#so sometimes there's a cry break or two involved in the process

[journeytodrawiii]

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It feels like it's been a while since I've made a drawing purely for myself; something non project related. So I started this little page, starring me and featuring my two best friends. Whenever I don't know who or what to draw, I always fall back on myself. Not in an egotistical way, or at least I hope not, but more in a curious way. I know myself better than anyone, but I'm still new. There's still so much to discover, and every little e drawing brings me one step closer step closer to that true knowledge. Anyway, I hope y'all like these sketches of my chubby face. Stay safe and spread love. <33

XOXO, Lorelei

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[greenfiend]

The Nested Universes Theory

and the high chance of a very literal bitter/sweet ending…

Yes, Will and Mike will end up together, but their ending may be both happy and tragic simultaneously.

(This theory may explain why the cast and Netflix executives were crying heavily when informed of the show’s ending…)

I'm warning you guys, take care of yourself while reading this. This isn't an easy read.

CW: CSA, sex, drugs, HIV/AIDS, period typical homophobia, death

Framed Narratives/Stories

Framed narratives are basically a story within a story. Common examples of this are the movie “The Princess Bride” and “Titanic”. Both stories have the story of the narrator and the story within.

Another example is Stranger Things itself. When we see the boys playing Dungeons and Dragons, they are creating a story within a story.

Sometimes, framed narratives are nested, meaning multiple layers of storytelling. An example of this would be the movie “Inception”. In that movie there are dreams within dreams within dreams… It’s a complex but fascinating way to tell stories.

Now, I do think Stranger Things is also a nested narrative story. Meaning, there may be a layer of a story that hasn’t been revealed to us yet (or more than one).

Basically I’m saying: the show itself may be a story created by some of the characters.

I’m guessing two characters in particular. Which two characters? The two most associated with creating stories. The writer and artist. Two of the characters that have existed since the show’s inception.

Mike and Will.

Multiple Universes

I do think there are multiple timelines/universes within Stranger Things… but it’s not exactly what you think. It’s not parallel universes/timelines. They do not exist parallel to each other, they exist within each other.

This is the reason for the “memory within a memory”, “play within a play” references.

It’s a story within a story within a story.

While Mike and Will are creating their DnD campaigns, there is another version of Mike and Will creating the story we see within the show.

Let’s break it down:

Inner layer: Mike and Will’s characters existing within a DnD campaign

Middle layer: Mike and Will within the show creating the DnD campaign

Outer layer: Mike and Will creating the story of the show

Mike and Will’s story within the frame (the outer layer) likely does share a lot in common with the story within the show, with one major difference:

There’s no Upside Down, and no supernatural elements. No superpowers, and no superheroes. There are still monster(s) and heroes, but these monsters and heroes are real.

Living on as “Heroes”

Ever notice the association between characters being referred to as “a hero” after facing their demise?

We have seen this time and time again. It’s not a coincidence, it’s a pattern.

Love for horror and escapism

@threemanoperation has a great post on Will’s love for horror.

It makes perfect sense for a boy like Will to enjoy horror. It can be a great way to process trauma and grief.

We also know even from the earliest descriptions for Mike and Will’s characters that they both love to “escape” into fantasy. They do this together, through DnD.

Gods/Puppet Masters/Creators

Within the show, there are many subtle nods to Will and Mike somehow controlling/manipulating things. These hints have lead to many interesting theories about Mike and/or Will having powers. In a sense, they both are absolutely right! But if this theory is correct, their influence over the show is mainly due to them creating it. They’re the authors, so in a way, they’re both “Gods”.

Solving the “Letter to Willy”/Lettergate puzzle

"Letter to Willy" is a song that plays over three different scenes within ST4. Each scene involves regrets, and survivor's guilt.

Max mourns Billy and reads out her letter "before it's too late" aka before she dies too.

Mike and Will have a heart-to-heart and Mike expresses guilt over El leaving, thinking there was more he could have done. This occurs while they are burying a dead man's body.

Dustin tells Eddie's uncle that Eddie died a hero, despite what the town thought.

This all leads back to Mike and Will within the story's outer layer. This also connects with the writer's incomplete letter they posted years ago on Twitter. I'll get back to this.

A father infecting his child

Oh boy. I hate this part but it requires context so…

Hopper admits to indirectly causing the death of his daughter, Sarah. He had been exposed to Agent Orange which led to his daughter developing cancer at a young age. He has remorse and has been grieving Sarah this whole time.

Now, Hopper is a decent guy and father, and is written as an almost “fix it” version of Mike and Will’s own fathers. He isn’t perfect, but he’s a man who strives to grow and improve himself.

Papa, is not a decent guy, and we also see him injecting El and Henry with needles.

So, what I’m saying is that this may be a hint to what happened to Will (in the 99/100 timeline). Lonnie is hinted to be a drug user, and it wouldn’t be far fetched to say he may have used IV drugs. Exposure to IV drugs is a way to transmit diseases, as blood may be exchanged through contaminated needles. Also, Lonnie has been hinted at, through subtext, to be a horrible monster. (<- click that link for a post about him.)

The “1/100” Timeline

The show itself is the 1 out of 100 timeline. It is the only one where Will was not kidnapped by his parent/guardian (Lonnie).

This means, it is the one where none of the tragic stuff ever happened, specifically to Will and Mike’s story at least. They may encounter challenges, but nothing they cannot overcome together, as a team.

1983: The Demogorgon got Will. He survives the horrors done to him in the Upside Down… but barely. He is taken to the hospital and heals from it all, including flu-like symptoms (cough, nausea/vomiting).

1984: Will suffers from flashbacks. He is also plagued with the nickname “Zombie Boy” and suffering from the Mind Flayer’s possession of him. But with the love of his family, and Mike, is able to return back to his reality.

1985: He then begins to struggle with the pressures of growing up, and having to move away. Plus the Mind Flayer returns and reeks more havoc.

1986: He then moves to a pleasant place. Where things are sunny and warm. Things on the surface seem happy and “normal” but there’s a looming threat hidden beneath the surface. Henry/1/Vecna. This opportunistic threat preys on the weak and begins to take over Hawkins.

1987-1989: Will is back in Hawkins and his ties to the Upside Down increase. He can’t shake it off as easily as before. He also can’t shake off his love for Mike, who grows even closer to him. One thing leads to another and they become lovers (they have sex). They eventually are able to stop the contamination of Hawkins, and save everyone. Will also realizes that he has developed superpowers from his time in the Upside Down, through his blood. Mike also develops superpowers, given to him by Will.

Okay… you might understand where I’m going with this but I still must warn you before reading the next part. It’s devastatingly tragic.

The “99/100” Timeline

(I��m probably wrong on some of these details but this is what I theorize thus far):

1983: Lonnie “got” Will (CSA). Will survives the horrors done to him by his father… but barely. He is taken to the hospital and heals from it all and from flu-like symptoms (cough, nausea/vomiting).

1984: Will suffers from flashbacks. He is also plagued with the nickname “Zombie Boy” and suffering from the flashbacks of his father’s possession of him. But with the love of his family, and Mike, is able to return back to reality.

1985: He then begins to struggle with the pressures of growing up. Plus the memories of Lonnie return and reek more havoc.

1986: Things on the surface seem happy and “normal” but there’s a looming threat hidden beneath the surface. HIV -> AIDS. Opportunistic infections slowly begin to prey on Will.

1987-?: Will can’t shake off colds and infections as easily as before. He also can’t shake off his love for Mike, who grows even closer to him. One thing leads to another and they become lovers (they have sex). Will soon discovers he has HIV/AIDS, which he had transmitted to Mike. Devastated by the news, they do everything they can to fight it together. They cope through creating a DnD campaign together to process everything they’ve gone through. They play DnD in Mike’s basement until Will’s condition becomes critical. Will is forced to stay in the hospital, while Mike is unable to visit (strict rules about visitation due to the disease and because they aren’t/cannot be considered legal partners). So, Mike does the only thing he can do: he writes letters to Will and continues the story. Mike eventually loses Will, for real this time. He’s devastated, and plagued with grief, depression, and survivor’s guilt. He didn’t complete their story in time. But his family and friends support him and encourage him to finish the story. To change the ending before his time runs out too. He completes their story himself, and reads his final letter to Will’s grave.

“anyway I think you’ll like [the ending]. sorry I couldn’t get it done [on time] but you mean so [much to me] and it’s been [so hard being without you] hope this is [enough to] last until [we meet again]. Love, [Mike].”

Attached to this letter is the full campaign. The full story of the show itself, which started on November 6th, 1983. He successfully turned back the clock, and changed their ending. They became superheroes within their story, saving Hawkins with their love. Mike dies soon after and we are met with…

Mike and Will reuniting within their own story. Blue meeting yellow at a gate, one final time, that leads “into the west”.

They continue their story and it’s a never ending story… Living on as heroes, forever and ever.

Some thoughts:

To simplify things, I didn’t include other characters much here but they likely all play an important role in the story. Many characters likely only exist within the mid layer (the 1/100 timeline).

I do think their story likely will be published, and this will be done by another character (my guess is Lucas). Their story will impact others profoundly, perhaps completely altering perspectives. This will lead towards positive change, and increase pressure for the development of a “cure”.

Lonnie obviously dies too, but we won’t see it. He’s significant but irrelevant. We don’t need to see him. Perhaps he rots in jail.

If characters like Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce, and Hopper all exist within the outer layer (the 99/100 timeline) in a similar way, they too may be inflicted with HIV/AIDS. Remember, it wasn’t just gay men, everyone was affected by this awful epidemic.

The time period is super relevant in this story. There’s no way that HIV/AIDS will not play an important role. Think about it… it revolves around two gay boys growing up during that time. This epidemic was widespread and terrifying. Had they been born a decade later, there would have been treatments/“cures” accessible to them.

The biggest reason why I strongly believe this theory is because… this is basically the ending of Stranger Things season 1, on a much grander scale. Think about it. Mike changed the ending of the DnD campaign so Will could be a hero, not a victim. This was further established in the comics.

While Mike and Will within the outer layer (99/100) have a tragic ending, Mike and Will within the show (1/100) do not. They beat the odds. Although it is undeniably a tragic end, remember that somewhere out there Mike and Will are still playing DnD and Nintendo for the rest of their lives.

Free Will and Writing your Own Ending

Free will has always been a reoccurring theme within Stranger Things; meaning we can choose our own destiny, fight chance, and beat the odds.

Do we truly have free will though? Obviously, we don’t know. The point is, we should still live life as if we do have it. To take control where we can, and not let external forces dictate who we are and what our destiny is. I think that’s the message there.

[klavlock]

i want to write a fic set just after phoenix loses his badge, post aai2. kay is still hanging around with miles when he gets the call about phoenix and therefore finally meets “that man”. she’s never seen miles so frazzled - he spends large amounts of time pouring over the details of nick's final case and his disbarment. kay spends a lot of time bumming around his office, bored out of her mind but much happier with miles than at school or back at the foster home she'd run away from a few months back. miles refuses to tell her the details of the case he’s working on, citing phoenix's privacy.

cut forward to a few weeks later, when miles asks kay to come with him for dinner at the wright residence. “my… associate is going through the process of adopting a little girl. i thought it might be nice for you two to meet.” kay and trucy get on like a house on fire. kay also has EYES, and realises that miles is in love with this phoenix wright guy. she wanders if they’re dating.

they keep spending time with the wrights. phoenix wright seems like a cool dude, if sort of depressed. he gets this glint in his eye sometimes and helps her tease miles until he’s spluttering with indignation, and it turns out he’s friends with ema so he’s a great judge of character. phoenix tells her about how trucy's biological father disappeared at the end of the trial. kay makes a joke about dads dying and going missing in courthouses that nobody laughs at.

when trucy's adoption goes through they have a little party. trucy beams and calls phoenix ‘daddy’ and miles ‘uncle miles’. kay climbs out onto the fire escape and does not cry.

more time passes. miles is still being secretive about something, even though the window to appeal phoenix's disbarment has passed. kay gets a semi-regular babysitting job looking after trucy. her eighteenth birthday looms. she spots a photo of miles, phoenix and trucy taped to trucy's bedroom wall and her chest aches. trucy says she’s thinks her daddy and uncle miles love each other very much. kay agrees. trucy says she’s wants miles to be her daddy too. kay says nothing.

she's in miles' home office one evening when he excuses himself to take a phone call. he’s been doing that a lot recently - taking phone calls where she can’t hear. curious, she looks through the papers on his desk and finds foster-to-adopt documents.

suddenly, she’s so stupidly, furiously envious that she starts to cry. trucy wright's dad leaves her alone in a courthouse and she finds a new one immediately. and not any dad, phoenix wright, who is weird and kind and took her in without a second thought. and now, just because phoenix and miles are romantically involved, trucy is going to get miles edgeworth as a dad, too?

she’s still crying when miles re-enters, sees her holding the adoption papers and freezes. “ah,” he says. “surprise?” when kay doesn’t say anything, he looks chastised. “kay, i apologise. i should have spoken with you about this earlier, it was a flight of fancy on my part. after helping wright with the process for adopting trucy, i thought… it was foolish.”

he looks so unsure of himself that kay's heart breaks for him. does this guy not realise what a good dad he'll be? what a good dad he already is? she sniffs, wipes her eyes and paints a wobbly smile on her face. “trucy loves you. she's really lucky to get you and mr. wright as dads.”

“trucy?” oh. his tone is weird. “kay- i haven’t explained this properly. i’m sorry. you caught me unawares. those documents aren’t for trucy. they’re for you.”

kay stares at him. “nobody's adopting me, though. i age out of the system in a few months.”

miles swallows. “well, yes. that’s why i’ve been so busy and taking so many calls from your caseworker. i’ve been hoping to expedite the process, since adult adoption is such a pain to navigate.”

“you want to adopt me.”

“was that… not obvious?”

“No?”

“Oh. well. kay. I consider you to be my daughter. jokes notwithstanding, i am under no allusions that you view me as a father, however i feel i can offer-“

kay crashes into him, hugging him tight. she is crying again. she doesn’t care. “idiot. course you’re my dad. love you.”

“i love you too, kay.”

[babybearnation]

omg omg omg bunny!arthur and like koala!reader where it's just cute fluff like cuddles and dates and just cute stuff

:0 this idea, oli, omgggggg!!!!

bunny hybrid!arthur leclerc x gn!koala hybrid!reader

a cuddly bunny and a clingy koala? yeah, you two are inseparable

cuddles happen literally all the time

even if it makes his balance wobbly, arthur loves it when you wrap all of your limbs around his torso and get sleepy or actually fall asleep there

will protect you as you sleep, gnashing his teeth and slashing out at people who get too close

plays with your soft ears & tail when you can't sleep in hopes of relaxing you and helping you doze off

when he gets scared, he'll try and make himself as small as he can so he can hide behind you

chitters in his sleep and sometimes accidentally catches you with his bunny teeth or claws

loves waking up to you latched onto him and will happily snuggle back against for you some extra sleep

loves kissing you and squeaks when he feels your warm skin brush against his face

kiss his bunny ears and he'll squeak as well, his face flushing pink

kisses your koala ears often and giggles when he senses your body temperature rising in response to the affection

doesn't like the rain much but if he has to go out in it, he will cling to you and then giggle when your ears stick up all wet and tufty

always willing to clear his schedule for you and loves that you are the exact same - you're clingy babies, after all

his favourite dates are sightseeing dates but sometimes he gets spooked and has to hide in a side street/alley with his face buried in your chest until he's calm again

dates that involve something that will boost your adrenaline levels usually end up with arthur having fur sticking out in every direction on his ears

yes, he ends up like this after f1 races as well

loves it when you groom him, slowly smoothing down his fur and ensuring that his ears are healthy and clean

will do the same for you but a bit less gently - except to lose a few tiny clumps of fur throughout this process

you radiate heat like a walking furnace so expect arthur to huddle up to you when he's cold (aka "all the time" aka rarely but he likes the excuse)

you once absentmindedly, sleepily mumbled that his ears would look good adorned with flowers so he put a flower crown on and you never got over how stunning he looked

hates to see you cry but doesn't realise that he's the crybaby in your relationship and that him crying breaks your heart each and every time

harshly tugs his ears when he's angry with himself so you have to bat his hands away and gentle soothe the now-tender appendages

loves to surprise you but also ruins it somehow

also loves to sneak up on you but his giggles and chitters give him away every single time

you always act like he got you though because you'd hate to upset him and you know he's just having fun with it

bounces in excitement

does it in your lap sometimes before realising what he must look like, promptly causing him to skitter away with a bright red face

tease him about it and he'll whine at you but he'll blush the exact same hue each and every time

© all rights to babybearnation 2025.

[hetafice]

Hi! Could I request the allies with an overworked s/o? Thanks!

hi! as usual reply is beneath the cut.

America:

It could go one of two ways with Alfred.

Alfred’s solution to the problem may just be to have you quit your job and find a new one.

As someone who gets paid to occasionally loaf off, he might not understand whatever incentivized you to stay at a job you weren’t completely in love with. In his eyes, if your job is too boring or too hard, just leave!

And should you try to explain that you do enjoy your job, just not the overbearing workload, he would be at even more of a loss. 

Another possibility is that you both end up being overworked together and forming a sort of late-night ritual where you work side by side. Sometimes talking, sometimes complaining, sometimes eating, sometimes sitting in comfortable silence as you both hustle to meet a deadline.

Although he is free by nature, Alfred is also keenly aware of just how constraining responsibility can be. To complete his duties to the fullest, he can also lose himself in pursuit of perfection. As someone who’s constantly moving the goalpost for himself, it’s sometimes difficult for him to slow down, to pace himself. As such instead of encouraging you to leave a situation that does not suit you, he might instead choose to remind you of your commitments and why you chose them in the first place.

He isn’t a complete robot, however. He understands the toll that hard work and sacrifice bring, so he’ll try and do something nice to take your mind off of things. It would likely involve one of his favourite coping mechanisms - food. Expect him to either drop food in front of you while you work at random increments or to be pushed into the car and accompany him to the closest fast food drive-in window.

Russia:

To Ivan, there is no such thing as success without a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears. While he may sympathize with you on some level, he believes that struggle is a necessary part of working hard and actualizing one’s dreams; and that to aid someone along the way is just to coddle them. 

On one level, you are someone he deeply cares for, and so he does not wish for you to suffer. However, he also knows from personal experience that without learning the lessons that come out of hard work, you are likely to take things for granted and make simple mistakes in the process of completing your goals. To help you at all would teach you that weakness can still beget success, which would not only then inspire weakness in your future endeavours and prime you for failure, but also place a massive target on your back.

In his eyes, weakness of any kind is ripe for exploitation and is to be avoided at all costs.

Besides, given his history, he knows that people can get pushed and pulled far beyond their limits before they break, so consider this a sort of litmus test. How far can you be pushed before you can’t take anymore? Where do your limits actually lie?

Canada:

Matthew has likely experienced the same things before and is naturally empathetic, so he is a great person to confide in in this scenario.

He would try his utmost best to ease your burdens in whatever capacity he could. If you were busy with work or school, he would compensate for that by doing most, if not all the work around the house. He would check up on you throughout the day to see if you need help with any tasks or even just a general morale boost.

He is more than happy to lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. His advice is usually pretty sound, and he could help you think of ways to better organize your time and/or minimize your workload. If that isn’t an option he could offer various mindfulness and wellness tips to help you keep sane until your workload naturally tapers off.

China:

With his work ethic and general philosophy on life, Yao would push you to be stronger, go harder, and do more. 

In his eyes, hard work is a unanimously good thing. If you are feeling overworked it means you're just coming closer to another limitation that can be surpassed. You may be dealing with uncomfortable feelings, but this discomfort will teach you a lesson and lead to character growth. What bad has ever come of that?

To be completely honest, he may very well be the one overworking you. 

If you are enduring mistreatment in the workplace, or it looks like things may be too much for you, he may try to offer a few words of advice. He would propose that the knowledge this experience would give you was well worth all the struggle, that it would likely aid in cultivating your character, and that you shouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through your fingers; or worse yet, quit right before the finish line.

Should your body start to take a toll from the overwork, he would offer reminders to take care of your health, but his general stance would not change. Yao is not the type to intervene when things like duty and honor are concerned.

France:

Francis would not understand why you would willingly put yourself through this.

If it’s getting to be too much, why not just leave your responsibilities behind? If your superiors are giving you too many assignments, why not raise hell about it? Meekly sitting in silence is doing nothing to help the problem, and only teaches others that they can walk all over you. Why not just take a few weeks of leave and lounge around with him?

If for some reason, the prospect of potentially missing out on opportunities in favour of spending uninterrupted time with this man is not your style (shocking, I know), he would support you in your endeavours and try his best to help you unwind at the end of every day. He would make sure you ate regularly and continued to sleep well, while also providing you with as much wine as you needed to get you through it.

England:

As he has matured, Arthur has gotten better at consoling people. With that being said, he’s still not the best at it.

Expect an awkward, albeit endearing pep talk coupled with a bit of well-intentioned advice.

He may not be the best with words, but he’s the most concerned when he sees signs of physical exhaustion in you. Despite finding it a bit awkward to voice his concern for you, he’s seemingly always nearby with a cup of tea for you and refuses to head to bed unless he knows you are right behind him.

He’s more than willing to accompany you on those restless nights. Sitting beside you, either reading a book or getting ahead on a few of his assignments. He still remembers his younger days when he frequently worked late into the night. At the time, he secretly wished for a companion, and so now he happily fulfills that same role for you. 

A part of him also feels less worried knowing that should things go on for too long, he can step in and stop you before you work yourself too hard.

[starbell0]

Okay so media.

(rant)

(using Severance as the example)

Severance is an incredible show. Lets just start with that. For entertainment purposes, it is way way up there.

But of course, little ole me has to be analyzing the whole time.

Media and its portrayal of current day issues.

Is so important.

And such a delicate process.

Think about it. People in their daily lives will argue with you on hours over political and social issues because we are such opinionated creatures and must share that opinion with as many people as possible because opinions are only valid if you say they are. And then we find solace in people who share similar opinions. Or solace in arguing with people. Plenty of those.

We are so set in our ways, our thoughts, and our opinions that changing them is near impossible. You can shove as many facts or scientifically proven information in people's faces and they will choose to look away or justify it or just say no. Because we reject anything foreign. It means admitting we are wrong, and... well not many of us are good at that. (like. at all.)]

This is where media comes in. Media is like singing a song about a breakup. You can cry about it all you want and people won't understand, but throw it into something catchy? Something to listen to on the way to work? Turn the volume up and lets belt about a really obscure random problem that you know suddenly relate to.

Art connects people.

But here's the thing.

I think that you can show as many documentaries and truth oriented movies as you want and it will still only get through to some people. That's just how it is. Sometimes people see the hard truth and see the war and the guts and the gore and they shut their brain off. They don't want their day to be ruined by facts about how many people died or this other horrible thing our country did. They want to be entertained.

So we get superhero movies. If we're going generic, just as an example, lets choose Iron Man. I think I saw this like 5 years ago so bear with me marvel fans. A man learns that maybe mass weaponry isn't the solution to keeping world peace. (I think.) (but this would be the lesson). He does it in a super cool iron suit that makes him a spectacle, and he escapes the bad guys with pizzaz (this would be the entertainment).

But you could really apply that to any scifi or fantasy movie. Messages make movies matter, but they do it with guns blazing and action scenes and strategically placed pop music. So they can explain to you why mass warefare is a bad idea but no one really walks out of the movie theater thinking about nuclear weapons and warfare. They're thinking about the action scenes and the soundtrack and the actors.

To expand quickly on why I think this matters: learning new things and changing your mind about situations and events that have been ingrained in you takes an extraordinary amount of effort in the real world. However, in a fantasy world, we are detached from ourselves. Why do you think people love films and tv shows so much? It gives us a break from the real world. It allows us to become obsessed and involved in other life, in other problems. It allows us to become different people. This would leave the perfect stage for new ideas to be presented to us because we are so much more receptive to them. The problem is, the over the top fanfare leaves the new ideas in this realm of fantasy, seeming too tied with the media and its unrealistic setting to bring back with us to the real world.

Now in comes Severance.

Now I've only watched the first season so this is based purely on that.

But I believe Severance lies right on the line between these two. Fact driven documentaries and loud action films.

This line, in which I've rarely seen media balance on, represents perfect media messaging. We are entertained, but we are also informed.

By providing the tension, the intrigue, the mystery, we get the entertainment. We are hooked at the edge of our seats and eagerly await the next episode. We are in another world, so we are outside of our own. Therefore, we are susceptible to learning new things. Clearing the stage.

Then comes the message. Severance throws out a lot of messages, but I'll take this angle: the morality one. The problem of morality and labor is a center issue in the story. Are the severed real people? Is it unfair for them to be created only to do labor?

And because we are attached to them as characters, we sympathize with them, and therefore begin to understand the lesson at the center of the story.

And yet its that balance, that wonderful balance. Severance deals with brain implants and technology, and also is set in a world that essentially mirrors our own. They seem to be in our current timeline, in a place that could absolutely be just down the road. It is its visceral realness that roots those lessons into our brain and allows us to walk away from the show thinking about these things instead of gasping over the new reveal.

(although. I did gasp. many times.)

and that's the thing!! I love Severance!! I love watching it, I love coming home and knowing I get to watch another episode. but I also am starting to think about things I would've ever have thought about otherwise.

I am both. I am here to rant about the social implications of the piece and the sheer statement it makes, as well as the really freaking cool camera shots and sets and the cliffhanger on that particular episode.

And that, my dears, is the beauty of media.

[maxbegone]

gonna say a thing under the cut. tw for death and grief. it's gonna be long.

hard but necessary therapy session today. the question of "have i actually grieved my dad?" comes up quite often — either said by myself or my therapist, sometimes others. today, knowing i write a lot, she asked if i have ever written him a goodbye letter.

of course i teared up and stared at the ceiling until i was able to process the answer i already knew into words: no, and i never would.

here's the thing: "goodbye" and my dad don't exist in the same context. i can't say goodbye to him because i never will, and i never will because it all feels too finite. i still talk about him in the present-tense ("My dad loves making ____!'), and I'm in no way, shape, or form in denial about his death that was now almost two and a half years ago (my therapist also told me today that there's something about the two and a half year mark that tends to bring up a lot of emotion in people, but i'm not sure what that reasoning is. the only guess i could hazard is that it sneaks up on you).

so while i'll never say goodbye, my "homework" this week is to write to him. get things off my chest and try to do it daily. i bought a notebook just for those letters. i filled up five pages front and back this afternoon.

and re: grieving, no. i don't think i ever fully grieved my dad because i don't think i let myself. the subsequent six months following his death involved selling my house, digging through all the stuff we'd accumulated in his nearly thirty years in my childhood home, and paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. i had several breakdowns, tried to stall as much as possible, hold on to what i knew i would be losing soon. i'm still like that today.

i can't let him go because that's just not possible as a whole. but i can grow with this grief.

i told my therapist that i imagine myself breaking rather...romantically? that i'd be on a solo long weekend somewhere upstate, finally taking the time to really, really write, and while on a break, maybe i'd find a hiking trail, look out at the valley or town or forest below me and i'd just completely fall apart. i'd cry until i was exhausted, i'd collapse. and she asked, "what's so wrong about that?"

and i replied, "nothing."

outside of it being, again, romanticized a bit and certainly cliched and thought out in the way i do best, there's nothing wrong with breaking. breaking in nature might be peaceful.

i've broken on the subway, i've broken in the middle of a crowded museum, i've broken in public and in private. but truly breaking? i think it would wind up being somewhere as stated above, an intensity coming over me that i can't get away from.

and maybe i'll accept it or maybe i won't. i'll figure that out some day.

it's true heartbreak. all the things my dad will never see me accomplish, the things i can't share with him, the fact that i finally figured out what i want to write about because he's gone — it feels performative and guilt-inducing, but also necessary.

i'll never say goodbye to my dad because he doesn't deserve a goodbye, he deserves a continuation. and that's up to me.

[estellardreams]

Project Starborn

Probably my one lore piece that I keep in mind constantly. So... Let's get that explanation going, shall we?

Project Starborn is a project derived from Project Shadow, coming a few years after Shadow was captured and put in stasis. During this time, many scientists were assigned to study the ultimate Lifeform and, although not understanding the alien genes (they were never recorded), discovered a strange form of power derived from said genes: Dark Magic.

Scientists began to look into it and the government initiated their secret project: Project Starborn, which was formed to study Mobian magic types at the time. They eventually discovered there were Ten variations; Chaos, Harmony, Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Light, Dark, Corruption, and Psychic.

They documented their research and first put it on the side, knowing that magic did in fact exist and could be regulated. However, one scientist proposed a theory because they came to notice that Chaos Energy was the most common, but what if they could create new prototypes like Shadow?

What if they could weaponize them?

Phase 2 of Project Starborn was brought about, as the government allowed them to go through with genetically engineering mobians with specific magic types to see if they could create a Mobian with one magic type.

At first, their prototypes weren't working. Not because they were dying off, but because chaos energy kept manifesting and making their research null. They had to keep putting to sleep the failed mobians as they kept trying to create the proper prototypes they wanted.

Eventually, they managed a working model by eliminating the ability to generate natural chaos energy completely, and the full creation process began in waves. But chaos energy to Mobians were like energy stabilizers, so without it... They were at a higher risk of dying off from unstable energy inside of them.

And this happened constantly.

There were only three ways they would die: Melting, Devolving, or going Insane.

Melting involved at first their skin dripping off, then shifting to their insides burning up and crumbling inside, causing immediate pain. Bones crumbled and nerves fell out as blood vessels burst, and the brain itself would completely fall to pieces before all that was left was a puddle of bones, flesh, and nerves.

Devolving is caused by the brain caving in on itself, causing the person's body to destabilize and practically turn to dust. And yes, it's literal melting once again as their body begins to cave in on itself, leading to it falling apart as it's own dna breaks apart and only resulting in them becoming dust. But what sometimes happens is that they can explode as their body can't contain the energy anymore, letting dust spill everywhere in their place.

Then Death by Insanity. This one is probably the darkest one as the mobian loses their own mind since they can't control their powers, like they've taken over their body. Many soldiers would drag them out of the lab and into a room as they were screaming and crying, get a gun pressed to their skull, and as the mobian finally had clarity and begged to stay alive... They were shot point blank.

And this project happened over the course of so many years, generating waves of 20 or more mobians each time. They had gone through 1006 prototypes, all varied in magical capabilities, until only three were left... However, only one was truly successful.

The prototypes were V18, S36, and S23. They didn't have names, just letters and numbers assigned to them depending on which wave they came from.

Wave One was A, Wave Two was C, Wave Three was K, Wave Four was P, Wave Five was Q, Wave Six was V, Wave Seven was X, Wave Eight was O, Wave Nine was S, and Wave Ten was T. Those are the only waves that were recorded, but there could be more before or after this.

Now for the trio of experiments that managed to survive; V18 is our first prototype.

Now going by Valenta, V18 was the 37th attempt at a Dark Magic Prototype. They managed to escape the lab one day and had hidden out in the forest. Not much is known about them after that, except they were highly powerful and rather skilled from the training course they made all of the experiments go through.

Next is Sylvia, or originally known as S36, was the 47th attempt at a Light Magic Prototype and the only Successful Version. They were a young kitsune, who showed great promise with their powers and abilities. However, they were such a kind and loving soul that they couldn't be shaped into a warrior no matter how hard they tried. S36 always wanted to heal others, oftentimes sneaking out of the lab to get to the medical room to heal wounded soldiers. Despite always being stopped, they were quite determined to help others and protect them.

But because they couldn't make any progress on a functional bio-weapon, they decided to just let them go as they marked them as the only successful version.

Now the last one, Star, originally S23, was the 25th and final attempt at a Corruption Magic Prototype. Leading up to this, they had continuously tried to make a version of a mobian who could handle such powers. But every single time they had to get killed to keep their soldiers alive, because their own inhibitors kept breaking off as their instability forced them to lash out. Basically, shot dead.

So, S23 was their last attempt at Corruption... And they needed some success. So they chose to keep the tightest leash on them as possible, even if it horrifically traumatized them. They'd often used electrocution for the tiniest of things, and sharing a shred of negative emotion made them resort to white room torture, or sensory deprivation in other words. They were kept in there for hours until they calmed down and stopped freaking out.

Then they went into training and genetic experimentation, where S23 was run through course after course until their skills sharpened so much that they could easily take out advanced weaponry. Their corruption themselves was also heavily altered to become stronger and more advanced, making them able to control it to it's fullest capabilities and able to resist the majority of energy constricting restraints... But with that, the scientists had to keep replacing their inhibitors because they'd constantly break with every change they made to their powers.

This led to their powers being studied to their fullest capacity since they've miraculously managed to remain sane, revealing just how traumatizing they could be when someone was forced underneath their wrath. And it did happen, but the scientists fought so desperately for the soldiers to spare S23 just this once as they promised to force stricter regulations to make them the perfect bio-weapon. And they did, but did study the soldier who was accidentally forced under their power and now suffered severe PTSD because of it.

They did manage to make S23 a success, which was great! So they began to teach her how to work on a battlefield so they'd be as efficient as possible. But every attempt to get them on the field itself rather than coordinate and strategize attacks resulted in mental breakdowns.

This deemed S23 as a failure, and they were about to execute them as well. However, many scientists reasoned they were "safe enough" and with all of their teachings the experiment could live on their own like a normal citizen as long as they were monitored.

After a long debate, the government agreed to let them go... But they did contact Project Shadow to come help S23 adjust to the outside world. Shadow himself was returning from a mission on retrieving a chaos emerald with Rouge and Omega, then was brought over to a lab and met an awfully cheery S23 before leading them out and explaining how the world worked.

And that's how Shadow and Star met for the first time.

Keep in mind: All three Project Starborn experiments never knew what the world appeared like outside. They've been in a cold, metal lab their entire lives with Valenta being the only exception as they had escaped rather early on.

So was Project Starborn a success? Sort of? But what many do know is nothing at all is that this entire atrocity was swept under the rug. Similar to Project Shadow at first, Project Starborn remained unknown until the creations of such an experiment came into the limelight, forcing the government to release some information on the experiments themselves.

And that's it.

[hollywoodsargeant]

That's a lot of questions, but in my head, they make sense together, sorry

7. 14. 15. 36.

get to know your fic writer

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

i will be so real for the most part bc i write a lot of pwp/smut it tends to be whichever driver involved i want to fuck less. that's why nearly all of my loscar is oscar pov... and ik the whole apex predator series is liam BUT! major outlier lick the wrapper is logan's pov. on that one it just lit didn't work from either other perspective so

but for like. boyish. which is pov alternating. i tend to pick whichever of the two of them i think makes more sense in my head? some of it is obvious like Well of course if oscar isn't in this scene it can't be his perspective. but for the stuff with both sometimes i do think about it from both and pick the one i prefer and sometimes it's kinda just an instinct. but i do try to keep it. relatively even. idk how successful i am lol

but example the scene where logan breaks his wrist i knew i wanted it to be more about oscar witnessing his friend getting hurt and less about logan actually getting hurt. so it's oscar perspective bc of the context i wanted to put the scene in. THIS IS A REALLY LONG ANSWER i apologize

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

if it's an emotional scene i can draw from personal experience with then i will. Example. boyish again. all the shit from logan about dalton going to college and how weird it is is pretty much just things i thought when my sister started college. i also literally almost cried in the car then pretended i wasn't going to. really all the sibling stuff is personal... so emotional scenes yeah from experience when they can be. if not then i do try feeling what the characters feel. i will cry while writing

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

sometimes i write them with my eyes closed i will be so real. but i probably do get? visual? idk i try picturing things in my head then write what i like off that. sometimes the writing process is staring at my screen for several minutes trying out 19 different ways to get from point a to point b and choosing the best. sometimes i already daydreamed the whole fic when i was supposed to be doing something else. it is not a very consistent system i am fucking around and finding out

and i don't really harp on realism. maybe it shows. there's definitely a line where you read something and it's just ??? well that's plain ridiculous or impossible. but like. it's fiction. idc if it's not the most accurate thing in the world i am just here for a good time

36. How do you write kissing scenes?

with agony. Joking. i think i focus more on the character's thoughts during than the actual act of kissing. kissing scenes are def something i've seen a lot of writers complain about/struggle with and i do not disagree... i've written a lot of them in my life but i still don't really know how to. FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT!

[lyssentome]

Happy STS! Your characters are decorating. For what? You decide; Christmas, a party, the end of the world, etc. All that matters is they are together and they must decorate. Who claims overseer? Who disappears into the kitchen for snacks and never returns? Who spends two hours untangling lights or streamers?

Oh man, this question hits different as someone who's been in the decor team for several events in university clubs and stuff :D love it. (Personally, I'm usually the one untangling streamers... I untangled hanging decor for 2 hours straight once, all while crying because i was so stressed. 0/10 would not recommend.)

Anyway! Valeria is the one who's organizing and overseeing everything. Definitely the one who keeps the budget reasonable and the one who organized all the ideas from others in one single doc. And also the one making polls and what kind of decor that will actually make it. And is the one making sure there's actual work done. Helps giving opinions and helps with simple things like cutting and things like that because she's not exactly a creative person.

Arden is the one with too many ideas. Good in the initial stages, but definitely drives Valeria a little crazy due to how inconsistent he is. And when it comes to making all the decor? He jumps between different pieces. With snack breaks in between. And music. Otherwise he'll get distracted and needs to be redirected into going back to work. He does like creative work though. However, he is a little too forceful and might accidentally break a few things in the process.

Alexius makes sure everyone is happy, fed, and having a good time. And reminding them to take breaks every couple hours. He's also the one getting actual food to make sure they eat accordingly. He has some ideas, but mostly he's there to smooth out the creases (sometimes literally) and make sure everything looks good in the final touches. He also helps with basic stuff and is definitely the guy to go to if you need some untangling to do. The guy is patient as hell, just put on some music and he'll do it.

Brynn, like Arden, has way too many ideas and gets a little too carried away with the ideas to realize that their budget is not unlimited. She's super eager to work, sometimes to the point that she's the only one working while everyone's taking a break. (Alexius has to drag her away to take a break.) She's quite skilled with her hands, so she's definitely the one making most of the things along with Arden. She likes to ask for the others' opinions as she works on stuff to make sure everyone' satisfied and she's not fucking up.

Epione tries to not participate lol. Decorating is not her thing, but she is down to sit alongside Valeria and give out her opinions or help Alexius replenish snacks and foods. But she's definitely not touching the decorations because she really doesn't like that kind of work even if she likes other watching other people do it.

Xylena only trusts herself to do the simpler decorations, because like Arden she also has a tendency to accidentally break stuff. That said, she enjoys working on decorations, she thinks it's therapeutic to some degree and she likes the whole bonding aspect of it. She needs constant reassurance on whatever she's working on but she does enjoy the process. Can easily get lost in thought while she works, especially if she has headphones on.

Sierra either doesn't participate at all, or she is involved to an obsessive level. No in-between. If she's participating, she organizes everything, plans everything, makes everything. It would be to the point that Valeria would tell her to chill out and stop being a control freak. Sierra doesn't really like working with others because she thinks it's the only way to get the results she wants.

Well, I got a little carried away here... I guess the question being relevant to my experience has that effect lol

[biillys]

hi. still living my 'what if billy's mum didn't fuck off and abandon him' best life becos dacre said neil moved them to hawkins to keep them apart and it refuses to leave my mind.

anyway divorce au where she fights for custody and ends up with every other weekend, which isn't the goal, but its a starting point. billy living out twelve days of hell with his dad before getting two days of peace with his mum.

shit escalating when susan and max come on the scene, billy lashing out everytime neil refers to them as his new family and neil lashing out when billy refuses to accept it. one short hospital trip two days before the wedding day has his mum finally getting increased time, custody going up to every other week, and neil getting basically just a fucking slap on the wrist.

his mum and neil not even being able to be in the same room together without yelling at each other, and billy counting down the days til he can finally have his own say on where he wants to spend his time, even though he knows it's not guaranteed.

billy's mum always wanting a big family, and refusing to let neil take that dream from her, even though she can't ever see herself marrying another man again. deciding to have a baby the new-fashion way, and starting IVF. giving billy a little half brother just after his 10th birthday, then another one after his 12th, then another after his 15th.

his mum fucking showering them all with love and affection and warmth, and billy being genuinely happy for the entire week he's there, even if the clock in his head starts counting down every second until he has to leave the moment he walks in the door. him feeling like the life's bring sucked out of him the as soon as he's back at his dads.

him and max having a fragile relationship. billy not wanting to be there and not making a secret of it, constantly stuck thinking of her and susan as outsiders, and the more neil tries to force them on him, the more billy rejects them. max getting promised a big brother, and getting a moody asshole instead. he has his moments though, sometimes after he gets back from his mums, and every time she gets that side of him, she thinks maybe if he wasn't such a dickhead, he might actually be cool.

then, a new court date looms closer, and as it approaches, neil suddenly gets a job offer he can't refuse, half way across the fucking country. billy's mum flips her shit, showing up on their front door step and raising hell. it doesn't change anything though, just seems to drag the moving out process longer, having to get lawyers involved and sign new agreements.

billy being so so so fucking angry at the entire fucking world because nothing is fucking fair, and neil being a smug asshole about it.

going from seeing his mum every other week to holidays only, and losing his fucking mind about it, taking it out on the people at school, on max, and on his car that one time.

him and max going from fragile to fucking hostile, right up until they reach their breaking point. max loses her shit at him and threatens him with a bat, and billy ignores her entire existence until he can't anymore, and has a breakdown over his entire fucking life after the oldest of his younger half-brothers calls him crying asking why he's never home anymore.

max overhearing the call cos billy took it in the car and max has never claimed to not be a nosy bitch, and giving him the third degree the second he hangs up. billy taking one look at her then punching the steering wheel, driving them to bennys diner instead of school.

billy getting some stuff of his chest becos he can't keep being this angry all the time, he feels like he's losing his fucking grip. max listening, and still keeping her distance, but also maybe starting to get shit. being slightly jealous that billy's so close with his mum when her dad won't even pick up the phone, and also being slightly fucking cut that billy barely seems to give a shit about her but apparently cares so much about a couple of half siblings that she didn't even know existed until today.

billy making an effort to try and not be such a dick after that, knows it's not her fault that their family's such a shitshow.

max getting introduced to billys mum and his brothers via facetime, and billy's mum basically fucking adopting her through the phone, even getting added to the group chat.

billys mum rolling into town for billy's 18th, bringing the boys and argyle as a surprise. billy going from thinking his birthdays gonna pass with barely even a blink, to realising max is acting suss as fuck and basically fucking demanding him to take her out that night. him being pissed that he has to chauffeur her around still, today of all days, only to feel actual genuine fucking joy the second the youngest of his brothers run up to him, argyle right behind him.

idk idk ! okay idk how divorce works or how custody arrangements happen but i would give my LIFE to see the person who promised billy five more minutes on the beach still love and care about him when he's a teenger when he's an ADULT. also sorry for pushing my billy & kids agenda but also. i just think billy being good with toddlers is something thats so important. and i think its fun to give him brothers. ALSO billy's mum and max. i just think they'd get along like a house on fire yknow. max seeing someone who married neil hargrove then fucking walked out, and took her kid as she went, and lowkey wishing that her own mum would fucking follow. billy's mum trying not to judge susan, after all she married neil once too, and she knows it takes strength to leave, but she looks at max and all she can think is why in the fucking world would you subject your child to that man by choice. so basically she welcomes max with open arms and tells max she can come to her for anything. also neil hates argyle and billys mum loves him. okay shutting up now.

[crittercrossing]

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, and I am fighting to stay atop everything that needs to be done. I have so much more to share in more detail at a later time, but I have some very serious, sad updates to share.

(Content warning for below the cut: Katy and Holly have both passed, and the events leading up to this are discussed in a potentially upsetting amount of detail.)

I mentioned on my blog previous that Katy passed away on Wednesday. It was sudden. I still don't know what exactly went wrong, and nor do the vets. She had been in a lot of pain, but that wasn't new, and we had been trying different things to manage it. On Tuesday, she began barking and crying nonstop, and she continued doing it for over 24 hours, nearly straight, with a two-hour break when she slept. I mean, it was constant. Bark after bark after bark with barely any breaths in-between, with whining mixed in. There was an emergency vet trip on Tuesday night, where they determined that she was perfectly healthy, other than severe osteoarthritis. They thought she was in pain, or having an anxiety attack, or experiencing dementia, or some combination thereof. They placed a fentanyl patch on her, gave other pain medications, and said the crying should stop within a few hours. But it didn't. She did it through the night, and into the next day. She barked until the inside of her mouth had sores from her teeth rubbing her cheeks. She couldn't get up. She couldn't eat or drink or get up to go potty. It was horrible. I don't know that even the fentanyl patches helped, honestly. I'm just not sure. She couldn't be calmed. I took her to her regular vet, halfway expecting it was time, and still devastated when they told me they weren't sure that they could reasonably get her out of that state and that it would be fair if I needed to let her go. That was the single hardest thing I have ever been through in my life. I feel kind of guilty saying this, but I've had people who were very close to me die, and this was even harder. I'm not even remotely okay. I will write a proper obituary for Katy sometime later, when I think I can do it better. But this, for now, is to say that she left sooner than expected, and I am having a really horrible time with it.

Then, in the most unimaginably painful turn of events, Holly died two days later, on May 30th. We had all been expecting her to go relatively soon—she was a few days short of 14 and a half years old, she ate maybe a few bites of food every few days, and she had lost a lot of weight (vet visit found that she lost 25% of her total body weight in five weeks—she was 7.5 pounds at her passing). I mentioned in a previous post that we were in the process of determining if she had leukemia. The plan back then was to give her an antibiotic injection (which we did) and recheck her labs after three or so weeks. If her numbers got better, it wasn't cancer. If they stayed the same or got worse, it would be pretty safe to assume that it was. Because everything has been unbelievably chaotic lately, we were late on getting that blood work done, but on the 30th, she collapsed and went unconscious suddenly. I rushed her to the vet. She came to on the trip there, but was still really weak. She couldn't stand up or support herself well at all. The first thing they did, after confirming she was stable, was check her CBC again. Her numbers were slightly worse than they were five weeks before. She had non-regenerative anemia, and the doctor thought that she hadn't made any new red blood cells in those five weeks. They also confirmed that she almost certainly had leukemia—like, 99% chance. The definitive diagnosis would have involved a bone marrow biopsy, which multiple doctors recommended not putting her through at her age and frailness, and even five weeks ago, she weighed so little that they didn't feel great about putting her under anesthesia. The only thing they could have done was to put her on steroids, which would have been bad for her heart (she already had a heart murmur), and even then, the doctor said it would only buy her a tiny bit more time, as in maybe a few weeks. We all knew what we had to do.

Within 48 hours, I held two of my dogs as they died in my arms. To say that I'm suffering, grieving, an absolute wreck, would be a severe understatement.

I'll be okay. Chevelle needs me more than ever, and I will love and help and care for many more animals in my life. I will get through it, but right now, it just really, really sucks in a way I don't even begin to know how to describe.

As a less severe update, Leo did finally come home from his stay at the vet for his urinary blockage. He stayed a few days longer than originally anticipated, as it took a while for his kidney values to return to normal after the blockage was cleared. The day he got home, he gave us all a scare when he immediately started acting like he couldn't pee again, so I rushed him back and was given gabapentin. They thought he was in pain, and they said he was having bladder spasms, which was causing him to not want to urinate. The gabapentin helped a lot, and he has been fine ever since then. He is on a prescription diet now, and will be going forward.

I will definitely write obituaries for Katy and for Holly as soon as I think I can write them well and do them justice. I'll get the queue loaded up again with more posts, and try to get things back to normal-ish. It brings me peace and joy to share about my beloved pets, especially in the harder times. But things will be sad around here for a while, I'd think.

(Side note: I'm about to start school to get my degree in veterinary technology in a few months. I've worked in a vet hospital before. I know good and well that pretty much every day on the job involves immense grief and stress, and many days, it involves dealing directly with pet death. I'm still trying to decide if:

I've completely lost my mind by going into this field.

And:

2. If going through all of this stuff is going to better prepare me for the job, or make it all a lot worse. Idk. I guess we'll find out?)

[chaos-dumpster-fire]

break + guilt for oc asks? 🥰 smiles normally. u can do any1 u so desire

Avery and [DE:O5EO]'s beloved cousin whomst I still need to give a name to

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest? guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

Avery: Break - I mean very much Reno, but it's mostly that Avery is struggling with a good balance of 'I need to process' and 'I cannot open up to anyone, ever, or I will actually get hunted down' and his paranoias and intrusive thoughts, which is what leads to the annual violent breakdown. It is a lot about getting the pent up emotion of anger and grief and paranoia out out out before they actually kill themselves, but it's not really healthy (Avery set the bar at as long as he doesn't hospitalize someone via mauling, its ok). Very much the 2 people who have seen him at his lowest are Kondraki (hence KOI and subsequent sorta-bond) and (in the cracked timeline only) Reno, who encourages and worsens the issues a lot over the months. Guilt - Guilt over not saying goodbye to his family, guilt over not being able to remember them properly or even know who he's lost, guilt over the breakdowns and how he has severely maimed at least one person during them. He feels insanely guilty sometimes for trying to move on because it feels like he's abandoning his past and everyone in it.

[DE:O5EO]'s cousin: Break - More normal Foundation stuff, it's just a lot to beat when your job involves helping optimize movements that include murder, child abuse, and the knowledge that, whatever the end result, you're still aiding in a lot of really morally fucked up stuff. One of two things happens should they reach breaking point, they either start yelling and shooting, or they burst out into the hysterical laughter-crying-laughter thing that freaks everyone out. Finding out that their cousin is on several Foundation watchlists would also probably induce this as they have to choose between a job that tries to save the world and an innocent man they're targeting just because he's been the victim of an anomaly. Guilt - The usual 'just because I'm doing more good than evil in the long run doesn't change that there's a lot of fucking evil being done'. They cope the same way everyone does; repress, talk to the counselor that won't actually help, and drink a little more than recommended.

[youaremysunshiness]

downplaying trauma

last night, i had an appointment with my therapist and we talked about how what i am going through now with losing all of my friends is also linked to Lucifer and all the gossip that was going on at the time around me. then my therapist told me that for a long time, i was downplaying what happened last year.

whenever she would bring it up or ask more about it, i just didn't want to get into depth about what happened because i don't like to think about it. i thought i processed it, but not completely. also, everyone around me was downplaying it as well. even my "friends." this man was stalking me. i had to call the police. i was too scared to go to the library alone, and i felt like everyone treated it like it wasn't a big deal, except for one of my friends who was actually in the friend group (not really friends with Lucifer). me and my friend came out of her apartment and he was standing in the alley with a trench coat on and when i told my friends they laughed. when i went to the police, they didn't offer me emotional support and they saw me every day. i dealt with this situation completely alone.

i appreciate the friends i had at target, though. they genuinely cared about me and one of them offered to go to the station with me to file the report. i also went to campus police. I tried to get title IX involved, just so i could have something that made me feel safe. i just feel that nobody really knows the hell i went through last year. when i found out the guy i liked basically threw me to the wolves, i was heartbroken. i had anxiety attacks at work. i would break down in the fitting room crying and i couldn't stop crying. i couldn't hold myself together. it was so bad that my work had me take some time off because i was having so many breakdowns.

it's also strange because i didn't know exactly what was going on but i felt like someone or something stabbed me in the heart like energetically. it's like my body and my mind knew that i was betrayed by someone i really cared about. it was like my intuition told on them before i got confirmation from a person that was around those people at the time and basically confirmed that everything i felt was going on, was definitely going on. i can't even describe the pain i felt. it was all-consuming and very painful. i'm just being honest.

it really sucks, too, because i thought this person and i had a special connection. i even thought that he could be the one, which feels so stupid for me to write, because how could my soulmate stand by and let me be treated like that? how could he just throw me to the wolves like that? apart of me is even mad at myself because in the last romantic situation i was in, i thought this other guy was the one when he was actually an asshole. i looked at him through rose-colored glasses and eventually realized that i was just settling. i even was still hung up on him when i met the guy that would end up betraying me and i thought that this time was different because i felt more for him than i had with any other person before. i also just felt very connected to him, and i thought that he would protect me. when we met on set two years ago, i broke a lightbulb or something and one of the crew members yelled at me and then he pulled her aside and had her apologize to me. i felt like he was protective over me even though we barely knew each other and that he was kind to me. i liked that about him and i didn't think that he would end up treating me the way that he did.

i thought what i was feeling was intuition, but i don't know anymore. maybe there's just something wrong with me mentally. what if there was never a connection and it was just me dreaming? what if i'm crazy? sometimes i really worry that i am crazy because my feelings were very strong for him and i felt so connected to him. i just wish i knew what happened. i felt very hated, exploited and dissected like a frog. i was just constantly wracking my brain for something that i did wrong to deserve all of this. i never felt more misunderstood in my life and i feel like they wanted to misunderstand me no matter what i did because it confirmed their bias or preconceived notions about me.

all i want from them is a sincere apology and an explanation of what happened, but i don't think i'll ever get that. i don't think He will ever speak to me again. i want to have some sort of closure or consolation, but i don't think i'll ever get that from any of them. they just move on like nothing happened or pretend like i don't exist. i don't think they even understand how much an apology would mean to me. if any one of them sat me down and sincerely apologized for what happened last year, i feel like it would help me feel so much better about the whole thing. especially if He took the time to talk to me and apologize, i think i would cry. i wouldn't even be mad (unless it was a defensive/shitty apology). i would actually love more than anything to hear that from Him. i feel like i would actually start to heal. sometimes i wish that i didn't care or that i didn't want to hear from Him, but i do. it would mean the world to me. it's hard for me to admit this because i am afraid it will never happen and as much as people expect me to hate them, i don't, which scares me because i feel vulnerable. i have a very soft and forgiving heart, so i am afraid people will take advantage of it because they have in the past. sometimes i feel like anger is the only thing that protects me because when i'm angry, i feel strong, but when i'm soft, i feel vulnerable. i feel like someone is going to take advantage of me. it sucks because i'm naturally a soft person. i have a big heart and i love people, but i feel like i've gotten so hurt in the past. i have been put in multiple scenarios where no one protected me or had my back. i was always left to fend for myself and i am a highly independent person, but i don't want to be strong on my own all the time. i want people-- friends, and relationships that will have my back. i just want a soft place to fall.

[theofficialpresidentofmars]

reasons why Hamlet is going on Zuko’s kinlist:

He’s a sweet and sensitive boy with a passion for the theatre whose life was ruined by the politics of being his nation’s royalty and crown prince. He’s losing himself in the self-destructive and tunnel-visioned pursuit of a goal given to him by his father, whom he holds in a higher regard than he probably should. He doesn’t know how to handle the sudden emotional unavailability of his mother, but deep down he still loves her and is a bit of a mama’s boy if anything. It’s also a miracle he stays alive for as long as he does, what with the constant attempts on his life and whatnot. He’s in constant emotional turmoil and so many of his actions can be read as a cry for help, as his inner sense of morality conflicts with his sense of duty and he spends a lot of his time in two halves, stuck on how to deal with it all. He’s supposed to be the heir of the throne, but his throne was usurped by a second youngest sibling while he was still alive, who he then goes on to defeat during a final climatic fight involving his choice weapon of proficiency, but taking a fatal blow in the process. He’s also very good with swords.

reasons why Hamlet is going on Azula’s kinlist:

Both of them are volatile and dangerous, being willing to kill multiple people directly in an attempt to please their father going so far as to suffering a full psychotic break that ends up destroying them. They both see apparitions of their parents that no one else can, they yell at their mothers and are torn apart at their betrayals, they become increasingly paranoid that everyone and anyone close to them is out to get them. Their closest friends betray them and sell them out, and so both arrange to have them dealt with. Both are cruel to those who are supposed to be their friends, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes purposefully. Both are largely broken people who are a result of the incredibly toxic environment/system they grew up in, whose ability to escape the situation they’re put in and become better people are topics largely debating by their respective fandoms.

reasons why Hamlet is going on both of theirs:

Their story largely begins when the current ruler of their nation is fatally poisoned in order to pass the crown and throne down from the eldest sibling in line to the second eldest, a generation above their own. Royalty, daddy issues, mommy issues, all have trouble with spirits. My Chemical Romance could’ve saved them.

rip fire hazard siblings you would have both either loved and resonated with Hamlet or found the play uncomfortably familiar and not been able to read through it a second time but either way you both would’ve been putting Hamlet on the kinlist for different but valid reasons

[kittyt-hexxed]

A Place for You - Part Three

Post-Santa Barbara!Ellie x Ex-Firefly!POC!Reader

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Final Part

Word Count: 9k

Warnings: TLOU2, Apocalyptic Religious Community, Attempted Kidnapping, Murder, Flashbacks, You and Ellie take in a teenager, Raising a traumatized teenager, References to Joel, Ellie brings home a baby

Summary: You and Ellie run into some snatchers during a supply run. In the process of getting away from them, you end up taking in a teenager they picked up. The young girl ends up finding a place among your little family.

~ Late Winter of the Year 2045 ~

“LET ME GO, YOU FUCKER!” You scream, thrashing around and trying to break their hold on you. They had taken your gun and were dragging you over to their vehicle. You called them Snatchers. People who drove around and snatched people off of the streets. No one knew why, but you knew people they took never returned. The Fireflies made it their mission to kill them whenever a truck was spotted. The fewer of them around, the better.

You had been traveling with Ellie, heading to the closest city to raid one of the Veterinary Clinics. They were the only places people didn’t break into when shit went down. You knew that they would have a bunch of needles and medical equipment you could use for your animals. You were leaving the city and these fuckers had come out of nowhere. One of them got the jump on you and earned himself a knife to the head. Unfortunately, his buddies didn’t take too kindly to that and here you are now.

You brace your feet against the back of the truck, refusing to let them throw you in. You can see other people in there handcuffed and looking at you with wide eyes. A lot of them are wounded or covered in dirt which means they’ve been there for a while. Another snatcher comes around and tries to grab your legs when his blood splatters onto the truck and he drops to the ground. Dead. That sends the whole group into a panic.

The guy that has you tries harder to throw you into the truck, so you can’t see which direction that shot came from. Either way, the guy restraining you suddenly stops and his hold on you vanishes. You catch yourself from falling and you hear his body hit the ground. A glance at him shows blood rapidly pooling onto the road underneath his head. Running off of pure adrenaline, you grab your gun and bag from him and run for cover.

“Y/n, run! Run as far as you can and hide!” Your mother hisses at you, shoving you toward the back of the store.

“Hey. Hey, darlin’. It’s okay.” You blink and see Ellie crouched in front of you, blood splattered across her face and torso, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

“All?” You question airly. You feel like you are detached from your body as your heart hammers in your chest. It was the most common sign of your attacks, especially when they involved your parents.

“All of ‘em.” Ellie confirms, wiping some blood from your cheek, “You know I wouldn’t have let them take you, sweetheart. You’re safe, okay?” She pulls you into her arms, squeezing you tightly to her chest. You’re trembling. Shaking so badly that Ellie sits down and sits you on her lap, curling her body around you to bring you more comfort.

“I-I...” You stutter, burying your face in her neck.

“I know, beautiful. You haven’t had an attack in a while and this was clearly a trigger for you.” Ellie whispers, smoothing your hair back, “Go ahead and cry. We’re secure in here.” You feel safe in your wife’s arms and allow yourself to cry. The grief and sheer panic from your parents’ deaths wash over you again. You sob, mourning the life that you lost with them. Even when you thought you had moved on, the grief came back to haunt you. Sometimes it’d be in the way you arranged the bouquet on the table, the same way your father used to. Or, how you’d cut the sleeves from Ellie’s shirt like your mother would. Your wife holds you in her arms until you calm down, kissing your forehead and whispering affectionately to you.

“We need to start our walk back home before the final storm of the season rolls in.” You mumble into her neck, “We don’t want to get caught in the city.”

“I know.” Ellie hums, letting you get up, “We need to get out while it’s still light out.” She stands up, adjusting her sniper, and takes your hand, guiding you back to the front door. Through the glass, you can see all of the dead snatchers and as you step outside you can see one with her throat cut. ‘That’s probably how Ellie got blood on herself.’ You observe the mess, frowning at the dead people in the back of the truck.

“I hate snatchers.” You sigh, “If there’s a chance of escape, they kill everyone they’ve taken. There’s always one person dedicated to that.”

“It was her.” Ellie kicks the woman you looked at earlier, “Gunned ‘em down while I was distracted. Fucker.”

“There’s nothing we can do now. Raid their bullets and we’ll head out.” You tell her, checking the bodies for spare ammo. You don’t mind leaving the guns behind, but you’d take all the ammo you could get your hands on.

“Help…” A weak voice sounds from in the truck. You jump up, whipping your gun out as you stare into the truck. Ellie comes around the side, her gun out as well as she raises an eyebrow at you.

“Please… I-I don’t want to die here.” The voice says again. They sound young and that makes you feel apprehensive.

“Is that a kid?” Ellie mutters and you nod. You creep forward, checking to make sure the people close to you are dead as you open the back. Ellie helps you move the bodies and at the back of the truck you see a young girl wedged in the corner. She turns to you, eyes widening as she notices that you have your gun trained on her.

“Were you shot?” You ask, looking her over. She’s wearing a black hoodie, so if she was shot you can’t see it in the shadows. Her arms are cuffed to the seat so you’d have to find the key. You weren’t worried about her having any weapons as the snatchers took all of those from the people they captured. If she wanted to fight you, you’d be getting physical.

“Yes. Shoulder. That guy blocked me.” She motions to the guy next to her with multiple wounds, “Please let me out. I’ll just starve to death or an infected will get me. Either way, it’ll be a slow one.”

“Honey?” You call to your wife.

“I have the key. We’ll let you go but you wait for her to exit the truck and then we’ll call for you to come out. Any aggressive moves toward my wife and I’ll shoot you dead, kid.” Ellie growls, “Got it?”

“Got it.” The girl immediately responds. You slowly back out of the trunk, keeping your gun trained on her as you accept the key from Ellie. The girl watches you with hopeful eyes as you undo the handcuffs, tuck the key back into your pocket and leave the truck. Your wife quickly looks you over, quietly confirming that you’re unharmed before turning back.

“Come on out with your hands up. Slowly.” Ellie advises and you watch as the girl gets up, slowly making her way to the end. You and Ellie walk back as she drops down into the light, hissing in pain from jostling her shoulder. Now that she’s in the light, you can see how beat up she is. A busted lip and bruised cheek cover her fair skin and you can tell she hasn’t slept in a good amount of time. But, you can’t help but feel a little dumbfounded. You and Ellie share a confused glance. The girl looks like she could be your kid. She looks like a mixture of you and Ellie, other than her bright red hair. You shake your head to chase away the shock.

“She’s going to check you over for bites. I know the snatchers would have already but we have to keep an eye out on our own.” You indicate to Ellie as she lowers her gun and moves closer, “What’s your name? How old are you?”

“Venus.” She responds nervously as Ellie checks her over, “I-I’m thirteen.”

“Venus.” You raise an eyebrow, “Like the planet?” What are odds of that?

“Like the… Goddess?” Venus says, “That’s what my mother had told me, at least.”

“What happened to her? Your mom?” Ellie steps back, giving you the go-ahead to lower your gun, “She’s all clear. Not even a scratch.”

“Dead. She was infected when our group got ambushed. I don’t know my father, either. It’s just me.” Venus sighs, exhausted. You look up at the sky and note that the clouds are getting thicker. You’d have to leave now if you wanted to make it out of the city before snowfall. If you move quickly, you’ll make it to the shelter before then.

“Babe, we’ve got to go.” You remind Ellie, “Snowstorm.”

“Alright. We’re leaving.” Ellie nods at you and turns back to the kid, “We set you free, so don’t you dare follow us. I’ll shoot you if I catch you.” She wraps an arm around your waist, narrowing her eyes at the kid. Ellie was more protective over you now that you’re married. You laughed at her one day because you told her that she reminded you of Joel and she profusely disagreed… in a very Joel fashion. The next morning she had begrudgingly agreed before heading out into the field. That old man lived on in her, and you knew Ellie took comfort in that.

“Wait! Please!” Venus panics, taking a few steps to you, “Please let me come with you! I’ve been with these people for weeks and I don’t even know where I am. The last place I remember was Indiana, and I’ve got no one but myself. No weapons, no food or water, and just the clothes on my back. I’m a walking dinner for the infected. Please.” She begs you, making you frown. This world was a cruel place. It left no one untouched, not even the ones who thought they were safe in a QZ. You could remember being that age, losing your parents, and having to figure things out on your own. You were lucky enough to have the homestead and Scout. You couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling having nothing.

“Stand there while we talk. Don’t move.” You state before grabbing Ellie and pulling her away a bit, “...We can’t leave her here to die. She’s lucky that we’re the ones who set her free and not some fucked up assholes.” You whisper.

“I… I know.” Ellie exhales heavily, rubbing her eyebrows, “She’s too young to be out here on her own. We’ve got to take her, but if she tries anything that puts us in danger we’re leaving her on the side of the road.”

“So, we agree on this?” You meet her eyes. You knew Ellie was being serious about leaving her behind. If there was a chance anyone would put you in danger, she’d get rid of them.

“We agree on this.” With a nod, you and Ellie turn back to the girl. When she realizes you’re done talking, she’s looking at you with hopeful eyes. She really didn’t have anyone else if she was still here.

“You’re coming with us.” You tell her, “But any funny business-”

“You’ll shoot me.” Venus grins, rocking on her feet, “Got it.”

“Come on then.” Ellie tucks her gun away, but takes out her switchblade, “We’re on a tight schedule.” Venus comes over to you two and you start walking back to your route. A subtle white Firefly symbol marks the street you need to head down. Ellie found it interesting that you continued to use Firefly passages. They were the safest in cities. Perfectly cleared out and fixed up so the infected couldn’t get inside. Other people who weren’t Fireflies wouldn’t know how to access them, either.

“So… can I get a gun?” Venus asks after five minutes of silence.

“No.” You and Ellie chorus, getting a groan from the kid. You continue to walk in silence, slipping into a building with a fake chained door. The red lights make the hallway appear eerie, but you continue down it anyway.

“Fuck.” Ellie mutters randomly, making you raise an eyebrow at her, “…I really am like my old man.” Her shoulders deflate and you can’t help but laugh. Ellie scoffs and playfully shoves you, making you laugh some more.

You got to the shelter outside of the city just in time. You didn’t have time to remove the bullet from Venus’ shoulder, so you moved slower. When you got inside, you sat her down to take care of the wound while Ellie secured the perimeter. You dig out the first-aid you have stashed and sit down next to Venus.

“Uh, what are you going to do?” Venus looks at the forceps in your hands wearily.

“I have to remove the bullet. It’s not a clean shot.” You say, flicking on your lighter, “These will take it out and then I’m going to stitch you back up.”

“How do you know how to do this?”

“Rule one about living in the middle of nowhere? You know how to handle every wound possible. My momma made sure I knew how to stitch myself up.” You chuckle, thinking about the times your mom made you stitch up your own wounds, “Deep breath, kid.”

“De- AH!” Venus shouts as you put the forceps into her wound, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” She curses as you dig out the bullet. You try to keep a grin off of your face as you pull it out but her reaction makes that impossible. Now you understand why your mother laughed at you.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?” You tease her. She’s breathing heavily, looking at you like you’re crazy. ‘I probably do sound crazy to her.’ You see Ellie come in over her shoulder and she gives you a thumbs up. The building is secure. You wouldn’t have to worry about infected as much in this weather, but it didn’t mean the possibility was zero.

“Yeah, no. It totally wasn’t like you were digging around in my body or anything. No big deal.” Venus grumbles, cursing when you pour some alcohol onto her wound, “Stop that!” You snort, holding back a laugh. You have to admit, being an ex-Firefly made you more hardened to this stuff.

“Wait until she does the stitches.” Ellie sits in the chair next to you, putting her boots up on the table, “I’m assuming you’ve never gotten them before since this is your first time being shot.”

“No. My mom never let me get involved with grown-up stuff. She and the others said I was too young. Anyone under sixteen wasn’t allowed to help the community and only focused on school.”

“It’s nice that she tried to shelter you. Keep you a kid longer.” You pull the needle and sutures out, “But, that’s a bad thing outside of QZs. That’ll get you killed… and right now you're about to learn why your mom kept you out of it.” With a lot of cursing and complaints, you stitch up Venus’ wound and make sure she’s secure before getting prepared for bed. You leave the room to open up the hidden stash that has your blankets and pillows. You take the blankets out and pause when you reenter the room. A smile graces your face when you see that Venus is slumped over and knocked out. Ellie is a few feet away and busy bringing the fire to life in the pit she had created.

“That was fast.” You chuckle, walking over to Ellie and kissing her cheek. She glances at the kid and nods her head.

“If she’s been with those guys for as long as she said? This is the first quality sleep she’ll get in a while. I wish she ate before passing out, but that can't be helped.”

“Do you think we made the right decision?” You start laying out the blankets around the fire, “Bringing her with us? I mean I feel bad for the kid, but do you think this is the right thing?”

“You know we’d feel bad if we left her behind. Probably turn back around and hunt her down just to drag her along.” Ellie stands and walks over to her, gently picking her up and placing her down on her blankets, “So, yes. I think we made the right decision.” You watch as Ellie delicately tucks her into the blankets to make sure she stays warm. ‘She’s out cold… She must feel safe with us to knock out like that.’

“Cuddle with me tonight?” You lay down on the thick comforter, holding your arms out to your wife. She chuckles and comes over, laying her gun down before crawling onto the sheet with you. There’s a moment of shifting around, Ellie pulling you into her chest and getting comfortable with you. You cuddle up to her feeling the exhaustion setting in. Your proximity to the fire heats up the blankets enough that you’re no longer feeling the chill in the air.

“We’re going to be here until the storm dies down.” Ellie says quietly, “It’ll give us time to get to know her. We need to teach her how to shoot if she’s staying with us.”

“Mhm.” You hum, enjoying the warmth radiating from her body.

“Life on the homestead will be hard for her to adjust to.”

“Mhm.”

“We might have to get her a dog.”

“Mhm.” You open your eyes, sleepily peering at Ellie as she giggles at you. ‘Do she just say we’d get her a dog?’

“Oh yeah, you’re too tired to hold a conversation right now.” You feel her chuckle, squeezing you to her body, “Get some rest, darlin’.” You nod and fall asleep in the arms of your lover.

You sing softly to yourself as you heat up breakfast and the smell of the tea fills the air. Ellie is laying down and sketching in her journal. You were likely to see a sketch of yourself if you took a peek at it. If she didn’t have a view to draw, she’d draw you instead. It was something you found sweet. Her desk at home was covered in pages of drawings and half of them had to be you.

“You know, you should ride my face when we get home.” Ellie says from behind you.

“Ellie!” You gasp in alarm, eyes darting over to the sleeping teenager, “There’s a child here!”

“She’s asleep. Besides, I’m warning you from now. I’ve been thinking about it this whole trip so I’m taking you the first chance I get.” The smirk on her face has you giving her an exasperated look,

“You know she’s going to be in the house.” You point out.

“And you know that you can’t hear shit in the rooms unless you’re in front of the door. Your family knew what they were doing.” Ellie wiggles her eyebrows.

“I hate you.” You laugh, pouring out the tea into her canteen, “Why don’t you go check the weather and be a menace somewhere else?” You hold out the warm drink to her. Ellie takes it from your hands with a grin, kisses your lips and leaves the room. You shake your head and place each of the cooked eggs onto a slice of bread. ‘We’ll have to go hunting at some point with an extra person to feed. It’ll be a good first lesson for her since most of it will come after winter.’ You sip your own tea, waiting for Venus to wake up so you can all eat. You end up zoning out, staring at the crackling fire until you hear movement from in front of you.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” You greet Venus. She blinks at you, rubbing her eyes as if she couldn’t believe you were still here. You couldn’t blame her. She probably thought you’d pack up and leave her here while she slept. Or, maybe she couldn’t believe that she was here.

“Morning.” Venus yawns, “What’s that?”

“Eggs and bread. I have some tea, too. It’ll wake you up.” You reach across and hand her a cup, “Once Ellie is back, we can eat.”

“I’ve… never had bread before.” Venus looks down at her cup, swirling the tea around, “I grew up in a small religious community and that kind of food wasn’t given to regular people. Things like that went straight to the offering pit.” Ellie comes back inside, holding up two fingers that make you chew the inside of your lip. You’d be here for two more days at most.

“Offering pit?” You tilt your head, “What’s that?”

“They placed certain foods on an altar to appease the Gods. If you were caught trying to steal from it, you were punished. My mom and a group of people fled from the community when the leaders slowly became overbearing. My mom would tell me that it reminded her of when women had no freedom, and she didn’t want me to grow up in that.”

“That sounds rough. I’m sorry you went through that. It seems like a lot of communities fell to oppressive leaders like the QZs.” Ellie sighs.

“It was the reason my mom and I ended up making our way to Indiana. We heard there was a better community there. We ended up caught up with some unsavory people and the commotion lured in a group of infected. My mom got bit when one of our group members pushed her into the way.” You can hear the pain in Venus’ voice, “She begged me to leave with the rest of the group, so I… did. The snatchers grabbed us two days after that. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows out here… not like I thought it would be.” She shifts her position on the floor, clearly uncomfortable with the thought.

“Well, now you’re with us.” Ellie hands her one of the sandwiches as she sits down next to you, “It may not be sunshine and rainbows, but if you stick with us… You’ll live long enough to see one.”

“You… are really bringing me along?” Venus gasps, “Seriously?”

“Listen.” You say firmly, “If we weren’t bringing you along, we would have left you to die or killed you ourselves. We’re not good people, but we’re not bad people either. We’re just trying to live our lives, and if we thought for a second you’d put that in jeopardy we wouldn’t be having this breakfast together.”

“But… we know what it meant to have no one.” Ellie nudges you, “If you want a place where you can live and not survive… stick with us. You’ll have to follow our rules though.”

“Deal!” Venus chirps.

“You don’t even know the rules.” You chuckle.

“For once, I want to stop feeling like I have to wake up every morning and try to survive. I’d like to live a life that doesn’t involve begging for food.” You and Ellie share a glance.

“Don’t worry.” Ellie says sincerely, “You won’t be.”

It takes you a week to get back to the homestead because you slowed down for Venus. She wasn’t used to moving around with a wound like you two are. It made you realize that growing up as a Firefly gave you more freedom than others. You didn’t notice it when you were younger, but it was easy to see now. Along the way, you taught her a few basic things like creating a fire and how to keep it alive in the night. Ellie brought her on one of her patrols and showed her how to cover her tracks in the snow. Venus learned it all with a refreshing enthusiasm that touched your heart. She really was just a kid. It’s been a while since you’ve had to deal with one not corrupted by the adults around them.

A howl from Missy signals that you’re home to the rest of the family. You had warned Venus that you have dogs and she had gotten excited. She’s never seen a dog before, so she was looking forward to it. When you open the gate, you’re enthusiastically greeted by your dogs and even tackled by Springer. You laugh as you try to push the dogs away, Ellie helping you up as Scout runs around in circles. ‘You crazy old man.’ You smile at him. No matter how old he gets, he still greeted you the same way. You look at Venus and find her standing paralyzed outside of the gate as two of the dogs growl at her.

“Bandit! Ivy! Heel!” You whistle and they stop growling, coming over to you and Ellie, “Don’t worry, like I said, they won’t hurt you as long as I tell them not to. You’re safe. Let’s get inside and warm up.” You motion to the house.

“I’m dying for a hot cup of lemonade.” Ellie sighs longingly, starting to walk to the house, “I’ve been dreaming about it all week. I might even put a shot of whiskey in it.”

“I thought you were dreaming about sleeping in our bed?” You laugh, shutting the gate behind Venus who cautiously walks after your wife. The dogs were swarming her, sniffing her, and trying to figure out who she was. You know it’s overwhelming to her so you shoo them away. They sprint for their dog house, disappearing through the door but you knew they’d come to the house once they knew it was clear. ‘Damn dogs.’ You think fondly.

“I was. I was dreaming about drinking hot lemonade in bed with my darling wife.” Ellie grins at you, making you shake your head with a smile. She cleans off her boots and hurries inside, likely to start up the fire. It’s going to be chilly in the house, no matter how well-built the place is. You stop on the porch deck and knock the snow from your boots. ‘I’m lucky there’s no ice this time.’ You observe. That was always a pain in the ass to get off.

“What’s hot lemonade?” Venus asks you, following your lead and knocking the snow off of her shoes.

“Lemon juice mixed with water and sugar. We warm it up during the winter months, sometimes add a shot of whiskey for extra warmth.” You explain to her, “I’ll show you to your room and give you a change of clothes. You look like you’ll fit mine from when I was younger.” You head inside, seeing Ellie crouched in front of the fireplace with a soft fire already going. ‘Man, I love my wife.’ You think fondly.

“My room?” Venus blinks.

“Where’d you think you were going to sleep?” Ellie snorts, looking over her shoulder at you, “In the barn with the livestock?”

“Well, no… but-”

“-You do get a room of your own. A growing girl like you needs her privacy. Trust me, I was glad to have that. I’ll give you my old room. It still has all of my books and toys you might find interesting. When you get older, you can always choose a different room.” You guide her up the stairs and lead her to your childhood bedroom.

“Woah.” Venus gasps, taking in the room, “This was yours?”

“Yup. My parents helped me decorate it over the years. You’d be surprised how many posters are still in their plastic wrappings even today.” You watch as she walks in, spinning in a circle to take it all in. Glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, walls covered in posters and crappy drawings, and school papers scattered on the desk.

“What’s this?” Venus points at the telescope.

“It’s called a telescope. You can look through this end and see the planets or some stars. I can show you it tonight.” You offer.

“That… would be nice.” Venus nods, going back to looking around. The two of you stand in silence, you thinking of your childhood and her exploring your things. You think about the life she went through back in her old community and it upsets you. A young girl shouldn’t have to struggle to get her basic needs met, much less be kept ignorant of the world around her.

“I do need to ask…” You hesitate, “Did your mother teach you about periods?” Your question gets you a confused look from the kid.

“Periods?” Venus frowns, thinking about what you asked, “You mean the dot at the end of a sentence?” You didn’t know whether to be happy that she knows that or worried. From what she told you, you’d be reteaching her a lot of the basics.

“Well, there’s my answer.” You sigh.

“What is it?” Venus tilts her head.

“I’ll explain later. Let me show you to the bathroom so you can get cleaned up.” You walk a few feet down the hallway to the bathroom, flicking the light on, “Do you know what this is?”

“Yup. Ours didn’t work so we used buckets of water so… could you teach me?”

“Of course, I can.” You ruffle her hair and show her how to work everything. You take out a towel for her, toss it onto the towel rack, and explain the various items she can use. Your family had been entirely self-sufficient even when it came to body wash and hair care products. You really did live a spoiled life.

“You can take your time, and come downstairs when you’re done. Ellie and I will be sitting around the fireplace.” You tell her, getting a nod. You close the door behind you and head back to your old room. You see Ellie standing in there, folding up some clothes onto the bed and placing a menstrual cup down.

“You beat me to it.” You grin.

“Someone did this for me once.” Ellie glances up at you, “I thought I’d return the favor.”

“Her mom hadn’t taught her about periods, so it looks like that’s our job too.” You start walking to your bedroom, “I told her to meet us downstairs after her shower, so we should get ours done.” You slip off your boots and place them by the door as she closes it.

“So, we’ll have to teach her basic schooling and hygiene.” Ellie frowns and crosses her arms, you can tell that she’s really upset, “Growing up in a religious community like that… it makes FEDRA seem tame. It’s a miracle she’s even alive after they escaped.” She takes off her gloves, gently placing them on the dresser, and flexes her fingers.

“I know.” You sigh heavily, “But from the sounds of it, her mother did what she could to protect her. We’ll get to that topic once we’re settled in… How are your fingers feeling?”

“The cold hasn’t affected them yet, so I’m not feeling any pain.” Ellie rubs her fingers, “I’ll have to moisturize them though. The skin is starting to become dry.”

“I’ll do that for you after our shower.” You take her hand and kiss her fingers.

“It looks like we’re showering together then.” Ellie purrs, pulling you into the bathroom, “I can’t promise to keep my hands to myself.”

“I hope not, you’re the one washing my hair.” You joke, making her laugh. The two of you exchange kisses in the shower, taking turns washing each other’s hair and scrubbing clean. You loved doing Ellie’s hair with how long it’s gotten over the years. She kept saying she was going to cut it, but the most she did was shave the underside. It now fell down her back in loose waves that you enjoyed braiding. You think she secretly loved it too so that’s why she hadn’t cut it yet.

With your hair up in a towel and fresh pajamas on, you tell Ellie to sit down on the bed. You grab the aloe vera lotion and sit down next to her. Your wife watches you with a smile on her face as you rub the lotion into her skin. You can feel yourself blush as she continues to gaze at you, eyes sparkling with love.

“Can I help you?” You giggle, giving her a playful look.

“Even now, you’re taking care of me.” Ellie whispers sweetly, “I was right for making you my wife.”

“And I won’t stop taking care of you.” You lean down and kiss her hand, then put her deerskin gloves on, “Now, we’ve got some lemonade to make.” You stand up and intertwine your fingers. Ellie used to feel insecure holding your hand without her finger extensions, but now she enjoyed doing it. You were constantly awed by the progress she’s been making over the years. You make your way downstairs and note that Venus’ door is closed. When you walk into the living room you’re greeted by the sight of the dogs lazing in front of the fire. They perk up but don’t move as you head for the kitchen, content to enjoy the warmth of the fire. ‘It looks like she’s not down here yet. That’s okay since I told her to take her time.’

“You took the lemon juice out?” You grin at Ellie, seeing the bottle sitting on the counter.

“Yeah, I did. I wanted it to warm up while we showered.” She places three mugs on the counter and puts the kettle on. You grab the bottle and open it, filling up half the mugs with juice. You slide the filled mugs over to Ellie and she stirs in the sugar. You let out a yawn, leaning against the counter as you watch her stir. The kettle starts to whistle and you turn it off, pouring the hot water into the cups. Ellie gives you a kiss on the cheek before moving to the pantry.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Um… why don’t we do grilled cheese? It’s not too heavy to eat before bed.”

“You got it.” Ellie vanishes into the pantry. The pantry was actually a small room in itself, with enough space to hold food for a full household of thirteen people. Your jaw dropped when your mother told you about your family history and sometimes you wondered what it would be like to have that many people living with you now.

“Should I get the whiskey?” Ellie gives you puppy eyes, walking over with the bread.

“No.” You wink at her, getting a pout.

“Why nooooot?” She whines.

“Because we’re drinking whiskey for your twenty-sixth birthday, and I don’t want you finishing the bottle before then.” You give her a look.

“Ugh, I love when you’re being stern. It’s so hot.” Ellie purrs playfully, winking at you, “Scold me some more.” You roll your eyes, a grin on your face as you get ready to make the sandwiches. You can hear footsteps on the stairs, indicating that Venus was coming down.

“Stop it.” You chuckle, lightly hitting your wife on the arm.

“There she is!” Ellie turns away from you, “You look much better.”

“I feel much better. Are one of those cups for me?” You hear Venus say and look at her. You feel a bit nostalgic seeing her in your old pajamas, but Ellie was right. She looks much better now that she’s showered and washed her hair. Her hair is in tight curls that has your heart clenching in your chest. When you found her, her hair had been in frizzy waves.

“Yup.” You pick up her mug and hand it to her, “Be careful, it’s still steaming.”

“Thank you.” Venus accepts the cup, “Uh… where do I…?” She looks around the living room, lingering on where the dogs are hanging out.

“We are going to sit on the couch.” Ellie leads her over, “Y/n is making sandwiches for us, so you and I get the time to talk and bond.” You watch them for a moment, taking a drink and enjoying the warmth flooding through your body. With a smile to yourself, you get to work assembling part of the sandwiches. You listen to the two of them talk while you thinly slice the veal and tomatoes. Ellie asks Venus about her life in her old community, wanting to know more about what they did or didn’t teach her. By the time you finish making the grilled cheese, you’re sad and trying your best to hold back tears.

“Here you go.” You hand Venus her plate, “And here you go, sweetheart.” You kiss Ellie’s cheek as you hand her plate over. Your wife grabs your wrist and forces you to sit down next to her, knowing that you’re upset. She gives you a subtle look and you take that cue to snuggle up to her.

“Ellie told me this is made with deer meat…” Venus looks at her plate nervously, “Are you sure this is okay to eat?”

“Yes, it’s okay to eat. All animals are killed humanely and by my own hands. I don’t kill anything I know I can’t eat.” You try to comfort her, “I always give a small thank you to the animal providing for my family.” Ellie gives you a soft smile at that. She found it adorable that you thank the animals you kill, and she liked to tease you about it sometimes. Venus nods and you watch as she carefully takes a bite, chewing slowly as if she’d get punished for daring to take a bite. Her eyes flick up to you and you nod in encouragement. You’re saddened even more by how quickly she eats, devouring the food as if you would take it from her the moment she stopped eating. It prompts you to get up and refill her mug before you eat your own meal.

“Did you like it?” Ellie’s voice is thick with emotion, so you know you’d be talking about this once Venus goes to bed. The two of you are definitely on the same page when it comes to this kid.

“I… I loved it. I’ve never tasted anything like this before.” Venus looks down into her lemonade, “I’m touched that you’re sharing all of this with me. I promise to repay you by helping out around the homestead.” You choke on your sandwich, struggling to swallow as you try to keep yourself from coughing. They look at you with wide eyes as you try to orient yourself with Ellie handing you your drink.

“Venus.” You rasp out, “You don’t need to repay us. Please don’t look at it that way.” Venus sniffles, tears appearing in her eyes as you say that.

“We’ll teach you everything you need to know.” Ellie wraps her arms around you, “By the end of it, you’ll be able to take care of yourself if it becomes necessary. But, you working on the homestead is not you repaying us. It’s just how we live and that’s what you’re here to do… live.” You can see tears running down Venus’ face and you feel your heart break.

“T-Thank you…” Venus chokes up, wiping away her tears, “Thank you for not l-leaving me to d-die! Thank you!” She sobs, her body shaking from how hard she’s crying. You and Ellie glance at each other and place your cups down.

“Would you like a hug?” You ask gently, still not too sure about her feelings toward physical affection. Venus nods her head and you and Ellie embrace her in a tight hug. A whine has you pulling apart to see Scout wiggling in to rest his head on Venus’ knee.

“Good boy, Scout.” Ellie pets his head and you look up hearing the other dogs get up.

“Uh oh.” You chuckle as the rest of the dogs come rushing over to you.

“Oh, shit!” Ellie yelps as they start jumping all over you guys, trying to join in. You all end up laughing at the dogs’ antics and the atmosphere in the house goes up. That night, you and Ellie agreed to do everything you could to take care of Venus. Winter made it perfect to work on reteaching her and introducing the other things she needed to know. You and Ellie split up the work and spent one-on-one time with Venus. She - just like you and Ellie - ended up falling in love with space, but she found a real interest in geology. You had a lot more books on a variety of subjects since the house has your parent’s old textbooks. They wanted to be able to teach you and any other siblings you had as much as possible. When you showed Venus the little library you have, she nearly fell over in shock. She spent a lot of free time in there and would ramble to you about what she learned. The entire time you taught her how to properly assess a tree and cut it down, she told you about animals in the ocean and begged you to go see them at some point. You promised her to talk to Ellie about it.

The longer you are around Venus the more secure you are in your decision to being her along with you. Although Venus was happy, there were still things she was working through. Her mother’s death was fresh in her mind as she watched her get bit. You and Ellie were no strangers to grief and helping traumatized people, so you were there for her. Venus is a very sweet girl and - funnily enough - has Ellie’s temper. You laughed so hard watching as she got frustrated with one of the sheep that kept running from her. She let out the same curses that Ellie would have and you burst into laughter. It was even better when you called to the sheep and it had come to you with no issue. Venus complained about it for a week, and you showed her how to properly handle the sheep and other livestock.

Before you knew it, Venus had become family. It was kind of an unspoken thing with how you and Ellie treated her. At first, you had been mindful of the fact that she lost her mother. Neither of you wanted to step on any toes and trigger Venus accidentally. She was the one who tested the waters and got closer to you. You weren’t surprised with how quickly she and Ellie seemed to bond. They had a lot in common, and it made you happy to see how much they cared for each other. Even the dogs had grown to love her and you were able to teach her the commands for them. Venus was really starting to find her place in your home.

~ 2 Years Later ~

“Nessie?!” You call out, furrowing your brow when you don’t hear her respond. You sling your bow over your shoulder, turning in a circle to see if you can spot her. ‘Where the hell did she go? She was right next to me.’ You glance down at Ivy whose ears perk up and she goes stiff. ‘Shit. Infected?’ Your guard goes up and you pay closer attention to your surroundings. You swallow, feeling the anxiety flowing through you. Venus wasn’t near you and if there’s infected nearby that made it more important to find her.

“Ivy. Retrieve Ve-” Suddenly, you hear a scream echo through the forest.

“NESSIE?!” You scream as Ivy takes off to your left. You chase after her, listening out for more screams as Ivy barks and looks for Venus. You notice as you approach your property line that a section of the fence is broken. ‘She left the property?’ Your heart sinks when you realize that you were heading in the direction of the town. That was the area infected generally came from when they did wonder their way out here. You’re running faster once you’re clear of the fence, a good distance behind Ivy who was taking the lead. Your gun is clutched tightly in your hand as the snarling of infected reaches your ears. The screaming only gets louder and Ivy lets out a hunting howl as you see a dead infected on the ground. Horror fills your veins when your eyes land on Venus. She was trying to climb up one of the trees, kicking at a small group of infected beneath her.

“MA!” Venus screams when she sees you, her eyes flicking between you and the infected, “PLEASE! PLEASE, HELP ME!”

“GET HIGHER INTO THE TREE!” You start shooting at the infected, intending on leading them away from her. Two of the runners screech and sprint toward you only for one of them to be tackled by Ivy. While you shoot the other one, the final three decide to give up on Venus. You are a better target since you’re within their reach. You whirl around and run, using the trees as an advantage to keep them at a distance. You and Ivy pick them off one by one and you don’t have a minute to catch your breath. ‘Venus!’

“Venus!” You run back to her, Ivy hot on your heels, “Venus, are you okay?!”

“Ma!” She drops down from the tree, throwing herself into your arms once you’re close enough. You hug her tightly for a few seconds and then immediately begin checking her over, “You didn’t get bit, did you?” Your heart is still racing and the worst thoughts pop into your head.

“No! No.” Venus grabs your arms to steady your frantic movements, “Ma, I’m okay. I’m okay.” You meet her eyes and let out a long breath to calm yourself.

“Why did you leave the fence?” You ask, tucking your gun away.

“It was damaged. I figured I’d do the inspection since you and mother are busy.”

“But, you weren’t prepared.” You cross your arms, “All you had was your mother’s switchblade.” You motion to the closed blade in her hands.

“I-I’m sorry.” Venus stutters, putting it away, “Please don’t yell at me.”

“Nessie.” You take a deep breath, steadying yourself, “I’m not going to yell at you. The situation was less than ideal, but that doesn’t call for me to yell at you.”

“You’re… not going to yell at me?” Venus’ voice comes out small and quiet. That makes you pull her into your arms once again.

“No. I’m relieved you’re okay.” You squeeze her, feeling the exhaustion set in, “If you had gotten bit… It would be devastating to your mother and me. We can’t lose you.” Ivy lets out a whine and nudges Venus’ leg. You two step back from the hug and Venus squats down to comfort the dog.

“Sorry, girl.” Venus ruffles her fur, getting a soft woof in return, “And I’m sorry to you, too, Ma.” She looks at you regretfully. She’d been with you for a few years, but fence inspection was the one thing you and Ellie did alone. It was rare that anyone came to your property. Even rarer if the infected got through, but living surrounded by trees came with extra maintenance.

“Ivy.” You whistle, “Retrieve Ellie.” Your dog takes off, leaving you alone with Venus.

“Let’s just get back and fix the fence.” You start walking, “You know I’m going to have to tell your mother, right?” You hear Venus groan.

“She’s going to kill me.” Venus looks at you with a pleading expression, “Please don’t let her kill me.”

“No can do, kiddo.” You shrug, “You know how your mother is about being prepared. You had your switchblade - which is great - but there’s a reason we gave you a gun.” The fence was within your line of sight now.

“No one ever comes out here!” Venus throws her hands up, “All we’ve encountered are infected and Gayle!” You stop, gritting your teeth as you try not to snap at her. This was the one conversation you had to keep having.

“Venus.” You say seriously, getting her attention, “One day, it may not be infected or Gayle. The chance may be low but strangers stumbling upon our home is not zero. On top of that, your mother is immune. The Firefly network is active again and I am an ex-Firefly with a lot of classified information… so you keep your damn gun in your holster.” You point at the empty holster on her thigh. You and Ellie weren’t hard on her, but she knew not to break the one rule you have. Stay armed. Venus thought you two were paranoid but that was far from the truth. You both knew things had a way of coming back and, well, you have to be a little paranoid to survive out here.

“Ma…” Venus frowns, “I’m sorry.”

“I understand that.” You sigh exasperatedly, “But, your mother’s switchblade can only get you so far. You need to know how to use it properly.”

“Did mother really kill that many people with this knife?” Venus glances at her pocket.

“That knife saved my life many times.” Ellie says, making you two look in her direction, “It saved your ma as well, but there are times when a gun is necessary.” You raise an eyebrow at your wife, who only winks at you. Ellie was too good at sneaking around even when she wasn’t trying to.

“Mother, I…” Venus loses her words.

“I can guess what happened.” Ellie pulls Venus’ pistol out and holds it out to her, “Don’t forget it again. You won’t always have one of us around to cover your ass.” She says sternly.

“Yes, ma’am.” Venus pouts and takes it from her mother, tucking it away, “I just can’t imagine anyone coming out here.” You turn and walk back to the fence, stopping to inspect how it ended up failing.

“Venus.” You grab her attention again, “We’re serious. You need to listen to us on this.”

“I will… I…” Venus looks back to where the infected are, “I’ll listen. If it wasn’t for Ma, I would be dead by now.”

“Thank you.” Ellie exhales, giving her a smile, “Now let’s fix the fence and then get you ready for Gayle. Her daughter came by asking for you to help her and her brother do some repairs. Apparently some leaves got into the machine and they need to dig ‘em out.”

“Oh, Fran needs help?” Venus perks up, making you and Ellie snicker, “What?! Why are you laughing?!” She whines, watching as you and Ellie get to work fitting the pieces back together.

“Damn bears.” You mutter to yourself. You’d have to replant the repellant so they stayed away. Your fence had been unbothered for years now, so you didn’t think you’d need it anymore.

“Oh, nothing.” Ellie shakes her head, a grin on her face, “You just… seem very into Fran.”

“It’s cute.” You add, climbing to the top of the fence, “That’s all.” Ellie sits down next to you, her gun out so she can keep an eye on the forest. Venus holds her hand out and you grab it to help her up.

“I know what you’re thinking and that’s not it! I am not crushing on Fran! I’m not into women!” Venus protests and you and Ellie exchange another glance. She was still in denial.

“Whatever you say, hun.” You chorus together, getting a groan from Venus.

“I’m heading back home!” Venus huffs and stomps away into the forest, “Where I’m not being tortured by my moms!”

“Tortured?! You’re so dramatic!” You laugh and she flips you off as she walks away.

“She’s in denial.” Ellie chuckles, dropping down to the other side. She holds the log steady and you stomp the top of the fence back into place.

“Just because her mothers are accepting doesn’t mean she’s accepting of it herself.” You shrug, letting Ellie help you down, “She needs to realize it on her own time.”

“I know.” Ellie smiles, kissing your cheek, “She reminds me of me and when I had my first crush.”

“Oh, awkward?” You tease her.

“Yes.” She laughs, “Horribly awkward.” The two of you walk in silence, enjoying the atmosphere together. You can’t help but think about what just happened. If she had gotten bit…

“Ellie.” You glance at your wife.

“I know.” She sighs, “We could have lost her. I didn’t think that there’d be anyone else in my life that I cared enough about to cure.”

“Would you be able to get another one?” You frown. She never told you how she made the cure. You both agreed that if the Fireflies ever came back around, it was safer that you didn’t know how it happened. No one alive knows that Ellie is immune, but she didn’t want to take that chance.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’d have to find my contact again and see.” She runs a hand through her hair, “I’ll be gone for a while, so you’d have to hold down the place.”

“Babe.” You chuckle, “I nearly shot you the first time you showed up. I can handle it.”

“Can you handle Nessie and the horses by yourself?” She raises an eyebrow at you.

“Yes, I can. You asshole.” You laugh, lightly hitting her shoulder, “You fall from a horse one time and your wife suddenly thinks you’re incompetent!”

“To be fair, it was your first time on a horse!” Ellie laughs, dodging another hit, “It was cute! It was cute! Don’t hit me!”

Ellie ends up leaving for a while, taking her horse with her so the trip won’t be too long. The two of you decided to keep quiet as to why she was leaving. That way if she wasn’t able to get more of the cure, you wouldn’t be letting your daughter down. You and Nessie keep the place going and make progress with her keeping a weapon on her at all times.

When the dogs let you know that Ellie is home, the two of you run back home to greet her… only to be met with a surprising sight.

“Ellie.” You blink, seeing the sleeping baby in your wife’s arms, “Where did you get that?”

“I can explain.” Ellie gives you a sheepish grin, rocking the baby in her arms, “His father was the one who made the cure. His group got raided while I was there. I helped them fight ‘em off but he got a fatal wound. He begged me to take him and showed me proof that Kieran is immune. Apparently his wife died during labor so he was all he had.” You frown and look at the little one. He was sleeping peacefully, cradled in your wife’s arms like he was always there.

“I took what was left of the cure.” She sighs, smoothing down the baby’s tuft of hair, “But I couldn’t leave him, not after everything his father did for me.”

“Can we keep him?” Ellie walks over and grabs your hand, “I’ll take care of everything for him. You won’t have to lift a finger.” You stare into her eyes, her green ones pleading with you to accept. ‘She has such a soft heart.’ Your eyes flick to the baby and you sigh, a smile fighting to appear on your lips.

“You’re such a softie.” You joke, giving her a quick kiss, “I like it. And no, you won’t be taking care of him alone.” You smile sweetly.

“You’re the best.” Ellie grins, her eyes shining happily.

“Does this mean I have a little brother now?!” Venus grins excitedly, practically skipping over.

“Yeah, I guess it does.” You chuckle.