull to unravel Division and end them.

“Well, yeah,” Mirah says, because that is the plan. But not right now.”

Zeb glares at her. “No. Now.”

Mirah sighs. “ORRYN!”

Orryn, who heard the commotion and was already on his way, joins Zeb at the door. “She’s okay, Zeb. Really. This is Mirah, I told you about her?”

Zeb is…not at all sure what to make of all this. But he lets her in while he tries to figure it out.

(Keeping her covered with the gun, of course. As much as he can when the first thing she does is wrap Orryn in a flying tackle hug.)

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Orryn says, clinging back so hard. “I was worried.”

“You were worried!” Mirah says. “You know what you’re supposed to do in a firefight! Keep your head down, and wait for Papa to come get you!”

“I know,” Orryn says. “But I saw him go down, and then…” I got grabbed, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do.

Mirah nods. “I already yelled at him about that.”

Which is not what Orryn would’ve done, but he knows his sister, so he’s not surprised. “And…and Shamie, are they with you? Are they okay?”

“They’re alive,” Mirah says. “They got in touch. But they’re still undercover. We’re working on it.”

“Touching as this reunion is,” Zeb interrupts, “you need to tell me where the hell you got that rock.”

“I already told you.”

“Not enough.”

“Well, then ask,” Mirah says. “I don’t know what you know.”

“Who the hell is Papa, and how the hell did he get that meteorite?” Zeb asks.

“No idea where he got it,” she says, which is true. “He just told me to give it to you.”

Zeb stares at her, for a long moment. “What the hell kind of sick joke--”

“What?” Mirah says. “Explain, because I have no idea what the hell you mean.”

“He’s taunting me,” Zeb says, flatly. “Whoever he is.” ...on the other hand, that means I’m close…or they know I have Orryn. He frowns, then shakes his head. “But to use this to lure me out…”

Now it’s her turn to stare. “Lure you? You’re the one who demanded I take you places!”

“Because you turn up, out of the blue, on my damn doorstep, holding that!”

“Because Papa told me to!” she says. “What’s so important about it, anyway?!”

“It’s something I gave to--” He stops. “Your people, Division, they took it off him after they killed him. I’ve spent the last five years trying to track down the bastards who did it.”

And SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS CLEAR.

“You didn’t see him,” Mirah realizes.

“…what.”

“Okay,” she says. “We can go see Papa now. But leave your gun behind, he’s been shot enough this week.”

“No, seriously, what the hell,” Zeb says. “Saw who?”

“Papa,” she says. Obviously.

“You still haven’t told me who that is!”

“Because I love him, but he’s sometimes a secretive jerk and I don’t know his full name and that’s embarrassing, okay?”

Zeb just stares at her for a moment.

Mirah sighs, exasperated. “Orryn, do you know Papa’s full name? I don’t have any pictures, and I don’t want to wake him up by calling.”

Orryn shakes his head. “Never had that much access to Division’s computers, and you know he doesn’t talk about that stuff. …Shamie might know, but…”

“I’ll text,” she decides. “They won’t get it until it’s safe.”

“Like hell I’m waiting for that,” Zeb says. “Take me to him. Now.” “First, leave the gun behind,” Mirah says, and there is No Room For Argument in her face or her tone.

Zeb considers this for a moment.

He’s dealing with one guy who’s apparently been shot all to hell, and one baby agent…he’s got the raw physical strength to overpower her if it comes to that. Besides, she didn’t say anything about other weapons.

“Fine,” he says, and ostentatiously puts both the gun he already had out and the backup from his boot on the table.

“Thank you,” she says. “Orryn, you coming?”

Orryn hesitates for a second. “…someone should probably stay with Hanny.”

“Who’s Hanny?”

“My kid,” Zeb says. “…kinda. Long story. Can we go?”

“Sure,” Mirah says. “Hanny can come, too.”

“Hell no,” Zeb says. “I don’t bring her into potential danger if I can avoid it.”

“If you say so,” Mirah says. “Just a suggestion.”

So, Orryn and Hanny stay back at Zeb’s place. Mirah texts Kallus to let him know they’re coming.

He. Uh. Wakes up on the floor by the wall safe when his phone buzzes. Never quite made it back to bed…oops.

Part of him thinks he should probably correct that, but on the other hand, standing up sounds like Work right now. He’ll just…wait here. Gather his strength.

Oh, right, I should text back. “Fine, see you soon.”

As they approach, Mirah once again warns Zeb that Kallus has been shot, so he is not allowed to get him worked up or let him out of bed.

“Yeah, you mentioned.”

“It bears repeating,” she says. “And he is not allowed to die.”

“Copy that,” Zeb says, though he makes no promises. Whoever Papa is, he had Alexsandr’s meteorite, which means he Knows Something about the people who killed him.

She opens the door to the safehouse. “PAPA YOU HAD BETTER BE IN BED.”

…well, at least he hasn’t moved from where she left him last?

Mirah gives him her best Aggrieved and Disappointed Face.

“…I think I fell asleep here,” he says, wearily.

And then Zeb has a Moment.

Because he couldn’t quite see Mirah’s papa from this angle.

But he knows that voice.

“Did I or did I not tell you to go back to bed,” Mirah says, but she knows it’s gonna be a lost cause for at least a few minutes. “…I’ll lecture you later.”

“Alex?” Zeb says. Whispers. It takes him a few seconds to actually get the name out and it comes out strangled and disbelieving.

And even though he already knew Zeb was alive, he’d seen him in person and then the picture, something about it…he’s here now, it’s real--

Fortunately, before Alex can try to get up, Zeb is right there.

“You were…you were dead, I thought--”

For his part, Kallus cannot form words right now. He just reaches up, hand shaking, to touch Zeb’s face.

(Mirah, in the background, discreetly texts her siblings with an update.)

(Orryn, upon reading the text, asks Hanny if she’s ever seen The Parent Trap.)

(“Because I think your spy dad and my spy dad used to be together. Wanna go join them?”)

(Hanny doesn’t need to be asked twice.)

Zeb, at that point, just scoops Kallus up and, very gently, puts him back in the bed.

“Oh, good,” Mirah says. “Now we need to keep him there.”

“No arguments here,” Zeb says.

And this had better not be a dream, he adds, in the privacy of his own mind.

Of course, there’s a lot more catching up to do from there, and a creepy organization of spysassins to take down, but I think we got enough here for one outline, lol. XD Future developments, of course, involve Team Fulcrum (who keep the nickname because Why Not) teaming up with the Ghost Crew to actually take down Division and shoot Pryce in the face; getting Shamie’s kill switch removed; and then…whatever adventures the Family of Spies might have in the future. Maybe head down to Miami, run into another team of former spies. Or up to Boston, run across a team of thieves…

The point is, they’ve found each other again. The rest…well, the rest is just Details.

#shadowsong writes star wars #shadowsong writes crossovers #shadowsong writes self-indulgent bs #au outlines for the win #tigerkat24

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: Blood and Water (15x16)

I like it when Grey's Anatomy manages to pull off an episode surrounding a specific theme, and this one did so incredibly well.

Cons:

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, I'm going to complain about Amelia and Owen real quick. This episode sees them formalizing the adoption of Leo, but things are complicated because Amelia and Owen are broken up. They argue around and around about logistics, they fight about their breakup, but then in the end Amelia backs off and lets Owen have full custody. Amelia says that breaking up with Owen was a "moment of clarity" for her. Like... okay. Sure. She has these moments of clarity all the time, where she makes a big speech and totally changes the course of her life. She had one breaking up with Owen, and then she makes a split second decision to run scared away from being Leo's mom. It's typical Amelia behavior, and it honestly doesn't endear me to her character at all. She needs to get a grip.

The theme of this episode is about family - biological, and otherwise. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and all that. Like I said, I enjoy how the theme permeated every story, including Amelia and Owen's, as they contemplate adoption. There's a perfectly lovely story about a gay couple and their kid, and the two dads don't know which one is biologically the father of their daughter. However, due to a medical condition, the daughter has some tests run and finds out which dad is hers by blood. I thought this plot thread was fine, but in terms of the theme, it felt really on the nose. I don't know that we needed this example in order to nail in the thesis of the episode. It felt like overkill, and also a weird catalyst for Levi's confession, which I'll talk about in a moment.

Pros:

We touch base with a lot of characters this week, so I'm going to try to be brief. Famous last words.

Jo and Alex are still hosting Alex's mom Helen. Things seem to be going really well. Jo likes Helen a lot, but she gets a little freaked out when she discovers that her mother-in-law has been knitting hats for her future children. Although Jo and Alex have talked about having kids, the nudging has made Jo really nervous. I like that this couple is strong enough to have a frank conversation about their medical histories and their future as parents. Jo wants to fill in some blanks about her past, for the sake of her children, and I love that we're seeing her embrace the possibility of a happy future.

DeLuca gets swept up in the excitement of his father Vincenzo's cool new idea to build an external womb: a baby in a bag. Carina, however, is worried that their father is in the middle of a spiral of some sort. This is a situation to keep our eye on, obviously, but so far I'm finding it really fascinating. This medical idea is obviously really cool. Alex says that if it weren't for what he finds out about Vincenzo's history, he'd be jumping on the opportunity, no question. There's a moment when DeLuca learns that Alex knows, and he says to Meredith: "you told him?" Meredith says: "Carina did. But I told her to." I loved that this didn't spiral into some big fight. Andrew feels confident about his dad, but Meredith and Carina are both making a lot of sense. Being cautious might be the right move here. I also thought that Vincenzo trying to warn Andrew away from  Meredith was interesting. This might add a unique type of drama to their burgeoning romance.

Speaking of medical breakthroughs, Meredith gets a message from Ellis in a dream, and it gives her a cool new idea about diagnosing patients. There's not much to say about this yet, but I liked how Ellis was able to make an appearance, helping to reinforce this theme about the duality of nature vs. nurture. It was fun to see Ellis with Amelia, Maggie, and the kids. It made for an interesting image.

Maggie accidentally spills the beans about being Ellis and Richard's child while she's talking on a medical podcast. You know, it had never really occurred to me before that Maggie's existence would be quite the scandal in the medical community. Maggie and Richard probably should have had a discussion about how to handle that, but whatever. I like that Meredith wasn't upset, but Richard was. It makes sense - Richard is an adulterer, and Maggie's existence is proof of a time in his life when he and Ellis hurt a lot of people. Again, though, there was a surprising amount of restraint in this plot thread. Sure, Richard got upset, but by the end of the episode, he and Maggie had talked it out, and come to an understanding. Richard may be ashamed of his own behavior, but he could never be anything but proud of Maggie and her accomplishments. She's a product of her birth parents and the parents who raised her, for sure.

Nico and Levi. I've saved them for last. Levi says I love you! I mentioned above that I thought his motivation for doing so was a little bit murky. Seeing one of his patients be overbearing but still ultimately loving made him realize... what, exactly? I mean, he's worried about his mother freaking out over everything changing in Levi's life. I get the sense that she wouldn't be upset that Levi's in love with a man, but just worried about any changes that could hurt her son down the road. All of that is beside the point, though. Nico and Levi are adorable. And they're in love! I want so much more of their relationship to develop. I'm so pleased we got to see this milestone.

That's that! I really enjoyed this episode. I hope Amelia can stick to her decision for once and we can put this long and annoying saga of pain behind us. Yeesh.

8.5/10

#review #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy review #greys anatomy #greys anatomy review #grey's abc #greys abc

[13unknownmind]

What I have to say about Supergirl... Thoughts, theories, things I see as probable to happen and some hopes that I have for next season.

Alright so I will start with a... SPOILER ALERT if you have not seen the Supergirl finally then you might want to turn back now... For those who have or just want to continue reading enjoy.

Now on to what I think.

As of today we have seen all we can until the fall so that is... Fantastic (total sarcasm) but we have to this point seen inconsistent writing and a lot of bad decisions. But we have also seen a lot of good things happen, so let's start with Sam.

Sam, has successfully stayed alive and with the help of Supergirl defeated Reign, made it back to her daughter and we will see how they go along with life next season.

I am hoping that Sam, Alex and Ruby stay in very constant contact and become the closet thing to a family that all that could be left is to actually become one, meaning a possible story line for maybe a three or so episodes where we see Alex struggling to admit her feeling for Sam do to insecurities and or her not wanting to mess up the friendship that they have now and Sam is waiting for Alex to show any sign of wanting to be more then friends cause she has accidentally fallen in love and is making sure that Alex might feel the same way then Ruby either pushes them both to do what she can clearly see they both want to do or just being extremely happy that they finally got together so she has two moms that she knows love her.

As for Alex, now that she is the director of the DEO she can cut back on the field work and make sure that she has nothing holding her back from fulfilling her dreams and living her life how she wants it to be. Like I said the Alex and Sam story would be wonderful to see as well as the possiblity of them adopting another child (that child could even turn out to be either a hero or villain in later years like a story where we see him or her come back in time like trucks in Dragon Ball Z or something) and seeing them come together even more to raise this child with the help of their friends and daughter.

Side note: it would be so amazing to see a married Sam and Alex like them going through the wedding and then Alex adopting Ruby as her own daughter. I would cry.

I would also love to see them grow as characters with each other cause we have two developed characters and we have seen both of their stories we know they are both strong and intelligent woman who can and will do anything for the ones they love and we have seen them both get to a point where they can grow both together and apart and I am so looking forward to seeing what the writers do... I hope they do not screw this up.

Now this is a character that we saw leave a little while back Maggie now this is something that a lot of people would call me crazy for saying so thank you now moving on, I think that whether or not they make Alex and Sam a thing which they should I think Maggie coming back into Alexs life would be a nice twist to the somewhat predictable show overall now think for a second two or three scenarios pop into my head so let's go over them.

Scenario Numero Uno-

Maggie pops back in and tries to get Alex back and see if they can work things out cause let's be for real if anyone was watching the same thing I was when they parted ways neither one of them wanted to let go of the other and let's be real with ourselves for a moment we was all saying "NO DON'T GO" and it would be a little bit of added drama for Alex to deal with and get through and hey if they set it up correctly this could be a lead up to the Sam and Alex story line.

Scenario number two-

Maggie and Alex run into each other and Alex is so shook she breaksdown and runs off or something cause she is finally over Maggie and bam here she is and the not so over Maggie side show comes out cause there is still something unresolved and that could lead to a few story lines like Kara helping her sister through it like she always does and them doing a "Closure Montage or Ceremony" or something... Or it could lead to Sam comforting Alex and helping her get through it ← that could be the reason they get together or while they are together and they could take that a lot of places as well.

Scenario #3

Maggie could have changed her mind about kids and come to find Alex so they could get back together and start a family, which again could lead to several different storyline.

Like- Alex turning her down for either the reason that she has moved on, the reason that she is already interested in someone else (cough cough Sam cough), Alex could have decided that jumping into her work at the DEO was best for her for a while, while she is trying to get things together or while she is deal with something emotionally or that she is simply not going through the whole Maggie and kids things just to protect her heart.

J'onn, I just look forward to seeing what's up with him and his new fownd life away from the DEO.

Winn, I don't see much word from him coming from the future but then again you never know cause the writers on this show like to do odd things... So we will see.

Brainy, we know that he is at the DEO thanks to the seen we see of him opening the envelope from Winn, so he will probably be "taking Winns place" there until I would assume probably season 5.

Mon-El, probably no word or at the very least two or three appearances throughout the next season but I don't see much happening with him until season 5 probably as well but as I said you never know, I am just hoping that his and Karas romantic thing is over soon cause 1 it takes away from the show and the rest of the story if we have 3-5 episodes in a 23 episode season just about the I love you and I love you but we can't be together bs. And 2 I honestly want him and the woman that is supposed to be his wife to actually be together as the married couple they are.

James, I hope that this "unmasking" thing works out for him and that he makes a good life as the guardian of national City but for Gods sake please end he and Lena's relationship cause that is all kinds of wrong on so many levels I just can't with the writers of this show and as for his actual job can we please see him back at cat co actually doing that thing called work cause really... DUDE YOU HAVE A COMPANY TO RUN!!!!!!!!!

Cat, can we please see Cat grant back on this show the world needs Cat.

Eve, what is goin' on with Lena's new lab assistant cause last time I checked the "ditzy blond" can surprise people but come on now what is happening and why was she even working at CatCo.?

Ruby, I know I brought her up but I am talking about her now. I hope to see Ruby learning a lot for both her mom and Alex and making sure that they stay together so we can see a relationship grow between Ruby and the rest of the family that is the team and hopefully Alex and Sam.

Lena, yes we are finally to the one and only Lena Luthor. Ok dude I understand you know your best friend is a super hero and I also understand you are only with the guy your with to try and get over the feelings that you have for and even get back at said best friend but dude what is going on it is almost like Kara having James check out your vault which he didn't do though he said he would and almost did was the straw that broke the Camels back even though 1 you know your best friend trusts you just not with the one thing that can hurt her though I think she was just putting on a show for the DEO and 2 You are fighting against what I can only assume is depression at finding out that you do not feel as platonicly towards Kara as you thought you did only to both find out that she is Supergirl and that she "doesn't trust you" though she does and everything that has happened before this should show that the only reason she has not told you herself that she is Supergirl is the DEO would never allow it so come on cut her some slack and for the whole making synthetic Kryptonite be it green or black and not telling your best friend is kinda messed up though I do understand testing her to make sure of some things. Now let's look at what has happened lately 1 the Green kryptonite that Lena made and Kara started a fight over not only helping to defeat reign but also save everyone in the DEO. 2 Kara not one time yelled at Alex for the use of kryptonite in anyway... 3 Lena just right away forgave James for even thinking about going into her vault (because he is of no real consequence) but she did not forgive Kara "Supergirl" for asking him (because she is the most important person she has in her life and to just forgive and forget would never help them grow as friends). I don't care what anyone says Supercorp is for real man Lena and Kara are so in love with each other it is tangible, though of course the queerbaiting is strong with this one. We will talk about the end scene in a minute and try to break that down.

Now last but not least Kara. There is so much to say right here so let's get started. 1 Kara is totally only telling herself how much she loves Mon-El clearly so lets just not with that situation. 2 So she can't breathe in space but Superman can????? I am so lost here. 3 Are the writers aware of the fact that she has super hearing so she could have stopped Sam the first time but no of course time travel randomly throwing in there to fill up the full 40-plus minutes. 4 Can we just look at how she sent her best friend to the future and didn't even really cry not sure when or even if he would come back. 5 Can we please talk about the fact that she just reset a time line and no one cares but when Barry does it the whole world changes... #superpoint ... 6 Please CW writers give us what we need, Kara finally having the "I'm Supergirl" talk with Lena and the two of them mending the friendship and working through everything they have to get through to be better then they were and maybe become more then friends... Please

Now that I have talked the ears off let's get into the episode and break some stuff down.

Alright now we have a defeated Reign and a safe world... Nope we have a Supergirl clone that is probably a world killer... Great so now we have to kill Supergirl for the what third time I think so let's just think here she walked up to Russian soldiers on duty if I an correct said nothing and that is all we saw so there is a lot that they can do with that but again only if they get it right so let's pray that they don't do to season 4 what they did to season 3 though it was good it could have been better... Anyway moving on to the last scene Lena with more of the black kryptonite after she told momma super that there was no more (probably cause she knows something is gonna happen) I am not gonna just jump on the she is going evil band wagon but I will say that if she does turn evil I will not be ok with that...

Let's all hope something happens and Lena dumps James like he ain't hot.

We all know a few things that are gonna happen for sure in season 4.

1 Kara is still gonna be Supergirl.

2 Alex is gonna be a rockin' DEO director.

3 Lena and Kara are gonna be alright but Lena and Supergirl are gonna need some work.

4 James is gonna be out as guardian.

5 The DEO is gonna be working with non-lethal equipment.

6 Brainy is gonna be learning how to live in the 21 century.

7 We are gonna find out both what Lena has going on and what is up with not only Kara and what she has happening but also the Kara clone.

I know nothing of what the writers are going to do but I do know what I want to see so please 1 do not think that this is all the future of Supergirl cause if I was making the future of this show Supercorp would already be a thing as well as the Sam and Alex story would be a thing next season and 2 if you agree, disagree or have any thoughts on anything that I have said or on things that I have not said but would like to discuss just leave a comment or message me and let me know what you think thanks for reading and if you got this far you are awesome ✌️ take care and God bless

#supergirl #thoughts #kara danvers #alex danvers #lena luthor #james olsen #sam arias #winn schott #ruby arias #cat grant #arrowverse #cw #dc #my thoughts on the arrowverse

[sophieakatz]

I wish you would write a fic where... (some of/a few of) The Capil try to come to terms with an argument that their 'Knight', 'Sylph', &or 'Page' recently had around them. Are these really the same beings that descended from above to meet their ancestors? Have they changed, or has the perception of them changed

“And the Muse sighedwith great sadness, and said to me, ‘Gods often appear before foolish children,perhaps because they too are foolish children, and like is drawn to like.”

- from the Book of MS,the oldest holy text of the Capil

They were skipping out on school the day the children cameacross the Gods. But that day Paio had wisely pointed out that the morning wasmuch too hot to be spent walking along the street to the schoolyard, and thetwins Niru and Runi, as ever in competition for their best friend’s attention,were naturally eager to follow him into the woods, so one can hardly fault themfor bad behavior.

Under the welcoming shade of the trees, the three swung onbranches and crawled under bushes, not giving any thought to a future in whichthe dirt and leaves stuck in their fur would give away their adventure to cleanliness-focusedparents. They spoke of games, and interestingly-shaped rocks, and most of all,how happy they were to be doing what they were doing, instead of sitting in aclassroom.

“We deserve more holidays,” posited Paio. “And I mean funholidays.”

“Like Pagesfest,” said Niru, licking xer lips at the thoughtof little black spiral candies. “Pagesfest twice a year! Three times!”

“Exactly.” Paio reached up to give a nearby tree branch ahigh-four. “More Pagesfest. And no more Museday.”

“I like Museday,” Runi admitted. “The songs are pretty.”

“We can have songs without having to sit through them, and withoutdoing the most boring dance ever.”Paio skipped a few steps ahead of the twins before stopping to mimic themotions, adopting a clownish parody of a Teacher’s voice. “Stand up, sit down,now stand again, turn to the side, don’t sit until we tell you to, you noisy child!”

The twins giggled at his antics, and Paio grinned withsatisfaction.

“We don’t need that,” he said, continuing to walk onward. “Allthe supervision. The micromanaging. The ‘do this, don’t do that, it’s time togrow up now, whether you like it or not!’”

“We have to grow up eventually, though, right?” said Runi.

“Nah,” said Niru, working to keep pace with Paio bothphysically and mentally, “I’m gonna be a child forever.”

“And we’ll never be responsible,” said Paio, kicking a stoneout of his way. “We’ll just leave our lives to the will of the Gods. The goodold Gods, responsible for all.”

Runi put her hands over her mouth. A Teacher had told her,when she was very little, that the Gods could hear any awful thing you saidabout them, even the things that you never actually said. Even though Paio hadn’treally said anything bad, there was something about his tone that made her feela need for caution.

Paio glanced back at her. “Why so serious, Ru? It’s a funday, remember?”

He reached out to tickle her arm, and she swatted him with afanged grin. “Stop!”

Paio flashed an even sharper grin and set off at a run, thetwins in quick pursuit, double-jointed legs carrying them quickly and quicklystill through the trees. As always, soon into the chase the twins rememberedthat there were two of them and only one of Paio, and they leapt forward totackle him together, all three tumbling into and under a bush.

They lay there laughing beneath the grasping twigs andleaves, until a strange sound set their pointed ears upright on top of theirheads, and all three fell silent, their first thought that a Teacher had caughtup with them. As they listened, the sound came again from a slightly differentdirection – a swooshing, warping sound, like the very air sliding open and shutagain.

There was someone on the other side of the bush, and fromthat someone a feminine voice came shouting out:

“And you’re just telling me about this now because…?”

“I didn’t think you needed to know,” said another voice,much lower, but no less fierce. “It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time.”

“Not a big – There’s a God from another game out there, a Lord for that matter, trying to recruitpeople, including us, to abandon their universes, and this didn’t seem like a big deal to you?”

Paio inched along the ground to peek out from under thebush. He blinked as sunlight hit his sensitive eyes; there was a clearingthere, a rounded space free of trees. And he saw two pairs of legs, clad inclothing, like was worn in ceremonies and storms – a sweeping red gown closerto him, and green pants legs further on.

Runi’s fingers tugged at Paio’s chest fur, and he ducked backbeneath the relative safety of the bush.

“I said no, and he left!” said the low voice. “That’s allthat happened!”

“A Lord cameknocking, Alex.” The higher voice wascloser to them, coming from the red one. “Did Santek teach you nothing?”

The three pairs of pointy ears perked up even higher at theword. Santek. A holy name even theleast attentive student knew, for its sheer prevalence in the Book of MS. Santek,the Lord to the lady Muse. Santek, the Dead God.

The red one was still talking.

“A Lord left to his own devices is the most dangerous thingin the multiverse. Without a Muse to keep him in check –”

“Maybe he has one, we don’t know. I don’t see why we shouldcare.”

“Because what if he comes back? Would we even notice if he did come back? How does Void even work?We don’t know!”

Paio dared another peek out from beneath the bush, this timeat an angle just high enough to let him see the green one – though its back wasto the red one, and a hood covered most of its head – put a furless finger toan equally furless ear.

“Cody?” said the green one. “Get over here.”

But Paio hardly heard this as he retreated once more,looking at the twins with wide eyes, and mouthing, “No fur.”

Niru stared, xer mouth gaping, but Runi, in a rare moment ofcourage, inched forward to take a peek for herself. She saw the green and redhoods – the red one’s was down, letting yellow-gold hair cascade down her back,a color very few Capil in this part of the world had in their fur without useof dyes, but one she knew very well from the painted glass mosaics in the Temple,and from the song, “…golden rays on apale cloud / was the head of the Sylph of Time…”

Runi drew back again, trembling and trying very hard not to,lest it shake the leaves and cause sound.

The swooshing, warping sound came once more, this time withan extra little bang of displaced airthat just plain felt like showing off. A new voice followed it, the mostyouthful yet. “What’s up?”

“Tell her what you told me about Void,” said the green one.

“You told Cody but didn’t tell me?!” said the red one.

“I thought he did tellyou,” said the new voice. “Alex, you said you’d tell her!”

“And I did! Just now! Never mind, just tell her we don’thave to worry about it.”

Paio took one more look out from under the bush, and sawwhat he on some level expected: a much shorter figure with dark brown furlessskin, clad all in black aside from bright red boots. He returned his gaze tohis friends with a grim expression, and his certainty cemented theirs; this wasthe Page of Space, here to speak with the Knight of Mind and Sylph of Time. TheGods were here in the world.

“Well, as I get it, it doesn’t have much to do with us,” thePage was saying. “It’s an anti-Light thing, not anti-Space. About knowledge. ALord of Void is master of what he doesn’t know.”

“Or master of notknowing,” said the Sylph. “What if he’s hiding something from us?”

“What we don’t know, can’t hurt us, isn’t that the oldsaying?” said the Knight. “Been a few relative centuries since I heard anyoneuse it, but it’s still fresh.”

“It very well can hurtus!”

“What exactly do we know now that we didn’t know before thisguy showed up, Abby?” The three under the bush heard the Knight’s footsteps inthe grass, coming closer. “That there’s a whole vast multiverse out there, somany worlds all doing their own thing? Lots of things we don’t know about? Orhave any reason to care about? We knew this.So why worry?”

“Because he came here.”

“And he left again. We’re not in any trouble here.”

“As far as you know! Which, let’s be honest, isn’t sayingmuch!”

“Guys, come on,” said the Page, “let’s take it down a notch.Or two. Or seven.”

“I know plenty!” said the Knight. “Enough to know that wedidn’t want what he was offering.”

“What exactly was heoffering?” said the Page.

“Jesus. Really,Alex?” The Sylph’s gown swished across the grass as she crossed the clearing,sitting on a large rock near a tree stump. “You told him first, but noteverything? I thought we were over this need-to-know-basis crap.”

The Knight ignored her, turning to the Page. “He said he wasmaking a new universe, one that would be able to grow without creation of a newgame. He offered us to leave our universe here, and go to that one.”

The Page said something too quiet for the three in the bushto hear.

“Yeah,” said the Knight. “Pues, I knew we didn’t want that. So I said no. We’ve made what wewere meant to make, and we’re ruling what we were meant to rule, and that’sthat. End of story.” The Knight turned, extending his address to the Sylph aswell. “He left, we’re here, and everything’s fine.”

“She’d love it,” said the Page.

Silence fell in the clearing. Even the birds and the windseemed to hold their song.

“A universe without the game. She’d love it.”

The Knight sighed and walked over to sit on the stump nearthe Sylph’s rock.

“Yeah, well, she gave up any right to hold moral judgmentover us when she ran away,” he said. “We live our lives, she lives hers.”

The Sylph snorted. “Says the guy who immediately startedpicking fights with her new family when we found her.”

“I’m not saying I’m proud of it!” the Knight snapped. “Ijust… wanted to make sure she was alright.”

Silence again.

“How long’s it been since we did that, anyway?” said theKnight.

“According to whose timeline?” said the Sylph.

“Never mind.”

A bug was crawling in Niru’s fur. Xe resisted the urge toscratch it away.

“So what do we do now?” said the Page.

“We do our best,” said the Knight. “That’s all we’ve everdone.”

“We’ve done worse than that,” said the Sylph.

“Then we’ll do better,” said the Knight. “And so will theCapil, once they’ve grown enough. They’ll be their own Gods of somewhere new.That’s the way it is.”

“That’s the way it is,” the Page repeated.

“That’s the way it is,” the Sylph said as well, as though finishingan oft-repeated prayer.

There was another round of the swooshing sound, and thensilence, gradually filled once more by the birds, bugs, and winds of the woods.Normalcy taking place over the supernatural.

The three children lay there for several long moments beforefinally crawling free of the foliage, into the now-empty clearing. But thoughthe Gods had gone, they still eyed the pieces of space they’d held with acautious reverence – the grass they’d stood on, the stone and stump on whichthey’d sat.

Until Paio strode forward with a snarl and kicked at thestump, slashing it with a claw.

“Paio, no!” Runi gasped at the sacrilege.

“It’s so stupid!”Paio exclaimed, kicking the stump again. “Are these the Gods of our ancestorsour parents so want us to believe in? They’re supposed to be wise! Responsible!Competent, even! But they’re not! They’re stupid!” Kick. “Helpless!” Kick. “Children!”A missed kick, causing the little Capil to fall on his back.

“Like I’m ever gonna sit through Teacher’s lectures abouttheir greatness again,” he said.

Neither twin thought it wise to mention that Paio rarely satthrough the lectures anyway. There was something different about it now.

“We should tell someone,” said Niru.

“We shouldn’t tell anyone,”said Runi. “We’d have to say we skipped class.”

“And they’d think we were lying to stay out of trouble,”Paio added from the ground. “So stupid. Three stupid children in the woodsarguing about how to stay out of trouble. Just like us. We’re as good as the Gods.”

He sat up, and shouted it to the sky. “We’re as good as the Gods!”

A few birds startled out of the trees as the shout echoedaway. Runi put her hands over her mouth, but for the first time, she had reasonto think that maybe the Gods weren’t listening to the awful things she wasn’tsaying.

“Maybe better,” said Niru. The others stared at xem, and xeshrugged. “I mean. We know we’restupid children, yeah? We’re not trying to pretend we’re anything else.”

“Is it less stupid to know you’re stupid?” said Runi.

Paio started to laugh. “Nah. Nah. ‘Cause then you actually know something! See, like they said, we’realready on our way to being our own Gods.

“Pull me up,” he added, extending his arms towards the twins,who each took a hand and helped him to his feet.

“Come on,” said Paio, brushing down his front in ahalf-hearted way that hardly dislodged any of the mess in his fur, “let’s showup at lunch and say we’ve been there all day.”

The three headed back into the woods, at a more sedate pacethan they’d come in with, and chatting less, as well.

They spoke up twice the whole way back, the first time whilestill well under the cover of the trees:

“We’re not gonna tell anyone?” said Niru.

“Nah,” said Paio. “Let the grown-ups have their dreams.”

“Right,” said Runi.

And the second time, as they neared the edge of the woods:

“So,” said Paio, “New Gods of a universe of our own, huh?What do you think our own would be like?”

The characters in this story are OCs in a Homestuck spin-off universe, created for an ongoing roleplay campaign between me and @wherethestoryhasimagination. 

For more fanfiction, click here.

Tip the writer here

#wherethestoryhasimagination #tumblr originals #fanfiction #homestuck #science fiction #answers #fanfic prompt #muse of heart

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

All The World Inside Me

A/N: There was a death in my family this week. I am probably about to start posting some really angsty fic for ODAAT, and I love this fandom so I wanted to warn you. Feel free to keep sending requests, but if they are fluffy, just know they will be on hold.

Established relationship ficlet in which Penelope finds herself pregnant and Schneider is the father. Short and fluffy and random. I think this was an idea that came from chatting with @cykluber ages ago, if not an actual request.

Penelope x Schneider, One Day At A Time. Also on AO3.

They had never discussed kids because Schneider knew she did not want more, and Penelope knew he knew that. They had used protection and they were in their forties and this was not supposed to happen.

Ay Dios mio, this was not supposed to happen. What if he was upset about it? Above all else, Schneider would never want to hurt her, even by being honest.

“It was pink.”

Penelope looked almost pale on his doorstep, and it was that more than the late hour that worried Schneider. He stepped back to let her enter, brow furrowed as she continued.

“It’s funny how some things don’t change, you know? With Elena I was late, and then I threw up, and then I bought two pregnancy tests. And I told Victor, and he cried. And I cried, and it was just so much.”

“Okay…Pen, do you want to sit down?”

“No.” She shook her head, her eyes filling. “But you should, maybe. Schneider, you should sit down.”

He tried to reach for her, his tone cautious when she shifted further away. “Hey. What’s going on?”

“I was late. And I got really sick last week, remember? We thought it was that street cart. But I waited until everyone was asleep, and peed on the stick, and two minutes later…it was pink.”

Penelope turned her back on the foyer, unable to watch his reaction when she finished. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence stretched out between them in Schneider’s big, tidy apartment.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

She wrapped her arms around her torso, still staring toward the kitchen. “Well, I haven’t gone to a doctor yet, but it’s so much like it was with Elena and Alex. Yeah, I’m sure.”

Penelope heard him get up, and hunched in on herself a little.

Instead of coming to stand in front of her, Schneider stopped at her back. He curled his arms around her and pulled her against him.

He kissed the top of her head as she started to cry.

“How are you doing? Are you feeling okay?”

“That’s…that’s your first question?”

“You know I love you, Penelope Alvarez. What else am I supposed to care about?”

“Don’t…” She sniffled. “Don’t you want to know what I’m going to do?”

“Of course.” Schneider ran his hands along her forearms, trying to soothe. “That can wait. Are you still throwing up?”

She let out a weak laugh. “It’s not a one-time thing, Schneider. I’m okay, but yes, I’m still throwing up. In the afternoons, mostly.”

“Why do they call it morning sickness if it happens in the afternoon?”

“Propaganda. I don’t know.” Penelope exhaled, the air shuddering out of her–half exhausted, half relieved.

“Do you want some water?”

“No, I’m good.”

She turned, letting Schneider’s hands link behind her neck as he peered down at her.

He wasn’t wearing his glasses, she realized. He could barely see her. She leaned closer, until he stopped squinting.

“I’m really good.”

Penelope’s laugh was more surprised than pleased. Once she realized how she felt, it was kind of shocking, actually.

“I’m…happy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not ready for this, and I wasn’t expecting it…we were so careful, you know? It shouldn’t even be possible.” 

“But you’re happy about it?”

She stepped back and waited while he put his glasses on, smiling at him once she knew he would see it. “I think I am. As weird as that is.”

Schneider’s brow had that deep furrow in it, and Penelope realized she was calming down enough to think clearly again.  

“So, what about you?”

He tilted his head. “What about me?”

“Come on, Schneider. I’ve had way longer to consider this might be happening. I just threw it at you. How are you? What are you thinking? Talk to me.”

“I’m...” He paused, taking the question seriously. “I’m glad that you’re happy about it.”

“Okay, but that’s not really your feelings. That’s still about me.” Schneider was good with babies--even better with kids; his avoidance was starting to worry her. 

They’d had the talk about being exclusive, and they’d had lots of talks since about their shared future. About how it would look, about dreams and feelings and money.  

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth.”

They had never discussed kids because Schneider knew she didn’t want more, and Penelope knew he knew that. They’d used protection and they were in their forties and this wasn’t supposed to happen.

Ay Dios mio, this wasn’t supposed to happen. What if he was upset about it? Above all else, Schneider would never want to hurt her, even by being honest.

“Hey. Come here.”

Penelope slid her fingers through his, holding on and looking up at him.

“However you feel, you know it’s okay, right? We did not plan for this to happen. Hell, I didn’t know how I felt until you and I were already talking about it.”

Schneider closed the distance between them to bury his face in her hair and stay there for a moment. She heard him inhale deeply before he spoke.

“I’m really glad you’re happy about it, Pen, because I’m happy too. And if you weren’t, I wouldn’t want you to feel like you had to be or anything.”

“Yeah, I get that. You’re happy, too?” 

Penelope pulled back enough to look his way, and realized he was crying. “Oh my god, you are. For a guy who’s so happy he’s dripping in my hair right now...why do you sound sad?”

‘M not sad.” He nuzzled up against her again and breathed her in.

“Concerned? Irritated? Give me a hint, ‘cause you and I are about be parents. Both of us. Together. Communication really helps with the whole raising a tiny human thing.”

Kissing the top of her head, Schneider moved to sit and drew her with him. “Concerned. Terrified. Mostly...worried. If you were all this kid had, it would turn out perfect, because your kids are perfect.”

“Okay...”

“I’m a different story, that’s all. I never planned on being a dad, and not because I don’t want to be. You know I love kids.”

She sighed and shifted so that she was curled into him on the couch, her back resting against his chest. “I do know that.”

“But let’s be realistic, okay? With my family history, my addiction history, my inability to hang onto a job...”

Schneider splayed his fingers over her stomach, rubbing lightly as he continued. “This baby deserves so much better than me, as its father.”

God, she should have seen this coming from miles away, Penelope realized. She’d been too panicked, then too focused on what came next, to really think about it. But of course this was where Schneider would go. She knew his nightmares as intimately as he knew hers. 

Hers: clowns and armed combat. His: spiders and rejection.

Turning around to face him, scooting back so their knees were touching on the couch, Penelope sighed. “You’re right. We should be realistic.”

He nodded.

“Private adoption is probably our best option,” she continued. “Obviously I have a lot of relatives we could choose from, but I really don’t think that’s a good idea. Not when the whole problem is probably hereditary.”

“Huh?”

“But the good news is that with your money, you can afford, like, the most talented lawyers, and we’ll make sure I have excellent prenatal care, so our baby goes to only the very best family. Right?”

“Right. I mean, no. Wait. Penelope! What??”

“What? I agreed that we should be realistic. And not just about you--you’re talking to someone with depression and PTS. So you’re right, there’s definitely a woman out there who would make a way better mom than I could. More stable.”

“Hey, now.” Schneider frowned and reached out for her hands. “Having PTS or depression doesn’t mean you’re undeserving or that you won’t be an amazing mom to that baby and oh my god I see what kind of a Jedi trick you’re trying to pull on me there.”

With a fond hint of a smile, Penelope mimed the exploding-brain gesture at him that he was so fond of. “Blew your mind, yeah?”

“Maybe I just feel like arguing with a pregnant lady is a dick move,” he replied.

“Nah, I totally won the argument.” 

Lifting one of his hands up and turning it over, Penelope kissed his palm. “I have almost two decades of experience now, Schneider. And I am telling you, you’ve got what it takes to be a great father.”

She saw the moment when the thought struck him, watched it bloom over his face into a huge grin. 

“Penelope. The baby--our baby,” he corrected himself softly. “We’re going to be able to give it everything it needs. Everything it wants! And all the love it deserves. It’s going to just...” 

Schneider teared up again and she took the opportunity to move in for a hug. “It’s going to be the luckiest baby ever,” she agreed. “And super cute, obviously.”

“But it’s not gonna get spoiled,” she rushed to add. “You hear me, Schneider? No thousand dollar strollers or designer baby clothes it’ll throw up on in five minutes, no round-the-clock nannies. We don’t need it, the baby won’t be better off because of it. No child of mine is going to grow up not knowing the value of money or hard work, or what the real world is like.”

“I hear you.” Still grinning, Schneider kissed her, his mouth gliding over hers.

“I’m not kidding,” Penelope leaned back to say, jabbing a finger at his pajama-clad chest. “You don’t get to throw your money at every minor inconvenience, or sneak tips to people to smooth the way like that’s normal.”

His hand rubbed at the tension in the nape of her neck while he moved his mouth to her cheek. “Got it. Dial down the overtipping.”

“And if you think you can get around me with kisses and charm, think again, alright? This is important, Schnei---”

His name transformed into a moan when his lips found the pulse point behind her ear.

“Damn it, Schneider, you can’t...well, fuck.” His teeth grazed her neck and she melted against him, her fingers gripping his against her stomach. 

His quiet laugh was wicked before he followed his teeth with the soft brush of his mouth. “Y’know, Pen, that’s really very inappropriate language for a mother-to-be.”

“The baby doesn’t even have ears yet,” she reminded him, “so come here.” She used her free hand to bring Schneider’s face back to hers, kissing him until they had to break apart for air.

He rested his forehead against hers. “Can you stay?”

“Normally I would say no, you know how my Mami is. But I think that just this once, when I head home with the news...she’s going to have other things on her mind.”

Penelope grinned against his mouth between kisses, quick and bright. “Let’s go to bed.”

“You know,” Schneider said as he stood and reached for her hand, “this will sort of be our first night as a family. I’m glad we get to spend it together.”

“I’m happy to be here too.” She squeezed his hand. “But you should really know better than that.” 

Stopping in his bedroom doorway, Penelope stood on her toes to kiss him, sweet and slow. “Schneider...we've been family for years.”

#odaat #alvareider #one day at a time #schneider x penelope #penelope x schneider #you don't realize how much punctuation you use until tumblr develops a bug that won't let you use punctuation above a read more cut #alvareider fanfic #alvareider fic #odaat fic #odaat fanfic #one day at a time fic #one day at a time fanfic #my fic

[violetemerald]

Grey's Anatomy: Owen Hunt & His Journey to Becoming a Parent - "Bless The Broken Road"

Voiceovers are transcribed at the bottom of this description. ~~~ I don't know what to expect with Owen and this foster baby storyline going forward but I'm SO HAPPY about it so far. Also my OTP on Grey's right now is Owen/Amelia and her being so involved has not hurt my happiness about it... lol. But seriously, I have all the excitement of shipping feelings right now but more toward Owen&happiness, I have been rooting for Owen and parenthood for 7 years, I'm pretty sure, and it's all HAPPENING!! ~~~ As you may have learned from my personal video about my queerplatonic relationship I was in on-and-off for a couple years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN_3ynvHdY4 - I really want to foster and/or adopt children myself in my future. Owen's storyline (including a willingness to adopt or even foster an older child!) and his struggle to find a partner he's in love with who actually wants to have children has been one of the parts of Grey's Anatomy as a TV series that has resonated with me the most, especially recently as I re-watch a big chunk of the series knowing I'm asexual and aromantic-spectrum. I was so shocked when 14x19 happened and Owen signed up to do parenting single via fostering to adopt, as that is basically my plan if I can't within the next 6 or 7 years or so find a partner to co-parent with. I started this vid immediately and have been SO inspired.

Special thanks to cardiffgiant02 for helping me brainstorm scenes!

I couldn't fit in everything I wanted to, especially in regards to explaining how his relationship with Emma in season 10 was so close to giving him his dream of children but SHE wasn't who he wanted in a romantic partner, and actually in order to fit in most of what I wanted to I edited the song and EXTENDED IT...

...but repeating certain instrumental sections a few times. I hope the song extension/edits don't sound horrible and overly distracting... I couldn't help it, I really *needed* the extra 30 or so seconds, lol. Also I hope my glowy effects on the scenes from the two "What If" episodes where Owen has kids in season 8 and season 10 are not too much...

Mainly I'm pretty happy with how the video turns out even if it's not entirely perfect. I worked hard on this and I really hope people enjoy it. Please leave me a comment if you like it, as it took me many, many hours to edit. :)

And yay for my first Grey's Anatomy video in 4 years, by the way! Check out my playlist of all my Grey's Anatomy vidding here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQIrXD4weMlgmJGC93E8d3QAXaht9guad

I actually hope to make some other Grey's Anatomy fanvideos soon, probably to vid Cristina & Meredith's relationship, to vid Amelia and/or the Owen/Amelia ship, AND to vid the hospital shooting storyline and the whole aftermath of that trauma throughout season 7.  I already have perfect song ideas for all of those. They all mean things to me personally. Cristina & Meredith are the epitome of queerplatonic partners in many ways, although there is no one way to do that relationship structure, and I love so much in my re-watch noticing the show exploring their bond. The trauma and coping with the aftermath of a gun related trauma is personal for me after my friend perpetrated a murder-suicide 5 months ago. Etc. There's a LOT going into my feelings toward the show right now.

I felt a little weird vidding this song because A) I started a vid years and years ago set to a different cover of this song and I almost-never repeat vid songs, and B) I'm an atheist - I don't believe in God and this song is kinda more heavily about "God" "blessing" the difficult journey to get to the happy ending. But the previous vid I had been working on, a Lucas & Peyton (One Tree Hill) one I didn't vid more than about 45 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l9yExD5zQY and I just couldn't think of a better song for focusing on the "broken road" part, the angst and long journey to getting tot the end. A lot of other songs that crossed my mind, like "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung or other covers of that, focused too much on how life NOW is great, brighter than sunshine, and while it turns out episodes 14x20 and 14x21 gave us quite a few Owen w/ a child scenes and I could've probably made a song like that work, I picked the song when all I knew was the end of 14x19 and I was expecting maybe one scene at best by the end of the season of Owen getting his dream of Parenthood. I was expecting the happy ending to be more implied in this vid when I first started out making it. Anyway... I think the song worked pretty perfectly, even if at the end the lyric switches to "lover's arms" so I had to be creative with Amelia... :P There aren't a lot of songs out there focusing on platonic happy endings after a lot of broken hearts, if you know what I mean.

Song: Bless The Broken Road Cover Artist: Luke Murgatroyd & Mike Watson (Originally by Rascal Flatts) Discovered it here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYP8UqF5x8s

Voiceovers:

Cristina: I don't want a baby. Owen: Well, you have one.

Owen: I could take a leave for six months, or a year. Cristina: No, you couldn't. Owen: Yes. Sure, I could. I'm telling you I want this. I can do this. Cristina: There is no compromise! I don't want to be a mother.

Cristina: I made an appointment... to terminate the pregnancy.

Owen (to Megan): I always imagined us raising our families together. Camping trips, cookouts.

Owen: It's a cute baby, right?

Owen: I could sing a song... You tired? [Sofia coos]

Owen: It's always been about you! It's what YOU want. That's always been your position. We live like you want, how you want... you get WHATEVER you want.

April: I don't know, it's just a feeling. [Owen scoffs a little] April: But... you don't have any kids.

Owen: It was- it was a... life that I envisioned for myself, okay?

Megan: You don't have any kids. How exactly would that dream work out?

Owen: You KILLED our baby! You don't ever forget that!

DSHS Worker: So, are you looking to foster a child? Or foster-to-adopt? Owen: Foster-to-adopt.

Owen: Oh, sure. Ok, we're fine. Except for the part where you aborted the child that I wanted. Cristina: Except for the part where you held my hand while I exercised my right to choose, and then four months later you screamed I killed your baby in front of all our friends.

Cristina: I do not want kids- Owen: Most people would've considered dropping a bomb like that BEFORE the wedding. THAT is when it would've been relevant.

Meredith: He should be with someone who wants a baby.

Amelia: You have wanted this forever!

Ethan: Can I stay with you? Owen: [chuckles] No, no, no, I have to- I have to work.

Owen: When you and Derek adopted Zola, how did you know?

Owen (to Emma): Are you planning to break my heart?

Owen: I mean, how did you really know that that was something you were gonna do? Meredith: Why? Are you thinking...?

Owen: You know, this kid, he needs someone. And... I like him! And, uh... he likes me! He's scared and alone, and... I could help. I know how to help, and I want to. It's a huge commitment; it's a lifetime of responsibility... but then I spend one minute with this kid, and... I can't imagine not doing it.

Meredith: You know, Owen was talking about taking the kid, himself.

Cristina: Were you even going to tell me you wanted to... ADOPT him? Owen: Well, that didn't happen, so... Cristina: But you WANTED to! Owen, you want kids!

Cristina: Derek watches Zola put applesauce in her ear, and he's enchanted. You felt that way with Ethan.

Alex: Mm. Maybe you're not a "baby guy". Babies just don't like some guys.

Cristina: You broke up with her? She was IT, Owen. Picket fence, a dozen kids. Owen: I don't want to talk about that.

Owen: I'm a baby guy! You can see that, right?

Owen: Um... kids? Amelia: Five. Owen: Whoa, five? Amelia: Sure, unless the first few terrorize us, then we can have four. Owen: Are we really talking about this? Marriage and kids?

Owen: Hey, did I tell you I spent all day with Harriet today? It was so much fun. After a while, I just... I felt like I'd done it forever.

Owen: And so I was thinking that we could turn the... study into the nursery!

Megan: If I die, I need you to promise me that you'll take care of Farouk.

Amelia: My baby lived for 43 minutes.

Owen: I keep trying to think of him as like a "practice baby", but he is such a cute practice baby. [Sighs] Oh.

Amelia: I got to hold him. And it almost killed me! I haven't told Owen all of it.  [Breathes.] He wants a family so bad.

Owen: You know, and then we can- We can turn the nursery into his room! Or her room. I mean, it's a good room for a kid, right?

#Grey's Anatomy #fanvideo #Owen Hunt #Amelia Shepherd #Cristina Yang #vidding #GA fanvid

[ethanalter]

The heartbreaking true story behind 'ALF's Special Christmas'

GIF: Alien Productions

The ’80s were a heyday for “Very Special Episodes,” those odd installments of a family sitcom and/or kids’ show where things unexpectedly got serious. Whether it was Alex P. Keaton spending an entire episode in therapy or Arnold Jackson having a harrowing encounter with a child molester, these half-hours admirably, if often awkwardly, tried to address complex subjects in ways that young viewers could process. At that time and still today, there’s never been a “Very Special Episode” quite like “ALF’s Special Christmas.” Premiering precisely 30 years ago on Dec. 14, 1987, ALF‘s hourlong Christmas tale separated the titular intergalactic immigrant from his adopted human family so that he could bring good tidings and joy to a dying young girl named Tiffany as she prepares to celebrate her very last holiday. Oh yeah, and he also prevents the hospital’s resident Santa, Mr. Foley — who is a grieving widower when not in costume — from taking a leap off of a snowy bridge.

It’s safe to say that dying children and suicidal Santas aren’t conventional ways of spreading Christmas cheer. And in the years since “ALF’s Special Christmas” premiered, the episode has frequently been written about in disbelieving tones by writers who are flummoxed by how it ever aired in the first place. Now the story can be told: Yes, Virginia there really was a Tiffany. Yahoo Entertainment learned this bombshell bit of news when we spoke with Paul Fusco, who created and voiced ALF, and writer Steve Hollander, who penned “Alf’s Special Christmas.” “The episode came out of a true story,” Fusco reveals. “I used to do a lot of Make-A-Wish things, because kids would write to ALF, and I would get calls from doctors. It’s heartbreaking when you think about it.”

Cleavon Little as Mr. Foley and Keri Houlihan as Tiffany in “Alf’s Special Christmas.” (Photo: Alien Productions)

One of the letters he received was from a girl named Tiffany Leigh Smith, whom the character in “ALF’s Special Christmas” is based on. “I don’t remember all the details, but I saved her letters and have them on file,” Fusco says. As Hollander recalls, the real Tiffany was a 9-year-old from the Midwest suffering from leukemia and eager to have a face-to-face conversation with her favorite Melmac citizen. “Someone at the local NBC station arranged a kind of video conference setup between her in her hospital bed and ALF,” he says. “He also had the presence of mind to turn on the tape and record it! [Former NBC president] Brandon Tartikoff saw it and thought, ‘We should make a Christmas special around this story.'”

While he can’t recall the specifics of his conversation with Tiffany, Fusco says that his general approach to those kinds of private appearances would be to keep the mood light and playful. “I would make jokes and small talk. I would try not to talk about their situation, which they didn’t want to talk about anyway. I would sometimes get a fact sheet about what they liked or didn’t like. And then I’d throw it to them, and ask, ‘Do you have any questions you want to ask me?’ I tried to make them laugh as much as I could and then say, ‘Hang in there, you be good — I hope to see you again.’ You leave them on a positive note; it’s about all you can do.” One rule he absolutely had was to never break character in front of the children. “These kids wanted to believe — it was magic to them. I was a magician early on in my career, and you never want to see what’s behind the curtain. You want to keep it real.”

That’s the same way that Hollander and Fusco both approached the task of turning Tiffany’s real-life story into the basis for “ALF’s Special Christmas.” Watching the episode, it’s striking how different it looks from a typical episode of ALF or, for that matter, a typical episode of any ’80s sitcom. Gone is the laugh track, the usual set, and the three-camera setup, replaced by a single camera (the episode was shot on film, rather than video), real locations — including a former hospital rented out by film and television productions — and the usual rhythm of setup and punchline. The dramatic shift is evident from the earliest scenes, when ALF’s misunderstandings of Christmas conventions lead him to exile himself from the Tanner clan, climbing into Mr. Foley’s van and ending up in the pile of presents he hands out to sick kids at the hospital. “I was unsure of how it would come off,” Fusco admits now of the special’s more serious tone. “I didn’t want it to look hokey or saccharine in any way. I was also worried how I would react in those scenes, but it was really one of the first dramatic roles that ALF had to play in the show.”

GIF: Alien Productions

In contrast, Hollander says that once he viewed the tape of ALF’s bedside chat with Tiffany and talked at length with the show’s co-creator, Tom Patchett, the story flowed easily. “In Tom’s mind, the central question for ALF was: What do you say to a little girl who is not going to see another Christmas?” Perhaps recognizing the unique tonal and narrative challenges presented by that question, Patchett allowed Hollander to pen his script outside of the writers’ room, where episodes were written and rewritten by the entire staff. “The staff was not involved in outlining the story or rewriting it. The person who could change anything was Tom.” And Hollander remembers that Patchett didn’t want to change very much about the script that he turned in. “Maybe 10-15 percent was cut out just for time. There was one scene in the beginning where the Tanners are driving to their family cabin, and ALF is in the backseat in a child’s seat with a little steering wheel. And every two seconds, he’s going, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’ That didn’t get filmed because of production scheduling. But other than that, nothing major was taken out or added.”

One scene that was always in the script, much to Fusco’s concern, was a sequence where ALF would play doctor to a pregnant woman, helping deliver her baby while they were both stranded in an elevator. Hollander wrote that encounter into the script as a way to generate some laughs in an otherwise serious episode. “I was kind of on edge about that scene,” Fusco confesses now. “Any time they could put ALF in a doctor’s suit or something stupid like that, I was always like, ‘No, no, no, no!’ But they said, ‘You need to balance the jokes off with the dying child.’ It’s probably the silliest moment in the episode, but I think the audience forgave us.”

GIF: Alien Productions

As per “Very Special Episode” tradition, “ALF’s Special Christmas” features a pair of very special guest stars. Blazing Saddles leading man Cleavon Little personally sought out the role of Mr. Foley, a character Fusco says he hoped veteran character actor Barnard Hughes might play. “Our casting person said that Cleavon was either a fan of the show or made some overture that he was interested in the part. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a total 180 from where I was going with it!’ I don’t think he started out as a comedic actor and, because of Blazing Saddles, he probably wanted a dramatic role again. He was a fun guy to work with.”

And Fusco couldn’t resist injecting a little Blazing Saddles-style humor into his relatively few scenes with Little. While shooting the bridge sequence, where ALF talks Mr. Foley back from the literal ledge, the actor went off-script for the first take. “I yelled ‘Jump,’ and then said, ‘You’ve got nothing left; you might as well do it — it’s the right choice.’ The crew went crazy! I think that broke the ice with Cleavon.” (It’s worth noting that Little also shares scenes with another future star, Carl Franklin, who plays Tiffany’s doctor. Franklin has since become a respected director, alternating features like Devil in a Blue Dress with episodic work on shows like House of Cards and The Leftovers.)

GIF: Alien Productions

For the role of Tiffany, meanwhile, NBC indulged in a little cross-promotion by suggesting that the producers cast child actress Keri Houlihan, one of the stars of the Wilford Brimley drama Our House. Fusco says he’s uncertain whether Houlihan — who left acting after Our House ended in 1988 — was aware that she was playing a real person. But neither she nor NBC insisted on providing the fictional Tiffany with a last-minute reprieve via, say, a Melmacian serum or a Christmas miracle. The last time we see her, she’s sadly waving goodbye to ALF from the window of her hospital room, a clear signal that she won’t be going home. (A closing title card pays tribute to the real Tiffany.) “That never came up — maybe because there was a real story there,” Hollander says when asked whether the network wanted a happier ending. “Nobody thought, ‘We’ve got to make a cheerful Christmas story. It was a true situation; we weren’t trying to invent a story.” In fact, Fusco remembers receiving letters from Tiffany’s mother and doctor after the girl’s death. “They said that by just allowing her to talk to ALF, it prolonged her life by maybe a month. It gave her hope to hold on to.”

While “ALF’s Special Christmas” is often met with baffled reactions today, 30 years ago it helped the sitcom attain its perch among 1987’s most highly rated shows. And rather than be upset by it, young viewers seemed to take its serious storyline in stride. “The phone was ringing off the hook for sponsors as soon as that episode aired,” remembers Hollander, who went on to work as a co-producer during the show’s third season and also wrote a two-part Thanksgiving special where ALF aids a homeless man in the Tanners’ neighborhood. “My mother watched the show with some young kids from the neighborhood and said, ‘They didn’t laugh once!’ And I said, ‘That’s great, Mom. That’s just what I wanted.’ It was a true situation and we had this character that kids didn’t know was just a puppet. ALF had meaning to a lot of children.”

Photo: Alien Productions

Fusco expresses similar sentiments about kids’ affection for his alien alter ego blunting any emotional trauma from Tiffany’s story. “They believed enough in the character that we were able to pull it off and keep it real. They saw the emotion and felt that ALF had more range than just being a one-line jokester.” At the same time, he’s aware that “ALF’s Special Christmas” is more of a time capsule for a vanished era of TV as opposed to a source of inspiration for contemporary sitcoms. “What shows are doing that kind of thing today? The Big Bang Theory wouldn’t do something like that. Did we overdo it back then? Or is it because there’s so much horror in the world right now, we want to give audiences pure escapism? Buying into the character was the important part, and it apparently worked because people are moved by it.”

ALF is available to rent or purchase on Amazon, or stream for free on Amazon Prime with a Starz subscription.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: The 30 best TV moments of 2017  Celebrities who lit up 2017 All of ‘The Office’ Christmas episodes, ranked

#_revsp:wp.yahoo.tv.us #_uuid:e073e966-9cc4-3062-8cff-9d3349ecb7ea #holidays #_author:Ethan Alter #ALF #christmas #_category:yct:001000086 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT #interviews