#but it’s influenced a lot of smaller communities a Lot and like. guy at party they don’t KNOW

[enderspawn]

what is the most widespread but niche mcyt containment breach and why is it “diggy diggy hole”

[drdemonprince]

Look I understand that at the federal level we're cooked because we don't have a good third option but voting on a state and local level will help out peoples lives. We can see this with how abortion rights were enshrined in blue states and how places like Minnesota got children free lunch. We can't just decolonize the system overnight so I think it's the most practical thing to do is vote for the best change possible on levels where you're the most effected while working for more.

It's not that we lack a good or viable third option, the problem runs far deeper and more systemically than that. The system is set up such that no alternative option that is actually challenging to the status quo can exist -- the way election financing works and the structure of majority/minority leadership in houses and senates makes having a meaningful third party presence impossible.

As for the possible influence at the local election level, in some ways I am with you. I voted for an increase to funding for the forest reserve. I felt good when that passed. I voted for increased funding for homeless people -- it never materialized. Even when welfare packages pass, they rarely do materialize as promised because there is no way to hold the government accountable for carrying out the people's will.

I voted for the mayor that was less pro-cop. It hasn't kept police from brutalizing protestors all over this city all year long. He put in a few more bike lanes which I guess some people find an adequate enough reason to continue to be complicit within the present system. But my feeling is that every goddamned time that I convince myself that I should participate to try and move the needle, that I should lower my standards and accept even a modicum of improved treatment by the state, I wind up being bait-and-switched even further and having to accept even smaller table scraps than the crumbs I'd already been offered. And I see so many dedicated, passionate leftist people pouring hundreds of hours every year into campaigning for Democratic politicians who pull shit like this, and helping them raise copious amounts of funds that exist only to help them keep getting elected and doing fuck all.

if you wanna walk up to the polls on election day and pay attention to whats happening down ballot that's your business. im glad my alderwoman is the less pro-gentrification one than the other guy that used to be in office. she's still pro gentrification and building $1400 a month high rises all over the neighborhood. none of this is acceptable and the forward creep of economic displacement is still happening, it just has a happier face on it. and it always will because that's what the system is and does.

the deeper problem is that once people invest any hope in a system that is hopelessly oppressive, they tend to also funnel a lot of attention toward electoral politics and campaigning when that money and time would be a lot better spend like, just giving food to homeless people on your block or babysitting a neighbors kids or planting some vegetables or like anything else thats actually community minded.

[ellipsae]

Hi, I'm back with another Post-Epilogue design, this time for Guy. I have to admit, I really struggled with this one. Guy's original design has such a clean but distinctive style to it that I just can't quite capture. At first I tried to do a 'work' outfit for when he gets hands-on with fon tech before switching to attempting a formal outfit. The casual jacket-off variation feels more like Guy than the full dressed one though...I'm not too satisfied with this one but there were several design points that I wanted to work in and did at the very least. Maybe I'll revisit this design again down the road.

Anyways, please see under the read more for more design details. !Warning for Spoilers!

-so post-epilogue, I imagine Guy becomes a 'rising star' in noble society after hitting it big by sinking all his wealth in fontech development which quickly became a booming industry in the post-Planet Storm world. All the other nobility are so impressed by Guy's rise in reputation/wealth/smart investment decisions but in reality it's largely just Guy being a really big fontech nerd like usual and funding everything that are really interesting to him and being an early investor. He spends more time than he likes having to attend parties and gatherings but he understands having and maintaining a reputation is important to assert his influence and opinions, especially after all the obstacles he faced getting back his title (I imagine he got judged a lot for his rappig caretaker job and such), plus he's so used to being a servant he doesn't act like most nobles. (He finally graduates from his job as Peony's Rappig Caretaker though.)

-the device in his suspender holster is a fonon counter, it can detect the type and concentration of fonons in the immediate area. (It's a useful tool plot-wise for this AU *winkwink* ) Normally Guy carries it when he's on site, observing fontech excavation, it's helpful for finding power cores.

-in the post-epilogue world, Guy's interest and knowledge about fontech makes him the greatest source of information in the party, in contrast to Jade being the authority on fonic sciences back when fonons were abundant

-I also imagine that many people are still reluctant to adopt fontech in their everyday lives/still stuck on losing the Score and fonic magic so there was not a lot of initial interest. It was also still quite a risk to invest in given a lot of advance tech had to rely on excavated machines from the Dawn Age. In contrast, replicas have no preconceptions about fontech and I imagine Guy helping fledgling replica communities get ahead by sharing and teaching them how to use simple fontech. Since philantrophy/altruism is also part of what nobility does, it makes the other nobles impressed as well.

-I went a little overboard with the gold cording but I really like the idea of the cording being a traditional style of Hod.

-the four leaf clover-like knot is a decorative knot called a mokkou musubi, it carries the meaning of 'perpetuation of one's descendants'. Pere tied it for him with that in mind to revive the House of Gardios.

-the pin brooch on his lapel is the same as the one Marybelle wears on her cravat. I like to think that it's their family crest. In the off-jacket version, Guy has a smaller pin on the collar.

-I really wanted to preserve the curved open window (?) that his vest has in his original design so I ended up putting it as an open back on his jacket

-I went through so many types of coat styles, from like caped trench coats to riding frocks but cycled back to keeping the single-tail back.

-the orange 'jacket' around his waist in the jacket-off version is actually his vest. And the cloth in his pocket is not the cravat from his full dressed version, but I can imagine a funny skit where everyone keeps thinking it is the cravat.

[peppertaemint]

I've always felt that the jikookers vs. taemin feud kinda mirrored the taekookers vs. jimin situation, but at a much smaller scale, of course. I agree with you that they feel threatened by taemin's indisputable stature as an artist, as it disrupts the narrative that bts is always the first and always the best at everything, and also because jimin looks up to him and is influenced by him (as if it wasn't obvious enough before, now we got the confirmation from the man himself, thank you very much). This reminds me of taekookers getting mad at jimin for standing out so much as a performer. I mean, he obviously does, that's why they're always all up in his business instead of focusing on their favs' "records". Also, they hate the fact that they're close because they read taemin as queer, which makes them think that they actually might have kissed, once, at a party (just once). Kookie's friends look straight enough to them, so they can stay. A bit homophobic if you ask me. I'm sure that if we saw taemin around jimin publicly more often, he would've been already promoted to the same The Other Woman™ role jimin occupies for tkks. And besides all that, I could write an essay on why jimin's friendships have always been under scrutiny because many people can't take the fact that he has more going on in his life besides being the members' cheerleader and jungkook's devoted wife, but that's a different topic.

Thank you for this Ask, Anon. You raised a lot of salient points here. The one I'm gonna pick up on is Taemin's perceived queerness, with emphasis on perceived.

There is an odd thing that happens with non-fans. They mostly think he's gay, that it's obvious, and they don't really like their favourite having a connection to him. While, within the fandom community, shawols cannot decide if they think he's gay. If you were to ask around, you'd get quite a few different opinions.

I find it interesting because the "outside" community has very specific and strong opinions of him. I connected with a Korean-American lady in her 50s a while ago and talked about all things Kpop. She wasn't a shawol. One of the first things she said, unprompted, was, oh Taemin, he's gay but can never come out, what a shame/challenge for him (I was chatting from a 2Min account, just for context). I was a little floored at how readily she shared this fully-formed opinion.

It seems the world outside shawols have already made up their minds about him, in one way or another. I think about when he was young and had that beautiful long hair, but his frame was still so slight that the gender confusion for an onlooker was understandable. It must have been hard to have the world decide that you were sitting somewhere on the trans spectrum. And to know everyone thinks they know you're gay.

There is a zero percent chance of him not feeling these things, and he's certainly done both reactionary hetero-leaning performances and queer performances. Pretty Boy is and Internet War are the first that come to mind. And it's worth remembering that sometime in the early 2010s, there was a Korean news report about homosexuality in kpop idols, and he and Jonghyun were named in it (as a couple, I think 💀).

I don't love the song Pretty Boy, but the choreography with its military steps and these lyrics have a lot to say.

Hey you, tough guy / Relax your hardened shoulders / Hey feel the way I move

I’m like a speeding train / You’ll be surprised / Look at that poor girl, I hope you notice / She says “you’re a guy so…” like a habit / Why is being sensitive and prepared the opposite of being a man?

Cause I do it I do it for you / I won’t pretend to be innocent like a puppet / Everyone talks so easily

I may always seem pretty, I may always seem good / I may seem nice, I may seem soft / But that’s all a part of your imagination that’s over my head / (Pretty Boy)

[mediapoliticsandcitizenship]

BLOG POST 2: TAYLOR SWIFT

This particular post was an Instagram story posted by Taylor Swift on her account a while back. It depicts the wording as so; “Are you registered to vote?” I've been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my US shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year! Register to vote in less than 2 minutes at “VOTE.ORG/NVRD”.

The particular stance I want to make of this post is rather more on the cynical end, with some critical deliberation of why I feel like this is an interesting incorporation of politics by a well-known celebrity.

Celebrities in the media are having a rather more prevalent influence than ever before i must say. In one article posted by Newport Academy, they state “A survey found that 80 percent of teen girls compare themselves to images they see of celebrities. Almost half of those reported that celebrity images make them feel dissatisfied with the way they look.” In regards to mega superstar Taylor Swift, a lot of her audience consists of young teenage girls or rather more feminine-presenting people who resonate with her music and art as a whole. If we look at the plenty of imagery that makes up Taylor Swift’s discography, it mostly consists of seemingly harmless lyrics and content, mostly consisting of music and songs detailing heartbreak, relationships, and womanhood. All seemingly harmless stuff right? Yet this isn’t a critique of Taylor Swift’s discography, but rather the extent of the power over her “fandom” she has, and to what length.

Taylor Swift has been one of several celebrities who has been lumped in several “purple-washing” controversies; a term that has been tossed around in the media as meaning a type of “woke neo-liberal propaganda” used by the liberals to promote “feminism” - or something along the lines that your average Republican or Conservative politician would say. The term “purple-washing” can be defined in this article by Ishika Aggarwal as “colour washing the ‘not so feminist stuff’ by sugar coating things with feminist values. It is basic to hide one’s inherent anti-feminist and anti-women opinions with some other feminist values (because society likes inclusion and they want society’s support) (Aggarwal, 2023).” At times, many of Taylor Swift’s music comes off as a back-handed perspective and narrow minded view of a universal experience of womanhood and femininity as a whole piece; it seems her music is more so catered to “white feminists'' who mostly feel empowered by content that speaks to a rather dissonant image of their experiences. So it seems somewhat backhanded at times that she would want to venture into the world of politics as a whole. 

In terms of the voting process, was Miss Swift aware of such disadvantages to openly voting the party you want due to other factors? Gentrification? Gerrymandering, perhaps? Gerrymandering is a political tactic that is created due to something in the US political system known as “redistricting”; this can be seen as problematic for a number of reasons. The whole process can only be described as a way for a specific political party to gain more votes by using the redistribution of smaller districts towards their own registered areas, thus making it oftentimes impossible for a normal individual living in the United States to vote for the party they want. This is even harder for those in gentrified areas, where predominantly POC or minorities reside; in an article published by Brennan Center for Justice, it can only be defined as “rather than voters choosing their representatives, gerrymandering empowers politicians to choose their voters.  But of course, Miss Swift would probably not be aware of that, would she?

However, I will not want to leave the critique on a purely cynical route; Taylor Swift, I must admit, has been known for advocacy for women and the queer LGBT community. She also has been known for speaking against homophobia and sexism within and outside her fandom, which she should address as an artist. She, as a mega superstar, is at least using her voice to speak on issues that she feels attached towards, which many celebrities in the public refuse to do at times due to their own inclinations to stay out of political discussion without having their own opinions used against them. Here, Taylor Swift is obviously more on the liberal side of the discussion, with her extensive resume and record of donating towards notable charities and organizations. Her outspokenness on issues she is passionate about is at least something to be commended.

I would like to go back to the point I had made on Taylor Swift entering the political realm; in an article posted in Cosmopolitan, they had reinstated that “A 2021 survey from Pipslay, found that 63% of Americans said they believed celebrities made good politicians, with 58% saying they would support Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Matthew McConaughey if either actor decided to run for president (Hall, 2023).” This phenomenon of celebrities entering the political realm is reserved with the term, “celebrity politics.” Many notable celebrities such as Kanye West or Caitlynn Jenner have been known to have ventured into politics while having had the status of celebrity beforehand, although both the latter have had the notoriety for being openly Republican and Conservative in their opinions. On one hand it seems at times Taylor Swift’s oftentimes “tone-deaf liberalism” comes off as a barrier in recognizing her actual stance in this example of political product placement. On the contrary it is rather a good mechanism for her to be able to gain more respect from her fanbase, while also being able to introduce the process of voting to her younger generation of fans. In doing so creating a way for “most” of them to gain access; emphasis on those who can even have access to these resources.

[dj-dondondonki]

girly rave in chengdu

went to a rave last weekend in chengdu.

it was fun!

i think it really hit home for me there how closed off from the outside (Western) world China has really become. in Taipei, techno events are usually at least half white Western expats (mostly European guys and rly young exchange students). this chengdu rave was like...almost all Chinese (mostly Szechuanese judging from dialect). except one German girl (why is there always a German?? any rave anywhere in the world???).

it was refreshing, actually, to be at a techno event where the vibe was not mid European guys holding drinks and their overdressed Taiwanese gfs vaping. it reminded me of my first rave, in nyc - a queer rave with a lot of open gay-ness, lesbians, trans people clearly there for the celebration of queerness as much as for the music. at this chengdu event there were a ton of lesbians. a lot of women in general actually -- more women than men, and both the DJs playing that night were women.

(reminded me of something my cousin said: apparently Szechuan is the province in China where women have the highest societal status and comparative equality to men, a factor that influenced Luis Vuitton's decision to open their China flagship in Chengdu??)

the vibe was very house party-esque -- felt like a close-knit community who knew each other well. a lot of ppl were there just to hang out rather than to dance/get wasted. little clusters of friend groups posted up outside the venue all night, gossiping n smoking n hugging n talking each other through gay heartbreak </3 .

i danced a lot and then wanted to chat w people but nobody really approached me :( i even did the thing where i bummed cigarettes as a way to enter a conversation but it did not work, people just gave me a cigarette silently lol. that's something i'm still not used to - the general standoffishness of Asian people at nightclubs. not that i find Americans at raves especially friendly, but i do think American raves (esp very gay ones) have more of a loose, chummy intimate feel -- you can randomly start dancing w strangers, vibing, hugging, whatever -- whereas Asians definitely respect each others' personal space on the dancefloor. it's something i miss a lot about nyc tbh.

the space was super small - two rooms, the smaller room was like the size of my living room in taipei. they had a brazilian DJ playing there and a cute cooler w juice boxes and chrysanthemum tea, etc. the bigger room had a local Chengdu DJ, an older lady, chainsmoking n getting rly drunk and the crowd was going HARD for her. like screaming for their favorite tracks and they were rly rly dancing. apparently they dance till sunrise at these things. there's no official end time it's just when ppl get too tired, usually 6 or 7am.

the one thing i disliked was how much ppl were smoking. they smoke A LOT here, like ppl were chainsmoking like crazy while dancing inside this tiny closed room, it was SOUPY w secondhand smoke. i was coughing the day after and i feel like it's still in my lungs now :'((( why do chinese ppl have to smoke so much???

i've been thinking about raving in general lately n my relationship to it -- there was a time like two years ago when i first started clubbing, when i really thought dancing n clubbing could be like...my meaning in life LOL. my salvation. i was inspired by david mancuso in the 70s, the infamous utopian loft parties, the subversive gay/black subculture that gave rise to techno, and i was hosting these cute!! DIY!! basement parties w my friends thinking that possibly RAVE COULD SAVE THE WORLD. or at least save...people like me? lesbian misfits seeking art n community??

these days i feel like so much older. like idk. maybe dancing n loud techno n drugs is just...dancing n techno n drugs?? you go out enough and everything starts to feel the same, the crowd around you gets younger and younger, you recognize the same characters on the dancefloor no matter where in the world it is.

i think i'm getting to a stage where i either need more out of clubbing (like, i'm craving a clubbing/dancing experience that's more overtly community-based and warm and intentionally uplifting) or maybe, clubbing is no longer satisfying my need for... whatever, a creative/energetic outlet, a sense of vibing and celebration with others.

(also: see this masterpiece of music journalism that describes the clubbing scene in chengdu)

[jtsfavslut]

Show Me How

Description: After countless ‘I think she’s the one’ Grayson loses hope in finding his soulmate. But one girl gives him the hope to try again. 

Warnings: None

Word Count: 4.5k+

Parties were not your scene. They just weren’t, but they certainly were your friends, and they loved to drag you with them.

Which is the only reason why you're in a stranger's kitchen, it was a nice kitchen tho, definitely better than the one at your tiny and overpriced apartment.

“I haven’t seen you around,” a random man’s voice spoke as they stood next to you.

“Cool,” you nicely replied, taking a sip of the cup that you were holding onto for dear life.

“You look hot,” he replied again, making you roll your eyes and turn to look at him.

“And you look like you should leave me alone,” you replied, you were a bit scared, he was taller than you and under the influence of alcohol and other things. 

“Feisty, I like it,” he smirked and you instantly felt smaller and scared. 

“And she doesn’t like you,” another man’s voice spoke, but from behind you, his arms wrapped around you, pulling you close but not that close. 

“And who are you?” the previous guy asked with an attitude. 

“I’m her boyfriend, and I suggest you leave her alone and leave while you’re at it,” he replied and the guy just scoffed and left. 

“Thank you so much, he was starting to scare me,” you thanked as his arm unwrapped from you. 

“It’s no problem. He shouldn’t be talking to you like that, or anyone else on that matter. I mean even I could tell you had no interest in him,” he replied giving you a smile that you returned.

“But seriously thank you, I don’t know what he was finna do if you didn’t come along,” you replied, placing your cup on the counter next to you. “I’m Nailed by the way,” you added with a smile. 

“Grayson,” he replied, returning your smile. “Also not to be rude, but I’ve never seen you around. Are you new to the ‘youtube community’ or?” he asked and you shook your head with a giggle.

“Oh no, I could never. My friends are and they dragged me here,” you replied and he sent you a confused look.

“Why not?” he asked and you shrugged.

“I don’t know, I’m more of a lowkey kind of person you know. Like thousands of people watching me do something sounds weird” you said emphasizing the ‘me’ in your sentence. 

“Oh, I get what you mean. But you get used to it.” he shrugged and you nodded your head. 

“You know what’s funny. I get hate every day because of my friends, like why do you take time out of your day to make me laugh, like really?” you said laughing a bit. It was true, you get hate and laugh at it, you could say that growing up with your family made you immune to hate.

“See, you’re ready to be a YouTuber or something, you’re like mentally prepared,” he replied with a chuckle.

“I’ll think about it,” you replied and took another sip of your water, “I think I’m gonna go,” you sighed looking at the time displayed on your phone screen. 

“Wait, why?” Grayson asked as he stared at you. 

“I’m bored, and it’s late. Plus my friends all left me so,” you shrugged.

“So you’re gonna leave me,” he replied, acting offended.

“Bro, I’m not leaving you. I’m leaving the party, plus I’m hungry,” you replied, putting your phone in your pocket.

“It’s my party, so technically you’re leaving me. Can you just stay? At least for a bit?” he asked, making you blush, thank God for makeup. You were confused as to why he didn’t want you to leave, but you didn’t mind it either. 

 “Fine, and thank God I didn’t talk shit about the party,” you replied, making him laugh. 

“What is my party?” he asked and you shook your head. 

“No, but I told you pirates aren’t my thing. I would be reading a book right now,” you replied and he shook his head. 

“A book?” he asked and you nodded your head. 

“Yes, a book. Reading is actually fun dude,” you replied and he nodded his head. 

“Well, then I’m gonna take your word on that and-,” he began saying before someone yelled his name cutting him off. 

That someone looked just like him making you think they were twins. 

“Ethan this is Y/N, Y/N this is Ethan, my twin brother,” he said as Ethan sort of inspected you and looked at you weirdly making you feel uncomfortable. 

“Hey,” he said, sending you a smile. 

“Hi,” you replied, returning him the smile. 

“She came here with her friends but they left her alone, and Bryce was acting weird so I came,” Grayson said and you nodded your head. 

“Oh, yeah he said you were being a bitch and left,” Ethan replied and you shook your head.

“No, he was being a bitch, harassing me and shit. He was scaring me,” you replied making them laugh. 

“At least he’s gone now,” Ethan said and you nodded your head. “I don’t know who told him to come, because it wasn’t me,” he added and Grayson shrugged.

“Me neither,” Grayson replied. 

“He probably came along with someone, like I did,” you replied and they both agreed. “Now this conversation is nice and all, pero I’m hungry, so,” you said, getting your keys out of your pocket. 

“What does pero mean, is it Spanish?” Ethan asked and you nodded your head. 

“Yeah, it means but,” you replied and he nodded his head and repeated the word to himself.

“Wait, can you give someone a ride, my girl was gonna leave to get food too,” he asked and you nodded your head. 

“Yeah sure, I don’t mind.” you shrugged and he nodded your head, he left and said he was gonna go get her. 

“So you’re gonna come back?” Grayson asked and you nodded your head. 

“I kinda have to now, but yeah,” you replied and looked around. You spotted one of your friends doing something but you didn’t know what.

“Ok, here she is,” Ethan said, coming back to a girl.

“Hi, I’m Karolina,” she said and you could hear a slight accent in her voice. 

“Hey girl, I’m Y/N,” you replied with a smile. “Do you wanna go now?” you asked and she nodded her head. You guys said your goodbye’s and she followed you out the house and into your car.

“Do you have any place in mind? I’m up for anything?” you asked turning on your car after putting your seatbelt on.

“Umm anything open honestly, and offer vegan food, they’re vegan,” she replied and you nodded your head.

“Wait, they’re vegan?” you asked and she nodded her head.

“Yeah, for a while now, it’s kind of annoying because sometimes not all places offer vegan options, and then we have to leave or something. But don’t tell me I said that,” she replied, making you laugh.

“My lips are sealed,” you replied making her laugh.

“So I see you were talking to Gray,” you pointed out, making you blush slightly but you still did.

“Yeah, he’s nice,” you casually replied. 

“Nice? Girl, he was all up on you,” she said making you shake your head while smiling. 

“He was not. He was just being nice,” you replied as she stared at you as if you were crazy.

“Ethan told me he had to go over to you guys because he saw him talking to you for like minutes,” she said and you shrugged,

“I mean yeah, but I doubt it. Doesn’t he have a girlfriend or something?” you asked and you shook her head.

“Nah, he struggles. A LOT,” she replied emphasizing the ‘a lot’.

“Word? How does he struggle when he looks like that?” you asked surprised. 

“Don’t tell him I told you this but, Grayson is a guy that goes straight to the point. And he does the same thing with relationships, he falls fast and some girls don’t like that,” she sighed and shook her head.

“Awww dito, that’s sad. But I get it. He wants someone to stay with and just settle down with. He’s ready to commit,” you replied and she nodded her head. 

“Yeah, and he falls fast, and Ethan always has to protect him and be there for him,” she explained. 

“Well, hopefully, he finds someone who loves him for him. I mean he seems like a really nice person and everyone deserves to be happy,” you replied as you parked your car in front of one of the restaurants your friends go to. 

“Yeah, he is, he just has to be patient,” she replied and you guys got out of the car and walked inside, ordered the food, and left. 

When you got back to the house, everyone had left and it was just you, Kristina, the twins, and their closest friends who they introduced you to. 

“Wait so you’re in college,” Ryan (not n-word Ryan) asked you and you nodded your head. 

“Yeah, but I might drop out, It’s not for me anymore. I only have a year left so I don’t know,” you shrugged and he nodded his head. 

“Might as well finish and get what you paid for,” he replied and you nodded your head.

“True, I don’t even want to be a doctor anymore,” you sighed and took a sip of your milkshake. 

“If it’s not good for your mental health then don’t do it,” Grayson shrugged and you nodded your head. 

“Yeah, I don’t know yet. I’m still thinking about it, anyway I think I’m gonna go,” you yawned getting up and throwing your trash in the trash can. 

“I’ll walk you out,” Grayson said and you nodded your head.

You followed him out of the house and walked towards your car. 

“Thank you for saving me from Bryce today,” you smiled and he nodded his head. 

“I told you it was no problem,” he replied with a smile and put his hands inside his pockets. 

“Umm, anyways,” you awkwardly replied leaning against your car. 

“Yeah, um-” he began saying before he got cut off by Ethan.

“Just give him your number. He’s struggling to ask you for it,” Ethan shouted, making you and Grayson blush. 

“Yeah, what he said,” he shyly smiled and you nodded your head. 

He pulled his phone and handed it to you while you handed him yours and exchanged numbers. 

“I’ll text you?” he asked and you nodded your head, putting your phone back in your pocket. 

“I’ll see you around Gray,” you softly said as you got inside your car, turning it on. 

“See ya, let me know when you get home, yeah?” he replied and waited for you to go back inside and get bullied by Ethan and the rest. 

When you got home, you shot him a quick text letting him know and took a shower before going to bed. 

Gray:

Good. Wyd?

Me: 

Watching a show, you?

Gray: 

Cleaning the kitchen

Me:

Wait...by yourself?

Gray: 

Yeah, E and Karolina when to bed so 

Me:

OOP, lmao good luck.

You replied before putting your phone down and continuing to watch your show before your phone started ringing. He was calling you so you answered.

“Hello,” you answered putting it on speaker and putting the phone on the bed.

“Hey, sorry if it’s random, I’m bored and basically alone,” he replied.

“It’s ok, I don’t mind, I wasn’t really watching the show anyway,” you replied, which was a lie. You were really into the show. 

“Listen, I know we just met and all, but do you wanna go somewhere tomorrow? It’s ok if you don’t,” he asked, making you smile and blush.

“Sure, just let me know when and where so I can get dressed appropriately,” you replied. 

“Umm, do you wanna go hiking, well not really a hike more of a walk?” he replied, making you laugh.

“You’re not gonna push me off the mountain or something right?” you joked.

“Ohh I’m definitely gonna do that,” he joked as a large smile waltz it’s way onto your face.

“Ok, so I won’t wear white. Is a tracksuit ok? I don’t go hiking a lot.” you said chuckling at the end, while Grayson nodded his head even though you couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, anything is ok. Well not really anything, heels are not good for hiking, or dresses, or skirts,” he slightly chuckled making you shake your head with a smile. 

“So, I’ll wear that and some sneakers,” you said, getting up from your bed to get the outfit and lay it down on a chair. “And I’ll just put my hair into a bun or something. You’re not gonna make me run are you?” you asked and heard him chuckle. 

“No, why?” 

“Because I used to run Track and Field, and I don’t want anything to do with running for a long time,” you said, emphasizing the 'long time'. You loved running but Track made you dislike it for a while.

“Oh, in high school?” he asked and you nodded your head forgetting he couldn't see you.

“Yeah, not to brag but I was a state champion,” you said with a smile walking over to your dresses pulling out a pair of socks and underwear. 

“Oh so you’re fast, but you’re so tiny,” he joked making you roll your eyes.

“And this is where I hang up,” you joked before he cut you off with a ‘NO’.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said and you shook your head, leaving your room and walking over to the kitchen.

“So, Karolina told me you guys are vegan?” you asked.

“Yeah, for a few years now actually. It’s nice,” he replied as you rummaged through your cabinets. 

“That’s cool and all, but I could never,” you sighed grabbing a Rice Krispies treat and eating it.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” you replied chewing and swallowing, “I like meat and all. I’ve tried but couldn't. I was dairy-free for two months though,” you added, causing him to laugh.

“Ethan would be so disappointed,” he said laughing.

“Ethan can suck a dick, but that’s not really vegan, so he can suck on an eggplant,” you joked and heard Grayson wheeze making your jaw drop.

“Sir, do you have asthma?” you asked and he answered with a faint ‘yes’ since his laughter wouldn’t let him speak. You weren’t annoyed because it happened to you all the time. 

“Ok, ok, I’m done,” he said out of breath after a few LONG seconds of laughing. 

“Dang, I didn’t know I was that funny. I would’ve chosen to be a stand-up comedian instead of a surgeon,” you said and he let out another loud chuckle. 

You were on the phone for another hour, until you both decided it was really late and you needed some sleep for tomorrow. 

You finished watching the episode you were on and went to bed, only to wake up at 6 the next morning, since you agreed to have Grayson picked you up at 7:30. 

You did your business in the bathroom and took a quick shower. You did your usual routine, substituting your makeup with chapstick and waterproof mascara, you got dressed in the clothes you had taken out yesterday; a cute baby blue legging and sports bra set that your friend had gotten you. (could never be me)

You put your hair into a slick back bun, put on extra deodorant along with perfume, and made your way into the kitchen with 10 minutes remaining, which you used to cut up some strawberries and bananas, throw them in your blender with some other ingredients and place them inside two cute containers you had gotten from a random store. Smoothie bowls were your go two, they only took about 5 minutes to make and were so good too. 

Grayson sent you a text letting you know he was downstairs so you grabbed your bag with everything you needed inside, the smoothie bowls with spoons and two bottles of water, and made your way downstairs. 

“Hey,” you softly said once you saw him standing in front of the passenger door of his car, waiting for you. 

“Hi,” he said with a smile and opened the door, you got inside the car and muttered a small thank you, you put your seatbelt on and placed your little backpack between your seat and the bowls on your lap. 

“Ok, I made you this,” you said, handing him the bowl with the smoothie inside. “I made sure everything I put inside was either vegan or plant-based,” you said as he opened the bowl. 

“Oh good, thank you, this looks so good by the way,” he said with a smile as you handed him the spoon. 

“No problem, I figured you hadn't eaten anything, and it’s better to make things yourself than spend money on them, only sometimes though,” you said and started eating yours, he did too, considering the car was driving itself. 

“And we're here,” he said, parking the car since he started driving after he finished. 

“This is really exciting actually,” you said with a smile once you got out of the car and looked around the scenery in front of you. 

It was just trees but it seemed peaceful and calm, And the air felt slightly clean if you compared it to the one in LA. 

“I come here when I need some time away from the city and stuff,” he said, grabbing your small backpack from your hands and putting it on. 

“I see why, and that looks so cute on you,” you joked making him shake his head with a smile. 

“You ready?” he asked and you nodded your head. 

Ten minutes into your little ‘hike’ and the sun was beating down on you like there was no tomorrow. You naturally tan skin getting darker than before. 

“This is fun,” you said with a smile and Grayson turned to look towards you. 

“Really, or are you just saying it because you don’t want to hurt my feelings?” Grayson asked and you laughed. 

“Babe, I don't have a sugar coat. And I’m serious it’s so peaceful and calm, it reminds me of where I grew up,” you said with a smile making sure to pay attention to the floor so that you don’t trip and embarrass yourself. 

“Good because it reminds me of Jersey, and my childhood home and things,” he said, making you smile. 

“That’s cute, Oh can we sit on that bench over?” you asked and he nodded his head and you began to walk towards it. 

“Ok, tho but I would do this every morning if I wasn’t studying,” you sighed as you gave your legs a break from all of that walking.

“I started to do it with E, but then we stopped. But I try to at least every other day, gotta treat your body right, you know?”

“Mhm, yeah. I always try to sneak a workout in every day or go for a walk around the block which isn’t safe but you gotta do what you need to,” you said and closed your eyes as the sun shined on you and Grayson secretly watched you. 

“Maybe we can try and go for hikes here and there,” he shyly spoke, making you smile. 

“Yeah, we can be hiking buddies or something,” you spoke opening your eyes and sending him a smile. 

“Yeah,” he spoke as you got up from your seat. 

“Alright. Breaks over, move that ass sir,” you said making him laugh and get up from the bench. 

“Ignoring the fact that my legs want to kill me, this was fun,” you said standing in front of his car. You just finished walking back making the entire hike about and 1 and half long. 

“Yeah, you get used to it tho, but yeah it was fun, especially when you almost ate dirt if only I wasn’t there to save you,” he said with a smirk causing you to scoff. 

“Oh god, so funny, I’m gonna die HAHA,” you sarcastically said and rolled your eyes. “OK but it was kinda funny,” you chuckled causing him to laugh. 

“I’m hungry, you wanna grab something to eat?” he asked and you nodded your head. 

“Please? I’m so hungry,” you said.

“OK let’s go,” he said and you opened your door getting inside the car. 

“You want to come in? It’s ok if you don’t,” he asked as he pulled up to his house and you shrugged. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother,” you asked and he nodded his head.

“I’m sure, come on Ethan isn’t here so it doesn’t matter,” he said, making you agree. 

“Oh wow, now this is pretty, it was pretty last night but now? Dang,” you said and he shook his head smiling. 

“Thanks, me and E remodeled it and stuff,” he replied, dropping the empty food containers in the trash. “You wanna go to the pool, try to cool off?”

“I would but I don’t have clothes,” you pouted pointing to your outfit. 

“I can give you one of my t-shirts,” he said and you nodded your head, and followed him to his room since he told you. 

“Ok, you can wear this then I'll give you something else before you go,” he said handing you a white tee with a Wakeheart logo on the left part of the chest. 

“Thank you,” you replied, getting the shirt from his hand with a smile. 

“You can change in here or in the bathroom over there if you want. I’ll be in the pool,” he said and you nodded your head before he walked out leaving you in his room. 

You quickly changed into the shirt, taking the bra and leggings off along with your shoes and socks, and slipping into the shirt, neatly folding your stuff and leaving it on the corner of his head before walking out towards the pool. 

Grayson’s heart rate accelerated at the sight of you in his shirt, his imagination created both cute and sinful thoughts. 

“Hi,” you softly smiled, slipping inside the pool and staying by the edge. 

“Hey,” he replied moving closer towards you. 

“Not to ruin the vibe, but I can’t swim,” you whispered and he let out a loud laugh. 

“Are you serious? Please tell me you're joking,” he laughed causing you to playfully slap his arm. 

“I’m serious asshat,” you replied and he stopped laughing. 

“Oh wow, how?” he asked and you rolled your eyes. 

“I never learned, how else?” you replied and he shrugged. 

“Ok, so if I were to pick you up and throw you over there-” he began before you cut him off.

“-I would drown and hunt you in your sleep you bitch,” you said, causing him to laugh.

“I’m not laughing Grayson, don’t you dare,” you said pointing your finger at his face like a mother would to their child. 

“I’ll save you, I promise,” he said and picked you up before you could try and run away, a loud squeal falling past your lips. 

“Grayson-” you began screaming before you felt yourself being thrown in the air and falling inside the pool. 

Not even a second after you felt a pair of arms wrap around you and pull you up to the surface, where you took a large and scared deep breath.

“I hate you so fucking much guy,” you screamed laughing, you didn’t hate him. 

“You’re laughing so you don’t,” he said and helped you get towards that edge.

“I don’t but still,” you said shaking your head and leaning against the pool wall.

“Alright, I’m sorry that was insensitive,” he apologized and you noticed the sadness in his voice. 

“Gray, you don’t have to apologize, we’re having fun. And you’re not insensitive because you didn’t hurt my feelings in any way,” you said rubbing his arm in a comforting way as he let out a sigh. “Are ok? Do you want to talk about it?” You softly asked, noticing how his energy changed from being happy to sad and concerned, making you feel his concern and sadness. 

“It’s ok. I’m ok,” he said shaking his head and putting on a smile, which you can tell was fake. 

“I know you’re not ok right now, I feel your energy, but if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t force you to,” you softly said, making sure you weren’t pushing any of his boundaries. You carefully lifted yourself sitting down on the edge while keeping your feet inside the water.

“It’s just I don’t know, I’m scared to get hurt again, what if I’m doing something wrong and I never figure out what it is and I never find my soulmate and never have kids,” he sighed standing between your legs placing his hands on your knees.

“What do you mean to get hurt? Who’s going to hurt you?” you asked, confused as to what he was referring to. 

“I mean to hurt like emotionally hurt. And I mean like what if I never find my person and keep getting hurt by trying,” he sighed and you nodded your head as he spoke to let him know you were listening. 

“Well, when it comes to dating and love life, I’m not the best person to ask for advice but I’ll tell you this,” you began saying before letting out a sigh. “Everyone has a soulmate or their person, you just have to wait, sometimes it’s obvious as to who it is, while other times it’s the person you least expect it to be, just be patient,” you said with a smile and he nodded his head and laid it on your leg.

“And how will I know?” he muttered against your leg.

“You’ll feel it. You’ll feel connected to that person in a way that you’ve never felt with anyone else, and you’ll just know,” you shrugged and felt him nod. 

“Now, stop being sappy and have fun. It’s October, Halloween is coming up. Correction, Halloween has started for me,” you said and a genuine smile returned to his face. 

“We need to decorate, it’s our first Halloween here,” he spoke and sat down next to you.

“Oh, you guys need to go hard. I wish I could decorate but I can’t decorate the whole building, that's just weird,” you said making him laugh.

“Maybe you can help us decorate,” he said and you nodded your head. 

“Ah yes, just tell me when,” you replied.

It was two days. Two days of consecutive texting before Grayson knew he wanted to- no needed to see you again. 

Not before he was warned by Ethan. He had promised Ethan he wasn’t going to get himself entangled with anyone yet, that he was going to relax and stay on his own for a little. 

But he knew he needed to see you, so he told Ethan you were going to help him decorate, which was true. Plus Ethan thought you were a good person, along with Ryan and Karolina so why not meet up with you for a bit. 

Part Two

Tags: @fangdolan @simplyxdolxstyles @333dolans @dolanissues @ydolanssss @rhyrhy462 @blindedbythelightt

[purplebunniboy]

Retrograde Character Masterlist

I lied, here are all the characters. I’ll do in depth backstories later.

This probably isn't EVERY character but it's damn near close and just some basics about them that are totally subject to be altered or expanded upon later

---

Afton Family

Michael Frederick Afton/ Fritz Smith/ Mike Schmidt:

Thick curly brown hair, hazel green eyes, grey tshirt with rolled sleeves, tucked into jeans// scars along his face, torso, and arms

Born October 7th, 1969 to Sandra Schmidt and William Afton

The oldest of the Afton children

Loved baseball, got his first bat from Henry

Scar across his nose came from a fight, hand scars came from attempting to pry open Fredbear's mouth during the bite, arm scar came from encounter with the Nightmares, torso scar came from getting scooped, various other scars from animatronic encounters

Fox mask bully, Dayshift worker at Freddy Fazbear’s in 1987, Technician at Circus Baby’s Pizza World and Party Rentals, Nightshift Security Guard at Freddy Fazbear’s in 1998

William David Afton:

Shiny dark hair, soft blue eyes that turned grey the first time he “died”, well-groomed and cared about his looks

Father of Michael, Elizabeth, and Cassidy Afton; Spouse of Sandra Afton

Co-owner of Fredbear’s Family Dinner, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, Circus Baby’s Pizza World, Fazbear Robotics and Fazbear Entertainment inc.; Owner of Afton Robotics LLC

Cunning, charming, and extremely persuasive, could find out absolutely anything about anyone and use it against them to get what he wanted

Extremely theatrical and loved going over the top in performances, 

Loved robotics and excelled at crafting learning AI, but could never perfect it how he wanted

Drove himself mad with the idea of immortality and legacy

Absolutely hated being called Billy

Did love his kids, at least originally, he’s only Somewhat a heartless monster, but there’s something still beating in that chest of his

Cassandra “Sandra” Bella Schmidt:

Denim jumpsuit, dyed blonde hair, hazel green eyes

Mother of Michael, Elizabeth, and Cassidy Afton. Spouse of William Afton

Was a Broadway actress but left her career behind to marry William and raise her family

Very soft-spoken, only confident when she was on a stage under the spotlight

Had a beautiful singing voice and would often sing her children to sleep, especially if they woke up from night terrors

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rose Afton:

Dark strawberry blonde hair curled into tight ringlets and pulled back into two ponytails with red ribbon ties, bright green eyes, often wore a lot bright colors

Born May 12th, 1979. Died February 1986

The youngest of the Afton children

Suspected of being the product of an affair as her looks did not resemble her father’s

Did whatever it took to get her way and was very cunning about how she went about doing that

Liked to sing with her mother and was very musically inclined

Evan “Ev” Afton:

Thick brown curls that often fell in front of bright green eyes, white collared shirt a large black tshirt with two white stripes across the chest

Born October 31st, 1975. Bitten by Fredbear October 31st, 1983. “Died” November 5th, 1983

The middle child of the Afton children

Was never the best at communicating with others, complained a lot, fought with his brother constantly at home

After witnessing Charlie’s unaliving, became traumatized and cried all the time

Had a large collection of stuffed animals but was usually carrying around at least one of the Fazbear Plushies

---

Emily Family

Henry Emily

Shoulder length hair always swept or pulled back out of his face, dirty overalls, hands are never clean

Father of Charlotte and Samuel Emily. Spouse of Donna Emily

Treated all the robots the same way he did his own children

Caring and understanding but had a short temper and lacked patience, especially when under a lot of stress

Extremely talented in robotics, excelling in them from an early age. He could make anything look lifelike and real.

Preferred the comfort of his garage workshop over really showing his face

Donna Fitzgerald:

Big and poofy dark hair, dark eyes, high-waisted acid-wash jeans, pink wool turtleneck

Mother of Charlotte and Samuel Emily. Spouse of Henry Emily.

Strong-willed and very loud about her opinions on things.

Very supportive of Henry’s passion with robotics even if the whole topic gave her headaches when she attempted to wrap her brain around the concept

Charlotte “Charlie” Emily:

Denim overalls decorated with marker drawings of flowers, green striped tshirt, green wrist band, untamable brown hair pulled into two high pigtails

Born June 26th, 1978. Died April 5th, 1983

The younger of the Emily children

Extremely empathetic and caring, always went out of her way to care for children smaller than her, wanting them to feel loved and accepted

She was never afraid to get dirty, she always colored outside of the lines on purpose, she wanted to do the daring and unexpected.

Carried around a porcelain doll that was styled like a black and white jester

Her robotic counterpart was the spitting image of the real one

Robotic Charlie was much more sensitive and much more analytical of the world around her

Samuel “Sammy” Jeremy Emily/ Jeremy Fitzgerald:

Born June 24th, 1970. Bitten by Mangle October 7th, 1987

The older of the Emily children

He was always a very gifted child, excelling in mathematics from a very young age, but hit gifted kid burnout by the time he hit highschool

Never had much of an interest in robotics

Patient and gentle, he preferred to keep to himself and would often seek out quiet places he could be alone

Jennifer “Aunt Jen/Jenny” Emily:

Older sister of Henry Emily

Always had an interest in robotics and passed her skills on to her baby brother

Fiercely loyal to family she would do anything she could to protect them and keep them happy, especially Henry since he was the only family she really had left

She was strong-willed, even in her younger years, and able to hold her own very well

---

Before the Bite

Michelle “Mitchie” Peters:

Spiky short brown hair, green t shirt, blue boy shorts, green sweatbands

Bear mask bully

Older sister to Gabriel Peters

Died July 4th,1985

Michael’s closest childhood friend

A tomboy, closet case, and had a major superiority complex or at least pretended to have one

Called the Mama Bear of the group due to her caring deeply for her friends but aggressiveness towards everyone else

David “Davie” Kennedy:

Wavy black hair, red polo shirt with a popped collar, blue bunny mask

Bigger kid and designated meat shield of the group.

Willing to defend his friends to his dying breath.

Inside, he had a soft core. He was the one who would check on each of them, asking if they were ok and if they needed help. His soft core often got him teased by his friends but it never stopped him from wanting to make sure they were always safe

Bunny mask bully, Technician at Circus Baby’s Pizza World and Party Rentals

Christopher “Chris” Houghton:

Short curly dark hair, long sleeve blue shirt

Chicken mask bully

Never left the arcade, living that sweet gamer life

Liked to run his mouth and always needed to have the last word

Vanessa “Nessa/Ness” Abernathy

Dark hair, rainbow clip extensions, dark eyes

Born December 24th, 1970. 

Knew Michael in school, had a crush on him, he was the first one to ever call her Ness and the only one she ever let call her that

Took a robotics class because of him and also got really into coding

Influenced by William and eventually taken completely under his control. She was his eyes and ears in the outside world. Talks to him through the Spring Bonnie plush when non-possessed

Poses as Mike’s therapist to keep an eye on him for William

Matthew “Matt” Griffiths

Older man though no one was sure how old he actually is or if he can even die, choppy hair, thick rimmed glasses

Phone guy

Dayshift worker/ Training Manager at Fredbear’s Family Diner, General Manager of the first Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria

Loyal to the company but also put his own well being and safety before anyone else’s

Would not stick his neck out for anybody on his own

Blunt and standoffish, sometimes considered rude though he was never rude to customers or kids

One of Afton’s first “puppets”

---

Party of 1985

Susan “Susie” Waylar:

Messy golden blonde curls, blue eyes, pink shirt, bedazzled jeans

Older sister of Samantha Waylar

Best friends with Gabriel Peters

Died June 26th, 1985. Stuffed into Chica

Extremely energetic and always told she should settle and be quieter like her sister

Despite being super messy, constantly having gunk in her hair and under her nails, she had an unnatural ability to always keep her dresses clean

Gabriel “Gabe” Peters:

Straight light brown hair, striped shirt beneath denim overalls, missing front tooth

Younger brother of Mitchie Peters

Died June 26th, 1985. Stuffed into Freddy Fazbear

Stood up for the smaller kids whenever possible

Energetic, never able to settle, and outgoing. Impossible to ever see him not smiling

He was clumsy and always getting hurt accidently.

Best friends with Susie Waylar

Cassidy “Dee-Dee” Richards:

Dark hair always pulled into two uneven pigtails, always wearing yellow

Died June 26th, 1985. Stuffed into Golden Freddy

Pulled a lot of pranks, some lighthearted, some not so much.

Threw tantrums to get what she wanted.

Always wanting to be first, always wanting to come out ahead, always 

Jeremy Velasquez:

Died June 26th, 1985. Stuffed into Bonnie

A generally shy kid who’s loud and energetic around his friends

Started growing out of Freddy’s pretty early on

Susie felt bad for him and invited him to hang out with her and Gabe

Frederick “Fritz” Parker:

Messy auburn hair, pastel pink polo shirt

Died June 26th, 1985. Stuffed into Foxy

Aggressive and rude, rather abrasive and destructive

---

Party of 1987

Pete Dinglewood:

Brown hair, red letterman jacket, backwards baseball cap, prosthetic hand and glass eye after being hit by a car and barely surviving.

Died October 4th, 1987. Stuffed into Foxy

Older brother of Charles “Chuck” Dinglewood

Always sticking gum under the tables in the party rooms

Alec Wilkins:

Blonde curly rocker mullet, sci-fi movie shirt with cut off sleeves, braces

Died October 4th, 1987. Stuffed into Freddy

Older brother of Hazel Wilkins

Could be rude at times, always got himself into trouble and pinned with the “problem child” title

Toby Billings:

Fluffy brown hair, mullet, reminds Michael of Cass, pullover sweatshirt with an athletic team’s logo on the front, always putting stuff in his mouth

Died October 4th, 1987. Stuffed into Bonnie

Younger brother of Connor Billings

Wanted to have the highest scores in the arcade

Cracks his knuckles when he’s lying or when he’s nervous which most people will loudly say is gross and annoying

Millicent “Millie” Fitzsimmons:

Dyed black hair always teased and pinned on one side, always wears a lot of black and intense black makeup

Died October 4th, 1987, stuffed into Chica

Best friends with Alec

Lives alone with her grandfather, who is sometimes hired by Fazbear’s or Afton Robotics to fix any minor technical malfunctions with the animatronics

Was there during the grand opening event of Circuse Baby’s when Elizabeth was killed in 1986

---

Around Town

Connor Billings:

Brown hair, square face, very hyper and always laughing even if the joke isn’t funny

Phone dude

Older brother of Toby Billings

Became obsessed with the mysteries of the place after looking into the 1987 deaths more

Collected old remnants of the closed down restaurants.

Hired by Henry to find the stuff still haunted to put into Fazbear’s Frights, no questions asked

Lowkey scared of Michael saying, quote, “the guy just gives me bad vibes”

Samantha Waylar:

Older sister of Susie Waylar

Quieter, though who’s to say that equals maturity 

Preferred to keep to herself and her books

She knew how to stand up for herself and was actually better at telling kids off than her sister was

Swear she loved Oliver more

Stanley Martinez:

Technician at Circus Baby’s Pizza World and Party Rentals

Was into tech most of his life.

Known to be a generally kind man, putting others and their well being before himself

He was never one to snoop around and would prefer staying out of other’s business

Clayton “Clay” Burke:

Father of Carlton Burke. Spouse of Betty Burke

Chief of police. Was a detective when the 5 murders happened, worked on the case.

Though he is at times a little air headed, he is very caring of those around him

Carlton Burke:

Ginger hair, dark clothing

Only son of Carlton and Betty Burke

Childhood friends of Charlie, John, and Jessica

Always the kind to crack jokes when the mood was down and laugh in the face of danger.

Art and theatre kid

John Aowyn:

Messy brown hair, white shirt, brown leather jacket

Childhood friend of Charlie, John and Carlton. Had a crush on Charlie

He was a writer and constantly lost in his own fantasy world that sometimes it was hard to pull him out of

Jessica Sinclair:

Shiny light brown hair, brown doe-eyes, always clean cut, fashionable clothing, contagious smile

Childhood friend of Charlie, John and Carlton

Fiercely loyal to her friends, and would do anything to protect them. She hated seeing them sad or hurt and was always there with bandaids and snacks the moment they needed her

Very perceptive and smart, she had a love of forensics and her friends would often put on mystery hunts just for her

Leslie Dunn:

Round face, light hair, police uniform

Police officer/ Detective

A bit blunt at times though not with the intention of being rude

A bit awkward at times

Jack Flores:

Younger man, greasy hair, bright eyes

Nightshift Security Guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria

Overly curious, couldn’t keep his nose out of other’s business

[phroyd]

Louis DeJoy’s prolific campaign fundraising, which helped position him as a top Republican power broker in North Carolina and ultimately as head of the U.S. Postal Service, was bolstered for more than a decade by a practice that left many employees feeling pressured to make political contributions to GOP candidates — money DeJoy later reimbursed through bonuses, former employees say.

Five people who worked for DeJoy’s former business, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy’s aides or by the chief executive himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his 15,000-square-foot gated mansion beside a Greensboro, N.C., country club. There, events for Republicans running for the White House and Congress routinely fetched $100,000 or more apiece.

Two other employees familiar with New Breed’s financial and payroll systems said DeJoy would instruct that bonus payments to staffers be boosted to help defray the cost of their contributions, an arrangement that would be unlawful.

“Louis was a national fundraiser for the Republican Party. He asked employees for money. We gave him the money, and then he reciprocated by giving us big bonuses,” said David Young, DeJoy’s longtime director of human resources, who had access to payroll records at New Breed from the late 1990s to 2013 and is now retired. “When we got our bonuses, let’s just say they were bigger, they exceeded expectations — and that covered the tax and everything else.”

Another former employee with knowledge of the process described a similar series of events, saying DeJoy orchestrated additional compensation for employees who had made political contributions, instructing managers to award bonuses to specific individuals.

“He would ask employees to make contributions at the same time that he would say, ‘I’ll get it back to you down the road,’ ” said the former employee, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from DeJoy.

In response to a series of detailed questions from The Washington Post, Monty Hagler, a spokesman for DeJoy, said the former New Breed chief executive was not aware that any employees had felt pressured to make donations.

After repeatedly being asked, Hagler did not directly address the assertions that DeJoy reimbursed workers for making contributions, pointing to a statement in which he said DeJoy “believes that he has always followed campaign fundraising laws and regulations.”

Hagler said DeJoy “sought and received legal advice” from a former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission “to ensure that he, New Breed Logistics and any person affiliated with New Breed fully complied with any and all laws. Mr. DeJoy believes that all campaign fundraising laws and regulations should be complied with in all respects.”

He added that DeJoy “encouraged employees and family members to be active in their communities, schools, churches, civic groups, sporting events and the politics that governs our nation.”

“Mr. DeJoy was never notified by the New Breed employees referenced by the Washington Post of any pressure they might have felt to make a political contribution, and he regrets if any employee felt uncomfortable for any reason,” he added.

A Washington Post analysis of federal and state campaign finance records found a pattern of extensive donations by New Breed employees to Republican candidates, with the same amount often given by multiple people on the same day. Between 2000 and 2014, 124 individuals who worked for the company together gave more than $1 million to federal and state GOP candidates. Many had not previously made political donations, and have not made any since leaving the company, public records show. During the same period, nine employees gave a combined $700 to Democrats.

Although it can be permissible to encourage employees to make donations, reimbursing them for those contributions is a violation of North Carolina and federal election laws. Known as a straw-donor scheme, the practice allows donors to evade individual contribution limits and obscures the true source of money used to influence elections.

Such federal violations carry a five-year statute of limitations. There is no statute of limitations in North Carolina for felonies, including campaign finance violations.

The former employees who spoke to The Post all described donations they gave between 2003 and 2014, the year New Breed was acquired by a Connecticut-based company called XPO Logistics. DeJoy remained at XPO briefly in a leadership role, then retired at the end of 2015. By a year after the sale, several New Breed employees who had stayed on with XPO were giving significantly smaller political contributions and many stopped making them altogether, campaign finance records show.

In a statement, XPO spokesman Joe Checkler said the company “stays out of politics but our employees have the same individual right as anyone else to support candidates of their choosing in their free time. When they do so, we expect them to adhere strictly to the rules.”

The accounts of DeJoy’s former employees, which have not been previously reported, come as his brief tenure so far at the helm of the U.S. Postal Service has been marked by tumult. After his appointment in May, he swiftly instituted changes he said were aimed at cutting costs, leading to a reduction of overtime and limits on mail trips that postal carriers said created backlogs across the country.

Democrats have accused DeJoy, who has personally given more than $1.1 million to Trump Victory, the joint fundraising vehicle of the president’s reelection campaign and the Republican Party, of seeking to hobble the Postal Service because of the president’s antipathy to voting by mail. As states have expanded access to mail voting because of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has repeatedly attacked the practice and claimed without evidence that it will lead to rampant fraud.

The Postal Service chief emphasized to House lawmakers last month that the agency will prioritize election mail. Responding to questions about his fundraising, DeJoy scoffed. “Yes, I am a Republican. . . . I give a lot of money to Republicans.” But he pushed back fiercely on accusations that he was seeking to undermine the November vote. “I am not engaged in sabotaging the election,” DeJoy said. “We will do everything in our power and structure to deliver the ballots on time.”

During his testimony, DeJoy was asked by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) if he had repaid executives for making donations to the Trump campaign.

“That’s an outrageous claim, sir, and I resent it. . . . The answer is no,” DeJoy responded angrily.

DeJoy had retired from XPO management by 2016. He hosted Trump at his Greensboro estate, known locally as The Castle, for a birthday party and fundraiser in June 2016.

Earlier this year, DeJoy was leading fundraising for the Republican National Convention in Charlotte when he was selected by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors in May.

DeJoy was not originally on a list of prospective candidates for the job, Robert M. Duncan, chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, told House lawmakers in testimony last month. Duncan, a longtime GOP fundraiser, said he submitted DeJoy’s name as a candidate after his “interest, or availability, became known to me.”

A pattern of requests

Multiple New Breed employees said DeJoy’s ascent in Republican politics was powered in part by his ability to multiply his fundraising through his company, describing him as a chief executive who was single-minded in his focus on increasing his influence in the GOP.

In his office, DeJoy prominently displayed pictures of himself with former president George W. Bush; Sen. John McCain, who died in 2018; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie; former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and others, according to former employees.

Several employees said DeJoy reveled in the access his fundraising afforded him.

At a local PGA tournament sponsored by New Breed, he played alongside top North Carolina Republicans such as then-Gov. Pat McCrory and Sen. Richard Burr, according to schedules posted online. “He always had to be the guy in the golf cart with the politicians,” said one person who worked with him who attended the tournaments.

As DeJoy’s profile as a Republican bundler grew, his wife, Aldona Wos, won presidential and gubernatorial appointments — first as an ambassador to Estonia in 2004, then as head of North Carolina’s health and human services agency in 2013. Trump appointed her in May 2017 to serve on the president’s commission on White House fellowships, and earlier this year, he nominated her to be ambassador to Canada.

DeJoy and trusted aides at the company made clear that he wanted employees to support his endeavors — through emails inviting employees to fundraisers, follow-up calls and visits to staffers’ desks, many said.

“He would put pressure on the executives over each of the areas to go to their employees and give contributions,” one former employee said.

While some employees told The Post that they were happy to make the donations, others said they felt little choice, saying DeJoy had a heavy-handed demeanor and a reputation for angering easily.

Plant managers at New Breed said they received strongly worded admonitions from superiors that they should give money when DeJoy was holding fundraisers. A program manager said that when he was handed his first company bonus, a New Breed vice president told him he should buy a ticket to DeJoy’s next fundraiser.

Several employees said New Breed often distributed large bonuses of five figures or higher. Bonuses did not usually correlate with the exact amount of political contributions, but were large enough to account for both performance payments and donations, according to the two people with knowledge of company finances.

Five former employees said DeJoy’s executive assistant, Heather Clarke, personally called senior staffers, checking on whether executives were coming to fundraisers and collecting checks for candidates.

Clarke, who now works alongside DeJoy at the Postal Service as his chief of staff, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Phone messages left with Clarke’s husband were returned Friday by Hagler, who said she would have no comment.

Clarke was among several nonexecutive employees who gave substantial political donations, public records show: She alone contributed $47,000 from 2002 to 2014. Clarke has continued to donate since then, but at about half the annual rate as when she worked at New Breed.

Another longtime senior official in DeJoy’s company, Joe Hauck, also routinely contacted company employees urging them to contribute, former workers said.

In an interview, Hauck denied that the company reimbursed New Breed employees for political contributions. He said he never received any bonuses for that purpose, nor was he offered any. “That’s illegal — you can’t do that,” said Hauck, who was vice president for sales, marketing and communications when the company was sold.

Hauck did acknowledge approaching employees and asking them to contribute, but disputed that he pressured anyone.

“I created a list of people that had indicated that they were interested. And whenever there was an event coming up, I would let them know about the event and they would either say, ‘Yeah, I want to participate’ or ‘No, I don’t,’ ” he said.

Hauck said he sometimes did collect checks for candidates in the office, but only because some employees “happened to have their checkbooks on them.”

Another manager also said he was not aware of employees being reimbursed, but acknowledged that workers were asked to make donations.

William Church, a former New Breed vice president, said he handed out many bonuses to his employees in the company’s aerospace division and never had knowledge of such payments being connected to political contributions. He said bonus targets in his division were rigid and well-established.

Church, who donated over $21,000 to Republican candidates while at New Breed and said he received substantial bonuses, said he never felt pressured to make the contributions and was never reimbursed for them. “Ask my wife, boy, she would have loved that,” Church said.

Asked whether he believed employees could have felt pressure to attend fundraisers, Church responded: “Now, what’s in somebody’s heart when they’re doing it, when the CEO invites you to one of these things and they think, ‘Oh, I should do that?’ — I don’t know.”

Steve Moore, who took a job as plant manager of a New Breed facility in Bolingbrook, Ill., in 2007, said he felt pressured to contribute just a few months into his job. DeJoy sent managers an email announcing a fundraising event at his house for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, then a candidate for president.

Moore said his manager, Philip Meyer, soon followed up, telling him that making a contribution was “highly recommended,” even if he would not attend.

“I took that to mean my job is on the line here, or things won’t go smooth for me here at New Breed if I didn’t contribute,” Moore said in an interview. He donated $250. “I didn’t really agree with what was going on,” he said. Moore said he was terminated in 2008 after a dispute with his supervisors.

In a text message, Meyer declined to comment.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of donations from New Breed employees has been GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose campaign committees collected nearly $300,000 from people at the company in 2014, campaign finance records show.

When asked for comment on the accounts of employees who said they were pressured to donate to DeJoy’s favored candidates, Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for Tillis’s campaign, said in an email: “Neither Senator Tillis nor our campaign had knowledge of these findings.”

'You feel the pressure'

DeJoy did not always seem destined for a life as an influential GOP power broker. As a young man in New York working at his father’s trucking business, DeJoy donated to Democrats, including the party’s 1988 presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis, according to federal campaign finance filings.

After his marriage to Wos, a physician born in Poland who emigrated to New York as a child, DeJoy followed her into conservative politics.

Under DeJoy, New Breed expanded from trucking to logistics, managing delivery and returns of the first iPhones sold by Verizon, airplane parts for Boeing and Disney merchandise, including shipments of MagicBands, employees said.

By the late 1990s, as the family business flourished, thanks in part to contracts with the U.S. Postal Service, DeJoy moved New Breed to North Carolina — and closer to the work it was doing repositioning mail crates, folding mail bags, and other logistical work that the government had begun to outsource.

The move provided new political opportunities for the couple. Wos embraced North Carolina Republican politics and, by the early 2000s, was stepping into national campaigns. She helped lead fundraising efforts in the state for Elizabeth Dole’s 2002 Senate run, and then for Bush’s reelection campaign, according to campaign statements and news articles from the time.

DeJoy began to marshal his resources to support GOP candidates, as well. On one day in February 2002, DeJoy donated $50,000 to a Republican Party fund supporting Bush’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records. Another $10,000 came from DeJoy’s brother, Michael, who worked then for New Breed in New York. Another 10 New Breed employees also chipped in $1,000 each that day to Bush, and another $900 or $1,000 each to Dole, campaign finance data show.

In response to a request to Wos for comment, Hagler said, “Dr. Wos had her own career, and she was not involved with New Breed Logistics.”

Young, the retired director of human resources, said it was during the 2004 Bush reelection campaign that he saw DeJoy begin to “take advantage” of his power as CEO to move money for politics.

“No one was ever forced to or lost a job because they didn’t, but if people contributed, their raises and their bonuses were bumped up to accommodate that,” said Young, who gave more than $19,000 in donations while he worked at New Breed.

Ted Le Jeune, a New Breed project manager in North Carolina, said he made a $500 contribution to the Bush campaign in November 2003 after DeJoy took him aside for a discussion in a conference room about donating.

“I was of the same political orientation, so it was not coerced in any way and there was no quid pro quo,” Le Jeune said in an interview. Le Jeune said he has not donated to any political campaign since then.

In 2002, DeJoy and New Breed employees contributed more than $87,000 to support Dole, and before the 2004 presidential election, more than $121,000 to Bush.

Wos was named a Bush “Ranger,” an honorary term for those who delivered at least $200,000 for the Texan’s reelection bid. In a recess appointment before the election, Bush appointed her ambassador to Estonia, a post she held for two years.

Freddy Ford, a spokesman for Bush, declined to comment. Wos did not respond to a request for comment about her appointment.

By 2007, DeJoy was carving his own path politically. With Giuliani leading in early polls for the Republican nomination for president, DeJoy signed on as co-chair of the former mayor’s North Carolina finance committee.

New Breed employees quickly followed.

DeJoy kicked off his fundraising effort by inviting a group of senior New Breed executives who had previously donated to Republicans while at the company to contribute, according to one of those who wrote a check. Campaign finance records show that New Breed employees gave Giuliani’s campaign more than $27,000 in one day.

Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment.

Less than a month later, when Giuliani made a swing through North Carolina, DeJoy invited a broader group of New Breed employees to contribute and take part in a fundraiser, according to people familiar with his outreach. The second effort netted about $40,000 from employees, campaign finance records show.

Moore, the plant director in Illinois, said he received the email inviting employees to give — and he donated reluctantly.

Another middle manager at another New Breed facility said he received the solicitation, too, as well as encouragement in person from Meyer during a plant visit.

“He would come to me and say, ‘Louis is having this thing, and he really wants all the managers there, and you need to contribute,’ ” said the former employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he fears DeJoy could sue him.

The former employee said he recalled Meyer saying that not contributing was “not going to have any bearing on your job.”

But he worried that the reverse was true, he said. “You feel the pressure. They tell you it’s not there, and then they put it on you,” he said.

In the North Carolina headquarters, Joel Shepard, who had joined New Breed as director of transportation after stints at Ryder and UPS, said he got a call from Clarke, DeJoy’s executive assistant, making sure Shepard knew that he, too, was invited.

Shepard had never donated to a political candidate before, and he wrote a check for $1,000. He said he did not feel pressured, however. He said he admired Giuliani and “wanted to do it.”

Shepard said he still recalls the donation because he mistakenly wrote the check from an account that was low on funds and it bounced. Clarke, DeJoy’s executive assistant, “came to me and said, ‘Joel, your check bounced.’ I had to write her another one,” he recalled.

In all, dozens of New Breed employees contributed more than $85,000 to Giuliani’s campaign during the primary, including a $16,000 in excess contributions that the campaign returned after Giuliani dropped his bid because multiple employees gave identical contributions that were twice the legal limit.

The only other GOP presidential contender to receive donations from New Breed employees during that year’s primary was Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, campaign finance records show. Together, two employees gave him about $550.

Expanding influence

After Giuliani’s campaign faltered, DeJoy pivoted and put his energy into backing the 2008 McCain-Palin ticket, organizing and hosting multiple fundraisers over the next year. Again, New Breed employees followed. Along with DeJoy, they contributed more than $180,000, FEC records show.

Four years later, an additional $193,000 flowed from DeJoy and other New Breed employees to the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, now a U.S. senator from Utah.

Before the 2012 election, more than $170,000 in contributions from DeJoy and New Breed employees would also go to help lift McCrory to the North Carolina governor’s mansion, state campaign finance records show.

The following month, McCrory named Wos, DeJoy’s wife and a retired physician, as his choice for state health secretary.

In an interview, McCrory said Wos’s appointment had no connection to campaign contributions he received. “She was the most qualified person and I had to beg her to take the job,” he said.

Told of The Post’s findings, McCrory said: “I’m not aware of any of these claims.”

During her tenure, Wos drew scrutiny from Democrats after awarding a $310,000 state contract to Hauck, the New Breed employee who colleagues said had urged them to support DeJoy’s fundraising efforts.

At the time, Wos defended her pick, saying Hauck worked on a major restructuring of the department’s bureaucracy.

Hauck said he took a pay cut by going on leave from New Breed to work for Wos for 11 months. “I looked at it as serving,” he said in an interview.

By 2013, Warburg Pincus, a New York-based private-equity firm that had acquired a controlling stake in New Breed eight years earlier, had begun agitating for the company to go public or find another way to return value to its investors, according to three former New Breed employees with knowledge of the company’s finances. News articles in subsequent months quoted people familiar with the company saying Warburg was exploring a sale.

DeJoy tested the market for an initial public offering, filing a confidential draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to correspondence detailing concerns about the offering flagged by the SEC, which remain archived on the agency’s website.

As the agency began scrutinizing the company’s finances, the SEC appeared to question a lack of information about New Breed executive bonuses and how the company decided they had met their goals for the payments in the previous year. “Please disclose the target and how the target was met or not met or advise,” the SEC’s accounting branch chief wrote in a June 2013 letter to DeJoy. It is unclear whether or how the company responded.

Ultimately, New Breed did not go public. Instead, Warburg Pincus sold it to XPO Logistics the following year for $615 million, according to company announcements and SEC records.

A spokeswoman for Warburg Pincus declined to comment.

The month the deal closed, New Breed employees made a slew of political donations in a two-day period — more than $407,000. Almost three-quarters of that went to support Tillis’s Senate bid.

Clarke, Hauck and DeJoy were among 10 New Breed employees who led the giving. On Sept. 29, each gave identical donations of $12,600 to the Thom Tillis Victory Committee, campaign finance data shows. The next day, the same 10 employees each gave $10,000 to the North Carolina Republican Party.

Since then, five of those individuals have significantly cut back their political contributions, and one has not given again at all, FEC filings show.

Young, who retired that fall, said he sent a note to DeJoy this summer congratulating him upon being named postmaster general. DeJoy may have the skills needed to improve the agency, Young said. But the fundraising that permeated New Breed will remain a mark on his legacy there, he said, adding: “He had an agenda, and would take advantage of people.”

DeJoy never replied to his note, Young said. One of the last things he heard from anyone at New Breed came about a year after he left. Hauck, who by then was working with DeJoy at XPO, called and asked Young to donate to Tillis and other Republicans. “I said, ‘No, thank you.’ ”

Jacob Bogage, Alice Crites, Dan Zak and Michelle Ye Hee Lee contributed to this report. Ken Otterbourg reported from Greensboro, N.C.

Phroyd

[gamingshades795]

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[clansayeed]

Bound by Destiny ― Chapter 14: The Echoes

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny ⥽

Nadya Al Jamil (MC) has been struggling from the day she moved to Manhattan, but her new job as assistant to the mysterious CEO of Raines Corp was supposed to turn her luck around. Until she finds herself caught in the middle of a war involving the Council of Vampires who secretly run the city. An evil from the birth of Vampire-kind stirs beneath, feeding on the conflict, and finds Nadya bound to a destiny she never asked for.

Bound by Destiny and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Destiny tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

With Adrian and Kamilah’s fates unknown, Nadya finds unlikely allies in the Clanless. Learning how Lily is adjusting to vampire life would be a lot easier without terrifying dreams, though.

note: This chapter, like the previous, implies past Gaius/Kamilah through dream sequences lived through Nadya's eyes.

[READ IT ON AO3]

She hastily scrubs the stinging soap from her eyes. They’re still puffy; swollen from all the crying she’s done in the last day or so. Where she should be exhausted and ready to collapse while standing, though, Nadya only feels a burning itch to move; to run.

Though maybe that’s the borrowed homeless vampire boots she’s wearing.

“Here you go. I felt so bad when I found them in my stuff, but didn’t want to risk returning them and running into you.”

Nadya takes the folded pair of glasses Lily offers with something akin to reverence.

“Well I’m glad you didn’t.” She slides them on and gives an audible sigh of relief. “So much better.”

They leave the bathroom together — Nadya follows Lily’s lead to wherever they should be going without much question.

She’s doing well for herself. It took some coaxing for Lily to admit she still struggles with her hunger but that was a problem she had as a human, too, so Nadya isn’t that surprised. “I was already way more productive at night,” she explains cheerily, “so that wasn’t a big change either. The hardest part is probably just not knowing my own strength — and making sure to stay under the Council’s radar.”

That was something Lily was still working on forgiving her for: all the secrets. Adrian, Maricruz, the Council and the Clans… And she knows Lily has a right to be frustrated about it all but given the situation they’re currently in she’s one snarky quip away from asking Lil’ to cut her some slack.

“I was trying to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, well, that worked out so well, huh?”

Maricruz and Jax share a sort of ‘corner’ underground that they’ve made their own. Everyone has somewhere to rest their heads come dawn but due to space most of it ends up being communal living. The leaders of the Clanless, however, need a place where they can talk strategy without being overheard.

Well, the leader of the Clanless, his deputy, and the deputy’s girlfriend.

“Mari and I have been great honestly, better than ever,” Lily continues, “for a few weeks there all the secrets and rushing away before the sun was up was really frustrating, obvs, but now that I get it there’s no secrets between us at all. Don’t think I gotta tell you how refreshing that is.”

They come upon the others in the entryway-slash-kitchen-slash-den-slash-gym. In the corner Jax fusses with extension cords connecting to a small portable stovetop while muttering under his breath. At a small folding table in the middle of the room Mari and Brandon hold hands over the top; Greer rubs his partner’s back softly.

Lily abandons her — “he’ll shock himself again, dumbass,” — to help Jax but before Nadya can make herself useless by standing in a corner Greer smiles tiredly and beckons her over.

They’ve changed into surprisingly regular clothes — surprising only because Greer had been very vocal at the cellar party about his flashy wardrobe and the influence his eccentric fashion had had on Brandon over the years. But their jeans are worn and washed at the knees and the only bright thing outside of a tan trench coat is Greer’s hair.

She notices bags at their feet.

“I thought your flight wasn’t for a few days.”

“Mari got us a cargo plane,” Greer explains with a thankful smile the vampire’s way, “not my preferred way of travel but it’ll get us to Wales and we can take a train from there.”

Brandon rubs his eye tiredly. “Staying is just too hard.”

“I get it.”

“We know.” They each take Nadya’s hand and squeeze. “I hope your friends made it out okay.”

You and me both, Nadya thinks; doesn’t say it. She knows they’re only being optimistic for her sake — it feels wrong to take it with grace when they’ve lost someone so important to them.

“Thanks, guys. You’ll get in touch when you’re settled, right?”

“Once it’s safe.”

“‘Safe?’” she parrots. Brandon nods.

“It’s complicated — we won’t be staying in London is all. That’s a story for a different day.”

Behind them comes Lily’s victory cheer followed by the smell of something smoky. Jax turns the knob on low and together they join the crowd at the table with another chair and a rusty barstool that sets him a couple heads higher than the rest.

Jax surveys the three humans with narrowed eyes — now that she’s not wearing old contacts he’s in clearer focus now and every little flicker and blink makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“Food will be ready soon,” he grunts, and finally fixates on Brandon, “so let’s get into what happened.”

Mari reaches around Lily to try and swat her companion. “Not now. They’re tired!”

“Yeah, we are,” agrees Greer grimly, “but I don’t want to risk whatever happened up there happening here.” He rubs Brandon’s arm — who stays silent.

“I — I didn’t see what happened before, but…” Nadya starts — falls quiet as Greer shakes his head.

“No, you didn’t. It’s all right, lass. I’ve got this one.”

After Nadya was swept from their revelry by Kamilah, Adrian had stayed for the remainder of the song before mentioning his thirst. Megan offered to accompany him by one of the select feeding parlors and that was the last Greer and Brandon saw of her for more than an hour. Upon spotting Adrian heading towards the upper castle Brandon had stopped him — asked him where Megan had run off to.

“She had her fill before I finished,” Adrian had said, “I think she mentioned something about meeting a friend in the Moon House.”

The Moon House would be called the Sun House in any other estate — one not catered to vampires. It was a conservatory on the farthest part of the East Wing and hosted Marcel’s collection of rare night-blooming flora; a hobby of his since moving overseas.

“She loved visiting the Royal Botanical Gardens at night…” Brandon’s wistful tone hangs heavy on them all. Greer gives his temple a kiss before carrying on.

When they found Megan she was the only one in the Moon House. She admitted to sneaking into some smaller enclave room even though the area was roped off — “It’s been nearly twenty years since I last saw these beauties, can you blame me?” — and since it seemed like no one was going to kick them out of the Ball for being there they all stayed to take in the display.

He pauses — collects himself with a steady breath. “That’s when we noticed a bite mark near her neck.”

They were drunk, maybe a little high — life was good and they didn’t want the party to end so soon. Megan didn’t remember how she had gotten it; vampires will be vampires, she had said, and laughed it off as something she didn’t have to worry about by virtue of being undead already.

“If she wasn’t gonna be worried about it then why would we?” He looks around the table as if genuinely seeking an answer. But it isn’t theirs to give. Judging by the haunted look in his eyes Brandon has already answered it for himself.

“We closed up the place behind us and went to head back to the ballroom,” Greer continues, “only Megan said she was hungry again and kept scratching the bite. We encouraged her, you know. She always feels better on a full stomach and… and feeding can heal you guys, you know?”

Lily shakes her head but judging by the reactions of the older vampires on either side of her yes, they’re very well aware of the benefits of a good feed.

“So we went back for drinks, Megan headed off, and the next time we saw her she was having a fuckin’ seizure in the middle of the party and no one tried to do a damn thing. Not one person. Whole room full of all those years and all that knowledge and… and…”

“Once you’ve been infected by a Feral there’s no going back.” Mari picks at an unseen part of Lily’s skirt underneath the table — can’t meet their eyes. “All you can do is run and hope to fuck you won’t Turn, too.”

“They didn’t even try.” Brandon glares at Nadya though it’s lacking in real malice. “That whole Council of yours, right there, and they just watched.”

“They had their Clans to think of.” She bites out in their defense. Jax scoffs.

“More like their status and power.”

“Okay guys, come on,” Lily looks ready to jump atop the table if it mediates, “there’s no fingers to point. Or, well, no one here deserves to be pointed at. Obviously this girl got bit by a Feral before you ran into her. If we can find out how that happened…”

“The last person she was with was Raines.” Nadya doesn’t miss the look Mari throws her way. It makes her blood boil.

“I know where you’re going and I’m gonna need you to not. Adrian’s been working his butt off to solve the Feral problem, not make it worse.”

“Working his ass off, huh?” Jax doesn’t try to hide his distaste, “if that’s his best then I’d hate to see his worst; the world might actually end.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No — I know what I see. And what I see is a problem that isn’t getting solved no matter how hard you say your owner is working!”

Jax leaps off the stool but is stopped by Lily throwing her arm over his front.

“Jax, man, I respect the hell out of you. But don’t talk to her like that — ever.” There’s a growl at the tip of Lily’s tongue that Nadya is grateful for even if it’s strange to see her behave that way. But it doesn’t do a thing to make Nadya feel better about what Jax says.

Nadya raises her chin and speaks with confidence. “Adrian told me a Feral isn’t like a vampire — it’s a creature that only cares about hunger and blood. If all it takes is one bite then even so much as one Feral at the Ball put everyone at risk; human and vampire. Adrian included.”

While the Clanless leader takes back up his stool Mari diverts the conversation back to Greer.

“What happened after that? Your text said there was a ‘massacre.’”

In the silence that follows everyone just sort of looks around at one another — trying to understand, trying to coax out answers. Nadya remembers — God, she remembers — but she sort of hopes they’ll keep telling the story so she doesn’t have to hear herself say it all out loud.

She gets lucky.

“They focused on the crowd instead,” Greer says; and if Nadya closes her eyes she can still see Lester, Adrian, Vega barking out orders to get the newly Turned and the humans out of the ballroom, “and it seemed like they could handle it, you know? Like they knew what to do. But then… then there was another scream.”

Through the tide of those trying to leave bodies pushed forward. Screaming of monsters, of Ferals coming out of nowhere like they’d been hiding in the suits of armor the whole night just waiting to strike. Suddenly it wasn’t just one Feral to deal with, it was the one Feral in the ballroom and even that didn’t last long.

Maybe Megan wasn’t even the first to Turn. Maybe Megan was just the poor soul who got an audience.

Jax tugs at loose strands of his hair. “How many, on estimate?”

“Maybe a couple dozen we could see?”

Nadya swallows down her heart to keep it from staining the tabletop. “Adrian — they, the Council — they tried to keep order. Tried to get everyone out fast and as safe as they could. But no one was listening. It was chaos.”

“Not gonna lie; it was hard to figure out friend from foe when everyone was in a stampede.”

Nadya agrees with a nod; fiddles with the pendant on her wrist until the metal is warm from her touch. Over and over the scene plays behind her eyelids; a videotape stuck in a loop. The Council shouting orders to one another, older vampires taking up arms and pushing away the vulnerable. The spray of gore when Valdas sent three attackers flying across the room in a dozen pieces.

“You pretty much know the rest from there.”

“We’re glad you got out alive.” Mari insists towards Brandon. He doesn’t respond — like he doesn’t know if he shares the sentiment. “She would be glad you got out alive.”

If Jax has more questions he’s grown a brain-to-mouth filter and chooses not to ask them. He and Lily grab cheap plastic trays from a cabinet and return with the stovetop spoils of hot dogs right on the verge of being better kindling than food. Eating doesn’t fill the void inside like it should but she’s never inhaled such mediocre food with such gusto.

When they finish Mari not-so-casually mentions their time limit. Greer and Brandon give her their sincerest thanks — Jax too though the tension behind their goodbye is obvious.

Finally Brandon turns to her and Nadya finds herself crushing Brandon in a hug that makes him hunch and hold his breath. They don’t have anything else to say to one another. Words never seem to be enough, anyway.

She makes Greer reaffirm his promise to reach out. Wants to go with them if only to make sure they make the journey home without falling to pieces together but judging by the look on Maricruz’s face the three of them need privacy to mourn in their own way.

Lily snakes her arm around Nadya’s middle when the door closes.

“How about a nap?” She asks; keeps her tone lighthearted but Nadya can tell she’s not making a suggestion. “Come on, girlie, you look like the walking dead. And that’s saying something coming from the literal walking dead.”

Nadya just nods and follows.

They curl up together like they used to; face-to-face with legs tangled together because they had the same favorite throw blanket but it wasn’t big enough to span the bed. The mattress is like a brick with sheets and Lily no longer exudes the same warmth she used to but if Nadya closes her eyes and pretends with all her might… it’s like nothing has changed at all.

She keeps her distance while Lily talks with the scantily-dressed woman near the stage. Not because she’s interrupting some sort of ‘moment’ but she refuses to take off the pendant — literally refuses and that makes Jax livid as all get out — on her wrist and anyone who so much has an inkling of who or what the Clans are would be ready to pick a fight at the mere sight of it.

Distance can be good though. It gives Nadya time to really look at Lily. To see how she’s doing.

Being a part of their generation means identity crises and existential episodes are pretty much a given. But she’s never seen her best friend look so comfortable in her own skin.

It helps ease the knot in her gut about not giving Lily the chance to decide her own fate.

Lily raises a small black remote in hand and on command a spotlight from above flickers to life. The other vampire, Liv, hops up and marvels in absolute delight as the light follows her around the stage in several paces.

“This is just — just the best! You’re the best!” Liv scoops Lily up standing to hug her and Nadya watches fondly as she returns the hug with her own.

“Give me some time and I can make you a mix that’s one whole track with the right fade in and intro tunes, too.”

“I don’t know what I’d so without you sugar. You’re a whiz at this stuff.”

“Hey, I don’t do anything for free.”

Liv pulls back and gives Lily a wry grin. The sudden flustered look under Lily’s thick specs doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Don’t I know it. How’s tomorrow afternoon sound?”

“Perfect.”

Liv kisses Lily’s cheeks and heads back behind thick red curtains. When Lily catches the look in Nadya’s eyes she tries not to look so utterly taken. Doesn’t mean Nadya isn’t going to tease her anyway.

“Wanna tell me what that was about, huh?” She nudges Lily repeatedly. “Huh huh huh?”

Together they leave the unofficial ‘Arts District’ of the Shadow Den; take their leave of Liv’s little clubhouse and head back towards the main plaza. Lily grins sheepishly.

“You’re so nosy! God, Liv just promised to… give me a few lessons in burlesque. See if she can cure my two left feet thing. That’s all.”

“Ah… yes, that’s all. Well I think Mari will love it.”

Lily huffs, almost lets it go before casting an embarrassed smile at Nadya. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Shut up.”

“No, you shut up.”

“No you shut up!”

They dissolve into light teasing shoves this way and that — their laughter mingling in with the Den’s normal chatter.

“Thanks for getting me away for a bit,” Nadya says as she loops her arm in with Lily’s, “from you-know-who. Talk about one-track mind.”

Her ‘nap’ had turned into a full on twelve hour coma. The moment she awoke the leader of the Clanless was on her; question after question that she still couldn’t remember fully from the haze of sleep. She could vaguely recall Lily’s raised voice and the sound of a door slamming — then being pulled along by her best friend’s newfound strength.

Beside her Lily shrugs; tries to play it off. “You looked like you didn’t sleep well, so I get it. I hate being bothered when I’m still tired.”

“Wait — what?”

“You were tossing and turning the whole time,” Lily grabs a dull yellow apple from a nearby cart and tosses it Nadya’s way. “I tried to wake you up from you’d just give me this weird, glassy stare and then go back to sleep. That a new thing? Or some freaky nightmare?”

If she thinks about it… no, Nadya can’t remember. The last dream she could recall with detail was the nightmare on the train from the Ball but it was like she’d turned her brain off those last hours.

She only knew that when she woke everything was foggy and thick — and her body had the weight of ages she didn’t quite understand holding her down.

“Anyway,” Lily shrugs, “his head’s in the right place.”

“Whose head?”

“Jax.”

Nadya blinks in surprise. “Wait — you’re defending him?”

“He’s a hard-ass but he has to be. We all have to be, Nadi’. That’s how we survive in hiding.”

We. Hearing Lily lump herself in with the rest of them fills her with unease.

“It’s not fair.”

“No,” she agrees, “it isn’t. But until the stupid Council pulls their heads out of their asses nothing’s gonna change.”

They round a corner and Nadya stops — has to wait for Lily to realize she’s not following and turn around before she feels like she can talk.

“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure I do. Just like I know what would have happened to me if Mari and Jax hadn’t gotten me out of Raines Corp. in time.” Lily backtracks and takes Nadya’s hand. Brushes her fingers over her knuckles. “I’m not mad at you — please don’t think that. But even if Turning me saved me then it wouldn’t have done me a whole lot of good if the Council decided to ax me.

“And judging from everything I’ve heard about them, they would have just to spite Adrian it sounds like. You just weren’t thinking about the long-term.”

Nadya pulls her hand back.

“Okay… now I know you don’t know what happened.” She tries — and fails — to keep the low-key insulted tone out of her voice. Lily’s nose scrunches up slightly.

“Tell me if I have it right then, because maybe I didn’t get the full story.” Nadya nods silently. “So something attacked me at our old place and left me to bleed out, right?”

“Right.”

“And you strong-armed Adrian into Turning me into a vampire, right? — Kudos, by the way. I wish I could’ve seen it because you’re scary when you get mad.”

Nadya ignores the compliment. “Right.”

The tension between them builds. “And he’s not only a member of some stupid Council that runs the vampires in the city, he’s a leader of one of their groups.”

“He’s the leader of Clan Raines. And he was working on getting you the next spot in his clan when Jax and Mari kidnapped you.”

Lily’s scoff brings a tick to Nadya’s brow.

“Okay so sure, he was ‘working on it,’ but what if whatever he tried to do failed? They would have killed me, right? Since I technically wouldn’t be part of one of their stupid Clans? No brand, no tether for my soul — all the chance and risk of becoming Feral and a danger to their stupid little quota? Right?”

What she’s saying isn’t wrong but it’s not right either.

“He wouldn’t have failed. I wouldn’t let him.”

“Yeah, like a bunch of rich vampire assholes would have listened to you?”

“You’re lumping Adrian in with one of ‘those assholes,’ you know.”

A beat. “Yeah, I know.”

It makes Nadya step back — disgusted. Why wouldn’t she be? It’s like this is Lily but also… not. “What have Maricruz and Jax been telling you?” What lies have they been feeding you?

“They just showed me how the world works here, Nadya. Not just for vampires but for the way they divide us. Liv — you know, Liv, that sweetheart? Yeah, some creep from the Baron’s Clan was obsessed with her. When she turned him down like the skeezebag he was he Turned her and left her to die or go Feral so no one else could have her! Now she can’t ever perform up top again.

“And Mari — my Mari — she was Turned so she would become Feral. That’s why she cares so freakin’ much about that stupid party! She was supposed to be some… some living weapon and when they were done with her they were gonna put her down like a rabid animal. But she was stronger than that — she’s still stronger than that. She’s worth more than any Clan vampire and then some.”

The injustice of it all makes Nadya feel dirty and heavy — things she knew on the surface but didn’t understand the full horror of until she puts faces to the tales. But the real knife in her side is the way Lily spits her words in her direction. Like she’s just another awful anonymous commenter who needs to be reminded that people are still people even if they’re different.

Lily doesn’t give her time to muster up words. She’s on a roll.

“Say you’re right. Say Adrian Raines is one of the good guys. He’s still benefited and continues to benefit off of a broken system that his cohorts continue to manipulate and bastardize for their own selfish gains.”

“Lily you need to calm down.”

“No way!”

“Well… Well he knew the risks and Turned you anyway!” Fine, if she was going to be shouted at then she would shout, too.

“Even though I still would have died! And he wouldn’t have gotten more than a slap on the wrist!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Oh you bet your butt I do!”

They’re screaming at one another now. Nadya’s red in the face — rest and time replenishing the tears what well up at the corners of her eyes. Lily’s fists are balled at her sides and she’s not seen her this mad since possibly ever.

“When will you stop blindly trusting the people in power?! You’re better than that!”

“You’re comparing two issues that are way different!”

“Different?! I’m a queer black woman in America, girl! That’s the Clanless of humanity!”

Behind them comes the sound of hurried shoes on concrete. Lily shakes her fist, slams it into the wall and the structure fractures slightly under the pressure. Nadya can’t help but stare at it in horror. Is left to imagine the difference between the strong rock and her fragile bones.

The fight drains out of her like it leeches from the crack in the wall. Makes her take a hesitant step back because she’s not just fighting with her friend and roommate any more. She’s fighting with someone—some thing—much stronger than she.

“Lil’ — I-I’m sorry.”

“This is just another label to tack onto my chest! Just another thing that might get me killed! Again!”

“Lily —”

“I mean, for fucks’ sakes Nadi’, did you even think about what I was going through while you were sipping champagne and wearing stupid designer dresses?!”

Before she can say another word the footsteps grow louder and Maricruz whips around the corner. She looks ready for a fight — a baseball bat in hand — but lowers it when she sees Lily and Nadya alone. Her eyes fall on the cracked wall and she stiffens.

“What’s going on here?”

Nadya makes the mistake of blinking; lets a tear fall down her cheek. Lily seethes and flashes red eyes.

“Don’t even try to make me pity you right now. At least you still had our place. At least you knew what was going on! I woke up in a fucking coffin!”

Maricruz steps in while Nadya chokes on her words. Holds one hand out warily like she’s keeping a creature at bay and stretches the other out in offering.

“Lil’, mi amor, remember what I said about letting your emotions get the best of you? You’re doing it again. When was the last time you fed, baby?”

“I’m fine Mari! Jesus — you didn’t — you weren’t here when this started!”

“No baby; I wasn’t. But come on… you’re not acting like yourself.”

“W-What’s happening? What’s wrong with her?” Nadya hisses. The look Mari throws her isn’t sympathetic in the slightest.

“It’s a newborn thing. Aggression, sensitivity, violent outbursts… triggered by things that we held inside during our mortal lives.”

It makes Nadya’s heart break all over again.

She watches as Mari steps forward; inches her way through the divide until she can grasp Lily in a hug meant to both comfort and restrain. Lily heaves breaths she doesn’t need until they start to fade but when they lock eyes over the older vampire’s shoulder Nadya knows there’s no regret in the things Lily’s said. Or in how she said them.

“I didn’t know,” she begins — and Mari has to renew her hold when Lily looks ready to fight Nadya over her ignorance, “wait—wait! I didn’t know… and maybe I didn’t want to know. And that was my fault. Because even if I didn’t know that didn’t mean you weren’t still hurting.

“I’m so sorry, Lil’. That doesn’t make it better — or make it go away — but… I am.”

She can’t hear the whispers Mari kisses into Lily’s ear but whatever they are, coupled with the soft strokes of her hand on Lily’s cheek — it calms her down. Makes her eyes fade and when she bites her bottom lip it’s with blunted teeth.

“I don’t…” Lily struggles through her desire to shout and keeps her voice even, “I don’t know if I can forgive you just yet.” It’s against everything she said when they reunited but deep down Nadya gets it.

She wouldn’t forgive herself either.

Mari throws her a look; concern and exasperation. “How about you go find somewhere else to be, chica?”

“I — yeah.” Just before she takes the turn back to the plaza she looks back, though. Tortures herself with it — with the sight of Lily and Mari in a searing kiss.

She doesn’t look back a second time.

There’s an abandoned tunnel the Shadow Den doesn’t use for any big projects somewhere South of the whole complex. Lily made sure to include it in the tour because of their mutual love for internet docuseries that explore such places. And, admittedly, it is very cool.

It’s the place Nadya seeks out when she needs some alone time — the Lily incident now behind them both with a promise to be more open about how they were really feeling in the future — when she catches the date on Mari’s evening edition of the paper to find out it’s been three days since the Ball.

Only instead of the soothing calm of a gaping amount of nothing she runs into Jax.

Well not so much runs into him as catches sight of him and ducks back around a half-broken pillar. Debates turning back and just asking Lily if she could have the room they’re sharing to herself for a hot minute or two while she tries to deal with her feelings.

Tries to work out whether she should still have hope or carry some grief in her heart so soon.

“You know I can hear your heartbeat, right?” Jax calls out; doesn’t seem to mind if his voice distorts and warps with every echo in the chain along the stone.

She sighs and slips out of her hiding place.

At first she wants to get into it with him about being shirtless and likely cold this far below the surface but, lucky her, she remembers he’s a vampire before she says anything stupid.

His almost trademark sword rests on a sideways column to the far of the space. At his feet there’s a similar one; wood by the looks of it.

He wipes sweat from his brow with a rag that’s actually his shirt. “Do they need something back at the Den?”

“No?” Her brow crinkles, confused.

“Then why are you here?”

Nadya hops up on a pile of rocks just high enough that she can swing her legs. Feels her grip tighten on the rolled-up paper she accidentally took with her when she ran out.

She shrugs. “Same as you I guess.”

“Somehow exercise doesn’t really seem like your thing.”

While Jax looks her up and down with judgment clear in his eyes Nadya huffs and chucks the paper at him. He catches it swiftly — she tries not to make a comparison (even mental) to ninjas.

“You can exercise anywhere, can’t you,” she quips, “but you come here to do it alone.”

“That was the intention; sure.” Jax unfurls the paper and glances at the headline — something about the stock market, Nadya recalls, and watches him scan over the print for his answers.

Eventually she takes pity on him; gestures to the date up top. He nods. “Still no word about your masters, then. I see.”

By now Nadya knows he keeps calling them that to get a rise out of her. And with her heart in the sour place it is; somewhere in the murky waters at the bottom of a well, she just doesn’t have the energy to fall into it with him (yet again).

“Big-wigs can’t just vanish, not in New York of all places.”

He huffs; probably the closest thing to a chuckle he’s had since he was turned. Nadya’s surprised there isn’t dust lingering in his funny bone.

“On the contrary; they do all the time.”

“Not these. A mobster and a skeeze like Lester — maybe. But Adrian? Kamilah? Vega’s a senator.”

“This is what life is like for us. This is what happens when something needs covering up.”

Nadya glares at his back while Jax picks up his wooden sword. “All right Mister Has-All-the-Answers, tell me this. When the Council is the one who does all the covering up then who covers up the Council itself?”

He opens his mouth but falters; even in his stance — left foot sliding slightly out of place while he thinks it over.

It’s back just as quickly and the swing of the fake blade is near-perfect. Or — that’s what she assumes, knowing nothing about sword-fighting.

“Fair point.”

It’s a temporary victory but a victory regardless. Nadya’s not had enough of those lately so she takes it — holds on tight as something to remember. And her point is a good one.

If they’re the most powerful vampires in New York then who has the power enough to do something like this?

“Well good riddance I say,” Jax continues, “maybe now we can finally work towards dismantling the Clan system and coming out of the shadows.”

She swallows down her anger like bile. “Sure — until someone else steps in.”

The warrior stops in the middle of his sequence; halts the whistle of the wooden blade through the stale underground air and when he rounds on Nadya his eyes flash with intensity and passion. Not the color of his vampiric hunger but rather bright and bold. Ready to take on anything standing in his way.

“That sounds like a threat.”

Nadya snorts. “Yeah; that’s me. Tiny human Nadya stepping in to rule the Council with an iron fist and her coffee mug in a cozy.” When his stern stare doesn’t abate Nadya rolls her eyes. “I’m just saying that’s how it works in all the history books — films too. Ask Lily — that’s pretty much the arc of the first two Modern Combat games.”

“And who is to say we’re not the ones to ‘step in’ and make things better?”

“Because.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

Nadya wrings her hands in her lap. He’s not backing down — so if he wants an answer she’ll give him one.

“Because… that kind of thinking implies something I can’t really accept right now.” I have to hope. If I don’t who will?

Whatever they talk about — the city, the vampires, Mari and Lily, probably even the weather — Nadya knows they’ll get into an argument over. Oh, she totally gives kudos to his passion. He’s the type who looks like he could make real change regardless of whether or not his asymmetrical eyebrows make her want to punch his nose.

But she knows the type. Knows that type doesn’t really brush well against the type she is.

So when he goes from impassioned stances to silent training Nadya doesn’t try to fill the empty space between them with more things for them to disagree on.

She came here for silence after all.

When the clouds part and reveal the light of the full moon her hands are soaked with blood.

Nadya stares numbly at them; wiggles them slightly and feels how they stick together as the blood begins to dry.

When she peels back her fear there’s joy — pride. The foreign desire — need — to relish her victory and the red fruit born from it. She doesn’t know what victory that is but it’s a heavy one. It weighs not just on her shoulders but inside her soul.

As her fingertips tremble in her own reverence Nadya brings them to her lips and tastes. Feels something like Persephone must have felt when tasting the fruit of Hell for the first time. The flavor of the blood washes along her tongue and the way it arouses her senses is nothing short of divine.

She closes her eyes to better explore the sensations — lips closed around her fingertips and sucking them clean; taking the sin within her without hesitation or fear.

Behind her arms heavy and cold wrap her in an embrace. A soft breath tickles the shell of her ear and the tongue that follows makes her shudder in a whole other kind of ecstasy.

With hazy eyes Nadya looks down — sees the smear of fresh blood along her naked body as those hands caress nonsensical paths along her curves. Long nails dripping the blood of their enemies thumb over her nipples, curl and tangle in the hair at the apex of her thighs. Seek solace lower, lower, lower until she throws her head back with a cry of delight that isn’t her voice at all.

Nadya turns to look into Kamilah’s bright red eyes and feels herself smile at the sight of blood brushed along her dark skin like an artist’s final work. An artist could very well have been one of their victims — she couldn’t care less.

When they kiss it’s not soft or kind. It’s primal; two forces meeting across the world where they should never touch and bringing reality down with it.

Together they fall upon the fur-lined mattress. The lumps displease her but Kamilah shushes her protests with another breath-stealing kiss. Lays her back down on woolen pillows so she can watch her lover with reverence.

And revere her she does — doesn’t even let herself blink for worry that she might miss one second of Kamilah’s glowing beauty and majesty. Majesty that her Queen showers upon her with adoration and devotion.

This is the way the world should always be. Never a lack of prey — the thrill of the hunt followed by all the things that make immortality worthwhile. And with Kamilah at her side they might just very well see it done.

“Come, my love.” Nadya purrs; reaches out and takes Kamilah’s hand in hers to pull the woman up to her lips. Scrapes her fangs along Kamilah’s lower lip and strokes bloody smears over the swell of her curved cheeks.

She sighs in contentment; the calm before the storm. “Together we will see it done.”

“See what done, my love?”

She brushes the hair out of her beloved’s face and this time her kiss is sweet; chaste. A promise of what will never be. — Of what only one woman was capable of ever taking from her.

No, not a woman. A goddess.

But for now… Kamilah will suffice.

“Our vision for a perfect world.”

Kamilah’s smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes then. But it’s a small gesture, could be caused by so many millions of little things that Nadya pays no mind to it; instead sets her Queen free to continue the worship of her body.

“With you by my side,” Nadya continues, “everything is not only possible… but attainable. Just within our grasp.” She rests back upon the bed properly; settles in for the coming dawn that will put an end to their fun only for a brief time. Lets her eyes close as she delights in her Queen’s affections.

Kamilah’s breath is a warm sigh against her inner thighs.

“Yes, my King.”

Nadya opens her eyes to the polished sheen of the looking glass mounted above them. Stares into her own blood-red eyes and the wicked, all-knowing curl of her fanged lips. Kamilah’s head bobs rhythmically between her legs and yet she takes a moment to admire her eternal beauty and power.

When she speaks again she watches her words on Gaius’ tongue. Strokes her fingers through Gaius’ hair down a path along Gaius’ blood-soaked nakedness. And she feels Gaius’ darkness bubbling inside; the storm unleashed.

“And nothing — nothing — will stop us.”

Snap. Snap snap.

“Hello? Ground control to Major Al Jamil, are you with me Al Jamil?”

Snap.

There’s nothing above Lily’s bed but shadowed concrete but Nadya can’t unsee it. Even when she blinks and rubs her eyes until there are little spots of colors without names flashing in her vision there, too, is Gaius.

He knows he’s there. He’s grinning at her. Teeth stained red and face stained red and body stained red and soul stained an utterly pitch dark black that she doesn’t think it counts as a color anymore.

Snap snap snap! “Nadya!”

The panic in Lily’s voice makes sense when Nadya realizes her heart is racing like she’s just run a marathon.

She looks at her friend slowly; has to blink away the bright spots until Lily’s concerned face comes into clarity.

“You were asleep when I left and when I came back you just…” Lily’s voice wavers, “It was like you were in a trance. You kept staring up but when I looked over you it was like you were looking through me, girl.” She looks on the edge of a joke but it fades fast when Nadya feels her stomach do a somersault.

She bursts out of the bed, trips over boots and a small stack of computer whats-its that sting her bare feet; rushes to the bathroom and just barely makes it to the shower floor drain before she vomits.

Lily’s there holding her hair back like any best friend would. Petting her shoulders and offering soothing nothings like “it’s okay” and “just let it out” like they’re coming back from a night out of fun or something.

Definitely not fun.

At some point there’s nothing but water and bile left in her stomach to hurl and her body knows it — stops making her feel that lurching pain of wanting to dispel a poison from her insides and leaves nothing but sore exhaustion.

Lily coaxes her onto the rusty workout bench that serves as a casual place to sit — probably taken from some garbage route or another. Offers her a lukewarm ginger ale that’s more about the intention than the action. But it’s better at nixing the taste than water would be.

All of Lily’s questions push themselves closer and closer to the tip of her tongue with every silent minute; repeatedly opening and closing her mouth when she thinks better of marring whatever Nadya needs to do to recover.

When she finishes the soda she stands, wants nothing more than just to crawl back into bed and hope for the sweet release of unconsciousness. Lily holds her back with a gentle grasp.

“I’ll talk about it later, Lil’. Please.” She mumbles wearily.

Lily nods. “Hey, you do what you gotta do — I’m not gonna push it. But this isn’t about, uh, that.” She gestures back to the bathroom with a grimace. “Jax was doing his walk of the plaza and caught two strangers — vampires he’d never seen before, a man and a woman — talking about that Ball.”

Nadya foolishly lets her heart skip a beat. Could it be them?

Lily continues, wary; “He cornered them about it, obvs. Then they, uh… they mentioned you by name, Nadi’.”

Judging by the look Lily gives her when their eyes meet that’s not a good thing. Makes her heart stink into her vacant stomach because no, it’s not them… why did you trick yourself into hoping?

But if it wasn’t Kamilah and Adrian then who was it?

She doesn’t waste time to dress; pulls on her hoodie from college that Lily accidentally stole and follows her out to the main room.

Only the table hasn’t been set out and the chairs are still stacked in the corner. Mari and Jax pause mid-word and look over the shoulders of the strange vampires to where she lingers with Lily in the doorway.

Whatever was left inside of her that could be considered hopeful withers and hardens into sour fear. Makes her watch, frozen against her will, as Valdas turns with Isseya on his arm and a grim-set frown.

“Miss Nadya,” Valdas greets, “a pleasure to see you unscathed. You have been ordered to make a testimonial at the trial of one Adrian Raines.”

[neshabeingchildish]

Determined: A Chasper Fic Conclusion

Second half of the chapter is extremely kid heavy. I feel like those actually reading this know how I am about kids and writing kids into these things. Alas, we’ve reached the end of this journey. Thank you to all those who stuck with it. I know this fandom isn’t a long story fandom and I apologize that I keep doing this to y’all. But, finally, the end is here.

Happy, Healthy Endings for All

Henry pulled up to the gate of “the estate” and when he was going to push the button on the little box, heard a beep and a voice say, “Henry Hart, Access Granted,” before he had the chance to do so. 

“They’ve most likely programmed it to scan your car… or your DNA,” Piper commented with a shrug of her shoulders. 

“How rich are our friends these days?” Henry wondered.

“Well, Charlotte is a genius who works with tech and DNA stuff, so she might have done it herself, but if not, Jasper is literally the highest paid executive coach in the country as of last year,” Piper said. 

“I honestly thought for a while that Jasper made that career up and I still don’t even know what that means!” Henry chimed. 

“He tells big bosses how to be better bosses and writes books to help little bosses become big bosses, if they have enough money to do so.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand HOW, either. Like… Who looked at Jasper and decided that he knew this stuff? Is he good at it, or just one of those people who got lucky and gets paid a lot?”

“The companies that he helps have better stats after he’s done helping them reevaluate their model. He’s gonna get one of those Netflix deals, I think. To get his own show where he basically goes in there and you see a few of his projects. He writes books, does speaking engagements, invests his money, and is kind of even helping Charlotte to try to branch out on her own. He just… is good at what he does. But, I mean… Jasper’s kind of been this way. Remember whenever he was doing his vlog and podcast and he’d get all these places and fans sending him stuff? He has a knack for smoothing people over. I think if somebody is confident enough, people are willing to at least hear them out and when he got his foot in the door that way, he owned it.”

“Are you… giving Jasper compliments?”

“No. I’m telling you nice things about Jasper. Did you ever see his “How to be a Good Man to a Difficult Woman” series on his channel? He’s got some very good life skills, when he takes the time to think about it and not just blurts stuff out.”

“Wait. He had a…” He stopped speaking whenever he got closer to the house and the yard, which had a very enormous playground, off to the side like… almost like a park and a huge garden on the other side, with like… what his mind could only seem to think of as a “tiny neighborhood” beside them. “Did this come with the house?” Henry wondered.

“Nope. Jasper had it commissioned. Sat down with the kids and got their ideas, worked on some designs, spoke with his architect, and voila.”

“Why are there so many little houses here when the big house is huge?” 

“That you’ll have to ask them.”

.

Jasper was giving directions to the crew that he had working on this event, which Henry could tell were frat boys who probably knew him as an alumnus and wanted to make good with him. He could hardly believe that his Craig used to be one of those guys. He’d be meeting them later on, because he had some work emergency and insisted that Henry go on without him.

Whenever the Hart siblings walked up, Jasper dismissed the crew and came to hug them. “Hey! Glad you two could actually make it! I think this is your first time coming to the estate at all, so what do you think, finally seeing it in person?” (That was more to Henry, because Piper saw it before, even if it was only in the beginning.)

“What is this property, Dude?” Henry asked, marvelling around.

Jasper smiled proudly, “Well, the site where Charlotte will be opening her center after her hospital fellowship is in this area, so I wanted to make sure that we had a house near here. I can work from anywhere. Still unsure if we want to fully transition out of the old house, since so much of the kids’ memories are there, and Char’s still got a few years before she’ll even be opening the practice, but they’re all still young enough where you set up enough fun stuff and they don’t even know what their previous memories were. I don’t really want to rent it out and have anybody mess up any of the sentimental stuff, but we’ll probably have it for AirBNB for a while or something. Haven’t decided.” 

“What are all these little houses, Dude?” Henry asked, pointing at a few.

“Oh, that’s Jazz’s treehouse, up in the tree, and Amber’s dollhouse, Ruby’s funhouse and the baby playhouse for the new baby. It’s like a little kiddo community for them, and all of them have their dream playground in the community “backyard.” On the other side is Charlotte’s she shed, which is one of my birthday gifts to her…”

“It’s like… the size of a regular house,” Henry pointed out. 

“We’re on our fourth kid. Locking herself in the bathroom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, even in a house as big as our last one, or even as big as the new house,” he said, so casually, that it almost made sense to Henry for them to have a whole other goddamn house a few feet away from their ridiculously huge house! “And her garden is like her front yard, then there’s the three dog houses. The kids want a puppy, so we’ll be getting another one, and already are making room for them. The Kiddo community and the Doggo community right across the way from each other. Charlotte’s she shed and her home lab on either side of the big house.” He was pointing at everything. “Took YEARS to get it just perfect and I figured since the timeline was so close, that instead of doing the whole housewarming thing that we’ve done in the past that we’d just throw Charlotte’s 30th Birthday party here and get showing off the property and showering her in love all over with in one event. Plus, Diamond is coming ANY day now, so by the time we’ve got them coming home, there won’t be time for socializing between getting them nursed, Char’s fellowship, getting doctors and scientists and stuff for the clinic, lab, and the spaces in the center, and…” he shrugged. Henry noted that Jasper looked the happiest that he had ever seen him. Like, everything in his life was perfect. He hoped Charlotte was feeling the same. He had been super busy at work. Springtime was very hectic for weddings and his busiest summer was right around the corner. Plus, he had a man now, and was still a Swellview hero.

“So, you decided on Diamond, huh?” Piper asked. “Just keeping the whole crystals/stones thing going?” 

“After Jasper, who was of course just named for me, we went with birthstones. Wanted to have their names be closer connected to Jasper’s than ours or something else. Amber was better than Citrine or Topaz…” 

“Those are mine,” Henry said proudly to Piper. “November.”

Piper rolled her eyes. Jasper hadn’t stopped, “Ruby is my fellow Leo, and even though that’s typically considered a girl’s name, Ruby is thought of as King of gems, so we rationalized that it was  gender neutral and that if it wasn’t, we’d just have someone with a name that was as rare as the gem itself… you know, if they turned out to be a boy.”

“Ruby is actually a turning out to be a nuisance. They’re my favorite of all of your bad ass kids,” Piper said.

Instead of arguing that they weren’t bad kids (They weren’t, just very free kids). “I call them “Rascal,” Jasper said. “I don’t understand how they get into everything that they get into at 1. Jazz and Amber Reign at least waited until they were in the terrible 2s to begin their shenanigans. I think that they’re gonna be a genius, like Char. She was doing a lot at 1 too, I’m told...” 

Almost as if on cue, they heard Charlotte yelling, “Andro! Ruby Andromeda Dunlop!” the three looked up to see a barely walking 1 year old running quite haphazardly, holding something that appeared to be a food item tightly in their grip, laughing all the way, with a very pregnant mother chasing after them, running as haphazardly with all of that belly to lug around. 

Piper and Henry both cackled at the sight, but Jasper darted over and snatched up the baby and took the food from them. Charlotte caught up, caught her breath and explained, “I swear, I put it down for a split second to adjust my nursing pad and they grabbed it and ran!” Breathing still a little winded, she said, “Hey, Henry. Piper,” and retrieved her Danish. “I know that the party hasn’t started, but somebody made me miss breakfast,” she said pointing at Ruby. Piper reached for the baby and they went to her willingly. “And they go to Piper before they come to me… The person with the titty milk!”

“Because, I influence them to be the most them that they can be.”

“You can have them, at this rate,” Charlotte said. 

Jasper laughed, “She didn’t mean that. She can’t legally give them away. They’re half mine.”

“Where’s their bling?” Charlotte wondered, finishing off her pastry. “They’re family. They’ll need it for the family photo shoot, not that it’ll be very elegant, considering that Dunlop children are magnets for calamity.”

“It’s covered, Babe. Go sit down. You look like you’ve been through hell.” She frowned. “Beautiful, though!”

“Shut up,” she muttered, waddling back to where her seat was. 

The Dunlops were dressed in all white and diamonds (or you know, knock off crystals for the kids) for Charlotte’s 30th Birthday Diamond Ball. 

Jazz had selected to wear “whatever Daddy is wearing,” so they had a smaller version of his white, suit with opaque floral embroidery and crystal embellishments. They also already had their pants rolled up to the knees and had taken their mass of curls out of the neat braided bun that Charlotte had painstakingly put it into this morning. Fortunately, she’d had the foresight to make sure that they did the immediate family photo shoot before everything else. Charlotte noticed on the way back to her seat that Jazz had also taken their shoes and socks off. They were literally untamed before the party even began. She smiled and waved at them and they waved back, “Hey, Mommy! You look like a queen!”

“If you’re not gonna wear your fancy shoes, at least throw on your sneakers so you don’t hurt your feet on something!” Charlotte called back.

“I’ve got some in the treehouse!” They rushed to the tree, electing to climb the rope, instead of the ladder to retrieve sneakers. 

“You raised them to be independent,” Charlotte said. “Carefree Black child. Literally carefree. They don’t care ‘bout nothing.” 

At least Amber was still put together. They had wanted to wear a princess gown. “It’s a ball! I gotta wear a princess gown!” They insisted. They only had Disney ones in their collection and they needed white, so Charlotte asked them what gown they wanted a white version of. “All of them.”

“You can only wear one to Mommy’s birthday party, though.”

“What about Daddy’s birthday?”

“Daddy’s gonna have a grown man friends party for his birthday. We’re not gonna go to that. Maybe just have some cake at home earlier that day, and sure, you can have a gown for that, if you want.”

“What about my birthday?”

“Sure. For your birthday, you can definitely wear a white gown, but which one do you want for Mommy’s party?”

Amber laughed and placed a hand on Charlotte’s hand, like a little adult. “No, Mommy. For my birthday, I need all the gowns. White. Also… all of them, in yellow.” 

Charlotte smiled and said through her teeth, “Okay. Of course, it’s your birthday and Daddy has literally never told any of you ‘no,’ so I’m sure that we’ll be fulfilling that order. Now, you wanna tell Mommy what white gown you’ll wear to her ball?”

“Hmmm. Well, I think Tiana’s, but white. And I need to add a bustle, so I can dance with a prince, or Daddy if there’s only commoners.”

“Where did you learn the word bustle?” Charlotte whispered, making notes.

“Where did they learn the word “commoners?” Jasper wondered.

They instead made Amber a white Tiana gown that was short in the front, kind of like Char’s wedding dress, and a sparkly pair of white leggings, so that Amber wouldn’t protest too much to the lack of a bustle. Charlotte still didn’t know where they got that word from. But, passing by them on the swingset near their dollhouse, they were still dressed like she dressed them this morning, in their shoes and all.

Ruby being one, was the easiest to dress. Charlotte threw a white romper on them and a sunhat and they were the cutest kid in the world. Keeping it white and them out of trouble though? That was a task for somebody else today.

Charlotte’s twinkling maternity gown and updo made her look elegant enough for the party, but between her tiredness, hot flashes, being hungry A LOT, and rushing to the bathroom so much, she was lowkey miserable. She didn’t want to do a big thing for this birthday, being so close to her due date and this having been the most taxing pregnancy she had gone through, but Jasper seemed so excited about it and once the kids were in the mix with picking outfits and such, she felt obligated. 

He planned it for the weekend before her actual birthday, because the next weekend (a few days after her birthday) was around the due date. It was SO CLOSE. Their birthdays would be even closer together than hers and Jazz’s, which was at the beginning of the month and had been celebrated by unveiling the playground in the yard. Which was so extravagant, in Charlotte’s opinion. But, they had made sure to get a lot of land specifically TO BE extravagant, if they wanted to. 

Besides, Jasper paid for all of that, and what was she gonna do? Tell that man what he could and couldn’t do with his hard earned money? Jasper had always been extra, and now he could afford to be.

Jazz wanted a jungle gym. Amber wanted a carousel, and Jasper filled in a lot of the rest of it with stuff that he thought would be fun for them. She wondered if he wasn’t having some sort of early midlife crisis for a while, because he was extremely diligent on making this property perfect. But, that was because it would be their “Forever home” and he could pass it down from Dunlop to Dunlop for as long as they held it dear. “They’ve gotta hold it dear. It’s gotta be perfect. It’s my legacy.”

Watching him handle it was one of the ways she wound up pregnant again before he could have the chance to have a procedure. That man was simply too virile! And there was something about seeing him so passionately make plans and prep for their children’s futures that there was nothing sexier in the world than him in those moments. They scheduled his procedure after she realized that another Dunlop was on the way. Not that she had anything against her other 3 children, but four was twice what she initially saw for herself.

Charlotte LOVED being a mom. It was some of the best highlights of her life. She never would have expected to love it so much, but she absolutely did, aside from the pain of labor, her suffering was generally minimal. (Mainly, because she knew all of the rules medically, and she was able to figure out any necessary changes that she needed to make in her routine whenever her body called for it. 

She also loved the idea of helping other people safely become moms, especially with the somehow increasing number of fatalities in Black women attempting to do so. So, whenever she finished medical school, her residency and fellowship, she finally was confident and prepared enough to open her own center. 

She would be working as a medical biochemist, specializing in genetics for infants and childrens’ care. The site had an OBGYN, a pediatrician, a gynecologist, and a fertility specialist, when they started out. She wanted to make another option for women who might not get the proper care in other facilities, as well as options for  the babies and children that they had. Also, to help those who wanted to have children and had issues preventing them from doing so. 

Instead of having several doctors who are not associated in the building and renting from some leaseholder, she owned the building, would work from the lab with a team she selected, to avoid the disrespect and distrust at her previous lab, and found specialists that she was interested in, bringing what she valued most to the place. 

Having other Black female doctors around was also quite refreshing, for all of them and she made sure to include an onsite daycare with personally vetted childcare providers. Because she knew that she wasn’t the only working mommy and that was important to her, as well. (This was a separate place from the pediatric playroom), because that was for the potentially sick kids. She even involved the doctors and scientists that she would have there in the development process, as a bit of an interview situation. (They didn’t work for her, but she wanted the vision to work for everyone, and to find people who were on the same accord).

They called it A New Page Childcare Center, and Charlotte had never been happier in her life, as far as her work life went, as she was after getting it off of the ground. She was saving lives again, but doing it with a collective of like-minded professionals who respected and liked each other and worked well together. She could be here until she was ready to retire! Finally! She had not only found her calling, but she was able to build up something to follow it through, and she was able to see her children more throughout all of it.

Plus, even when helping a client through a strenuous process of tests and seeking out solutions or researching new ideas in genetics, she controlled her schedule and therefore was able to do things at this point in her life with Jasper and the kids that she felt guilty about not being able to do before, like family vacations and events. Henry and Craig FINALLY tied the knot shortly after Hen turned 33, and it was her center that they came to when seeking out a surrogate. 

At the center, they were able to speak with a surrogacy agent, because by that time, the center had grown to include an agency for surrogacy and one for adoption. By finding all these childcare specialists and providers and making room for them in her property, it was easy for people to explore all of these options in one place, and there were frequently workshops on site available for training in doula and midwife work, becoming foster parents, and NUMEROUS paid internships in every single one of the areas in the place. 

Now, most of these ideas she came up with, in tandem with Jasper during pillow talk. She knew if he knew how to do one thing, it would be to tell her truthfully how to have a fulfilling workspace. She just had never thought that she would be able to put all of these professions and occupations in one space. Whenever he would say, “Why don’t you just find one and get them in your building?” she would immediately think, I can’t do that! But now, she wasn’t even sure WHY she ever thought that she couldn’t do it! 

She guessed it sounded like too much. She guessed that it would be too hard to maintain rules, regulations, etc… But, Jasper pointed out, “But, they don’t work for you. As long as they can pay you to be in that space, it's an advantage to you all to have sources nearby to suggest. If fertility isn’t working out, your fertility specialist can suggest going to, you know… the fourth floor for a surrogate or the fifth floor for the adoption agency, etc. That way, they don’t have to look around, which would be additional stress and sometimes, you may be able to have a representative from the office of their next step come to speak with them and build rapport in that moment where they’ve lost a little bit a hope, to meet and reassure them that the last step was only another stepping stone and assure them that they will give their all to this particular leg of the journey.” There was always a brilliant idea coming out of him! She loved that man so much, more and more all of the time. 

.

The various talks that had to be had with them were generally successful. Having two socially conscious parents, they were going to get lessons about everything whenever they either were about to go out into the world on their own (school and such) or for more heavy topics, whenever they seemed to want to know. Of course, first and foremost was the way that people outside might perceive and treat them.

Jazz looked almost just like Charlotte, but with a different curl pattern. Her hair mostly grew down, but it was poofy enough that it fluffed out at the sides. It gave her just enough “other” for people to ask her “Black, and what else?” but, if she had it up or something, nobody even bothered. 

Amber was the only one that was really “light skinned,” but she always got a little browner in the summer. Her hair was curly like Jasper’s when he was a kid and it didn’t grow down, but out, so she had a huge curly fro.

Jazz said that Ruby was her mini… like she wasn’t cut from the very same cloth as Charlotte. Ruby had hair like Charlotte’s and similar features. Slightly less brown, but definitely darker than Amber. She looked even more like Charlotte, because they had similar mannerisms and the same face and hair. 

Diamond was only a couple of shades darker than Amber, but she had more of Jasper’s features than the others, who were basically molds of Charlotte with the slight differences mentioned, and her eyes were light colored. Well, they were somewhere between a hazel and a chestnut. Jasper insisted that she had his mom’s eyes. Charlotte just denied it on principle. She lowkey did have Pansy’s eyes and was really the only one that could “pass for a Dunlop,” according to some of the comments Charlotte had overheard and seen on posts before Jasper blocked somebody. People sometimes joked with Jasper to ask him if he was sure those were all his kids, but they quickly retracted these jokes, whenever they noted his face or body language. When Jazz was little, he’d be more likely to kick someone’s ass over it. By the time Amber came, it was asked less, but when it was brought up, Jazz was singled out! She “didn’t look mixed enough” someone said, in that way that he could tell they felt like they were just being honest. She looked just like her mother, if she had wavy hair!! And… what did people think that he was going to presume that they were suggesting about his wife when they asked him shit like that or made a funny little comment.

His mother made that mistake years ago. “I just don’t see any part of you in that one,” she said, opting to try to pick up Amber as she nudged her forehead towards Jazz. Amber hid behind her older sister. Something about Pansy made her nervous. The woman sighed and tacked on, “I don’t think it would hurt to get them DNA tested, just in case…”

And he told her, “If you hadn’t given me life, I would sock you in the mouth for that.” (Jasper never made threats like that at her and she was shook). 

“I was kidding! She’s just way darker than I thought she should be,” she had said about Jazz (which was PRIOR to Jazz identifying as a girl and ALSO made him upset that she called them a she), but Pansy had come out of that. They kept some distance between themselves and her until she had to seek them out and agree to the proper language and appropriate treatment. Then, Jasper monitored every time she was around for a long time before her and Charlotte were comfortable enough (and the kids were comfortable enough) for her to be allowed to spend time with them by herself.

She was a much better grandmother than she had been a mom, and he came to realize that a lot of people were weird about the fact that 3 out of 4 of his biracial kids didn’t quote unquote “really look biracial,” so they wanted to tell the girls about it whenever it was time for Jazz to go to her private school. Jasper wanted them in public school. There was one not too far from the house and it was considered when he bought it. But, they compromised that the kids could go to a private head start, maybe public elementary, and then Charlotte insisted on the private school when they got into junior high. But, after head start, all of Jazz’s friends were going to private school and she wanted to go, as well. Jasper wondered if Charlotte knew this would happen when she made that deal with him. She simply smirked in response.

“What the fuck is biracial?” Jazz had asked whenever the race talk came up. Charlotte threw her head back and Jazz winced, “Sorry, Mom.” She honestly never let go of the word, since she was 2 years old. But, she also had just presumed that since half of her family was different shades of brown and the other half were lesser shades of brown that other people had families that were just all kinds of browns and lesser browns, even those lesser brown people she knew from pre-k. 

Realizing that Uncle Henry and Uncle Craig were not going to be able to come together and simply make brown cousins or lesser brown cousins was like a shock to her system. They had to grow a baby somewhere else and try to pick somebody that would have some similar traits. Then, learning that people might be meaner to her because she was a darker brown than Daddy was alarming, to say the least, and that even more people might treat her differently because of her private areas that they couldn’t even see? She was scandalized and horrified. But… she said that sounded like it meant that girls were tougher than boys and she was “tough enough to be a girl.”

“It’s not really a matter of toughness. It’s more like what you feel like you are, inside. And it doesn’t have to be a girl, or even a boy. You might feel like something else that you don’t quite have the words for, and we’ll help you find the right words, if that’s the case or maybe even you’ll have new words for us that are more catered to who you feel like you are inside.” Charlotte said.

“Well, I don’t not feel like a girl. I feel like a girl who is strong and brave. Whatever that is is my gender. I don’t care. It’s never mattered before. I just am scared of the people out there that might try to treat me like I’m a Black girl. (I am, but… that’s scary stuff, Mom.”

“We’ll protect you as much as we can,” Jasper said.

“I have literally seen your father punch more than a few people for treating mommy some kind of way,” Charlotte admitted. Jasper’s face showed he had zero regrets about those choices.

“Don’t worry Dad. I have a mean right hook,” Jazz said. 

“Damn right you do. That’s that Dunlop Dumb Drop!” And with just that, the kid gestured for a double high five and they growled in each others faces and started barking. 

Charlotte, feeling left out said, “I have some drops too.”

Both of them looked at her and burst into crying laughter. “Mom, please, do not do this to me!” Jazz said as Jasper wiped his eyes from actually crying laughing about it. “Oh, you oughtta end all these talks like that. Who can feel worried when you’ve got this shining sense of humor.” 

Charlotte folded her arms, but couldn’t help but to laugh, in spite of herself of the fact that her young child thought it hilarious that she could drop somebody. “I never said with my fists, Kid. I’m a scientist and a doctor. I know at least one hundred ways to drop somebody without ever touching them. A lot of them, untraceable.” She threw a look at Jasper, who immediately stopped laughing. 

“Well, that’s just terrifying,” Jazz admitted. 

Charlotte winked, “Only for my enemies.” 

Now, Jazz offered her double high fives and said, “Friends for life!” 

Amber was concerned about things, but mostly about partnership. Why, at her age? They didn’t know, but they just answered her questions when they arose. “So. IF I AM a girl, feel like a girl, like things that the world says is for girls, but I also LIKE girls. Like, REALLY like girls, like - like them, you understand… can I still be a girl?”

“If you think you are, yes.”

“But, the world says that girls like boys, right? I hate boys. They’re smelly and unkind. They never like to wear pretty dresses that would be gorgeous on them. They hit you and say it’s because they like you, so if you want to hit them back, you don’t want to, because you don’t want them to think you like them, a stupid boy!”

Jasper balled his fists, “Who the hell hit you?” 

“Daddy, don’t get mad. Since hitting means boys like you, I didn’t hit him back, so he wouldn’t think I like him. Instead, I put mud in his sandwich when everybody was at recess.” She smiled proudly.

“Well, I’m glad that you got him back. But, next time, just hit him. Nobody gets to put their hands on you and if they really liked you, they wouldn’t. Also, who was it?”

“Are you gonna go punch the kid, Jasper?” Charlotte asked.

“I MIGHT!”

Charlotte changed the subject. “Not all boys are like that, but if you just don’t like boys, that’s still fine. You can like whoever you like.”

“I like girls.”

“Cool. Uncle Henry is a boy who likes a boy, Uncle Craig. And Uncle Jake and Uncle Ray…”

She looked frustrated, “Do only boys get to like boys in the world?” They’d already warned her that people are mean to girls, was not being able to like like other girls part of that meanness?

“No! Everybody gets to like whoever they like and sometimes the world is mean about it, but sometimes the world is nice.”

“The world better be nice to me, because there’s plenty of dirt out there for me to put on their sandwiches.”

Jasper whispered, “She’s terrifying, like you.”

“If by that you mean that she’s brilliant, thank you,” Charlotte whispered back and kissed him briefly.

“Hi. Could you not? I don’t really want to have to see boys and girls kiss in my own home,” Amber said, inciting cackles from both of them.

Ruby didn’t care either way. Whenever they told her all these things, they said they didn’t have questions, were undecided on if they knew what their gender was and didn’t care about racist people because, “I have a big, strong dad, a mom that can kill people quietly, an older sister who fights people and one that pees in people’s colas. I think that I’m well protected.”

Jasper and Charlotte were nodding, presuming that they probably had talked to their sisters about this before, but both stopped at “pees in people’s colas” and said, “Wait, what?” Ruby tilted their head, acting like they had no idea what they were asking about.

“I have nothing further,” Ruby said. They kept the “their/them” pronouns throughout life. It just seemed like a lot to them, to sit there and think and decide who they felt like when their upbringing didn’t place any value on gender roles. But, they were also fine with whatever pronouns someone else used for them. It didn’t really matter. 

Henry retired from hero life at 50. 

The Dunlop kids and the Hart kids got together to plan a Semi-Centennial celebration for their parents, instead of calling in a joint birthday celebration. A lot of things were happening within a few years’ time. Jasper and Charlotte being married for 25 years, Jazz becoming a professional athlete, Amber getting engaged to her college sweetheart, Ruby graduating from high school at the top of their class, JUST like their mom and going into an entire new wave of technology that fascinated Charlotte, and Diamond going into high school, and the fact that Uncle Henry was getting ready to “settle peacefully from everything else” and focus on H<3art Eyes until his official retirement… so retiring from Captain Danger so that he could have at least some good years in the wedding shop with his kids and husband, just living his life. 

His Dad and Ray had bought a boat a while back, which they mostly lived on, did some traveling in and also continued to enjoy perks such as the old Man Copter, which Ray basically just redecorated and put a cheesy postcard like caricature of the two of them on the side of it. The same for the RV that Jake brought, for whenever they wanted to travel on land. They were both retired and had no small kids. Ray never told Jake about Captain Man. The Hart kids agreed that he just COULDN'T have that information. It didn’t matter, anyway. They had been working well for about 20 years at that point. Neither chose to get married, but what they had was pretty undeniable. 

The child advocate in Charlotte Ambrosia Dunlop got with Schwoz years prior to come up with a way to keep Swellview safe from the villain threats without training children to work as heroes until they couldn’t. It was a solution that they sort of came to simultaneously, and Schwoz was very upset that he hadn’t really considered it before… Clone generation. Recreating a Captain Man and Captain Danger clone and having the Man Cave computer know just how and when they would need to be replenished! Charlotte didn’t want Schwoz to have to stay there, being the brain behind the thing, so she convinced him to make a Safe Halley, to control it all and to simply keep access to it, if something went wrong, one of them could go sort it out if they had to. But, they didn’t. They never had to again, and Swellview was still quite safe.

.

Charlotte, Jasper, Henry, Piper, Ray, and Schwoz sit on the patio, looking at the view of the sunsetting on the mountains during their annual Man Fam Getaway… “Our life was stupid crazy. I wouldn’t change a thing,” Charlotte said and everybody heard her and they all agreed.

*** The End***

[bbyboybrock--archived]

Serendipity (C.B) | Chapter 11

Summary: Serendipity: (n) the chance occurrence of events in a beneficial way

Popular youtuber Isabella Hart, known as Bella to her audience, bends over backwards to separate her youtube life from her private life. Known for her overall clean content and her bubbly attitude, Isabella has a wild side to her that only those inside the youtube community know about. When Bella meets Colby during one of the trap house parties she finally meets someone she can be her genuine self with. When trouble arises after their meeting, will Bella be able to hand the pressure or will she destroy her relationship with Colby as well as herself in the process. [This starts in 2018]

Written: 2019

Word Count: 3,821

Warnings: swearing, attempted sexual assault

(I  put a **trigger warning** right before the triggering part of the chapter and **trigger warning over** at the end of that part so you can read around it)

Serendipity Masterlist

The guys decided to throw a party just for shits and giggle. Come March they're all going to have to move out and probably not be able to have parties like this. So they've been throwing one every few weeks. Normally I won't get involved because it's not my house or my party. But the guys have really let the house go since the last party so they need all hands on deck to get the house looking decent. They also roped Kat in this as well.

We literally had to draw sticks to divided up the jobs. Aaron and I were lucky enough to pull the sticks for shopping duty. If I had to stay at the house to help clean, nobody would be happy. Not because I would have been complaining, but because I might have been too bossy. Maybe they're the really lucky ones.

Aaron and I decided to go to Costco. We can get everything in bulk and because Aaron shops there regularly, we shouldn't be too long. Aaron is mainly going because We need someone who is actually legally allowed to buy alcohol. I could have bought everything myself because of my fake id, but the amount they wanted would have gotten me in serious trouble.

"We should stop by Taco Bell. I'm hungry and I know that everyone else is probably too busy working to messing around to eat." I say as I hand Aaron a box to put in the car.

"Sure, we should make sure they didn't post mate anything." Aaron takes the last box from my hands and then closes the trunk.

"Already on it." I send a text to the group chat asking who ate and then send a picture of my receipt from what I bought at Costco so everyone could Venmo me back. Aaron does the same.

On our way to get food my phone blows up from everyone ordering and paying me back. Aaron and I chat a bit and catch up while we make our way to Taco Bell. We haven't had much time to hang out or get to know each other before. He was almost always playing Fortnite when I came into the picture. Every time I went to hang out with someone at the house he was streaming.

"Hey, so how did it feel and how did you make the decision to start doing music?" I ask during a moment of silence.

"Why? Are you thinking about pursuing music?"

"Maybe... It's been on my mind for a while. Along with other possible career changing content."

"I see... Well, I was just trying to figure out what kind of content I could do long term without burning out and keep me relevant enough so I can keep doing this as a career. I've always liked music and I knew I could sing so I decided to try that. Why do you feel like changing your brand?"

"My content is doing well, but I don't get the same feelings that I did when I first started. I've been messing around with some things. I might take a break if my manager agrees. Just to figure shit out and focus on school for a little bit. You went on a few breaks, any advice?" Aaron pulls into a parking spot at Taco Bell.

"If you feel like you're starting to burn out, then take a break before you actually do. Your manager should let you take a break, especially if it means your content will suffer if you don't. When was your last break."

"I never had one." I open the door and head into Taco Bell before Aaron could ask more.

****

Like every party since we've gotten together, Colby and I are practically glued to each other. Not in the annoying making our way that a lot of couples do, but in the way where we just stay near each other. Kind of like a buddy system to make sure we don't get too crazy. If we ever do get separated we either text or meet in a prearranged location. Normally we use this buddy system when we go out for parties. When we do trap house parties there isn't much need for the system. We can text or dip out to Colby's room if needed. We've just gotten so used to being close that we did it naturally.

I'm in a group of influencers talking about follower count and they grow their audience. I don't even know how I got here. I was talking to a smaller group about Halloween. I peek at Colby who is actually enjoying his conversation. Colby instinctively looks at me and quirks his eyebrow. I smile and lift up my cup to him. I ran out of my drink a while ago. I'm defiantly not drunk enough to continue this conversation, or any conversation at this party.

I wink at Colby before excusing myself from my group. Finding a good group at a party is nearly impossible. Colby normally finds someone to talk to while I struggle to find a decent human to stand next to. I pass by several couple or pairs of strangers making out on my way to the kitchen. I don't get the point of going all the way to a party if you're just going to suck the face of someone you're dating. Sure, go ahead and make out with random strangers. But making out with someone you're already dating, and only doing that, at a party seems kind of pointless. Parties are for socializing and hooking up. If all you're going to do is make out with your boyfriend or girlfriend you might as well stay home. It's a social event, so go socialize.

After gently pushing my way through crowds of people I make it to the kitchen. It's crowded but only partly. The air-conditioning is broken again so most people are outside or too drunk to mind the heat. Maybe I'll go see what's going on by the pool after I refill my cup. I tried dressing as cooly as I can with a spaghetti strap black crop top and a shortish white skirt. I tried to expose enough skin to keep me cool while still looking decent. I even opted out of wearing cute black booties and wore sandals with them. The only thing that would make me overheat is my hair but I have hair ties on my wrist just in case.

I walk around the kitchen a few times to find a bottle of anything. Everything is scattered around and I have no idea what I want. I just grab a bottle of what looks like whiskey on the floor and walk over to the counter. I begin to pour while bopping along to the random music that's playing. I can't tell which song exactly, it sounds like a generic Chainsmokers' song if I'm being completely honest. As I pour I feel someone put their hands on my waist. It's most likely Colby. He probably got bored of his conversation too. I finish pouring my drink and turn around to face him. I scrunch my face when I see that it isn't Colby.

"Brennen? What the hell?" Brennen licks his lips and has a devious glint in his eyes.

"Shush... Don't worry about it babe, I just miss you. Let's 'hang out' like old times." His speech is slurred and slow. He brushes loose hair off my face. I push his hand away.

"First off, I'm not your 'babe,' Brennen. Second, I'm with Colby. Even if I wasn't I still wouldn't do anything with you. So no, I will not 'hang out' with you." I try to walk away but Brennen grabs my free hand and grips it tightly. He yanks me back and closes the gap between us. He's so close I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

**TRIGGER WARNING**

"Don't be like that, baby girl. What you and I had was special. I can make you remember what you're missing out on..." Brennen leans down and starts peppering my neck with kisses. I can't move. Everyone who is in the kitchen is oblivious to what's going on. Either they're abiding by the social media party rule or they're too drunk or self-involved to care.

"Get off me. Stop it!" I struggle to push Brennen off as his hands wander. Tears start rolling down my face at the lack of help from the people literally standing right next to me. The music is too loud and to anyone, we just look like we're too drunk and too frisky.

"Shush, you forgot how good I can make you. You'll remember in a second. Forget about Colby." Brennen's hand goes straight under my skirt.

As Brennen's fingers graze my underwear I remember that I was holding a full cup. I pour the drink over Brennen's head and manage to push him away. Jake comes out of nowhere and stands in between Brennen and me with his back facing me.

"You stupid bitch!" Brennen looks at me through his whiskey-soaked hair and over Jake's shoulder.

"I said, 'no' you fucking asshole!" I yell back. I watch as people start looking at the three of us in the middle of the kitchen.

"Your mouth said one thing, but everything else said another. If you weren't trying to sleep with me you shouldn't have worn that." I can't believe the words that are coming out of his mouth.

** TRIGGER WARNING OVER**

"You're absolutely disgusting. I wish I never met you, honestly." I throw my now empty cup on the floor and run away.

I run straight upstairs to Colby's room and breakdown. My chest feels tighter, which forces me to take shorter breaths. My face is completely soaked and the room suddenly feels hotter than it has ever been. I feel a hand go on my back which causes me to jump and turn around. I calm down a little bit when I see that it's Jake.

"Sorry, touching you right now is not the right time. I'm just checking on you. I kicked Brennen out and let the security guard know not to let him back in." Jake sits on Colby's couch and pats for me to sit next to him. I hesitate but eventually sit.

"I-I wasn't cheating on Colby. Brennen... h-he just—"

"I know. I witnessed the tail end of what was happening. This may be a dumb question but, are you okay?"

"I don't know what I am, but okay isn't it." I still can't believe what happened.

"Do you want me to get Colby? I'm getting Colby." Jake pulls out his phone.

"No, don't get Colby. Let him enjoy the party. You should go back and have fun too."

"Do you really think I'm just going to back to the party like you aren't up here freaking the fuck out?"

"Fine, get Colby. Stay here with me. Do whatever you want, but don't tell Colby it was Brennen?"

"Did Brennen slip something into your drink? Why are you protecting him?"

"I'm not protecting Brennen. I'm protecting Colby. Think about it. If the roles were reversed, if I was your girlfriend and someone you considered your best friend did what Brennen did. How would you react if you knew the truth?"

"Isabella, I know you probably have your heart in the right place, and maybe it's because you're a little drunk, but you're not making any sense."

"Never mind, I'm just going to take a shower and go to sleep." I grab my overnight bag and walking Sam and Colby's bathroom.

Jake's right, I'm not making any sense. It's not because I'm a little drunk, its because Jake doesn't know about why Colby and I had our fight a while back. What I really wanted to tell Jake is how would he feel if the situation was reversed and he had already accused me of cheating with a different friend of his. Colby was drunk the day of our argument, and he's downstairs right now either drunk or in the process of becoming drunk. I don't want a repeat of last time, especially after what really happened.

I walk out of the shower and change into some PJs. I walk into Colby's room while drying my hair to find Colby and Jake talking. Colby stops talking when he sees me and walks over to me. He scans my face with concern.

"Jake told me what happened. Are you okay? Did you see the guy's face?" Colby doesn't touch me, thankfully, but I can tell that he wants to.

"I'm fine. Just shaken up a bit. His face was the last thing that I thinking about at that moment." I give Jake a small nod as a thank you for not telling Colby that it was Brennan.

"I'm so sorry. I should have gone with you. The conversation I was having wasn't even that interesting." I cup Colby's face to make him look me in the eyes.

"It's fine. Shit happens. You shouldn't have to pause your life just to protect me from drunk assholes. I'm going to stay up here for the rest of the night. You can stay or go back to the party. But if you do stay, take a shower, you smell like downstairs threw up on you." Colby kisses my forehead before going to get his things to take a shower. He leaves and its just Jake and me alone again.

"Let me guess, this isn't the first time something like that has happened with Brennen?" Jake says inching closer. I turn around to make sure Colby is in the bathroom.

"You're right. Brennen and I had a messy... sort of relationship before I started dating Colby. It ended long before I started dating him but he just won't leave me alone."

"Why haven't told Colby if this has been going on for a while? He's harassing you, Isabella." Jake's nose flares. I guess he has a right to be upset.

"Because they're good friends and I really don't want to ruin that for Colby. I don't want to start drama. Jake, if you're my friend and really care about me you won't say anything to Colby."

"You want me to tell even more lies to my best friend?"

"It's not a lie if you don't tell him. It would be keeping a secret." Jake stares at me with his mouth open.

"For how long?"

"As long as I can. It's harmless, Jake. There's no need to stress Colby out like this."

"Harmless? Just imagine what would have happened if you hadn't pushed him off and I didn't see you. Nobody else in the kitchen would have done anything because to them it just looked like a horny couple. They weren't going to do shit just so they could have a story time video to go viral." I close my eyes and repeatedly clench and unclench my fist.

"Trust me, Jake, I know exactly what could have happened. A few months ago Colby and I got in a huge fight because he accused me of cheating for being too close to you. What do you think he's going to think if I tell him what really happened? It's a touchy subject so it's best for everyone involved to just shut up." Jake looks me up and down and shakes his head.

"Whatever Isabella, you know what you're doing." With that, he leaves the room. I either lost Jake as a friend forever or he's going to be, mad at me for a while. Either way, I can expect him to stay away from me for a while.

I crawl into Colby's bed and wait for him to get out of the shower. Maybe I should have just stayed home tonight. All of this could have been avoided. Colby wouldn't have to worry about me, Jake wouldn't be mad at me, and I could have avoided Brennen in general. Who knows how many of the people in the kitchen were actually paying attention and saw the shit show that went down. Nobody is going to say anything. It would be social suicide for if anyone leaks what happens at these parties. And since nothing seriously bad happened with Brennen and me, that risk isn't worth it.

Colby walks back into the room and shuts the door. He doesn't say anything as he climbs into bed and wraps his arms around me. All my worries from tonight seem to have disappeared. Colby strokes my hair slowly. He has to know that neither of us is going to fall asleep while the floor is practically shaking from the music. The party didn't even look like it was going to end anytime soon.

"Hey, let's go out for a little bit. Just until the party dies down or go back to your place." He doesn't stop stroking my hair, but he goes even slower.

"It's nearly midnight. Where are we going?"

"You'll see. Trust me, it's a great idea" Before I could ask any more questions Colby gets up and does something on his phone for a few minutes before getting both of our shoes and throws one of his hoodies at me.

If someone told me that one day I would be in my pajamas sitting in a Denny's at midnight eating breakfast with my boyfriend, I would never believe them. But that's exactly what we're doing. Colby decided that we can waste time eating and just chill out for a bit. We're most likely going back to the house because I don't have my keys and I don't know if Colby has his.

Colby stares at me with a dopey smile. I can't tell if it's because he's tired or because he's still a little drunk. I manage to secretly snap a photo of him and post it on my story.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked after the waiter placed our food in front of us.

"Just thinking..." He doesn't stop looking at me, he just keeps staring.

"Care to share with the class?"

"What if we move in together. I mean, we already spend half the week sleeping over at each other's place." I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's serious.

"Baby, I love you, but I'm not moving into the trap house."

"Oh God no, I would never make you live there. I don't mean your apartment either. I was thinking we get our own place. When our leases are over, of course." Several reasons to tell Colby 'no' flood my head. It's not that I don't want to, I do, but it's because I'm scared.

"My lease ends in April and yours ends in what, March? You know what, I'll get a place with you. Under two conditions." I figure that whatever is scaring me about loving with Colby will go away by then.

"What am I promising?"

"One, I get to decorate. Your clothing style is amazing, but your interior design can use some work. I'm not living somewhere that resembles a frat house. And two, keep your spooky shit out. No ouija boards or haunted dolls or anything like that." His smile widens and his eyes sparkle.

"Deal! I would have agreed to almost anything. I've been thinking about this for a while." I smile at how happy Colby is.

****

We spend a while eating before taking an Uber back to the trap house. The party is dying down when we walk in. We go straight upstairs and head into Colby's room to sleep. The music was still loud but I'm able to fall asleep.

I wake up suddenly to the sound of my phone ringing. I sit up and look at Colby, who is miraculously still fast asleep. I climb over him and grab my phone. I answer it without looking.

"Do you know what time it is?" I look at the little clock that I put in Colby's room and see that it's five in the morning.

"Jizzy! Hey, you answered! I'm sorry about earlier. I should have known that you'd be worried about being caught. Come over so I can make it up to you." Brennen is slurring his words. I'm surprised that I can even understand what he's saying. I quietly climb out of bed and walk into the bathroom.

"Are you fucking insane, Brennen? How does nothing I say register in your head?"

"Don't be like that, baby. I know you still love me. I love you too. Let me show you just how much I love you."

"Stop. I don't love you. I never loved you, Brennen. What we had— What we did— We just used each other. You used me to have sex and I used you to get free alcohol without fear of getting in trouble. I love Colby and you need to understand that."

"You can love him and still hang out with me. Don't act like you're all innocent. I know you're shaking it up with other guys."

"I ended things between us the second I found out that you were dating Kyra, which I only found out because of your youtube video. I wasn't going to be the person who ruined someone's relationship. If I ended our friends with benefits relationship because you had a girlfriend, then what makes you think I would risk my relationship with Colby?"

"Once a slut, always a slut. You can't stay tied down too long."

"Go to hell, Brennen. Contact me again and you'll regret it." I hang up the phone before Brennen can say anything else. I quickly block his number and all of his social media accounts, something I should have done months ago.

I pace the bathroom for a few minutes. There is no way I'm going to be able to sleep right now. Not after all the stress from the living drama that is being associated with Brennen Taylor. I go downstairs and just walk around the house. I kick out the stragglers from the party. Just a few people that I don't recognize that were probably too drunk to even figure out how to get home. I begin cleaning, starting in the kitchen. The drink that I threw on Brennen is still on the floor. Nobody bothered to clean it up. I clean up the cups that mitered the floor and collected all the alcohol bottles. I place them by the back door, I'll recycle them when there is more light outside.

About an hour and a half later I'm mostly done the cleaning when Sam walks down the stairs. We make small talk as I tie the last trash bag. He helps me take out the bottles and trash before I go back into Colby's room to get a few hours of sleep.

[bountyofbeads]

Exclusive: The Inside Story of How the U.S. Gave Up A Chance to Kill Soleimani in 2007

By Zach Dorfman and Sean D. Naylor | Published January 23, 2020, 10:00 AM UTC | Yahoo News | Posted Jan 23, 2020

One afternoon in Baghdad in the final months of 2007, a few members of a U.S. special operations task force were monitoring the feed from a Predator drone over the Iraqi capital, scanning for signs of trouble, when they spotted a large crowd gathering in the neighborhood of Sadr City.

From their large, air-conditioned tent near Baghdad International Airport, the operators sprang into action. They belonged to Task Force 17, which focused on combating the Iranian-supported Shiite militias that were killing thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of U.S. forces. Sadr City was the dense, teeming home to 3 million mostly poor Shiites. Whatever — or whoever — was bringing crowds into the streets there demanded Task Force 17’s attention.

Using an encrypted chat platform, an operator quickly texted a simple message to the drone pilot from the U.S. Air Force’s 3rd Special Operations Squadron, who was almost 7,500 miles away at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas: Hold the drone above Sadr City. The personnel of Task Force 17, which operated under Joint Special Operations Command, watched as crowds filled the neighborhood’s thoroughfares. It soon became clear that an important visitor was receiving a hero’s welcome. “It was like someone was welcoming Obama to the streets of Sadr City,” said a former U.S. intelligence officer. “It was electric.”

But the drone’s feed was too grainy for the Americans to identify the VIP. In the tent, Navy personnel assigned to the National Security Agency went to work, intercepting real-time communications from Sadr City to find out more about the rally — and the man at its center. They quickly learned the mysterious visitor’s identity: Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

As leader of the Quds Force, the covert action wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Soleimani was the patron of many of the Shiite militias then waging a vicious campaign against U.S. troops in Iraq. The Quds Force was providing its Shiite militia proxies with explosively formed penetrators (EFPs), a deadly type of roadside bomb that could pierce armored vehicles and would eventually claim the lives of more than 600 U.S. troops. But the EFPs weren’t the only reason that Soleimani was on Task Force 17’s radar. He was also actively supporting the Shiite militias in their bloody sectarian campaign against Iraq’s Sunni minority, and earlier that year, his operatives had helped plan a sophisticated and brazen Shiite militia attack on a joint U.S.-Iraqi military facility in Karbala that left five U.S. soldiers dead.

Now Soleimani was in the Predator’s sights. “We said, ‘holy s***, it’s Soleimani, pressing flesh with a bunch of people,’” said the former U.S. intelligence officer. The drone tracking Soleimani was armed with missiles, and the U.S. military could have killed the Iranian commander — and probably many others — instantly. Within the tent, “there was a discussion, of course, of whether we should do something,” said the former intelligence officer. But, even if Soleimani had been alone, the task force members present knew that the Quds Force commander was “untouchable,” said the former intelligence officer. As they watched, Soleimani parted the crowd, stepped into a building and was gone.

More than four and a half years into the U.S. occupation of Iraq — and Iran’s parallel effort to sabotage that occupation — Soleimani had also come to realize he was untouchable. He had not always believed that to be so. 

In the first years of the occupation, Soleimani had moved back and forth between Iran and Iraq “constantly,” but had always taken the precautions to be expected from a seasoned intelligence officer, said John Maguire, a former senior CIA official stationed in Baghdad in the mid-2000s. Soleimani disguised his rank and identity, used only ground transportation and avoided speaking on the phone or the radio, preferring to give orders to proxies and subordinates in Iraq in person, according to Maguire. “They knew we listened to everybody,” he said.

Soleimani grew bolder. During the last years of the President George W. Bush administration, U.S. officials discovered that, with the help of Iraqi contacts, he had successfully snuck into the Green Zone — the highly fortified section of Baghdad that included the U.S. Embassy — several times. “This was a bit of an embarrassment to some in the Bush administration, and there were several officials who wanted to detain him next time this happened,” recalled a former CIA official.

However, in what became settled U.S. policy for the next dozen years, the order came down to keep American hands off the Quds Force chief. “We were asked for our assessment of what would be the fallout, and we said the Iranians would see this act as inflammatory,” said the former CIA official. “The Bush folks decided that escalating things would not be worth it and moved on.”

In their massive station in Baghdad and in smaller bases around Iraq, CIA officers quietly stewed as they watched Soleimani and his deputies gradually seize control of Iraqi institutions, taking advantage of a series of American missteps after the success of the initial U.S. invasion in March 2003. “Soleimani realized quickly that we did not have an accurate understanding of how Iraq worked,” said Maguire. “He realized that the insurgency would tie Americans in knots and allow him to kill Iraqis he had wanted to kill for years.”

Those Iraqis were mainly former members of the Saddam Hussein-era military who had fought in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Soleimani was an Iranian veteran of the same war. Iraqi Shiite politician Ahmed Chalabi, who was deputy prime minister from May 2005 to May 2006, gave Soleimani or his associates all the data they needed to organize a campaign of sectarian mass murder by their Shiite proxies, according to Maguire. “They started systematic murder every cycle of darkness,” he said. “They killed probably 30,000 Iraqis that way.”

The CIA was closely monitoring all of this. The agency and the U.S. military had access to “a lot of cameras” in Sadr City that allowed them to watch live video of trainers of the Quds Force and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, instructing Shiite militiamen in urban warfare, Maguire said. But when CIA officers asked Army Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and other senior U.S. officials, about targeting Soleimani and other Iranian intelligence figures, their requests went nowhere, according to Maguire. “I was told, ‘No, these are Iranians,’” he said. “There was no appetite for it” in the Pentagon.

A Bush administration directive shortly after the invasion meant the CIA could not take matters into its own hands, according to the former senior CIA official. “We were limited to straight intel collection,” he said. “No covert action, no influence operations.”

The CIA’s Iraqi counterparts were equally frustrated at Washington’s reluctance to kill Soleimani. “The Iraqi intel service wanted to kill him and couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t target him,” Maguire said. “They thought he was the most dangerous guy in Iraq.”

To CIA officers on the ground in Iraq, the United States was ceding the battlefield to Iran. “We turned the field over in the short term to the Iranians, then we were stunned how effectively the Iranians moved in our way,” said the former senior CIA official, who compared the Quds Force’s efforts in Iraq to his own agency’s successful 1980s program to help the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the Soviets. “They pulled on us what we pulled on the Russians in Afghanistan. It was like a mirror program.”

It wasn’t just some in the CIA that felt their hands were tied. Task Force 17, the special operations force established to go after the Quds Force’s Shiite militias in Iraq, was likewise hamstrung. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki placed tight restrictions on any targeting of the Shiite militias and particularly Quds Force operatives. The task force frequently detained Quds Force officers, but Maliki always forced the Americans to release them within hours. The few Iranians killed in Iraq by coalition forces were “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” too close to their Shiite militia counterparts during firefights or in bomb-making facilities, said the former senior CIA official. Generally, Soleimani and his lieutenants knew they were safe in Iraq.

This state of affairs persisted throughout the U.S. occupation of Iraq. McChrystal, the former JSOC commander, wrote last year of an opportunity he had in 2007 to strike a Quds Force convoy containing Soleimani as it crossed from Iran into northern Iraq. He decided to just monitor the convoy, in order “to avoid a firefight, and the contentious politics that would follow.”

U.S. officials feared targeting Soleimani or other Quds Force officers would risk escalating with Iran. “Nobody wanted to cross an official line to kill Iranians in Iraq, because that would put us at war, and we had enough with Iraq and Afghanistan,” said the former senior CIA official.

Though violence persisted, by the end of the 2000s, the Quds Force was shifting its focus from killing U.S. military personnel to long-term political influence operations. In order to transmit backchannel messages to Soleimani and the Iranian leadership, senior CIA officials in Iraq would meet “behind the scenes with senior Shia political party members, very powerful influencers in Iraqi Shia politics and say, ‘The militias must cease attacks on U.S. forces or the consequences will be severe for you and your Iranian advisers,’” recalled Douglas Wise, a former CIA Baghdad station chief.

“For the Iranians, it was an easy message to have delivered, and to accommodate, because they had already achieved their desired outcome from their position,” which was greater influence in Iraq, and a drawdown in U.S. troops, Wise said. In these meetings, the Shiite political leaders would “sit silently and listen, their chief of staff would take notes, but they knew the tide had turned.”

The proxy war didn’t die down entirely, however. Even as U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, Soleimani kept up the attacks. “They were hitting us hard with rockets and EFPs,” said Douglas London, a retired CIA senior operations officer. “It was clearly just to bleed us. … They wanted to ensure we wouldn’t come back.”

With the United States temporarily out of the picture, “Iran increased its penetration of the Iraqi government,” said Daniel Hoffman, the former chief of the CIA’s Middle East division. But the rise of the Islamic State group — which owed much to the sectarianism of the Shiite militias and the Maliki government — brought U.S. forces back to Iraq in 2014 to prevent the fall of Baghdad to the Sunni militant group. This forced the Shiite militias and the U.S. military into an awkward partnership, with Soleimani pulling the strings of the militias.

By now, the Iranian general was no longer operating in the shadows. He was frequently spotted on Iraqi battlefields, taking selfies with militiamen and appearing very relaxed. The Quds Force commander was “moving around with impunity” in Iraq, Hoffman said. “Though he was in Baghdad, he might have been in Tehran.”

This made it even easier for U.S. intelligence to keep tabs on him. “We had almost daily information about his whereabouts for the better part of the last decade,” retired Army Gen. Tony Thomas wrote on LinkedIn after Soleimani’s death.

Thomas, who commanded JSOC from 2014 to 2016 and was heavily involved in the fight against the Islamic State group, said he had twice parked his airplane beside Soleimani’s during visits to Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. “We never had the guts or the interest to do anything about him (other than ‘sanctions’ that we didn’t enforce),” he wrote. “The reality was that he had the ability to roam and do whatever he wanted to do back then.”

 There was still no interest in Washington in a strike against Soleimani or his subordinates that might trigger a wider conflict with Iran, particularly as the Obama administration negotiated with Tehran to reach a deal that would curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.

Although he was a two-star general, Soleimani benefited from the view in some quarters of the U.S. government that the Quds Force was an intelligence organization. “From our perspective,” said a former U.S. intelligence official, the Quds Force was seen as the equivalent of the Soviet Union’s KGB during the Cold War: a rival in the spy game, but not an organization against whose members the United States could use lethal force.

Even after U.S. officials concluded around 2013 that Iran may have been targeting undercover U.S. intelligence officers working for the Defense Department in Europe for potential assassination, there was no talk of killing Quds Force members, according to the former U.S. intelligence official. “You don’t kill the other side’s intelligence operatives,” the former official said. “It’s not in our DNA.” 

When Soleimani stepped out of a Cham Wings Airbus A320 at Baghdad International Airport and climbed into a waiting SUV in the early hours of Jan. 3, he clearly was under the impression that these unwritten rules were still in effect. For so long considered the ultimate intelligence operative in the Middle East, the veteran Quds Force commander had failed to detect the shift in attitude in Washington — and in particular, in the White House — that now imperiled him. Whether he realized the extent of his error in the split seconds before a Hellfire missile incinerated his SUV is unknown.

______

Jenna McLaughlin contributed reporting to this story.

*********

[astriiformes]

Fibbonaci numbers for Erwyn?

Answered 1 (and I suppose, answered 1 again)

2 - Who in the party would your character trust the most with their life?

Ooh hm. Different people for different reasons, and really all of the party in different ways. Kriv and Voski are the two with healing abilities though, which have been pretty critical in saving his life, and Voski of course was the one who cast the resurrection spell to bring him back to life. They might be the biggest two just for those practical reasons.

3 - What are your character’s core moral beliefs?

Much of his life philosophy centers around kindness. He wants to help individuals and figure out broader ways to help the world – though one of his firm beliefs is that small actions and helping even one person are important and have a massive impact. 

While he wants to get to the root of the planar problem that’s plaguing Ashona, he’s very much a “sparks of hope in the face of the darkness” kind of guy. Maybe because so much of his own life has fallen down around his twitchy ears, but even in the middle of what we’re learning may be an apocalyptic event, he’s still largely focused on the stories and needs of individuals, and were he faced with watching the world end, he’d be dedicated to fighting and helping the people around him to the bitter end, even if it became clear the situation as a whole wasn’t something that could be fixed.

5 - Does your character have any biases for or against certain races?

Not really. As a high elf from a more isolated community he definitely grew up with some messages of semi-superiority, but more in a “we have powerful gifts” way than one that was all that disparaging of other fantasy races. And he’s lived outside of those influences and among really diverse communities for so long now that any of that has faded away entirely (though really, I don’t think Erwyn is someone that viewpoint ever really resonated much with anyway)

8 - What location encountered in the campaign has your character felt the most “at home” in, or just generally liked the most?

Funnily enough despite our circumstances, he’s pretty intrigued by the Faewilds. He basically grew up hearing fairytales mixed with real history about the place as a kid, because it’s such a critical location in elven history – it’s where the elves lived after the Seldarín realized they couldn’t remain in Arborea, with its overwhelming divine presence and environment, as mortals, all the way until they migrated to the Material Plane and experienced the high/wood/drow schism due to disagreements about how to survive in the new environment. 

Seeing the Faewilds, for him, is both a piece of history and I think a moving experience in a lot of ways – I imagine since the elves still have some fae ancestry in them that reflects significantly in both their biology and their language, there’s something about the magic of the environment and the resonance of the plane (a concept that our DM and I have talked about as a significant part of Erwyn’s horizon walker abilities and thus something he’s even more in tune with than the average elf) that feels inviting and nostalgic, even for the elves of the Fifth Age, like Erwyn.

13 - Does your character ever want to “settle down” with a spouse, children, house, etc.?

Not really. He’s not exactly the marrying type and I think would struggle with the responsibility of raising kids for a number of reasons. He certainly might eventually become a little more sedentary than he’s been for the last few decades, particularly as he ages seeing as he still has potentially 600 years of life ahead of him, but that still probably wouldn’t be for hundreds of years unless a very particular opportunity presented itself. 

21 - Does your character have any noticeable scars? If so, what are their stories?

I mentioned a number of his scars in the appearance question earlier, but to specifically focus on them and give a little more detail. These are also just the prominent ones – he’s reasonably scarred up in smaller ways all over, just from living a dangerous and outdoor lifestyle for so long

His most significant scarring is a huge, knotted mess of heavily scarred skin that stretches from his right shoulder all the way down to about his shins on the same side. They stretch a good way across his torso and upper legs as well. The party has caught glimpses of them on occasion, mostly when Erwyn has been seriously injured and they’ve ended up exposed, but he hasn’t been willing to talk about their story

He has another scar that I’m not sure the party has seen, but it’s a strange little spot on his stomach area that looks almost as if it was corroded and weirdly healed. That one also has an undisclosed origin

There’s also, of course, the scar from when he died. Since he didn’t actually get directly hit by Rose’s dragon’s breath and it was instead channeled into him by fae magic, it doesn’t appear as ice damage across his skin – instead, it’s a spot over his heart that grew there as it stopped, that has the sheen of ice and appears as a sort of ragged snowflake pattern that branches out in cobwebbed lines that almost look like Lichtenberg figures across much of his torso

34 - What does your character admire and dislike the most about the player character sitting to your left?

Oh BOY, well given the logic I used for these more physical space-oriented questions, that would be Voski which is a really complicated one to answer. 

He thinks that she’s an incredibly powerful magic user for sure, almost definitely overestimating her abilities but certain in the assertion. He also admires her practicality and has told her on multiple occasions that he really values her opinion in group discussion and decisions because he thinks they need someone with her opinions and ideas to be successful. Her ways with people absolutely dazzle him because he’s not the best at that sort of thing himself.

However. She baffles him. He looks at her and sees someone who, at great risk to herself, performed the ritual to bring him back to life, and who he is positive is a better person than she presents herself as, and yet sometimes she makes decisions that, at the very least, he just can’t understand. Erwyn has a very black-and-white vie of morality wherein he tends to assume someone who he knows is a Good Person must think similarly to him in that they would make as many kind and generous decisions as possible. So being in a group where – and Voski isn’t the only one who confuses him this way – there are people he’s seen be the epitome of his definition of Good but who are affiliated with crime, or make seemingly selfish decisions, or other things he wouldn’t expect a Good Person to do, is really challenging some of his views on morality.

That said, on the whole the positives really do outweigh the “negatives” in his mind. Erwyn’s opinion of Voski is not only positive but genuinely admiring, and he’s frequently a little awed by her and her abilities. Which is interesting, given their wildly differing personalities, but do I have some suspicions that the two of them have a little more in common than appears on the surface.

Answered 55 and 89!

[mackay13bloch-blog]

Bitcoin Wallet Windows

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