#ch: arlo

[yashley]

“After Eddie went missing, I didn’t want anyone to have to suffer through that anymore. I wanted to find answers.”

[veirsewrites]

Ooh what did Arlo/Aida dream about or more generally what kind of dreams they had?

MC and them spent so much time together that they were bound to be in each other’s dreams. Like when your best friend makes a cameo in random dreams. It was like that: “I had a dream that you bought 10 apples and wouldn’t give any to me” or “I had a dream that I chopped down a tree and you were in the background laughing at me”

As for the nsfw dreams, well, they were nsfw.

Arlo/Aida probably had a dream where they went all the way with MC. Depending on if they were heading towards a romantic relationship/in one, they would’ve used it as fuel to flirt. If they were just friends, they would’ve felt awkward and distanced themselves. Most likely eventually telling the MC what was up since they didn’t wanna damage their friendship.

I typed all this out but just remembered that I said that vampires don’t dream when they’re asleep, that it’s nothing but darkness. I’m pretty sure.

Soooo…..

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 24

"--dead."

That was quite possibly the worst thing Eli wanted to hear the moment she got back in signal range.

"Repeat that - who's dead?" she shouted at her Hi-Def.

"I said, Franklin's dead.  It's over," Remington repeated, sounding out of breath.

Eli felt an instant wave of relief wash over her. Granted, a dead man couldn't provide answers or be held accountable for those he'd killed tonight yet she couldn't help but consider this the best ending they could have hoped for.  "Where is everyone?  I'm on my way back to Portia.  Sam is -- somewhere behind me," she went on, letting herself slow to a brisk jog versus the full sprint she'd been moving at. ((Continued below cut))

"I'm here at the Corps building - Adam and I are overseeing two additional suspects," came Mali's answer.  "Remington hurried out of here but was uninjured."

Sam, Mali, Adam, and Remington accounted for.  "Arlo? Asher?" There was an uncomfortable stretch of silence. "...Arlo, Asher - where are you?"

"Everyone...  Meet at the Corps building," came Arlo's response, finally.  "We'll...we'll get everyone caught up as to what happened tonight."

Eli's heart sank at how defeated he sounded and the relief she'd felt only moments earlier was replaced with a sort of cold fear -- what had happened in town?  Asher wasn't- Asher hadn't answered, or had anyone confirm his whereabouts.

"Arlo - what's Asher's status?"

No answer.

"...Arlo?" Mali asked.

Eli pushed herself into a sprint again.

When she finally crested the hill and the Corps building came into view she spotted Mali and Adam at the Corps building's open door, standing to either side of a body face down and...Lily's mother?  Why would -- oh, of course...  The gunshots probably alerted her and she'd gone looking for Lily.

Whatever.  The girl was dead and not important right now.

Beyond them, further along the path, there was something laying on the ground - closer to the clinic than to the Corps building and glinting dully in the poor light, and beyond that she spotted a...a long, wet, dark trail coming up the hill from the opposite side and marking a path directly to the clinic's door.

Eli blew passed Mali and the others and collided shoulder-first with the clinic door, shoving it open with a bang, almost colliding with Remington just inside the doorway and sliding a bit in the thick blood smear that went from the doorway to-

Asher.  On a bed with a blood-soaked cover pulled partially up his torso.  And beside him sat Xu on a stool, with his hands stained red from fingertips to wrist and little rivulets tracing paths up his arms and smeared on the front of his white coat.  There was a small puddle of blood at his feet, formed from what was dripping off the sheet that was under Asher and slowly expanding outward toward the pile of shredded cloth Eli recognized as one of Asher's shirts that had been tossed to the floor.

Xu had had his elbows braced on his knees and his head hanging low, and had jerked upright with a start as Eli barged in.

"Eli-"

She finally registered Arlo standing near Xu's desk; he was soaked in red down his right side, from his waist down to his boots.

"What happened?  Is he...?"

 Is he all right?  Is he...he has to be, he-

Arlo looked away, lips pressed together; Remington was staring a hole through the floor at his feet.  She looked from them to Xu, who gave her a shake of his head.

"...he was gone before Arlo managed to get him through the door," Xu said softly.  "I... The aorta.  The bullet severed the aorta.  Even if he'd been shot here in the clinic I don't think I could have stopped the bleeding in time...not from something like this."

Eli timidly approached Asher's body on the bed, reaching out to gently take one of his hands in hers; it was cold, and heavy and limp, and he was a mess of blood.  Just...so, so much blood soaking into the sheet draped over him but didn't quite cover him fully - she could just see the tip of an open surgical cut sticking out from under the fabric...proof that Xu had attempted at least something, for all the good it would have done.

Such heavy blood loss had left Asher pale; someone had thankfully closed his eyes but there was no peaceful look to him...no way one could fool themselves into thinking he was merely asleep.

"I..." she whispered.  She tightened her fingers over his and pulled his hand up to beneath her chin.  "I'm sorry...  I'm so sorry.  I never should have...  I shouldn't have listened.  I should have just gone in.  I knew I needed to...  I knew I should have..."

She was faintly aware of Xu moving away, heard a splash of water and the sound of rustling cloth; not long after she heard footsteps and the clinic's door opening and closing.

The hot prickle of tears started at the corners of her eyes and her knees felt ready to give way.  Before she toppled she turned and scraped her back down the bed's edge, coming to sit partially in the blood puddle in the floor but not caring.  She kept hold of Asher's hand which brought his arm down with her to dangle off the bed, hanging beside her head and over her shoulder.

She rested her cheek against his forearm and cried.

---------------------------------

The door to Selene's factory was unlocked and a sharp metallic smell hung in the air as he cracked the door open; one of Selene's main rules here was to always check before walking in and dutifully Django did just that, pausing with his face near but not beyond the threshold -- though he couldn't see the source he was aware of a flickering light reflecting off the floor and could hear a popping noise coming from within so he kept his gaze fixated on the polished stone at his feet as he pushed his way inside.

Mere seconds later the flickering stopped, as did the pops.  "Didn't hear you knock."

"Because I didn't," he replied with a short chuckle as he gently closed the door behind him.

In front of him Eli sat behind a workbench that had been moved away from the wall and into the empty space between the entryway and where a line of machines started; in one hand she held a torch and the other was sliding a pair of thick-lensed goggles off her face and onto her forehead. Splayed across the bench before her was the Access Suit in a state of partial disassembly with wires, various relic pieces Django couldn't identify, tubing, bottles of oil and lubricant, a roll of soldering material, (and, strangely, what looked like the device she'd been speaking into the other night but now missing its casing) all carefully arranged within easy reach around it.

"Trying to fix it?"

"Trying to...  It needs a new cooling system, the environmental simulation sensors are both shot and the brackets need to be re-aligned, it needs a new projector processor, some replacement wire and some fine-tuning... I may not be able to get it back to perfect working order, but it'll be enough...  It has to be enough," she added after a moment.  "Did you need something?"

"I just wanted to check on you - you left the funeral pretty quickly."

At the mention of the funeral she closed her eyes; he walked over to lean against the workbench opposite of her.

"...I know his parents couldn't possibly have known when they purchased the plot," Eli finally said, voice low,  "and I guess no one thought to explain or even ask me, but seeing his headstone so close to Darren's was...painful.  I didn't think I could keep it together enough to mingle."

He nodded but remained silent, and she too was silent for a long moment before opening her eyes and meeting his; the look of exhaustion, of both body and soul, was painfully obvious.  Django circled around the workbench, reaching out to take the welding torch out of her grasp and lay it on the bench before gently turning her to face him with his hands resting on her shoulders.

"It's all right to grieve, Eli," he said softly.

She let out a huffed, bitter laugh.  "Yeah?  Maybe I could if I wasn't so broken.  The list of people I've lost is too long.  It's too much.  I can't...I thought maybe with time I could come to terms with it -- even before now it felt like an impossible order, with my husband, my family, my entire world gone.  And now Asher is gone too.  I can't.  I can't. Not right now."

It was odd being in such familiar territory; his days as a knight, especially the early days, had been far bloodier than he'd ever shared with anyone.  There was always joy in recounting the heroic tales but the ones that had cut deep he always kept close to himself -- names and faces, places where they'd fallen or parted ways...  He'd been in this exact position (well...maybe "exact" was not quite the right word) time and again and Eli's expression was the same look he'd seen on his own face staring back at him from the reflection of too-polished armor.  After a moment he tugged her forward into a hug; she stiffened at his touch at first, then relaxed a bit though she did not raise her arms to return the embrace.

"You're not broken, and you can't run from the grief forever...it won't ever lessen if you refuse to treat with it."

"I know.  I know, but right now I don't want to think about it.  Not when I've still got a job to do." She leaned out from the hug and turned back to the suit on the table.  "If I can just get this damn thing working..."

"A job? What are you planning?" he asked, letting his hands drop to his sides.

"I'm going to get this suit functioning, then I'm going to head north and get Harrison's family out of Duvos's hands."

"I suppose I should have guessed that...  You can't do this on your own, Eli."  At that she shot him a withering glare and he held up his hands in a placating gesture.  "That's not me disparaging your skills -- this isn't the world or people you knew.  Perhaps a better way to word it is, you don't have to do this alone."

"I won't be alone," she grunted.  "Rose is coming with me."

"...Rose?" he repeated.

She wordlessly pointed across the bench toward the far wall.  He shifted to follow her finger with his gaze and was shocked to see the Ghost Knight leaning against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed, motionless and positioned so that, as he'd opened the door and come in, the door itself had blocked her from view.

He'd completely missed her presence in the room and a chill of uncertainty shot down his spine as he jerked his head back around to Eli.  "Absolutely not!  You can't be serious!"

Eli cocked an eyebrow at him.  "I get that she's stabbed you and has worked for Duvos in the past, but she gave you the Access Suit and just wanted to leave with her daughter."

"I do not, not for an instant, trust her to lead you down the right path," Django insisted, shooting Rose an uneasy look.  "I am not letting you leave with her."

"And just how did you plan to stop me?" Eli asked dryly.  "You know if I don't go then you're leaving a rescue mission up to the whims of bureaucracy."

Django paused, glancing between the two women; Rose still had not moved or spoken, or opened her eyes for that matter.  After a moment he squared himself to the workbench, balling his hands into fists and then bracing them against the benchtop.  "-I'm not.  I'm not going to stop you.  But I am going to go with you."

Eli let out a sigh that trailed off into a growl; she kicked her heel out and Django heard the scrape of wood on stone as the stool just behind her slid abruptly backwards several inches, giving her the needed space to plop onto it while crossing her arms atop the workbench before resting her forehead on them, all in one smooth motion.  "Are we really going to have this argument...?"

Rose chose that moment to interrupt, though she remained as still as a statue as she spoke. "We have not truly talked in decades, knight."

"No, we have not," he agreed.

"That you would imply I have not changed in all that time is insulting."

The woman stirred at last and gave him a dead-eyed, empty look -- where he'd seen unimaginable grief in Eli here he saw...nothing.  No emotion.

"I can believe that you could have changed," he replied.  "I just have no reason to believe it was wholly for the better."

"You think I would side with the empire that has killed my daughter?"

"No.  But I don't know what else you might do."  He turned his attention back to Eli who was still face-down on her arms.  "Have you told anyone what you intend to do?"

"No, and I want it to stay that way," came the muffled answer.  "I don't want anyone worrying, or trying to stop me, or trying to follow me."  After a pause she lifted her head and stared up at him.  "And I definitely do not want Duvos to see me coming.  If I'm going to have a shot at getting up there, finding them, and getting them home, NO ONE can know."

Django straightened, rubbing his fingers over the crease in the knuckles of the opposite hand and unflinchingly meeting her gaze.  "I am coming with you."

"What about the Round Table?"

"Sonia has managed it by herself before -- she knows every bit of my business though she insists she's content being just a waitress while she waits for the right man to come along," he paused, then smiled a bit.  "I've debated giving ownership of it to her, if she wants it, when I'm finally too old to do the work myself."

Though...Sonia wouldn't appreciate having this dumped into her lap without warning.  Was this the right choice?  It had to be; he couldn't stand by and not help -- Eli, Harrison and his family, (maybe even Rose as well) they were all in need and he was in a position to help them.  To NOT help at this moment seemed cruel.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Eli shoving herself up off the workbench, craning her neck to stare up into the ceiling as she took in several deep breaths.

"On my honor as a knight," he said quietly, waiting until she'd lowered her chin and was looking at him before he continued.  "On my honor, I swear I will not tell a soul, so long as you do not leave without me."

"And if I do?"

He smiled at her.  "I guess I would need to share what I know with the Civil Corps when they realize they have a missing person case."

She snorted - loudly and heavily - at that but stuck her hand out toward him.  "Oh shut up...  Fine, whatever.  We'll leave the morning after I've gotten this damn thing fixed.  Preferably well before dawn, so there's no chance we're spotted."

Django shook her hand.  "Agreed.  I will be ready."

She let go and pulled the stool closer to the bench, reaching up to pull the goggles back into place.  "I'll let you know - I'll let you BOTH know - but I need to concentrate on this so, respectfully, clear out."

With a nod Django stepped around the bench and stopped halfway between it and the door, eying Rose silently; he remained there until she finally stepped from the wall and came toward him, then continued on and disappeared outside. When he was certain she had left Django stepped out of the factory and took a few deep breaths of the fresh air.

He would need to get his armor ready -- the set on the stand in the Round Table was just a costume he'd commissioned for display.  His actual suit of armor was still carefully stored in a trunk under his bed; he'd dutifully tended to it over the years -- oiling the straps, buffing rust from the buckles, polishing the metal.  There had been many times where he'd debated getting rid of it...  His days as a knight were over, he'd told himself; he was retired and the memories would remain even if he never wore it again or even kept it.  But he'd held onto it -- and thank goodness he had!

It had been a few months since he'd last taken it out and as often as he'd tended to it over the years he wasn't expecting it to really need any repair; he could have it ready to go in an hour or so, then leave it laid out where he could don it quickly and leave.

He would also need to write a note of some kind for Sonia... An apologetic one, as he could not give her any details on where he was going or why.  Hopefully, when they all returned safely, he could explain and earn her forgiveness.

-------------------------------------------

Almost...done...

After she'd taken it from Asher's belongings in the clinic his Hi-Def had been a constant presence in the factory as she'd worked to get the Access Suit back into working order; she'd debated just burying him with it and if it had been in her time she would have. She'd been unable to convince herself to let it go though, and then, after she'd had a chance to look the Access Suit over, to determine what it needed, she'd understood.

Among the list of parts the suit had needed was a new projector processor -- a part the Hi-Def's also utilized.  Balance had intervened to make sure she'd have what she needed.

With a steady and gentle hand (and a pair of slender tweezers) she removed the processor from the Hi-Def and carefully slotted it onto the control board of the suit.  It slipped into place smoothly and she closed the little metal clamp over it to press it fully into the connectors, then picked up the little current-testing tool and touched the prongs to the input and output points -- she didn't think anything inside the Hi-Def would've been damaged but she had to be certain...

It read green.  Working like a dream.

A bad, terrible, endless nightmare of a dream.

She set the tool aside and rubbed grimy fingers to her temples. "...I miss you.  And I always will, but you're going to see the end of this chapter.  I promise," she said into the empty air.

All that was left now was to bend the simulation brackets back into place and attach the last few bits of the cooling system, then a final test...

Her personal story may have stalled and she still didn't know where she was meant to go from here but Balance had acted to give her a chance to be Judgement's hand...  For Harrison's family, for Asher...for every tale Duvos had disrupted.  It was time to act.

----------------------------------

With her plane Mali had helped them comb the surrounding territory, looking for any sign that the Sky Sharks were lurking about.  To the far northeast near the coast they had spotted what looked like tracks left from landing gear but aside from that one hint there was no other clue that anyone had been around -- certainly no sign of the Sharks themselves.  Mali had suspected they'd simply abandoned the mission when it seemed like it had failed (by Windsor's account the delay with the clinic expansion had set them back weeks when it was only supposed to be a quick in-and-out job), and with nothing to go on and no clear sign of danger, there wasn't much they could do.

Arlo hadn't been sleeping well these last few days; while finding no sign of the Sky Sharks had relieved some of the constant anxiety he was...was-

-buckling under the guilt, honestly.  How anyone could stand to be around him was beyond him -- his orders had gotten someone killed.  Asher's loss was his fault.  He especially couldn't bear being near Eli; her words in the clinic kept echoing in his head:

I shouldn't have listened, she'd said.

No...she shouldn't have.  She never should have accepted his command; she had years more experience on him -- formal training, a career based around leading others.  And what did he have?  A quick rise to #1 in a town that barely saw any crime -- how stupid, how arrogant, to think he was qualified compared to her.

It had been difficult to put on a brave face for everyone around him; Sam was struggling with the fact that she'd asked to trade places with Asher and he'd had to reassure her it wasn't her fault as there wasn't a guarantee anything would have played out differently if he'd not been there.  Remington had quietly stepped up and took on extra patrols, to give Arlo the time needed to search the countryside with Mali in pursuit of the Sharks, and then when those scholars had come up from Vega 5 he'd taken them off Arlo's hands without complaint.

...Remington also had more experience than he did.  He'd been in Lucien and seen combat at the border with Duvos before he'd settled back in Portia.  Even he would be a better choice than...

It had taken another day or two to think it through but...Arlo had made his mind up, and the very next morning he was up and pacing restlessly while he waited for time to tick over and Town Hall to open.

At 9am on the dot he'd left his room and hurried to Town Hall, pushing open the door in a rush and coming to a skidding halt in the foyer.

"Gale?  Gale, do you have a moment?  I need to speak to you - it's important."

Arlo could see Gale at his desk, some kind of paper or letter held in front of him, and as he watched the man's expression grow steadily more crestfallen he felt a surge of nervousness - what now?

"Gale?"

"Ah, ahem, yes - sorry Arlo, please, come in," the man responded, clearing his throat.

"If this is a bad time I can come back."

"No, no, I don't- there-" Gale paused and took a deep breath, then managed to reclaim that usual look of professional friendliness he always wore as he set the paper down on the desk in front of him.  "I have a free moment now and you're here anyway so may as well speak.  What can I help you with?"

"I-" Arlo opened and closed his mouth a few times -- just say it.  Just say it-  "I wanted to resign as leader of the Civil Corps."

Gale's expression immediately fell and Arlo was shocked to see him bury his head in his hands.  "Not you too..."

"What?  What do you mean?" Arlo prompted.  He came over to the desk, punching a fist into its top.  "Not 'me' too?  Who else...?"

Gale picked up the letter he'd been reading as Arlo had entered and held it up, clearly going over it once more before tossing it listlessly to the desk.   "This was in the floor when I came in just now - I guess she put it under the door.  It...would seem that Eli has resigned from the Civil Corps and left Portia."

Arlo felt like someone had hit him square in the gut -- she'd what?!  "She what?  When?"  He reached out to snatch the letter and Gale didn't stop him.

It was a simple and to the point note:

 Mayor Gale,

 Effective immediately I am resigning my position with the Civil Corps.

 I am also leaving Portia due to a personal matter.  I apologize for the abruptness of my departure.

 - Elizabeth Summers

No... no, this had to be a-  a joke, right?  She couldn't leave...not like this.

Arlo turned and bolted for the door, leaving the letter to flutter to the floor in his wake; outside he slapped his Hi-Def open and was dismayed to see her name in bright red -- out of range.

He opened a channel to everyone.  "Has anyone seen Eli?"

"Not since yesterday morning, why?" came Remington's response.

"I haven't, no," was Sam's.

"She's not been out this way in a few days," Mali replied.

Arlo silenced the Hi-Def before sprinting toward the Peach Plaza gate and heading for Selene's house beyond it, leaping the fence and falling against the front door before banging on it.  A few moments later Selene opened the door and was almost bowled over as Arlo barged in.

"Please tell me Eli's here," he asked in a rush.

Selene got her balance back and hesitated.  "I didn't hear her get up this morning, what's-"

"Is she here?" he repeated through gritted teeth.

"What's going on?  You're starting to scare me a little--"

She trailed off as Arlo darted around her and pounded his way up the stairs to Eli's bedroom.

The door wasn't fully closed and there was no answer when he knocked so he simply shoved it open and was hit by an encompassing sense of emptiness -- the bed was immaculately made, there wasn't a single speck of dust on the bedside table or dresser, and aside from a photograph pinned to the headboard there wasn't any sign that anyone had been living in this room.

He heard Selene come up behind him, huffing a little bit.  "Arlo, what's wrong?"

"Eli left," he mumbled.  He moved into the middle of the room and slowly spun in place -- the place was painfully neat and tidy.

"She what?  When?" Selene asked, coming in behind him.  "She didn't -- why would she leave without saying anything?" She stood there looking around in confusion before moving over to pull a drawer open -- empty.   Shoving it closed she tugged open the next and there, at least, was some clothing folded up; there was more clothing (pajamas, some socks, and what Arlo suspected had to be undergarments as Selene was quick to close that drawer without looking too closely at its contents) in the next drawer and he could see Selene's baffled expression reflected in the mirror.

"You're sure she's left?" Selene asked after a time.  "Maybe she just...  She's out for a walk?"

Arlo stepped over to the bed and tugged the photograph off the headboard; he remembered this picture -- it was from the solstice celebration, not long after they'd rescued Eli from the facility.  He held it gingerly between his thumb and pointer finger, numbly backing out  of the room and into the hall until his back bumped into the opposite wall.

"She sent Gale a letter," he said softly.  "She left.  She's gone."

Selene covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide; Arlo slid down the wall and sat in the floor, studying the picture a moment longer before slipping it carefully into an inner pocket of his jacket, then he drew his knees up and looped his arms around them, letting his head droop between them.

What could he do now?  How could he possibly make up for his mistakes if she wasn't here?  Could he somehow catch up to her if he figured out where she'd gone?  ...no, that would probably make things worse as it was pretty clear, based on how she'd left without a word, that she didn't want anyone coming with her or following.

Damn it...  More than anything now he regretted that he'd been avoiding her.  What if he never saw her again?

He was aware of a pair of feet appearing in his peripheral a moment before Selene settled into the floor beside him, shoulder to shoulder and with her left leg pressed in against his leg.

"You don't need to talk unless you want to...but I'll sit here as long as you need me to," she whispered.

They sat in silence and after some time - how long?  Who knew - Arlo let his head drop to the side, finding Selene's there to lean against.  She gently nudged him with her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his.

"For what it's worth..." she said into the silence then.  "I don't think she'd leave for good without saying goodbye."

He stopped bracing his heels against the floor and let his legs slide flat, his arms falling to his sides (or at least one of them did - Selene was still holding him on the one side).  "...I hope you're right.  I don't want this to be how it ends."

The hours passed; he finally stirred when he could hear Selene's stomach growling and realized that he was also hungry.  She got up with him, excused herself long enough to put on clean clothes (she'd mumbled something about grease-stained work clothing) then they walked together to the Round Table.  Being as it was somewhere between lunch and dinner it wasn't as crowded; they settled at a table together and weren't waiting long before Sonia bustled over.

"Hey you two -- just letting you know ahead of time it'll be a bit slower than you're used to," she said as she dropped off a pair of menus.

"Oh?  Everything all right?" Selene asked.

"I hope so -- Django left me a note that he needed to travel suddenly so I'm handling the place by myself again until he gets home," was Sonia's response before she held up a finger to them and hurried off to greet the small group of tourist types that had just entered.

Arlo stared after her.  Django...left?  And at the same time as Eli...  He turned back to the table and saw Selene giving him a knowing look.

"That can't be coincidence, and I doubt she'd run away with Django without any intention of coming home," Selene whispered.  "She'll come home...  I just know it."

Arlo took a deep breath and leaned back into the cushion behind him.

She'd come back...  She would.

[funkytrait]

Chad and Vanessa are officially, official life partners.

[devilsmenu]

@scarredmedium - Sally & Arlo

"Umm, is this seat taken?" Sally asked the other shyly but she didn't seem to have any other option at the moment. "The place is crowded and I don't want to stand here and you were the only friendly face in here or so it seems".

[unordinary-diary]

Thinking about how Blyke is actually insanely strong, even by the standards of his world, yet he gets his ass kicked for the entire story.

From episode one...

To the first actual fight he’s ever been in... (ch. 15) [Edit: second actual fight]

... to the approximate middle of the story... (ch. 197)

... Up through the very latest chapter as of me writing this— (ch. 345)

— Blyke repeatedly gets pummeled.

Over,

and over,

and over,

and over.

It’s really no wonder he gets insecure about it.

I mean, these screenshots were all taken from different fights. The amount of fights he’s won, on screen, without backup is... once or twice against Zeke, once against Gou (Agwin’s Jack from turf wars), and once as a vigilante solo act. That’s four, max. There could be more that I’ve forgotten, but I’ve read this series so many times and I really can’t think of any. (No, I don’t count firing a warning shots to get people to behave as “winning a fight”.)

compared to all the fights he’s been outmatched in? You’ve got Rein from turf wars, Volcan, John, John, John, Lennon from his vigilante solo stunt, John again, the fight in the Rowden amusement park, the attack on Rowden hill, Ember, and now the authorities in general. Possibly more that I forgot. That’s 11. He didn’t necessarily lose all those fights, but they’re fights where he was way out of his depth and/or would’ve lost without backup.

Anyway, point is: Blyke is no stranger to getting his ass kicked. In particular, he is no stranger to getting kicked while he’s already down.

In fact, I’m gonna take an example from the turf wars match in chapter 15: Blyke has already lost the fight with Rein, yet Arlo hangs him out to dry. Arlo is the one who’s supposed to call him back to get healed, yet he just smiles while the others look at him expectantly, and Blyke gets more and more injured. Even Rein is questioning it.

I could and honestly probably will do a whole analysis on just chapter 15, but eventually Seraphina calls him back for healing. The way Blyke was treated in that scene was kinda heartbreaking.

GOD chapter 15 is my favorite episode but it leaves me with so many questions grrr I wanna talk about it but that’s another entry.

Putting that aside, Blyke is very protective, and compassionate to the plight of others when he’s aware of it. After he sees the situation in Branish, he is immediately, rightfully pissed about the way society is. It opens his eyes to a world he hasn’t experienced, and it reframes how he thinks of John (still a “cripple” at the time).

To the actual point of this diary entry (other than rambling about Blyke, that is), John is another character who gets repeatedly kicked while he’s down. I don’t think I need screenshots to prove that. However, in my current reread of the series, I recently came across a certain panel that I do wish I had a screenshot of. It’s either Blyke or Seraphina who asks John “Why are you always kicking people while they’re down?” And John responds: “Because everyone kicked me when I was down!” And I think that’s a vivid contrast with Blyke, who has been kicked while he’s down, and chooses to protect people who are weaker than him. In particular, I want to point out that in order to protect them, Blyke is willing and actively chooses to get beaten quite brutally.

Mind you, this ^ is to protect people who he barely knows. He and Sera aren’t close, and the others are practically strangers.

It’s pretty much the inverse reaction. John says “Others kicked me while I was down, so I’ll do the same on everyone else tenfold.” Blyke says “I was kicked while I was down, and goddammit I will keep getting kicked if it means other people don’t have to.”

It’s such a cool parallel, and the fact that when John was getting kicked, Blyke was trying to help, but when Blyke was getting kicked, John was doing the kicking adds so many layers to it.

[pocket-lad]

CH 13- Goddamn Henry Wu

Prev

Why? How? Goddamn Henry Wu?

Adelaide clenched her jaw but refused to do anything else. Anything she said, anything she did would be data for him, and she wouldn’t let him have it.

It had been almost five years since they’d seen each other last, and though it was brief, Adelaide could tell he’d aged in that time. His hair was lighter, his face more defined. She didn’t want to know what happened to make it that way.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Adelaide stared at him. He knew how she felt. Cold. Scared. Alone. Thoroughly pissed off.

“Glad to see you survived the Sorna incident…and the San Diego incident.”

Adelaide scoffed. Of course he was glad. She would hate for such an interesting specimen such as herself to go to waste.

“Is something funny?” he asked. When she didn’t respond, he pulled up a stool and continued. “We don’t have to be enemies, Adelaide. You could be at the forefront of some very important discoveries. If we work together, we could achieve some major breakthroughs in genetics. You could be helping a lot of people.”

“Let me go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“If you want to work with me, let me go.”

Wu held up a clipboard, which made Adelaide flinch. He read off of it. “Dr. Marshall describes the specimen as uncooperative, flighty, and antagonistic.” He set the clipboard back down and looked her in the eye. Or at least, he tried to. Her eyes anxiously flicked away every few seconds. “So, no. I can’t let you go.”

Adelaide felt cornered. There was no way out of the box but up, and it was a long way up. Close to impossible without her hook, and definitely impossible with a giant watching. With nowhere to go, his oppressive gaze pierced through her. “You have no right to keep me here,” she said calmly. Any explosion of hers would be a win on his part. A sign of weakness.

“Oh, but I do,” he said.

Adelaide knew he wanted her to ask why, so she didn’t. He elaborated anyway.

“You belong to InGen, Adelaide.”

“I don’t belong to anyone.”

Wu rifled through the papers on his clipboard again. He detached one from the pile and set it in her enclosure as he spoke. “Recognize those faces?”

The paper was so big that it had to sit curved against the wall, but Adelaide could see it just fine. And she did recognize those faces.

“Don’t,” she said quietly. Tears pricked her eyes.

“Mae and Arlo. A miraculous result of certain…experiments done back before InGen was InGen. I don’t even think John Hammond was aware of them. See, you got me digging, Adelaide. You physically should not be able to exist. I assumed there had to be more of your species, and somebody had to have documented you at some point. You can imagine my surprise when I found out the very company I worked for was creating you! Even if it was by accident.”

“Stop it.” Unable to press herself into the corner any further, Adelaide started shaking. He was lying. He had to be.

“I won’t bore you with the logistics, but Lockwood’s endeavors into human cloning resulted in Mae and Arlo, and a few others, at first. From what I can tell, research halted when Hammond condemned Lockwood for his…‘unethical’ actions.”

“Leave. Me. Alone.” Hot tears leaked uncontrollably down Adelaide’s face.

“Your blood sample provided some intriguing results. I don’t know if they escaped or if they were let go, but they left, and they had a child. And that child is you. They were property of InGen. You are property of InGen.”

Wu reached in to remove the paper, and Adelaide lunged at his hand. She bit down into the soft skin, refusing to let go.

Wu winced and instinctively flicked his hand to get her off. Adelaide went flying and her body smacked into the back wall of her enclosure with a thump. She fell into a heap, but before she could register the pain, she lunged again.

Wu was quick enough to remove his hand with plenty of time to spare. Adelaide’s momentum caused her to fall forward onto her face, and she laid there, a broken mess. Her face was soaked with tears and Wu’s blood, and each of her bones felt like they snapped in half. Her head spun even worse to the point where she was seeing triple.

“Hammond was a good man,” Wu continued as if nothing happened. He wrapped a bandage over his hand as he spoke. “but he was a coward. He didn’t bother to consider the wider applications of Lockwood's research.”

Was a good man? In her dazed state, Adelaide blurted, “Hammond’s dead?”

“Yes.”

For the longest time, Adelaide had mixed feelings on John Hammond. He really did seem like a jolly old man with the best intentions, a curious man who loved dinosaurs and magic and wonder, but underneath it all was a greedy child. One who liked to play with fire and didn’t care what he burned down. And in that moment, all of Adelaide’s thoughts on the man became clear. She hated him. She hated him to his very core. “Good,” she said.

Wu found her response a bit amusing in a detached sense, but the part of him that still clung to Hammond’s memory, to his support and care, made his face tense up.  Ignoring his personal feelings on the matter, he put on gloves, reached in, and grabbed the back of Adelaide’s gown, hoisting her into the air. It wasn’t hard, given her prone position on the ground.

Adelaide’s head screamed at her and her vision started to go in and out. She tried to focus on the giant, pale circle in front of her, on her surroundings, on his voice, on anything, but it was getting increasingly difficult.

“You’re going to do what I ask, or we will make you do what I ask, and I really don’t want to do that. You’re going to let Dr. Marshall give you a check-up, understood?”

“Nope,” she said, and she spit Wu’s blood back in his face. He flinched, and Adelaide felt her body sway lazily in the open air when he did so.

Wu clenched his jaw and abruptly set her back down in her enclosure. He really was disappointed. “We’ve given you so many opportunities to cooperate, Adelaide. I’m sorry I have to do this.”

A clear lid was placed over her cage, and Adelaide shot to her feet, but her back and legs gave way. What was he doing? Why did this box have a lid? She looked up, and she could just barely register a big hole in the ceiling. That was something she could work with. It was probably there so that she could breathe, but it was definitely big enough for her body to fit through.

Then the hole was covered by another contraption, ruining any escape attempt. Adelaide barely had time to wonder what the contraption was before it started emitting gas.

Gas ? The only gas she knew of was poison intended for rodents and bugs. That gas was bad news. Was that really how Wu was going to kill her? She couldn’t imagine why he would want to kill her, even if she was ‘uncooperative, flighty, and antagonistic’. He wanted to study her so bad. He wanted to know everything about her. And he could only gather so much from a corpse.

Regardless, Adelaide needed to get away from that gas. She ran as fast as she could to the farthest corner, limping and stumbling over herself the whole way. She pulled a piece of fabric from the nest and used it to cover her mouth as the gas creeped closer and closer.

Even through the fabric, Adelaide felt when it entered her lungs. She coughed and gasped, trying to rid her body of the poison, but it was no use. Her head bobbed with sudden drowsiness, and she used every remaining ounce of spite in her body to keep herself awake. Wu’s blurry, distorted form hovered over the cage, probably taking note of how she reacted. She couldn’t fall asleep around him. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

But the gas kept coming, and with it came stronger bouts of drowsiness. Adelaide gave it everything she had, but her body simply did not have the same determined strength as her mind. It gave in, and she blacked out.

***

Adelaide woke up with the worst pain in her neck. It felt like somebody had cut it open, repeatedly punched it, and then sewed it shut again. The pain shot down her back and up into her head so that she could hardly move.

She reached up to feel around, and a hard lump underneath her skin made her freeze. Pressing on it made the pain worse. There were also raised lines in the skin, and when she pulled her hand away, crusted blood came with it.

Borrowers didn’t need mirrors. There was no point in looking presentable when they’d just end up with knotted hair and bug guts all over their clothes later on. Adelaide didn’t need to know what she looked like. Why would she?

But then there were the seldom occasions where mirrors would be incredibly helpful. Like right now. To be able to see injuries in places that normally couldn’t be seen because a body just wasn’t meant to bend that way. 

Adelaide laid in the fabric scrap pile in the corner of her cage, which meant somebody moved her unconscious body. She was pissed off alright, but probably not as much as she should have been. Whatever that gas was meant to do, she wasn’t sure, but it made her groggy and it slowed her thought process tenfold.

It was time to get up. She had to find out what was in her neck.

A giant pillar fell from the sky and interrupted this process by pinning her chest back down. If she had been on solid ground, it would have crushed her windpipe, but she just sunk deeper into the fabric.

Still, it hurt. Adelaide shoved at what she now recognized as a giant finger, but it didn’t budge. She shoved and shoved and shoved and used all her strength and she couldn’t move a stupid finger. What did it want?!

“Take it easy,” Wu said. “You’re going to need your strength.”

“What…what did you do to me?” Adelaide slurred. She felt his finger unintentionally push infinitesimally deeper into her chest as she talked, filling the space left behind by the air she expelled. Her struggles grew weaker by the second.

Wu explained in great detail what they did. Adelaide understood almost none of it, and she had a feeling he used big, scientific words on purpose. But she got the gist. They implanted something in her neck that was supposed to take all the measurements she wouldn’t let them take.

“Dr. Marshall suggested it would be less invasive to do so, so that we wouldn’t have to touch you as much.” Wu’s tone indicated that he thought this was ridiculous, perhaps even a waste of time. “I believe this method is much more invasive, but what do I know? I will admit it saves us time, though.” He paused. He could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly underneath his gloved finger, and if he could feel it, then it must have been intense. “Your breathing’s become erratic. Why?” 

Adelaide gasped. Giants. Giants had taken a scalpel to her neck. Giants had moved her frail body, taken a scalpel to her comparatively stick-thin neck, placed some sort of metal recorder-thing inside of it, and closed it off with a needle.That was what the gas was for. To put her to sleep so that they could do that without her consent. Adelaide was no more than a lab rat.

Wu removed his finger. “Don’t sit up. Describe to me how you’re feeling.”

As Adelaide’s vision cleared, she was suddenly aware of two more presences in the room. She could only guess who they were. The woman, Clara, or Dr. Marshall, or whatever, and the red-headed man, Luke. Now she had an audience. She wondered if it was any of them in this room that did the surgery.

Clara read off some numbers to Wu, who hummed in response. “Tomorrow morning we’ll begin the tests, so rest up,” he decided. The three humans were gone in an instant, and the overhead lights in the room flicked off. Some safety lights were left on somewhere, though, since Adelaide’s eyes didn’t adjust to darkness the same way they usually did.

How long did she sleep? It was hard to tell what time it was, or even what day it was in a windowless room. It was hard to tell what time or day it was with how often she was unconscious.

The only movement in the small box were warm tears that trickled down Adelaide’s cheeks. This was what her life had become. Experiments and tests and a complete disregard for her personhood.

She slowly glanced up at the blinking red light in the corner, watching her every move, then let her head fall back into the soft fabric.

It only felt like a couple moments before the buzzing lights turned back on and her body was dragged into consciousness. It was still sore all over, but she could at least move her limbs and think coherent thoughts now.

The face that stared down at her this time was Dr. Marshall. “Good morning, Adelaide.”

Adelaide wiped the drool from her face and stared up at the woman with nothing but pure hatred in her eyes.

“Your vitals are looking fine. You should be happy to know we no longer have to touch you to get readings.”

Right. The implant.

“Though, I am afraid we need to get you from point A to point B. Are you ready?”

Ready for what? Honestly, it didn’t matter, because the answer was always and forever going to be ‘no’.

Despite the brief warning, Adelaide didn’t push herself away in time. Clara’s giant hand scooped her up, held tight, then placed her in another box.

Adelaide wondered how hard she actually fought. She told herself that she was giving it her all, but with each time the humans handled her, her resolve slipped. Obviously, it was just to prove a point. She knew that no matter how much she struggled, the humans would win every time. She would continue to tell them ‘no’ in the only way she knew how, but she would only be able to keep it up for so long. Adelaide thought herself to be an exception. Everyone had a breaking point except her. She could fight forever. But now forever felt like a very long time.

Her new enclosure was a small hallway that veered off to the left and right. The doctors probably wanted her to explore, so she sat down firmly. She watched Clara place a small item somewhere out of sight.

“This bag is full of food. I’ve placed it at the end of the maze. Find your way to it, and you get dinner tonight.”

Adelaide didn’t let the threat affect her in the way they would have liked. She’d been without food for long periods of time before. She wasn’t going to navigate their maze, even if that meant starvation. And so, she sat. For hours. Occasionally, she’d get up to pace around and shake out her limbs, but overall, she stayed put.

The scientists routinely traded shifts, and Adelaide saw some faces she’d never seen before. At first, it had her nervous, but nobody ever interfered. They all just watched.

Finally, a moment came where Adelaide was completely alone. Or, so she thought. Then she heard voices that she probably wasn’t supposed to hear, if the harsh whispers were any indication.

“She’s clearly capable of advanced thought and reasoning skills. She’s emotionally intelligent. Puzzles like these are a waste of time.” That one was Wu.

“I’m standing by it. We just need to give it time.”

A sigh from Wu. “You have the rest of the day, and then I’m calling it.”

A few moments later, Luke and Clara emerged in Adelaide’s field of view.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Clara asked. There was a sense of urgency, maybe even anxiety, to her voice. Adelaide internally congratulated herself. Let them scramble .

Then, the weirdest, most painful sensation overtook her whole body. A million tiny, hot needles repeatedly poked into every square inch of her skin, and it was especially concentrated in her feet. Her muscles contracted so tight she thought they would snap. Her bones vibrated. And she couldn’t move.

As quickly as the pain appeared, it evaporated, and Adelaide collapsed to the ground. Her head and chest burned and her body went numb. They shocked her. The floor electrocuted her.

Adelaide stared incredulously up at the humans. Clara grimaced as if she felt bad. Luke had an evil look in his eye. She could guess which one of them did this.

For the first time since she got here, the man spoke to her. “I would suggest you get going.” His voice matched the one that argued with Wu moments ago.

When she didn’t immediately respond, another shock traveled up her body. She screamed. Every single one of her nerves felt singed.

Adelaide didn’t think her body could handle one more, and the man didn’t look like he was going to back down. It looked like he enjoyed this.

Slowly, Adelaide pushed herself to her feet. She eyed the two Beans cautiously and began her journey into the maze, keeping one hand on the left wall at all times. It was how she liked to map new environments in the walls back home. If she ever got lost, she could turn around and find her way back. It was incredibly inefficient, but it wasn’t like she was going for efficiency here. She didn’t even want their stupid food.

Adelaide could feel their eyes on her at all times, but she refused to look up at them. The monotonous gray walls did little to ease her queasy stomach, and she had to stop a few times to regroup, or else she might fall over. And if she fell over, she was scared Luke would shock her again. This was what her life had become.

The end of the maze was just as underwhelming as the rest of it. An open, gray box with a bag at the center. Adelaide opened it and saw that it contained a bit of cracker, cheese, and meat, but no matter how hard her stomach growled, she couldn’t eat it. She couldn’t take anything from them.

She looked up at the Beans. “What now?”

“Now you can eat,” Clara suggested, as if confused by the way Adelaide didn’t immediately dig in.

“No.”

“No?!”

A miniscule vibration was the only warning Adelaide got before the electricity invaded her body again. Her limbs convulsed and she fell to the floor, twitching in agony.

“You’ll eat when we tell you to eat!” Luke said.

“Luke!” Clara yelled, and the two massive presences disappeared. A few hot, pained tears squeezed out of her eyes as she rolled around, trying to rid herself of the buzz in her bones.

A few moments later, Clara returned alone. “Come here,” she said, gathering up Adelaide’s limp body in her gloved hand and returning her to the fabric pile in her enclosure. Adelaide couldn’t fight it if she wanted to. “I’m sorry about him. Luke’s a bit…impatient. He won’t be joining us any more.”

Adelaide figured she should feel relieved, and she supposed she did. But Luke was the worst of two evils. That didn’t mean the other evil wasn’t still in the room.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” Clara finished. She placed a new, clean gown in the cage along with some fresh water and the untouched food, then left. The lights switched off.

Adelaide stared at the blinking camera light, trying to focus on an area of her body that didn’t ache. God, that blinking light. It was going to drive her insane. She could look away, she could close her eyes, but she knew it was there, always on, always watching.

Thoroughly fed up, Adelaide dragged herself to her feet and slowly but surely marched over to her yellow food dish, now full of crackers, cheese, and meat. She squatted down and wedged her fingers underneath it, upending it and spilling the food everywhere. It was surprisingly lightweight. Excellent.

Adelaide used all the remaining strength in her body to hoist the dish into her arms and over her head. The weight nearly knocked her off balance, but she willed herself to stay upright. She took a few deep breaths and set her sights on the camera. She could do this.

With one big exhale, she threw the dish as hard as she could. It soared through the air and smashed against the wall with a loud crack. And right on target, too. Adelaide saw that the dish hit the camera perfectly in the center, cracking the lens and shutting it down. The light no longer blinked. With a smile on her face, Adelaide collapsed.

***

The next day was full of more tests, all of which were degrading to some degree. Some were physical, some were mental, all were ridiculous. The only redeeming factor was that they had not yet replaced the camera in her enclosure. Even if Adelaide could only inconvenience them a little, she knew she was doing her job.

Every time Clara picked her up, she was offered food. And every time her stomach grumbled. And every time she denied it.

Adelaide realized that they were trying to condition her. She would get a reward (food) for every behavior they wanted to enforce. Without the threat of Luke hanging over her head though, she felt invincible. Nobody was going to hurt her. She was too precious to spare. An overheard conversation confirmed this.

“This won’t work if she doesn’t eat.” Wu.

“She has to want something. Her body will give out eventually and she’ll be forced to eat. We just need-” Clara.

“Yes, yes. You need more time. I understand your passion, Dr. Marshall, and I respect it. But we are wasting valuable time gathering redundant data that has no real-world application.”

“We can’t just assume-”

“For our purposes, we can assume quite a bit.”

“If I could just get her used to my touch-”

“She won’t get used to it, and you don’t need her to get used to it. Her comfort is not a priority, Dr. Marshall.”

A pause. “Yes, sir.”

Despite the conversation, Adelaide didn’t notice any difference in the way she was ‘handled’. Clara tried to be careful, but Adelaide didn’t care what she tried to do. ‘Careful’ didn’t matter in a situation like this. She was a hostage, and she was actively being tortured and tested. She felt nothing but pure loathing toward the woman.

The puzzles they provided were either too boring or too intricate, and either way, Adelaide wouldn’t complete them. And with each passing test, Clara grew more disappointed.

The physical challenges were harder to evade. They made her run until she was on the verge of throwing up. They made her climb until her arms shook. (Adelaide laughed at the net they set up underneath her. As if she didn’t climb these heights every single day.) They made her swim until she nearly drowned, which wasn’t long, because she couldn’t swim. It was the first time Adelaide felt truly intimidated by one of the tests. Surely, they wouldn’t let her drown, she thought. If they saw her struggling to keep her head afloat, they’d pull her out…right?

They eventually did, but not before she inhaled so much water that it burned her lungs.

And all the while, she knew the little chip in her neck was taking all the measurements they wanted. It made her sick.

Shivering, sore, and coughing up a lung, Adelaide sat huddled on a towel while the scientists moved about the room. She could leap off the counter right now and end it all. It was so close. But the thought of what they’d do to her if they caught her, combined with the aches and pains that radiated throughout her body every time she moved, kept her rooted in place.

The time to think about it was over. Clara returned. She snatched Adelaide up and brought her close to her face, examining her. “Oof, you look pretty banged up.” She used her thumb to turn Adelaide’s head left and right.

Adelaide felt the strain in her neck. If Clara just pushed a little harder…

“Well, we have a surprise for you. I hope you like it.”

Adelaide was hastily set down on the counter where her enclosure was usually kept, and what stood before her rendered her speechless. It was a house. It was a human house, but for someone her size. Like a dollhouse, she supposed. She wasn’t sure what to think. She wasn’t sure what they wanted her to think.

There was obviously no retreat with Clara standing directly behind and directly above her, but Adelaide did not want to go in. The house had an ominous energy about it, almost like it was haunted. It would provide a sense of cover from prying eyes, sure, but she knew it was all artificial. That thing had to be full of cameras.

Slowly, Adelaide gathered herself off the cold countertop and approached the front door. To see such a distinctly human thing on her scale was unsettling. Sometimes she wished she could do things as easily as Beans, but not like this.

One glance back at Clara confirmed that she was taking note of the borrower’s every move. So, Adelaide marched right up to and through the door, and slammed it closed. She leaned against the frame and slowly slid until her butt touched the carpeted floor. She couldn’t break down now. They were monitoring her, she just knew it.

It was quite literally a house, down to the very last detail. Light fixtures hung from the ceiling, furniture scaled perfectly to her size was arranged like any Bean would arrange their furniture, stairs led up to…somewhere. The walls were painted a pale shade of green and the carpet fibers were short but soft.

Adelaide probably could’ve spent a whole day marveling at the carpet itself. Regular carpet was annoying. It was hard to trudge through and collected dust and debris like nobody’s business. But this…Maybe she understood why Beans liked it.

She turned her attention toward the light switch. There was no way…

Adelaide flicked it into the upward position like she’d seen Ian do a billion times, and to her surprise, the lights actually turned on. This place actually had electricity.

Eventually, Adelaide happened upon a bedroom. Just like everything else, the bed was modeled after human furniture. Curtains hung unmoving against a window that looked out at a blank white wall. The silence was eerie.

Along the way, Adelaide spotted a number of cameras, this time covered by some kind of glass or plastic. Unbreakable.

This was too much. She didn’t want this, especially under these circumstances. Whatever they wanted to gather from her, she wouldn’t give it to them. All the anger, all the resentment, all the frustration that had been building over the past few days - it was time to let it out.

The first thing Adelaide destroyed was the bed. She ripped the covers off, then upended the mattress. She tore down the curtains, pulling the bar off the wall as well. She pulled the drawers out of the dresser, she broke as much wood as she could manage, then moved onto the next room.

Adelaide screamed. She was sick of being treated like an animal. She was sick of being handled without her consent. She was sick of Clara and Luke and Henry Wu and every other person in this goddamn building. She was sick of hurting.

And so, she screamed and yelled and destroyed every single thing possible in the odd house. By the end of her tirade, it looked as though a tornado had swept through. Not an inch of the floor was visible. The electricity no longer worked. Or maybe it did, but the light fixtures were on the ground with the rest of the mess.

She wasn’t able to get to any of the cameras. She tried everything - from wood to metal to her bare fists - the casing would not break, and the red lights continued to blink. Adelaide cried as she sat amongst the rubble. Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. She wanted to go home. 

Her knuckles and feet bled, staining whatever was around her. She stared at the splinters that stuck out of the wounds, not bothering to pull them out. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed, and her last thought was a hope that she would not wake up.

Unfortunately, Adelaide did wake up, and rather abruptly. Bright white light lit up the whole house, but she barely registered it as a large hand wrapped around her limp form. It held her limbs tightly against her body, and she immediately began to panic. She squirmed about as much as the small space would allow, which wasn’t much.

Please, just let it be over.

Adelaide was hastily deposited on the counter. It was a spot she hadn’t been before, or maybe it was, but now there were metal restraints built into the counter itself.

She didn’t even care who was holding her. All that mattered was getting away. (Though she did figure out it was Clara.) She pushed at the fingers that tried to pin her down and scrambled away as fast as she could. It was a sea of fighting limbs, but in the end, the finger caught one of her legs. The momentum caused her to fall forward, and it felt like her leg was yanked out of its socket. She was pulled backward, the counter squeaking as her skin dragged against it, and she tried desperately to claw into its hard surface, to slow time down even for a moment.

But this was a Bean. Beans always won. This Bean was no exception. She held her leg in place as he closed the restraint around it, and from there it was futile. That didn’t mean Adelaide would stop trying, even as the finger pushed on her chest. Even as each limb was secured. 

She squeezed her eyes shut and tugged against the restraints, feeling them dig into her bones. If she could get the bones to break, her hands would easily fit through the small gap. From there, she would just have to…she could just…

“Yeah, that’s - that’s her.”

Adelaide froze. There was no way. She was imagining it, or they were pulling some cruel trick and calling it an ‘experiment’. But as much as she didn’t want to open her eyes and face the harsh reality they put upon her, she had to know.

Adelaide opened her eyes. Two men stared down at her with cold, hard eyes. One was Dr. Wu. The other was Ian Malcolm.

.

Next

[nerdychaoscherryblossom]

Once Upon a Pixar (2026)

Hello. It's me, and this is the Pixar version of Once Upon a Studio called Once Upon a Pixar.

(The film opens with the headquarters at Pixar as the employees leave for the day.)

Pixar Intern: It's so incredible to think that George Lucas started Pixar back in 1979 until it was founded by Steve Jobs in 1986 40 years ago today. To think of all those talented animators and unforgettable characters who have been a part of the studio over the years.

Pete Docter: Yep. (as he and the intern turn around one last time) If the characters could talk to each other.

(Pete Docter and the intern leave as the door closes while the title comes up: "Once Upon a Pixar". The camera zooms into a photo picture of Woody, Jessie and Bullseye running on a record player. Woody glances back as everything seems quiet in the lobby.)

Woody: Psst! Atta. Princess Atta. You there?

(Princess Atta flies into the lobby and over to his picture.)

Woody: Is that it? They all gone?

Princess Atta: Yep, they're all gone.

Woody: Yee-haw! (he, Jessie and Bullseye leap out of the picture) Come on, Jessie, this is it.

Jessie: Let's get everyone. Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!

Joy: (gasps) There's the signal! All right, everyone! (she, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust jump out of their production cell) It's picture time!

Elio Silos: That's tonight?

Joy: That's now.

Ember Lumen: The 40-year group photo. (she and Wade jump out of their production cell as well) And the sun's going down. Come on, Wade, let's feel the burn!

Wade Ripple: Ooh, a fire pun. (chuckles) Got to like that.

(Suddenly, Arlo and Spot come out of their production cell as Wade gasps and goes against the wall.)

Arlo: (chuckles nervously) Sorry.

Woody: Picture time, gang!

Mei Lee: (chuckles) Okay, here we come!

(Mei Lee, Miriam, Abby, Priya and Tyler jump out of their production cell while they laugh.)

Abby: Wake up, everyone!

(The Oozma Kappa come out of their production cell as Squishy yells while Russell, Carl and Dug walk down the hallway.)

Russell: Whoa!

Dug: Awesome!

Russell: Oh, Mr. Lightyear! Get the folks upstairs!

Buzz Lightyear: Roger that, Russell. To infinity and beyond!

(Buzz Lightyear flies upstairs as Lightning McQueen drives happily down the hall with Mater.)

Mater: Yee-haw!

Merida: (jumps out of her production cell) It's picture time! (runs to the lobby) We're meeting at the lobby!

Flik: Okay! See you there!

(Miguel Rivera and Riley Andersen ride on Dim as Dim flies to the lobby.)

Miguel Rivera: (hollers)

(Francis gives a fun ride to Dash Parr.)

Dash Parr: Whoa! Higher! (laughs)

(Francis chuckles as Remy and Emile slide down the stairs as Luca Paguro lands on the floor and sighs as he catches Nemo.)

Nemo: Water.

Luca Paguro: (shudders and rushes to the counter)

P.T. Flea: No, no, no, there's no time for snacks!

Luca Paguro: Uh, Andy! A little help here?

Andy Davis: Oh, uh, let me see here. There we go, a nice bucket of water.

(Luca Paguro dunks Nemo to a bucket of water.)

Nemo: (grunts)

Linguini: (chuckles) Oh, waiter! There's a fish in the bucket! (laughs)

(Ernesto de la Cruz tries to get candy from the vending machine while he curses in Spanish as Mr. Incredible and Frozone walk down the hall.)

Mr. Incredible: Yikes! Do you think all the villains might catch up?

Frozone: Hmm. (freezes Syndrome in his frame) Not all.

Syndrome: (strains)

(Rex goes to the elevator with Imelda Rivera, Manticore, Ian, Barley and Laurel Lightfoot.)

Imelda Rivera: Going down?

Roz: Hold the elevator. I'm going to the lobby.

Rex: Huh? Oh, you've got to be joking.

(Joe Gardner hums to "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" while he draws Hector Rivera.)

Brook Ripple: Hey, black man. Shake a leg, will ya?

Joe Gardner: The leg won't make a difference, it's all in the wrist.

(Hector Rivera bursts out of the drawing as Joe Gardner shrieks in surprise.)

Hector Rivera: Ay! I haven't seen a fall like that since Spain. (fixes the chair) Oh! Much better.

(At the men's room, Hopper, 4*Town and Chef Skinner freshen up as Chef Skinner blows a kiss and chuckles. Suddenly, Tuck and Roll appear in front of his eyes, laughing, as Jessie opens the door.)

Jessie: Let's move it, gentlemen!

(While Lorenzo Paguro tries to free his wife Daniela Paguro from her picture, Giulia Marcovaldo walk with Buster, Mr. Mittens, Larry and Machivelli.)

Giulia Marcovaldo: Uh-huh. Meeting at the lobby. Don't eat the rats.

(Scud tries to eat Remy and Emile but Dante pops up and scares Scud away, thus saving the rats' lives. While Izzy and her team walk by, Mei Lee and her friends watch a cartoon on a TV.)

Izzy Hawthorne: Come on, everyone, you're gonna have nightmares.

(Zurg pops out of the TV and scares Mei Lee and her friends away, laughing. Back at the elevator, Roz makes it in time.)

Roz: Thanks very much for holding the elevator.

Rex: (groans)

Evelyn Deavor: I'm also going to the lobby as well.

Rex: Huh? Oh, come on!

(While M-O is being followed and annoyed by Dot, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson follow down the stairs, where Mr. Anderson is the one to drop his wallet and they laugh. Buster picks up the wallet and runs off with it.)

Mr. Anderson: Hey, Buster! Andy, get your dog!

(Woody follows up the stairs as he looks amused when he sees Underminer leading Colette Tatou with his hypnosis watch.)

Woody: Underminer? Underminer! You-- You stop that now, Underminer!

Rosie: Don't worry, Woody. (chuckles) I got this.

(Rosie hits Underminer offscreen unconsciously.)

Woody: Huh. (gasps) Wow.

(Woody looks up at photographs of John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich and Joe Ranft while he takes his hat off.)

Buzz Lightyear: Oh, Woody, where are you? We're at the lobby!

Woody: (chuckles) Got to go, but thanks. (puts his hat back on) On with the show.

(At the lobby, Woody rides on WALL-E with a fire extinguisher)

Woody: Yee-haw!

Mike Wazowski: Coast is clear, Sheriff.

Woody: Great! (holds the door open) Right this way, everybody.

(Sulley bumps into the door.)

Woody: Oh! Sulley, are you okay?

James P. Sullivan: (grunts) Never better, Eastwood. (accidentally trips the trash can)

Stinky Pete: I knew I'm surrounded by... (gets startled by Slim who rides on EVE) Idiots!

Slim: Tallyho! Whee! I'll show you the world! (laughs)

Woody: Oh, great, the ladder.

(Buzz sets the ladder while he hums.)

Mr. Dicker: Every time it gets hard. Money, money, money.

Woody: All right, everyone. Get-- Get together now. (to Tinny) Oh. After you, Tinny.

Emile: Oh. Pardon me.

Francis: (holds up a camera) Here's the camera, Lightyear.

Buzz Lightyear: (takes a camera and chuckles) Thanks, Francis. (climbs up the ladder)

Woody: Buzz, be careful!

Buzz Lightyear: (makes it to the top) All right, now where's the timer button?

Molt: Oh, oh! Three, two, one! (Randall Boggs grins)

(Buzz accidentally falls off while he screams and breaks the camera. As Buster walks to the broken camera, Buzz recognizes it.)

Andy Davis: Come on, Buster. (Buster runs back to Andy)

Buzz Lightyear: Huh? Oh, no. It's ruined.

Anger: Well, that was fun!

Sadness: Maybe we can try again in another forty years.

(The characters sigh disappointedly and are about to leave.)

Woody: Oh, no, no, wait. Come back. It-- It-- It'll be fine. It'll be...

(Just as the characters are about to leave, Randy Newman appears from nowhere while he plays "You've Got a Friend in Me" on piano with his orchestra.)

Randy Newman: ♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ When the road looks rough ahead ♪

♪ And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed ♪

Hopper: I knew this was gonna happen.

Randy Newman: ♪ You just remember what your old pal said ♪

♪ Boy, you've got a friend in me ♪

♪ Yeah, you've got a friend in me ♪

(While the song goes on, Mr. Incredible fixes the camera as Buzz looks excited and Sulley puts the ladder back in position. Manny and Gipsy lift Buzz to help him up as Buzz sets the camera up for the photo.)

♪ Some other folks might be ♪

♪ A little bit smarter than I am ♪

♪ Bigger and stronger too, maybe ♪

♪ But none of them will ever love you ♪

♪ The way I do, it's me and you, boy ♪

♪ And as the years go by ♪

♪ Our friendship will never die ♪

♪ You're gonna see it's our destiny ��

All: ♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

♪ You've got a friend in me ♪

(The camera flashes as the group photo in the Pixar hall is taken, and the short ends with a text "To the animators, directors and crew of Pixar who worked for 40 years on movies and short films, Thank You." and then the song ends.)

Well, I think this is the transcript. I hope you like it. I also hope Pixar does a new short film like Once Upon a Studio did. Have a Happy New Year.

[allbornscreaming]

was tagged by @weirdgirlvampire to write my url using songs i like (thanks!!)

Alter Ego (Doechii ft. JT)

Long Snake Moan (PJ Harvey)

Love is a Laserquest (Arctic Monkeys)

BOA (Megan Thee Stallion)

Obviously Five Believers (Bob Dylan)

Run Of The Mill (George Harrison)

No One's Better Sake (Little Joy)

SLIME (Shygirl)

Ch-Ching (Chairlift)

Reckless (St. Vincent)

Either Way (Wilco)

Aviation (The Last Shadow Puppets)

Marcel (Her's)

I Love You (Fontaines D.C.)

New Love Cassette (Angel Olsen)

Guess (Charli XCX)

tagging @angelolsenwife @arlo-parks @c0wboyjunkie @legzeppelin @littleoblivions & anyone else who wants to! (no pressure though!) :-)

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 23

There wouldn't be a ton of cover on the approach to the docks and as Eli ran down the road she also recalled that Hi-Def coverage down this direction wasn't going to be good -- they were still missing a couple of towers to give full coverage of Portia's territory and one of those happened to be for the dock area (due to a combination of softer-than-projected ground, weight limitations, foundation reworks...there was a list of reasons they'd left this area for last). When the signal strength tracker on the Hi-Def shifted to an alarming orange Eli darted off the road and pressed herself against the trunk of a large tree with Django joining her there a moment later.

"Did you have a plan?" he asked.

Eli gestured for him to tuck in further - more in cover, hopefully, since she didn't yet know where the shooter was in relation to their position - and palmed her Hi-Def.  "Not yet but I know it won't include you." ((Continued below cut))

He snorted.  "Don't worry about me - I have more combat experience then you know and that includes against guns."

"You're still a civilian and there's laws, ethics, and morals about that," Eli replied then held a finger to her lips, giving him a stern look.

Django simply nodded and didn't argue further; Eli quickly keyed up an SOS alarm and set it to ping every member of the Civil Corps and Pigs then waited for at least one of them to acknowledge.

"What's going on? Eli?  Are you all right?"  It was Arlo who responded first.

"I heard gunshots coming from the beach and I'm moving in to investigate - I'm just off the road heading to the docks, Django is with me.  Once I'm actually at the docks I'll be out of signal range.  I don't know yet who was shooting or at what so assume we have an active gunner on our hands."  She was vaguely aware of Django's confused expression as he leaned forward a bit to eye the Hi-Def on her wrist.

"Do not go alone," Arlo ordered.  "Wait there for back up."

"I can get down there to help," came Asher's voice.

"If I wait it might be too late to pick up a trail or spot anyone," Eli went on.  "I can handle this, we just-"

"-no.  Wait for back up and that's an order," came Arlo's response.  "Asher, go meet up with Eli.  Do we have anyone else listening in aside from Asher?"

"I'm here, just waiting for orders," Remington replied.

"We can hear you," Mali confirmed.  "We're locking everything down and are on high alert."

"Once you've got the facility secured head into town - at this point I'm no longer concerned with protecting Stewart and more worried about keeping a potential active shooter out of Portia.  Remington, get a message to Gale and Dr. Xu and let them know what's going on and have Xu on stand by at the clinic in case we have any injuries.  Eli, wait for Asher to join you then you're free to proceed with sweeping the beach and clearing the docks.  Keep your Hi-Defs ready to send out a distress signal if you need to and can.  Any questions?"

There was a chorus of acknowledgements and then silence; Eli lowered her wrist and peered around the edge of the tree -- nothing appeared disturbed and she could see no obvious threats but at the same time she didn't see anything else that would suggest where exactly those shots had come from.

"We could move closer - there's a copse of trees that overlook the warehouse area," Django suggested, glancing up from the Hi-Def to meet her gaze as she turned toward him.  "We'd still be following Arlo's orders to wait for back up since we still wouldn't be AT the docks, just nearer to them."

 Orders.  Order orders orders. Orders she should be giving right now. Radio silence, go to hand signals or the presets in the Hi-Def.   Move in twos, heads on a swivel--

"The trees are thinner - less cover," she answered finally, as she tore her attention away from him.  "And, it's not my call to make... Arlo gave his orders and I've told him before that I'd follow them, though I don't particularly agree with these."

"Understandable.  Though, in charge or not, heading in there alone wouldn't have been a good idea."

"I know," she murmured.  "But sometimes the good ideas aren't the ones you want."

 Want.. I want my squad.  I want my armor and my sidearm and my command and my familiarity and my hand signals and my husband and my home-

He shifted against the tree and the movement was enough to snap her out of the hole she was teetering on the edge of.

"One gunman won't best the two of us if we're smart about it, and with our vantage point from here there's a limited number of places this person could flee toward without us spotting them."  He fell silent and looked away from her quickly; she must have shown more on her face than she intended as she'd seen the barest change in Django's expression as he spoke -- something, some emotion she couldn't place, slowly creeping across his face.

"Right, vantage point," she finally muttered.   After a moment she blew out a sigh.  "Assuming they didn't get away while we ran down here, or while we wait on Asher. And, look - even when Asher gets here I want you to stay put.  You're a civilian, I'm not putting you in danger and you're more valuable as a pair of eyes to me right now."

"I don't disagree with that assessment but I would argue that I'd be more useful there with you both in case a fight breaks out."

She shook her head.  "Not happening, Django - I want you watching for trouble, not there to kick its teeth in.  Let's just...watch, and wait for Asher to get down here."

He nodded and peered back around the tree; Eli moved to look out toward the shoreline though there wasn't a ton she could see -- the ground out here was hilly, both with grassy-covered mounds as well as the dunes along the beach, and with how the ground sloped she couldn't actually see the waterline from here.

 C'mon...get your ass out here...

---------------------------------------

"Sam?  Are you there?"

Still no answer; was she just a heavy sleeper?  It wasn't like Arlo had ever made it a point to ask the others about their sleep habits.  Maybe she just didn't have the volume up loud enough on the Hi-Def?  But then the SOS Eli had sent should've been loud regardless (unless he was misunderstanding how that particular function was supposed to work).

"Asher, are you out of Portia yet?"

"Gate's in view ahead of me, why?" came the man's response.

"Divert real quick and bang on Sam's door - she's not responding.  Tell her to meet me near the school so we can cover that half of town."

"Got it."

After the gadget went silent again Arlo jogged toward the stairs that led down to the Central Plaza; Remington was moving to position himself to cover Peach Plaza's entry, and Mali and Adam would be free to fill in once they got here to have full coverage of Portia -- no one would be getting in or out without being spotted, partially invisible or not.

He was almost at the big tree planter in the middle of the plaza when Asher's voice came through again.

"Uhh...Arlo, requesting a change in plans.  Sam says she hid her Hi-Def down on the beach."

"...she what?"

"Yeah.  Apparently she talked to a drifter and he saw a ghost or something?   She hid it where she thought it would spot something and set it to record.  She's asking to go to the beach instead of me."

Hid her... He took a steadying breath to help shove down the immediate irritation that rose.  "-fine.  She can go, you meet me down in the plaza near the school, just get moving."

"On my way."

Whatever benefit could come from the Hi-Def catching sight of their suspect was vastly overshadowed by how bad it would be if the device had been damaged or worse: stolen by the very person they were trying to catch...

He took another deep breath and headed for the archway to the plaza.

-----------------------------------

Sam's house wasn't too far from the plaza; as she hurried off toward the beach Asher in turn hurried to meet up with Arlo.

More than anything he was hoping it was just some idiot out in the distance shooting at some critter or something - not just for Portia's sake but for Eli's especially; a little knot of concern had settled like a brick in his gut and despite him reminding himself that Eli was a trained soldier (probably THE best person to be handling this situation, truthfully) he couldn't quite banish that nagging feeling of fear.

Arlo nodded to him as he jogged up beside him.  "Did Sam have anything else to say?"

"She seemed to think that big stone arch would be an ideal hiding place so that's what she set her Hi-Def to watch."

"I really wish she hadn't done that, or at least told us before she did," Arlo sighed with a shake of his head.

Asher could only shrug at that - what was done was done.  "What's the plan?" he asked after a pause.

"At the moment?  Holding here.  We don't want the shooter to get inside the city but we don't know what Eli and the others have found yet, and she's out of Hi-Def range so we won't know immediately either."

"That part worries me..." Asher muttered.  "It's weird, you know - we haven't had these Hi-Defs for long but now the thought of someone being in danger but unable to contact us for help...  It's almost worse than not having that ability at all."

Arlo nodded.  "I know what you mean but we have to do what we can."

With a grunt Asher moved to stand at the other side of the archway that led into Portia with Arlo standing at the other; he kept one shoulder pressed into the stone to keep his balance as he carefully leaned around the edge, peering out into the night with just one eye -- the less profile he presented to a shooter, the better.

-----------------------------------------

"Why are you here instead of Asher?"

Sam took a moment to catch her breath, huddled between Eli and Django.   "I...I- whew - I was talking to Bob, and he said he spotted a ghost on the beach.  I came- came out here and hid my Hi-Def facing that stone arch out there.  I asked to switch places with Asher so I could get my Hi-Def out of its hiding place and see if I caught anyone."

Eli pressed her lips together and tried to not grind her teeth at that.   "...if this works, I maybe won't kill you.  But I want it on record that I'm pretty pissed you risked the enemy getting hands on our tech."

"I hid it really well, I don't think we need to worry," Sam said.

Trying not to outright growl Eli quietly barked out a command to her Hi-Def, ordering it to detect nearby units; while they weren't in range of the signal towers (meaning communication with anyone in Portia wasn't possible) if Sam's Hi-Def was close enough in general...

Aha, yes.  Juuuust barely close enough for her Hi-Def to recognize that Sam's was near.  Thank the cosmos that they didn't need signal towers for THAT function, at least.

"All right.  All right, it appears it's still where you left it," Eli reported.  "Unit- stand by."  The Hi-Def's menus closed and the screen darkened, and she adjusted the wristband to turn the screen inward toward her body instead outward like a watch.  "We'll go get it after we've cleared the docks."

"How do we want to do this?" Sam asked.

"I am armed - I will enter buildings first.  Sam, I want you guarding my back, and Django... I really want you to be my eyes out here.  I mean it.  If we spook someone into running-"

"-I'll stay at the edge of the docks," Django replied with a nod.  "Just shout if you need an extra hand."

Eli shot him a thankful (and relieved) smile, then drew the pistol and gestured for Sam to follow her.

There was a slight uneasy thrill to the thought of entering a potential hostile area without any sort of armor at all -- she couldn't rely on a vest or helmet to keep herself alive.  All she'd have is her wits, instincts, and the skills of the two people with her.

Two people she barely knew.

Not...ideal.  But nothing else could be done about it.

"Ok...here we go," she muttered.

--------------------------------------

"-hang on, who is that?" Asher asked; at the sound of his own voice he flinched a bit -- they'd been standing there in silence for so long that he sounded unusually loud to himself.

His actual volume didn't seem to faze Arlo at least, and Asher had the feeling that he had spotted the person approaching from over the bridge before Asher had.

"Is that...  Is that the knife juggler?" Arlo murmured, leaning forward around the wall just a tiny bit and squinting that way.

"Can't really tell from here," Asher answered.  "Do we wait and ambush or confront them when they get close enough?"

Arlo was silent; Asher inched forward further and peered out, mirroring Arlo -- that did in fact look like that knife juggling man that had been hanging around Peach Plaza.  Wasn't he supposed to have left Portia by now?  Maybe that was coming up...or maybe he was-

"-you don't think he's...?"

Arlo shook his head, speaking finally.  "I really doubt he'd be turning himself in if he's the one behind everything.  I don't understand why he'd be heading here, now, unless he-"

"-knows something about what's going on," Asher finished.

Arlo nodded then motioned for Asher to step back; now fully ducked around the wall Asher watched as Arlo waited until the distant figure was closer before stepping out and into the middle of the archway.

"That's far enough.  What are you doing out here?" Arlo called out.

Asher couldn't clearly hear the answer from here and Arlo's face gave no indication of...much of anything, really.

"Take off that vest and hold it out in front of you, and walk toward me very slowly with your other hand visible," Arlo instructed the man.

Vest?  Then yes, that was definitely that juggler.

Asher eventually heard slow, deliberate footsteps approaching and stood silently as Arlo reached out to take a knife-laden vest from a pair of hands; he took that as his cue to step forward as well.  The juggler looked a bit surprised at his appearance but then turned his attention back to Arlo.

"Look, here's the deal: I tell you what I know, you give me immunity."

"Immunity?" Arlo repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, immunity.  I don't want to be held responsible for any of this mess.   And I mean, technically, I ain't done anything against the law.   Granted, I planned to, but I didn't.  So, you promise I don't get in trouble, and I tell you who is causing the trouble.  Deal?"

Arlo shook his head.  "That's not my call to make but I suggest you start talking quickly.  We heard gunshots earlier."

The juggler's eyes went wide and a hand went to where a knife would've been on his chest.

It didn't escape Asher's notice that there were other sheathed blades at the man's waist and strapped to his thighs, and he gestured with a few fingers.  "I think you ought to hand those over too."

"Ha, no, are you insane?  If he's out and killing-"

"-who?" Arlo interrupted.  "Who's behind this?"

'-Franklin!  That giant meathead!" the juggler snapped.  "I didn't think he'd have or use a gun but in retrospect that was a pretty damn stupid assumption to make.  There.  Are you happy now?  Can we get out of the open?"

"Let's head up to the Corps building and you can tell me what else you know from the safety of a locked cell," Arlo said dryly.

The man shook his head.  "Nuh uh, no way - you are not putting me somewhere I can't run.  The guy was out to make this operation fail and he's already murdered some of us.  I don't intend to be another victim."

"You can come willingly or we can man-handle you there.  Your choice."

The juggler looked between Arlo and Asher; Asher tensed, fully expecting the man to run or lash out but surprisingly his shoulders just sagged and he nodded wordlessly.

"Good choice," Arlo said.  He reached out to grab the man's upper arm.  "Asher, can you hold here?  We still don't know where this Franklin man is."

Asher nodded.  "Right.  -- and I'll let the others know too," he added, tapping his Hi-Def.

"Thanks."

As Arlo led the other away Asher quickly opened up the Hi-Def's communication menu and picked everyone (even though Eli and Sam would likely still be too far away to hear this he kept them selected too).   "Guys, be on the lookout for that bald, buff guy -- he's our culprit."

"Understood," came Remington's response.

"Loud and clear," Adam replied; he sounded out of breath and Asher wondered how close he and Mali were now.

As he turned off the outgoing audio Asher took a deep breath and went back to his "post" pressed against the wall next to the entrance; the gunshots had come from the beach, somewhere...Eli was out there, and now he knew who she was likely to encounter.  That knot of worry in his gut only got heavier and quietly he found himself cursing Sam.

 I should be down there helping Eli...I WANT to be down there helping Eli.

It was a mantra he found himself repeating in his head even as he leaned to carefully peer down the road.

...wait a second.  Who was...  Was that...?

Oh hell.

-----------------------------------------

"Guys?"

Arlo and the man Windsor were only halfway to the Corps building when Asher's voice came through the Hi-Def.

"What is it?"

"Franklin is heading toward town - I can see him from here."

A sudden shudder went down Arlo's spine:

 A man willing and able to kill and he's about to enter Portia.

"Come on- move faster," Arlo grunted, all but dragging Windsor with him.

"How the hell did he know...?" Windsor whispered, looking briefly terrified.  For a few precious steps he didn't resist Arlo pulling him along.   "I'M his target - I'm the last of the group, I guarantee it!  You're really going to lock me up where I can't run from him?"

Having seemingly recovered from his terror the man again began resisting Arlo's tugging; Arlo tightened his grip and tried to keep going. "Yes - the quicker I get you secured the quicker I can go and stop him, now MOVE."

Windsor dug his heels in harder.  "I am NOT letting you lock me somewhere with no escape route!"

"Don't argue with me or there won't be any chance of a deal."

After a few seconds Windsor relented with a growl.  "Fine.  But I'm not happy about it."

"Noted.  Let's go."

Arlo briefly let go of Windsor's arm to flip the heavy vest over a shoulder, to free up his hands to try and key up Remington on the Hi-Def, only for the man to suddenly bolt.

"HEY!  Get back here!"

Arlo dumped the vest onto the ground and took off after him; the man jumped over the ledge and down to a lower level landing heavily next to the tree beside Gale's house and from there he sprinted ahead and leapt over the railing onto the next ramp.  Arlo awkwardly pawed at the Hi-Def as he started down after him, trying to keep Windsor's head in view.

"Remington!  The juggler is on the run!  Heading toward you!"

"I'm on it but what about Asher?"

"Stop the juggler - use whatever force you need to!  I'll-"

Arlo skidded to a halt; he'd made it down to the gate just outside of Django's front door and could no longer see Windsor.  He also couldn't leave Asher to face Franklin alone - especially if the man had a gun.

"I'll go help Asher - you stop Windsor!"

"Understood!"

----------------------------------------

Pressed flat to the wall Asher waited for Franklin to get a few steps through the archway before he acted; he sprang forward silently and swung his clasped fists from over his head toward the back of Franklin's head.

The man somehow knew the blow was coming and ducked out of the way then used a forearm to deflect Asher's follow up right hook.

"I suggest you surrender before I pound you into the ground," Asher grunted, lunging for him.

Franklin danced away and Asher saw his hand going for what could only be the grip of a gun sticking out of his waistband.

"Don't even think about it!" Asher rushed for him with a flurry of punches leading the way; the man was forced to use both his hands to fend off the blows.

Knowing he had to keep the man pressed and unable to reach for the weapon Asher kept coming at him - perhaps too recklessly as he took a few hits but a glancing blow to the cheek was infinitely more preferable than having to deal with a-

In an unexpected change in tactics Franklin abruptly dropped to his haunches; Asher's next swing went over the man's head in a wide arch that left him off-balance and unable to counter the strong snap kick that connected with his stomach and sent him stumbling back several feet.

And in that split-second opening Franklin got his hand on the gun, raised, and-

 Click.  Click click.  Click click click click.

The repeated sound of the gun misfiring filled the air between them; Asher's lips curled up in a smug grin.  "Too bad."

With a frustrated noise Franklin chucked the pistol at him.

Asher sidestepped and the gun flew harmlessly passed him.

The gun hit the ground.

 BANG.

-------------------------------------------

Arlo was taking the stairs behind the school four at a time - anything he could do to maintain speed - and as he rounded the back of the school and the plaza came into view the crack of a gunshot and an immediate sound of shattering glass broke the silence of the night.

From the top of the last section of stairs he had a perfect view of Asher crumpling to the ground.

"ASHER!"

--------------------------------------------

The docks were clear and now it was a bit nerve-wracking to creep up the shoreline, eyes peeled for an enemy who could, at this point, be anywhere...watching and waiting for either a chance to strike or escape.

It was silent.  Still.  Even the waves coming in seemed subdued.  They had found some fading footprints in the dunes - a track leading in a straight line up the shore, almost erased by the breeze coming off the water - so they knew someone had been out this way...but were they still out here?

Eli kept one eye on her surroundings and the other on the tracking screen of the Hi-Def; the dot that represented Sam's unit hadn't moved so that was at least a good sign that it hadn't been found.

Or...at least, it hadn't been moved.  It could have been found and someone could be hidden near it, waiting for someone to retrieve it.

So many damn possibilities...  What a nightmare.

 Focus.  Keep your wits about you and we'll make it through.

And so she and Sam went - Django watching and keeping his distance - inch by inch up the beach, moving slowly and methodically.  A whole lot of nothing...and then there they were, with Sam digging the Hi-Def free from its hiding place and strapping the soggy gadget back onto her wrist.

Eli had left her to it and had approached the stone arch from a blind angle; there were...footprints here.  Too far from the shore to be fully erased by the sea breeze but there were two sets - one bigger and heavier than the other, but both undeniably heading out toward the arch.

She turned and raised a hand, catching Sam's attention; miming for Sam to pay attention and stay put before gesturing at herself Eli hoped the woman understood that she wanted her to stay where she was and watch Eli's approach.

After a few steps she turned and saw that Sam was staying in place as instructed; she nodded to her then turned to continue her advance on the arch.  Still...nothing.  No sound, no movement.  Eli made it to the base of the stone archway and paused, straining to hear or see anything to give any clue about what lay ahead.

Nothing.

Taking a deep breath she inched around the base and came around to the-

...oh.

-------------------------------

Franklin had heard the whiz of the bullet go passed him and counted himself lucky he hadn't just shot his own head off.  Stupid gun...  This would be why he overall preferred his own hands over any sort of weapon even if he DID love the spray and carnage that a bullet to flesh and bone created.

The blonde man in front of him had frozen in place for a moment; Franklin watched with a sort of glee as a crimson spot appeared on his shirt and began to rapidly spread before the man collapsed but his attention was then drawn by a shout from nearby.

There.   Across the plaza was another one of those Corps people.  Franklin stood as the man came sprinting for him and planted a boot on the chest of the shot man, digging his heel into the exit wound.

"You have a choice to make, bud - try to stop me, or try to save your friend here."

The red-haired man came to a halt; Franklin could see the despair at the choice setting in and mentally applauded the man for actually seeming to consider letting his companion die.  Was never a good thing to get too attached to anyone.

"Where'd the juggler go?" he continued on.  "No one else needs to get hurt here."

A lie, but the self-righteous would believe just about anything.

"--the tree farm," the man finally gasped.  "Just.  GO."

Franklin offered him a mock bow and jogged off toward the hill to his left; he wondered where the rest of the Corps were. Their headquarters were up on one of the hills overlooking the city -- might be worth his time to head any reinforcements off before he went hunting through the farm.  From here it'd be faster to go up the stairs across the plaza but he doubted the Corpsman would let him pick the pistol back up and Franklin wasn't interested in fully presenting his back to him if he changed his mind on saving the shot man and felt inclined to pick up the weapon and try to fire it.

...nah.  He should just get to it.  Out the gate and to the tree farm; he kept glancing back as he went up Main Street and as predicted the man was picking up his friend and carrying him toward the stairs.  He COULD just...stop them all - the medical clinic was right next to the Corps building and it certainly was tempting...

No.  He definitely needed to just get on with it.  What a delightful, bloody mess the night had turned into.

-----------------------------------

To the juggler Remington (or, more accurately, Remington's fist) had probably seemed to come out of nowhere.  Every knuckle on that hand popped as they slammed into the man's jaw as he came around the corner and almost made it into Peach Plaza.  Remington hadn't expected to completely cold clock the man like that but he wasn't about to complain about it; he at least managed to grab him by the collar before he hit the ground.

"Ha...gotcha," he muttered, maneuvering the man so he could lay him out flat on the ground and free his hands up to turn on his Hi-Def.

"I-"

He abruptly stopped as he heard a gunshot ring out.

Loud.  Close.

"Oh no..."

Remington looked between the unconscious juggler and then off toward Central Plaza; that shot had been so close...  Did he dare leave the man here and go to help Arlo and Asher?

...no.  No, he couldn't leave the man laying here defenseless.

"Mali, Adam - where are you?"

"Halfway across the tree farm," came Mali's answer.

Remington bent down to throw the juggler over his shoulders.  "I got the juggler -- there was gunfire here in the city.  Get to the Central Plaza as fast as you can, Arlo and Asher are going to need help."

"Understood.  Where are YOU located?"

"I'm hauling this man to the Corps building then I'll join you," Remington answered.

His knee protested the sudden extra weight coupled with his lumbering gait but there wasn't much of a choice -- he needed to dump Windsor off then get to the plaza as fast as he could.

---------------------------------

"Asher?  Asher!  Stay with me... Stay with me.  I'm going to get you to Xu and you'll be fine."

Arlo sounded...muffled.  Far away.  Hardly audible over the pounding in his ears.

A pounding that was getting slower, quieter, as he grew colder and his vision left him.

 Thank the Light...it was me, and not her.

------------------------------------------

Tree farm, huh... Well, that was a lie.

As he came up Main Street and into Peach Plaza Franklin was just able to catch a glimpse of the green-haired Corpsman carrying what he assumed was Windsor; they were going up the ramps toward the Civil Corps building.

Clever; the red-haired man had been able to think on his feet and misdirect even while panicking.  Unfortunate for him that timing wasn't on his side - not for protecting the juggler, not for his friend currently bleeding out, and now not for his unsuspecting coworker.

If he waited just a few seconds, gave the man a bit more of a lead on him, they'd be in the Corps building and Franklin knew there wasn't a back door...be easy as pie to wait for them to trap themselves with no way out.  Quick and simple.

------------------------------------------

"She was just a girl..." Django muttered, shaking his head.

There was no sign of the shooter but they'd found their victims there in the sand under the arch; Eli had no idea who the woman was but Lily...

"Doesn't change the fact that she threw in with the wrong people...  But then, who else was out here that shot her?" Eli wondered aloud.  They'd seen three sets of footprints heading out here; there were two victims, and a single set of footprints heading directly into the water - and, of course, there was no sign of footprints beyond where the waves lapped.   "Where could they have gone from here?"

Sam shrugged.  "I don't know...  I don't think they could have hidden a boat anywhere near here without Wuwa seeing it or it getting turned into splinters against the rocks.  And the currents tend to be too dangerous to swim out this way."

"IF they swam," Eli said after a moment.  "...it's possible they walked along the beach in the shallows.  We can't rule that out."

"In that case, they could have..."  Sam trailed off, looking up and down the coast.  "If they walked they could have gone either direction.  Further west you could climb up on the bluffs, or get on the lift and disappear out into the Western Plateau."

"And we'd never catch up to them if that's what happened," Eli sighed.  "Well.  We've cleared this area -- let's backtrack and get into signal range, update everyone, then we can check down the beach in the other direction."

"What about them...?" Sam asked, pointing at the-

 Corpses.  Two corpses...  How callous.

"Leave them.  Nothing we can do about it now.  We'll have to come back when the danger is passed."

Then, almost like mentioning danger had summoned it, there was a gunshot.

From Portia.

Damn it...how had they gotten around her?  WHEN had they-

"-I KNEW I shouldn't have waited!" Eli snapped, breaking into a sprint and not really caring if she was followed.

She should have gone in immediately, she should have--

Damn it.  Damn it.

--------------------------------------

Remington had probably banged the man up a bit when he'd dropped him (almost literally dropped him) off in the cell in the Corps building but honestly at this point what was one more bruise?  He'd probably broken the man's jaw as it was -- a few scraped elbows and shins weren't going to be the man's main concern when he came to.

Anyway...with that done he needed to get down to the plaza.  As he turned the lock of the cell across the room the Corps door swung open and there, framed in the doorway-

"You," Remington growled.

Franklin shrugged, then brought his hands together to crack his knuckles.  "Yeah.  Nothing personal - just got a job to do.  You step aside and let me do what I need to and you might have the time to go say goodbye to your friend."

Say goodbye...?  ...no... Who had he shot?  Who was...  "I'm stopping you here and now," Remington growled, stalking across the room toward him.

"It's your funeral," came the reply.

Franklin took a step over the threshold then stopped, jerking oddly before then staggering back two steps; his movements were almost drunken as he clumsily spun around, displaying a red stain across his back, roughly at kidney-height, a moment before he let out a wet gurgle and curled in on himself.  He jerked four more times before dropping to his knees, his hands clutching at his throat.

Remington stared dumbly at the dark-haired woman revealed on the other side of the giant man; she held a knife with a long blade, dripping bright red.  As he watched the woman calmly drew the blade one final time across Franklin's jugular region with an almost practiced ease before stepping back to let him fall forward at her feet.

"Excuse me." The woman's voice was soft, and despite the fact she was smiling at him her eyes were ice-cold. "My daughter appears to be missing -- could I ask for your help in finding her?"

[ofginjxints]

"My liver is just as fucked as yours. They're just petrified at this point, the alcohol just passes through us, y'know?" She rocked from the balls to the heel of her feet expectantly as the bartender presented their shots to them and got the change for her.

"Yes." She simply replied with a mischievous grin and split the shots between them. "To your lovely gran who I assume is flying high as a kite as we speak." A wink as she tapped the first shot glass with Arlo's and knocked it back, followed by the second. She let out a noise akin to a war cry as she reached out to her pint and finished it off. "Right, where to next?"

"Fine, fine. You just say the word, boss." Arlo shot Lily a wink as he relaxed back against the bar. He couldn't hold back a chuckle as she continued on about the weed.

"I can handle her rage, I promise. The old biddy isn't too strong." he continued to joke, doing his best to keep himself from glaring too much at Ryan. After all he didn't want to give the man any excuse to come up and try to talk to them either. "You just want to kill my already hurt liver, don't you?" he sighed, watching as the bartender poured the drinks. Feeling playful Arlo gently bumped his hip against Lily's side. "And what are our plans after we get absolutely obliterated then, eh? Are we laying on the kitchen and talking about life? We stealing a car? Are we breaking and entering? I need to start getting prepared." @ofginjxints

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Is Trent Crimm deeply disappointed that he missed the whole locker room scene where the team airs their “stop hogging Jamie” grievances or deeply relieved? On the one hand, reporter instincts for a good story, on the other hand his own morals would never let him put it I the book, massive (reporter/writer) blue balls.

re: Jamie Hogging Ask- some days ago on the Colin/Jamie post, you mentioned that you'd daydreamed out a bit of an AU where Jamie ended up dating a whole section of the team on some sort of rotation schedule. I assume that there was some dramatic locker room scene where they all hashed out that they felt it was unfair that only Colin on the team got to date him. I assume Trent was no longer hanging around the locker rooms at this point (but who knows, he may be a fixture now. also it could be mid season 3 when this all goes down, idk). But he still has the instinct to know when a really good/interesting story is around. On the one hand, he knows his conscience won't let him publish the level of ridiculousness that Richmond can sink to. On the other hand, it would be really really funny to write a whole chapter on the way that this was negotiated out, and also that a google calendar/groupchat was created specifically for coordinating who gets to monopolize Jamie and when.

Ooh, love the way you think, nonny!

If Trent weren’t around for all that he’d be massively disappointed, I think. Yes, as a (former) journalist he’s driven to share the truth, but I think he’s even more driven to know the truth. He can keep quiet when he has to – see: Colin kissing Michael – but realizing he’s missed out on Something Good? Ah, no, that’ll drive him nuts.

But now that you’ve suggested it, I am convinced he was there. Admittedly, in my head this whole thing goes down quite some time after the S3 finale, but that’s not a problem! Even though the book’s both written and published, I’m sure Trent finds plenty of reasons to stop by Nelson Road for a visit. He’s a Diamon Dog now, right? Gotta drop in for the weekly barking session! (Ted Zooms in sometimes, which is always a treat.) Besides, Trent grew very fond of the whole team while he was there, and though he gets most of the gossip from Colin – they obviously stay in touch, Trent knows all about the Jamie situation – he still wants to hear the coaches’ takes on everything that goes on, hang out with the rest of the lads for a bit. So, yeah, he’s there.

I think he might write the chapter, actually – knowing full well he can’t ever publish it, but needing to put it down even so. Get it out of his system, somehow. Also, it gives him a chance to indulge in all the (affectionate!) sarcastic and wry little comments he dutifully left out of the actual book!

Say Trent’s showed up one morning before practise while everyone’s getting changed and let’s say Roy shows up with Jamie and sort of hand him over to Colin and Colin and Jamie start enthusiastically making plans for the evening and maybe it’s Jan Maas who notes that “It’s not actually fair Roy and Colin both get to date Jamie when no one else does.”

As Roy stares at him incredulously and Dani pipes up. “I agree with Jan. It makes me happy to see you together, but it also makes me sad”, Trent’s spidersense is not only tingling but absolutely exploding and he discreetly pulls out his notebook and start jotting things down as fas as he can while the room unravels before his very eyes:

JT says he’s willing to date anyone who wants to date him, if OK with RK, KJ & CH. They are.

Explicitly wants in: Jan Maas, Dani Rojas, Jeff Goodman, Paul Reynolds, Bhargava, Sasha Kukoč.

Suspect might want in but didn’t say: Potentially everybody but Sam, but especially Arlo Dixon and Martin de Maat.  

Bumbercatch volunteers to sort out a calender & group chat bc better if it’s someone who doesn’t want to date Jamie, make sure it’s fair.

CH pleased MB doesn’t want to date JT?

McAdoo claims first date even though he doesn’t actually want to date Jamie, bc his right & duty as captain to make sure it’s ok for everyone else. JT: “What? The fuck do you mean, why wouldn’t it be ok?” IM: “I’m the captain, and I say this is happening.” JT: “Fine, but you’re taking me somewhere fancy and you’re paying.” IM: “Just to be clear, we’re not having sex.” JT: “This is the worst date I’ve ever been on and we haven’t even been yet.”

JT questions why Sam doesn’t want in on the schedule and seems offended on principal when SO explains that JT is his best friend and not some one he wants to date. JT pouts until SO offers to take him out on friend dates.

Cockburn also wants to go on friend dates with JT.

Brief but heated discussion if friend dates & boyfriend dates should be different schedueles and if it’s OK to sign up for both. CH’s attempts to question how friend dates is different from just being friend and hanging out from time to time is shut down.

Tom O’Brien wants to know if he can sign up for a date with Jamie, Keeley and Roy. RK stares at him for 1 good minute before saying “No.”

Discussion about the etiquette of not wearing Jamie out if he’s scheduled to have another date soon after your date with him.

JG: But we don’t have to check in with everyone else if we want to sleep with him, right? RK: You better fucking check in with him. B: I don’t think I want to know what anyone else is doing. JM: Yeah, that’d be weird. JT: I don’t think anyone else should get to decide if I have sex with someone or not. RK: *clears his throat meaningfully* JT: I mean, as long as Roy and Keeley and Colin don’t mind.

That’s just the first page of Trent’s notes, btw, they go on for like four more, practice is delayed by at least an hour. Keeley follows the whole thing on video call (obvs they had to run it by her before handing Jamie out to everyone who wants a piece). Rebecca stops by, blinks once and then nopes the hell out of this madness. Nate wonder if he ought to sign up for a date with Jamie, if everyone else is doing it, but he doesn’t think Jade would approve.

Colin can’t quite let go of the notion that maybe this means he could date Bumbercatch, Roy questions his sanity every other second, and Jamie is living his best life (and is delighting in the fact that the next time he sees Roy and Keeley, they are going to make very sure Jamie knows where he ultimately belongs).

[unordinary-diary]

So I have a question about Arlo’s powers that you might have the answer to

Do you know what the bleeding is all about? Like when he starts coughing up blood after his barrier breaks. Does he just like straight up start bleeding internally or something?

Anyway I love this blog sm you are giving me the unO content I crave

Ah, thank you! Yes, I absolutely have the answer. In fact, I’m going to take this opportunity to make a post that was already floating in my head.

Arlo and Recoil Damage

First, to answer your question in a literal sense, yes. It’s definitely internal bleeding. Specifically, damage to his lungs.

It’s also not at all unprecedented for a person to be wounded like this. Every person with a conjuring type ability takes damage when their conjures are damaged.

(Rein in ch. 16)

(Cecile attacking Arlo, ch. 109)

The difference with Arlo, is that his damage happens below the skin. Here’s where it gets juicy.

Symbolism

Arlo’s ability is very symbolic, possibly the most so of anyone in the series. His nigh unbreakable barrier he puts around himself represents his metaphorical walls, and how he keeps everyone at a distance. His passive makes him invulnerable— he gets punched in the face, clawed at, stabbed at, etc, and doesn’t even blink. The only way to hurt Arlo is to break through his barrier. And when his walls are broken down, there’s a wound in his chest. It’s not literal enough to be his heart that bleeds, but it’s very close.

There’s also something that’s been kicking around in my head for awhile—

“You’re the strongest one out of all of us here right now. You can try to brush this whole thing off... but to the rest of us, it’s still scary. If even you can’t protect yourself, what can the rest of us do?” — Remi, Ep. 61.

I remembered the line being “When people as strong as you show fear, it scares the rest of us.” However, that must have come from a different scene and I won’t track it down.

It’s plain and simple: High tiers have been taught their whole lives to bottle things up.

This is also seen reflected in Seraphina—

(ep. 20) Granted, the circumstances here are very different, but it’s a similar idea. High tiers showing emotions scares people.

So they bottle them up...

… until they explode.

(Ep. 106)

The judgment Arlo and Seraphina face is very similar. Seraphina rejects these expectations before the story starts, but Arlo has yet to do so. He is very much like the Seraphina we see in flashbacks.

All of this is to say: it is significant that his barrier wounds are internal. The little bit of blood we can see is mainly there so the audience knows he’s injured— but otherwise? Barrier cracks aren’t an injury that people can really see. Recoil damage is typically reflected as scratches, so his internal wounds are both unique, and symbolic of the way he hides his feelings.

[clairelsonao3]

OC Name Meanings Tag

Thanks to @starlit-hopes-and-dreams (post here) and @mysticstarlightduck (post here) for this one that I've been looking forward to for weeks! I'm a total name nerd and am obsessed with name meanings as well as new, trendy, odd, and/or obscure names (too bad many of these started out as generic placeholders!)

For obvious reasons, though, I can't help but wish you'd waited a bit longer to tag me in this. 🤣 But, here goes.

Some very minor spoilers here for Ch. 16 onward.

Louisa is German for "famous warrior," a surprisingly strong name, but, then again, this is a girl who has a way of surprising people with her strength. It's also one of the many, many girls' names I've had a crush on for years, and one of the many I probably won't ever use for my own (eventual) child. So I gave it to my fictional child instead. 🥹🥹

I established in an earlier tag game that she was named after both her maternal and paternal grandfathers (Louis and Daniel). So for the rest of her name, we have Danielle (Hebrew: "God is my judge," and Phillips (Greek: "horse-lover") (and literally the first surname that popped into my head as a placeholder, and I'm very annoyed because it's so common. Oh, well.)

Maeve is interesting. She should have a Luxembourgish name, but she's not one for convention. So the name is actually Irish, for "she who rules" and Maeve, a lover of fantasy stories, chose it herself after the mythological warrior queen. It's also a variant of Mab, Shakespeare's Queen of the Fairies, made famous in Mercutio's soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet. Conveniently, we haven't gotten around to learning her surname yet.

Erica is Norse for "eternal ruler," and Muller is German for "miller." Another name that started as basically a placeholder, but I've come around to it.

Milagros (Spanish: "miracles") who, in a plot point of sorts, named herself, has the full name of María de los Milagros de Ulloa y de la Torre-Giralt-Muller, chosen to honor an obscure Spanish astronomer who discovered Ulloa's ring aka the fog bow: Antonio de Ulloa (and hyphenated with Muller, obviously, for her wife). Interestingly, María de los Milagros is one of many Marian titles, meaning it's a Catholic name commonly used in Latin America referring to the Virgin Mary aka "Our Lady of the Miracles," though knowing Milagros, that's definitely not why she chose it.

Keith (Scottish: "wood") and Corey (Irish: "from the hollow") have the dubious honor of being the two most bland, generic, white-bread male names I could think of at the moment I created the characters. 🤣 Killeen is Irish and a variant of O Cillin, referring to St. Killian, the patron saint of rheumatism. But actually, it was just stolen from a friend of a friend; it seemed rare enough that no one would be offended when I used it for the worst character in the story. 🤣

And in case anyone remembers or cares that Lou's mom's name is Zoe, it's Greek for "life."

Jacob is of course a variant of James (Hebrew: "supplanter"), and I lazily stole Wallach from old-timey Western actor Eli Wallach, who was best known for playing the bad guy in The Magnificent Seven. But I mostly chose the surname, again, because I'd never heard it anywhere else, so, less chance of offending anyone. And before I knew he was going to be German. Luckily the name IS German, from valche, meaning "foreigner from a Romance country, usually Italy." Yeah, I'm confused too.

Resi/Tresa are German variations of Theresa (Greek: "late summer.") Hahn is also German, meaning "conceited, flamboyant, or sexually active." Really.

Felix (Latin: "happy") and Arlo (multiple origins, all relating to "hill") were chosen because they're two currently trendy baby names that I hate, hate, hate. (No offense to anyone who named their kid that, lol). And their surnames, which were only mentioned once and I'm not bothering to look up the meaning of, were chosen because they're two prominent family names on the island where I live, as kind of an in-joke.

Lemaya: As far as I can tell, it's made up (but not by me!) Maya has a ton of different meanings in various languages, the most common being Sanskrit, "illusion or magic."

Obadiah: (Hebrew: "servant of God"). I'll leave that there.

And that's pretty much everybody -- oh, wait. I'm missing someone? Imagine that. 😅

Okay. I'll tell you what. Because this is a post about names and I'm feeling cute, I'll leave you with a couple of hints: his first name is of Hebrew origin and was chosen for both sound and meaning.

I'll try gently tagging the following:

@romanceandshenanigans @janec23 @lucylyricism Would love to find out where your OCs' names came from!

[hollowsart]

Somehow, trying to redesign Batman rogues is way more difficult than redesigning Spiderman rogues.

Somehow, they aren't inspiring many ideas for me, and much like a lot of dc content, the variations of the characters as a mainline fresh new take on everything is extremely limited in the creativity of variation to their genders and backstories that lead up to them becoming who/what they are. (Or it's left as a one-time one-off thing)

I think we could do with some more genderswaps and stuff, y'know? It would help inspire more creativity with the concepts of the characters. Give more substance to work with.

Some ideas/concepts for what I mean:

Joanna Crane, excluded from her field of research because her methods were too extreme and her research was becoming unethical and against all tules and regulations. Excluded due to being a woman in a field dominated by men within the corrupt city of Gotham.

Oswin Cobblepot, worked exceptionally hard despite her appearance to get where she is in life. Becoming powerful with an impressive influence in the underbelly of Gotham. All stemming from or origins in seeking insurance and protection for her high class club/bar after it had been wrecked one night by thugs. Ever since, she'd managed to firmly plant herself proudly in the underworld.

Arnona Wesker, always had a fascination with puppetry ever since she was little. Due to a sudden house fire when she was just a teen, she lost her collection of puppets.. well, all but 1 head. She salvaged it and kept it for later. Later never came, and her life progressed like a roller coaster of hills. At some point early in her adulthood, she started to hear a voice. It wasn't her own, and it always seemed to come from where she kept that dummy head. The dummy had become sentient.

Arlo Quinzel, talk show radio therapist and psychologist who received one too many prank calls from a bored Joker that ended in his career on the airways. He was highly influential, for better or for worse. Besides psychology, Arlo also enjoyed reading about classical theater and watching performances. An interest of his that had been forced out of him by his family, forcing him instead to go into a more "appropriate" and beneficial field of work. Safe to say, he finally got his wish to entertain through theater and the arts.. albeit twisted into something less playful.

Victoria Fries, a well-known cryogenicist who merely studied the effects of cryogenics on living things, trying to find a way to prevent the death of cells on the body when frozen. In a way, trying to slow down death and aging. Her experiments were done mostly on plants as any suggestions for small animals to help progress her research had always been denied.

Edlyn Nygma, the smartest student in all her schools growing up. She was the brightest despite her dark and dreary homelife. She worked extra hard to prove herself to her old-fashioned misogynistic father, and when that failed, she worked even harder to exceed him and escape the life she suffered through for years. After succeeding, her life hardly picked up. Being forced to work in a small publishing company that made riddle and joke books, the only place that wanted to accept her regardless of her qualifications. The years of monotony and lack of approval to her ideas finally made her crack, burning the place down after. Seeking now to challenge Gotham to prove her mind and self as something worth listening to. Becoming Gotham's anonymous "Riddler" and learning to use people's underestimations of her to her advantage.

Waylynn Jones, ..idk her story could be left alone from the original. Skin condition she was born with that disfigured her, or it was like some kind of genetic mutation that made her look more crocodilian than human, only getting worse as she grew up before finally reaching a point it wouldn't progress any further, leaving her looking big and monstrous.

Salem Kyle, his backstory can also remain pretty much the same as canon with minimal changes. Why change what works? Also I have no ideas for him tbh

Harper Dent, another than could be left the same as the main canon, just swapped around so they're a woman instead cuz we appreciate complex women 👍

[dragonfliescreative]

Joel (oc) x Reader..

Ch 1. Getting Ready.

Huffing in an attempt to calm my nerves, i stare into the mirror. The outfit Chloe had picked out for the concert felt odd against my skin. i normally just wore what was comfortable, but she insisted that i dress up for this. apparently id feel out of place otherwise. if i was honest i didnt even know what i was walking into. she had been listening to Bloodied Daisies alot long than i had, hell she had been to their concerts too. this was my first time going because she won a raffle for backstage tickets.

"Are you about ready??" Her voice boomed through the door. Pulling briefly at the tight netting over my arms i respond "Yeah i guess so." And with that im met with my best friend. she had her blonde hair up in a spiky looking bun, and a matching punky looking outfit to mine. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god! Y/n you look so handsome!" she snickered, her fingers shortly finding my face afterwards to fix the makeup i had most likely smudged it while putting in my top. "Perfect." She grinned.

I followed her out of the apartment i rented and out to her little black car, that she had of course stickerbombed. Once we sat i tuned back in to what she was saying to me. "-and i hear he's quite the party-er. though if im honest im mainly there for Grayson. god he's smokin' hot." she started the car and we were off. the venue was about a 30ish minute drive from my place since my complex was closer to the edge of the city. "plus, theyre small enough still that they'll most likely drink with us. is that okay?" she asked, turning to me as she hit her breaks for the red light. "I don't wanna be like, wasted." I mumble. the idea of drinking around strangers never was a good one. "You can though, i'll drive us home." I continued, giving her a small smile. And there was that giddy grin of hers, it always made me feel better. "Perfect! im so excited! i know you dont party much but i promise you'll love it." she cooed, before going on to explain that the tickets she gor were basically pay to get in party tickets, and were limited to about 10 ish people excluding the band obviously.

The next 20 minutes of the drive was us jamming out to the album they were touring. I had to admit, I loved this dudes voice. Chloe went over the band members names and what they played. Joel, the vocalist and guitarist, though apparently he could play several instruments too. Grayson, the drummer, her favorite. And lastly their bassist, Arlo, who also could play a few instruments. The more we sang, the more excited i got. i had never even been to a real concert before, let alone one like this.

Holding the CD case in my hand, i actually started to look at the members. inside the case was a picture of them together, with their signatures beside each of their heads. She had gotten this at their last concert. Joel, a kinda small dude, covered in tattoos and freckles with a dark fuzzzy mohawk and green eyes. Holy shit he had braces too. Grayson, a super tall scary looking man, with long black and blue hair, way more piercings than Joel, and gnarly cutting scares all over his body, even his cheekbones. I see why Chloes makeup was blue now. And Arlo, taller than Joel but shorter than Grayson, a lanky androgynous person, with long hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, glasses, and just as many piercings and tattooes as Joel.

The more i stared at the vocalist i started to giggle "How tall is he?"

"Uhh, five eight i think?"

"that voice comes out of that little man?"

"mhm!"

"thats funny as hell."

She giggled with me "isnt it? he's honestly scrunkly as hell. when i met him he smelled like cigarettes and like a woody smelling cologne"

"Chloe that's oddly specific. Why is that what you noticed?"

"It's hard not to when he's just below me in height. his forehead met my nose."

I rolled my eyes and tuned back into the song, into the venue parking we went.

Notes: Grayson belongs to my friend!! @grioxim

Ch 2

Pretty Handsome Awkward Ch List