#there were... A Lot of child kidnappings goin on when i was growing up

[malicemismanager]

Man having social media when you grew up with the ever-present warnings about stranger danger and not putting any personally identifiable information online sure is an Experience XD

[collabwithmyself]

*(wakes up to see country boy Phoenix - cracks knuckles)* “Let’s do this.”

Likely got best of both worlds seeing that he and Miles went to the same school - I’m thinking farm was in the country on the edge of a big city, Miles was big city, school was somewhere in the middle in suburbia... either that or his family moved to the city right before he entered that grade so he was already ostracized as being ‘that new farm kid’... I love the first because there are southern big cities (there’s a difference between southern and country), and honestly the idea of Miles also having a little bit of an accent from being in a city close to the country gives me life - but also the second one with the move fits with the plot better

Either way I’m saying his parents either still have or got a new farm and he gets his best thinking done while riding a tractor. If they’re within a reasonable distance he’ll sometimes be visiting, helping with the chores, and then all of a sudden “Sorry Mom and Dad, gotta go!” because he had an epiphany on a case in progress.

First time Miles and Larry get invited over as kids, Larry is offended that none of the chickens will let him hold them, but he’s just too loud and fidgety. Miles, however, is calm and quiet and within a few minutes has one in his lap letting him pet it. (If Phoenix’s little baby crush wasn’t solidified already, it is now. Chickens are great judges of character, and he loves seeing how gentle Miles is with them.)

Also during disbarment his parents are concerned about him and continually suggest the idea of him coming home, maybe not even to work on the farm (although nowadays many farm owners also have other jobs) but maybe the courts will be lenient and let him be a small town attorney (especially now as a parent he needs a more stable job to support Trucy). Phoenix resists however because 1) Trucy is going through enough changes; he doesn’t want to put her through a new lifestyle and take her away from what she is familiar with, 2) he truly believes he will find a way to prove his innocence, and 3) [the sass comes out] “I want to help defend the innocent - not the deadbeats who want custody of their child even though they never have food in the kitchen or a steady job”

He gets personally offended by Jake Marshall. Like, dude... did you spend one day in Ft Worth (the most stereotypical Cowboy City in Texas) and decided that was what the whole state was like? No one talks and acts like that (or maybe that’s just me projecting)

Most people can’t tell Phoenix is from the country, but he does have certain mannerisms and a practiced lack of any accent that people can tell he’s not native to big city life. Honestly the biggest tell is when he refers to anyone (especially those with authority, but anyone he’s trying to be polite to) sir or ma’am. He’s become careful, especially since some people will take it as an insult about their age (“oh I can’t believe I’m old enough to be referred to as sir/ma’am”) but when used at the right time it has won over a few individuals because “they aren’t used to talking with someone so cordial and polite”

Lotta and him butt heads, and I don’t think she catches on that he’s a country boy from the beginning, but in 2-4 he gets really heated at Miles and she overhears the accent slip out “Maya is kidnapped, I’m bein’ Blackmailed into goin’ against my beliefs and seekin’ the truth, and ya decide Now is the time to Waltz In and let me know YAINT ACTUALLY DEAD!” After that she has a bit more respect for a fellow country folk just trying to make it.

Also, to the one ask that suggested they knew each other, I’m imagining if he moved to the big city right before he met Miles, what if she was from before the move? They finally get talking over a couple of beers about growing up, she calls him out on being a country boy, and they realize that they were classmates up until 2nd grade or something but had changed so much they didn’t recognize/remember each other.

Body built for working. He’s not the type to work out, but he’s strong from just general biking into the city, fence mending, tree limb clearing, etc. Can also cook (and eat) well. Knows all the secrets to making a good roast, and will get offended if you refer to a cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers as a barbecue (it ain’t a barbecue unless the meat is smoked and slathered in sauce)

Also knows a lot about plumbing and electrical from making a room in the barn to be a laundry room. Just has a bunch of random skills where at the office something goes wrong and Mia says something like “I’ll call someone to fix it” and he’s asking her if she has any tools because he thinks he sees the problem and can fix it if she has even a basic toolkit. She pulls one out that hasn’t really seen the light of day in years (new office present from someone), and sure enough Phoenix gets it fixed.

Has boots and a hat somewhere, but really only wears them if majorly working on the farm or attending a country event like a rodeo or something. Although he does have quite a few plaid button-ups and jeans he’ll wear on more casual days. First time Miles sees him in that, he somehow becomes 10% gayer. (BOY LOOKS GOOD IN PLAID)

*(crashes back asleep)*

Holy SHIT, Azal.

[thelastspeecher]

I stumbled across a pretty great ATLA fanfic today and it made me want to write something, so I sat down and wrote more of my Gravity Falls Avatar AU, where Ford was identified as the Avatar as a child, but Stan turns out to actually be the Avatar, something that gets discovered when he accidentally airbends during a pro-bending match.

In the original version of the AU, Ford wasn’t misidentified as the Avatar; that’s a retcon.  And since I actually wrote and posted a couple things before the retcon, I just went back and edited them to be in line with Ford being misidentified as the Avatar.  Here are the two ficlets that are now officially retconned.

Anyways, this ficlet is just the start of the AU, where Stan stumbles across two siblings who need a firebender for their pro-bending team.  Enjoy.

——————————————————————————————

              Stan walked down the street, his hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched.

              Well, Stan, you made it to Republic City.  Now what?  The dream he’d had for years – of becoming a pro-bender – suddenly seemed further away than ever before, despite being in the world’s pro-bending hub.  The burn on his shoulder ached, despite being a week old by now.  Stan’s head drooped further.  He wasn’t supposed to be here alone.  He was supposed to be here with Ford.  

              But after screwing up Ford’s shot at going to Ba Sing Se University, his brother didn’t even want to look at him.  Even after the Agni Kai Stan had with their father, which he’d lost.  That night, while Stan struggled to fall asleep and whimpered from the pain of the fresh burn, Ford had said and done nothing.

              It only made sense to leave.  Stan didn’t want to live with a father who hated him, a mother who was disappointed in him, and a twin brother who sat in silence while he was in pain.

              What’s the disgraced, disowned, and dishonored twin of the Avatar supposed to do?  Stan kicked a rock.  It bounced off a nearby fruit stand.  This is bull.  For years, I’ve wanted to come here, and now that I’m here, I can’t-

              “We still need a firebender,” a voice said nearby.  Stan’s head jerked up.  Two young people about his age stood behind the fruit stand.  Judging by their appearances and clothing, they were a brother and sister, likely Earth Kingdom.  Maybe even Earth Kingdom nobility.  The way they held themselves reminded Stan of the upper-crusts that would visit after Ford was announced as the next Avatar.

              “Where are we goin’ to find one of those?” asked the girl.  Stan raised an eyebrow at her accent.  The uncouth way she spoke didn’t match her more refined appearance.  “Firebenders don’t exactly grow on trees.”

              “Maybe we put out an ad?” suggested her brother.  “Say we need a third fer our pro-bending team?”  His sister sighed.

              “Do you have any clue what kind of weirdos would respond to an ad like that?” she demanded.  Stan straightened his back and strode over to the fruit stand.  He slapped on his smarmiest grin.

              “Couldn’t help but overhear that you two need a firebender for your pro-bending team,” he said with a wink.  The siblings looked at him doubtfully.  Stan held out an open palm.  A ball of fire crackled into existence above it.  “I just so happen to be one of those.  And I’m damn good, if I do say so myself.”

              Up close, the siblings looked less like Earth Kingdom and more like one of the blended families that were becoming increasingly commonplace.  They weren’t as stocky as Earth Kingdom people tended to be, and the boy had startlingly blue eyes that could only come from a Water Tribe.  The siblings looked Stan up and down for a moment, then exchanged a look.

              “What’s yer name?” the boy asked after a moment.

              “Stan.  Stan Pines.” Stan held his breath, praying that they wouldn’t recognize his name.  As the Avatar’s twin brother, he was more well-known than he’d like, but he also wasn’t a household name.

              At least, not yet.  Once I become the best pro-bender in the world, I will be.

              “Hmm,” said the girl, frowning thoughtfully at Stan.  She met Stan’s gaze, her olive-green eyes staring into Stan’s golden ones.  “…Okay.”

              “Uh, are ya sure?” her brother asked.  She nodded.

              “My gut says we can trust him.  And I trust my gut,” she said firmly.  The brother shrugged.

              “If yer good enough fer my sister, yer good enough fer me.”  He held out a hand for Stan to shake.  “The name’s Lute McGucket.  This is my baby sister Angie.”  Stan extinguished his flames and shook Lute’s hand.  The movement tugged on his raw wound.  He let out a gasp of pain.  Angie and Lute’s eyes widened in worry.

              “You all right?” Angie asked, coming around to the front of the fruit stand.

              “Yeah, just, uh, just pulled something, that’s all,” Stan fibbed. Angie’s gaze landed on his back. She gasped.  “I know, my ass is pretty-” Stan started, trying to keep her from focusing on the burn.

              “Lute, get some water, he’s got the nastiest burn I’ve ever seen!”

              “How could you see it?” Stan muttered.  “I’m wearing a shirt.”

              “It’s seeping through the fabric,” Angie replied.  Her brother came over with a water flask.  He winced at what he could see of Stan’s burn.

              “Oof.  I don’t feel comfortable healin’ that.”

              “Did you get any medical care fer it?” Angie asked.

              “No,” Stan answered, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

              “Your parents didn’t bother to take ya to a healer or anything?”

              “Fuck my parents,” Stan said without thinking.  Angie and Lute were silent.  “Look, just tell me where to meet for practice or whatever, and-”

              “Lute, pack up the stand,” Angie said, ignoring Stan.  “Stan, look at me.”  Stan reluctantly did as he was told.  “Our pa is a great healer.  Come with us to our place.  He can help ya out.”

              “I don’t have any money.”

              “You don’t need any.  He’ll do it without chargin’ ya.”  Angie grabbed his hand and dragged him over to a nearby beat up car.  “Get in.”

              “I don’t-” Stan started.  The ground lifted under his feet, propelling him into the car.  “What the- are you kidnapping me?”

              “No,” Angie said.  “Once you get healed, yer free to go.”  Stan opened his mouth.  “Yer on our pro-bending team now, right?  You can’t fight in yer condition.”  Stan closed his mouth, disgruntled.

              “Fine,” he muttered.  “Your dad can heal me, but then I’m leaving.”

----- 

              “I think that it’ll only need a couple more healin’ sessions fer ya to be back to normal, son,” Mr. McGucket said cheerfully as he bended the water off Stan’s shoulder and into a bucket.  “That infection ya got was nasty, but ya beat it fast.  You’ve got a lot of gumption in ya.”

              “…Thanks,” Stan mumbled.  He stood up and put his shirt back on.  The day Angie and Lute had dragged him to their home, which turned out to be a farm on the outskirts of the city, their father had taken one look at Stan’s burn and informed him it was infected and needed multiple separate healing sessions to be resolved.

              Before he knew it, Stan had been given a room to stay in, a bed to sleep in, and three square meals a day.  The meals were courtesy of Mrs. McGucket, who was surprisingly down to earth, despite coming from the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se.  Stan was quickly settling in with the McGuckets as part of their household. And, to his surprise, he liked it.

              Still not quite sure what Mrs. McGucket’s job is…  Mrs. McGucket had some sort of career that caused her to be out of the house most days, and judging by how tight-lipped she was about it, it was important.  But Stan couldn’t figure it out.  There was a knock on the door of Stan’s room.

              “Yeah?” Stan grunted.  The door opened to reveal Angie.  She beamed at Stan.

              “How are ya feelin’?” she asked.  Mr. McGucket clapped a hand on Stan’s uninjured shoulder.

              “He should be in fightin’ shape within a coupla days, dragonfly-bunny.  Then you ‘n yer brother can start trainin’ with him.”

              “Great!” Angie chirped.  Mr. McGucket squeezed Stan’s shoulder and left the room with the bucket of water he’d used to heal Stan.  Angie cocked her head.  “My pa answered for you.  How are ya feelin’?”

              “A lot better than before,” Stan said truthfully.  Angie beamed, but her smile quickly vanished.  She looked down at the floor.  “…What’s going on?”

              “I…”  Angie chewed her lip.  “I heard yer name on the radio today.”  Stan held his breath.  “At least, I thought it was yer name at first.  But it wasn’t.”  Angie looked up at him again.  “Stan, why didn’t you tell us yer brother was the Avatar?”  Stan walked over to his bed and sat down.

              “Didn’t think it was relevant,” he said with a shrug.  Angie sat next to him.  “I’m here ‘cause you needed a firebender for your pro-bending team.  Ford doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

              “Yes, but…”  Angie sighed. “That’s still a major detail to keep secret!”

              “So?” Stan grunted.  “We haven’t known each other that long.”

              “You live here.”

              “By accident,” Stan pointed out, eliciting a soft snicker from Angie.  “Look, I probably woulda told you guys at some point, but…”  He trailed off, unwilling to be vulnerable in front of her.  Angie nodded.

              “I get it.  I’m the youngest of six.  I don’t get to be my own person most days.  I’ve always been referred to as the baby sister of one of my siblin’s.”  She shuddered.  “I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt to grow up in the shadow of yer own brother.”

              “That’s what happens when your brother’s the Avatar,” Stan said, feigning a casual tone.  Angie rolled her eyes.  “So, are you the only person that knows?”

              “Lute knows, too.  We were in the same room when we heard yer brother’s name on the radio.”  Angie grinned cheekily at Stan.  “I was chosen to talk to ya ‘cause you tend to go easy on me.”

              “Only ‘cause fire can boil water,” Stan muttered, looking away.  “Won’t do anything to a rock.”  Angie laughed.  Stan felt himself blush fiercely.  “Your parents don’t know?”

              “I mean, I’d be surprised if they didn’t.  Ma’s part of the White Lotus, so she’s on top of Avatar business,” Angie said casually.  Stan whipped his head around to stare at her.

              “Your mom’s what?”

              “You didn’t know?”

              “No!”  Stan ran a hand through his hair.  “That explains a lot, though.  Especially the thing about her knowing who my brother is.”

              “Yeah, Lute ‘n I were confused by how much she just…watched ya when you first arrived,” Angie said cheerfully.  “Now, we know why.”

              “Hmph.”

              “And since Ma and Pa tell each other everything, Pa definitely knows, too.”

              “Great,” Stan muttered.

              “Why are you upset about that?”

              “You said it yourself.  I’ll always be in Ford’s shadow.  I’ll always be the Avatar’s brother.”

              “Not ‘round here, ya aren’t.”  Angie smiled sweetly at him.  “Yer just Stan to us.  And knowin’ ‘bout yer fam’ly won’t change that.”  She got up off the bed.  “I best go help in the garden.  Dinner should be ready in ‘bout half an hour.”

              “Got it.”  Angie left the room.  Stan stared at the wall for a few minutes.

              Not “the Avatar’s brother, Stan”.  Just…Stan.  A slow smile crept across his face.  I could get used to that.

[tcbefree]

hey ! i’m blossom, i’m sixteen, i go by any pronouns, i fell so hard ice skating once that i got an actual gash. i’m on discord @ dios mio #2857 & here on any of my tumblr accounts. this is my introduction to my six character, sky ! read under the cut for about her and some wcs. FIND HER PINTEREST HERE.

( JENNIE KIM, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER ) — ✧ that looks like SKYLAR MCCOY/ARTEMIS CREED! they’re the TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD DAUGHTER of HANK MCCOY/TAKEN BY VICTOR CREED. [ they are also a UNDERGRAD & PSYCH TA at paragon. ] i hear they’re ADROIT & JOCULAR, but tend to be CRUEL & SELFISH. her file says that her power is GENETIC ATAVISM & GENIUS INTELLIGENCE. { blo’s rly goin thru it }

tw : graphic descriptions of violence, child abuse, and kidnapping, blood, death

i / v.  ｢    background  ! ｣

skylar mccoy is born with desire so deep in her being it leads her to do things she does not want nor understand. above all else, she wants to be free. this does not often line up to the situations she is found in.

her childhood is a mystery hidden in plain sight. her first memory is that field. they lived in a pretty home, nice and big and suited for one hank mccoy. there were always people to be around and her father was always there for her.

born to the silver of the moon, on the summer solstice, are the mccoy twins, famous beyond themselves. hank’s little science experiments. their first cries echoed against the cold walls of the lab and the warm arms of a beast that was not a beast.

skylar helix & margot astra. small, clawed, fanged... twins in every aspect of the word.

in another world, they would have grown up together. learned to love together, learned to drive together, learned to live together. they wouldn’t know despair. they wouldn’t know what it was like to reach for someone who would never be there. they wouldn’t know the shadow of tragedy, the way it sticks to different parts of ones being.

they wouldn’t miss something they could barely remember.

skylar is five when she learns how to get out of it without anyone knowing. she is like her father in many ways, but most importantly, smart beyond her wits. in that time, when she does escape, she wanders, as if her feet are driven by something else. not logical, certainly not. something primal, that shakes her bones.

when she finds that field, she’s six. it’s the only thing she remembers, and later, the only thing she remembers vividly. how it was filled with flowers. it smelt wild. like the modernization hadn’t ever thought to touch it, like it never would dare. and when she is six years old, she is in that field again. it’s close enough to her home that she can get back quick, but far enough that she has to memorize the path.

skylar is much older when the particular memory of meeting him for the first time comes back. but when she had first saw him, ugly and ferocious, she growled, a low thing that vibrated her bones. she thought he was an animal, and he would stalk in the opposite direction at her tone.

whether he was an animal or not, that was up to debate. but that he stood his ground was not.

victor creed was on a mission for the hand when he found her. skylar was alone and little, and everything he could hope for. for skylar didn’t look much human either. she was clawed and fanged and her ears pointed. she fought with urges that were not those that came from the twenty-first century.

she is amazing and intuitive and smart beyond her years, but she does not realize that he’s taking repertoire until he’s baiting her. he steals her and gives her a new identity. after that, skylar mccoy disappears. artemis creed takes her place.

she doesn’t find out for years that she had made news, that for the years that passed someone would put out an article as a reminder of the date, that people really were looking for her. ( SKYLAR MCCOY : MISSING )

victor makes himself the only figure in her young life. everything she does, it depends on him. he orders: to act, to think, to breathe.

artemis, back when it was still artemis, thinks that being with him, of running, living in the woods, it’s an awful lot like being free. she’s not given a home again. she is given a leader. follow him, do what he wants, or else.

she’s seven when she realizes that she is not going back. by the time she is seven, she’s learned the definition of abuse in absolutely chilling detail. she learns, then, survival.

artemis learns something very important about herself. she might be the girl who can’t look people in the eye anymore, who flinches when doors slam, who writes up schemes in her head of the various ways she can bring down her father. she learns that when it came to kill or be killed, she was always going to choose kill.

victor tells her often that she is made for him. he is the reason for her being. artemis, over that next year, her first year with him, kills all her memories of that house in the open, of that father who was a father. of this soul she shared ━ thoughts, tired eyes, a blood curse. she forgets because forgetting is easier.

artemis has a problem, victor always tells her after she does something that ‘ makes ‘ him beat her. ( that will always be her second memory: her, trying to bring herself to her knees. victor, smiling cruelly down at her, hand dripping of blood. )

she can’t obey, he tells her. artemis spits blood and smiles. she’s always been free, she tells him. all her wit gets her is another hit. victor tells her he should be more like victoria.

artemis learns that she is not a girl. she’s the animal her body wants her to be. the claws, and the fangs, and the ears. victor does not care about her intelligence. he cares about how much power she can pack into a punch. how much force it takes her to rip someone’s throat with her teeth. how easily she can sneak up on an enemy.

he’s not the perfect teacher. if she does not get it on the first try, he starves her. or hits her. or anything, really. what he makes up for in intelligence, he has in spades for creativity. but artemis is the perfect student, though.

she meets this perfect ‘ victoria ‘ when she is nine. she, victor tells her, is what you’re going to be. ( skylar does not ask: blank ? caged ? raw ? ) she looks up at her, and artemis thinks to herself that her and victoria, despite being sisters, do not look very much alike.

sisters & not alike. it stands out to her. it feels wrong. 

she wonders about victoria sometimes, after that, when their paths cross again. she grows bitter, in this way she does not want, that she’s second-rate. how can she spend all her time with this man & still not be the best ?

( because she is free, she is free, she is free. she is still skylar mccoy. she has people looking for her. she never learned to listen. her tongue runs before her. his violence can not degrade her spirit. )

when artemis is fourteen, though she does not know that she is fourteen, her father has left her alone in the city and tells her to not return to him until night. this is not out of character of him. artemis, always, comes back to him.

she had wondered at first, why she did it, but the answer was easy. if she didn’t, victor would kill her. she wasn’t his perfect daughter, she was the one that he ‘ saved, ‘ the one he was trying to fix of her own crimes of humanity.

she wanders until she finds a diner and walks inside. she looks as she always does. dirty and wide-eyed, but enough like some other homeless city kid that it does not make people turn.

she orders a soda because that’s the only thing she has enough money for, and sits and waits. the news is on the tv in front of her, so it’s with that she occupies her time. victor doesn’t tell her about things like those. he keeps her shrouded in a bubble. he tells her that people are poison. that anyone but him cannot be trusted, because they’ll lie to girls like her.

she does not have a reason to not believe him, but she is a smart girl, so she knows she also does not have a reason to.

the news roll on and on. it’s mundane. they talk about robberies and jumpings, of people bleeding to death in alleys and on cold linoleum floors. she thinks there are much worse ways to die. the man whose throat she had slashed with her claws two days ago, whose blood was black, whose eyes were wide open the entire time.

then, they talk about something else.  ❝ it’s been eight years to the day, ❞ the news anchor says, voice both sympathetic and void, for it has to be, she thinks. ❝ since prodigy child skylar mccoy, half the famous mccoy twins, went missing from her home in upstate new york. there have been dozens of reports all across the world, but nothing has come up with an answer to where she disappeared. her father, doctor henry mccoy released ― ❞

artemis does not hear the rest. her entire body goes rigid. it sparks something within her that was diminished long ago. the names, so familiar, and as was the story. she feels disoriented and confused, and like she can’t breathe.

artemis drops her few soiled bills in front of her and flees from the diner and throws up right there on the sidewalk. a concerned woman comes up to her, but when artemis growls, she backs away.

she does not remember, not right away, but there’s a part of her that thinks she knows, now. she takes this realization with startling calmness. artemis finds herself walking back to the cabin they have made up stay in. by the time she gets there, it is dark.

the walk clears her head. being in the forest makes her feel better. artemis doesn’t burst into the cabin, demanding answers. she’s too smart for that. she comes in quietly and goes to the space on the floor that victor had allowed her to sleep on. she makes a plan.

artemis, before she goes to sleep that night, figures out three things. three things, that she knows to be irrevocably true. firstly, she was the missing skylar mccoy. second, victor creed was the man who had taken her. third, she was going home, wherever that may be.

it does not happen in the snap of a few months. she needs time. it’s three years until she’s managed to find her opportunity. by then, she is another asset of the hand, officially, though victor is still with her every step.

if she is the weapon, he is the hand wielding her.

she thinks, in part, the time it took her is not just because of the plan. it is also because, deep down, in this undeniable way, she was scared to leave him. he was all she knew. her memories had not come back yet.

when she realizes this, it comes with something else, too. why had she been scared to leave him ? because he had caged her. she was no longer free. she had never been free but had just convinced herself that she was.

so, the plan commences, then, days later, for once and for all. they’re on a mission and skylar pretends to slip up, to fall in battle. she lets herself be brutalized to the brink of death.

victor kills the man who does it, but it’s too late. she lays on the ground as he stands above her. his voice is unapproving and angry.  ❝ a waste, ❞ he says, as her eyes flutter shut. she hears as her breathing slows. victor’s footsteps leave.

skylar, for one terrifying moment, thinks that her plan will actually fail. that she will really die. that getting away from him will be her end. but then she’s being swept into darkness with the lasting thought that, at least, victor will not eat her body.

when she wakes up, it’s to a new world. it must be days later, or at least that’s how it feels. her wounds are mostly healed. she must’ve not been hit in any organs or arteries, then. if she had, she’d be dead. ( it’s just another thing skylar never told victor about. )

she brings herself to her feet. she feels it again. freedom. victor thinks she’s dead. he won’t be coming for her anytime soon ; when he does, she will be protected. she lets out a giddy laugh as she starts to walk, weak and hungry, toward the main road. she walks into the first store she sees and tells them her name and then she asks for a phone.

it’s at the police station that she meets her family again. 

identical eyes met one another. margot. the one who made it. they stand together, arms wrapped around each other. skylar, dirty & beaten, and impossibly, unbelievably alive.

as soon as hank sees her, he cries and she finds herself doing so too, though she has trouble understanding why. 

she tells them a quiet voice that she knew that they looked for her. she tells them she’s sorry. they don’t want to hear it.

she goes back to the house she grew up in. her memories from before are fuzzy, but they come back with time. people re-introduce themselves to her, and sometimes she replies with a memory, and sometimes nothing comes.

the only one that she remembers is margot. or maybe remembers is the wrong word. she’s trying, but it comes easy with her. like she was made to know her. they will never be so close to another being as they were.

margot is always going to be her favorite hiding place. a secret she never wanted to tell.

it had always been that for her. margot was always there. she didn’t remember her the right way, but she was still a fixture. in dreams, flashes of memories, stories she does not remember being told.

warm, brown eyes, a loud peal of laughter, their treehouse...

skylar is candid with them in a way that she knows makes people uncomfortable. she tells her father everything. what victor did to her. that she didn’t remember him or herself for a very long time. that she’s killed people, hundreds, with her bare hands, with her teeth, with knives and beatings, like it was nothing.

no one rejects her. they all speak in common tongues: you did what you had to do to survive. skylar knows that she could have done better, though. she doesn’t tell them that it was easy. that she knew that she had a decision, in those moments. her or them. that she had chosen her, every time, and she would again. she thinks that would make them uncomfortable, too.

they send her to school and to therapists as well, because, naturally. skylar’s, as expected, a genius, just like her father. even advanced subjects manage to bore her. she enjoys math and science, most of all, but school is more of a hobby than anything else for skylar. she prefers doing other things, trying to catch up with everything she lost.

ii / v.  ｢    powers  ! ｣

genetic atavism doesn’t fall over on the ‘ cute ‘ end of the power spectrum, but skylar wouldn’t ever change anything about herself, even if she was willing to at least partially blame victor taking her on how she appeared.

it’s a regression, in a way. to an earlier form. for skylar, it manifests in more animalistic features. claws, fangs, and pointed ears from the day she was born. it’s not the sort of mutation one can hide, not that she’d ever want to.

skylar has never been ashamed of her powers. she never will be. ( if that, in part, is because of victor, well, that doesn’t need to be explored. )

with atavism comes more than looks. she’s enhanced. in speed, strength, agility, senses, and reflexes, just like those of an animal. she has a healing factor, one that saved her life. it’s not very powerful, but it will heal her acceleratedly from any non-mortal wounds.

on the less beneficial end of this spectrum is her animal instincts. they are easily taken advantage of. she’ll have impulses that are not those a normal human posses. she’s an extrovert to the extreme, always drawn to places she deems ‘ wild. ‘ it’s lead to more than a few problems.

iii / v.  ｢    work ! ｣

skylar becomes a person of society again at seventeen. she doesn’t ever attend high school, despite that she is, in fact, back in time to go for one year. they spend a year rehabilitating her, instead.

skylar doesn’t think she needs to be rehabilitated. she has trouble understanding severity. she always has. she hates knowing that what victor did took so much from her.

eleven years of her life, of her childhood, that she will never get back. from ages six to seventeen, she was a ghost because of him.

the trauma she deals with is the one side of the rehabilitation. skylar is deeply scared but has problems with admitting to this. it runs through even the most simple parts of her being.

when she’s seventeen, and she’s been back five months, for the first time since then she manages to anger her father. naturally, it’s because skylar did something she was expressly told not to.

hank does not yell at her, but rather calmly explains why what she did was wrong. skylar, for all her disregard, understands and apologizes. she doesn’t understand why he doesn’t hit her though. when she tells him this, and he looks like he might cry, she doesn’t understand that either.

skylar’s miseducation runs deep. she’s still trying to rectify it.

the other half of her rehabilitation is… school, really. skylar was in kindergarden when she was taken, but she was at a fourth-grade level. catching up is scary easy for her. skylar could still read and write, and everything else had faded with the rest of her memories, but it comes back.

she goes through everything at once. it would take a normal person years what takes her months. she is the daughter of one the smartest people on the planet, mister six phds.

hank lets her go back to school and into paragon after she passes her ged ( a seven & a half hour long test which skylar completes in three after chugging a starbucks espresso ). skylar runs to join margot.

skylar’s father makes a joke about her majoring in psychology. he see’s her suppressed emotion bullshit for what it is: bullshit. so… skylar majors in psychology, just to spite him for it.

she’s twenty-two, but almost completed her degree with the number of credits she has. after this, she’s thinking she’s going to apply to be a school counselor but also go for a biochemistry degree. she’s trying to outdo her dad & sister both.

skylar isn’t very devoted to school ; she considers it rather rudimentary. but she is smart enough to be concerned about her future.

iv / v.  ｢    personality ! ｣

skylar is usually one of the smartest people in the room, but you’d never guess it in a million years. she’s flamboyant and loud. she purposefully misunderstands people in order to make fun of them.

she positively radiates chaotic energy. skylar’s not a girl you bring home to your parents. she’s the girl you only talk to in a party setting. she’s known for being excruciatingly honest. don’t ask her what she thinks unless you’re ready to bear the weight of it.

skylar has problems taking things seriously. she’d rather not be deep or poetic. she can’t stand people she considers downers. she doesn’t want to talk about her feelings. she still, in a way, wants to forget, but this time it’s different.

acknowledging what victor did to her makes it more real than she would like. she doesn’t think she could stand it. of how susceptible she was, how stupid. she let her instincts get the better of her. she was just a little kid, all alone through her own making.

skylar feels responsible. she knows what they would tell her if she aired this: that she is not. she doesn’t need to air this.

but still, for all her frilliness, for all her diversion, for her play-acting at being some useless character, skylar does not hesitate to show her true colors. you don’t want to cross her. she’s gotten in trouble countless times by countless school officials & therapists alike for threatening people with harm.

skylar doesn’t really understand the problem with letting people know how powerful she is, that’s the thing. the girl she put in a chokehold deserved it, she thinks. she doesn’t see the issue.

v / v.  ｢    wanted connections !    ｣

people who knew her from victor ! someone who knew her as artemis. this can range far and wide, from someone with a personal conenction to victor or who just saw them passing through.

people who see thru her nonchalance ! they, for whatever reason, can see past all her fake ‘ fine ‘ bullshit. they call her out on it.

tutor-ee ! she’s a genius, certifiably. against all odds, she still remains a top student at the school. skylar’s definitely tutorted people, now and in the past.

other ! i’m always up for new ideas. if this sparked an interest in you, feel free to message me here or on discord.