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prvtbugsbuggins · 3 years

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Caboose and his ungodly amount of sisters.

A post for both my reference and for you all to enjoy.

The idea of Military Alphabet being used as names was inspired by Red Battalion, Blue Regiment by @tinfoil-jones. It's a great fic u guys plz.

More stuff under the cut.

Caboose and his sisters were all taken from a pool of war orphans during the great war. All of them had their homes glassed and barely escaped with their lives. The oldest at the time was little more than a small kid, so many of them don't remember having parents or a life before they were taken into the SPARTAN III program. For all they know, this was all normal to them.

Indiana was the oldest and was the one to remember what parental love was all about, so she was the one who kept an eye on everyone else and did her best to be sure that they had love while growing up. Their training was extremely harsh and she made sure it was as fair as it could be.

Here are the siblings, from oldest to youngest. Once they were old enough to leave the program, all of them chose their own names. Caboose was chosen as the last name, and all of them keep it as a sign of solidarity.

Name: Indiana ‘Indy’ Carnation Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Dark brown and tan

Designation: INDIA

Description: Freckled pale skin with green eyes and red hair that she keeps short. Absolutely stacked. 9Ft tall even. Is missing a leg but has a cool cyborg one to replace it. Defacto ‘leader’ of the Spartan Siblings and tends to call the shots. Is high enough rank to make sure her siblings are treated well no matter where they end up.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Holly.

---

Name: Holiday ‘Holly’ Yuletide Caboose

Rank: Major General

Armor Color: Green and Red

Designation: HOTEL

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and black hair that she keeps long. 8’11’’ tall. Is built more slender but can still break your neck. Is the one who usually keeps track of all the siblings and makes sure they are okay. Organizes the yearly get together.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Indiana.

---

Name: Winter Solstice Caboose

Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 5

Armor Color: White and Winter-mint Green

Designation: WHISKEY

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and white-blonde hair that she keeps short. 7’9’’ tall. Is built more slender and is stupidly flexible, giving her a rep as an escape artist.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works as a battlefield tactician and invents war-games for training purposes.

---

Name: Tango Rio Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Black and White

Designation: TANGO

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and blonde hair that was kept short. Was more short and squat but absolutely stacked. 8 ft tall even. Used to bench press actual benches with people on it.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Vicky Ableton Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Teal and Pink

Designation: VICTOR

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and hair that’s always in a different color done in a ‘fluff hawk’ hairstyle. 8Ft tall even and built more slender. Is faster than the other siblings in terms of speed.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently works as a DJ and plays for raves while making her own music.

---

Name: Sierra Nevada Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Tan and Gold

Designation: SIERRA

Description: Rust colored skin with black eyes and black hair kept long. 8’5’’ tall and was more focused on martial arts, so she was rather slender. Could one inch punch people across a room.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Charlie Beatrix Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Green and Brown

Designation: CHARLIE

Description: Warm dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Built more chubby and squat at 8’6’’ tall. Can hug you to death though, so be careful. Used to be able to pick up cars so the wheels could get changed faster.

Currently: Alive and retired. Writes and illustrates children's books based off stories she told Caboose when he was little.

---

Name: Luna Moonbeam Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Black and Blue

Designation: LIMA

Description: Pale skin with pale blue eyes and pale blonde hair kept long. Just pale, lol. 7’11’’ tall and built slender and trim. Is really good at psychology and has a knack for motivating people without them realizing it. Takes active interest in troop morale and writes papers on how to improve it.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works as a drill sergeant and her teams perform better because she gives them all lollipops when they do a good job.

---

Name: Juliet Romeo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Yellow and Green

Designation: JULIET

Description: Freckled pale skin with brown eyes and blonde hair kept long. Built like a muscular country farm-girl at 8’7’’ tall. Can pick up fully grown cattle and move them where they need to go.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works on a farm where she raises various livestock with her wife. Caboose gets to name all the baby animals born on said farm.

---

Name: Fox (Foxy) Trot Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Orange and Black

Designation: FOXTROT

Description: Tan skin with blue eyes and red hair kept short. More wiry and slender than most other sisters and stuck more to stealth tactics than outright assault. 7’10’’ tall.

Currently: MIA. Last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Echo Echo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Dark Blue and light Blue

Designation: ECHO

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Quite muscular and built at 8’6’’ tall. Usually specialized in hand to hand combat and liked to use knives and other bladed weapons.

Currently: MIA. Last seen scouting uncharted territory.

---

Name: Ollie Oxenfree Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Pink and White

Designation: OSCAR

Description: Pale skin with brown eyes and black hair, kept short. Is more slender and built more for stealth and misdirection type of combat. 8’4’’ tall and can pluck your heart out of your rib-cage if need be.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works as a therapist and specializes in PTSD traumas.

---

Name: November Showers Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Armor Color: Dark Red and Orange

Designation: NOVEMBER

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and orange hair kept short. Is built like a bruiser at a good 8’10’’ tall and a body to put bodybuilders to shame. Likes to count how many teeth she can knock out of someone’s head with one punch.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Kiki Piña Colada Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Light Pink and Light Yellow

Designation: KILO

Description: The smallest sister at 7’8’’ tall and slender. Pale skin with blue eyes and pink/blonde hair kept long. Enjoys looking pretty but is scarily good at assassinations. Likes to use her unassuming looks against people. Has beaten up selfish lovers.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains special forces troops.

---

Name: Bravo Blue Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Blue and Black

Designation: BRAVO

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and brown hair kept short in a buzz cut. Likes piercings and body mods. Has an unbelievable pain tolerance and likes to freak out her recruits using it. 8’10’’ tall and built like a linebacker. Sometimes will stand there and let people attack her and laugh at their attempts to hurt her. Will kill you if you make her siblings cry.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works on top secret things that are secret. It’s mostly boring stuff, like paperwork. She hates it.

---

Name: Quinn Sable Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Grey and Purple

Designation: QUEBEC

Description: Tan skin with green eyes and brown hair kept short. Tends to dye tips of hair purple. Is covered in tattoos. Is very muscular and big at 8’7’’ tall and can pop someone’s head off their body like a grape. Makes a newsletter for all her siblings so they know what’s going on with each other.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains forces in how to work together as a team and not die.

---

Name: Zelda Triforce Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Dark green and Light Blue.

Designation: ZULU

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and long dreads dyed in a wide range of colors. Built to be trim and slender. Could choke you out with her legs. Is 8ft tall even. Probably has ADHD and is very excitable.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently makes VR video games and programs for a living.

---

Name: Michael Jaybird Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Blue (the best blue)

Designation: MIKE

Description: It’s Caboose, our boy. 7Ft tall even with brown hair, blue eyes, and is built like a brick house. Gives the softest hugs, though.

Currently: Alive and in a mix of active duty and ‘retired’. Pets dinosaurs and plays ‘games’ with his squad.

---

If possible they all try to meet up together at least once a year and they actively send letters to each other. They will call if close enough, but since everyone is doing something different, it's unlikely that two siblings would be on a planet together at the same time. All of them are extremely protective over each other, especially to Caboose since he is the baby. Despite some being retired, they still have and wear their armor because it's so ingrained in themselves. Eventually many more will decide to retire and pursue other interests once they figure out what they like.

Also all of them have a barcode tattooed on them somewhere. Not for evil purposes, but because it's easier to scan a code that can't be removed and make sure you aren't going to kill your Spartan by accidently giving them a medication they are allergic to.

Feel free to use if you like as well. I will be using this as a reference for my own works, lol.

#rvb #red vs blue #caboose #Michael j caboose #caboose's 17 sisters #spartan!caboose #best siblings #for me and other people #mostly so i don't fuck up when I write #caboose is the literal baby #all of them are eccentric in their own ways #you can't help to be that when you've been raised from toddler stage to be warriors #the yearly get together is a real fun party tho #it goes on for days

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badass-at-fandoming · 4 years

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SOOOOOO I recently read Vampire: the Masquerade - Beckett comic and the story was a wee bit trash, but the artists gave Beckett some Looks(TM)

Plot summary the cut. It’s not what I thought it was :(

I thought this comic was a dual plotline of the WWII-era Beckett siring Marie and later 20th c. Marie and Jan using Jan/cool books as a honeypot to lure Beckett to his death. No such luck.

The comic does have dual plotlines and skips between them in a clear imitation of Neil Gaiman’s airy, atmospheric Sandman plotting. The art, dialog, and character building further echo Sandman. However, the writer, Mike Reynolds, is no Neil Gaiman, so instead of a chilling Gothic nightmare of our hero at his lowest, it’s a sort of confusing stumbling after Beckett in the fog.

In chronological order, the tale is this: Just ahead of the Allies on their final march to Berlin, Beckett races into the city to recover his friend Alexander and a mysterious Kindred puzzle box (we never find out what it’s supposed to contain or do, sadly). His footsteps dogged by panicking kine Nazis, Vykos’ goons, and Society of Leopold Hunters, he searches the city for Alexander and the artifact, only to find out that Vykos has already captured, tortured, and killed his friend. To add lemon juice to that wound, the artifact has fallen into the hands of the very cadre of Hunters he’s been avoiding.

When Beckett goes to confront the Hunters, a bomb falls on them. Beckett manages not to frenzy and finds the lone survivor: the fascist Marie, who he tangled with earlier. ANOTHER bomb falls, but Beckett protects her. The art is vaguely erotic in this scene, and I hate it. Beckett asks her repeatedly for the artifact. She repeatedly says she’d rather die and mocks him. Beckett loses it, Embraces her, dumps her in a makeshift haven with another Nazi for a first meal, and leaves Berlin. Vykos is angry that Beckett has slipped through their clutches once again. Their dialog regarding Beckett gives off vibes of a weird, homoerotic obsession. There’s an implication that they “train” Sabbat ground troops by sending them after Beckett.

Fast forward to 2002. Word has reached Beckett that the artifact he was after in the 1940s has resurfaced as a “lost treasure of WWII.” It will be displayed in a special WWII exhibit in one of Berlin’s museums. Bombs dropping or no, the Prince of Berlin is still upset that Beckett illegally Embraced Marie, so Beckett drifts through the city, remembering, until the gallery opening. The artifact seems to be genuine, and no other Kindred are at the museum, so Beckett feels safe enough to sneak in after hours and steal the artifact. He is promptly ambushed by Nazis, and he punches them, and that bit is quite nice.

Wondering whom could be targeting him on such an under-the-radar mission but not wanting to stick around to find out, Beckett escapes to the train with the puzzle box. Here the plot gets real choppy so this is what I THINK happens. As the train leaves the station, Beckett eagerly solves and opens the puzzle box...only to find a “Made in Taiwan” sticker inside. It’s a fake. A sudden idea hits. Beckett races to the train caboose in time to see Marie standing on the receding platform station. She triumphantly holds the REAL puzzle box. Beckett returns to his compartment, frenzies in a rage, destroys the compartment’s contents, and even hurts himself. D:

#vampire the masquerade #vtm #beckett #cuthbert beckett #gangrel #sascha vykos #vtm marie #beckett comic #text post

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aswallowssong · 3 years

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Second Child, Restless Child

Chapter 8 - Heaven Knows How Hard I Tried

@valkyrie-5583

Read on AO3

She lives! In all seriousness, everything has been absolutely crazy over the last few months. Things should be settling down now (though every time I say that, something else comes along. I promise I’m trying y’all.)

I’ll still be drabbling along and working with some of @themetaphorgirl‘s psolc AU because of course I will be. It’s my vice.

Kit is tired because she has to keep reminding Hotch that she isn't a part of his team. She's also tired because Garcia texted them all telling them there was a case, and to come in ASAP, at two in the morning. Good thing Kit worked a double, so she was already at the bureau, bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go. Not.

Kit rubbed at her eyes. Again. Hard. It was nearly two thirty in the morning, and she was standing in the hallway in front of the BAU double doors.

She had gotten a text at two, just as she was getting out of the shower down in the locker room.

Penelope Garcia: We have a case. Meet at the BAU ASAP.

It had caused her to raise an eyebrow, especially at Garcia’s use of the word we, but Kit assumed that meant that the case was medically involved. She wouldn’t be getting a message about it if she wasn’t needed. Not in the middle of the night. Not on a Saturday.

Thankfully, she had her go bag in her locker, and she could pull out one of the three outfits that fit so nicely inside the rigid black duffle to wear up to the bullpen, instead of the sweatpants and hoodie she’d anticipated wearing in the car on the way home.

There was no sign of anyone in the bullpen when she hit the glass doors, so she waited in the hallway, pacing with her arms crossed, backpack slung over her shoulders. What they were needed for at two in the morning on a Saturday (Sunday? She wasn’t sure that was fair if she hadn’t gone to bed yet) was beyond her. Didn’t serial killers work at night, and bodies show up in the morning? What could have happened to have Hotch rally the troops while they were still facing the pitch black night?

And why was she a part of those troops? The week or so since her meeting with Ramos, and then Hotch, and then Gideon had been uncomfortable to say the least. She’d played distance. She’d given her second health meeting just the day before, and it had gone exactly the way it needed too. She would do another the coming Friday, if they weren’t traveling.

She talked with Morgan more than anyone, and with Gideon not at all. Elle and JJ and even Penelope had made small talk with her, but they knew something was different. It was easily readable in the emotions that they so valiantly tried to hold back from their faces and body language. And she played nice with Reid, who all in all wasn’t incredibly annoying, though she noticed the way he hesitated if they were walking out at the same time. She’d yelled at him twice on the metro platform, and she guessed it had made him wary of her at night all together.

Good. She didn’t need anyone closer to her than necessary. Except, of course, Morgan. But their friendship hadn’t started in the bullpen. It had started on the track.

Kit didn’t need to be a part of their team.

At least, that’s what you tell yourself.

She moved out of the way of the man polishing the floor. He seemed confused that she was even standing there, and she didn’t want to get in his way. It wasn’t his fault that she was standing there, waiting for direction or instruction. Anything but pacing back and forth with her hands glued to her backpack straps.

It was far too early for being in the way.

The elevator opened, and out strode Hotch, Reid, Morgan, and Elle. They were talking as they came through the lobby, and Kit fell in step with them.

“So they've been here all night?” Morgan was asking, giving off both confusion and mild frustration.

Hotch was quick to respond, saying, “Apparently,” as if they weren’t all just dragged to the FBI for an unknown reason at two in the morning.

“Where else would any of us be on a Saturday night? It's not like we have lives or anything.” Elle offered, obvious sarcasm dripping off of her tongue. She was the first one to notice Kit walking with them, and she gave her a confused sort of head tilt before directing her attention to Morgan, who said, “Speak for yourself.”

Kit fell into step next to Morgan as they turned the corner towards their desks. He raised an eyebrow at her, but gave her a small smile and a clap on the shoulder as some of his annoyance seemed to slip away. “You got here quick, Lep.”

She laughed, shaking her head as the smile slipped from her face. “I’ve actually been here since six this morning.”

His eyes widened, and Elle turned to raise an eyebrow at her as their feet carried them further into the bullpen. “Why have you been here that long?”

“I worked a double. Monty’s sick, so it was me, or Ari, and they’ve been taking so many for me that I figured I’d take the hit this time.” She shrugged and nodded towards Hotch at the front of their pack, who was engaged, or feigning engagement, in whatever Reid was saying. “I guess I got more than I bargained for.”

“Isn’t the swing shift done down there at midnight?” Morgan asked, and Kit was quick to shake her head. “One. Ari came in at twelve forty-five, and I got to leave the floor at one fifteen.”

“It’s two thirty,” Elle said, “You didn’t leave?”

Kit sighed and tugged at one of her braids, shaking her head. “No. Our apartment has one bathroom, so if I wanted to shower without the risk of waking up Mont, I had to do it here. And trust me, after a double in the clinic with cadets, I want to burn my skin off.”

Reid was going a mile a minute at the front of their pack. Neither he or Hotch seemed to have noticed the three agents side-baring in the back. “Guys, we are about to meet Max Ryan, the guy responsible for catching the Boise Child Killer. Have you ever talked to him before?”

“He's pretty intense, brusque. Not much of a bedside manner,” Hotch responded.

“Sound like anyone else we know?” Elle teased as they started to set things on their desks, Kit shedding her backpack before starting to work on her jacket.

“I heard he was forced into early retirement,” Morgan added, shedding his own jacket and addressing Hotch, who unlike the rest of them, wasn’t shedding a jacket or a bag.

“No, he chose to retire,” Hotch answered easily.

Reid threw his coat over his chair as he said, “He's written a new book on the Keystone Killer case,” before they all started quickly falling into step behind Hotch.

“He moved to Philadelphia to be closer to the crime scenes.”

Kit raised an eyebrow and made eye contact with Elle. “He moved to Philadelphia?”

“That's retirement?”

Morgan spoke up from behind them, the caboose of their five person train. “BAU style.”

Note to self, Kody. If you stay the liaison for the BAU, you might want to retire close to a crime scene.

Rethink your career path.

When they made it to the conference room, Reid’s eyes darted to the screen. There were already browsers open with different images, all of which looked like word searches, and each with a message at the top. Gideon looked up as they walked in, noting Kit with skepticism, but not distaste, before continuing to speak with who Kit assumed was Max Ryan. She’d never heard of him. She’d never heard of the Boise Child Killer. There were so many things she’d been naive to for far too long.

Reid read from the screen easily. "Who in his mind has not probed the black water? John Steinbeck, East of Eden.”

“Story of good and evil,” Gideon noted, “love and hate.”

The man standing next to Gideon had to be the Max Ryan the rest of the team was talking about. He was older, more around Gideon’s age than any of theirs, and Kit could tell just from being in the same room that he had some baggage he desperately needed to unpack. He seemed focused, but not in the calm way Hotch or Reid, or even Gideon, often gave to her. The calm Ryan held was frustrated just under the surface.

“There's been some new activity on the Keystone Killer case,” he said with no other explanation.

Kit didn’t have any idea as to who that was.

“New?” Elle asked, clearly knowing exactly who it was.

Gideon nodded. “He was in Max's lecture last night.”

“What?” Morgan admonished in clear disbelief. “He got away?”

He was standing the furthest from the screen, but the closest to Kit. She’d hung back the second they’d gotten into the room, the insecurity of her unimportance and her lack of knowledge rooting her to a spot near the door she’d become accustomed to as she worked to distance herself.

“Would we have woken you up if we caught him?” Ryan said, allowing for an uncomfortable quiet to fall over the profiling team. Kit shifted her weight, tipping her head to the side and allowing herself to watch Ryan as he turned back to the screen. She couldn’t tell if he was enjoying himself.

Obviously he was personally invested in the case, which she didn’t quite have an opinion on. In some ways, she thought the objectivity the team displayed was misplaced. She’d never been able to be completely objective in the clinic or on the ER floor, despite always trying to be, so she couldn’t fault his passion.

She just hoped it wouldn’t get in the way.

Gideon spoke into the quiet. “He handed this letter to the security guard.”

“And he included two drivers' licenses with it,” Ryan added.

“One is from his last victim.”

“Last known victim.”

“Amy Jennings, strangled in 1987.”

Gideon and Ryan were back and forth, information coming from both men in a way that mimicked alley dogs pulling back and forth on a bone. They had the same information, but in a strange turn of events, it was Gideon that was tugging towards conservatism. How incredibly refreshing.

Kit’s brain switched gears as she noticed Reid mumbling to himself, holding what looked like a word search. She couldn’t be sure, her angle wasn’t very good.

Maybe if you’d walk closer, you could see what was going on.

Why? It isn’t like you’d be able to help anyway.

“Do you see something?” Gideon was asking him,

"Yeah, what is the significance of black bra and grey wool socks?"

Ryan replied easily. "That's what Amy Jennings was wearing when we found her."

As if the mental image of a dead young woman in nothing but a bra and socks was very normal, and not disturbing at all in any way.

Why would someone remember that after so long? Why would that be so incredibly important?

Morgan seemed to echo her inner thoughts. “That's a lot of detail to remember for twenty years. The Green River Killer couldn't remember where the bodies were buried, much less what they were wearing.”

“Well, some unsubs take pictures and print them themselves so they can manipulate the scene, bring it to life. That would explain the level of detail.”

Every day I work here is another deadbolt I put on the apartment door.

She let her mind wander, not giving much attention to the ideas spinning around the room.

The woman, Carla Bromwell, had been suffocated, and Kit knew that less than a minute without oxygen could do irreversible damage to the human brain. Even if they did find these women, there wasn’t anything she could do to help them. They’d be gone before she could get to them. She wouldn’t go with the team, and she’d be going to retrieve their shared car from the parking lot in half an hour.

Good, they might be gone Monday, and it’s easier to be in the office alone. No one to dodge, no one to try to convince me to get closer to these people than I have to.

She was shaken from her near-trance by JJ’s voice. The blonde had come in through the side door by the screen, dropping a file onto the table in front of Morgan, who was seated now. Kit hadn’t even noticed he’d sat down.

“I'd say good morning,” she said, carrying a cup of coffee Kit desperately wished was her own, “but, it's still dark outside.”

“Who's this?” Morgan asked, looking at the photo of a clearly dead woman with pinched eyebrows. Kit hadn’t even noticed she’d gravitated to stand right behind him, looking over his shoulder at the image.

“Carla Bromwell.” JJ turned to Gideon, not giving Morgan, or Kit, anything more before speaking. “Gideon, can you put it on the news?”

Gideon did as she asked, the screen lighting to show a reporter already in the middle of a segment.

“The Philadelphia police were notified late last night of a letter that was hand delivered to this news station. Apparently it was written by the infamous Keystone Killer, who's wanted in connection with the murders of seven women back in the late 1980's.”

Seven? This man killed seven women and they never caught him?

“He also included a photograph of a woman. She appears to be dead in the photo, suffocated with a plastic bag. Now, subsequently police discovered a body in the Overbrook area, but they are not confirming that it's the woman in this picture.”

Hotch was the first one to speak, drawing eyes as he simply said, “He works fast.”

“It's an understatement, isn't it?” Gideon said, and for maybe the first time in the six weeks Kit had worked with the man, she had to agree with him.

Hotch stood from his seat next to Morgan, moving towards the door as he said, “Meet you on the plane in thirty minutes.”

Kit found her eyebrows coming together as he said that. Did he mean everyone? He couldn’t possibly have meant her. But she wasn’t dismissed either.

Her legs moved quickly to catch up with him, needing twice as many at a more rapid rate to ever hope to catch up.

“Sir?” She called, just a little louder than socially acceptable at three in the morning.

“Colghain,” he said easily. He didn’t slow down, or stop, or even turn to face her.

Kit moved a little more quickly, following him into his office and watching as he pulled his go bag from underneath his desk.

“Sir, why did Garcia text me for this one? I don’t see the medical necessity in this case, and if we’re traveling, Ramos was very specific in his last email that I’m not supposed to do any more traveling than necessary to meet my quota.”

Hotch stopped where he stood, hands poised above the zipper, and nothing in his face gave him away. The sincerity of his statement, however, could never be lost on her. “I told Garcia to text the team.”

Confidence. That’s what he was giving off, more for her benefit than anything else.

It didn’t stop her from being incredibly annoyed. “We talked about this,” she said evenly. “I’m not a part of your team.”

She was blocking the door, which she’d done intentionally. Hotch wasn’t going to get out of this conversation by brushing past her and out of the office. It didn’t matter that it was the middle of the night and the jet was leaving in half an hour; she was getting an answer.

“I know what you said,” he replied, his hand finally moving to secure the zipper before he checked his watch. “I don’t agree. You’re another capable agent in the field, and if we do find a victim before he has the chance to suffocate her, I want you there.”

“That’s a huge “if” for me to risk getting cited on.”

“You wouldn’t be cited, it would be my call.”

“My sister’s sick.”

“Do you have your go bag? If you don’t, I’ll believe you don’t want to be a part of this.”

Kit felt her entire being still. Of course she had her go bag, it was down in her locker. She always kept it ready to go, only taking it home to swap clothes before bringing it back

“I-” she started, cutting herself off when he caught her eye directly. She couldn’t lie to Hotch. She didn’t want to. “It’s in my locker.”

He gave her a single nod. “Go get it. Downstairs in twenty.”

She let him by as he strode past her, leaving her to stand in the doorway, staring into an empty office. She could feel the bustle of Morgan, Reid, and Elle grabbing their things; jackets and go bags they had brought from home.

A single moment she allowed herself to place her face in her hands, blowing out a heavy breath before straightening her shoulders.

-----

“How are we supposed to work with him? Gideon, he is not even an active agent.”

Morgan’s shifting into her space woke her, leaving her blinking her eyes open and unintentionally letting out a whine. She’d fallen asleep with her contacts in, and she was definitely going to pay for it. A hand came up to rub at her now burning eyes, but thankfully, no one seemed to be looking at her. They were paying attention to Gideon.

“He's here because he knows this case better than any of us. We're leading the investigation, he's only consulting.”

Morgan didn’t seem convinced, and he didn’t move out of her space. “Anyone tell him that?” He turned his attention to their boss, who had been the only one that had moved his focus to her now groggy state. “Come on, Hotch, Kit’s a better bet on this one, and she isn’t even a profiler.”

She turned her head slowly to face him, knowing that he hadn’t meant it to be rude, but probably as a compliment. That didn’t change her words as they rolled from her exhausted tongue. “I don’t know if that’s an insult or not, Morgan, but thanks.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Come on, Lep, I was-”

“I know, I’m giving you a hard time because you woke me from my first nap in…” she didn’t think as she reached across the entire table, pulling on Hotch’s right wrist until he could see his watch. “Does that say four? Íosa Críost.” She released her grip, Hotch pulling his wrist back towards him. She hadn’t noticed that discomfort had flooded their space, though no one else seemed to notice.

Hotch cleared his throat and nodded at Morgan. “Ryan is consulting. This was his case first, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the one leading. We are. It’ll be fine.”

Kit raised an eyebrow, but watched as Morgan relented, moving back out of her space and into his own seat. He wasn’t satisfied, that much was obvious to her, and she knew that there was a hostility that wasn’t going to fade.

She waited for the others to disperse a bit, leaving just Morgan next to her and Gideon across. She wasn’t sure exactly where she and Gideon stood. The last they’d spoken to one another was slightly confrontational, but had ended in a way that made Kit believe they were on some sort of sure footing. If they stayed out of each other’s way, no one would have to argue.

“Do you know how much time there is until we land?” She asked Morgan quietly, keeping her gaze from Gideon as he read through the file in front of him again.

Morgan shrugged. “Fifteen minutes? Maybe less. Did you really work a double?”

She nodded, sighing and physically stopping herself from rubbing at her burning eyes. “Yeah. My shift from eight to five, and then Monty’s from five to one.”

“How many hours is that? Fourteen?”

“Sixteen.”

Gideon’s voice surprised her, causing her head to snap in his direction. It was quiet for a moment before Kit nodded. “Yeah. Sixteen. And I was at the track this morning by six. My PFT is coming up.”

“Huh,” Morgan said. “You might have enough field hours to cover some of the sections, depending on when it is.”

“Monty, Ari, and I are all scheduled for April sixth.”

“The nurses in the clinic take Physical Fitness Tests?” Gideon asked in a voice that sounded both uninterested and curious in the same moment. Almost as if he cared about the answer, but not for the girl about to give it.

Regardless, she nodded. Talking was keeping her awake, and she needed to have her head in the game. Hotch had made her come, so she was going to be helpful. And conscious.

“Yeah, we all have the Special Agent rank, we just don’t use the title. "Nurse" is less intimidating to the cadets. Rather they see us as there to help rather than thinking we’re another supervisor they need to impress.”

He thought for a moment before nodding and turning back to the file in front of him. Nothing in his demeanor changed, but that didn't surprise her.

"So, what you're saying," Morgan teased, bringing her back to the jet, "is that you need to get your run time down."

She chuckled. "Right after you get this bastard."

"After we get this bastard," he said, emphasizing a little too hard on the 'we' for him to be subtle. Not that he was trying to be.

They'd had a few conversations at the track about the whole thing, but she was holding her ground.

Two of them are trying to convince you, Kody. Monty’s voice teased in her ear. Maybe you'd reconsider.

-----

It didn’t take long for Kit to find herself standing to the side, listening as JJ answered questions from the press. The poise and grace she held while batting questions away without so much as a blink was something Kit knew she would never be able to do. If they put her in front of those schmucks, she’d lose her temper in an instant.

“We are aware of the media reports-” JJ was saying before she got cut off.

“Is it the Keystone Killer?”

“-However,” she continued, ”we cannot confirm at this time. The FBI will be making a formal statement later on today.”

“We received more information from the murderer than the police. What's going on?” A different reporter, a man, called at her, before the same woman from before said, “We have the right to the truth.”

A flash of something that felt suspiciously close to annoyance flooded off of JJ before she said in a hard, impassive voice, “The Philadelphia police have to finish investigating this crime scene before we can make a statement. All of your questions will be answered at that time, so please be patient. That's all I can say.”

She walked away from the mob of reporters with Kit following at her heels. Both women were far too tired to be standing outside a crime scene, and JJ let her question drop in Kit’s lap.

“Aren’t you exhausted?”

It wasn’t probing, but genuinely curious. JJ had never been anything but nice to her.

“Sure, but I got a few minutes on the plane, and I nodded off a bit in the car,” Kit explained, fighting the urge to fiddle with her hands or her hair or her pants. The reporters hadn’t all left yet, and the last thing she needed was for them to run a story about a neurotic FBI agent. “I’m good.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

JJ shook her head, giving a sympathetic grin. “Because you don’t have to be. I’m tired, and I got at least four hours before Garcia’s text came through.

Kit shrugged. “I used to work ER shifts. Sometimes overnight. I’ve done a few 24 hour shifts in the trauma unit when I was nineteen…” She trailed off and waved her hand vaguely, becoming aware that she was sharing too much. JJ was on Hotch’s team, and she wasn’t. She didn’t actually care what Kit came from or what her past looked like. "Anyway, uh, what do you think of Ryan?”

“I think he’s going to get in the way," she answered smoothly, clearly letting whatever awkward tension Kit had fed into the atmosphere dissipate.

“Me too," Kit agreed, unsure of how much she should let on that she didn't think Max Ryan was going to be incredibly happy with letting the BAU take the lead. She was fully ready to discuss this when JJ took her bait.

“Hotch told me what you said."

JJ changed the subject without so much as a shift in posture, and Kit was so shocked she choked on the breath she was taking, coughing a few times into the crook of her arm.

“What?” She managed after a moment.

“About the whole, not-being-a-part-of-the-team thing.”

Kit shook her head, fighting not to roll her eyes.

Of course. Derek knew because you told him but everyone must know now. Does she think you’re an idiot?

Before she could respond, not that she knew how, JJ was speaking again. “He wanted me to tell you about when I first joined the team at the end of September.”

Kit felt her eyebrows draw together. “September?”

“That’s right,” JJ said, nodding as if her admission wasn’t incredibly jarring. “Started as the liaison for the BAU almost five months ago.”

“I thought you’d been here way longer than that,” Kit admitted.

JJ simply shook her head, looking Kit directly in the eye. “When I started, I got a lot of pushback from the com department. They wanted me to distance myself,” she shrugged. “Which is what I heard that the health department is doing to you.”

Kit’s arms went to cross over her chest. “Section Chief Ramos reminded me that I’m basically on loan. I’m a part of the health team, liaising between them and the BAU. My job is to be a nurse before anything else.”

The look JJ was giving her wasn’t pity, like she was expecting, but instead understanding.

“I get that. And they told me the same thing. That I was getting too close and I needed to be objective. They said that I was a part of the communications team, and that I wasn’t a profiler. I’m qualified to go in the field, but I was discouraged from considering it.”

She stopped for a second before shaking her head. “But staying objective doesn’t do anything for you here. I’m sure you’re already realizing that.”

“If I don’t, I’m going to get myself in trouble with Ramos,” Kit said, and she hated the way her voice seemed to shake just slightly.

I’m just tired, that’s all.

That’s a load of bullshit, and you know it.

“Then push back.”

Kit looked into JJ’s clear eyes, and she felt the overwhelming conviction that was intended in the blonde's next words.

“Don’t fold. We like you.”

-----

She stood a full ten paces away from the rest of the team, hands trembling slightly as she watched the woman, a woman she didn’t know and never would, be loaded into a stretcher.

A woman whose naked body she’d checked over while waiting for EMS. She’d examined the bruising on her wrists and the adhesive burns that would be left from the tape over her mouth. The plastic wrap around her torso. She was dehydrated and traumatized but alive. So very, incredibly alive.

It had struck her all at once as the all male EMTs took over and the woman cried out for Kit not to leave her that they hadn’t even been looking for her. They’d been searching Scott Harbin’s house with the thought that he may be the Keystone Killer. Someone who breaks into women’s houses and strangles them with a plastic bag after blitzing them hard enough to knock them unconscious.

But this woman? She was found bound and shoved under a bed. She was being held against her will.

They hadn’t been looking for her. No one was.

A wave of nausea rushed over her as she thought about what the last six weeks or so had brought her. She’d known of the horrors of the world, but being with the BAU had brought her face to face with, most notably; a child predator, a man that literally poisoned a swath of random people and himself, and now a man who literally kidnapped a woman and held her in his home so well that no one was looking for her. For fun.

Scott Harbin disgusted her in a way that far surpassed her understanding. He hadn’t seemed at all remorseful about them finding the woman, Claudia was her name, tied up under his bed. He’d almost seemed like he thought the whole thing was one big joke, and a weight the size of her fist settled at the pit of her stomach when she realized exactly what that meant about Harbin and the Keystone Killer; they were taking women however they wanted and killing them just because they felt like it.

Sure, they weren’t right. They weren’t wired like the men she knew around her. They had something wrong with them, be it medical or circumstantial. But that didn’t change how she felt standing out on the lawn of Scott Harbin’s house.

The thing that finally pulled her out of her spiraling thoughts was a strong hand on her shoulder. She jumped, turning sharply to look at her attacker before realizing that it was just Hotch.

“They said the victim is going to be fine.”

She blinked up at him for a moment. His face was impossible to read. “Claudia.”

His eyebrows drew together as he looked down to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry?”

“Her name is Claudia. She told me when the EMTs showed up and she asked me to stay anyway.” Her voice was shaking. “No one was looking for her, were they?”

He was silent a moment before he answered with such honesty it made her want to cry. “I don’t know.”

“We weren’t.”

“We’re working the case we were assigned.”

She let out a chuckle that sounded far from sincere. “Right. Meanwhile, Claudia was being held against her will by a literal psychopath.”

She took a breath and shoved her hands in the pockets of her slacks. "There are way more of these men out there than we know about, aren't there?"

She didn’t want an answer, but she had to ask. She had to know, even so long after she’d been thrown into a world of murderers, what she was really getting herself into.

Hotch flooded the air with reluctance, but Kit would have never been able to pick it off his face. "More than you'd think,” he said, and his voice had a sad quality she’d never heard.

She took another breath and looked away from him, eyes training on Claudia’s ambulance as it drove away, lights on, towards the hospital.

All you can do is try, Kody. All you can do is try.

#Brenna writes things #or at least she tries #Second Child Restless Child #SCRC #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #gaelic/irish #OC #female oc #guys we did it I wrote a chapter #Kit is spiraling and tbh so are we all

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jekyll-doodles · 2 years

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BV the Brake Van 💚 Buy Me A Ko-fi 💚 Do not remove source, edit, trace, or repost!

friend came up with a stex oc, and asked me to design them. An older British brake van man with a few pet toads, and a twin pair of a niece and nephew.

#stex #starlight express #stex oc #fan oc #bv the brake van #caboose troop #bb the bay window caboose #windy the bay window caboose #greenghostlyjekyll #jekylldoodles

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missionlameturtle · 4 years

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post 2008 dS rec list (F/K focused)

All fics are F/K unless otherwise indicated! I tried to consolidate the non-F/K fics at the bottom of the list.

Arch To The Sky, sl-walker & kalijean. A long, Turnbull-focused series. Primarily gen but with flashes of F/K in some of the fics. Technically unfinished but can be read as-is.

The Train Goes Slow, atrata. Ray is patience fucking personified, and he hasn’t wanted to punch Fraser in days.

Why I Lied To You, Garonne. It’s 1930, and Ray Kowalski is undercover. Contains bootleggers, Al Capone, adventures on the frozen river Detroit… and a rather unusual Canadian Customs Officer.

The Way the World is, Garonne. Vecchio's POV, Fraser/Kowalski established relationship. Two years post-COTW, Ray Vecchio is back at the 2-7. Then the consequences of a murder inquiry make RayV start to wonder whether Fraser's keeping secrets from him. This one delves into institutional homophobia, fair warning.

Contentment, Garonne & Andeincascade. A fic about boys, and cars, and communication.

The Reaching Out One, Alex51324. Every year they take their vacation time together and look for the hand of Franklin, the reaching out one, and when they run out of time they put a pin in the map and the next year they pick up where they left off. It all falls apart when Diefenbaker dies.

horseshoes and handgrenades, omphale23. A midcentury AU, in which there are photographs, parachute troops, invasions, exploding trees, foxholes, misunderstandings, bullets, letters from home, smokejumpers, roommates, and more exploding trees.

Can’t Even Focus On A Cup Of Coffee, helens78. life goes on in Chicago. Ray’s new partner keeps an eye on him as he tries to find a new sun to orbit.

Sweet Confessions Under His Tongue, thehoyden. It was like a car wreck, really. You just couldn’t look away. And Fraser looked up at Ray, with his expression like the cold fury of God.

Chasing Smoke, hazelwho. Benton Fraser is a Canadian smokejumper who finds himself in Arizona cross-training with a wildland fire crew led by Ray Kowalski, a veteran structural firefighter from Chicago who headed west after his divorce.

Ajax Fassbender’s Amateur Guide To Zombie Wrangling, brigantine. After Ray Vecchio disappears undercover into the wilds of Las Vegas, Fraser decides it’s high time to quit moping, and get on with life. Diefenbaker puts in his two cents, which is pretty much where the trouble starts.

Ch-ch-changes, mizface. Ray Kowalski thought he had an okay existence: he had a place to call home, didn't have to worry about a job, and nobody bothered him. If it wasn't for the fact that he was a zombie, things would have been pretty good. Then he met very much alive Benton Fraser, and his whole world was turned upside down.

Katabasis, aria. “I talked to your dad, I went through this place called the Borderland, I had a boat ride, I fed a wolf a doughnut, and I told stories for your soul,” Ray interrupted. “This does not mean you are not insane.”

Calm & The Black-Stained Sky, sageness. Two years post-COTW, Fraser is promoted to corporal & RayK becomes a volunteer firefighter in a small town in Yukon Territory—a small town with a spot of arson on its hands. Warning for child neglect.

The Love Song Of S. Raymond Kowalski, aria. Ray dared to smush his experimental hair down in hats in Canada, dared to eat everything Fraser gave him including the freaky bark tea, dared… dared to let Fraser turn his world inside out and meet his eyes afterward.

Academic Punk, thehoyden. The academia AU you never knew you needed.

Planes, Submarines and Snowmobiles: a case study in international policing, deputychairman. A post-COTW conference fic.

Many miles and city blocks, deputychairman. Stella happens to encounter Ray & Fraser at the grocery store.

Life In Freefall, feroxargentea. Coming out & the great maple syrup heist. This fic also deals with homophobia.

Long Way Down, feroxargentea. Eight years after a car crash left him with amnesia, Fraser has rebuilt his life, looking after his sister’s kids. Then unsettling memories start to surface and he starts to wonder whether the people around him have been lying to him all this time.

The Northwest Passage, crystalshard. A young man, lost in the snow in the far north, encounters two men who help him out. Warning for implied character death.

Not Quite Such A Bad Day, wagnetic. Ray is stuck with Turnbull during the events of Asylum but maybe it's not totally unbearable.

1500 Kilometers (& A Caboose), aria. For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, Benton Fraser is in a caboose, playing table hockey and being soundly beaten by a twelve-year-old boy. My Life As A Dog crossover but perfectly understandable without having seen it.

A House Is Not A Home, justbreathe80. They were up to their knees in snow and holy shit it was cold, but Fraser had a smile on his face that Ray had never, ever seen, and he knew, in his gut, that Fraser wasn't coming back to Chicago. Ever.

moments in the snow, tigrrmilk. Daemon AU. Ray combs his fingers through the patch of fur worst hit, and although he’s not looking at Fraser, he can feel him stand to attention.

Locked Room Puzzle, speranza. Although I don’t usually include speranza’s fics on rec lists on the assumption that most people already know about her, this one is from 2013 and I don’t know if you would have read it!

Birds Of A Feather, julia_here. Gen, SGA crossover.

The Mis-Adventures of Renfield Turnbull, Canadian Private Eye, daughtershade. Gen. AU Film Noir tale of the worst private detective in Chicago.

Not in Front of the Kid, catwalksalone. K/V. The one thing Ray and Ray weren't expecting? The Spanish Inquisition. That, and to become fathers overnight.

How The Ray Was Won, catwalksalone. K/V. One name, two men, three tasks and a motif. Or several.

Scenes From A Marriage, elementalv. K/V, Sentinel AU. This is the fic that persuaded me to give K/V fic a chance, so if you read one K/V fic from this list make it this one!

please feel free to reblog & add on your own recs!

#fic recs #tv: ride forever #long post

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illusion-of-sea-axes · 4 years

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BADASS AU. Ooh I hope you dont mind me asking 5 million questions b UT- what does tuckers face look like?? Also on chorus- since felix and locus fought in the human-covenant war, how'd they react to him?? Svbjdscbjutt this au is so cool and has soo many possibilities in it!!! Also I bet caboose would STILL be taller than him (I personally hc caboose to be 7'10"... big) lmao. Also- badass armor. I think thatd be the one thing tucker would like is cool armor.

I don’t mind at all, dude! I love all these questions! This may be the most interest anyone’s actively shown in an AU of mine on here! And thanks for the compliments on the armor!

As for what Tucker’s face looks like, I’m gonna try and reserve that for a dramatic reveal in a comic cause I really want to for some reason. It’s not so drastic that he, like, doesn’t have a human face anymore, but there are noticeable changes that cannot be ignored.

And... Hell, I didn’t even think of how Felix and Locus would react to him in detail. I have wondered how the Chorusans would view him.

Of course, Tucker also technically wasn’t onboard the ship according to its manifest. The only people who knew Tucker was onboard the Hand of Merope was Tucker’s friends (thanks to some technical manipulation from Epsilon) and possibly Hargrove.

Felix would try and pass off that he’s not exactly freaked out by Tucker, claiming he thinks Tucker is kinda badass (compared to his friends). He does offer to take Tucker’s entire arm in exchange for any kind of services cause, y’know, it’s Covenant tech. When Tucker finally reveals how he got to the way he is, he’s suddenly a lot more desirable to Hargrove. He’s an example of successful human-hybrid alien tech that Hargrove has never seen and he also had an alien baby (not sure how that could be desirable to Hargrove but. I wouldn’t put it past him).

Entrusting this information adds to Tucker’s guilt about trusting Felix later.

I assume most of the New Republic were really young during the Covenant War and that most of the people on Chorus aren’t as paranoid and scared of Sangheili by lack of exposure.

Jensen is the one who manages to patch up Tucker’s active camo enough for it to function properly.

Locus really, really, really wants to kill Tucker. Even though he knows Tucker’s a human being with some alien technology slapped on. Washington figures this out and promptly decides ‘fuck Locus.’

And because of Felix’s experience in the war, he manages to figure out Tucker’s armor vulnerabilities and still stabs him pretty bad. It’s even worse here because Dr. Grey has to work around all the cybernetics to fix him up (which begins her absolute fascination with him as a scientific subject, much to his vague terror).

Doyle learns Tucker is a human-alien-cyborg and promptly faints upon seeing him.

Kimball is, at first, put off by both Tucker’s attitude and his appearance. Most of the New Republic is, actually. He is scary enough that his troops listen, but once again, he doesn’t really show his face. Some people are more annoying about it than others and Dr. Grey isn’t the only one to ask some questions about it that Tucker is unwilling to answer. Kimball is still pretty good about Tucker being a cyborg and still offers him advice and calls him an advantage over the enemy.

#Alien Cyborg AU #Lavernius Tucker #RVB #Red vs blue #RVB AU

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survivorwildwest · 4 years

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Episode 7 - He’s Not My Boyfriend

Suhtai returns to camp. Michaela sets her torch down and turns to Jerri, “Rallying our troops, huh? Does that mean you're against me now, Jerri?”

“I’m not against anyone.”

“Seemed to be against Hannah.”

“Oh please, you knew it was coming.”

“I’m gonna make sure your boyfriend knows what you did.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“But you know who I’m talking about.”

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, a kangaroo rat avoids a pouncing snake.

The next morning, Wendy is trying to reignite the fire after it went out overnight. She’s trying and trying but nothing is lighting. Kass comes up from the shelter behind her. “You need some help, Wendy?”

“No, thank you. I’ve got it.” She strikes the flint a few more times before dropping her head and handing the flint to Kass. Kass crouches next to Wendy and shows her how to hold the flint and how to strike it. She hands it back to Wendy and tells her where to aim it. Wendy does as instructed and voila a flame is born. It builds and shines bright until the the warm light is enveloped by a dark shadow from behind Wendy & Kass. The two women look up to see Russell Hantz illuminated by the flames rising.

“Good morning,” he says, looking down at them.

“Good morning,” Kass and Wendy say as they take their seats back around the fire.

“Great job on the fire, Wendy,” Russell says with a smile as he takes a seat.

“Oh, thanks. Kass helped a lot.”

“Aw, don’t mention it,” she says.

Ben approaches while Tsitsistas gathers to hear him read tree mail.

“These clue’s are becoming less clever,” Lauren says.

“Were they clever to begin with,” Bi asks.

At high noon, both tribes meet outside the saloon to see Jeff in the same corral where they had recently herded cows. This time, he stands with a bull. Tsitsistas takes their spot first. Then Jeff says, “Tsitsistas, getting your first look at the new Suhtai tribe. Hannah voted out at the last tribal council.” Bi looks pleasantly surprised.

“For today’s challenge, everyone will take a ride on this bull here,” Jeff says as he slaps the bovine’s back. “Whoever has the longest time staying on his back, wins reward for their tribe. Want to know what you’re playing for?”

The shocked faces all nod slowly. Jeff no longer holds their attention. That belongs to the bull.

“The winning tribe will receive hamburgers, fries and whiskey back at camp. Tsitsistas, you have one extra member. Gotta sit someone out.”

Kass raises her hand and takes a seat on the bench.

Lauren is the first to take on the bull for Tsitsistas. She wraps her long legs around the bull and grips firm with her thighs. When the bull is released, Lauren is out almost immediately. She falls to the ground and scrapes her shoulder in the sand. Ken runs up to her to make sure she’s okay. He pulls out his water bottle and pours some water over her cut to wash it.

“You’ll be okay,” Ken tells her as he gently grasps her arm and runs a thumb over the injury.

“Thanks, Ken,” Lauren says.

Lauren returns to her tribe and Ken climbs on the bull’s back. Recognizing they could get in the way, he’s rolled his shorts up. His glistening gams are on display for all to see and see they do. His legs firm up as he grips the bull. Once the bull is released, Ken exhibits control over his body and the body he rides for a few moments before he too is tossed off.

Wardog is next. He tries to mimic Ken’s approach, but slides off as soon as the bull takes his first trot. Bi follows him with a calm balance atop the bull. She lasts far longer than anyone else with five seconds.

Jerri takes her turn and does well, but can’t beat Bi. Ben lasts longer than Wardog, but not quite as long as Jerri. Michaela nearly matches Jerri’s time.

Wendy takes her time to focus while taking her seat on the saddle. She places her palms on the back of the bull and wraps around to hug him. The gate raises and the bull goes. Wendy is able to hold on. The bull doesn’t seem to be fighting as hard with Wendy, but when he trots off his back feet once, Wendy bounces into the air and falls to the ground. But, she’s beaten Bi’s record with five and a half seconds.

Russell takes his turn, wiping the sweat from the top of his head. He’s clearly gone bull riding before and beats the record just set by Wendy with six seconds. Todd follows him. He brags to Jeff that he’s “ridden a lot of mechanical bulls in bars.”

“You think that will help,” Jeff asks.

“I hope so,” Todd laughs.

It doesn’t.

Colby takes his turn with a hesitated excitement.

“Have you ever ridden a bull, Colby,” Jeff asks.

“You know, Jeff, I can’t say I have.”

He tries to mimic the form he’s seen other successful people use. He lasts a few seconds-- moments longer than Michaela but not quite as long as Jerri.

Elizabeth takes her turn. As she takes her seat on the saddle, she has a huge smile on her face.

“Excited, Elizabeth?”

“Oh, yeah, Jeff. I was actually Pee Wee Bull Riding champion at my middle school.”

“Pee Wee Bull Riding Champion?”

“That’s right. And Mutton Bustin Champion in third grade.”

“Well, alright,” Jeff laughs.

The gate raises and she takes on a face as if she’s fighting the bull. She instinctively follows the bull’s movement for seven seconds at which point she loses her balance and falls off. When the dust settles from her fall, Jeff announces “Suhtai wins reward!”

Back at the Suhtai camp, the tribe finds their hamburgers, fries and whiskey and begin their feast.

“So,” Todd begins, “We need to talk as a tribe about the merge. It’s happening soon and I think it’s important we stick together.”

“Agreed,” Michaela says, “We need to come together as a tribe.”

“They’ll pick us off one by one if we don’t,” Jerri says.

“Okay, so who do we have on the other side?” Todd asks.

“Colby,” Michaela and Jerri both say.

“Okay, who else?”

“Bi,” Elizabeth says, “ I could get her to come to our side.”

“That’s eight to their seven. We just need to make sure we win the next immunity challenge so we can go into the merge with the advantage.”

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, a tortoise crawls toward a flower.

Around the Tsitsistas camp, the same conversation happens. Colby takes a seat around the campfire and says, “Alright guys. Merge is coming up. We’re all on the same page, right?”

“Tsitsistas to the end,” Kass assures them. She looks over to Wendy.

“Yup,” Wendy says as everyone nods in agreement.

“Yep, Tsitsistas to the end,” Russell agrees when he hears Wendy.

The next day, the two tribes meet Jeff in town for their next immunity challenge. He stands in front of a black train with gold trim. Four cars, including the caboose, are attached to the stationary engine.

Jeff explains, “For today’s challenge, four members of each tribe will race through this train, collecting four bags of puzzle pieces. Once all four bags have been collected, they will be passed to the two people on the caboose who will complete the puzzle. Tsitsistas, you have one extra member so you’re gonna sit someone out. You cannot sit the same person out in back to back challenges.”

Tsitsistas discuss who to sit out. Wendy argues for herself to take the puzzle. The tribe turns back to Jeff. Wendy lowers her head, raises her hand and takes a seat on the bench. The two tribes take a minute to strategize. Suhtai places Michaela and Todd on the puzzle. Tsitsistas elect Kass and Russell.

The eight runners line up on opposing sides of the train engine. Jeff raises his arm, “Survivors ready,” he drops his arm, “Go!”

Tsitsistas separate so one person can take on each car. Suhtai decides to go car by car to find the bags together. Four eyes are better than one, they said, even if one is Wardog’s, they said. Suhtai’s strategy seems to work, as they find their first bag within seconds. Colby checks under the chair where Suhtai found their bag and finds the bag for Tsitsistas. He runs into the second car, where Lauren is already following Suhtai’s strategy. The six of them make it into the third car. Ben’s found his bag tied to a lamp in the corner. He’s untying it as Suhtai enters. Wardog stays back to untie Suhtai’s bag. Everyone else runs into the fourth and final car, the caboose. Bi’s already left the interior and is now waiting next to Kass and Russell as they do their puzzle. The rest of Tsitsistas run out to the puzzle area on the back of the train. Suhtai searches high and low for their fourth bag. Elizabeth finally finds it hanging above the door they entered through. They run outside and hand their bags to Michaela and Todd, “Where’s Wardog,” Todd asks as Michaela dumps their pieces onto the puzzle’s frame.

“He’s still inside,” Elizabeth says before running back to the third car. Inside, Wardog is finally finishing untying his knot. He yells at Elizabeth to run back outside. When they get back out, they see both tribes have made significant progress on their puzzles, but Tsitsistas had more pieces to work with. When Michaela and Todd place their last bag of pieces into the empty spaces of their puzzle, Kass and Russell yell, “Jeff! Jeff!” Jeff runs over to check their puzzle and announces, “Tsitsistas wins immunity!”

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, a kit fox huddles under some tallgrass.

At the Suhtai camp, Michaela and Ken meet at the well.

“What are you thinking,” Michaela asks.

“I’m most worried about Elizabeth,” Ken says, “She’s got Todd and Wardog now.”

“So we need to convince Jerri.”

“I guess so.”

Elizabeth and Todd wander through the desert, collecting whatever firewood they can find. A scorpion runs over a branch Todd picks up without him noticing.

“So,” Todd says, “Michaela or Ken?”

“I think Ken is more likely to come to our side than Michaela when it comes down to it.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Michaela then?”

“Yeah, you think we can get Jerri and Wardog?”

“Wardog, yes, Jerri’s gonna be a little harder with her boy and Michaela being close.”

“Right.”

“And, even if we have to force a tie, everyone’s gonna switch over to Michaela to save themselves.”

“Totally,” Todd says, collecting another piece of wood.

Wardog and Jerri sit around the fire. Jerri stares into the fire, then to Wardog, meeting his eyes. She smiles a warm smile at him and asks, “Who do you want to see go?”

“I’m worried Todd is going to be a big threat if we let him get to the merge.”

“That makes sense,” she looks up to see Todd and Elizabeth approaching, “So, you’re a lawyer?”

“Well, law student, but yeah, that’s the goal.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Hey, thanks,” Wardog says when Todd and Elizabeth take a seat at the fire.

“Well, I’m beat. I’m gonna go lay down,” Jerri says.

Once Jerri is out of earshot, Todd looks up from the warm fire and turns to Wardog with an inviting smile.

“How do you feel about Michaela?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Elizabeth says, “Remember in her first season, they took her out right before the merge because they were afraid she’d go too far. Then, in her second season, they didn’t take her out pre-merge and she made it significantly further.”

“Do you want her to make it significantly further yet again, Wardog,” Todd asks, having dropped his smile.

“So, Michaela tonight?”

“That’s the plan.”

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, a blue & black whitetail dragonfly buzzes through some tallgrass.

Michaela and Ken find their way back to the shelter and lay with Jerri. Jerri lifts the hat from her face to see them, “Hey guys.”

“Hey Jare,” Michaela says, “Do you have a plan for tonight?”

“I’ve got some options. What were you thinking?”

“I think they’re expecting us to come for Todd. But, I think we should take out Elizabeth right now. Todd’s not gonna win again. If Elizabeth makes it to the end, she will.”

“Alright,” she says before putting her hat back over her face.

“It’s that easy,” Ken asks.

“Sure, what y’all are saying makes sense,” Jerri says, “I’m in.”

As the sun sets, Wardog walks to the shelter for his torch. Jerri is waking from another nap and sees him.

“Wardog,” she says, “There’s a new plan. We’re voting Elizabeth.”

“What? What about Todd?”

“We don’t need to worry about Todd. Just trust me, alright.”

“Yeah, alright Jerri.”

With the pink sky behind him, Jeff greets Suhtai to tribal council once again. He exhales slowly and sits with the tribe around the campfire.

“Once again, Suhtai is at Tribal Council,” he says.

“Please tell us we’re merging soon,” Elizabeth pleads.

“I assure you, the merge will be happening soon, but one of you isn’t going to make it. Wardog, have you seen a lot of scrambling?”

“Oh, sure. There’s definitely two sides on this tribe and both sides think they’re right.”

“What side are you on?”

“I’m not picking sides, Jeff. Me and Jerri are always between the Millennials and the Davids.”

“The Millennials and the Davids?”

“That’s right,” Michaela says.

“You, Micheala, are clearly in the millennial alliance.”

“Yeah, with Hannah and Ken, but Hannah’s not here anymore,” she stares at Jerri from across the fire.

“So, where does that leave Wardog and Jerri?”

“That’s a question we’re all asking, Jeff,” Michaela says.

“Jerri, let me ask you directly. Where does that leave you?”

“Ready to vote.”

“Alright. Jerri, you’re up first.”

Jerri makes her way to the voting booth in the shallow cave. Then Michaela, who holds up her vote Elizabeth. Todd follows her with a vote for Michaela. The rest of the tribe votes. Jeff tallies the votes, asks for any immunity idols and reads the votes when no one gets up, “Elizabeth, Michaela, Elizabeth, Michaela, Elizabeth,” Michaela looks at Jerri with a cautious smile, “Michaela.” Her smile drops. “We are tied,” Jeff continues, “We will revote. Elizabeth and Michaela will not vote. Everyone else can only only vote for Elizabeth or Michaela.”

The remaining four members of the tribe vote again. Jeff heads into the cave to tally the votes. He returns to read the votes, “First vote, Elizabeth,” Michaela reaches over and grabs Ken’s hand to say thank you. “Michaela, Elizabeth,” Michaela looks over to Jerri with worried eyes. Then, Jeff finally reads, “Elizabeth.”

“Damn,” Elizabeth says. She hugs Michaela first before having her torch snuffed.

The first round of voting saw Elizabeth, Todd and Wardog vote for Michaela. The votes for Elizabeth came from Michaela, Ken and Jerri. On the second vote, Todd changed his vote to Elizabeth.

Read Episode 8 here

#survivor #survivor wild west #michaela bradshaw #jerri manthey #jeff probst #wardog #elizabeth olson #rodeo #trains

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anneapocalypse · 5 years

Photo

A Chorus World Map

Note: This is not a definitive map! With the exception of two locations, this is not canon. This is just a working model I came up with based on environmental and contextual clues, to have a reference for writing fic.

If you're curious how I came up with this, keep reading!

Map description: A world map of Chorus built on the blue map base shown at the Temple of Arms. The Purge Temple is located on an island left of center, set between the three main continents but closes to the top left continent. Radio Jammer 1C is on a smaller island north and slightly east of the Purge. The rest of the locations are place on the planet's largest continent, taking up most of the right half of the map. Federal Army Outpost 37 is placed at the tip of a long peninsula extending from the northern side of the continent. Crash Site Alpha is on the coast at the northwest corner of the continent, with Crash Site Bravo to the southwest. The Temple of Trials is on the west coast about midway down. The Temple of Arms and Charon Research Complex C-2 are at the southern tip of the continent. Armonia is inland, north and a little east of the Temple of Arms. New Republic Headquarters is just west of the center of the continent, with the Abandoned Fueling station immediately to the northeast. Federal Army Outpost 22 is a ways north and east of New Republic HQ, a little east of the base of the peninsula. The Temple of the Key is inland on the eastern side of the continent. The Temple of Communications is to the south of the Temple of the Key.

Adventures in Cartography

I began by overlaying the two temple maps we're given in season 13. The first (blue) shows the coordinates Tucker is given at the Temple of Arms. These coordinates are where the True Warrior test takes place. I call it the Temple of Trials. (That's not canon, it's just easier to say and it sounds cool.)

The second (red) shows the coordinates given by Santa at the Temple of Trials. Based on his dialogue, it is slightly confusing whether he's talking about the location of the Purge or the Key:

Santa: (to Tucker) As its bearer, the Great Key will remain bonded to you and you alone, until the time of your death. If you believe the inhabitants of this planet are not ready for my creators' gifts, activating the Purge will cleanse them.

Carolina: And by "cleanse" you mean...?

Santa: All sentient life on Chorus will be exterminated.

Tucker: Dude. Buzzkill.

Epsilon: And... where exactly is this thing?

Santa: Here. (a red holographic map lights up with a dot pointing at the Purge's location, east of the Jungle Temple) I will also update all previously sent maps with temple locations.

I believe that map marker is the Key, because that is where everyone goes next. In particular, it's the map marker the mercs see at one of the other temples, right before they head for the Temple of the Key. It fits Carolina's description of "the mountains east of our location."

So these are our touchstones: the Temple of Trials and the Temple of the Key.

Biomes

The next thing I did was attempt to sort the Chorus locations into climate groups based on their environments.

Jungle/yellow sky

Crash Site Alpha

Crash Site Bravo (canyon)

Temple of Trials (on the water)

Temple of Gravity (near Crash Site Alpha and the Purge)

Remote Research Facility (established to study wildlife)

Tropical?

Radio Jammer Station 1C (island off the coast, sky half blue half stormy)

Desert

Abandoned Fueling Station

New Republic HQ (right on the edge of the jungle)

Temple of Communication (debatable, but rocky and not a lot of foliage)

Snowy/Mountainous

Federal Army Outpost 22 (on the edge of the mountains, not snowy)

Federal Army Outpost 37 (on the water, amid mountains but at sea level)

Temple of the Key (high in the mountains)

Grassy/Deciduous

Temple of Arms & Charon Excavation site (on the water, visible from Complex C-2)

Charon Research Complex C-2 (near the Temple of Arms, within visibility)

Unsettled Territory

Who Fucking Knows

Armonia (but it seems warm)

The Purge (red crystal hell)

Directionality

Armonia -> unsettled territory -> Temple of Trials

Armonia -> Fueling Station -> Crash Site Alpha

The Temple of Trials is a shorter trip from Armonia than Crash Site Alpha, thought probably not by more than an hour or so.

New Republic HQ -> Fueling Station -> Federal Army Outpost 37

Crash Site Alpha is relatively close to the Temple of the Purge.

The Communication Temple is to the east of Crash Site Bravo. It seem to be night at the Comm Temple while it is still daylight at Crash Site Alpha.

Why I put almost everything on one continent

The two canon locations are both on that continent, and while characters sometimes have access to air vehicles and teleportation grenades, in both seasons 12 and 13 there is a lot of ground travel happening. (Also, all the grenades detonate early in season 13 and all travel from there on has to be done the long way.) In particular:

Felix leads the Reds and Blues from Crash Site Bravo to New Republic Headquarters by ground, via caves.

Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose travel from New Republic Headquarters to Federal Army Outpost 37 by Warthog, stopping at the gas station in between.

Carolina and her away team travel from Armonia to the Temple of Trials by ground, passing through unsettled territory.

Kimball leads the troops from Armonia to Crash Site Alpha by ground, also through unsettled territory.

While many of the locations are located by water, we don't have any instances of characters crossing a large body of water.

We're already kind of handwaving how quickly characters can move across the continent in land vehicles, without adding intercontinental travel to the mix.

Doyle claims in season 12 that the rebels were given opportunity to move to a different part of the planet and build their own society. This suggests that a fair amount of Chorus still remains unsettled.

While we don't know the population of Chorus at the time of canon events, if we take a bit of Sarge's dialogue, he refers to "thousands." Even if we estimate generously and say this could be hundreds of thousands, we're still looking a severely contracted population. For comparison, 100,000 to 300,000 people is considered a medium-sized city in the US. With the population so depleted and the war still raging, it makes sense that the populated area of Chorus would have shrunk considerably even if it was once larger.

Keep in mind that this doesn't mean there is nothing of interest on the other continents. There might be more alien towers, settlements, other cities. For this map I’m only working with locations relevant to the Chorus Trilogy storyline, not the entire world.

Other Considerations

As this is a flattened map of a globe, it is not to scale and landmasses distort more the further they are toward the corners. It is probably best, therefore, not to get too hung up on distances. For visibility's sake the map markers are misleadingly large, and appear a lot closer to one another than they actually would be on the ground.

For my purposes I consider any Chorus canon post-season 13 to be entirely optional, but for what it's worth, the brief view we get of Chorus from space during the blockade lines up pretty well with this map, with that main continent being the one most clearly in view—and also the one at which the fleet have pointed their cannons. It is also worth nothing from this image that the bifurcated continent in the upper left corner of the map actually appears to come quite close to the central continent where it wraps around the globe. For that reason, while I'm thinking of this central continent in terms of north and south, it's probably a bit misleading to look at the whole map that way.

We can see where the sun strikes the planet in that image, but without knowing the planet's axial tilt or where the poles are, it's impossible to determine exactly where the equator is, so again, not getting hung up on it. I'm also taking the appearance of the land itself as a very general suggestion, as the area where the Temple of the Key would be doesn't show any snow. Nevertheless, we can see that central continent divided into three distinct regions: green, tan, and a darker brown. Or: jungle (with some grassy and deciduous area to the south), desert, and mountains.

It makes sense to me that the Temple of the Purge would be located somewhere remote and difficult to access, so I played it off the mainland, on an island.

It's hard to tell in the show, but the Halo map representing the radio jammer is an island, and I thought that made sense as somewhere Charon would place one. They wouldn't put the jammers too close to populated areas, in case the Chorusans got the bright idea to try to shoot them down.

Federal Outpost 37 (the outpost where Wash, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez are taken and where they meet Doyle) is snowy and cold, but it's also right on the water, at sea level, so the cold can't be due to elevation. It made sense to put it further north. According to the Fan Guide, this outpost became the Feds' primary base of ops after they pulled out of Armonia, and while highly defensible due to an "enormous frozen wall," it's also a difficult position from which to mount an offensive. For all these reasons it made sense to me to put it at the end of the northern peninsula.

I probably debated the most where to place Armonia, as it could go pretty much anywhere warm. The scene where Carolina goes out to the city limits is probably the most indicative of Armonia's climate, and I think it would most likely sit right on the edge between desert and the deciduous area south of the jungle, and that's where I've placed it. (I entertained the idea of putting it on that big south central island, but the channel separating it from the mainland would be a lot bigger than it looks on the map, and in the end it just didn't really fit.)

Though I didn't include it on this map, I like to think Chorus might have rebuilt their new capital near the Temple of Communication, in the bones of a city that survived the war abandoned but mostly intact.

I hope you enjoy this map, and perhaps find it useful! Please credit if using, as there is a whole lot of my own headcanon and analysis going into this.

As with all meta, nothing is set in stone. I will almost certainly find something I don’t like about it five minutes after I hit “post.” :P But it’s a working model! which is more than we had before.

#chorus trilogy #red vs blue #rvb #avian dentistry #chorus world map #chorus worldbuilding #rvb reference

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