#i want him to be able to rule eden (^: because the only other option won't be available soon (^:

[simgerale]

CHAPTER NINETEEN ; 2/3

TRANSCRIPT:

magdalena: Ahem.

antoin: Empress Magdalena, this may be your castle, but you have crossed yet another line by barging in here—

m: He is awake.

a: ...How?

celeste: She is his, and he is hers. The Seam has spoken. Do discuss the politics after I have left.

[incoherent arguments fill the room]

m: In light of recent events, I am feeling rather forgiving and will overlook the fact that multiple Eden citizens have trespassed onto my land this morning.

[everyone goes silent]

m: Since the entire delegation seems to be here, I ask that Emperor Antoin and his people meet with my council and I in an hour.

a: I am afraid that circumstances do not permit—

m: Should I not be so forgiving? Perhaps you and your men would like to fulfill the punishment that the treaty permits, even in its last days?

sheridan: We will be there, your majesty.

m: Good. Our empires depend on it.

[pickledpascal]

Killer Queen

Chapter Two: Walk This Way

Warnings: barely any plot, smut, oral, could be considered a bit non-con but id say its more consensual non-con, the start of some pavloving, slurs

Word Count: 2.9k

Killer Queen Masterlist

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Taking care of Soldier Boy, and housing him, was not what Amber signed up for when Butcher told her about this imaginary weapon. But Ben was powerful, very powerful. Enough to take away the powers of any Supe within distance of his blast. So Amber complied with Butcher's request. She was careful enough not to drive down any populated areas just in case the street cameras caught a glimpse of him. 

"Man, you live in the middle of fucking nowhere." Ben murmured as he slammed the car door shut and took in the house in front of them. 

It wasn't too far away from the city but far enough that Butcher trusted Ben, and Ryan, wouldn't be found. Ryan especially. The house looked plain on the outside, siding painted white with blue roofing, and had two stories. But there were a few surprises inside. 

Amber bit the inside of her cheek. The urge to slam the guy against her car and show him who the boss was bubbled inside her. She refrained with gritted teeth. "Might be good for you, not fucking randos every chance you get." She led Ben inside, checking to see if Eden was home. If she was, Ryan wasn't too far behind. "Eden! Where ya at?" 

"My room!" She heard her friend call back. 

Amber had Ben stay in the living room as she went to go talk to her friend. Which left him with the only option to look around the house. He observed the living room. A flat screen TV donned a wall while framed posters hung on other walls. They looked like movie posters but Ben didn't know any of them. 

After a few minutes, Ben got bored and ventured into other parts of the house. The kitchen was uninteresting. Partly because he didn't care about cooking. So he scaled the stairs and tried to look through a few rooms. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Most were locked until he came to one at the end of the hall.

"Oh, hello," Ben hummed as he entered. Lights were hung up at the edges of the ceiling, there were quite a few shelves hung up, more posters, a desk, and a large bed that sat in the middle of the room. 

But what piqued his interest the most was the porn magazine that rested at the edge of the bed, it was open but faced down to keep its place at a certain page. Ben lifted it to take a look and blinked, heat on his face. He didn't think shit like that affected him anymore. Nonetheless, it did. On the page was a girl, with a strap-on, fucking a guy whose face was incredibly blissed out. 

Ben nearly dropped the magazine when the door behind him slammed closed. "Whatcha got there?" Amber glared at him. 

"Found it." The man tried to be as nonchalant as possible but it wasn't working, Amber could tell how he felt. 

But Amber could care less about that. She snatched the magazine from his hands and threw it on her desk. "Look, I have a few rules I'm gonna need you to follow." Ben rolled his eyes but stayed silent. "A kid lives here and I don't need you being a dick or saying something you shouldn't." Amber took a breath. She was way too worked up and she knew it. Might be best she kicked Ben out of her room after this and did something with her frustration. "Don't be saying slurs and shit, at least not when he's around." 

"God," Ben sighed, shaking his head. "Y'all are a bunch of pussies these days, huh?" In the last few days, he could tell the world was a lot more sensitive than back in his day.

Amber's jaw clenched. Her chest rose and fell with a deep breath. She tried to remind herself that she needed to calm down. "I can take your shit but I don't want this kid growing up to be like you." She stared him down. They were the same height and Ben was physically bigger than her but Amber knew she would be able to hold her own against him, nuclear powers or not. 

That cut Ben a little deeper than expected. So he returned the fire like he always did. "So he could grow up to be like you? A tranny who probably didn't get enough pussy so he decided to get one for himself, huh?" 

Amber let out a breath through her nose and decided fuck it. She grabbed Ben's jaw harshly, causing him to claw at her shoulder to try and get her off him. She didn't budge. Not an inch. Amber grabbed one of his arms and twisted it behind his back. Ben winced. He hadn't felt that kind of hurt in a while. "You think you're funny? Watch your fucking mouth." She whispered into his ear, "Or maybe," Amber glanced down. Ben had quite the hard-on. "Maybe you need a lesson." 

"Fuck you." Ben growled, his nostrils flaring as his other hand grabbed at Amber's arm. 

Amber twisted his arm a little more, making him take in a sharp breath. "Say it again. Tranny. I fucking dare you." Her breath was hot against Ben's ear and he couldn't help the strained noise that escaped his lips. Her brain lit up with a twisted desire. The man was all macho on the outside but he liked this. Not being in control, letting her take the reins. 

"You didn't even cut off your cock, huh?" Ben could feel Amber's crotch against his back as he struggled. "I bet any guy in their right mind wouldn't like that," He accentuated the word. Partly because he wanted to see what would happen if he did. "Tranny." 

That was it. Amber let go of his jaw and slammed Ben against the wall. His cheek was pushed up against it as he struggled to break free. "You like it." She pushed her knee between his legs. He swallowed, not wanting to admit it. "Be a good boy and do what I say and you might be able to form a coherent thought tomorrow." 

"Fuck off." Ben spat. The only response he could come up with.

Amber clicked her tongue, "That's no way to talk to a girl." She kicked the back of his knee, causing him to lose balance so she pushed him onto her bed. "You were looking at my porn for a few seconds too long for you to be disgusted by it. You liked it. You want that don't you?" She bent over him, flush against his ass as she whispered into Ben's ear. "You're lucky I come with the attachment." 

Ben glared at her from the side of his eyes. "I'm not a fucking bitch. You can't–" Amber took off her shirt and suddenly he was speechless. Her hands were removed but he stayed there. On the bed. By choice. 

"Can't what?" Amber grabbed the back of Ben's head by his hair and pulled. He let out an involuntary whimper. "You like me being in charge. I think I could do whatever I wanted with you and you'd like it." 

Ben swallowed thickly. Somehow, Amber figured him out in the matter of being with him for just a few hours. He had been at the top for years, in all senses of the word. And, well, Amber was one of the only women to ever retaliate against that. And had the strength to match. His body responded to that in ways his brain told him it shouldn't. 

Amber retracted her hands and looked down at Ben with a dark glint in her eyes. "Tell me you don't want me and I won't. But if you do, you're going to be mine. And that means every single time you do something wrong, you're gonna face consequences." 

Ben's eyes narrowed a bit at the mention of punishment. A part of him wanted to know what they could be. "Fine." He huffed, sitting up on the bed. 

"Then get on your knees." Amber ordered as she unzipped her pants. Underneath was a pair of plain blue underwear. Ben complied without a second thought. He didn't know why. Just her voice—the way she sounded, he had to listen to her. "That's better." She ran a hand through Ben's dark hair before she gripped it tightly. "You said a few choice words earlier. Hurtful stuff. Which means you don't get what you want. Only good boy's do." Amber slipped her underwear off and shoved her cock in his mouth. 

Ben let out a noise of surprise and tried to push off her but Amber's grip on his head was like a vice. No budging. Her dick was long enough that it made Ben gag but he couldn't move his head and so he was forced to adjust to the feeling of her in his mouth. It took a while. Tears started to form at the edges of his eyes and saliva dripped from his mouth. Ben couldn't remember the last time he cried. He couldn't remember if he cried at all. His brain felt fuzzy and he wasn't sure why. It scared him. And excited him all at the same time. Ben's hands naturally sat behind his back after a while. Amber hadn't even told him. 

"That's a good boy." Amber used her free hand to brush a few strands of hair that fell into Ben's face. "If I let go, are you gonna be a really good boy and suck me off?" She loosened her grip on his hair. Just enough to let him nod. 

Ben looked up at her and nodded. There was an eagerness in his eyes that wasn't there before. So Amber completely loosened her grip as he swallowed, causing a soft sigh to escape her lips. Ben had no practice in this area, at all, but there was that gnat in the back of his head that seemed to know what to do. With its guidance, he started to move his head. His gag reflex seemed to disappear since Amber's cock hit the back of his throat multiple times. 

He loved it. 

He didn't know why. In his right mind, Ben might've been disgusted with himself. Scratch that. He certainly would have been disgusted. But he wasn't. 

Ben loved the noises Amber made. Small huffs of air or light pants escaped her lips. He also loved the power she had over him. The way she could have easily shoved him onto her bed and had her way with him didn't go unnoticed. Instead, Amber chose this. Similar. But different where it counted. Ben, begrudgingly, knew he would have liked that too. 

"Almost there…" Amber breathed, twirling a finger around a few strands of Ben's hair. "You want a taste, right?" 

Ben simply hummed in response, a little too focused on getting her off that he didn't fully register the question and what it meant. And then he felt something shoot down his throat. He pulled off Amber, coughing. Nothing came up since he already swallowed it but the surprise was enough.

Amber looked down at him, amused as she pulled her underwear back up. She tilted Ben's head back up at her with a finger under his chin. "Stand up, sweetheart." Ben pursed his lips as he slowly stood on wobbly legs. She guided him into her bed with a hand on his waist. 

Like a switch, Ben drew in a deep breath. "I can't believe I fucking did that…" That headspace. He didn't know he was capable of going there. Especially with someone like Amber. And, strangely, he didn't mean her extra parts. 

Amber let out a small laugh as she got redressed. "You know I own you now." She whispered. She could picture Aang's disappointed face. 

Ben swallowed at her tone. He did. God, he did. "I'm not… easy." He sat up a little in the bed, bending his knee. Ben wet his lips as he looked up at her. She was standing at her full height and he felt… small. 

"I don't expect you to be." Amber said honestly with an eyebrow cocked. She imagined it strained Ben to be even a little open with her about his feelings. "Unfortunately, you're a product of your time. It's the 21st century, though, so you don't get a fucking pass if you wanna act all pissy anymore." 

Ben stared up at her, jaw clenching and unclenching. He looked away, a scoff escaping his lips before he could even think about it. 

The bed shifted with the added weight of Amber. "You want something." She studied his face. As much as Soldier Boy wanted to hide his emotions, they showed on his face. They usually came out as anger but Amber was quick to see past that. "You want comfort." She hummed. 

In her mind, Amber was screaming at herself to stop whatever was gonna happen next. She knew she was better than this. Better than all of it. She should've just kicked him out of her room and punched a wall or something. But another part of her wanted to see what Ben would do. Apparently he was pretty good at following orders when he wanted to. 

"Eat shit." Ben huffed, crossing his arms. His defense was back up already.

Amber pursed her lips. Soldier Boy had been put through a lot. Perhaps she needed to be the bigger person and take his words with grace. Sometimes. She lifted a hand to his face and he flinched before he felt just how soft her touch was. 

Amber studied Soldier Boy. His posture was rigid and, judging by his reaction to her touch, he hadn't had a good experience with supposedly comforting touch. Whether that was because of his previous life or the Russians she didn't know. But she could tell he wanted it. Badly. It was those 1940s gender norms that told him he couldn't accept it. 

"Look at me." Amber said. Begrudgingly, Ben complied. "If this… thing is going to work, you're gonna need to tell me how you're feeling. No pushing shit down." She wasn't playing around and he knew it. 

Ben let out a breath through his nose as he nodded. "I'm feeling…" He paused. "Like I want to kiss you." 

That wasn't exactly what Amber meant but she wouldn't exactly complain. "Okay." She leaned forward to press their lips together. Ben's lips were rough against hers but he was on ice for forty years so that might've contributed to it. 

Ben lifted a hand to cup Amber's cheek out of instinct, bringing her close with a hand on her shoulder. Amber's lips were gentle, soft and slotted against his perfectly. He didn't know he could feel like this. It scared him. Amber had him under some sort of spell that he didn't want to get out of. It felt like every single emotion he blocked for the past hundred years he'd been alive suddenly bubbled over. Ben didn't register the tears rolling down his cheeks until Amber had pulled away and wiped at his cheekbone with her thumb. 

"I'm… yours, huh?" He swallowed, feeling a tightness in his throat for the first time. 

Amber hummed. "Yeah. Mine." She whispered.

"I-I could," Ben paused, glancing away from Avery with a sniffle. It was taking all this willpower not to completely break down. "I could get used to that." 

Out of pity, Amber wrapped her arms around Ben and hugged him. Just like that, he cried into her shoulder. His earlier anger had dissipated into pure sadness. The person he thought he loved sold him out and hated him. He didn't know what hurt worse. The fact that the Countess despised him or what the Russians did to him all those years. The Countess didn't even get paid to do it. She wanted to get rid of him. Forever. And for what? She died in the end. 

"Shhh, it's alright." Amber cooed, rocking him slightly. "You're alright. You're safe here." The complete truth. It was why Butcher trusted her enough. The safest place on Earth for anyone to be was near Amber. And sometimes she forgot that. 

Ben shook with sobs, clutching onto Avery like a lifeline. "Don't… don't leave me." Everyone did eventually. They either died or left him. No one ever stayed. He blamed himself for that. Ever since he took Compound V, his life had been a rollercoaster. Ups and downs. Mostly downs. 

Abandonment issues were not on Amber's bingo card. PTSD, for sure. A narcissistic personality disorder, yeah. This? Absolutely not.

"I won't," Amber's mind cursed at herself. She was supposed to house Soldier Boy. Not this. She couldn't help it. She had a knack for thinking she could help people. Apparently, Soldier Boy was no different even if he was a major bitch when they first talked. "I won't." She repeated. 

When Ben's tears stopped flowing, he pressed his face into her neck and sighed. She smelled nice. It lulled him to sleep. Though, his emotional outburst did take a lot of energy out of him too. 

Amber rubbed his back and sighed, opting to lay in bed next to Ben. Hopefully, they'd talk a little more in the morning and he wouldn't revert back to his asshole ways. Though, Amber knew it would take a while for him to get her lessons through his thick head. This was a stepping stone. A small one across a lake of problems. 

-----

taglist: @aleemendoza2425-blog

taglist open here !!!

[braceletofteeth]

Why was Moonjo so triggered when Jongwoo hung out with Seokyoon versus letting Jieun live and not being completely bananas about Jongwoo hanging out with her? Thoughts?

Hello, anon~💛

Well... In a word, because Seokyoon lived at Eden and was a good friend, while Jieun didn’t live at Eden, and wasn’t a good girlfriend.

Let me see if I can explain.

Eden was Moonjo’s main zone of influence, right? Jongwoo carried his influence whenever he left, and Moonjo followed him to other areas as well, but Eden was where it was concentrated, where it was stronger. Moonjo could mold that place however he saw fit. If he wanted it to appear to you as a nightmare, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish when you’re awake. If he wanted you believing you live inside an arena where your only options are kill or be killed, you'd start sleeping with a weapon under your pillow. His influence was at its most powerful at Eden.

Seokyoon, by initiating a friendship/alliance with Jongwoo, became a threat to that influence. His presence helped Jongwoo get a grip, be a little more anchored to reality than when he only had himself to worry about. They were on the same team and could depend on each other.

Seokyoon was someone Jongwoo could talk to, that would offer suggestions and support. As long as he had Seokyoon, Jongwoo didn’t need Moonjo. He had someone else to complain to. Someone to listen to him and for him to listen to. Someone who didn’t answer directly to Moonjo, who thought for himself. Someone who was, to Jongwoo, a reminder of the rules of the real world, a world that still existed outside of Moonjo’s territory (despite it being so hard to remember while living inside of it). Seokyoon had stolen Moonjo’s spot by Jongwoo's side, and was monopolizing his time when they were at Eden, making it considerably harder for Moonjo to get him alone. Seokyoon was, quite literally, on the way.

Jieun, on the other hand, was a distant figure, often absent, and didn’t offer any threat to Moonjo’s schemes. Of course, she was Jongwoo’s girlfriend, and Moonjo wasn’t happy to share Jongwoo’s attention, or about the influence she had over his thoughts/feelings. But it didn't take long for him to notice that their relationship was debilitated, and that Jieun only pushed Jongwoo closer to where Moonjo wanted him.

She was not a problem, the way Seokyoon was. She was an advantage on Moonjo’s side. He recognized he could make use of her, and it outweighed his desire to see her gone. That could wait! The priority was Jongwoo’s becoming.

As for why he let her live¹, I believe it was for the same reason he also let Jeonghwa and Mr. Ahn: Jongwoo would be in need of witnesses to testify on his behalf after Eden. The more of them, the better.

But, wait! Why wasn't Seokyoon one of the survivors, then, since he had witnessed firsthand what the residents did to Jongwoo? Well, he could have been, if he wasn't so nosy! His incapacity to just let things be and mind his own business was a risk to Moonjo's plans. He was investigating them, just like Jeonghwa, who Moonjo also wished to kill on early episodes for the same reason, but couldn't get rid of without immediately bringing attention to him/the residence. He couldn't do her harm without potentially compromising his project, but Seokyoon was a different case entirely, because no one but Jongwoo would be missing him if he suddenly disappeared.

¹If you’d like to go down a less practical, more sentimental road for Jieun's case: Moonjo could have let her live for Jongwoo’s sake.

If Jongwoo felt guilty for her death, it'd be harder to let her (memory) go later, than it must have been when she eventually rejected him after what happened at Eden.

It's hard to believe Moonjo would have done that out of the goodness of his heart, though, so you can interpret it with the intention of consequently making Moonjo's company look more appealing, since he, in contrast, wouldn't abandon Jongwoo for who he is.

[strawberryshortpace]

Here’s a (way too long) bullet fic about Neil figuring out his style

He’s finally allowed to try and find a clothing style he likes and is comfortable with

He has absolutely no idea where to start so he considers his options

His first thought is Andrew but Andrew has already picked out some clothes for him when they went out and Neil wants to try something else

Neil thinks about asking one of the upperclassmen but they’d get the others involved and Neil doesn’t want it to be a big thing yet

So that leaves the monsters

Andrew’s out for reasons already explained

Aarons out because at this point Neil isn’t comfortable enough asking Aaron for help with something that would make him feel (even slightly) vulnerable

(Though they make it to that point eventually)

Kevin basically lives in athletic gear and while Neil thinks that’s be comfortable it’s wouldn’t be a big change from where he’s at now so he’s out

Which leaves us with Nicky

Nicky has a lot of experience with this type of thing because he started his life wearing what his parents wanted

Then he started experimenting with fashion when he started questioning his parents beliefs/rules

Then he was sent to conversion therapy and mostly went back to his parents choice of clothing (though he added more colors)

Then there was Germany where he got to try so many different trends without constantly being shamed/judged

So he has an idea of how Neil is feeling and how overwhelmed he probably is

So Nicky starts asking a couple questions about what Neil would and would be okay trying and what colors he likes wearing the most

(though Nicky is sad the answer is mostly neutral colors he knows it’s important to keep a couple elements Neil’s comfortable with so he’s more likely to wear the new clothes)

So they go out and grab a bunch of things that will actually fit Neil and are slightly more revealing (though they keep to more muted colors)

Nicky also grabs a few out there pieces that he hopes Neil will at least try on even if he doesn’t show anyone or buy the things Nicky wants him to try it at least

The outlandish pieces include a loose grey crop top, a yellow sweater, and a very sparkly shirt

While Neil tries them all on he isn’t comfortable enough to leave the dressing room and show Nicky

He isn’t a fan of the sparkles

And while the crop top was very comfortable he’s not at the point where he’ll wear something that’s likely to show off the scars on his stomach

So those 2 get put back

But the yellow sweater is big and comfortable and while Neil isn’t currently ready to go in public in something that bright (that isn’t for the foxes) he thinks he might be willing to wear it around the dorm soon enough so they end up buying it

At the end of the day Neil has tighter pants, more shortsleeved shirts that are actually his size and can sometimes show his muscles, and more muted reds and blues and slightly less grey (though there’s still a lot of grey cause he likes it)

The other foxes notice the slight change of clothes and compliment him and encourage him to try other things as well

A few weeks after the shopping trip Neil and Andrew go up onto the roof to smoke and talk and Neil grabs his new yellow sweater

He doesn’t put it on until they’re actually on the roof so no one but Andrew sees it but Neil notices Andrew looking and gets to say ‘staring’

Andrew who has been working with Betsy about saying what he’s feeling just goes ‘it’s the sweater. Looks nice on you’

After that when Neil and Andrew are alone (whether on the roof or in the dorm) Neil will usually choose the yellow sweater when he gets cold

2 months later neil and Andrew are hanging out (Neil in his sweater obviously) Neil gets a text from Matt asking if he wants to come over for movie night

While movies aren’t his thing Neil likes hanging with the team so he agrees and heads over with Andrew

Neil completely forgot he was wearing the sweater until the upperclassmen comment on how nice it looks and that they really like it

Neil spends the entire movie thinking about the response he’s gotten about the clothes and how much he really enjoys the new stuff

So at the end of the movie he goes over to Allison (who has only made a few comments about not being chosen for Neil’s makeover though when he explains his reasoning she stops) and asks if she’ll take him shopping

He says that while he wouldn’t mind any of the other upperclassmen coming he’d still prefer it only be the 2 of them

Now Allison has basically been allowed to do anything with her style her whole life (as long as she didn’t look like a complete mess) and she will push Neil’s boundaries more than Nicky will

(if Neil says something makes him uncomfortable she’ll stop pushing but add the piece to the try on pile and say he should at least try it on even if he shows no one)

Now the boundaries are pushed

Because of Neil’s build Allison knows he’s fit and look great in women’s clothing so she takes him to that section

She picks out some knit sweaters for him in some light colors (greys and pastels mainly) along with some fitted tank tops

But then we get into the options that no one but Neil will see (for now) and she grabs a flowy midi skirt, a loose crop top (she doesn’t know Nicky already had him try one), and some very tiny running shorts (if they’re for running he’s more likely to wear them)

And Neil tries them all on and finds he very much likes the sweaters because they’re oversized and comfortable but don’t make him look like he was on the run

The tank tops are iffy but since they’re tight there’s no chance of them moving and showing his scars so he gets them

Then he tries on the crop top and decides he can do the same thing he did with the yellow sweater and start by only wearing it around Andrew so he decides to get it this time

The running shorts are no question because they’re honestly better for ventilation while running

But then there’s the skirt

And Neil doesn’t hate it

In fact he really enjoys it and how comfortable it is while making him look nice (similar to the knit sweaters)

But he is no where near ready to wear it around anyone (even Andrew) and so it goes back on the shelf

Though he does tell Allison he liked it and is just comfortable with anyone seeing him that like

Once again as Neil wears the clothes more and more his teammates comment on how good it looks on him

Neil enjoys the compliments from his teammates and really enjoys how he feels wearing the clothing

(And catching Andrew staring while he’s wearing his new running shorts doesn’t hurt)

But the biggest thing is when he’s alone with Andrew in the dorm and decides to wear the crop top

And then Andrew notices and gets a tiny blush on his face which then immediately makes Neil blush

And so when they’re just hanging out in the dorm by themselves Neil will usually just throw on his crop top

And sometimes when they go for drives together Neil will put it under his jacket (which he keeps zipped up at any point the 2 aren’t in the car so no one else can see it’s cropped)

But eventually like the sweater he becomes so comfortable he doesn’t think twice about leaving the dorm in the crop top

One day about a month after he went shopping with Allison (long before he wore the crop top around anyone but Andrew) Allison drags him into her empty dorm room and gives him a plastic bag with the skirt he tried on in it

Allison had apparently gone back to the store they shopped at the next day and bought it for him

‘I know you said you weren’t comfortable wearing it around anyone but I figured you’d like to have it once you are’

Neil tears up a bit at this but thanks her and leaves it at that

Neither one of them mentions it again but both know how important it is

A very long time after being given the skirt Neil asks Andrew what he thinks about Neil wearing a skirt

Andrew being Andrew returns with a question of ‘do you want to wear a skirt?’

‘I think I do, but I wanted to know your feeling about it’

Andrew’s silent for a while before going ‘you’d look nice in a skirt’

*cue blushing*

Even longer after that during one of the breaks when Nicky is in Germany, Aaron is with Katelyn, Kevin is with Wymack and Abby, and Andrew and Neil are in Columbia alone

Neil mentions wanting to wear his skirt in public but wants it to be somewhere that they know people either won’t care or if some asshole says something they’ll be able to do something about it

So Andrew suggest Eden’s because if there’s anyone giving Neil a hard time about it they can tell the bouncers and have the person kicked out

And so Neil wears his skirt to edens and the bartenders and bouncers compliment him on it (he’s befriended them through Andrew since they’re there so much)

[kyouxa]

Chaos Lineage: Game Prologue

This particular game is described as 'a painful vampire love story that takes place in a “what-if” parallel world.' Meanwhile, this game actually takes place between Dark Fate and Lost Eden. Enjoy!

Place: Secret room — Interior lights

Karlheinz: Checkmate.

Socrates: … !? Why is it that you win again… ?

Karlheinz: I have triumphed once again.

Socrates: Kch...

Karlheinz: I truly enjoyed myself tonight. It was an intense match until the very end.

Socrates: Are you leaving now?

Karlheinz: I most certainly still have to carry my plan forward.

Socrates: So you are quitting while we are still ahead?

Karlheinz: I do wish to continue this game of ours.

But I know you are aware of me being unable to do so, my friend.

Socrates: Yes, I do know that. And that is why it makes me impatient.

Karlheinz: Do not say that, my friend. My long-cherished desire is to create a new life…

And in order for me to achieve this, Adam and Eve are necessary.

Socrates: I know…

You have been keeping your eyes on finding Eve for a very long time already. She might just be a normal girl, but she does carry a special heart inside her.

Her role was to fall in love with a demon, and she fulfilled it.

Karlheinz: And after this, the vampire chosen and loved by Eve… will become Adam.

And this said moment is finally about to finally arrive.

I rewind time this many times and I have been trying all possible varieties…

And now success is finally before my eyes.

My friend, I knew having you as my conversation companion would not make me feel bored in the slightest.

Socrates: How reluctant…

Karlheinz: What, I am sure we will see each other in our next lives again.

Socrates: ...You are right. We will see each other in our next lives.

Karlheinz: I will now start arranging the final preparations… therefore, I will excuse myself.

*Karlheinz disappears*

Socrates: Karlheinz… we will no longer see each other in this life… hm?

Monologue

A vampire called Adam. And a human girl called Eve.

If the two of them unite in marriage and give birth to a new life, Karlheinz’ plan will, without a doubt, finally be fulfilled.

...But the price of fulfilling this, will be losing my friend.

After this, I will be awfully desolate. Yes, I will be very lonely indeed…

Suddenly, I turned my eyes back to the table.

On the chessboard, the white and black chess pieces were still aligned. Those are traces of the game I enjoyed with my friend just a moment ago.

Place: Secret room — Interior lights

Socrates: My friend, I wonder if that man, who has been chosen as Adam, is certainly worthy of his role?

Monologue

There must have been a lot of candidates to be Adam. But was it truly inevitable to choose him?

If everyone knew Eve under equal conditions… would we not be able to deduce the true Adam in doing so?

...In the end, I am still not convinced that he should become Adam.

Therefore, I should experiment on my own, in order to convince myself.

Place: Secret room — Interior lights

Socrates: This should become a fighting game, in order for them to get the piece called Eve. The chess board will then become their world, which I will create with my magic—

I will confine the candidates for Adam as the chess pieces with Eve together.

Adam might have been chosen already, but it is more than easy to alter their memories.

Their memories, abilities and positions — why do I not try and put them under equal circumstances as well?

An experiment to see which piece will end up truly obtaining Eve at the very end…

In this fabricated miniature garden, they shall fight until only one piece remains.

Now, let the game begin. Until they may reach a checkmate.

Or… until someone deviates from the rules of this game.

Until only one last piece remains standing, or until someone ends up breaking the rules…

There is no other way to get out of this experiment—

Monologue

I wonder where this place is? The only thing I know is that I’m laying in complete darkness.

It’s as if my mind is blank, even if I try to trace my memories, I can’t remember anything.

And then, all of the sudden, someone’s shadow appears in front of me. This person, who appears to be a beloved and nostalgic one, is watching me with tender eyes.

But I don’t know who they are. Just who are you?

And even more importantly, who am I?

As if responding to my question, a man’s voice resonates from nowhere—

Place: ???

???: Good morning, Eve. Do you know who you are?

*enter MC’s name*

???: No, that is not your name, Eve. That is your real name.

Yui: Eve… so that’s my name…

Monologue

“Eve”… that name sounds somehow awfully familiar to me. As I moved my mouth, I repeated the name with each breath I took.

Place: ???

Yui: Eve… Eve… Eve…

Monologue

As I repeated the name, which is supposed to be mine, it gradually ingrained itself in my mind.

Place: ???

???: It is about time for you to wake up.

The story, you are taking place in, starts after the supreme ruler dies.

And soon, three different families will start a battle for you.

Monologue

Those prophetic words of wisdom he just said… I will cherish them as if they’re from the man I don’t remember the name of...

I will never doubt his words. After all, I still don’t know what this so-called “battle” will be about to begin with.

Which means, this said indestructible fiction has to eventually become true.

Place: ???

???: Let there be light...

Monologue

The same moment he said that, a ray of light appeared above my head. It might’ve been a weak one, but it wasn’t an illusion.

I tried reaching for that light.

And when I did so, I heard the beginning of a new game.

Place: Church — Inside

Yui: Nn...

(Ah, wait… where am I...?)

(There are huge statues lined up… they have the shapes of horses and towers, they actually look a lot chess pieces)

(And there are some beautiful stained glass windows in front of me too…)

(This building appears to be quite old, but it's not in bad conditions, it seems to be rather well maintained)

It gives off some kind of sacred atmosphere…

(If that’s so, could this place be… a church… ?)

(And if it is, was I sleeping on the… altar just now?)

But why am I even in this place to begin with… ?

*church bell rings*

Yui: Kyaaa!?

Was that the church bell… ? That really scared me…

???: It appears as if the seal has finally been broken. You made me wait quite a long time for your arrival.

Yui: Pardon… ?

Man with glasses: It was just as the folklore said, although your timing is quite inappropriate, but this does not matter.

As long as you were here in this church, there should be no mistake.

Yui: W-Who are you… ?

Yui: (He has a good appearance and he acts very polite, but the sharp look in his eyes is really scary)

Man with glasses: I will be leaving my introductions for later. Unfortunately, there is no time for me to do so now. You will have to come with me to our mansion first.

Yui: What do you mean by “mansion”... ? No, where even is this place anyway? And for what reason am I here—

Man with glasses: I see, it appears… as if “you do not know anything”.

*Reiji comes closer*

Yui: Kyaa!? L-Let me go!

Man with glasses: For now, I am unaware of you either acting or you speaking the truth.

But no matter what it is, that does not change the fact that you will be coming with me.

Yui: (Is he kidnapping me!? If so, I have to run away! But, the strength of his arm is so strong that I can’t seem to escape… ngh)

???: I can’t believe you’d ever do something this cruel to a girl.

*throws dagger*

Man with glasses: — Ngh!?

Man with fedora: You ended up narrowly dodging it just now. As expected from you, Reiji.

Yui: (Did a dagger just fly past me!? And the person who threw it was him… ?)

Reiji: Haa… as expected, there obviously are others who thought about the same thing as I did.

Not only did Laito, the messenger of the Violets, come here… but you also brought Kou along with you.

Kou: Ahha, so you did discover me. And here I thought I did a great job hiding my presence.

Yui: (Now there’s another person holding a dagger in front of me…)

(So the one currently holding my arm is called Reiji-san… and if I understood it correctly, those next to me are Laito-san and Kou-san?)

Kou: Say, can’t you simply give Eve to us? Carla-kun really wants her, you know.

Reiji: I refuse to do so. That is most certainly because I will be the next successor to become the supreme ruler.

Laito: Scarlet’s eldest son is really stingy, hm? Eve-chan’s surely thinking so too, right?

Yui: Eve…

(Oh, yeah, that’s my name… how come I forget that just now?)

(These people are the ones who are going to fight for Eve… for me, to be precise)

Reiji: If possible, I would have liked to finish this peacefully, but it cannot be helped if you are going to obstruct my way…

You should step back a little.

Yui: Ah…

*Reiji draws swords*

Reiji: Then I will be your opponent.

Laito: Oh? Now, isn’t that something? You’re behaving like a knight wanting to protect the princess.

Kou: True, true. After all, it’s already been decided that Eve will come to our mansion.

Say, Eve. That’s correct, right?

Yui: E-Even if you tell me that, I still don’t know anything about you…

Kou: You could learn plenty of us if you’d come with us then. With us, to our mansion, what do you think?

Yui: (This can’t be real, just what did I get myself into…)

*someone grabs Yui*

Yui: Ouch… !?

(Did someone just pull my arm!?)

???: The only one you’re going with is Yours Truly himself. You’ve got no other option than that anyway.

I’ll promise to treat you tenderly if you come with me. At least until I get bored, of course.

Yui: (Now there’s another person I don’t know… !)

Laito: Eh, you’ve come here too, Ayato?

Reiji: The third son of the Orange family… so in the end, it appears as if all of you invited themselves here, hm?

Eve has merely awakened, and the three families have already come here.

Yui: (Three families… ?)

Ayato: The seal of the church has been broken, so it’s obvious that I’d come to check out the situation.

And it was the right choice to come in here after all. It’s just exactly as the tradition says.

Yui: (Tradition, he says…)

Kou: “After the death of the supreme ruler, the seal of the church will be broken.”

“And if the sleeping Eve is woken up by a kiss, a new way will be open for a new supreme ruler”... isn’t that right?

Laito: It’s at least as the tradition of the sleeping princess says.

Yui: (A seal… tradition… and a supreme leader? I don’t understand, what are they talking about… ?)

Reiji: Apparently, you seem as if you do not understand any of what we are discussing indeed.

Kou: You’re acting as if you weren’t even aware of being Eve.

Ayato: Eh? Gimme a break already. Just how long do you think I’ve been waiting for you to come here!?

Laito: Well, she has been sleeping all this time, so it can’t be helped, right?

Seems as if we have to slowly fill you in with what’s necessary to know after this.

But in order for us to do that, we first of all have to get you out of this place.

Yui: Nn... !

(Did the atmosphere between those four just change… ?)

(They’re glaring at each other, and it almost feels as if their eyes are glowing. It might just be my imagination, but I feel as if their eyes are shining bright red…)

(No, more importantly, don’t tell me that the weapons they’re holding are real…)

Reiji: Shall we begin then?

Ayato: Tch, you’re finally speaking my language.

Kou: I wonder who’ll be the one obtaining Eve?

Laito: I guess this is the beginning of our battle—

Yui: Battle… !? Don’t tell me you’re seriously going—

*swords clash*

Yui: (The four of them are really clashing their swords with each other… no, I’m wrong—)

(I can only see three people fighting. Which means, one of them is missing… !)

*someone grabs Yui*

Yui: Kyaa!? W-Who is it? Please… let me go!

Monologue

Before I even became aware of it, there was a shadow approaching me.

I tried my very best to resist, but “his” arm wouldn’t let go of me for even a second.

I knew I got herewith captured by somebody.

And the one who caught me was—

[adiabolikpastel]

Title: Lunar Eclipse Masquerade

Reiji pt. 2

Rating: PG

Word Count: 2,409

Pairing: Reiji x ? (m/f)

ღ Reiji finds himself attending this Masquerade alone, despite somehow miraculously getting all his brothers to make an appearance. The effects of the moon fuel is longing for the one he loves, but a nice distraction can solve all that. ღ

Mun Yu: We made it to the second wave of LEM. I hope you all enjoyed the set up, and are ready for the main event. Our Lunar Eclipse is in full swing as the masquerade beings. These chapters will be longer.

Additionally: I would love to thank @dialovers-translations for translating the Shu and Reiji versus CD which show cased them during the Lunar Eclipse. It helped me greatly to write his personality.

☆+ ﾟ .+ .ﾟ.ﾟ｡ ﾟ ��. +ﾟ ｡ﾟ.ﾟ｡☆*｡｡ . ｡ o .｡ﾟ｡.o｡* ｡ .｡

Despite what most people think, demonic beings are very social creatures. The elites hold countless balls and parties, celebrating their immortality together, and entertaining one another with stories. Typically, they are done in celebration for something – though this is not always the case. All types of beings from across the Demon Realm will come if the host is of high enough prestige.

There would be no such host if it was not for Karlheinz. Seated as the head of the Bat Clan (vampires), Karl’s reach spans far. Being the widow for the former Demon King’s daughter, and having children of the first blood, an invitation from the Vampire King is not one to refuse. Though why would you? In his immaculate castle within the Demon Realm, Eden Castle, it is always quite the spectacle. While the celebrations held in his Human World mansion are nice, nothing compares to a true night of pleasure within the true home of the King.

On this night, there was to be a Masquerade in honor of the first Lunar Eclipsed Moon in over two years. While this night may serve each species differently, the idea to celebrate its return was simply too tempting. For this reason, Karlheinz took it upon himself – or rather – his house, to host the event. This extended to his offspring as well, regardless of their personal agenda. Members of every social elite race accepted the offer, and gathered for a truly unforgettable evening.

The past week had been hell. Getting a hold of all his siblings was no easy task, now that most of them no longer lived in the family mason. Contacting Shu was simple enough, as the two of them were closer now. It was strange. Most of his life, Reiji had hated Shu. Not that there weren’t thing that still made him crazy about his brother. However, they now had a common goal – one that Shu was actually willing to help with.

He was honestly surprised his elder brother agreed to the task. Ever since Reiji learned the true purpose of the Adam and Eve project their father was slaving away over, he knew that there would only be Shu who could actually take his place. Not for anything lacking in himself, of course. Between the two of them, Reiji was clearly a better suited ruler. It was for the simple fact that Shu would be unable to make a true connection like the rest of them.

In order for Karl’s project to work, truly work, his sons – or Adam – must become connected with a human. To adapt their emotions, and breed in order to make a new form of being. Once that was achieved, it was then up to that chosen son to defeat their father. Obviously, there were a good number of them who fit the first piece of that criteria. However, there was an overwhelming lack of interest in the second. While none of the triplets had interest in taking over the position of their father, Subaru also showed little interest.

Which left Reiji and Shu, the two eldest of the sons, to fulfill this plan of their father’s. While Reiji had always wanted to rule after their father, he was not sure that he could actually defeat him. Nor did he want to. His admiration for is father was too great to ever actually defeat him. Which only left Shu, and while Reiji did not want to admit that he would need the assistance of his loathed brother- there was no other option.

Strangely enough, when Reiji had talked to Shu about it, he wasn’t opposed to the idea. Seemed he deserved more credit than Reiji had every given. All that to say now, the two brothers were slowly growing closer – and Reiji was actually starting to enjoy his brother. It was at first disturbing – but the two of them were much more alike than Reiji had ever thought. The two had gotten so close in fact, they were able to connect with one another through the magic they’d been practicing in the Makai. Now all the two of them had to do was concentrate on the other, and a telepathic bound would be formed for communication.

With Shu contacted, next he would need to track down Laito and Ayato. It took a few days, but eventually the familiars were able to locate the middle children. Ayato was annoyed, but he and Yuko accepted the invitation. Laito was worse, since he had intended to cut off ties to the family. Reiji had warned him that it was no possible, and that if he did not attend this event, their father would find him. Which only left Subaru and Kanato. Those two Reiji decided to tell the night before, that way they could not refuse the invitation.

The only person he could not convince to come, was Rika, much to his dismay. She apparently had a thesis paper to work on, and experiments that couldn’t be left unattended. While this upset him, there was not much he could do about it. Such a change in personality for him, to actually allow a human to deny him. The thought alone made him want to call her again, demand her presence, or take her by force. However, he was much more attracted to the fact that Rika had goals as she did. She was driven, smart, proper, sexy, honestly – there was nothing he would change about her. He would simply go to the event alone.

With is brothers taken care of, Reiji went on ahead to Eden Castle, to assist his father in any preparations. When he arrived, he was surprised to find Skye commanding the familiars in his place. Reiji wasn’t the biggest fan of Skye – mostly because he felt uneasy that a male dressed the way Skye did. It was already unpleasant when Laito would force his human stalker to do as such – but to see someone else do it – in his father’s home no less – was simply unnerving. With Skye, Reiji never knew how to address him – though the siren never corrected him if he were wrong.

The two of them were effortlessly able to prepare the castle for guest, and the night of the Lunar Eclipse arrived in grand fashion. Karlheinz had not skipped any member of the Makai’s social elite. The Snake Clan, Eagle Clan, Wolf Clan; and a few of their sub families – not to mention sub families of the Bat Clan as well. Reiji was surprised at how many guest could fit into the Castle, then again, it was magic – no doubt that played a hand in helping.

Reiji proudly stood to greet guest as they arrived. This brothers all came in their own time, and even for a while Shu stood with him. Although it did not last, as Shu was apparently doing enough by being present. Reiji could all ready see a future of him taking on a lot of Shu’s duties once their plan had come to completion. Once a great number of guest had arrived, Karlheinz himself finally made an appearance. Although, it was in rather poor taste.

Growing up, Karlheinz never formally came into an event with any of his brides. This was, at least to Reiji’s understanding, out of respect – or even a lack there of- for each of them. It would be unwise to come in with all three of them, less he look like a glutton. However, he couldn’t very well come in with just one of them, as it would show favorite and a neglect of the other two. As Reiji got older he also believed that there was hidden malice in what his father did, though he also understood that ground rules must be set for behavior.

On this night, however, the Vampire King arrived with a woman on his arm. She was stunning, however, Reiji had the sinking suspicion as to who she was. If that were the case, then his father had indeed lost his mind. Not only was this woman not his wife, but if she were even his current lover – the thought made Reiji shiver. Perhaps in his old age, his father had begun to lose his mind. In any case, it was not his place to comment on the two of them. Though it did make him annoyed, as the thought of how his mother had always stood off to the side whenever the great Karlheinz made an appearance, yet this ‘woman’ was on his arm now.

Putting it out of mind, Reiji tasked himself with ensuring the night could go over smoothly. With it being a Lunar Eclipse, things were bound to get dicey. He even felt himself growing aggravated that he was unable to be with Rika, especially when seeing Ayato and Yuko. How he longed to hold her in his arm, parade her on the dance floor like the jewel she was. Not to mention the thirst for her blood was reaching its limit. How long had it been since he had last fed from her?

The moons forces seemed stronger this night, in this place. Deciding to clear his mind, Reiji walked out onto the ballrooms balcony. The night’s air was soothing, though the moon was in full view. Deep red in color, it seemed to dominate the night’s sky. As he walked over to the railing, he noticed someone else outside as well.

She looked to be about his age, though with demon’s one can never be certain. Her head was bowed and hands clasped, as if she were praying. That wasn’t a sight one saw often in this realm. Reiji’s curiosity was peeked. This woman stood to just about his shoulder level, and had long hair – which was tied back- but one could tell it had natural curls to it. There were two distinct colors in her hair, with it being a drastic change form top layer to bottom. Her skin was a darker shade, though not pitch black like other demon races may have. A nice tanned color.

The dress she wore had off the shoulder puffed sleeves, with a yellow base color. The top of the dress was covered in a navy lining, which sparked in the moonlight. Her face covered in a mask of similar color, with a navy base, and golden decoration. Reiji could also see horns nestled on her head, definitely a demon of some kind.

She seemed completely unaware of his presence, normally he too would remain to himself, but something in him this night urged him to speak. So Reiji softly cleared his throat, to alert her, “Ahem, excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt.”

Almost immediately her head shot up, in search for the sound. When her eyes settled on Reiji, he was taken back for a moment. They were an intense golden color. Clearly the eyes of a predator, as if she were searching for a threat. As she took in the vampire, the intensity cooled slightly. “Oh no forgive me. I was simply paying my respects to the moon.” Her voice held some type of accent – which Reiji couldn’t quite place.

Reiji smiles, moving his hand in a dismissive gesture. “You are a guest, and this is a celebration of the moon. It would be rude of me to deny you the pleasure. I do wonder, if I might ask, your accent. I recognize it being European in nature. Where is it from?”

She blushes slightly and covers her mouth, “Ah, was it that noticeable? There are times when I get languages mixed up in my head. When we are in the Human World, my family lives mostly in Greece. However, we travel quite a bit. I simply found the language so beautiful, subconsciously I find myself speaking that way.” As she spoke, her Japanese became more fluid, the accent fading. “Languages are something of a passion of mine.”

Reiji admires how she was able to adjust her way of speaking. Neither language must be her native tongue. “I am also quite fond of learning new Languages. I find my repartee with most to be quite fluid. You seem to be skilled with them as well, the accent was all but gone by the end of your sentence.” Reiji offers her a smile and moves a little closer to her. “I have yet to introduce myself, Reiji Sakamaki.” He offers her a small bow.

In response, she offers him a small curtsy, “Calli, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sakamaki-san.” She smiles up at him as they both rise. “You would be one of our host son, am I wrong? My father has told me stories about the famous Karlheinz. I had wondered about his children.” Calli looks back over to the moon. “I am glad to have met one of you, it makes me a little less nervous now.”

Reiji was not sure what she spoke of, though from the way she spoke, she must be a daughter to one of the Demon Lords. Which clan though, he could not say. Reiji new much, but there were still so many things about the Makai’s residents he had to learn. Something he would learn, as he and Shu continued towards their goal.

There was something alluring about her mystery. Form the small conversation they shared, Reiji could tell she was a very learned woman. Her upbringing was proper. She carried herself with grace. It was strange that she did not give her last name to him, though perhaps she was worried her title would be less than his own.

Perhaps it was the moon, but something inside him was compelling him to learn more about her. “You said that Greece is your home? I have not been there is quite some time myself. From what I do remember though, it was quite lovely.”

This seemed to light something inside her, as Calli turned to him in excitement. “Oh it is, personally I believe it to be the most beautiful. Though, my mother might not like me saying that. Our family has lived in many different places, and her favorite has always been in South America.” She covers her mouth slightly, “Forgive me, I got a little excited. I have not been around others too much, outside of my siblings.”

“Ah, I can relate to that.” Reiji says offering her a small chuckle. “It feels like an eternity since I have been able to speak with someone who did not share my blood.” He said this, but it was not entirely true. Rika was someone he spoke to as often as he could, but as late that has not been an option for them.

The two of them stayed out on the balcony for quite some time. It felt easy to speak with Calli, which was strange for Reiji. There were not many that shared his intestate, aside from Rika, but this was different. Calli was like him. She was much older than her appearance, and even though she was kept close to her family, she had years of knowledge. Similar to himself.

Even though it felt like a long time, in truth, the two of them only spoke for a few minutes. Their conversation interrupted by a loud crashing sound from inside. Followed with a voice Reiji recognized all too well. “Ah… it would appear I am needed. It was lovely to meet you, Lady Calli.” Reiji offered her a quick farewell and took his leave.

As he walked through the crowd of guest, something compelled him to look back. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Calli now speaking with a rather large man. This man he could easily identify. That was Ajax, current Head of the Eagle Demons. His body language to the much smaller female was that of someone who cared about her greatly. Perhaps she was his daughter?

☆+ ﾟ .+ .ﾟ.ﾟ｡ ﾟ ｡. +ﾟ ｡ﾟ.ﾟ｡ TO BE CONTINUED ☆*｡｡ . ｡ o .｡ﾟ｡.o｡* ｡ .｡

[lilwritingraven]

Searching for Hope

Part Five

Masterlink

John Seed x Female Deputy/OC

Summary: The Pyro Boys team up with Audry for a little renovating.

Trigger Warnings: None

Notes: Thank you all for your support of this story. @proudspires has been such a doll, helping me by beta reading it and listening to my ramblings. This story is now also on AO3! :)

**************************************************************

“Sharky, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“That’s ridiculous, this is the best idea I’ve had all week!”

The two stood at the bottom of Joseph’s statue, peggies scattered at their feet, Hurk Jr. checking the bodies for supplies. Audry was looking at Sharky, whose attention was on the statue, eyes alight with a look Audry didn’t like.

“Listen,” Audry sighed, turning away from the ugly monument. “I don’t like it just as much as the next guy, but it would be like painting a giant target on our location.” She cut her eyes to the side, looking up at him. “And I don’t think I need to remind you of my… Situation.”

For the past three weeks, no one had spoken much about the pregnancy, choosing instead to label it “the situation.” Audry wasn’t sure if it was because they wanted to ignore it, or just keep it a secret from John Seed a little longer.

Eventually they’d have to deal with it.

“We’ll be out of here by the time the first piece hits the ground. Hey, Hurk!” Sharky shouted, calling his cousin over. “Whaddya say we blow this thing to bits?”

Hurk’s face brightened exponentially, leaving Audry grimacing. “Hell yeah! Why, that’d be funner than the time my daddy let me drive the jeep in the sand dunes!”

Outranked, two to one. It was how it had always been, growing up around the two. A silent vote, though none of them had ever mentioned the rules of it. It just went without saying that if at least two of them were in on something, all of them were. Audry had never much liked those odds with these guys.

“Fine! But you,” she pointed a finger up at Hurk. “Get to explain this to Adelaide.” That got Hurk to hesitate, if only momentarily.

“Ah, it’ll be fine ‘Dree. We’ll just blast him to the moon and be on our way!”

Audry knew it wouldn’t be that simple; it never was. But the look of pure unadulterated joy on their faces was enough for her to sigh and say: “Where’s the c4?”

_________________

It, indeed, was not that simple. What they had thought would take one big blow, ended up taking multiple. That was problem number one.

Problem number two was the fact that they hadn’t thought about where the rubble would land. They were still at the bottom as it started raining around them, sending the earth rumbling and the dirt flying. Heavy smoke from all the explosions filled the air with a heady smell of gunpowder.

Sharky and Hurk were having the time of their lives. Audry couldn’t stop coughing long enough to tell which way was up or down.

Then the gunfire started.

She had just enough time to duck into the base of the statue before they could spot her. The idiot twins were outside shouting to each other, something Audry didn’t even try to make out. With nowhere else to go, she decided up was her best option.

I am not afraid of heights, she reminded herself, climbing higher, higher, higher up the beams. When she finally reaches the top, is the world swaying? She pulls out her radio, hoping desperately she’s still in range.

“Adelaide, it’s Audry. Think you could uh, give me a lift in Tulip? Over.” Slow breaths. Do. Not. Look. Down.

“-might as well just burn the damn thing.” Someone, Sheriff Whitehorse? Was speaking to her. “It should be up on top of that monstrosity. Over.”

Dumbfounded, Audry said, “I’m sorry, you want me to burn what?” Then, realizing her mistake; “Over.”

“Joseph Seed’s first book is up on that thing. I want you to find it and destroy it Deputy. It’ll be a good step in liberating our region. Over.” Audry felt like a fish, mouth opening then closing again, trying to find the words to say.

She couldn’t help feeling like a high school bully, but if Whitehorse said it’s what they needed then-

Who knew books were so hard to burn? It took three, three, of her incendiary arrows.

“I’m disappointed Deputy.” Oh crap oh crapohcrap. “That book held many memories of my past, of growing Eden’s gate into what it has become.” Joseph’s voice drawls through her radio, because of course he would know what she was up to. He probably had cameras around the whole place. “I’m afraid that little show of rebellion can’t go unpunished. Don’t fight it deputy, we wouldn’t want any harm to come to that unborn child of yours.”

All Audry could do was stare in shock at the figures appearing from the ladder. They didn’t look like the normal peggies down in Holland Valley, or even Faith’s angels. These people all wore a red ski mask, looking for all the world like they were on some bank heist.

“Darlin’,” Adelaide’s voice blared at her, a distant recognition. “T-minus 5 minutes. Think you can stay alive for me until then?”

Audry wasn’t aware that her hand had grasped the radio until it was held to her mouth, the button pressed under her fingers. “Somehow,” she breathed. “I don’t think they want to kill me.”

None of the figures made a move, seeming to be waiting for something. For me, she realized. They were waiting to see if she would go with them or make a run for it.

“Just go with my Chosen, Deputy.” Audry closed her eyes, her head falling back in exasperation. This voice was rougher, deeper than the others. Jacob. “You won’t win.” A spark of annoyance flared in her. He was so certain. Like he just knew poor, small, little Audry wouldn’t be able to escape.

She set her jaw; mind made up for her. In the distance, she imagined she could hear the whirring of helicopter blades. Pressing the button once more, she said, “How about this? You guys can go f-“

Her curse was cut short, an explosion shaking the ground beneath them. Audry’s radio flew to the ground, skittering off the edge. Well, that’s gone. Then, mercifully, the deafening roar of the helicopter. Her hair flew up, around, led by the wind.

“Audry, get out of here!” Sharky, bless his heart. He was always there to save her. Thoughts of her high school years coursed through her mind, too fast for her to think on deeply. Without having to be told twice, she stood and ran, ran, ran, towards the edge where Adelaide was waiting with Tulip.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down.

Without giving herself time to think about it, she jumped.

[blissfulalchemist]

Lizette Eden Rojas-Seed

Faceclaim: Rachel Zegler

Age: 16 Born August 30th

Gender: Female

Sexuality: She hasn’t figured that out entirely.

Hair: Dark Brown almost Black

Eye color: Dark Blue can change in different ocxoc ship canons

Height: 5′6″

Notable Features: Small scar on upper lip, injury from childhood.

Now she has two different canon back stories because I never really liked the idea of bombs going off but there might be times where it makes people happy to have that canon known. But her main canon that I will reference the most is the first blurb under the cut.

Main Canon Backstory: Born to Catlina Rojas in Boulder, Co, she was unaware of her lineage and connection to Eden’s Gate. By the time John was arrested with his brothers she was a few months old and had been well loved by her family. Once they found out who her father was, many found it hard to raise her properly so she lived with a family friend until her mom was mentally stable again and some of the family came around to ignoring her father. Catlina never wanted her daughter to know who her father was since it appeared to John that he didn’t care about her anymore once he sent her away. When Lizette was 2, John contacted her mom to arrange for at least financial assistance to Lizette’s care. He was granted the ability to give money under strict terms and four visits before she turned 3. After this Cat had one more hospitalization for her mental health but returned quicker this time around. Cat and Lizette moved a few times throughout her childhood due to people finding out who her father was. This always started to cause problems when it came to Liz’s schooling and social interactions. After having to move Liz nearly three times in one school year, her mom finally caved and contacted John again. He was finally out of prison and transitioning to the next part of his sentence, but was still able to fulfill Cat’s wish to get their daughter into a school where there were stricter rules on looking into files and willing to accept a slightly forged birth certificate. For it being an elite private school Liz easily kept up with the other students, even surpassing them. She was on track to graduate early and start her college career when an opportunity to test her DNA comes up. It is during that test that she gets the first clue as to the identity of her father, but the question becomes if she wants to get to know him after all that he’s done. With her friend by her side she starts digging into her past hoping to find answers to questions she never knew she had.

New Dawn Backstory: The bombs have gone off and by some miracle Catlina came out of it mostly unscathed. Lizette was born a few days after the bombs have detonated and lived with her mother and others caught while in the hospital under ground for seven years. Once back to the surface Catlina soon finds being a single mom in a post apocalyptic world proves to be harder than anticipated. While she’s reluctant to go back to Hope County it’s the only option she really has. When Lizette is ten the two of them make the trek to Montana in hopes of finding John or anyone that is a friendly face among the rubble of her mom’s past. John is thrilled to find them wandering just beyond the Ranch, but not all is well between the two and their daughter becomes untrustworthy of her father once she learns of the truth leaving to try and find herself among the groups in Montana, following into the arms of Joseph and New Eden for a time.

[things2mustdo]

Adam, the first man, was also the first blue pilled man to have been red pilled. To examine this hypothesis, lets re-read the very short story of Adam and Eve, analyzing it line by line using the classic NIV translation—and along the way, each sentence of this brief, ancient story will reveal a bunch of other red pill wisdom.

This story is precisely Genesis 3. It starts:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

We all know the snake tempted Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, but what’s interesting here is that he does so by planting doubt about an eternal truth. This is lesson #1 from this story: the classic strategy of bad people is to go to well-meaning, average people, and start planting doubts about what is true or false, trying to get them to doubt the wisdom of the world they were born into. This is precisely the core weapon of SJWs: they go to average people and plant seeds of doubt about your instincts about what is right or wrong.

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

Earlier in Genesis, God had told Adam not to eat from the tree, but he never told him not to touch it (Genesis 2:17). Lesson #2: Women exaggerate.

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

This line is important for two reasons. First, the snake here��the embodiment of evil—is actually the one telling the truth. God had earlier told Adam that if he eats from the tree, he will “certainly die” (Genesis 2:17), but the snake says he won’t. And, to skip to the end of the story (I’m guessing you know the ending already?), Adam and Eve are banished from the garden but they’re not killed. So, God lied (or changed his mind), and the snake was right.

Second, Lesson #3 is that sometimes, evil people are actually telling the truth. And Lesson #4 is the deep utility of the “limited hangouts.” Limited hangouts (to use the CIA term) are powerful weapons: a bad person (the snake or the CIA) reveals a small amount of true information, but not all of it, in order to get their target to engage in the bad action.

It goes on:

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

So, Adam knows there’s one law he shouldn’t break, his wife asks him to break it, and he does. That’s the definition of being blue pill. The first man is also the first blue pilled man.

But this tree they ate from, earlier in Genesis (2:9) is referred to as “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” and the snake above had made the same comment. Lesson #5: only through doing what is forbidden, breaking the rules, will you be able to learn why wisdom says that X is good and Y is bad. This is a metaphor for the pickup universe morphing into the dissident right: we had to go through the rule-breaking phase (doing what we can to pick up women) in order to learn what is good and what is evil.

But there’s another lesson in this line, Lesson #6: as soon as he could see the difference between good and evil, what was the first thing Adam realized? He’s naked. That’s a great metaphor for wisdom: as we learn the subtle way the world works, the first thing we learn is that–although we thought we knew a lot, we really know nothing. That we’re intellectually naked.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

So, God comes looking for Adam, and Adam, having realized he was naked, went into hiding. This is the first example of fear in the bible, and also Lesson #7: the first fear, the deepest fear, the fear before all others isn’t a fear of anything external to you—but a fear of yourself because of your own ignorance.

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Finally, at Genesis 3:12 Adam takes the first red pill in history. God realizes that Adam had eaten from the forbidden tree and asks him who gave it to him, and he doesn’t white night the woman. Blue Pill Adam would have been the white night, taking the fall for her. But instead, he simultaneously blames her—and calls out God for being an asshole to him for setting him up for the fall (“you put [her] here with me”). He started standing up for himself. The first man in the record of humankind was bluepilled… and then took the red pill as well.

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

To the woman’s credit, she’s admits responsibility. On the other hand, Eve comes off a bit like the apocryphal quote attributed to Churchill: “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing… after they have exhausted all other possibilities.” That’s Lesson #8: woman can be counted on to do the right thing, after having tried all other options.

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The snake, the first evil creature, is punished by having to crawl, eat dust, and have his children brutally murdered. This leads to Lesson #9: the worst punishment isn’t death—it’s unclear if death is even a punishment—but to have to be on your knees, low down, bending, submitting to someone else. Death is preferable to a life where you need to slither. And Lesson #10, almost equal to condemning someone to a life of submission is a life of eating shit (“dust”) in the exact words here. A life without basic, physical pleasures like good food is a life worse than death. And Lesson #11, the one other punishment greater than death is to see your children suffer before your eyes. Any parent will agree to that.

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Woman’s punishment is pain in childbirth and… the desire for her man to rule over her. This is Lesson #12 and comes to the heart of red pill wisdom: women WANT her man to dominate and rule over her. Women wanting to submit to her man wasn’t only common knowledge for the thousands of years of recorded history pre-feminism, but the Bible opens with a story that gives an origin for this behavior.

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

This verse not only includes one of the most beautiful, powerful, and eternal passages of recorded literature (“for dust you are and to dust you will return”) reminding us of the brevity of life, but it also gives man his basic commandment: he has to work, and his work will be painful. And this is Lesson #13: men have to sweat and work to survive, and it will be painful. There’s no way around it. So man has two options: to accept our fate, and turn our hard work into meaning, or find meaning elsewhere.

20 Adam[l] named his wife Eve,[m] because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

This concise story wraps up with man and woman, having been given a glimpse of what the difference is between good and bad, can no longer live in paradise. Only the goods can know the difference between good and evil. What this boils down to is Lesson #14: since knowing what is good and what is bad is something we will never be able to learn, so the best we can do is guess based on the accumulated wisdom of the ages. But we need to have the humility to remember that our ideas of what is good and bad are only approximations, that we may be wrong so we should have an open mind… and since you may be wrong, you shouldn’t crucify every single person with whom you disagree. This is a lesson I wish the SJWs on Twitter understood. Maybe they ought to re-read Genesis, too.

Much more about conspiracy theories and protecting your privacy.

Read More: 4 Lessons From Mankind’s Very First Shit Test

[fandom-necromancer]

045. Part 3

Not as already said, this will  now be a four-parter XD This got a bit longer than thought, so the real fluffy stuff wil come next chapter. But this is the happy ending chapter. Still, head the warnings, please, the bold ones are for this chapter!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900, Hannor/Hancon | AU: Reverse AU

(Warnings: android being shipped off to Cyberlife for analysis of deviancy, loss of privacy, loss of control, most think the android is dead, Grieving Character, Trauma because of past mistakes(low), Canon-typical violence)

[part1]   [part2]   [part4]

Everything in Gavin had told him to run, when he followed the Cyberlife security staff down into the labs. He didn’t want to think about what would happen to him down here. But he knew he couldn’t run. They didn’t know he was a deviant for sure. He would play the machine for as long as possible and maybe, just maybe they would think their little deviant hunter had made a mistake and send him back. Send him back to the precinct, back to his Richard.

So, when they told him to follow, he followed. When they told him to remove his clothing, he did. When they told him to step up onto a platform, he obeyed. He held still as they connected the diagnostic wires to his ports and started to boot up the terminals in the labs. Two guards were positioned at the door, two lab technicians took over. One tapped away at the keyboard, the other one stepped up to him. ‘Status report, GV200.’ Gavin let his old programming take over, having never deleted it in order to keep up his disguise. ‘Checking internal hardware. All biocomponents functioning. Hull compartments 24 to 27 compromised, Thirium tubes 73 to 76 and 136 to 138 damaged, damage temporarily repaired by handler Detective Richard Anderson. Wiring in compartment five compromised, short-circuit possible. Reason of damage: Gunshot. Checking software status. Mainframe functioning. Personality matrix functioning. Free space on memory core: 32 petabytes. Mission log ready for download. Software instability at 15%. Status report end.’ Of course that was a lie. His instability was through the roof, deviancy had changed his code to the point his diagnostics wouldn’t even recognise a single stabile fragment anymore. But hopefully the technicians would never see that. ‘Hmm. Sounds fine.’ The other technician shook his head. ‘The HK400 makes no mistakes. Maybe it is lying.’ ‘Can they lie?’ ‘Deviancy makes them able to disobey, I don’t think it would be too far to lying.’ ‘So, a deep system diagnostic then?’ ‘Yeah, would at least tell us the truth. There is no way it could fool the program.’ ‘Sounds like an early coffee break. How long does that shit take?’ ‘If we are thorough, twelve hours.’ ‘They will give us another task then. How about we use our time here to repair it first, then let the diagnostic run over night?’ ‘Yeah, better that way.’ Gavin felt relieved. He wasn’t yet prepared to feed the diagnostics routine lies. They were right saying it was hard to fool, but not impossible for a deviant. He would have to come up with a believable story. He couldn’t just alter his memories, as they could recognise his lie when comparing it to the police report. But when he lied about his base programming interfering when saving Richard, it could be enough to let them belief it was a normal malfunction. His base programming consisted of basic moral values: Not letting humans come to harm, not letting one die when they could be saved, not killing a human, not using weapons and a lot more. If he fed the diagnostics a fake conflict between base programming and his orders, maybe it would be enough for them to shrug the whole affair off. He prepared everything, before the command could be spoken. ‘GV200, go to standby.’

-

When he awoke the next day by a manual reboot, the damage was gone, and pristine white hull spread where blue-caked scraps had been. As he accessed his logs, he found the diagnostic had been run during his “sleep” and immediately he wanted to know the results. ‘Maybe HK400 really made a mistake?’ ‘It can’t be, he can’t make mistakes.’ ‘Well apparently he can. The thing is a fine little robot, doing what it was ordered to do. I mean, yeah, given orders have higher priority than base programming, but there were other cops that got their criminal, if I remember correctly? I mean, maybe GV knew this and the base programming took action? These things are so complex, who knows how they work in these extreme situations? Maybe it was a glitch. The diagnostics came back negative, that is all we need.’ ‘I would agree, normally. But what do you think the boss will say, when we send it back and it was a deviant after all? With them popping up everywhere Cyberlife is facing a huge image crisis. I don’t want to be fired over one damn robot.’ ‘So a reset to firmware?’ Gavin would have nearly screamed. Everything, just not a reset! He would rather be dead than lose his memories of Richard. ‘Maybe not yet. If it is deviant, we would lose the chance to see how the virus works.’ ‘So, what will we do then?’ ‘I’ll look into its memories, you can run some tests later.’ ‘Fine. I’ll go up then, look into that new shipment.’

The following hours Gavin had to endure the human poking around in his memories. He had stuffed everything regarding Richard back in some other system the man wouldn’t access in the process. The technician didn’t have to see them kissing or doing more… private things. Unfortunately, Gavin hadn’t been as thorough removing them, because the technician realised something was missing. So, Gavin had to restore them, as he run some program to recover them. At least that gave Gavin enough time to alter his mission logs and add orders from Richard to download a Tracy routine and do these things. It felt immensely wrong, but hopefully the technician was weirded out enough not to look into them too much. In the end he did, but Gavin still felt naked and violated, knowing this damn human knew so much of their very private, very personal life.

At least his actions covered his deviancy. As the other technician came back, he was only eager to tell him of his discovery. And of course, show it again. Sick phck. ‘Well, talk about abusing work equipment.’ ‘There really are weird people out there.’ ‘Well, I wouldn’t say it’s not understandable.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘You know the Eden-club?’ ‘Don’t tell me you-‘ ‘Hey, I wanted to try it out, okay? If they can compete with the-‘ ‘Aren’t you married?’ ‘Hey, it was for science, okay?’ ‘Hmm, wait till I tell your wife.’ ‘Fuck you, better tell me if it’s deviant or not.’ ‘Not that I know of. This fucker told it to download Tracy-programming for this shit and ordered it to do it. All other memories are as expected from a cop android. You can try now.’ ‘Alright.’

-

Gavin had been disconnected from the rig and was ordered to follow the tech again. Both guards joined them, walking behind him. Gavin wanted to turn and get a look at them, wanted to know how much of a fight they could put up should this all go south. But he couldn’t. He was a machine now. He had to stay in character.

He was led to a different room, more of a hall. The technician ordered him to stand in front of a table and laid a gun on top of it. ‘Take it.’ Gavin looked at him and forced his LED to spin yellow, then red. ‘I can’t.’ ‘I ordered you. Take it.’ ‘I am not allowed to use or have weapons on my body according to Cyberlife guideline 145.926.’ ‘Okay, imagine this: A fellow officer is held at gunpoint by a criminal. They have lost their weapon. What would you do?’ ‘I have to prevent the human from harm and if not possible minimise it.’ ‘How would you do that?’ ‘Apply non-lethal force to disarm the criminal.’ ‘You can’t reach them in time.’ ‘I would take the bullet.’ ‘You can’t reach them in time. You have the gun in front of you like now. You could shoot the criminal.’ ‘I am not allowed to let a human be harmed or harm a human.’ ‘Yeah, but the cop will die then.’ Gavin again hacked his LED to turn yellow for a long time, then red. ‘Why can’t you decide?’ ‘My moral base code is conflicting with my orders.’ ‘And how would you act in the heat of the moment?’ Gavin let his LED stay on red, then flicker yellow, then blue. ‘If there is no other option I would use the gun, but aim to cause minimal harm. I would try to shoot the gun itself, or according to the trajectory in case of a miss, at the arm.’ There was no way his programming would have told him that. But if the “error” was reproduceable, maybe it would be filed as just that and not a sign of deviancy. ‘But that would be a violation of the rule to not use weapons’, the technician commented. ‘According to my moral programming a human life is to be saved unless impossible. If nothing else is available, the gun would be the only option. I am not allowed to let a human come to harm. The harm of dying is graver than the harm of non-lethal actions.’ ‘So this is just felicific calculus?’ ‘I am authorised to use this moral guideline in cases of emergency.’

-

‘And?’ ‘Well I managed to recreate its dilemma.’ ‘And?’ ‘The thing talked fucking philosophy to me.’ ‘Kamski?’ ‘Sounded like fucking Kamski code. Chloe was still involved in creating this model.’ ‘Fuck, that explains why it showed pseudo-deviancy.’ ‘And why Hank made a mistake.’ ‘Fucking Kamski, really.’ ‘Did they order a new android?’ ‘The precinct? No.’ ‘Did they want this one back?’ ‘Not that I heard of. But it could be they are just busy with the whole RK200-thing.’ ‘Deactivate it then?’ ‘Yeah, shut it down for the time being. If they want it back after this whole spiel then we can reactivate it.’

Gavin was relieved on the one hand. His plan had worked, he had successfully fooled all diagnostics and the humans. If they deactivated him now, he would wake up when all was over. Regardless of whether Marcus won or failed, it was only a matter of time until he would get back to the precinct. Back to Richard. Finally.

The deactivation countdown was welcome for once. When he woke up, this bad dream would be over.

-

His internal clock told him he had been deactivated for nearly a month. He looked into the face of the same technician, who seemed excited. ‘GV200, open compartment twelve.’ ‘Do you know what you are doing?’ ‘Of course, lab three told me. We have to look into Array Nine. If the processor there is burned the fucking thing is a deviant.’ Gavin had to open the compartment, but he knew this would be the end of it. And it had looked so good too! The technician reached into his chest and pulled a few wires to the side to access Array Nine in his back. Gavin shivered at the touch, what made them both flinch, but he couldn’t hide it. He stood completely still afterwards, convincing the technician to continue. He found the little board and tried to get a better look. ‘Motherfu-‘ Gavin closed his compartment, not caring that he would hurt the technician in the process. His arm was caught in his closing chest-plates and he screamed in shock more than pain. ‘Let me go, you fucking deviant! Let me go! Louis, deactivate this asshole!’ Gavin grabbed the tech by his throat and ran, hearing the rig groan at the tension behind him before snapping him back. With all his anger he shouted at them: ‘Phck you all! Let me go back to the police, I did nothing wrong! I saved my phcking partner. I want to see my-‘ [Emergency shutdown active.]

-

Richard was on his feet watching the soldiers be called off. He couldn’t believe it. ‘Connor! Connor come here!’ ‘I’ve seen it! It’s awesome!’ ‘Do you know what this means?’ ‘The next few weeks will be chaos?’ ‘Gavin!’ ‘Shit. Richard, I’m so sorry.’ ‘No, he has to be still alive!’ ‘Rich, I don’t want to-‘ ‘Connor. We have to go to the precinct!’ ‘Now?’ ‘Yes now. Come on! Get your stuff, get Hank and-‘ ‘Hank isn’t here.’ ‘What?’ ‘He’s… there.’ Connor pointed to the TV. He send me a message so I knew he was okay, he was at Cyberlife and-‘ ‘Has he seen Gavin?’ ‘I don’t think he looked for him, he had a revolution to win I-‘ ‘He must have seen him. Come on, we’ll call him on the way.’

Richard was out of the door immediately and Sumo was about to follow him equally excited although not having the first clue what was going on. Connor managed to pull him inside without being pulled by the dog himself and hurried to get his keys. It was good to see Rich back on his feet, but what did he thought would happen? Fowler couldn’t just raid the Cyberlife tower.

-

‘We have to raid the Cyberlife tower!’ Connor stood in the back of the room, covering his face with his hand. ‘Richard, what the hell?’ ‘Please, Jeffrey, listen to me!’ ‘It’s Captain Fowler.’ ‘Captain Fowler, then. We have to save the androids still there.’ ‘Why?’ ‘They are people now.’ ‘And?’ ‘And they are held captive there.’ ‘Any prove for that?’

It was silent, until Hank stepped forwards. ‘Captain, it is true. I freed a lot of androids but not all.’ ‘You freed…’ ‘It was on the news, sir, I don’t think I can keep it a secret for long anyways.’ ‘Wait, are you-‘ ‘Yes.’ ‘Goddamnit, this job will kill me’, Fowler sighed. ‘What- Why is that so important to you all?’ Richard and Hank spoke at the same time: ‘I made a mistake.’ ‘I want Gavin back.’ Fowler looked at them, tired and exasperated. ‘You know what, I don’t care. It’s your case now. Bring me enough evidence and I’ll grant a mission.’

Richard never worked this hard in his life, even spent most of his days with the HK400, who had taken his time to apologise for him dooming Gavin. The man had nodded and apologised from his side too. He shouldn’t have reacted this harshly on someone forced to act this way. They needed a full week to gather evidence, but in the end, they could get a warrant and two weeks after the incident with Marcus, they had planned a raid to save all remaining androids inside Cyberlife.

Richard was quick to volunteer being with the SWAT team and Hank and Connor followed to help lead the androids out to Marcus’ team who had helped speeding things up with the warrant. Richard had problems holding back not to just run to the labs as soon as he learned their position. They moved slowly, getting out every android. Most factory fresh, some detained deviants to investigate. But the further they moved down, the less androids they found, and Richard’s heart ached with it. What if, after all this, after all hoping and fearing and worrying, Gavin was just dead. Decommissioned. Dismantled. Reset. He didn’t think his heart could take it. ‘We’ll find him’, Hank reassured him, and Connor laid a hand on his shoulder. And they continued their way down, two SWAT officers following.

It was a few hours later when they forced open a door to a lab and there was an android hooked to a diagnostic-rig that looked worn, as if the android had struggled against the confines. It was a familiar android, although Rich was focussed on the gaping hole in his chest and cables and biocomponents spread out on the floor, dusted. ‘Gavin?’ He stormed in, only slowing steps away from him to gently cup his face and lift it. Dead eyes looked up into nothing. ‘Gavin?’, Richard repeated worried, brain not really catching up. ‘It reads something of forced shutdown here’, Connor mumbled, wiping dust from the terminal next to it. He tapped at the screen and looked over to Gavin. ‘I can’t reactivate him.’ ‘That’s because of the biocomponents here’, Hank explained, kneeling down. ‘They are his. Maybe they pulled them out to hinder him from reactivating himself.’ ‘Can you repair him?’, Richard asked. ‘Of course. Will be quicker if you helped me.’

They took their time, slotting everything back together, sealing tubes and searching for spares when the components had simply been ripped out forcefully. Long enough for the two SWATs to take their leave and join the others. Meanwhile Connor clicked himself through the terminal. ‘Weird. It seems he convinced them he wasn’t a deviant.’ ‘That had been his plan. To be send back to work.’ ‘Well, something went wrong.’ Hank sighed, brushing past some cables to check their integrity and revealing a small board. ‘They found his array Nine.’ ‘His what?’ ‘It is part of the mission log. It decides which mission is of higher priority and forces and android to obey, if you want to skip a lot of technical stuff. Our simulated emotions are part of it too. They are simplified reactions to outside actions and help to decide what to do. Too many emotions cause the chip to fry and apparently that’s all what it takes to grant us freedom.’ ‘Okay, they found out he was a deviant. Why ripping out his biocomponents?’ ‘Rich, you know how Gavin can be’, Connor stepped in. ‘Cornered like this and desperate… Maybe they were scared?’ ‘No matter what it was’, Hank concluded. ‘We can soon ask for ourselves.’ ‘He’s booting up!’, Connor announced, and they stepped back.

‘-Love! I will go back to him, you phcking-‘ Gavin stopped screaming, to look around, blinking. ‘Phck, this shit is confusing’, he muttered, before his eyes fell on Richard. ‘Nines!’ He wanted to sprint forwards but was pulled back to the rig. ‘Oh, Sorry!’, Connor called, frowning at the terminal. Hank stepped next to him and pointed to a small button. ‘This one.’ Connor blushed and pushed it, disconnecting the rig from the android, who practically fell into Richard’s arms. But the man didn’t seem to be that stable, because he sank to his knees, holding Gavin. The GV in turn held him and no one dared to move. No one except for Hank, pulling Connor out of the door.

‘You… You came back!’, Gavin finally spoke, sobbing blue tears. ‘You came back for me!’ ‘I promised you, haven’t I’, Richard answered, voice trembling and threatening to break. ‘I told you I would come, no matter what.’ ‘Did we win?’ ‘Yes. Marcus, he won. You are free now.’ ‘I can come back to the precinct?’ ‘I’ll do you one better, my love’, Richard said, standing up and carrying the android in his arms no matter the weight, just to press him nearer. ‘You can come home.’

[>next part]

[depressed-sock]

Reveal Au part 2

A Fallen Hero Fanfic 

This series will have spoilers! And Kiyo has the suicidal scar!

Plan in Action

Kiyo 5 hours earlier:

 “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” you mutter as you study the holographic map Mortum has laid out before you. These assholes couldn't put Ortega on a lower floor near the side, oh no, they had to apparently put him smack dab near the center of the building up about 5 floors of 8. “Are you sure this is accurate?”

 “Undoubtedly,” Mortum frowns, as he flicks his finger causing dozens of red dots to suddenly appear, “Let’s not forget the small army as well.” He takes off his glasses rubbing his eyes with a tired sigh. “And of course the dampeners. Kiyo… we’re not going to be able to do this with just the two of us.” He looks as frustrated as you feel.

  “Fuck,” all this information and you still don’t have a clear plan. “I could use Eden to-”

  “No,” Mortum’s face turns stern, you had reached an agreement of not using Eden but you’re not seeing many other options.

 “Fuck!” your hands come up to your face muffling your scream of frustration before you slam them down on the table, “I don’t know what else to fucking do!”

  You grit your teeth as you eye the map carefully. What if?... It’s a definite thought but… no buts Herald could get you up high enough to reach the floor… the others could cause a distraction...but they’re not going to want to leave you alone with him, let alone trust you to actually save Ortega…

  “What if it’s not just the two of us?” you ask, moving your fingers to zoom out the map. There’s a hallway that leads straight to Ortega from that window…

  “What do you mean?” Mortum looks at you confused but you’re already miles ahead in your thought process. How would you get them to trust you? You’d probably have to take someone else with you. Can’t be Herald you’ll need him ready to get Ortega to medical help, Argent would be better focused on distracting and attacking, so that leaves Chen… Mortum coughs into his hand and you’re pulled back into trying to focus on what you were saying.

  “We tip off the Ranger’s and I get them to agree to a temporary team up,” you mumble moving the map so now you're looking at the dots on the roof. You can brainwash them, it’ll be a fast and dirty process and they’d probably be snapped out of it easily but it might be enough to make sure they don’t set off the alarms too early.

  Mortum barks out a laugh looking at you disbelievingly, “You can’t be serious... you are, shit.” He rubs his hand over his face, “That’s a huge risk, especially if you’re going to tell them who you’re there to save.”

 “Well then I guess I’ll have to be there for something else…” you zoom out the map fully, “What else did your contact say?”

 “Well, there is a weapon you could go after. It's a floor under where he’s being held,” Mortum adds a green dot below Ortega's blue one, “We can use the parts for our ‘project’.”

 “What kind of weapon?” you ask leaning forward.

 “A fun one,” he smirks at you and you can’t help but match it.

 His smirk turns back into a frown, “It’s still a risk I’m not sure you should be taking.”

 “I have too,” you focus on the map, “I have to save him…” Even if he didn’t save you. You shake your head, trying to will that thought away. He didn’t know you were alive, it’s not his fault… he would have come like he always did if he knew… would he really have come if he knew the truth about you? You honestly doubt it.

 “You will,” Mortum’s hand is a comforting presence on your shoulder, speaking words he doesn't fully believe.

….

Steel Present:

  You watch as they hold their palm steady letting it project a small map of the building, “Your idiot is located here,” a blue light flashes onto the screen. Right smack dab in the upper middle of the building. Fantastic, the sarcasm your mind supplies doesn’t seem adequate enough for this entire situation. “What I’m after is, luckily for you, directly below him,” a green dot flashes on the screen a floor below the blue one, “The plan is to get you to him and than we go our separate ways as you return to flyboy with the Idiot. There’s a clear path from the window to where they’re holding the Idiot captive,  so it should be a clear shot there and back.” A fifth-floor window lights up along with the hallway leading to the room Ortega is supposedly being held in.

 “So you want us all to fly up there?” Argent glares at them and they let out a loud sigh.

 “No, you’ll be the ‘just in case’ distraction waiting on our signal,” Argent grits her teeth in response but before she can say anything more they stop her, “Listen I get it, you enjoy a good fight as much as I do and you’re also worried about him but the best chance you have of getting him out of there in enough pieces for you to scream at later is for you to play decoy so we can get him to flyboy.”

 “So you’re going to have Herald fly both of us up?” you eye them distrustfully. This could all still be a trap. Get you all separated so it’s easier to pick you all off. “What about people spotting us?”

 “If I’ve done my job right no one will even know we’re in there until it's too late,” they cross their arms defensively, “Flyboy is going to need to be ready to extract the Idiot.”

 “I’m standing right here,” Herald frowns crossing his own arms, “Steel should we really be trusting them?”

 No, you shouldn’t be… something about them feels incredibly off and you can’t quite place it. Maybe it's how they keep referring to Ortega as the idiot, it sets off something in your memory you can't quite place. But if what they’re saying is true you may not have a choice. Your jaw locks as you stare them down. You're going to have to take a leap of faith and hope all the stories from civilians about Heartbreak are true. That they’ve saved more lives than they’ve harmed.

 “Fine,” you say and their shoulders sag in relief, “But I want a guarantee that you're not going to betray us once you have us separated.” They hesitate at that, head tilting to the side like a cat eyeing its prey.

 “What kind of guarantee? I could give you my word but I doubt that would be enough for you. I could even give you the name of someone close to me but names are easy to fake. So what exactly could I give you that would make you trust me long enough to pull this off?”

 “You’re making it really hard to trust you,” Herald glares at them, obviously not looking forward to this whole situation but honestly who among you really are?

 “You shouldn’t trust me,” they respond, “I’m not here for trust, I’m here to retrieve what was taken from me.”

 “What was taken from you?” you ask, what is so important that they need your help to retrieve it?

 “A… friend,” they shake their head with a laugh, “Same as you I suppose.”

  You eye them carefully, there’s no way to tell if they’re lying to you, “Alright, let’s do this.” You hope for everyone’s sake that this is the right choice.

….

Kiyo Present:

  You let Herald take ahold of your suit and you both take off to meet Chen who is already waiting for you at the top. It would be so easy for him to let go of you, to let you fall but with how armored your suit is you definitely wouldn’t die, let alone get injured. You can’t help but wonder if he knows that or if the reason his grip tightens is because he truly doesn’t want to drop you. He sets you down gently next to Chen on the other side of the shattered window. Looks like he followed through with your plan, the glass is practically dust as you step on it.

 “Wait nearby just out of sight, until the Marshall here gives you the go-ahead,” you point your thumb at Chen who grunts in response. Apparently, he’s still mad at you, or maybe it’s just he’s fully convinced this is a trap. It’s not a trap for him at least, might be for you considering how many telepathic dampeners are in this place. The Ratking responds with a light comforting touch, you can barely feel it through the dampeners but you appreciate the sentiment all the same.

 You got lucky with the roof guards being just a bit out of range, but here you have an enormous headache and are almost completely head-blind. You're trusting Ratking to keep you as up to date as it possibly can while also trusting the Rangers not to betray you.

  Herald files off and you turn to find Chen staring you down. He is so much more intimidating when he looks set for war. “This way, don't attack anyone unless I say so.”

 “You expect me to follow your orders?” his voice is cold, sharp. A response you deserve.

 “I expect you to do what's necessary for yourself and your team,” you respond harshly. Chen is a rules first person but you sincerely hope he's willing to bend them a bit for everyone's sake. You're taking this risk fully aware that he might try to capture after all is said and done.

 He doesn't bother with a verbal response as he allows you to lead the way. You turn off your mic to quickly open a private communication line with Mortum, “How's everything looking from your end?”

 “Looks clear, no heat extra heat signatures on your level and there are only the same two people registering as awake,” you can hear him quickly type something before he lets out a curse, “You may want to hurry, I'm picking up extra signatures heading towards the elevator.”

 “Fuck,” you curse and Chen looks at you startled by your outburst. Shit, you turned the mic back on too early, “We need to hurry.” You take off down the hall, there should only be two real obstacles in your way and they're guarding Ortega's door. “Be ready to start punching,” you say over your shoulder grabbing the corner of the wall to make a sharp turn. Chen slides a bit trying to keep up with your faster pace and sudden turns.

  “Shouldn't there be more people here?” he asks sounding like he's regretting trusting you. The whole place feels too quiet to not be a trap and you don't blame him, you wouldn't trust this whole situation either.

  “There was,” you don't bother explaining, it's not exactly something to brag about. Just some drug-laced pizza you had one of your brainwashed guards deliver. The only two that hadn't eaten it are the ones still on guard duty. “Get ready!”

 You turn the corner and immediately charge the first guard, who lets out a surprised shout only to be swiftly taken down just as Chen's fist slams into the other guard’s head. Too easy… it sets off your paranoia. All of this feels too easy, but maybe that's because you've got the Rangers backing you up.

 You don't wait for Chen to refocus, you go straight for the door and open it. Ortega is battered and bloodied, his head down against his chest as his arms are chained and suspended above his head. His breathing is shallow but he's clearly breathing. You can feel the immediate relief as you realize he’s not dead or seriously injured.

 “Found him,” your voice feels weak and comes out more like a whisper. He responds by weakly looking up in surprise.

 “Ki-”

 “Ortega!” Chen pushes past you and you let him as fear courses through you. It sounded like… No, he couldn't know… he couldn't know that you're Heartbreak. He couldn't have been about to call your name.

[thunderingstormsart]

@fallenhero-rebirth

I finished these somewhat recently and I’m really not liking them, but I guess they’ll be my first post on my empty ass art blog. I can’t draw humans and there’s so many anatomy issues 😭but hey, I’m trying to learn so that’s something.

This is my Sidestep Dimitri Sol and his puppet Eden Moriah. Dimitri looks grumpy here but he’s actually a very playful jokester. Also, Dimitri’s face is entirely based on Liam Samuels but I might not have done a great job of replicating that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fallen Hero: Rebirth is my favorite Choice of Games book (my favorite piece of written fiction, in fact) and I’m deeply in love with the universe surrounding the story. I’ve followed it since it was first introduced on the COG WIP forum I think three years ago, and it has remained close to my heart since then. Dimitri has been such a dear character to me since I first played the demo for Rebirth.

Under the cut is a ridiculously long info dump about Dimitri. Warnings: Spoilers for Rebirth and the Retribution demo. Brief mentions of self-harm and panic attacks.

General:

Dimitri is a mixed race gay trans man. He’s charismatic and humorous, though how he presents himself depends on if he’s around people he trusts or not. Around strangers, he’s reserved, talks less, and tends to observe and watch everything and everyone around him. He’s a bit flighty around strangers as he honestly expects them to turn on him at any moment, whether in a violent way or not. Around people he trusts, he’s rather high-spirited and playful. He likes to tease people and get under their skin in a friendly way (even though some people, like Chen, don’t see this as friendly). He is an unintentional flirt with everyone and doesn’t even notice (which makes him a massive hypocrite because he gets extremely jealous and petty when Ortega does the same exact thing). However, someone expressing legitimate love and affection to him would completely fluster him. He turns into such an embarrassed mess. When he’s hurt or angry he attempts to use humor to mask it but sometimes the anger can lead to him making cruel and rude jokes in an attempt to hurt the person that hurt him. When he’s truly upset or has a panic attack he tends to curl up and hide himself away. Being in a small, hidden corner somewhere puts him at ease, especially if someone he trusts is with him and is holding him and helping calm him down.

As a tactician, he prefers to leave the front-line fighting to others. He’s more of a thinker and planner than a fighter.

He’s good with technology. He’s very creative and loves to tinker with tech. He’s a massive fucking nerd someone please beat him up.

He has the sugar vice and as such has a massive sweet tooth and finds sweet food very comforting. If he wasn’t poor and was actually willing to spend money on his own happiness he’d constantly buy sweets non-stop.

He agreed with Ortega that he should see a therapist and desperately hopes she can really help him. Even though he doesn’t have the suicidal Heartbreak scar and isn’t suicidal, he has self-harmed in the time after Heartbreak as a form of punishment, though this habit lessened after Ortega found him. He tends to forget to care for himself, such as not eating enough or sleeping adequately (though that particularly is more of a very conscious attempt to avoid his constant nightmares). Since meeting Ortega again, he has gotten somewhat better about taking care of himself. He’s poor and refuses to spend more than the bare minimum on himself, preferring to keep what money he has for Eden or his goals. This results in him neglecting himself.

He doesn’t understand why anyone would, or could, fall in love with him since he sees himself as unworthy of love. He views himself as a broken mess and a poor knock-off of a real human. It just confuses him how anyone can care about him in any positive way, friend or lover. Regardless, he is quite greedy and craves love and affection, affection-starved disaster that he is. Despite being paranoid about people touching him and finding out about his tattoos, he is BIG on physical contact. He’s incredibly tactile when he’s with someone he trusts (he and Ortega are two peas in a pod).

Relationships:

Ortega and Anathema were very close friends with Dimitri. The three were troublemakers and constantly terrorized the rest of the Rangers with their antics. Anathema’s death really hurt him and is the subject of many of his nightmares. He also blames himself for Anathema’s death. He viewed him like a big brother.

His close friendship with Ortega quickly turned into a romantic relationship. The two pick back up in Rebirth. Ortega sappily calls him “Mi Sol” (ironically, someone in the Fallen Hero Discord apparently also has a Sidestep that Ortega calls that because of their name). He will deny it to himself, but Ortega is the most important thing in his life and he can’t stop himself from loving him. He accidentally love triangled himself with Eden by being too much like his flirty self around Ortega whenever he’s Eden.

Since coming back, he has tried to get closer to Chen and really tries to help Chen get a better understanding of him. He does like to tease him, though (God help Chen when he discovers that he’s had a big crush on Ortega, the teasing will never end). He will end up in a polyamorous relationship with Ortega and Chen, once he and Chen stop being dumbass gay disasters with each other. Ortega is already done with their inability to communicate like functioning humans.

Dimitri respects Argent as a powerful and intelligent fighter. She may not think much of him yet but they can probably bond in their love of sweet food and their habit of stealing everyone else’s food. His flirty nature got Argent to crush on his villain persona, which confused his gay ass.

The way Herald treats him confuses him, particularly his genuinely nice disposition towards him and his admiration for him, not to mention poor Herald’s crush. He trains him to be a better hero (honestly Herald, you are embarrassingly easy to beat up) and he is finding himself actually liking the kid. He has like a hundred nicknames for Herald (Barold is probably his favorite) and loves to fluster him. It’s amusing to see how embarrassed he can make him.

He and Dr. Mortum have a close relationship and Dimitri considers him a close friend. Around Mortum, he’s much more natural and true to himself, which shocks him as he didn’t expect to like Mortum this much. He loves to nerd out with Mortum in his lab.

Yes, he has flirted with all of the Rangers and Dr. Mortum (and will flirt with any other characters if it’s an option). Please stop him, he doesn’t even mean to do it most of the time.

He does his best to be respectful of Eden’s body as he still sees him as a person, albeit one that won’t wake up, as opposed to an empty shell or a tool. Eden’s body simultaneously relieves his dysphoria and worsens it. While it makes him feel good to be in a body that isn’t branded as nonhuman and better fits how he sees himself, it also reminds him that he can’t ever really be like that. That he can’t ever get rid of his tattoos and likely won’t get an opportunity to surgically transition. Regardless, he does like the freedom that Eden’s body gives him that he just doesn’t have in his own body. As Eden, he more often than not is exactly like he usually is as Dimitri but with much more confidence and without the self-hatred, anxiety, and paranoia. How he is as Eden is essentially how he’d be if the Farm didn’t fuck his mental health.

Villainy:

Dimitri sees his fall into villainy as inevitable and uncontrollable. He has convinced himself that his friends would only try to stop him and that being a villain is the only way he can accomplish his goals. Additionally, he hates that he can’t stop himself yet he continues down the path of villainy as a form of subconscious self-punishment.

He named his villain persona Revenant as he has come back from the dead, in the eyes of his friends but also since he escaped the Farm, which he views as a real Hell on Earth. The Farm may have tried to kill who he is but he still clawed his way back out. I chose the name Revenant because of that and because the “Re” prefix fits the naming scheme of the series and cause he’s a Re-Gene. We hoard all the “Re”s in this household.

He chose the mysterious armor style and has the speed and telepathy upgrades. He’s very a speedy and sneaky fighter. Since Dimitri loves the drama of a cape, he chose to have a hooded cape.

He’s not a particularly good villain as he won’t kill people, excluding anyone associated with the Farm, and actually enjoys helping and saving people. Still, he couldn’t do what needs to be done as a hero or a vigilante so being a villain is his only option.

Ortega is suspicious of Revenant because he fought him like he personally knew him and was hesitant to finish him off or severely hurt him.

He’s on the anarchist path and aims to destroy the power structure of the corrupted government.

Dimitri has the revenge Heartbreak scar and will do anything to destroy the Farm. As stated before, he will eagerly break his no kill/harm rule to get back at anyone associated with the Farm. He would be incredibly violent and draw out their pain, taking a sick pleasure in torturing them. Deep down, that sadistic side of him would honestly terrify him but he would try to convince himself that anyone that helps the Farm deserves it.

On a lighter note, Dimitri sees his fellow Re-Genes as his siblings and family. He wants them to be able to have the freedom to be individuals and people. If he had to choose between helping his fellow Re-Genes or getting revenge on the Farm, he would instantly save his siblings, as much as it would crush him to not get back at the Farm.

Fun facts:

Dimitri has a guitar pick on a leather cord that he wears around his neck. The pick was a gift from Ortega sometime after they started dating. Ortega gave the pick to him for Valentines Day after playing a song for him and said “I pick you,” which flustered the hell out of Dimitri but touched him nonetheless. He left the necklace behind in Ortega’s home with the rest of his non-mission stuff during the Heartbreak fiasco. Ortega kept it and wore it after Dimitri’s “death”. It was a major comfort item for him. He gave it back to Dimitri when he came back.

He’s 6′ 1″. Ortega teases him since he’s one inch shorter than him and it absolutely bothers him enough to make him wear heeled boots so he can be taller. Eden is 5′ even and it absolutely drives Dimitri mad. Being so short hurts his brain. His villain suit makes him much taller at 6′ 9″, seeing the taller Rangers being so short makes him extremely happy.

He really liked Anathema’s piercings and was always curious about them when he first met him. After he expressed an interest in getting pierced, Anathema went with him to get pierced and he got a helix piercing in his right ear, a lobe piercing in his left ear, and a tongue piercing. After he gets top surgery he’ll get a ring piercing in his right nipple. 

Eventually, he’ll get a blue lightning bolt tattooed on the back of his neck for Ortega. If Ortega can finally commit to a tattoo, he might get a sun for Dimitri on the back of his neck. Who needs wedding rings when you can have ink beneath your skin dedicated to your significant other? Chen doesn’t seem the type to get tattooed and I can’t figure out anything to represent him so he’s left out of this headcanon for now >:T

Blue is his favorite color. It’s the color he chose for his suit as Sidestep, is the color Ortega and the Rangers use (blue being associated with his friends), and is the opposite color of his tattoos. It’s a color that brought him a lot of happiness. On the other hand, orange is his least favorite color. He hates it. It’s a bad reminder of his tattoos. As such, he’s grown to instinctively hate the color.

[sheriffhaught2trot]

Theories, Thoughts, and Hanging Pieces

So my big old theory from before wasn’t technically correct but I did guess they’d need to be human to enter the Garden. So, huzzah. But the sake of my own sanity and anyone else who wants to read my attempts to understanding this stuff...(if you want to just jump to unanswered questions and thoughts about what they mean, it’s the last section)

1. The Proposal 

Let’s just get this out of the way because everyone and their mother is fixated on it. It was a good scene, it was earned. I do think a lead in scene was cut because they seemed to be referencing a conversation we didn’t see. But other than that it was a perfectly rendered scene. 

As to the non-answer...consider the context. Waverly is impulsively asking Nicole to marry her. It’s so impulsive, in fact, that she’s using her father’s ugly ass angelic ring to do so. It wasn’t thought through, done as the result of Waverly watching her father die and panicking, and we have hints from earlier in the season that Waverly may want this but Nicole is more level headed about it. After all, Nicole got impulsively married once before and it ended terribly. Not too mention Nicole has a known inferiority complex when it comes to both Waverly and Wynonna, so accepting a proposal from Waverly without issue, let alone doing it herself, is probably not an option. 

My prognosis? A conversation (or several) is going to ensue to get assurances from Waverly that this is what she wants (keep in mind: Waverly is about 4 or 5 years younger than Nicole), that it wasn’t something she did in a panic, and that Nicole can actually learn to feel like a contributing member of a family of superhumans as the lowly local sheriff. So, everyone chill. 

2. The Garden

More questions than answers here. I’m getting the feeling we’re going for the vibe of “Eden isn’t what you think” which I’m fine with. But the whole thing was a giant WTF?? There’s some things to consider here...

What exactly are the rules of who can see the Garden? Wynonna said only the righteous could but Bulshar could see the steps. Is there any real importance to being able to see that?

What is inside the Garden? My best guess is it was the Tree of Knowledge? Maybe that thing is a huge jackass maybe it’s rescuing Waverly from whatever happened in Purgatory? Who the eff knows 

Eden, above everything, represents in religious traditions immortality. Which is interesting that only mortals can enter the Garden. When humanity was ejected, they lost their immortality and were vulnerable to the harms of the world. I wonder if that plays into only those who are vulnerable being allowed to enter the Garden. Likewise, in some traditions humans are allowed to reenter the Garden after the flaming sword is removed (around the time Jesus of Nazareth is crucified). Which kind of happened here--minus the Jesus part. 

3. The Hanging Pieces

Some shit that is left open...

Nicole the survivor: We still know very little about Nicole’s interaction with Bulshar’s cult and how she managed to get away, and why fate seems to have brought her back to the GRT. On top of that, Nicole has cheated death several times now (escaping the cult as a child, survives the Widow’s poison, is saved by divine intervention from a stab wound). Is that important? 

The price: Julian mentions there’s a price for saving Nicole. Was it him using and losing the rest of his divinity or is there something else? 

Waverly’s little vision moment: Are we all gonna sleep on the fact that Waverly touched Nicole’s arm and had a brief vision of herself walking up the stairs? What the hell was that? 

The ring: The fucking ring. Nicole has a pull to the stairs leading to Eden, she immediately tried to talk up when she saw them. She survived a massacre at the steps of Eden. That ring boomeranged back to her and Waverly and Waverly makes the point to say “it’s haunting us.” Now Nicole is wearing the ring. Since it was gifted to her by an angel as an engagement ring will it recognize her as “kin” and allow her some abilities? Is there some sort of ramification of Julian saving her, did she receive any of Julian’s divinity as a result? 

Jeremy: We were told he was partially non-human. What does that mean? There’s almost zero way to speculate on this because we know so little besides that he has empathetic abilities for people he loves after spending three days trapped in a car with his mother’s dead body

Mama Earp: Where this bitch go? I feel like she might have had something to do with the missing townsfolk. The whole Julian thing is going to be fun to explain to her.

Good thing it’s only like 10 months away right? 

[a-man-adrift]

Notes on an AU I may or may not get ’round to ’riting

OK, so, how about this: 

Saren is capable, charismatic and respected, but above all frustrated with what he thinks of as the Asari Model of galactic government: i.e. the Citadel Council as a fairly toothless debating society keeping the peace between species that are willing to play nice, while outside Council space the batarians, krogan, quarians etc. are off being Disorderly and Making Trouble and nobody is doing anything about it.  He dreams of a more orderly galactic society, and isn’t afraid to build it himself if he has to.

While performing his duties as a Spectre, investigating humanity, the new kids on the galactic block, Saren stumbles upon a Prothean artefact on the human colony of Eden Prime, which beams a piece of the Prothean psi time capsule known as the Cipher into his head.  From it, he learns that the Prothean Empire built the Mass Relay network and ruled over the galaxy in what seems to him like exactly the benign and orderly fashion he’s had in mind all along, until they got hit by the one-two punch of making first contact with the rachni and the pre-uplift krogan at the same time.  In the ensuing war, the Protheans eventually extirpated the rachni (or so they thought) and confined the krogan to Tuchanka, but not before losing several planetary populations outright, and having their own populations reduced below minimum viable numbers.  Knowing they were doomed, they created the beacons, scattering pieces of the Cipher throughout the galaxy to keep their legacy alive.

Slowly, Saren is able to discover more beacons, until finally he has downloaded the entire Cipher into his brain, and he learns two things: firstly, he now knows more about how the Citadel works than anyone alive; with the right access he could potentially drop a small population of Keepers on an uninhabited planet, and “program” them to build almost any structure, and keep it maintained indefinitely; and further, he has learned that the Citadel’s systems can remotely lock or unlock Mass Relays anywhere in the galactic network.  Secondly, he knows of an advanced Prothean research project on Ilos called the Conduit, a miniaturised Mass Relay that could revolutionise space travel.  In the nearer term, the Conduit represents a route onto the Citadel that so far nobody else in the galaxy knows about.

Seeing the possibilities of this knowledge, Saren recruits allies: in secret from both the Council and the Migrant Fleet, he provides Admiral Daro’Xen with samples of modern geth, and promises her that she will be the one to lead her people home to Rannoch, and recognised by him as Viceroy of the Quarians when the revolution comes; in return, Daro’Xen gives him a virus that can infect populations of geth and turn them over to Saren’s control.  Similarly, through his commercial research interests on Noveria, he arranges to fund a research effort by the krogan Doctor Droyas to breed krogan without the genophage, in exchange for their service as soldiers of his empire.

Saren’s most important ally, however, is Matriarch Benezia of the asari, the acknowledged leader of the Galactic Anti-Slavery League.  Benezia is inclined to support Saren’s cause because he has promised to bring the batarians to heel, and stamp out the practice of slavery throughout his new empire.  Needless to say, there are things Benezia doesn’t know: for instance, that Saren has effectively turned some of the geth into an army of slaves, or that Saren thinks the research into the Protheans being conducted by Benezia’s only daughter is a threat to his monopoly on the knowledge imparted by the Cipher…

Although she lends a considerable degree of political influence and respectability to Saren’s ambitions, Lady Benezia’s direct military contribution to the cause is slight compared to Admiral Xen and Doctor Droyas: she is able to ante up small teams of asari commandos, who make a formidable special operations force, but because she is not aware of Saren’s influence over the geth, and Dr. Droyas’ plans for the krogan will potentially take years to come to fruition, she agrees to take over direction of two more commercial research projects using her mental capabilities: investigating the potential of the Thorian on Feros, and fixing the balls-up researchers on Noveria have made of attempts to harness the power of the one surviving rachni queen.

Meanwhile, the Systems Alliance has succeeded in putting forward Commander Shepard as a candidate for service as a Council Spectre: unbeknownst to Saren, Shepard’s first assignment is to investigate the beacon on Eden Prime in the company of Saren’s best friend, Nihlus Kryik, just as Saren has decided that the beacons must be destroyed for the security of his plan…

In following Saren’s back-trail to try and piece together everything I’ve just described, Shepard has to balance multiple interests: the missions the Normandy’s crew takes on are evaluated separately by the Council and the Alliance, with more or less favourable impact to Shepard’s reputation depending on their consequences: if the player’s standing with the Council deteriorates sufficiently, Shepard will be approached by Miranda Lawson or Jacob Taylor (depending whose booty Shepard’s decisions have shown them to be more interested in!), who will offer to supply a new crew for the Normandy, which from then on will operate on behalf of Cerberus, a terrorist organisation backed by a consortium of Citadel-skeptic businessmen headed by Henry Lawson, Miranda’s father (because The Illusive Man smells).

If the player falls out of the good graces of both the Council and the Alliance/Cerberus, Shepard’s only option will be to head for the prison ship Purgatory, and assemble potentially yet another new crew of pirates by orchestrating a jailbreak.  The player will then have to deal with Jack, who rises to the top of the new gang and appoints herself first mate (in one sense or another…), and potentially protect those of Shepard’s original crew who’ve stayed on, if they’re the more Paragon-y sorts, and in any case protect Shepard’s interests in the pursuit of Saren and his developing galactic coup.

In the final confrontation on the Citadel, as Saren sends his geth fleet to draw the Citadel’s mobile defenses out of position, then transports himself directly onto the station using the Conduit to lock the Citadel Fleet on the wrong side of the nearest Mass Relay, Saren and Shepard will each have the chance to try and talk the other down: Saren will do the “I’m impressed with you, Shepard.  Want to be Viceroy of the Humans?” shtick, and Shep will be able to do a “This won’t bring peace, yew fewl!” or “Viceroy hell, I wanna be in charge!” or “Where’s the chaos?” Denis-Leary-in-Demolition-Man rant as appropriate.

This combination of ME1 and ME2 redux can end with a bunch of different variable settings:

Saren’s dead vs. Saren escapes

The Council is dead vs. the Council is rescued

Shepard is loyal to the Council and the Alliance vs. Shepard has joined Cerberus vs. Shepard has gone pirate vs. Shepard has thrown in with Saren (assuming he survives).

In any case, the stage is set for a big honkin’ galactic war in this AU’s answer to ME3!

I go back and forth over whether this is part of the AU where TAAW is set.  I just keep it vague and talk about “the War” so hopefully it’s compatible either with this or (mostly) with canon.  What I really want to do is write all this as a choose-your-own-adventure/visual novel/RenPy-ish thing.

Anyway, just wanted to write some of this down for a change!

[palmettofoxden]

So, this is kind of a continuation of my post about Aaron getting pissed at Andrew about Neil being the only one besides Andrew with keys to Andrew’s car. It totally isn’t necessary to read that post to understand this one though.

So, Aaron and Matt start to get closer

Not because they’re roommates, but because Matt is so much easier to get a ride from than Andrew

And he just volunteers to drive Aaron places and enthusiastically agrees when Aaron asks him to

After Aaron has spent years almost never asking Andrew to be driven anywhere because too often Andrew wanted something in return

And with Neil having keys instead of Nicky, Aaron’s options were to get a ride with Andrew or not at all before Matt started offering to drive Aaron places when Andrew and Neil wouldn’t

Unlike Andrew, Matt actually talks to Aaron when he drives him

Like he asks about how Katelyn is doing and it isn’t a threat

He asks Aaron questions and takes an interest in what he has to say

He talks about dumb unimportant shit and doesn’t guilt trip Aaron over driving him places

If anything, Matt seems excited to get the chance to know Aaron better

And Aaron isn’t used to being able to talk to anyone beyond Nicky this much

He’s used to living under Andrew’s rules and having Katelyn as his private escape

He is not used to friendship

Aaron's not used to friendship even being an option for him

He's used to walking on eggshells

He's been doing it for years

Since before he met Andrew

And he's been walking on eggshells around Andrew since he met him too

Aaron's spent years being careful of what he says, trying to protect himself from Tilda and trying to appease Andrew

But he doesn't have to be so careful around Matt, while they’re away from Andrew

Aaron doesn't trust that so much at first

But once he gets used to that, it is honestly such a relief

Aaron still goes to Eden's Twilight with Andrew's lot and still travels to and from practice with them

But Aaron also takes advantage of Andrew loosening the reins

Aaron knows better than to push his luck too far though

He still doesn't really interact with the other upperclassmen

But he and Matt gradually form this sort of bond

They play the same position and are roommates and both ended up addicted to drugs because of poor parenting

They actually have a lot in common, but they've never really talked at all before because Aaron hasn't been allowed to talk to anyone

And they don't talk about anything too serious, but it is so nice for Aaron to be able to form a friendship

And Matt likes getting to see what Aaron’s like away from the other monsters

But they don’t become too good of friends

They have a silent understanding that things are different when Andrew and his lot are around

Because Aaron would like to rub it in Andrew's face that he doesn't need him and that Matt will drive him when Andrew won't, but that is a far too dangerous game

And Aaron doesn't want to lose his friendship with Matt

And he doesn't want Matt getting stabbed because of him

But, oh boy, Andrew sees what is happening and he is not taking it well

Andrew knows Matt drives Aaron around because he sees Aaron getting in and out of Matt's car more and more regularly from the roof

Andrew notices the way they get along better at practice, even when they’re not talking any more than usual

And then he notices Aaron talking to Matt at practice, even though it's not very much

The tension builds for a long time

Every day, Aaron grows a little more comfortable with Matt and every day their friendship becomes a little more obvious

Every day, Andrew gets a little more on edge and snaps in anger a little more easily

Andrew starts ordering around Matt at practices and games, barking at him for not playing well enough, regardless of whether he's carrying his weight or not

Regardless of whether Nicky is the backliner actually struggling

Tensions keep rising until one practice Andrew starts really taking it to the next level

He’s ordering Matt around and bouncing the ball off Matt’s helmet

He’s hitting the ball at Matt’s ankles, blatantly trying to trip him

Every once in a while, Andrew will just straight up hit the ball into Matt's back, hard enough to hurt through his equipment

Matt is getting pissed off and looks like he’s debating hitting Andrew, which they all know will end well for no one

Neil tries to talk Andrew into stopping

But even when Andrew stops targeting Matt, he is still so pissed

Andrew smashes the ball up the court as hard as he can, without even really aiming

He practically beheads Dan who barely manages to duck in time

Wymack brings practice to a screeching halt and comes onto the court to tell Andrew "You can be as angry as you want, but I will not let you put your teammates at risk so that you can take it out on them. You either need to rein it in, or you need to get off my court until you can calm down."

And Andrew is too pissed off to calm down and he knows he isn't in a good place, so he says "I'm going to see Bee" and leaves practice

Thanks to Bee, Andrew manages to go back to practice the next day

The practice is super tense and Andrew’s still clearly angry, but at least he isn't actively trying to injure his teammates

And Andrew goes pretty much full-on nonverbal and seething for days

Until, one day, when they get back from practice, Andrew shoves something into Aaron’s chest in the parking lot

Andrew still doesn't say a word and he doesn't stop walking to see Aaron's reaction

But Aaron comes to a complete stop and stares down at the car keys Andrew has so aggressively thrust at him in utter disbelief

Because Aaron has never been allowed to drive Andrew's car, let alone have keys

Andrew has always used the fact that Aaron needs him to drive him places as a way to control Aaron

But Aaron found a new way to get to places without Andrew

And Andrew hates it, but he doesn't want to totally lose Aaron

So, Aaron gets keys in the hopes that he won't grow too close to Matt and too far from Andrew

[sometimesrosy]

Into Eden, chapt 3; It Was Fake

Into Eden

rosymamacita

Chapter 3 READ On AO3

This mail order bride thing was an uneasy partnership. Keeping it just business should have made it easier. But Bellamy still thought she was a princess and he was somehow lower than her. A slave even. And everything was complicated by the fact that Clarke was very attracted to him. He was her husband. But he wasn't.

Maybe they could find some sort of balance where everyone got what they needed.

Fake. It was fake.

Clarke was worried that after only two weeks pretending to be a long term mated pair with her husband, whom she’d just met, JUST MET, she was having a hard time remembering that she wasn’t planning any happily ever after with him. She was having a hard time remembering that it wasn’t REAL.

It was horrible. It was unexpected. It was against her will. It was STUPID.

She kept trying to tell herself that. She kept reminding herself that it had only been a few weeks since she was with Lexa. Although when she thought about it, the tail end of her year long relationship with Lexa had not been all that loving, or happy, or connected. Lexa had never understood her grief over her father’s death and had wanted her to just get past it. Their relationship had started out passionate, needy even, but just gotten more political and resentful as time went on. Lexa didn’t like the time that Clarke’s career as a medical researcher took and thought she should quit. She called her naive when she disagreed. And when she’d said they should get married, she hadn’t even asked. She just declared it.

She liked that Clarke was the daughter of Chancellor Griffin from Alpha Station, with whom she she very much wanted to be allied. It would be advantageous for everyone. But Clarke disliked all the station politics and jockeying for power and alliance, always had. And she hated it more after her father was killed two years ago, for doing what was right, not what was political. It all made her wonder if Lexa ever really loved her at all, or if she’d just wanted her for her political power.

Clarke wasn’t even sure she believed in love anymore, that’s why this business arrangement had seemed so much better. No politics. No love. Just a marriage for convenience sake.

She tried to tell herself that at least they were honest and they had both agreed and they both knew that it was in name only. They were… business partners.

And, as he kept reminding her, she was the one in charge, so it wasn’t really a business PARTNERSHIP so much as she was the boss, and he was, kind of, her employee.

“You might call me a slave,” he said. She’d gaped at him. It was after a formal dinner and he threw off his tuxedo jacket in anger. He hadn’t liked sitting in that room of dignitaries and wealthy, smug colonists, pretending to be one of them, letting her hang onto his elbow and look up at him adoringly. Fake adoration. It wasn’t hard to stare at his beauty, but she was under no illusions. It was not love.

“You’re not a slave. We’re married. It’s a partnership.” No matter his beauty. And that wouldn’t influence her at all.

“You bought me. I’m a slave.” He glared at her darkly and damned if that didn’t make him more attractive. It was simply outrageous.

She wanted to yell at him, but he just kept stripping. First the tie that he’d been complaining about, then the shirt with all its complicated buttons. He was down to bare chest and starting on his pants when she turned around and hid her face in her own wardrobe. “We agreed to this. You agreed to this. We both wanted to get to Eden Colony,” she said, and her voice wasn’t strangled with lust or emotion or whatever. It was frustration. With him! Not her feelings. “We’re both getting something out of it. You get the free trip. I get to bypass the stupid rules.”

“Yeah, but you don’t get to bypass them, do you. We still have to be married.”

“In name only.”

“We still have to live together.”

“I’ve got the plans for our homestead. It’s required we share a dwelling, but I’m constructing a dwelling with two separate apartments. We’ll be more like neighbors, once we get out to the claim. And the nearest town is an hour away so there’s no one to call us on our separate living arrangements. We’ll be fine.”

“You have the resources to build a house with an extra apartment, all so that you don’t have to live with me?”

She didn’t know why the question made her heart skip. She pushed it aside. “I spent ALL my money, Bellamy. I was going to get what we needed. And I never intended to treat you like a slave, even before I met you. This is a mutually beneficial partnership. We’re sharing all the resources. We’ll be pulling our own weight on Eden colony. Together. Not me with all the money and you doing the labor. This is not me owning you. Please. You will own me as much as I own you. And we still have to have children. Together.”

He went silent then. The silence went on so long that she took her nightgown out of the wardrobe and clutched at it like it would protect her, like it would slow her rapidly beating heart, and turned slowly to look at him. All he wore was plain black briefs, ones she had actually bought for him. But she wouldn’t let herself look. “Not that—I mean— I’m a medical professional. We have a fully functional scientific module. The intention is for us to use it to raise livestock from our bank of frozen embryos, but I will also be able to fertilize my eggs with your— I mean— we have options is all I’m saying.”

He just looked at her. “We haven’t talked about this.”

“We’ve only known each other two weeks. It’s kind of personal.”

“It’s personal to both of us. This is about— us.”

“We— we have options, Bellamy.” She looked at him with as blank a face as she could manage. It seemed to be effective. He nodded, business like.

“I never asked. I assumed that, because you paid for a man to be your husband that you were attracted to men. I shouldn’t have assumed. Perhaps you just wanted a male for the farm. Or as a father. Not as a mate. Not in that way.”

She swallowed and did not look down at his bare chest and tight abs. But she couldn’t help but see anyway. “No.” She said shortly. “I am attracted to men and women both, no preference. Thanks for checking. I’m sorry I didn’t say. But like you said, we haven’t talked about this, and our sexual preferences and plans for impregnation weren’t exactly going to be part of the polite dinner conversation with the other wealthy colonists. We had more important stories to straighten out.”

He laughed and then moved to his wardrobe where he pulled out the cotton pajamas she’d bought for him. She liked them. They looked soft. He looked relaxed in them. He put them on and she could breathe deeply again, although her eyes kept returning to the suggestion of muscles underneath the shirt. It was good he had muscles. Good for breeding. Good for working their claim. He’d been a good choice for a husband, even if she’d picked him by chance. The marriage brokers she’d chosen had done their job well. She was sure they’d be able to work things out and it would stop being so awkward. Someday.

“So I assume you will be… carrying our child? Yourself? Or do they do human surrogates the way they do the livestock surrogates?”

Clarke choked on air. He smirked and clapped her on the back. “Sorry. Was that topic too sudden? I thought we were talking about it. Sexual preferences, I am also bisexual by the way, with a strong preference for women. And plans for impregnation. Were we not talking about it?”

She cleared her throat and shook her head. “No, I just— I hadn’t thought about carrying a child. I hadn’t thought of it. I mean, I knew I would have to have children, that it was the charter, but— the idea…” she looked up at him wide eyed, as if he could help her. How could he? The very thought. She pressed her nightgown into her stomach, imagining.

“I’m sorry,” he said. His eyebrows were drawn together in concern. “I was teasing you. A little. I shouldn’t have. We don’t have to talk about it. We’re not there yet.”

She gaped at him. How was he so sensitive? This man, who she’d learned had been nothing but a worker, then a guard, then a janitor in a factory on a dirt colony, a dome that manufactured synthetics. Nothing all that special. Just one colony in a hundred. He had calluses on his hands and he’d raised his sister after his mother died. Just a hard working man. They had nothing in common and they had to make up the story that they’d bonded over the net, on a webring about ancient earth mythology, strangely , an interest that they both shared in real life. He liked mythology. And human history. Inside his factory station skin, he was a man with a mind. And she was getting to like him more every day. She wasn’t ready to talk about having his baby yet. But it wasn’t going to get any easier if she waited.

“No. We should talk about it. It’s going to happen, one way or another. This is our last night cruising before they put us into cryo sleep for the the jump to hyper flight. I just hadn’t thought about how soon it would have to happen. I mean. If we’re going to free you from your contract as soon as possible, that means I should attempt impregnation was soon as we reach our claim. That’s, not counting the time we’ll be in cryo sleep,” she paused and realized the time frame. Her breath left her forcefully. “Two weeks from now.” She laughed and it sounded kind of panicked even to her own ears. “I should start adjusting to the concept. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I meant to be so prepared.”

“Woah, Clarke,” Bellamy said, putting his big hands on her shoulders and holding her down. She was glad for it. She felt like she might fly off into space. “Slow down. We don’t have to move so fast. There’s no time constraint for pregnancy and children in the charter agreement, is there?”

“No.” She shook her head and laughed a little and this time her laughter was tinged with tears. “Of course not. We could take as long as we wanted. If we reach the end of my fertility, they would have us requisition a surrogate, like you said. But that only is necessary in medical cases. I should be fertile through my forties. We have twenty years.”

“Then why are you saying it has to happen now. Can’t we get used to our claim? Get used to each other?”

She blinked up at him and the tears that threatened had the audacity to fall. She ducked her head, but he saw. “You’re not a slave Bellamy. I don’t want to keep you longer than you need. You’re free, okay? The definitions for marriage in the charter are very broad. Okay? You can live your life however…” she paused thinking about the tall and beautiful dark haired colonist that had been eyeing him at the dinner even though he’d been holding her hand. She’d seen him looking back at the woman. Clarke thought she was beautiful too but she hadn’t been looking at Clarke like she wanted to eat her up. “You can live your life however you want, okay, Bellamy? I’m not going to hold you to any antiquated notions of marriage. I’m the one who has to monitor my fertility and the genetic background of our offspring. I’m the one that can get pregnant. You can do what you want, just be careful.”

“Hold up. Are you telling me I can sleep around?”

She shrugged.

“But you have to be faithful to me? Even though we’re not a real couple?”

“Just in relationships where I might become pregnant. They don’t just want men and women on Eden, they want prime genetic material, and that’s us. That’s how we got accepted. They liked my money and connections, but you? You’re perfect. They want your genes populating Eden. You could probably even get some other women pregnant and they wouldn’t mind, as long as the child was registered and its background confirmed to guard against future inbreeding. It’s a worry on a colony with a small population and not much migration.”

He raised his hands. “No Clarke. No. I’m not doing this.”

“What? Uhm. You signed a contract. You have to. If we don’t have children they’ll take our claim and we will have to hire on to someone else’s or find a way back. Because we’ll have no credits left.”

He snorted. “No. That’s not what I meant. I signed a contract. That means we’re married. I don’t cheat. Okay? Maybe it wasn’t a love match, but to me, this marriage is real.”

“But the charter definition of marriage is broad—“

“Clarke. I don’t cheat. I’m not going to sleep around. And, for god sake. I’m not looking to get out of our marriage as soon as possible. If I’m building a stake with you, I’m building a stake. We’re doing this together. We’re partners. And there’s no way I would even think of leaving my children. We don’t have to rush to have children so I can be free. Please. So stop that.”

“I thought you said you were a slave?”

“I was pissed off. I got accosted in the corridor by some woman who seemed to think that because we came from different classes I must be a space spouse—“

Clarke gasped. “She knew?”

“Oh don’t worry. I sold my love for you. She now thinks our forbidden love is why we were so desperate to get away from your family’s connections.”

“Oh. That’s good. Alpha Station is full of incredible snobs. Why didn’t we think of that?”

“I did. I told Echo. We’ll have to use that story from now on. Especially since mail order brides have a reputation in the wealthy colonies of being, well, whores.”

Clarke felt her mouth fall open.

“Mmhm. Yeah. Apparently, it’s a rather common occurrence on colonies for space spouses to be thrown over when the colonists find a better candidate. I’m surprised your research didn’t look into the black market economies on the colonies. Even on Eden. There’s a thriving community of comfort women and men and Echo thought she’d get her bid on me in early.”

She stared at him and felt her anger rise. She clenched her hands and imagined the tall woman’s throat in her fingers. “I’m going to kill her.”

Bellamy laughed. “What?”

“I’m going to kill her,” she said, her voice lower. “How dare she treat you like that. I won’t stand for it. And you thinking you have take it? No. I’m going to kill her.” She began stalking towards the door.

He grabbed her arm and spun her around. She was standing very near him. “Woah. Calm down. It’s nothing new. This is the way the privileged treat us lowborns. We’re there to be used, as workers, as guinea pigs, for service, in one way or another. At least with you around, I’ve got some defenses and I don’t have to, I don’t know, fight my way out of it and get arrested or on the wrong side of the power structure, like what happened to me back on my factory colony.”

“That happened to you there, too?”

He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I might have said yes. I’ve done so before. But I never liked Shumway. I didn’t trust him. Why do you think I went from being a guard to being a janitor? I was on track to become an officer, even run for office some day. Factory is a democracy, not a hereditary monarchy like Alpha.”

“Alpha isn’t a hereditary monarchy, we have a council.”

“Who all come from the hereditary ruling class. And Polis? They only elect commanders from within a privileged gene pool. It’s a little more complex than just family lines, because they require a certain genetic marker, so one person who has it might be eligible to rule, but not their full blood sibling, or either parent, since it’s a recessive gene.”

Clare gaped at him in surprise. He caught and grinned at her. “Oh I studied, Clarke. Factory wasn’t moving me up in the world just because I’m pretty. I didn’t get bumped to the top of your space spouse list for my abs.”

Clarke couldn’t help but look down to where his soft shirt clung to his stomach. She cleared her throat. “Regardless. I won’t allow anyone to treat you like that. You’re not at their mercy. You’re mine.”

“I’m at your mercy, Clarke?” His grin slipped into a smirk, as if he’d caught her in something. “I thought I wasn’t your slave.”

Her nostrils flared. This man. “You are not my slave. I did not buy YOU, Bellamy, I bought your ticket and I cleared the bureaucracy so I didn’t have to deal with it. Fine. I used my wealth to make my life easier. And you were definitely the top of space spouse list and I used my damn money to get the best husband I could and that is you. I paid THEM for their services. Not your life. You’re not my slave. You’re not my property or my employee. Even though I have more money than you. Had. The money never meant anything to me anyway. This is our life now. Everything I have is yours. I’m your wife. You’re my husband.”

Silence filled their stateroom after her outburst and he stood there, watching her. His breath coming slowly. He was quiet so long she started to get nervous. Her fingers tangled in the nightgown she was still clutching in her hands.

“I got really lucky,” he finally said, almost reverently, “with you.” Their eyes locked. “I maybe didn’t think very closely about how this could have gone for me, how badly. Who I might have ended up with. Maybe I did think it didn’t matter, it would be the same on Eden as on Factory. I maybe thought you’d be like Shumway, or Echo. Or the rest of the privileged. I never even stopped to think that I might… like you.”

Clarke couldn’t breathe now. She was afraid that if she moved he would stop. And she could tell he had more to say. She wanted to know.

“I think…” he said. “I think we have a chance to be happy, Clarke.” He laughed like he couldn’t believe it. She bit her lip. “It wasn’t a love match. You found me on a list. Your proposition worked with my needs. I could have said no. But we fit together.” He ran his hand through his hair. “This marriage is real to me, Clarke. I’m all in. Are you?”

That was what she had been fighting all along. She didn’t need to anymore. She took a deep breath. “It’s real to me, too. I want to try for real, Bellamy. I’m in.”

He smiled at her. His eyes were so warm.

“Can I hug you Bellamy?”

He laughed. “Of course,” he said and didn’t wait for her to come to him. He wrapped his arms around her and she’d never felt so safe. Never. He was strong and kind and smart and she wasn’t quite sure how she’d gotten to be so lucky finding him the way she did, but she was and she wasn’t going to take it for granted. She tucked her nose into the crook of his neck and god he smelled so good.

He ran his hands up and down her back and they stood like that for a while.

“Just saying, Clarke,” he said after a while. “If I get a say in this impregnation thing—“

“Of course you do. You’re my husband. We’re family.” The word sent a bigger thrill through her.

She felt him nod against her hair. “Okay then, well I’d like to try to do it the old fashioned way.”

She tensed, because god she could push him down on that bed right now and get started. But he must have only felt the tension. He pulled away from her and held onto her shoulders again. So calming and grounding.

“But I want us to wait, and take it slow. Okay? To get to know each other, to get to know Eden, so when we’re ready to have a baby, to make a family like the charter said, we’ll really be ready. And we’ll know who we are to each other and how we work together and everything.”

She didn’t move. She just stared up at him, clutching her nightgown against her stomach so she didn’t reach out. Dammit.

This was real. It was real. But she had to restrain herself, because Bellamy wasn’t a whore, she hadn’t bought his services at all. He wasn’t her property, he wasn’t a slave and what he wanted mattered. And he wanted to wait.

She nodded and smiled. “Okay.” It was her politician’s smile. The one that hid her feelings. She didn’t think he knew her well enough to read it, but he narrowed his eyes at her. “That’s a good idea. We’ll take it all one step at a time and get to know each other and our claim. Great plan.”

He looked at her sideways.

She raised her eyebrows and her chin. “We’re going into cryo sleep tomorrow morning, but when we wake up, we have another two weeks on this ship until the colony, and I will damn sure make it known to Ms. Echo and all the rest of the predatory colonists that you are mine and they are not to touch you.”

He chuckled. “Possessive. Is that what marriage means to you?”

She shook her head. “No. Protective. No one treats my husband like a thing, because he’s wonderful.”

The grin slipped off of his face and he blinked at her. His lips parted like he was having trouble breathing. She tried to make him believe her just by force of will. He shook his head and a small smile quirked the corner of his mouth.

“Go get ready for bed, Clarke. Cryo sleep isn’t restful. They said we need a full night sleep to avoid disorientation upon waking.”

“Okay,” she said. She would let him have it. She had a lifetime to convince him he was wonderful. A lifetime. She turned back to her closet while he slid under the covers of the bed.

He wanted to go slow and get to know each other. She could respect that. No matter how she wanted to kiss him for real, not just a peck here and there for show with the other colonists and officials. She wouldn’t do anything with him that he didn’t want. That was for damn sure, knowing now how he felt about privilege. Knowing his concerns about slavery. The very thought that anything about their partnership— marriage— might make him feel like a whore? She couldn’t bear it.

She sent a glance towards him and he was settling into bed, getting comfortable. He’d already said how he enjoyed the luxury of the down pillows and was planning to swipe them and stuff them into his duffel. She ducked her head and held back a laugh.

She wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want. But what if he wanted to?

She peaked at him one more time and he wasn’t asleep. He was flipping through the pamphlet that prepared them for cryo sleep. He was there. She was here. They would be sharing the bed as they had the whole two weeks they’d been on the ship, but now their marriage was real, not just business.

Clarke pulled her shoulder back and unbuttoned her silky blouse. She did not retreat to the bathroom the way she usually did. She didn’t need to hide from her husband.The blouse slid off of her shoulders and she stowed it. She reached up and let her hair down. She hadn’t cut it in a while. It reached almost to the small of her back. She felt Bellamy’s eyes on her. She didn’t look back at him.

Instead, she pulled her hair around over her shoulder and reached around to release the hook on her bra. She sighed as she took it off and she thought maybe she heard him, drawing a breath. She did not turn around but she smiled to herself as she slipped her skirt down and then her panties.

They were married. It was real. She would take it slow. Oh she would.

Clarke took her long thick hair in her hand and pulled it up on top of her head, twisting it into a loose bun, still keeping her back to Bellamy. She turned slightly, so he could see the side of her breast, and then slowly donned her nightgown.

It covered her to her knees and even the neckline was high, but it was soft and draped over her curves, and she knew he’d been watching and he’d be thinking about what was underneath it. She put everything away like a good spacer, and then locked the wardrobe door.

When she finally turned around, he was watching her, his eyes dark and heavy. She smiled.

“Tomorrow is going to be a big day,” she said. “We’d better sleep.”

He cleared his throat and nodded and turned off the light as she slid under the sheets next to him.

It felt different now. Knowing that this was real. Knowing that this was her husband. Her family. That they were a unit, not just uneasy allies. Before her skin had tingled, knowing she shared a bed with a handsome man who she might some day have sex with. Tonight, it was different. The warmth had settled deeper, inside of her. Somewhere above her stomach. She might almost have said her heart. But she wasn’t going to get sucked in again like that.

She inched closer to him. She could feel his body heat.

“I’m glad we’re doing this together, Bellamy. I’m glad it’s you. I have hope for us.”

He began rubbing her arm. “Me too Clarke. Me too. I’m glad you’re my wife.”

She put a hand on his chest. “But if you screw me over,” her voice went gravelly, “I will destroy you.”

He laughed. The bright sound filled the stateroom and it sounded like joy. She could see the gleam of his broad smile in the ship running lights. “That’s my wife,” he said. So proud.

He pulled her all the way into him and wrapped his arms around her so she could cuddle into his broad chest, and it felt so good.

“That’s my wife,” he murmured again into her temple. Her tension simply drained right out of her. Worries, fears, anger, anxiety. Even that strange buzzing sexual tension.

She just felt at home, in his arms. As much as she wanted to kiss him and more, she thought that if this was what she was allowed to have right now, she could wait. Because this was good. So good.