#i am so humbled everyones like NAOMI NAOMI I GOT HIM

[lightsintheskye]

I love that I hardly ever talk about Genshin (mostly because community scares me) but everyone I know is excitedly showing me their Baizhu pulls because they know how much I love him and pretty much downloaded the entire game to wait for him after Venti and Kaeya Anyways good luck to whoever is reading this and here is a crunch video of me ascending Baizhu to 90 the second i got him (sound warning)

[absolutesort]

𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨   ;    ʙᴇᴀᴄʜ ʜᴜᴛ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ #4 !

who did you share a bed with last night ? how did you sleep ?

    “ i shared with miles. again. surprise surprise. ”  she’s fighting both a smile and the urge to roll her eyes.  “ we had a pretty steamy kiss on the terrace. and that meant that when we went to bed, things were... yeah, it kinda heated up. i got a bit excited and i had to make like, a pillow wall in the bed so we wouldn’t do anything. i know it probably doesn’t look like it, but i am trying to be good and respectful and keep everything above board. ”  although at this point, she’s not sure callie would give a shit about a pillow wall when she’s already fucking straddled him. and kissed him. and everyone in casa’s behaving like they’re basically a de facto couple now. yikes.

are you getting on with any of the bombshells ? who’s at the top of your list ?

   “  god ! a list. you sound like miles. ”  she snorts, and grabs at her bikini cups to cover any spillage.  “ i don’t really have a list. there’s obviously people i’m more drawn to than others. miles, adela and mali have put in the most effort with me, but with mali i think it’s becoming more of a friendship vibe. adela... i don’t know, we’ve always been flirty, but i thought it was in like a fun, jokey way, and then last night she said that thing about wanting to go somewhere together... i don’t know, maybe i should have said yes. but i don’t wanna fuck things with miles by exploring my options. i don’t know if he’d be cool with that, and i am starting to like, like-like him. ”  frankie mimes gagging on her fingers.  “ gross. ”

do you see yourself starting to focus on one person or are you still exploring ?

   “ miles is my priority right now. we’ve got insane chemistry, we can talk shit for hours, and he’s made it pretty obvious i’m the person he wants, so i feel like i should maybe put more effort in there. ”  although technically the bombshells are the ones meant to be doing the grafting, but still — couldn’t hurt to make him know his efforts are appreciated.  “ i feel like i’ve been playing pretty hard to get, and not really... giving him much to work with. so maybe today i’ll pull him for once. ” damn. she doesn’t even know how he takes his coffee. “ adela surprised me, though. the kiss with her was good and like... i think maybe she wants something with me. she flirts with everyone but that felt different. i’m not writing her off just yet. ” 

how was the beer pong game ? what was most memorable about it ?

   “ the most memorable part for me was how unbelievably crap everybody was. like, for a team of pretty athletic fucking people we sucked. everybody was taking L after L in that game. honestly, it was humbling. i still think it was rigged though. ”  frankie pauses for a moment, trying to remember if anything of note actually happened — aside from the terrible throws. “ dylan and phoebe kissed !  that was cute. i hope he drops naomi’s ass for her. i guess we’re like, friends or whatever now, but that girl is not loyal. ”

who did you vote for the hideaway ? why ?

   “ i voted for myself ! ” her hands snap over her face, laughing with the sheer embarrassment of it.  “ so cringe, but josh made me do it, gun to my head and everything. it felt fucking hilarious at the time, but now it feels like a dick move. i probably should have voted for dylan. ”  not that dylan would do anything anyway. he’s way too respectful to fuck someone in casa. is frankie that respectful, or would she let greed cloud her judgement ?  “ honestly, if i get it i’m not sure what i’d do. kinda shitting myself, actually. would miles expect me to go all the way ?  like on the outside, sure, we’d probably have fucked like ten times by now, but in here everything feels way more heavy. like a kiss in here is worth a thousand on the outside. ”

if you could have voted for a bombshell to go in the hideaway, who would you have voted for ?

   “ i guess i’d have voted for miles or adela. miles, because it would be nice to have a night alone without everyone fucking listening — presuming he’d pick me, lol, imagine if he chose someone else — and adela because she’s had a rough ride in here and i want her to get her ass ate. i don’t know who she’d pick. maybe josh, or dylan, or me. wow, that would’ve been such a bold move. i would’ve maybe voted mali, but apparently she’s already been laid ? so maybe someone else deserves a shot. and marcus and val clearly don’t need the hideaway, but i guess if they went it would give the rest of us some peace from the squeaky hinges and giggling... ”

what do you think the other villa would think of your actions in casa so far ?

   “ they’d probably have a warrant out for my death, actually. most of my close friends are in casa with me. i don’t think dylan’s exactly thrilled at the idea of me kissing someone else, so i’m guessing the other villa would be even less forgiving. ”  for a moment, she clams up, legs drawn up against her chest and her face sinking down into the valley between her knees.  “ this is actually a fucking horrible situation. i have no idea what i’m going to say to callie. i miss her so much. it feels like a part of me’s been sucked out and is like, there with her... maybe that sounds stupid considering everything that’s going on with miles. but i think you can really like two people at once. like, it’s not like you have to divide your heart up forty-sixty, or that there’s a certain amount of love you can give before it runs out. i think maybe i just love too much. ”

[alkalinefrog]

may I request your top 10 favorie lawlight fics ?? I’m really interested

AIGHT BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP because I’ve got a lot of feelings about these! Also, people have been asking me for fics featuring:

Ryuk shenanigans

yagami sibling hijinks

whammy kids found family

----- from my bingo card I made a while back. Tbh, I put those on the list to try and manifest the energy into the universe hoping people would bring fics to ME about them lmao. I do have a couple that check the boxes though! 

Also thank you to everyone who’s been recommending me fics!! You’ve all hit the nail on the head and sing straight to my heart! I’m just slow to make my way through them between work. <3

GOING UNDER THE CUT (rip mobile users)

Aight here we go, in no particular order:

“Change OR the one where L and Light get married” by @translightyagami (I’m so sorry I keep tagging you in these alsfjkalsfdj)

The one I never shut up about and am adapting part of into a comic because it’s just that GOOD. :’’’D Light and L get married in front of Watari and Light’s family back at the Whammy orphanage in England. A melancholy yet painfully sweet tale as Light and L reminisce on their history together while getting ready for the ceremony, and their first night together afterwards. Single-handedly sold me on Kira being intrinsically part of Light to boot.

“the forest holds strange creatures” by @translightyagami (I’m sorryyyyyyy I just love your stuff)

An AU where Light’s a paranormal researcher and L’s a reclusive cryptid living in the forest next to a small town. The writing has a fairytale feel to it, and the romance is so gentle. Light’s bunking at Whammy’s small little house, and Near and Mello are there as little kids pestering Light. It’s ADORABLE. Beyond Birthday also shows up in one of the extra chapters as a creepy cashier at a thrift shop for double the fun!

"Sickness” by BlueberryValentine (more fics on their fanfiction.net account!)

The ultimate hurt/comfort + fluff + angst with a happy ending fic. The first fic I read to get back into lawlight a couple months back! Canon divergence starting during the Yotsuba arc. Light is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer while still under investigation. L has to take care of him, and somewhere along the way they fall in love. It carved out a chunk of my heart but luckily filled it back up with a sweet sort of aching.

“Seeking His Hand” by magic__mind

Historical regency AU! L is a rich nobleman courting Light, a humble farm boy, for his hand in marriage. One of the most romantic pieces of literature that I have ever come across. The prose is pure poetry, and their love so pure! This one also has a special place in my heart for its portrayal of Misa! She’s A)a spy who helps L on his cases, B)totally removed from her co-dependence for Light, C)the  bubbly badass she was always meant to be. 100/10 worth the read!

The “Resurrections” Series by Shadow_of_Quill

A modern Orpheus and Euridice story, wherein Light’s spirit leads L back from Hades while he’s still Kira. L is thereby present for the confrontation at the warehouse. Believing that any trace of Light is lost in the man, he executes him right then and there. However, this was a grave mistake, and Light’s soul won’t be as easily revived. (spoilers, they’re both fine in the end) ******* THIS ONE ALSO INCLUDES YAGAMI SIBLING HIJINKS. Sayu plays a HUGE role in bringing Light back!

“Is This The Way It Ends Now?” by Seastar98

The one that checks off ALL the above three boxes!! A “characters watch their own show” fic, wherein the gang receives a mysterious DVD in the middle of the Yotsuba arc. Horrified by what’s to come, Light and L work to make sure their future is brighter than the one they witness. They bring in all three heirs to watch with ‘em, everyone gets character development, and Sayu comes in like black panther in endgame yet again to bring Light back from the darkness! Ryuk pops up in the end and the epilogue and he’s great. The ultimate and most direct fix-it you’re ever gonna get.

“From the Same Star” by Nilahxapiel

This is my only pure “Ryuk Shenanigans” fic, and it’s really really sad :’’’D A short but sweet one-shot wherein Ryuk traverses multiple dimensions, dropping the Death Note at Light’s feet each time. Light and L were always fated to clash, and it’s just as heartbreaking every time. 

“Primitive Liars” by Nilahxapiel

This one’s super popular in the fandom for a reason! The only omegaverse fic that I’ve liked! The A/B/O dynamics and their affect on society are super well developed, and the writer manages to keep L and Light very in character while still developing their budding romance in a believable way. This is an AU where somebody else is Kira, and Light’s genuinely helping L and the task force hunt him down. ***** Naomi Misora lives, the heirs come in, and Sayu actually hops aboard the task force!!! DUDE. BRILLIANT. I also just love the exploration of gender and identity that the author weaves in. Lots of LGBTQ rep!

“and indeed there will be time” by lawlietismyfavorite

The ultimate soulmate AU. People grow to be 18, then stop aging until they meet their one. L is the greatest detective of not only this century, but of six centuries. And then there's Light. (taken straight from the description!) The prose is absolutely breathtaking; like walking through a dream. Can not recommend this fic enough! It’s got my head up in the clouds and looking towards the stars!

“K” by  Dlvvanzor

AU where Light’s a Whammy with the moniker ‘K.’ He and L grow up together along with kiddos covering the rest of the alphabet. A murder-mystery-thriller on top of the romance featuring Beyond Birthday as a main character! Light’s a pathological liar and L’s super into it. They’re the top students at Whammy’s and are tasked with solving a string of homicides happening RIGHT AT THE ORPHANAGE (guess who dunnit). It had me on the edge of my seat, and I binged the whole thing in two days.

i’mMMMM doing more than 10, this’ll just be my ultimate fic rec post 😂

“Change of Circumstances” by wordbombs

Another AU where Light’s a whammy! It’s just a one-shot though, but one of my all time faves!!! I’ve gone back and reread it so many times and drew some stuff for it a couple weeks back. Much more light-hearted than “K”, Light arrives at the orphanage at age four and meets an eleven year old L, and from there they grow up together and fall in love (the age difference is handled really well, L’s not physically present for a lot of Light’s childhood and they bond on a platonic level first). It’s one of the healthiest relationship dynamics that I’ve seen for these two, which is honestly such a breath of fresh air. Matt, Mello, and Near are there too in the background!

“Dial K for Kira” by @kiranatrix

“Light needs some easy money to finance his Kira plans, and notices there’s a big demand for Kira roleplay phone sex. So he figures, “Why not? Pretty sure I’ll be convincing.”He raises some fast cash and plans to shut the whole thing down and get back to writing names, until he gets a request from somebody who wants to “roleplay” as L....“

Taken straight from the description! It’s very VERY NSFW so be warned. I’m too shy to talk about it more alskfjdasldjf sorry BUT IT’S GREAT.

“Dance with Me” and “Birthday Note” by @dotti55fanfiction

These are both one-shots so I’m putting ‘em together! Absolutely adorable tooth-rotting fluff!! “Dance with Me” has Light and L going to a club, while “Birthday Note” features L trying to think of the best present for Light. The dictionary definition of “warm fuzzies.” (Dotti ilu, I still gotta find time to read your longer works)

“you’re a wasp nest” by  raisuki (inthegripofahurricane)

Blind!Light AU! Light and L are both college students who meet when Sayu dares L to break into her house. Yagami sibling hijinksssss! Their quippy dialogue is adorable and it’s just a fun time watching them flirt.

“softly now” by smallestbird (jenwryn)

THANK YOU TO THE ANON WHO SENT ME THIS REC. The softest lawlight one-shot to finish off this list! Light and L share an intimate moment while painting their new apartment. The absolute JOY this fic radiates in a short 700 words!! Read it before bed for the sweetest dreams!

These are just my favourites, but read anything by any of these authors and you will not be disappointed! I might make a separate post later for soulmate AUs because... There’s just too many. :’D

-Alka

[exciting]

As requested, books / series I read in 2020 in the order I read them, with a few brief thoughts. (This took me a hot second because there are a few and also I moved cities) Should I keep a consistent goodreads? Yes I should but I didn’t think of that at the time, so bone apple teeth & sorry if I offend you abt your faves x

P.S. I can’t figure out how to do a read more on mobile so long post ahead!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas - This is one of the most vivid published fantasy books I have ever read... I read it twice in rapid succession. The fandom POPS off. I must say I have issues with certain aspects e.g. fae lore completely ignored à la Twilight, all love interests 500+ years old and technically a different species, etc (I’m not going to deconstruct the entire series here but just know that I could... Nesta deserves better)

Cruel Prince by Holly Black - This fucking slaps, HB clearly has done her research, the lore is near immaculate, and it explores the Fae in such a unique way, tying it to the modern world subtly and seamlessly. My only qualm was that the books felt quite short; truly wish there had been more content.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (6/7) - So basically I read this in one single, hyperfixated fit which meant I literally locked myself in my room for three days straight and read all six books back to back in a row from morning to the wee hours. Which is not to say it was spectacular; although it was a VERY rich world, sometimes it was too much... this felt like 6 stories in one. Ik she was young when she wrote this but it is my humble opinion that SJM needs a better editor & I personally think Rowan is a grade A asshole / straight up abusive (& personally think the ACOTAR Tamlin plot was born from that?). It’s good but not as good as ACOTAR. Skip-read the last book. 

Grishaverse (Shadow and Bone) by Leigh Bardugo (3) - This is essential to read before SOC but was very much simply a YA fantasy book, although the world was cool and the way the love plot played out was, imo, a subtle middle finger to the fantasy trope. Felt very much aimed at younger readers though? Really liked the sandwhich structure of the Proluge and Epilogue, especially in #2

Six of Crows series by Leigh Bardugo (2) - INCREDIBLE continuation of Grishaverse, better than the original series by a mile. It has the range, the diversity, the representation (the male lead is a disabled asexual and still the most cunning of the entire cast of characters), the plot is phenomenal, and it manages such a well rounded plot in only two books which means nothing is stretched out or squeezed in more than need be. Deserves all the praise it gets.

King of Scars series by Leigh Bardugo (0.5/1) - Personally I don’t consider this book canon, and while it’s nice to see the rest of Nina’s journey & the world again & everyone else, I don't like it. I will, however, be reading book 2 when it comes out, so shame on me, I suppose.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (1/1) - this was incredibly cool although it went off in a completely different direction than I thought it would based off the first few chapters? One of my favourite YA-author-debuts-New-Adult novels in 2020 though!

Crescent City by Sarah J Maas (1/1) - This was supposed to be SJM/s New Adult debut, although personally I would put her other series in New Adult, and I can’t say a remarkable amount was different with this except they said “fuck” and “ass” a lot. WHY is the romantic interest 500 years old AGAIN. I just... don’t... I just don’t think it was necessary... the world was cool though, and the last half of the book was riveting, but the beginning was quite slow and I thought the sword thing was predictable. I am interested to see where this goes though.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (3) - This world is so fucking cool... four Londons aka parallel universes & the one in ‘our’ world is set in industrial era London. Magic, girls dressing up as boys, thieves, pirates, royalty... it all just slaps. Schwab is an incredible writer & I was completely immersed.

Midnight Sun by SMeyer - I didn’t think anything could possibly detract even further from the Twilight story but I was sorely mistaken... seeing the stalking from Edward’s POV - and it was worse than depicted in Twilight, for the record - completely obliterated any sort of romance the first half of the original book may have portrayed. I still hold the opinion that the entire series would have been better if some kind of vampire lore had been abided by, if only to see all of the villains thwarted by someone dropping a bag of rice on the ground, forcing them to have to count them all.

An ember in the Ash by Sabaa Tahir  (3/4) - This was just a very stereotypical ya fantasy series, emphasis on the YOUNG... it wasn’t anything to write home about but I remember quite enjoying it at the time. 

The Power by Naomi Alderman - This book is FUCKING incredible and EXCEPTIONALLY thought provoking... essentially women alone develop a power of electric shock etc. and then take over the world from men, and it explores feminism and the balance between equality & tipping the scales in the other direction. Written by a friend of M.Atwood in a similar tone to handmaids tale, I would say? Content warning; there are some exceptionally graphic scenes in the latter half of the novel. 

Hamlet by Wllm Shksp - I can’t believe it took me this long to finally read it but Ophelia is my favourite name in the entire world & we love to see a woman go batshit (although she didn’t deserve that). 

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas - this was unsettling in the best sense of the word... it was a little slow & honestly more of a concept than a big reveal, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I finished it? A Secret History vibes but make it blurry like the memory of all those dystopian novels you read when you were young?

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E. Schwab - This is without a doubt my book of the year, and probably the best book I read in 2020? I stayed up all night on a friend’s couch reading it, got a book hangover and reread the ending, and then thrust it upon my mother who doesn’t usually read but read this, and loved it just as much. HIGHLY recommend and you HAVE to read it, it’s beautiful and endearing and just plain wonderful.

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat (3/3) - I went into this knowing it was going to be terrible, because I had received a blow by blow telling me as much; although I must say that it did learn a remarkable amount of new words, the books did get better as the series went on, and it did have a rather charming ending? BIG content warning for almost everything.

Sapiens by Yuval Harari - mind-expanding & must recommend for everyone, there is everything in this and I daresay everyone should posses this kind of knowledge? I listened to it as an audiobook (which I recommend because it’s rather hearty) but will be buying this in hardcopy & rereading it with annotations. 

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful novels I have ever read, and certainly the most beautiful portrayal of the story of Achilles and the battle of Troy I have ever seen. Patroclus deserved the justice that was given to him in this book; indeed, all of the characters were written with justice and grace. Highly recommend.

Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan (3/5) - Apollo is my favourite Greek God, and the sexiest greek god, and Rick Riordan’s writing slaps, as always. It did pain me to see Apollo, the sexy immortal, have to be forced back into a 16 year old’s body but everything else? Whimsical & wonderful, as expected. 

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong - a retelling of Romeo and Juliette, except it’s set in Shanghai in the 1920′s, and the protagonists already have a history. Very well done, characters are incredibly diverse in race, sexual orientation, gender, and ability / disability (and honestly, representation has never appeared so effortless and elegant). Also it includes a monster and possible magic. Incredibly underrated and highly recommend.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix. E Harrow - this was such a unique concept, and truly captivating, the story was charming, and felt like the kind of beautiful fairytale you would read as children but with more grit? ABSOLUTELY recommend this one

The Pisces by Melissa Broder - I hated this so much, not my vibe at all. Mermaid smut x therapy but make it cynical and judgemental (I know there was a moral in there but that’s not my point) also the dog dies.

Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith (1/2) - really interesting & unique concept (all unwritten novels / ideas reside in a special library that is part of Hell and then sometimes the books can come to life) however, my first thought upon reading this was “this reads as if it’s stemmed from one of those writing prompt tumblr posts” bc of the tone and whatever and as it turns out I was somewhat correct, it did stem from a short story (not bad just obvious). It did kind of settle down as it went on but I found reading it kind of a drag, and I don’t think I will read the second one.

Abandon by Meg Cabot - 1. Meg Cabot’s writing always fucking slaps 2. Hades and Persephone but make it modern & very 2000′s & somehow kind of unique 3. I literally loved this, sue me

Medusa Girls (Sweet Venom) by Tera Childs - Like Percy Jackson except they are descendants of Medusa so they are Gorgons and have fangs & venom (hence the title). Gave me very 2000′s vibes? Quite cool but tbh I found the books quite short (like two hours each, if that)? Do NOT read the GoodReads description of the book before you read it, you will spoil it for yourself.

Bring me their Hearts by Sara Wolf - In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated YA series I read in 2020. The heroine is endearing, self aware, witty, and loves to look pretty even while kicking ass which in my opinion is an incredibly underrated trait. Also, immortality without being hundreds of years old? VERY sexy. HIGHLY recommend. 

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova - High commendation to be given for the fact that it is a standalone and yet manages to fit in the plot of what would usually be a full fantasy trilogy without cutting corners or being a million miles long? Also sweet storyline & beautiful ending? If you liked ACOTAR you should read this as a “what would have / could have been had SJM had a different editor” (No shade I promise).

The Iron Fae by Julie Kagawa (4/4 + novellas) - Incredibly detailed faerie set around the modern world & our current use of technology & iron in it. Very neat adventure-style series, by the time I read the last novella I was well and truly done with the world (aka provided enough content to be fulfilling). Was definitely aimed at a younger audience though, NO smut / smut was brushed over.

The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black (3/3 SS) - This is technically the prequel to Cruel prince, set in the modern world, but with the fae world inside it as it traditional? All I have to say is that it is excellent & I highly recommend it.

Bridgerton series (The Duke and I) by Julia Quinn (9/9) - I read this after watching the Netflix show twice through and I am obsessed, although the books were not quite as elegant as the show, and some parts that made me cringe either by their portrayal (it is very firmly set in the 19th century and thus some things are not handled with tact or grace), the characters were exceptionally loveable and I am so excited to see where the show takes them! Lovely language & an abundance of words I had never seen before (always a plus). 

[ihopethisendswell]

Naomi's ( Main) Team

Naomi has 3 teams, including this one, but this one is the one she caught and raised during her challenge. So without further ado....

Name: Neptune

Gender: " Male. He/ Him pronouns"

Species: Inteleon

Nature and Characteristics: Docile and Loves to Eat

Bio: Naomi's right hand mon. Both going through similar arcs of they're own, the two are inseparable. He's grown up a lot since he was a Sobble, oozing with the cool calm collectiveness as a leader now. It took him a lot to realize how good of a leader he is. He wasn't as energetic or loud as the other two starters, y'know? When he was a Sobble he just...cried and hid. Sometimes he wonders why Naomi chose him, but he's forever grateful. As an Inteleon, again, he's more confident now, no thanks to the support if his trainer and his team. He loves all of them dearly. He hopes that they can have many more battles to come, champion or not!

Name: Eloise

Gender: " Female, governor". she/her

Species: Corviknight

Nature and Characteristics: Brave and has a study body

Bio: ((Note: just wanted to say that ever since watching Chuggaconroys playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I fully believe that a human Eloise would sound just like Morag. Okay, on with the bio))

If Neptune is Naomi's right hand mon, then Eloise is Neptune's right hand mon. Woman. Wing? Bird? Whatever, the point is that she's been with with Neptune and Naomi from the start. In the early days of their travels, she was the one who took up the leadership role, due to Neptune's timidness and Naomi's lack of self-confidence. Though she never once hated them for it,and tried her best to encourage the both of them to be the best they can be. Even if it means pecking they're heads every so often. Now, with all of them fully evolved, she couldn't be any more proud. Eloise is often seen as the protector of the group. The big sis. She cares for her team and her trainer. That being said: if any harm comes to her teammates or her trainer or both, she will not hesitate to act. You have been warned.

Name: Xena

Gender: " I'm just a wee lass, love" she/they

Species: Toxtricity

Nature and Characteristics: Calm and mischievous

Bio: Don't be fooled by her unassuming nature, this frog( ?) has a pranking streak and you might be her next victim. Fortunately her pranks aren't harmful, just mild inconveniences, like adding lots of Cheri berries to make the curry way hotter than it needs to be. Xena can be a bit spoiled, given that she was the baby of the group for a while, and thus being used to being babied( which also fueled her desire to become more independent). Other than her harmless pranks, Xena's pretty chill, always going with the flow. She loves hanging Marnie and Piers when they do, getting to rock out now and again. She's totally not trying to set up Naomi and Marnie together. Nope. She would never. Speaking of setting up.

Name: Luna

Gender: ".....female" she/her

Species : Hatterene

Nature and Characteristics: Quiet and Alert to Sounds

Bio: Emotions can be so loud. So negative. It's one of the reasons why Luna prefers Sebby. Yes he's loud, and sometimes annoying, but he's so.....him. So positive. Also because he's her baby brother and she generally prefer him over others. Until they both join Naomi's team. At first, Luna hated Naomi. Not because she was a bad trainer and unworthy of her attention, far from it. Even as a small Hatenna she could see the potential her newfound trainer had. The problem was the large amounts of self-doubt and self-loathing that ticked her off. It was practically oozing out of her! Ugh. She can't deal with that. It's.....too much. But it bothered her. How an obvious strong and kind person would think so low of herself. At the time, Luna thought it was stupid. To feel such a way, and was just planning to run off with Sebby when it was dark. But Sebby, her beloved Sebby, latched on to his trainer and refused to let go. Because of course he would do that. It's Sebby. So Luna stayed. And she watched. And, begrudgingly, warmed up to her trainer. And the rest of the team. And, somehow, engaged in a committed relationship with Xena. How? She doesn't know, but if any harm comes to her girlfriend she will see red. Ahem. Ever since she joined the team, Luna is more .....open to the idea of emotions. They're still loud. Still annoying, but they're.....nice. Even the negative ones. That's just what brings humans and pokemon together, hm?

Name: Sebastian "Sebby"

Gender: " Naomi says I'ma good boi!" He/Him

Species: Grimmsnarl

Nature and Characteristics: Jolly and Alert to Sounds

Bio: A good boi. The goodest boi. What a lad. When he first met Naomi and the gang,he didn't want to leave. Partially because he was just so excited to meet new people and make new friends! And because Naomi was going through some things when he and Luna was caught, and as an impidimp, he thrived off it. Now keep in mind this wasn't by his own will! When Luna broke it down for him after the fact he felt incredibly bad! (He couldn't let go of Naomi for an hour.) Even when Naomi gained more and more confidence in herself, Sebby stilled thrived. He's so happy that his trainer was loving herself the way he lived her! Just seeing her happy makes his day! He loves his team, both him and Xena like pulling pranks on the others( much to Luna's annoyance) and he really looks up to Neptune and Eloise! ( I say that as if they're really old or something lol). It may come as a surprise to some that Sebastian is a strategic thinker, often the one implementing strategies for the team( Luna's so proud). He's not afraid to fight dirt, btw. He's still a Grimmsnarl. Though no one would seem to notice given his cheery personality.

Name: Prince Yuki

Gender/Pronouns: " I am prince!" He/they

Species: Frosmoth

Nature and Characteristics: Hardy and proud of his power.

Bio: Is he an actual prince? Wouldn't you like to know. Yuki, despite his claims to be a prince, his a lot more humble than he lets off. Most of his ego comes from his battle prowess( he was considered to be the "strongest snom" on route 8). This cockiness had lead him into some trouble, particularly given who is considered the leader of the team, though no one really took his claims to leadership seriously....well. Except Sebastian. Now Yuki isn't stupid. He knows that no one truly believes his claims that he's royalty, nor that he had the skills to be a good leader. It infuriates him to no end, but it's something that he has long accepted. But Sebastian was different. He listened. He helped him train. He called him " His Majesty" or "My prince". He believed him truly. And soon his actions spread across the team. Of course by the time he evolved, Yuki was fine with them not using the title prince everytime given how close they all gotten, but it was still nice to be taken seriously! He never really got that before. And it all started with Sebas- Sebby. It all started with Sebby. Sometimes, at night, when everyone is outside of their pokeballs, camping out, Yuki would sleep close to Sebby. Usually he would hate getting close to anyone while he sleeps, given it gives him unnecessary warmth. But he makes Sebby the one exception.

[katewaliss]

1x1 plot list!

hello girls, gays and theys! my name is crissy, i’m 21, go by she/her pronouns and live in the PST timezone. i am celebrating bullshitting my way through my junior year with ( copious amounts of tequila but also ) make a list of 1x1 ideas / plot bunnies because i need something to do during this Borentine and what better way to spend it then making myself cry with ships! 

i primarily send really long keysmash head cannons through discord and the ims, but i am also down to do replies ( on tumblr or discord ) and ask memes are my most favorite. i am introverted af but very excited abt ships so i really like having rp partners who like want to stay up all night and write and scream with me, so if that sounds like u, come thru! 

if u like any of these please don’t hesitate to shoot me an im! 

also my discord is daddy devito#2918 ( & yes, i do hate myself  )

were starting with mermaids bc i love mermaids

ALSO YES I LIKE OPPOSITE PLOTS DONT @@@@@ ME!!!!!

ALSO ALL OF THESE PLOTS CAN BE GAY! BE GAY DO CRIMES!

i’ve always kind of wanted one based loosely on these pictures x, x, x. im thinking ponyo meets enchanted meets h20 little mermaid AF realness! like maybe hes this lil regular boy high school college student taking pictures and stuff and sees this girl wash up on the shore looking very confused. so he helps her and you know, shes a little hysterical and cant walk very well, takes her into his apartment puts a towel over here bc she like keeps talking abt how shes a mermaid and hes like oh my god shes crazy ahh. she keeps saying her dad is king of the ocean and hes like???? do u have a last name? and the police dont know anything abt her she has no file, no id, no finger print in the database? 

basically the mermaid is staying w the college student in his apartment and he like teaches her what the microwave and the tv is and its very soft  they fall in luv maybe drama he has a girl friend who sucks a lot who is angry abt mermaid girl idk maybe the government realizes and tries to steal her! fun THAT FIRST PIC? MAYBE HE SAVED HER WHEN HE WAS A KID ONCE FROM DROWNING!!! AHHH

alternatively i found these pictures were are in the same vein very aquamarine x, x, x, lifeguard off duty surfing and he gets stuck in a gnarly wave and almost drowns but this mermaid saves his life! and he comes to see her a lot on the beach and they hang out and fall in love he teaches her how to speak english shows her his phone!!! MAYBE THE GOVERNMENT IS ALSO POACHING HER WE LOVE DRAMA

ok last mermaid plot? BUT ITS A SIREN PLOT!!!!!!! these sirens/a siren wipes out this sailors entire ship with the sirens song they all get drowned/eaten .... but plot twist! this one sailor homie lives bc he is DEAF and therefore IMMUNE TO THE SIREN SONG!! so this siren keeps tryna sing at him and its not working and u know they fall in love good stuff MORE POACHES MORE PIRATES MORE GOVERNMENT TRYNA KILL THE AQUATIC AMERICAN BC I LOVE SUFFERING modern or maybe set back in the day???? spicy

anthour or a sculptor that writes a book w a main character or makes a statue and it comes to life and has no perception of human stuff and is like a big alien

also literally all of these plots can be made gay as the flyest bi i ENCOURAGE it!!!! i will play either character in any of them pls tell me which one u like if u like one

pls the clown clown valedictorian plot

ok speaking of giving the gays everything they want

damn i just want a cheesy wlw 1x1 plot where the first girl is a famous celebrity hella spoiled very purse dog paris hilton type and her fancy convertible sports car breaks down smack dab in a small ass hick nowheresville town and this flannel wearing mannerless tomboy mechanic comes to fix her car but rich girl is stuck in town a few days while they order the part she needs for her car bc it’s a small town they don’t have it and they get closer and the celebrity girl is humbled by the town and learns a lot abt the world and herself just ,, good times LISTEN!!!! zendaya and kristine froseth ???? SPICY

ok maybe a period piece lady knight / princess plot where she was personally assignment to the princess but maybe its a whole mulan thing where no one knows the night is a girl and is posing as a man bc women were allowed to be knights and the princess is betrothed to some loser prince once again ill play either

princess body guard plots always smack

ok princess protection program BUT GET THIS instead of that its my boy dmitri who is the heir to the russian throne or some made up european country but theres an assasination attempt so hes told he has to go into witness protection. and this dude or girls dad is head of cia/fbi and dmitri has to pose as a foreign exchange student at y/ns college and be shown around/baby sat by them. they hate eachother. probably bc dmitri is obnoxious and entitled and sleeps w everyone. he was a matthew daddario fc but not that necessary!

cheerleaders on opposite squads who got the sexual tension!!!!

plot based off hollywood the netflix limited series where its 1940s-1950s hollywood and maybe actors falling in love, an actor and a director? OR omg even better an actor falling in love with some sort of stage crew, lighting, camera person............SPICY! 

a beauty / makeup youtube influencer and a pranking rant gaming sort of youtuber and they have to collab and hate it points if its gay

that cliche plot where ur friends older brother is hot

ok kstew / naomi scott .....that is such.....a wave

UGLY BETTY PLOT BITCH!!!!!! REVERSE THE ROLES OR MAKE IT GAY

i saw this gifset of margo robbie and michael b jordan talking abt how they are eachothers celebrity crush and it got my brain turning 

a very whimsical hopeless romantic artist who finds a muse in a no nonsense american college student studying law studying abroad

PERCY JACKSON BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE HUNGER GAMES BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

business man/prodigal son who falls in love with a stripper/escort

harry potter......next gen................please.............scorose............but like can i play ravenclaw soft boy nothing like draco scorpio BUT ALSO ALL THE HP i also really like ocs also BEAUXBATONS DRUMSTRANG ( if anyone wants to help me w a not hogwarts but other wizarding school rp let me know )

not to b cliche but uh....pastors son bad boy plot yes!

alternatively bad girl good boy/girl plot yes! ( can i pls play bad girl seulgi its Dire )

horror until dawn stuff

soul eater? death note? OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB BITCH!!!! ANIME!

the epically cliche popular person failing math and is gonna get kicked off cheer gets tutored by biggest loser in school and only agrees to tutor her in math if she teaches them how to be cool to impress crush (popular persons friend) and they do that, they start to bond, she gives nerd a makeover the whole school falls in love with them and the popular girls real jealous and wHEw

a disgruntled detective whos wife cheated on him with his partner and he drinks everyday (also could b a lady) throws himself into work and this waitress at the diner he works at who is the opposite of him and very sunshiney

OKAY HANNIBAL but like the hannibal is a lady!

superhero x villian plot! spicy maybe theyre exes! or they went to the same super power school? 

SPEAKING OF SUPERHEROS I WANT A MIRACULOUS LADYBUG PLOT RIGHT FUCKING NOW SOMEONE PLAY CHOU TZUYU AS MARINETTE!!!!!!!!!

also every disney plot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i think this will get added to but for now this is the gist HIT ME THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!!!

[amorisabelle]

Breakfast Debacle

INVOLVED: Levi Morgan, Maya Morgan, Naomi King, Calvin King, Victoria Perry, Dominic Perry, Isabelle Marshall, Alexander Marshall, Israel West, and Melaine Ashton TIME FRAME: Saturday, December 21, 2019 and Sunday, December 22, 2019 LOCATION: Elk Trail Lodge; Denver, Colorado SUMMARY: After Naomi saw Levi speak into Melaine’s room the night before, she and the girls make breakfast for the house resulting in conflict, of course; Maya finally arrives and greets her friends and husband, with Israel in tow.

Levi tip-toed out of his room, gently closing his room door behind him, and into the hallway carefully, looking around vigilantly. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, as to not wake any of his friends or their wives. Licking his lips, he continued his watch as he moved down the hallway, trying to step lightly as he did.

Having been denied sex by her husband, Naomi laid in bed reading a book quietly to herself as she festered over Calvin. Hearing a creak in the night, she raised up a little noticing the shadow as it passed by their assigned room door. Squinting she got up, sitting the book aside and she opened her door very slow and still, as she peered out to see Levi creeping down the hall and into their friends room.

Feeling that the coast was clear, Levi hurried the rest of the way to Melaine’s room. He reached for her handle, smirking to himself as he gently and carefully opened her door and made his way inside, closing it behind him swiftly.

Naomi watched Levi closely before she turned closing her door with her mouth gaped wide open, she couldn’t believe the no-good son of a bitch. “That motherfucker,” she sneered to herself, Maya was the sweetest and most humble friend they had. She didn’t deserve this shit one bit, not from him, not from anybody.

“I saw that low-down dirty dog,” Naomi exclaimed to her friends as she scrambled some eggs in a pan. “He was in there up until about two hours ago,” she said looking at them both as she ratted out Levi for the piece of shit he was.

Victoria’s whole face contorted as she pushed the lever on the toaster down and looked to Naomi. “What?!” She grunted out disgusted.

Isabelle poured orange juice into the glasses before she looked at Naomi, shaking her head, a scowl on her face. “I knew it,” she grunted bitterly.

“Yeah,” Naomi said as she looked to Victoria. “I am telling Maya as soon as she gets here,” she promised as she continued to whip up the eggs in the skillet.

“Uh-uh, Naomi, wait a minute,” Victoria said waving her hand in front of Naomi.

“Wait for what?” Naomi asked the woman her neck jerking back, ever so slightly as she looked to her crazily.

“You don’t know what kind of state-of-mind she’s going to be in,” Victoria said, turning to look at Naomi, expectantly.

“Oh, come on Vicky,” Naomi said to the woman beside her as she sat the spatula down for a moment. “Let’s forget it with all that psych mess right now,” she waved off. “I am telling her,” she said sternly.

“No, Vic’s right,” Isabelle chimed in. “You know she’s been really depressed lately. Let’s just wait,” she said thoughtfully as she began to pour some of the orange juice into more glasses.

“Why?” Naomi asked the two of them whipping her head back and forth. “If it was one of us, we would want to know right?” she asked them seriously her hand on her hip.

Victoria scoffed, shaking her head, adding more fruit to the plate that she was holding.

“Uh,” Isabelle shook her head at Naomi. “You don’t know that. Sometimes people get angry at you for telling them,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Exactly,” Victoria added, “and she’s been so unhappy, the least we could do as her friends is take make sure that she’s gonna be okay.”

“Still, the fact that we are her friends–” Naomi said coming back with a counter argument before some of the gang walked into the kitchen with them. She fell quiet, moving back to her original duty.

Levi moved through the door first saying, “good morning,” as he moved for the fridge.

“Good morning gang,” Alexander said cheerfully as he walked into the kitchen to reconnect with his wife and their two friends. He sat down in a stool in front of the women that were preparing breakfast.

“So, just where the hell have y’all been?” Naomi asked as the troop came trotting in.

“We hiked a trail,” Alexander said to her easily, innocence laced in his voice as he sat down looking at her oddly. It was far too early in the morning for Naomi to be cranky, or was it?

Dominic looked to their friends and said, “there were a lot of animals; foxes and things,” he told them having picked up a biscuit.

Melaine stood before the bar area and she smirked at everyone, toying with her Louis Vuitton scarf around her neck before she said, “it smells so good Naomi.” She popped a piece of biscuit into her mouth as well and said, “you belong in a kitchen” to her slyly as she leaned against the counter.

“Bitch,” Naomi said looking to Melaine, “don’t get me to where you belong, hoe ass. Ass belong on a corner… you already have your pimp,” she said slyly as she rolled her eyes at her.

Melaine looked to Naomi disgustedly as she called her not only out of her name but a prostitute all in one. The bitch didn’t really know her.

Levi sat the apple juice from the fridge onto the counter and sat down beside Melaine at the breakfast bar, his eyes going wide slightly at Naomi’s words, but he said nothing.

“Hey, good morning everybody,” Calvin said feeling bright and refreshed after a wonderful night's sleep. He sat down at the bar beside Alexander with a bright smile.

“Morning Calvin,” Alexander said to his friend looking at him and then looking down.

“Morning brother,” Dominic replied as he still chomped on a biscuit standing next to his wife.

“How did you sleep Calvin?” Melaine asked, still leaning against the counter.

“I slept great!” Calvin said, turning in his seat a little to look at Melaine. “I was out like--”

“Did you?” Melaine said with a grin on her face before it fell watching Naomi.

Naomi didn’t bother to look at her husband as she took the plate, she made for him and plopped it down before him. She didn’t care what happened to the content on the plate as she did so. She turned her back to everyone.

Looking down at the plate as Naomi dropped it in front of him, Calvin’s toast flying into the air before falling back down onto the counter, he frowned muttering, “I slept okay.”

Isabelle wasn’t even phased as Naomi dropped the plate before Calvin and she took a sip of her orange juice, looking at her husband.

Eyes growing wide as Naomi slammed Calvin’s plate down, Victoria picked up another plate and prepared it for someone without another word.

Alexander looked to the side of his friends face with eyes large as saucers as the woman literally threw his breakfast over to him. He looked from his face, to his disheveled plate, to his own wife with the same wide eyes he started with.

Calvin looked at Alexander out the corner of his eye slightly, then down at his plate, making a face at his friend. Didn’t he know his wife was crazy. This is why he couldn’t tell her about his VD.

“Uhm,” Victoria began, trying to ignore what Naomi had just done. “Levi, have you called Maya to see if she was okay?”

“No,” Levi replied quickly, shaking his head as he ate his biscuit. “Can I get some coffee?” he asked.

Naomi looked to Levi, her face hardening as she shook her head and turned her back to the group again moving for the sink to wash the dishes.

“I am sure she’s fine,” Melaine said as she licked her lips looking at everyone.

“Was anyone talking to you trick?” Naomi asked Melaine upfront, turning back around from the sink. Of course, she’d have two cents to add to this after, all she didn’t care as long as she had the opportunity to keep fucking Maya’s man.

“Trick?” Melaine repeated, at the point by now she’d had enough of Naomi and all of her disrespectful comments.  

“Yes trick,” Naomi said to her very quickly, “as in slut, whore, tramp,” she listed gesturing with her hand. “Are you unaware of your name?” she asked resting her hand on her hip as she gazed at her.

“Look Naomi,” Melaine said in a harsh accent, before she went on, “you don’t know me, I have tolerated you long enough,” she said pointing her finger at her as she did.

“I will beat your ass bitch,” Naomi said to Melaine in response, each word that left her lips came out forcefully and drew her closer and closer to the woman.

“Then do it bitch!” Melaine said as she hopped up from her position leaned over on the counter. Never mind Levi trying to get in between her and Naomi.

Levi stood quickly with Melaine, “Whoa, wait a minute,” he said wrapping his arm around her petite frame before he reached over holding his hand out to Naomi.

Calvin sat quietly, eating his food hungrily as if nothing was happening around him.

Victoria squealed as Naomi pulled her out of the way and she spun around, moving closer to Isabelle out of shock.

Dominic watched as the woman threw things at each other and he said, “hey, hey, hey, hey,” loudly, voice booming around the space as he tried to hold Naomi back. His head moved back and forth as more food continued to be thrown.

Alexander lifted his hands up, a fork in one of them as he too added that the woman needed to stop and calm down. “Wait a minute,” he called out as he watched on.

Maya climbed out of Israel’s truck as they arrived at the cabin, she took it in all of its glory as she stuck one hand in her fur coat and the other held her purse moving towards the entrance.

Israel climbed out of the truck, moving to the backseat to grab Maya’s bags for her. As well as the package that came for Alexander.

“Hey,” Alexander said as he looked towards Levi, “handle that,” he said to him as he sat his fork back down in his plate. “Hey, she cooked grits and I am just going to move the hell out of the way,” he said dipping his fork in his food and then into his mouth.

Levi looked to Alexander and said, “she ghetto,” throwing his hands into the air.

“Someone better get here before I do,” Naomi said in response as she backed up slowly.

Maya moved throughout the house and she headed for the kitchen, having smelt some food cooking in the house. They must have been eating breakfast. She began to pull her fur coat off when she reached the opening and said “hey!” happily “Divas!” she called out to her best friends. She leaned in for a hug from Dominic happily accepting the kiss to her temple from him as she chuckled infectiously. She moved toward her husband her hand now gripping her heavy coat and purse, she moved to give him a kiss despite his disposition. “Hey, what’s going on everybody?” she asked.

Levi leaned towards his wife out of courtesy as she reached for him. He allowed her to kiss his cheek, but he didn’t show her much affection back.

Israel moved into the cabin behind Maya, sitting her things down as he stepped in fully, assessing everyone quickly.

Maya moved towards Victoria and she smiled at her friend leaning in for a hug.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Victoria said, hugging Maya tight, rubbing her back lovingly before she pulled away.

“Yes, I made it finally,” Maya replied to Victoria before she moved over to Isabelle and hugged the woman to her as well.

Isabelle stepped forward; arms open to her friend. “We were worried sick about you, you know.” She said hugging her friend tight.

“I know, I am fine,” Maya said to Isabelle, “this man took really good care of me,” she said gesturing Israel off to the side.

Dominic looked to Israel and he smiled thoughtfully, he was glad the man had managed to assist their friend some way. He knew how much she was on his mind and the mind of their other friends.

Levi turned to the sheriff, shaking the man’s hand firmly as he looked him up and down.

“At least some man did,” Naomi she smartly back to her friend, a sneer on her lips as she looked to her friends shitty husband. Never mind that, she hugged the woman tightly wrapping her arms around her thick frame.

Pulling away from her friend, Maya moved over to Israel and said, “everybody, this is Israel,” she emphasized placing her hand on his arm as she looked to them. “I invited him for breakfast, is that alright?” she asked them.

Levi squinted at Naomi, holding his hand out to her with a huff before he moved to sit back down.

As Maya introduced him to the group, Israel smiled. “Good morning everybody,” he said with a slight wave before he gazed at Maya intently as she spoke, giving her his full undivided attention before he looked at the group to see their reactions and hear their thoughts on the idea of him staying to eat with them.

“Fine with me,” Calvin called out from his spot at the end of the breakfast bar.

“Good to see you man,” Alexander said to the guy kindly.

Dominic held up the plate offering the man a warm biscuit if he’d like it politely. Though honestly, he’d thrown back two and, in his mind, he owned the plate of biscuits now.

“Same here,” Israel said back to Alexander before he remembered the package tucked under his arm and added, “oh, here you are Dr. Marshall,” as he walked over. “A package came for you. When the postal service can’t make it up the hill, they leave it with me,” he informed the man.

Alexander looked to Israel as he approached, and he nodded his head grabbing the package that contained the shot he needed to give his best friend. “Thank you,” he told the guy, glad it had made to them in a quick and fast paced manner.

Isabelle looked directly at her husband, asking, “what is that?” He had some nerve telling her to put the work away for the week and he was getting doctor packages?

Alexander swallowed down some food and avoided his wife’s eye contact as he said, “something I needed.” Picking his glass of orange juice up and taking a long sip as she looked over at Calvin.

Calvin ate his food, slowly looking over at Alexander out the corner of his eye before he dropped his head quickly.

Maya looked around hand on her hips and she smiled again. “It’s so good to see you guys,” she said looking at her friend lovingly. God, did she miss them, her friends were always a good pick-me-up and she was sure she would get some peace of mind out of this trip. It would ease her and hopefully help her, and her husband rekindle their flame.

“It’s good to see you too,” Victoria said sweetly from her spot off to the side.

“Melaine,” Maya said smiling at the girl as she licked her lips slowly, the wheels had been turning in her head since she learned of Israel having been divorced.

Melaine looked to her friend and said, “hm,” sweetly back having gone back to her biscuit.

“That is Israel,” Maya said sweetly, “I talked about you all last night,” she told her thoughtfully. “Girl,” she started, “he is single,” she told her with a knowing look.

Melaine looked to her friend and then Israel, taking him in. “Is that so?” she asked her. “Mm,” she hummed out. “That’s great,” she told her as she shifted on her stool now before she cleared her throat.

Naomi looked to the three in an unknown love triangle and she pursed her lips slyly.

Levi looked at Melaine, a scowl on his face as he placed his hand on her thigh under the counter discreetly, squeezing tightly.

Isabelle pursed her lips, looking between Levi and Melaine and she brought her glass of orange juice to her mouth as she looked off mumbling. “I saw that,” to Naomi and Victoria.

“I did too,” Victoria added quickly, her face scrunching slightly as she shifted on her feet.

“Mm-hm,” Naomi said with her glass up to her mouth as she nodded her head discreetly.

“So Melaine,” Maya said pressing forward, “why don’t you move over,” she smiled cutely, “and let the man sit down,” she asked her with a smirk.

Levi rolled his eyes, sitting his coffee cup down as his head rolled to the side slightly, irritated as he bit his lip to hold his tongue.

“Oh, alright,” Melaine said playing along as she shift stools, moving one over to Alexander and giving the man space to sit in between her and Levi now.

“Yeah,” Alexander said as he gestured with his hand, “You’re single, he’s single,” he said to the woman as she moved next to him. “So,” he stuttered getting a look from his friend, “sit, there,” he said hiding his somewhat amusement as he looked down now.

Maya grabbed a strawberry and placed it into her mouth, chewing lightly as she asked her friend. “Victoria what are you doing?” curiously. The woman couldn’t cook, they all knew that. If you asked her, she was the best cook out of all four of them.

Victoria scooped eggs onto a plate, and she looked over at Maya saying, “what? I’m helping out.”

“You don’t know anything about cooking,” Maya said to her as she licked her fingertips gently. “Move over,” she told her with a grin.

Naomi looked to Maya and Victoria and she actually giggled to herself. It was indeed a known fact that the woman was not a good cook.

Isabelle looked over at Victoria and Maya and she smiled, a laugh escaping her as she looked to Naomi, chuckling with her friend.

“I got it,” Maya told the woman as she moved to wash her hands and dry them to assist with breakfast.

“Ain’t no secret… you know all about cooking and eating don’t you, baby…” Levi said to his wife harshly as he forked some eggs into his mouth.

“This motherfucker,” Naomi said lifting her finger up to Levi, he had some damn nerve. How dare he speak to Maya in that way and in front of all of them like that. His desire to embarrass her at every turn was starting to get under her skin considering they all knew at this point he was a cheater. “You got one more fucking time,” she warned the man seriously as she glared at him.

Levi looked at Naomi disgusted. “What is wrong with you?” he asked her. “Alex, please prescribe her some valium.”

“You’re just such a-” Naomi said trying to contain herself, but she really couldn’t at this point. “Asshole,” she told him. “Let me go and just-” she breathed, “get my ass out of here,” she told them all as she walked out of the kitchen.

Maya looked between her husband and her friend as she asked everyone. “What’s wrong with her?” very curious to know what she missed and why everyone was so hostile with each other right now.

“PMS,” Levi responded to Maya quickly with a shrug of his shoulders and as Naomi walked out, he turned in his chair his eyes following her as he said, “take a valium.”

“What is wrong with your wife?” Alexander asked Calvin as he turned to look at him. He picked his fork backup and began to eat some more.

Calvin looked at Alexander, his mouth full of food and he took a minute to swallow before he said, “what do you mean?” He looked around at all of his friends. “It’s Sunday.”

Alexander’s head snapped back up at his friend's words and he turned to look at everyone wide-eyed. It’s Sunday? Was his friend that bad, was she that much of a fighter and aggressor that her own husband didn’t notice how violent she could be.

Melaine watched the woman walk out and then looked between Alexander and Calvin. As the man spoke of his wife, she looked to him crazily before she looked over to Levi who had begun chuckling from the ridiculousness that was Naomi.

Levi looked at Calvin with a chuckle, unable to believe that his friend just sat there unbothered through all of that.

Israel sat in between Melaine and Levi shaking his head at the group of friends as a smirk tugged on his lips, his eyes watching Maya before him as she prepped plates.

Maya scooped a helping of grits onto her husband’s plate as she prepared him one, if she didn’t do it who would? She was his wife and it was her job to cater to his every need and she always would.

“You are so immune to her behavior, that you don’t even realize,” Alexander said turning to his friend still a bit shocked and amused right now. “What the hell?” he said chuckling at that.

Dominic looked to Alexander and he chuckled out shaking his head as he leaned against the counter. His friends were truly something else, none of them had the slightest idea of that.

Melaine chuckled herself, what a sad life to live, she thought to herself a she looked to Levi. She pulled her sleeves up to her turtleneck. “God!” she breathed.

Levi laughed out at Alexander’s words as he held his cup of coffee.

Isabelle stood there, not finding it amusing in the slightest as she shifted on her feet and as the phone rang, she turned and moved for it since she was the closest.

“Excuse me,” Maya breathed to her friend as she reached across her. “Here baby,” she said sweetly to her husband as she handed him over a plate she made, with everything she knew he liked with the proportions that she knew he’d appreciate.

“Thank you,” Levi said easily as he grabbed the plate from his wife and dug in.

“Hello?” Isabelle said answering the phone quickly as she leaned against the counter facing everyone. “Oh, hey Monica,” she said before she grew quiet, listening to Monica on the line. “No, it’s okay,” she said shocked, her eyes moving to her husband. “He said what now?” she asked, staring him down before she began to shake her head, pulling her gaze away from him. “No, it’s fine. Thank you,” she said. “Just tell him I’ll get back to him a little later,” she said as she turned back towards the base of the phone. “Alright, bye,” she said before placing it back on the dock. She stared at the phone for a moment before she turned and looked to her husband once more, moving towards him. “Alexander… Alexander…”

Alexander ignored his wife at first, having heard only part of his wife’s conversation. Once he heard Monica’s name, he knew. He asked the woman in kindness to let them enjoy their trip and she failed him. “Yeah,” he finally said looking to Isabelle as she approached the counter again.

As he answered her, Isabelle arched an eyebrow. “Did you tell Monica not to call me?” She asked him, her voice laced with a slight attitude.

“It’s our vacation,” Alexander said to the woman with a bit of an attitude himself as he forked some more grits into his mouth.

Nodding slowly, Isabelle dropped her eyes before she looked back up at him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked him, nodding towards the doorway that led into the living room.

“No” Alexander told his wife sternly as he moved away from the topic at hand. “So, Israel,” he said changing the subject, “we saw like snow mobiles, where do we get those?” he asked him.

Isabelle looked at her husband incredulously, her neck jerking back slightly, her eyes rolling as he told her no. She let out a harsh breath as she pursed her lips and turned her back to him.

Looking over at Alexander, Israel chuckling saying, “Ah that’s easy--”

“I’m not worried about snowboarding,” Melaine said to Israel, “I want to shop,” she emphasized. It was her favorite past time and she loved spending Levi’s money.

Levi began choking on his food at Melaine’s words and he looked at her wildly before dropping his head as he coughed into his fist.

“You okay?” Melaine asked Levi as everyone looked over at the man as he coughed roughly.

“Sorry,” Levi muttered holding his finger out to everyone to excuse himself as he choked.

i

[wolfgangisdead]

Under the Moon Ch. 3

[MASTERLIST]

He waited for a total of twenty-five minutes, thirty at most. When she came out, he was instantly reminded of all the reasons behind why he loves her. Why he chose her. Why it was always her. 

She came out in ripped jeans and a t-shirt that was probably his, but he didn’t really care all that much. She could make anything look good. 

“You gonna wear that out?” She questioned, putting her hair up into a pony tail. 

“I’d look good regardless of what I’m wearing, just as long as I have you besides me.” He smiled, standing up to eye her curiously. “Adorable as always, I see.”

“Shut up, you dork. You find us a movie yet?” She wrapped her arms around his waist, peering up at him with a small smile. 

He shook his head, giving her an eskimo kiss. “I wanted you to pick. Tonight’s all about you, babe. I don’t want you to feel like I’m controlling everything, alright? Besides, I missed you not the places we went to.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Oh, Apollo....you’re a dork.” She leaned up on her tippy toes to press a kiss against his lips. “Your haikus still suck, though.”

“Yeah, no one does so I can’t hold it against you.” He shrugged nonchalantly before pulling away from the hug to hold her hands. 

“Can we forget about the movies and go to a pet store or something?” She looked at him with puppy dog eyes, swinging their hands back and forth. “Please?”

“Sure, but why a pet store? Do you want a pet, babe?” He tilted his head, smiling lightly.

“It just gets so quiet without you here. I was thinking maybe you could pick out an animal that can be here with me even when you can’t? Sorta like a guard dog but it doesn’t have to be a dog.” She shrugged, looking down as she bit her lip.

“You want someone to watch over you while I’m away...” He was heartbroken at the thought of her ever needing to say such words. “I’d do anything for you if it meant making you happy.”

They both knew that was a lie. He wouldn’t stay. He wouldn’t do the one thing she wanted him to and that was to stay. He could never do that, not even for her. At the end of the day, he’d be gone by morning.

He seemed to understand what was running through her mind and just sighed, shaking his head. 

“I’m trying, Naomi. Believe me, I am.” He pressed a kiss against her forehead before beckoning for her to follow him to the door. 

She grabbed her keys and followed him outside, a small frown painted on her lips.

“I know you feel bad about hardly ever being here, but I don’t hate you for it, okay? I just get frustrated and lonely...it’s not your fault.” She placed a hand on his arm, wanting him to listen.

“I’m never here, Naomi. I know I keep saying I’ll be around more, but it just...somethin’ else pops up.” He shrugged, a small sigh leaving his lips. “It’s like I just can’t leave, like I’m not allowed to.”

“Do you think something’s keeping you there? Like maybe some spooky god magic or?” Her question pulled a tight smile from him, but nothing more.

“It’s possible, yes. But a lot of us can do that to varying degrees.” He rolled his eyes. “If I really wanted to, I could keep you from leaving me, but I won’t because that’s stupid. A lot of us don’t do shit like that. Mostly because we’ve got better things to do.”

“So, walk with me here,” She tugged him along the pathway, “which god or goddess do you think would be behind this?”

“Literally everyone who dislikes me. I’m not exactly a...humble god. Arrogant at best, I suppose.” He shrugged. “I’m not entirely a fan favorite up there, but if anything, probably my dad, Hera, or like....Athena.”

“Why Athena?” She tilted her head.

“Have you even met her? of course not, but still. She’s a stickler for rules. Anything that keeps any of us away for x amount of time is instantly her least favorite thing in the entire world.” He waved his hand dismissively. “If she wanted me to do more work, she would make it nearly impossible if not completely impossible. She’s a bit of an asshole, actually.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down, Apollo.” She chuckled lightly, leaning against him as they walked. 

“I know. I just wanted to mini-rant about Athena.” He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Are we walking to the pet store?”

“Yep! Your car is hideously bright and attracts too much attention.” She chirped, a smile on her face. 

“that...that hurt a little, Naomi. Ouch.” He rubbed his chest where his heart was, feigning heartache and pain. 

“You know I love you more than anything, ya dork.” She ruffled his hair. 

“Love ya too, nerd. But don’t insult my car.” 

[robbieinterviews]

“Interview: Margot Robbie Talks ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, Leo DiCaprio’s Final Bedroom Scene, Meeting The Real Naomi & More”, 2014

The Nude Scenes Were Essential—And Central—To Her Character’s Approach There are scripts that I pick up and say, “There’s no reason why she’s getting her clothes off, that’s just stupid, it’s just nudity for the sake of nudity.” That I do not agree with, ever. But when the nudity is warranted, I totally agree with it, and don’t think there’s anything shameful in that. If it’s justified and the character would do it then it should be there. In this case, [sex is] Naomi’s power over Jordan and that’s her only way of getting what she wants. That’s her form of currency in a world of millionaires when she comes from nothing. The only way of creating a better life for herself and getting what she wants is the fact that she’s aware of this sexual power she has over men, and especially over Jordan.

It’s just different in this day and age too, because there’s the Internet. It was like, if I do this there will forever be YouTube clips of this, there will be slow-motion versions. It’s not just the repercussions on myself; my brothers have to deal with that, my grandparents have to deal with that. It’s not just something that affects me; it affects everyone around me. So it’s not something to be taken lightly. I obviously put a lot of thought into it.

The Fact That The Nude Scenes Were In A Scorsese Film Didn’t Hurt, Either If there’s ever a time to do nudity, it’s in the hands of Martin Scorsese, who going to do it tastefully, who doesn’t exploit nudity. You watch his films, there’s a lot of violence—which he does so well—but he doesn’t use nudity as a tool for shock value. It’s not like he’s going to keep nudity in his back pocket and say, “Here I wanna do something exciting to pick the pace back up.” It’s not like that. So I felt totally comforted by the fact that it would be done well and done tastefully. I’m not really scared of doing it on the day because I know crews are professional and all that kind of stuff, it’s more like having it physically recorded forever. And all that ended up, it was so worth it. It was done so well and everyone gets naked in the movie, and it was like nothing.

On Meeting Nadine Caridi, The Real-Life Inspiration For Naomi I had the choice to meet her or not and I opted to meet her, and I’m really glad I did. It ended up being really helpful. It wasn’t necessarily integral to meet her to form my character because I wasn’t trying to portray her. And I tried to explain that to her – I was creating a character that was in the same situation that she was in, that lived the life that she was in, but I was by no means trying to be her or portray her at that time. She was really great about it, really understanding, which is a real attribute to how strong she is as a person. She’s has to be, to have put up with Jordan and his shenanigans.When I asked what would they fight about, she was like, “The drugs. The fact that he was a drug addict.” And I was like, “Oh.” Because in the book [Jordan] conveniently makes it sound like they only fought about him sleeping with hookers and him coming home late and all those kind of things. But her version of events – she said, “I didn’t care about the hookers or coming home late. He’s a man, he’s going to fuck around, I don’t give a shit.” And I was like, “Wow, okay.” She doesn’t really have a filter in what she says.She said he would be doing crack in front of their newborn baby. Any mother would divorce their husband for that. That could justify any irrational crazy behavior if it was out of protection of your child. So that was so helpful for my character because then I could do or say any horrible thing and know that my character’s motivation was out of protection for her child. Whether or not the audience sees my side of events is another matter, but just to know my motivation can give me an authentic performance

.Robbie Felt An Adverse Reaction To Naomi The First Time She Read The Script In the first draft that I read it very much seemed like a transaction, and that’s why I didn’t like the character when I first read it. I was like, she’s a gold digger, very superficial and very transactionary. I thought it didn’t seem much deeper than that. But the more we worked on the character the more we kind of beefed it up and the story and the relationships developed and became multi-faceted. It was like a complete marriage. They had kids over those years. I think it was more that she got caught up in the whirlwind and that was fine—she enjoyed the lifestyle. But when that lifestyle stopped and that coincided with his drug habit, it became more of an issue and more dangerous as opposed to a fun by-product of the lifestyle. She had different priorities, so that’s how I see it. I guess everyone sees it from their character’s perspective.

On The Surprisingly Complex Journey of Naomi’s Accent This is how specific I was hoping [the accent] to be: she was meant to have a Bay Ridge accent from the beginning, and then once they were living in Long Island I wanted it to have Long Island influences. I also wanted her to have made a conscious effort to dull down the Brooklyn from the accent; I wanted her to be aware of the fact that she was hanging out with people with a lot of money and she would be a little embarrassed of her original humble beginnings.

Something I realized when I moved to America: people get these general American accents, but when they get angry or upset or excited their original accents come out. It’s something I noticed with my manager, because he’s from New York, and the first time he got angry he suddenly had this accent. I was like ‘What is that?” So I thought whenever Naomi’s excited or yelling or whatever the accent should come out—which happens to be most of the scenes, so the accent is upfront anyway.

Did you have a very specific gameplan when planning your move to America from Australia to act?

Yes, well when I was planning my move to America I was living in Melbourne working on “Neighbours.” I worked on the show for three years, and it was probably a couple months into it when I decided. Up until then I had no idea that you could even do acting as a career, or that people could make a living out of it. It was just kind of like this fairy tale sort of life, so once I met people who were doing that as a career and could actually live off it, I started thinking, “Okay, what’s the next step?” America’s really the furthest you could go, because there’s really a limited industry in Australia.

Did you have any Australian actors as mentors that you looked up to? There were a lot of people that I was working with, but they all worked and lived in Australia on the show that I was working on, and like I said it’s a pretty limited industry—very comfortable. If you have a family and you’re happy playing the same character for 17 years then you can make a really happy, stable lifestyle out of that. But for me the idea of playing the same character for a number of years sounded suffocating. So I utilized my time on “Neighbours” to a) save my money so I had enough to live unemployed in America for a couple of years if need be, and b), use whatever time I had to do acting courses on the side—not that there was much time because we worked 17-hour days, five days a week, year-round with no hiatus.

When I first tried the American accent, for a moment I thought I could never be an actor, because I just could not do it. But then I thought, “Okay, it’ll just be something that I work at until I get it.” Someone told me that you could learn to sing, and that there are muscles that if you build, you will sing. So it was like that: I was just going to build these muscles until I could do an American accent. I had this brilliant dialect coach in Australia, Anna McCrossin-Owen, and I would just see her as often as I could. I learned all about the muscles and bones, and the structure of your mouth. When we had our first lesson she asked, “Is that voice the front, center, or back valve?” and I had no idea. “Am I resonating through my cheekbones or my forehead or my nose or chest?” No idea. Now she’ll just pick a dialect and I can pick where I’m going to resonate from. Now that I’ve got all the technical training in place it’s easy to adapt that foundation to any kind of dialect.

Are you fashioning your Midwestern accent then for “Violent Talents” next [“World War Z” scribe Matthew Mark Carnahan’s directorial debut]? That film actually fell through… it’s beyond annoying. I would’ve been filming that within a couple weeks. But I hadn’t decided about the voice. We had room to move with that. It was set in Detroit though, so I would’ve opted to pick a dialect that I hadn’t done before.

Is it eventually going to start up again? For sure, but we need to have the right people investing who are going to let the film be made the way it needs to be made. It’s a gritty, dark film, and we were so lucky to get the funding for ‘Wolf’ to make that kind of film, but it’s a rare thing. People just aren’t willing to take those kinds of chances these days. But it was such a good script. I said to Matt, “I don’t care if you make this film in 10 months or 10 years, I’m committed to it.” And my character is only in it for five scenes, but I decided if we get the funding in 10 years I’ll still be here.

What was the kind of character you were playing? She was a college student, so hopefully we don’t wait too long to make it. I guess if you classified it you could say she’s a love interest to Garrett Hedlund’s character, but it’s not really a love story. It’s a very unconventional sort of relationship—not dysfunctional, just unconventional. They see something in each other that doesn’t make a lot of sense to other people, I suppose.

[SPOILERS] It’s interesting how in your final scene of “Wolf of Wall Street”, Jordan’s punch to Naomi’s stomach is the final straw, but yet few people equate it with the forced sex that happened a second before. As an actress and as your character, how did you and Scorsese approach that beat? Originally it was you getting kicked down the stairs, right? Yes, but we couldn’t find a way to block it. We didn’t intend it to look like rape. We just wanted it to be just the most tragic sex scene you’ve ever seen. Just uncomfortable, and tragic. Uncomfortable, because we wanted him to be so unaware of her repulsion towards him. Because so much of the nursery scene got cut out, something that you kind of miss is that [Jordan and Naomi] had a sick sort of aspect to their relationship. Not them as the real people, but the characters we created. He’s got this sexual obsession with her, and she uses her sexuality to manipulate him, so they both play these weird sort of fucked up sex games to just mess with each other.

So since this end scene was meant to be this cathartic kind of demise of their relationship we wanted it to be just fucked up. She’s kind of messed-up, saying, “Come for me”, and he’s kind of into it because that’s what they normally do but she’s forcing it—the whole thing is just meant to be painful to watch. When the sex scene’s happening, I feel like I can hear a pin drop. I feel like no one’s moving. And then when he punches me in the stomach everyone was like “Oh!” And it was so awesome, that collective, audible reaction. No one saw it coming.

You Mentioned The Nursery Scene Was Cut – What’s Missing? Oh, it was when she was messing with him, saying how [adopts the Bay Ridge accent] “It’s going to be nothing but short skirts for a very long time, Daddy,” and she’s touching herself, effectively masturbating. And he starts telling her a story about their happy life together and how they got all this money, they got these security guards and blah, blah, blah. She’s getting more and more into the story, and she thinks she’s totally got him, but it’s just so uncomfortable once you see what’s coming. So she’s really touching herself a lot, really getting into it and moaning, and he’s going with this story. And then he says she’s on-camera and she freaks out and covers herself up. To somewhat of my relief, because I was secretly dreading that scene. That was going to be more uncomfortable to watch than the sex scene at the end. It was going to be really awkward. 

[flyswhumpcenter]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me requests according to this marvelous card!

Yeaaaah... Reset my requests, as almost none of them was inspiring me, at all. It was kind of tragic, thinking about it. This is will also show you how much of a goddamn fandom hispter I am because, yeah. Trauma Center whump in 2019 about the one thing that everyone (or so) got disappointed about in UTK2. Wowie.

(and yes, this is super self-indulgent)

Salt on the Wound

Summary: Good news: Paraskevi didn’t seem to have a type of Post-GUILT Syndrome attached to it. Bad news: Kyriaki still had one.

Fandom: Trauma Center Ships: (Light/Implied/frankly ignorable) DerAng (Derek/Angie)

Wordcount: 1.6K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

Fic-focused server.

Good news: Paraskevi didn’t seem to have a type of Post-GUILT Syndrome attached to it.

Bad news: Kyriaki still had one.

 GUILT was a weird little thing, when you thought about it. As a human-made disease, a weapon of sorts, it had unnatural mutation patterns and was difficult to grasp. Some strains of GUILT had PGS cases developing afterwards, some didn’t. Linda Reid’s did, Amy Chaser’s didn’t. Cybil Myers’s didn’t, John Matthews’s did. It was only a part of the GUILT cases ever registered which caused it, thankfully. It barely made sense, but one with a semblance of sanity or empathy would have said “thank Asclepius for that”.

Now, if only Kyriaki didn’t have a PGS attached to it, he’d have been much better off.

 Was Derek a responsible surgeon who cared about his patients, assisting nurse and job? Of course. He’d save the world from GUILT again if it needed his help doing so. He’d wake up at three in the morning to operate on a patient if that was needed. He’d barely escape from death’s grasp yet again if it meant saving someone, he really would. (It wasn’t like he hadn’t done that before: this patient with the contagious Tetarti case should have fazed him much more than that, three years ago.)

Yet, was he a responsible human being who had the humbleness to admit when he wasn’t in that great of a shape? Apparently, no, as he was absolutely terrible at even admitting to himself there was something wrong in the first place.

 He himself was a special case of ex-GUILT patient, which was why he should have thought to being careful much earlier than when he suspected he may have gotten himself in some deep, deeper troubles. Never had anyone heard of someone spontaneously hosting two different strains of the toxin at the same time, resulting in him getting a double infection and, well, almost dying because of said infection. Not exactly what he’d have defined as having a great time, back there.

Why is why Derek was so relieved when Paraskevi seemed to not be able to develop some kind of PGS attached to its name, already picturing having bits of the Arrow to the Heart shoved in, well… his heart. The nickname was explicit enough for him not to have to do the job of explaining where he had gotten infected and why it had been so important to remove the two strains in one go and rapidly. Thank Asclepius Naomi Kimishima had been there to operate on him in time and save him from the clutch of death.

But you knew who just happened to not be there to take care of the little issue Kyriaki caused in some of its former hosts? Naomi Kimishima.

 It all started a few days ago. After a day of saving lives from PGS and some other, more benign cases, he had started to feel some light pains in his chest. It wasn’t anything big at first: he, stupidly, brushed it as him having used his arms for too long in similar position, which fatigued his muscles and lead him to have a bit of a sore feeling on his chest. It really wasn’t much, nothing to worry about, right? Yeah, sure, he could have still told himself that and try to remain blissfully unaware of how abominably dumb he had been on that.

Obviously, when the pain became constant and, most importantly, started to ache when he was operating on someone, it started to become an issue. Trying to find a reason, he couldn’t put it on fatigue anymore, or else it was an organ of his chest getting strained and, well, he didn’t really want that, didn’t he? He checked his surgery scar from a few years ago: nothing. Nothing was out of the ordinary, it had recovered smoothly since then, there was nothing weird with anything except for the pain near his heart.

Perhaps he should have seen it coming, in hindsight.

 Three years seemed to be a while ago when Derek tried to do what he had done when he was actively infected and contagious: focus when his chest felt like it was on fire. From a day to the other, the pain went from annoying but somewhat tolerable to unbearable, flaring like a Molotov cocktail exploding inside his ribcage. That clearly wasn’t normal, especially since he had never heard of a heart disease he could have gotten except for his now-infamous GUILT infection…

Really, how did he have not seen it coming? It was so goddamn obvious; how could it have slipped for so long under his nose! (A day is long, for a surgeon).

 It was a protocol procedure, something so easy he would have sworn he could do it with his eyes closed and under a blindfold. After having operated in the least friendly of conditions, it was simply just very easy to take care of. Perhaps he had been too pompous to think he was just going to be able to zoom his way through it, Mister Healing Touch over there, Angie’s scolds coming to his mind as he thought about it. Heh, she hadn’t been wrong to ask him if he was able to operate on that day.

The patient himself was no issue. Relatively healthy body whose appendix had burst into flames, a case of appendicitis treated just in time. Caduceus just happened to be the one hospital that was the closest to this man’s workplace. There were no complications with the operation either, everything was going smoothly for such a late-blooming appendicitis, never causing him to wonder if he was going to be able to save this man’s life. It seemed all so smooth, all so simple, that he could have done it within minutes… if it wasn’t for the bleeding pain in his chest.

 Angie knew, he was certain of that, that his pretexts were only that: pretexts. Lies. Half-truths meant to soften the stone-hard reality. Derek had never been a liar, except on some select times like that damn time where he had contracted GUILT and tried not to worry his dear nurse about his worsening condition. She knew he was cringing on the inside, clutching his teeth to retain moans of pain and grunts every time he even slightly hung over a part of the body, resulting in his chest moving. He was now sure the patient’s appendix wasn’t the only thing on the verge of busting in the OR.

And yet, he had sustained the pain until the man was all good, stitched up and bandaged. The operation was all good and neatly folded. His nurse exhaled a sigh of relief as staff wheeled the patient out of the room and to the awakening wing. Oh, good, that was done, he could now go back to… Oh wait…

 His legs buckled up under his weight, giving up on him, weakened by having to be tensed for a while as he operated. His focus broken, the pain came back, biting into his heart like a lioness into her prey, blurring his vision with tears until, in his inevitable fall, his glasses fell off the bridge of his nose and clicked into the floor, unbroken, unlike him and his attempt to get his hand back onto them, hand weakly extended as another clutched desperately at his scrubs, as if that was going to calm anything down. Pathetic, utterly pathetic.

“Derek?!” Angie’s voice screamed near him as she kneeled right next to his lead weight of a body. “Oh my God, what’s wrong?!”

“Ugh… Ngh… P… PGS…” was all that came out of his mouth before the scream he had tried to keep inside for the past hour finally exited his throat for the world to have the displeasure of hearing.

And as suddenly as the pain took over his conscience, from his thoughts to his gestures, the world turned black, senseless and painless. There it was: the state where he felt nothing. Death, perhaps.

 …

That… maybe was why he was so surprised to wake up.

 Derek had operated enough times on PGS to think his case was too late to be saved. Considering what the syndrome caused in the organs it affected, his heart was, in his mind, already unsalvageable. Also considering how rare were viable hearts for transplants, even in this day and age, it’d have been a journey to the end of the ever-lasting night to find a potential donor in time.

He had also almost died enough times for him to know Angie was going to scold him again. Unsurprisingly, it also turned out to be false.

 When he woke up, everything was blurry because, duh, he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He, however, didn’t expect for them to softly and magically appear on his face, courtesy of the first face he saw upon regaining consciousness: his fellow nurse and assistant. Her face was covered in bittersweet, one part happy and one part pained or saddened, both mixing to become an expression he wasn’t sure he had ever wanted to see. He could still tell there had been a tear running down her cheek at one point. Ah, poor girl… He had made her worry for him again, hadn’t he?

The anaesthesia hadn’t fully run out of his body yet, a thing he realized as he tried to smile to her and only getting a small inclination of his lips as a result. It seemed to be enough for her to look a bit happier, though, so job well done he supposed.

 The conversation they had afterwards was slow and uneventful, the mist of post-surgery fatigue making his brain heavily inefficient for socializing. The most he realized was how much he should have not survived to this mess.

Truly, how much people had survived toxicosis and tumours to the heart? One, as much as he was concerned. He simply hoped nobody else had gone through this ordeal…

 Bad news: Kyriaki still had a PGS type attached to it.

Good news: at least, this was fixable.

[breakawaysamissions]

T.T

Written by Edwin Lin

This June, Daniel, Naomi, Stephanie, and Edwin spent about a week in South Africa holding a Discipleship Training Conference (DTC). The conference was about how when we were adopted into God's family, He transformed our relationship with the church and with all Christians, to be one body and one close, loving family.

T.T is the emoticon for a crying face and it is also the name of the most viewed Korean Pop music video at 221 million views. A couple weeks before our trip, Stephanie watched this video and got sucked into the world of KPop. During the trip, she eagerly shared this newfound interest with everyone she had meaningful contact with (probably without even knowing it).

Oh, and don't worry, she shared the gospel with people there too :).

I wanted to start off this way to make two points that summarize the trip for me: 1) personally, there was a lot of crying or almost crying--more than any other trip I've ever taken and 2) church is sharing your life, your light, your gospel with others (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

At DTC, we have a running joke that if there was crying, then God was working. Of course, this isn't a rule, but in my case, the softness in my heart towards others was proof that God is changing me. During the trip, I could feel my heart desire to deeply care for others, listen to their pain, provide support, encouragement, and advice where I could, and to love others to the best of my ability (in success and failure). This is where the T.T breaks down though, because most of my emotions were of joy and celebration, of fun and enjoyment with and of others, and just watching people connect and love others. The point is: this was an emotional trip for me, and the emotions was God's way of showing me who I really am.

It's not that other missions trips were completely void of emotions, but finally, after years and years of God's love at work in my life, I am responding to those emotions, acting in faith and in vulnerability, allowing them to deepen my relationships and interactions with others.

Throughout our trip, our team and those we came in contact with lived out the early church life (Acts 2:42-47). After a wonderful experience at a local church on Sunday night, Stephanie remarked that this trip feels like family. I couldn't agree more! Whether we were teaching and learning the gospel together, running errands together, cooking, cleaning, and eating together, staying up late together, or just playing games and having fun together, we were one family.

It felt different from other trips we went on, a certain closeness with everyone. Or maybe it was just me--that my eyes were open to it for the first time and that I could now see that this is who God made us to be. This is who we really are as the church and God is inviting us to live in that new identity.

BONUS: Two spectacularly beautiful pictures of what the church is.

Romans 15:1-7 - When Bob is in a time in his life when he is living out of flesh, sin, past hurt and pain, tiredness, slavery, fear, pride, defense mechanisms, etc. he goes to Tim, who is in a time in his life when he is living out of Spirit, love, freedom, joy, hope, excitement, humbleness, etc. Tim opens up his heart, spreads out his arms, and embraces Bob, taking on Bob's pain, suffering, flesh, and weakness. There's no need to fix or improve or judge--there is only acceptance and love, bearing Bob's weakness, holding him up. Then when Tim gets tired, exhausted from the pain of bearing Bob's weakness, Tim goes to Mike who is in a time in his life when he is living out of Spirit, etc. and so on it goes. This is Christ's church.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 - Difference is good. Well, it is inevitable. We are all different, a unique part of God's church body. We often want sameness to be the thing that unites us--that we like the same hobbies, the same music, the same social media platforms, the same Youtube videos, the same games, the same ways of connecting, etc. But God's church says different is good. God says each of us are made unique, down to the core of how we think, how we process information, how we communicate, how we see the world, how we interpret events, how we feel, how we express those feelings, how we understand each other, etc.

Each person brings out something different from each other. Bob helps Tim experience the fullness of God's acceptance and grace, and only Bob can bring this out of Tim because of how unique Bob and Tim and their interactions are. But Mike helps Tim experience the fullness and depth of God's care and love, and only Mike can bring this out of Tim because of how unique Mike and Tim and their interactions are. This is the church: each unique person bringing out a part of the gospel life from each other unique person in a way that only they can. This is why every person in the church needs every other person, because we will never experience the fullness of God's gospel love for us without each other. And this is also why every person is completely important, chosen but not necessary (Esther 4:14) to be part of this amazing body of Christ, to experience God's love and gospel more deeply.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. Without you, I would not know God the way I do. I humbly submit myself to you. Thank you dearly!

[phobio2000]

Life's Secrets

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant. My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net." - Psalm 25 I think that, at the heart level, life comes down to who you fear and who you serve, and out of those two the course of your life is determined. It is strange how I don't tend to have a strong desire to be the sheriff in those cowboy movies. Rather, I prefer those characters who are kind of unassuming and not the poster child, not the star of the show but is warm, quiet, humble, but very capable, like one of those hobo looking guys wearing a dark and dirty poncho but is very good at getting the job done and pays close attention to details, sees what others don't see, and tend to the needs of the individuals. I remember years ago I heard this guy describing Apostle John as the guy who patch up the broken net. It makes sense because the Gospel of John was not written until decades later, when John writes about the things that were missing from the other gospels, mostly out of the perspective of intimacy and love. I remember a pastor was preaching about it and said that John was saying "Hey, you guys all got it wrong, let me show you how its done!" When I was in the fifth grade, dodge ball was very popular. It's not the same dodge ball that kids in the US plays. The ball is hard. It hurts to get hit, and it's very easy to jam your finger when you try to catch it, and you can only catch it with your hands. If the ball touches your forearm, you have to surrender the ball to the other team, and if the ball touches your body, you're out, even if you caught the ball. That video game "Dodgeball" explains it best. So one day the PE teacher divided the class into two (50+ people total) and we played dodge ball. I didn't know what I was doing so I just followed the fad and be in the center of the court, hoping to catch a ball like the cool kids would. And then a classmate pulled me aside and took me to the very back of the court and said that we are going to catch every loose ball. It's not a glorious role, but very important. Because these fifth graders' arms were not strong enough to make the ball fly strong from end to end. It will land before it gets to the other side, and when we pick it up, we can give it to the cool kids to attack the other team. It was an eye opening experience. We caught so many balls. If you catch a ball while in flight you can bring a dead teammate back in. If you catch a ball that landed already, you get nothing, but you get control of the ball. I think that's an event that really made me think and changed the course of my life. On the court you have the cool kids in the front, who can catch the ball well and throw hard, and you got a bunch of guys in the middle that kind of just floats along, and then there are the two unsung heroes in the back, helping the team far more than the glob of people in the middle, that are, for the most part, easy targets. Which would you rather be? If I cannot be one of the cool kids, then I'd rather be at the ball picking up trash so that I can contribute more than the wonky fellas in the middle who really don't know what they're doing and where they're going. When I read the story of Abraham, I was very fond of his faithful old servant, who went to fetch Rebecca for Isaac. When I read the story of Elijah, I abhorred his servant who went after Namen for money. When I read the story of Ruth, I thought Naomi is just totally awesome. I think that, over time, it sort of became the desire of my heart, to help the stars be successful, rather than jamming traffic in a rat race and want to become "the cool kids". Because, let's face it, most people don't get to be that. It takes talent, hard work, and luck. And then, in the process of being obsessed with that, we lost ourselves, living for the obsession while our personal identity diminishes over time (is that worth it?). I think it is far better to keep our eyes on God, still work hard and apply our talents, but let God lead. But for things that I am really passionate about, I desire to run in the front. Like, if I were a violinist, I want to be the virtuoso. If I were a superhero, I want to be Ironman because I love machines. But at the same time, in my mind there's always this image of a group of kids playing cowboys and Indians and the kids fight over who gets to be thee sheriff, and that image sort of become the epitome of our lives, always obsessed over wanting the hottest girl, fastest car, get that promotion, that they don't even bother to think about what it means, what it takes, and what what are the responsibilities anymore, so we end up with this crazy dog eats dog world. I think life has a rhythm, and the Bible describes it. It's like wood working. There are grains in the wood. It's like sailing, there are currents going different directions, thus the fastest route is not always going to be a straight line. I think life's ultimate success is when you take the time to learn its rhythm and apply yourself that way. Because Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that, those who turn the fastest don't necessarily come out as the winner, but a lot of has to do with circumstances and opportunities. Because this is a created world, governed by physical laws and invisible moral principles. While with science and engineering you can rely on the physical laws, but when it comes to personal growth, finding happiness, finding love, artistic things, it comes down to discovering, learning, submitting yourself to, and applying these principles. And one of those principles is the principle of serving. When Jesus saw that the disciples were disputing who is the greatest amongst them, he quickly corrected them by telling them that whoever wants to be great, let him be a servant. And then later on he demonstrated that by washing their feet, and commanded that they wash one another's feet. When I watch Batman, I am very fond of Alfred, portrayed in The Dark Knight series. I love how in the last movie when he told Bruce that he never wanted him back in Gotham to begin with, but wish he had just disappeared somewhere, get away from it all, and live a happy life for himself, and that it suffices him to just be able to sit down at a café in Paris and see him with his wife and kids, make an eye contact, and say nothing. And that's what happened in the end. When Alfred saw Bruce with Cat Woman, he was so happy, but he quickly got away because he didn’t want to end up starting a conversation and drag him back into his old life. Isn't that beautiful? Because to me, one of the core problems with people is that everyone wants to be Batman and nobody wants to be Alfred. But when you look at things from a different perspective. Alfred serves Bruce, Bruce serves Gothem. Batman is only a hero because he choose to serve. Abraham's old servant serves him, but he serves God. Jesus serves the Father, the Holy Spirit serves everyone, dwelling in the heart of every believer, even though he also is God, but does not compete with Jesus and the Father, just like how Jesus does not compete with the Father, described in the Book of Philippians. The kingdom culture is a counterintuitive culture. The Bible says the wisdom of God is foolishness with man. The thing is, when you set your mind to serve others, you set yourself free. It's like you're no longer obsessed with yourself and you suddenly have the capacity to see the world and the area of your calling with a new sense of clarity, seeing what the problem is and what should be done about it. So by serving, you actually become a more successful person, or at least more capable, while promotions are in God's hands. And we are happier people when we let go of ourselves and all of the worldly entanglements and set our eyes on the Lord and let him lead and guide us. Over the years I found that, a lot of higher ranking people are really out of touch with what is going on within the company and within their areas of responsibilities. They are so keen to play the game and obsessed with getting ahead, that even though they get promoted, they don't do a good job. Often times it's those little guys who are not obsessed with ambitions and just keep it simple and try to do a good job everyday for years, they are the ones who really understand what's going on and are the major contributors, while the higher ups are often just bureaucrats whose hearts are set on pursuing after their own interests. My second point is "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him, and he will show them his covenant." This is a hard thing for me to write about, due to my present situation. It really hurts right now, after choosing the fear of the Lord all these years, and having been given so much, in terms of insights to life and ability to work, yet here I am, still waiting for the salvation of the Lord, although it is close now. I think in life we are always confronted with the choice of who we are going to serve, which boils down to who we ultimately choose to fear. Jesus said do not fear those who can kill you, and afterward can do nothing more, ,but fear him who has the power to condemn you to hell, fear him! I think we all have fears and insecurities, that if something does not happen, we are not going to survive, or going to miss out on opportunities to get ahead or get what we want and think are pretty and shiny, and those desires and fear tend to drive us towards making decisions, everyday little decisions as well as big major ones that influence the direction of our lives, that are not out of fearing God but fearing other things. We save ourselves in the process, but ultimately, we lost ourselves at the same time, little by little, piece by piece, or maybe just one whole big chunk at times, and then, at the same time, we miss out on inheriting the secrets of the Lord and the opportunities of him showing us his covenant. Psalm 25 continues with "My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net", which means, eye on him, fear not, he is the one who can deliver you, fear him! If we make our life's pursuit be about going after God's promises, wouldn't it be more profitable and efficient to pursue it with a spiritual hunger that says "If I choose to fear God now, he will show me his secrets and covenant. I will receive more faster, even though I may have to lose my life tangibly in the process." I think these two things are what contributed how I know so much, nothing more, and my present economic situation attests to that, but not for long, I don't think. I think I am ready to fly pretty soon. :D.

[floodstudentministries]

What is a Biblical Relationship?

The definition of relationship: the way in which two people are connected.

Dating: when two people meet socially for companionship (beyond friendship) to assess each other’s suitability for intimacy or marriage.

Dating is by no means a biblical concept. People in that day didn’t date. Marriages were either arranged, or they literally met someone, fell in love, and got married.

Marriages were covenants, which were completely binding except in the case of death (the man was free to remarry whomever he chose but a woman had to remarry her husbands closest relative) or adultery (which is unfaithfulness).

So what are you to do in a society where dating is the norm and getting married at your age isn’t an option?

You go against the grain! Be in this world, but not of it.

Romans 12:2 NLT “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

So often we take this phrase and think of it as being about drinking/drugs/cussing/etc, but what is the most common practice among teenagers (and really any unmarried person) other than dating? Everyone (your friends, your family members, your coworkers, even strangers) will tell you that you’ll never meet “the one” unless you get out there and date. That until you search through all the fish in the sea, you won’t find yours. You HAVE to date in order to find the right person for you. But this just isn’t true! Or at least it doesn’t have to be if you choose to let God take complete control.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

‭‭Proverbs 16:9 NKJV “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

One of the best examples of this is the story of Ruth and Boaz. I encourage you to read the book of Ruth (it’s only 4 chapters) but here’s the jest of the story:

Ruth surrendered herself to God and trusted him to take care of her and her mother in law, Naomi. Because of her trust in God, she found favor with a wealthy man named Boaz. God worked things out for Ruth so that she was able to marry Boaz, even though socially and lawfully, they should never have even met much less been married.

Ruth didn’t go out and try and find some man to take care of her. She didn’t worry about being with someone. She trusted in the Lord to give her provision, and he did in the form of Boaz.

God already has the perfect mate picked out for you!

Genesis‬ ‭2:18‬ ‭NKJV “And the LORD God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.””

‭‭

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:22‬ ‭NKJV “Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.”‬‬

Guys: God will bring you the perfect girl for you!

Girls: God will send you to the perfect man!

All you have to do is trust Him and BE PATIENT! He will fulfill His promises to you.

1 Corinthians 13:4 starts out with “Love is patient”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:25‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭27:14‬ ‭NIV “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”‬‬

So what next?

When you do meet someone who you feel may be a potential husband/wife, consider if you are equally yoked with them.

The literal definition of a yoke is the wooden crosspiece that is fastened over two animals and attached to a plow or a cart so they can pull it. If you have a large ox and a small donkey yoked together, they can’t efficiently pull the cart. They can’t work together because they aren’t matched.

Being equally yoked mean being on the same spiritual level with one another. If you’re saved, they need to be saved. If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You need to both have prayer lives. You need to both have strong relationships with Jesus, and those relationships must come first for both of you. Truthfully, you need to first be yoked with Jesus before you become yoked with a boyfriend/girlfriend. You need to build a strong relationship with Christ and lean on Him, and the rest will come on its own and will be easy to recognize.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:29-30‬ ‭NIV “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””

‬‬

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭6:14 “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”

Jesus is there to help us through the hard times when our own burdens are weighing us down. He trades his light burden for our own heavy burdens. If we are not yoked with him, how much harder will our yoke be to carry if we are unequally yoked in a relationship?

‬‬

II Corinthians 6:17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.””

Unclean: morally wrong; impure

God has expectations of us to maintain purity until marriage.

Purity: freedom from adulteration or contamination; freedom from immorality

Synonyms: virtue, morality, goodness, righteousness, saintliness

I Thessalonians‬ ‭4:3 — 5‬ ‭NKJV “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;”‬‬

Sanctification: being made or becoming holy

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭6:15 — 20‬ ‭NKJV “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”‬‬

Your body, your spirit, your soul, they all belong to God. When you share your body with someone other than your spouse, you not only sin against God, but against your own body. Think about that. Remember that. Remember that all impure thoughts and actions are not yours to keep to yourself. The Lord knows your heart and your mind. Your sins, and even your sinful thoughts, are not hidden from God. Maintain purity, remain sanctified, and you’ll maintain favor with the Lord.

‭‭God has amazingly precise plans for you in all aspects of your life, especially who you will marry. All you have to do is wait, in purity, for Him to bring that person to you.

Flood Bible Study

Pam Malo

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 2 of 4: Louder Than Bells: Prologue & Chapter One

Prologue

    Seven of Nine watched from the corner of the mess hall as the Voyager crew was throwing yet another party. It had only been about five months since the joint party thrown for her and Harry Kim, and since then there are had been several birthdays, a Bajoran religious ceremony, and now a celebration for Voyager itself, having by way of a spatial vortex just shaved another two years off its journey back to the Alpha Quadrant.

    “So, why aren’t you enjoying yourself, Annie?” Samantha Wildman said, standing next to Seven with an arm around her waist. Seven took a sip from her glass of replicated champagne before answering.     “In the past year, Voyager has had years taken off it’s estimated return time on no less than four occasions. Once by Kes, once by a new course plotted with the aid of my Borg star charts in astrometrics, then there was the slipstream drive technology we took from the Dauntless before it turned out to be a trap, and now this. When it happens often enough to no longer qualify as a ‘special occasion,’ I don’t see the point in throwing a party for every single instance. Had we gained twenty years as opposed to two, then this party would make more sense to me.”     “Well, I think there’s a bit more to it than that,” Sam said. “We not only shaved more time off our journey home, we got out of dark space much sooner, which is good because most of the crew was going pants on head nanners over the lack of, well, anything visible.”     “Pants on head?” Seven muttered, confused by the metaphor.

“And add to that the fact that we helped save an innocent race from the slow motion genocide they were facing because of those Malon traders that were dumping radioactive waste in their territory.”

“However,” Seven said, “much like the shortening of the journey to the Alpha Quadrant, this is not the first time that Voyager has stepped in to save people who were being harmed by malicious outside forces.”     Sam sighed.     “Okay, you got me there,” she said, putting a hand on Seven’s back.

“Perhaps it’s something I would understand more if I were fully human,” Seven said. “As it stands right now, though, this seems like an even more meaningless symbolic gesture-” Seven’s monologue was cut off when some music began playing. Seven felt ambivalent towards it; it was not offensive to her ears, but she didn’t derive any pleasure from it either. Suddenly, Samantha took Seven’s drink from her and put both their glasses down on a nearby table. Samantha, smiling, extended her hands to Seven of Nine.     “Shut up and dance with me,” Samantha said.     Odd, Seven thought. Suddenly the music seems more pleasing.

    “I am afraid I do not know how,” Seven said.     “It’s slow dancing Annie,” Samantha said. “it’s kinda hard to screw up. Just follow my lead and we’ll be fine. It’s not like we’ll do doing the tango.”     “I do not know what the tango is, but perhaps you’ll teach me that later.”     “We’ll see.”

Chapter One

While Seven of Nine was finishing her preparations for a mission to survey a proto-nebula she’d be taking with Tom, B’Elanna, and the Doctor, Samantha walked into cargo bay 2.     “Hey, Annie,” she said. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”     “No. I am almost finished,” Seven said. “Are you sure you don’t wish to come with us?”

“I appreciate the offer,” Sam replied. “But one, nebulas are not really my thing, I’m a biologist not an astronomer. And two, those class-2 shuttles aren’t really well suited to seating five comfortably.”     “I’ve actually had some thoughts about that,” Seven said. “Though I’d rather not go into details until I’ve had a chance to discuss it with Mister Paris since he has more practical experience with small craft than I do.”     “Why honey,” Sam said, smiling. “Is that humbleness I hear coming from you?”

“I have been perfectly willing to admit my shortcomings in the past,” Seven said, shaking her head. “Yet somehow each time it is treated as though it is unusual. While I have extensive knowledge about the operation of small spacecraft in my memory, as a drone I was never required to use it. Lieutenant Paris not only has years of training and practice, he has also demonstrated an innate talent for it. Not seeking his insight would-” Seven was cut off by the sound of her comm badge chirping.     “Doctor to Seven of Nine, we’re waiting for you in the shuttle bay.”     “I was unaware I was late Doctor,” Seven said.     “You aren’t actually. Apparently, the departure time was moved up by ten minutes, which I was only informed of five minutes ago. You can blame Mister Paris for that.”     Samantha could hear a quiet, “I said I was sorry!” come over the badge and assumed that it was Tom. She quickly covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Regardless,” the Doctor continued. “If you are ready, please report to the shuttle as soon as possible.”     “On my way,” Seven said, tapping her badge to end the conversation. “Well, see you when I get back.”

“Just so you know,” Samantha said. “Naomi insists on helping me prepare dinner tonight, so if my quarters seem messier than usual when you get back you’ll know why.”     Seven smiled and gave Samantha a quick hug as she headed out.     “To borrow a phrase from Lieutenant Kim,” she said before the cargo bay door closed behind her, “Don’t burn down the ship while I’m away.”

“Aw, you’re no fun,” Samantha said in mock disappointment.

---

    Lieutenant Harry Kim stood at his station on the bridge, feeling good about the day. It had now been approximately six months since his last Year of Hell flashback, and the Doctor had finally agreed to reduce the dosage on his PTSD medication.     That good feeling went away when he heard the beep and looked down.     “We’re receiving a distress call from the away team,” he said. “They’ve been caught in the gravimetric shear of a plasma surge.”

    “Bridge to Transport Room 1, prepare for emergency beam out,” Captain Janeway said.

    “On it,” Ensign Todd Mulcahey’s voice replied. “I’ve got a partial lock on them, but unless their shuttle clears the nebula…”     “It won’t,” Harry said. “They’ve lost propulsion.”   

    “Then it’s going to be a rough transport,” Mulcahey said, “Resetting pattern buffers…”     “Harry, get down there and help-”     “Got them, Captain,” Mulcahey said. “Their signals are clearing.”     “Good work Ensign,” Janeway said. “I’m on my way down there now.”

-o-

    When Seven of Nine came out of transport she looked around. She couldn’t quite place it, but she’d felt something odd during transport. She couldn’t come up with the proper word to describe it, but was certain that she had never felt it before. Everyone else who had been on the shuttle seemed fine, though, both Tom and B’Elanna smiling in relief as they stepped off the platform.     “Well, that was certainly exciting,” the Doctor said.

    “As potentially fatal occurrences go,” Seven said, “that one was relatively mundane.”     “Only on a Starfleet ship could a sentence like that be uttered,” Tom said.     “Well I-” The Doctor’s form flickered suddenly. A look of panic crossed his holographic face. “My emitter has been damaged!”

    “I’ll transfer your program to sickbay,” B’Elanna said, moving quickly to the main console in the transport room. While she tapped away at the console, the Doctor vanished, and his mobile emitter fell to the ground. Seven was close enough to pick it up right away.     “Did you get him transferred in time?” Tom asked.     “Doctor to transport room 1, report,” a voice chimed over the comm.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” B’Elanna said, walking over to where Seven stood to take a look at the emitter. “Doctor, it looks like some of your emitter circuits were fused during transport. I can probably repair it but I’ll want to run a diagnostic on it first. I’ll keep you posted.”     “Please, do whatever it takes,” the Doctor’s voice said, sounding concerned.     “Trust me, Doc,” B’Elanna said, a confident grin on her face. “Mulcahey? I’ll need to borrow you for a bit. meet me in the science lab.”     “Yes ma’am,” the Ensign said, following B’Elanna as she left.

Tom looked at Seven and shrugged. “Well, that trip was a lot shorter than I’d hoped for,” he said.   

“Since you’re here Lieutenant Paris,” Seven said. “I have a matter I was hoping to discuss with you during the mission.”     “Right, I remember you making a comment about making improvements to our shuttles. I’ve had a few ideas of my own about that.”

---

Samantha was awoken suddenly when Seven of Nine sat up abruptly, breathing heavy like she’d just been snapped out of a particularly bad nightmare.     “Baby?” Samantha said, groggy, “What’s wrong?”     “I need to get to the bridge,” Seven said.     Samantha frowned. “Annie, did you have a nightmare?”     “I certainly hope so,” Seven said as she slid out of bed, grabbing her uniform jacket off the back of one of the chairs around the dinner table, still not entirely clean from last night, and headed out the door, only partially zipping it up.     Worried, Samantha tossed the sheets and grabbed the first clothes she could grab to put on, a civilian outfit she didn’t particular care for in terms of how it looked but kept for its comfort on days when she was off duty and had no intention of leaving her quarters. Any concern about her crewmates mocking the outfit were pushed aside and she jogged to try and catch up to her seemingly panic-driven Borg girlfriend before she could get to the bridge.

“Wait, Annie, hold up,” Sam said, just managing to get in the turbolift with Seven of Nine before the door closed. “Tell me what’s going on.”     Seven sighed.     “I apologize for alarming you Sam,” she said. “With any luck, I am in error, though if that is the case I will need to speak to the Doctor about making repairs to my cranial implant.”     “Why?”

“My proximity transceiver has been activated. It could indicate Borg presence nearby.”

Samantha’s eyes went wide.     “So, Bridge?” she said.     “Bridge,” Seven replied, the turbolift moving as it accepted what Seven has said as a command.

“Are you sure?” Samantha said.     “No,” Seven said. “This may well prove to be a false alarm, but I cannot risk the safety of this ship on that possibility.”     “Agreed,” Samantha said. Just before the lift reached its destination, Samantha glanced down at the civilian outfit she was wearing. “If any of the bridge crew see this get up I will never hear the end of it,” she muttered.     Seven looked Samantha up and down.     “Perhaps,” she said. “The color scheme does not compliment your features.”     Samantha smirked. “If anybody other than you said that, I’d be insulted,” she said right before the turbolift doors opened. “I’ll just go back to my quarters if that’s alright with you,” she whispered to Seven, who nodded before stepping out onto the bridge.

---

“Commander,” Seven said to Chakotay shortly after exiting the turbolift.     “Seven, good morning,” he said, only briefly looking in her direction as he handed a PADD to Harry Kim.     “That remains to be seen,” she said, repeating in more specific detail what she had told Sam.     “Are you sure?” Harry said. “We’ve been running sensors sweeps non-stop all night, gathering data on the proto-nebula. We haven’t detected any Borg signatures at all.”     “Perhaps the nebula could mask a ship’s signal?” she said, feeling conflicting emotions as she said so. She didn’t like being wrong on principle, but this instance she very badly wanted to be.

“Even a Borg cube couldn’t last ten seconds in there,” Harry said, looking at the nebula on Voyager’s viewscreen.     “Maybe it’s a false alarm,” Chakotay said. “A malfunction in your transceiver maybe?”

“Possibly,” Seven said. “I will go and speak to the Doctor.”     Chakotay nodded.     “I’ll keep an eye out,” Harry said. “Just in case.”     Seven nodded. “Thank you,” she said, heading for the turbolift once again. The feeling of actually wanting to be mistaken was a new one to her, and she wasn’t quite ready to accept it, but she did feel less afraid. For Sam and Naomi’s sake, she thought, this had better be a malfunction.

As soon as she got to sickbay, and relayed her concerns to the Doctor, he immediately took out a medical tricorder and began scanning. He was only seconds in when she flinched suddenly.     “Seven?” the Doctor said.     “I felt it again,” she replied. “Stronger this time.”

“I don’t know what could be causing it if there aren’t actually any Borg nearby. I wonder if-” Whatever the Doctor was going to say next was lost when the ship went to red alert.     “Dammit,” she said. “The one time I wanted to be wrong.”     “Chakotay to Seven of Nine. Looks like you were right, we’ve detected a Borg force field in the science lab on deck 8.”     “How many drones?” she asked.     “Unknown. Tuvok is taking a security team there now.”     “I will meet him there,” Seven said, heading for the exit to sickbay.

“Seven,” the Doctor said, sounding worried. “My mobile emitter is in that lab.” “Doctor this is not the time to-”   

“This isn’t about my freedom Seven. It’s about the 29th century technology that the Borg may have already assimilated.”     Seven groaned. Every curse word she’d heard since she came on board last year fought in her mind to be the one she said in response to the prospect.     “No,” she said. “I won’t let them do that. I will not let them take this ship. I will not let them have Sam or Naomi.” With that, she headed out, taking a hand phaser with her as she did so. When she got to the lab, Tuvok, Lieutenant Ayala, and two others whom she recognized by face but not by name were at the lab’s partially open door, two on each side. An all too familiar green glow emanated from the lab.     Tuvok saw her approach and nodded. She nodded back, and Tuvok and Ayala pulled the door the rest of the way open, the other two guards going in, phaser rifles raised. Seven went in right behind them, Tuvok and Ayala behind her.     “He’s alive,” one of the guards in front of her said, looking down at an injured but surprisingly unassimilated Ensign Mulcahey, but Seven’s focus quickly shifted to the object at the center of the room.     It looked like a Borg maturation chamber, the kind she had been put in when she was first assimilated as a child, the way all those who were taken before their physical maturity were before being fitted for implants. Like, she thought. But not quite. I’ve never seen one that looked like this before.

“This resembles a Borg maturation chamber,” she said to Tuvok. “But there are components which are unfamiliar.”     “Sir,” Ayala said, holding a tricorder over Mulcahey. “There’s puncture wounds from Borg nanoprobe tubes, and the signature on the probes match Seven of Nine’s, but she was in sickbay.”     Seven went over to both of them. She took the tricorder from Ayala.     “He is correct,” she said, sounding confused. She looked at Ayala, then Tuvok, as if hoping either of them might have an explanation. The latter only raised an eyebrow, the former shrugged.  “I don’t know how this happened. None of this makes sense. A tissue sample appears to have been extracted. There’s no sign of nanoprobes in the Ensign except around the wound. You should get him to sickbay though, he does appear to have a concussion.”     Tuvok motioned for Ayala and one of the other guards to do just that. Seven handed Ayala back his tricorder, and went back to look at the maturation chamber. She took a deep breath and stepped up to where the sensors said the force field was. She took one step forward and passed through it.     “What are you doing?” Tuvok asked.     “It recognized me as Borg,” she said, tapping button on the side of the chamber. “There’s a control here to open a panel on the side. We’ll be able to see what’s in…” Her train of thought was disrupted when she saw something she did not expect to see. A Borg drone, in a fetal state.     “That shouldn’t be possible,” she said. “The Borg expand their numbers by assimilation, not procreation.“

---

    Captain Janeway looked at the “baby” through the transparent panel on the side of its maturation chamber. Once Seven of Nine and Tuvok briefed her on what they knew, she had only one thought.

    I haven’t even had my coffee yet.     “So, just so I’m sure I understand you correctly,” she said, “you’re saying that when we beamed you off the shuttle yesterday, some of your nanoprobes got mixed up with the Doctor’s mobile emitter?”

    “Correct,” Seven said.     “And Ensign Mulcahey DNA was used as a template to create this, baby drone?”     “A simplification of what occurred, but accurate,” Seven said.     “We have erected a Level 10 force field around the chamber,” Tuvok said. “As you can see, the drone’s mass has increased since you arrived in the lab. Seven says that it is maturing at a rate twenty-five times the normal rate for a Borg.”     “Good. The force field I mean. Post twenty-four hour security around the lab.”     “Very well Captain,” Tuvok said.     “Captain,” Seven said. “You intend to let it mature?”

    Janeway nodded. “That’s correct. Right now, it’s not a direct threat to the ship, and it didn’t assimilate Mulcahey. We’re dealing with something new here. If it becomes a threat we can beam the whole chamber out into space, but I don’t want to do that unless it’s absolutely necessary.”     Seven didn’t respond right away. Janeway gathered that Seven was concerned about the ship’s safety, which was good, but she hoped that Seven wouldn’t act rashly.     “I,” Seven finally said. “have concerns.”     “As do I,” Tuvok said to Seven. “However the final decision is the Captain’s.”     “Understood, but I wanted my concerns noted for the record.”     “They are Seven,” Janeway said. “don’t worry. I want you and B’Elanna to go to astrometrics. Modify the sensors so you can scan the drone from there.”     “Yes, Captain,” Seven said, still sounding apprehensive but not pushing the issue. ---

    Seven of Nine went over the data twice to be sure, before showing it to B’Elanna.

    “Damn, this thing is growing quickly,” B’Elanna said. “It was a fetus when we started this, now it’s about the size of a six-year-old.”     “A six-year-old boy,” the Doctor’s voice said, speaking to them from a monitor since he was still unable to leave sickbay. “From what I can tell the drone is male. Probably due to the source material. According to my own scans Borg implants compose approximately twenty-seven percent of his body, but he’s mostly human.”     “A human with polydutonic alloy plating,” B’Elanna said. “The same material as your holo-emitter. The nanoprobes must’ve extrapolated that technology for its design.”

    “Definitely,” Seven said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Even as a single drone, this unit could easily threaten the ship with such an advanced level of technology; five hundred years ahead of what the collective had now. “I have already dampened its proximity transceiver to prevent it from contacting the Borg Collective.”     “I’ve located my mobile emitter,” the Doctor said, sounding less than pleased much to Seven’s surprise. “Embedded in his cerebral cortex. I don’t think we can remove it without killing him.”     “That may become necessary,” Seven said. “Continue with the scans, the Captain wants a full report on the drone’s capabilities.”     “Already almost done, unless it invents something new while I’m recording the data,” B’Elanna said. “You know, if we can keep it from contacting the collective, we might be able to convince it to stay with us, the way you did. Imagine what we could do with 29th century Borg technology on our side.”     “That decision rests with the Captain,” Seven said. “However I personally would advise against that.”     “You’re probably right,” B’Elanna said. “but I’d rather not throw away a potential source of new technology unless I had to. I mean, look at this.”     Seven stepped away from the console she was working on to look at what was on B’Elanna’s monitor. The list of abilities the ship's chief engineer had managed to identify in the new drone was impressive, to put it mildly.

“Internal transport nodes. Fascinating,” Seven said. “I must get this to the Captain immediately. The drone will fully mature in only a few hours, but its shielding is not yet active. She needs to make a decision while destroying it would still be an easy option.”     “Hmm. I wonder if I should tell Mister Mulchaey he’s a father,” the Doctor said in a joking tone of voice.

“I doubt he would treat the matter so lightly Doctor,” Seven said as she took the PADD B’Elanna offered her before leaving astrometrics.

---

    Captain Janeway put down the PADD Seven of Nine had handed her, and asked a question she’d actually been thinking about since earlier that day.     “Seven, what normally happens when a Borg exits a maturation chamber?” she said.     “It awaits instructions from the collective,” Seven said.     “So without those instructions, it has no designation. No purpose.”

“Captain, are you suggesting we-”     “Exactly. If we can keep him from interfacing with the collective, we can give him a purpose.”     “Captain, this is the most advanced drone to ever exist. It could easily threaten Voyager, even without the Collective.”     “I understand your concern, Seven, and I am not taking destroying the drone off the table entirely. But if we can teach it our values, we will have a powerful ally on our side.”     “If we fail,” Seven said, “No, let me rephrase. If we succeed at convincing the drone to become part of this crew, but the Borg are able to take us and assimilate it anyway, the Collective will become more powerful than ever. I am uncomfortable with taking that risk.”     “Noted. But I would remind you, Seven, that there were some on this crew who made the same suggestion about you.”     “This situation is different,” Seven said, a hint of anger in her voice.     “Is it?”   

“There are similarities yes, but I would remind you that I am not enhanced by technology five hundred years ahead of our time, and my parents conceived me naturally rather than having their DNA stolen by rogue nanoprobes.”     “Okay,” Janeway conceded. “Fair enough on that point. It would seem we are at an impasse here.”     “You could just order me to work with the drone,” Seven said.     “True, true. But much like destroying the drone I’d rather save that as a last resort.”     After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Seven of Nine said something that Janeway did not expect.     “Have you consulted Ensign Mulcahey on this matter, Captain?”     “No. Why?”     “Since it was his DNA that was used as the template for the drone that would, in effect, make him the father. Shouldn’t he have a say in the matter?”     “Nice try,” Janeway said, smirking. “But what started this was your nanoprobes, and the Doctor’s holo-emitter. If anyone could be said to be that drone’s parents, it’s you two, not Mulcahey.”     “There are multiple species in this galaxy who procreate with three parents rather than two,” Seven said.     Janeway sighed. “Fine, fine, I’ll play along with this but only because I’m tired of arguing with you.” Janeway touched a button on her desk. “Commander, has Ensign Mulcahey been cleared to leave sickbay yet?”     “Yes Captain,” Chakotay said. “He was released a few hours ago. Why?”     “Have him meet me back in sickbay. I have something to discuss with him, the Doctor, and you. In private.”     “Understood,” Seven said.

---

    Seven of Nine was not thrilled with the situation at hand, but having her lover at her side lessened the discomfort. Despite her best efforts, she ultimately lost her argument. She made her case as best she could that the drone should simply be destroyed, but at the end, she found herself simply outvoted. The Captain putting it up to a vote had not been expected, but when it was suggested, Seven assumed that at worst it would end in a tie, with her and the Doctor on the side of destroying the drone so that the mobile emitter could possibly be recovered. More likely as she saw it, the Captain would be the lone vote for not destroying it. Seven had assumed that Ensign Mulcahey would carry some resentment over having his genetic material taken against his will.

    “Yeah, okay,” he’d said instead after the Captain told him her plans.     “What?” Seven had said, in the same tone of voice that Samantha would say the same word when Seven informed her of what was going to happen.     And now, here she was, in the science lab. Tuvok and three armed guards behind her, Sam holding her hand, and a drone in front of her.     “Like ripping off a bandage,” Seven said, repeating a phrase she’d learned from Sam last year. She went over to a console. “Maturation cycle is complete.”     The drone stepped out of its alcove.     “We are Borg. State this unit’s designation,” he said.     “You do not have a designation,” Seven said. “You are not part of the collective, you are an individual. You will receive your instructions from me.” So far the drone had not made any threatening gestures. He stood perfectly still, his arms at his sides. Seven thought for a moment that perhaps this task would succeed after all, and that the Captain had in fact made the right decision.     “Insufficient,” the drone said.     Or maybe I’m right and this is a terrible idea, Seven thought.

    “You will comply,” Seven said. “My designation is Seven of Nine.”     “Seven of Nine,” the drone repeated. “What is this unit’s designation?”     “He wants a name,” Samantha whispered in Seven’s ear. “Maybe you should give him one.”     Seven looked at Samantha, and nodded. She turned back to face the drone.     “You are an individual. You may choose a designation for yourself,” she said. It wasn’t what Samantha had suggested, but she didn’t want to admit that she simply did not feel comfortable with the idea of naming a new lifeform.     “Insufficient. Seven of Nine, state our designation.”

Seven sighed, then turned to Tuvok. “He does not understand me. His responses are programmed. I must initiate a direct neural interface.”     “Are you sure that’s wise?” Tuvok said.     “Yeah, I’m wondering that myself,” Samantha said.

“There is no other way for me to communicate with him,” Seven said. “Sam, I would prefer you remain outside, in case something goes wrong.”     “But-”     “I will not be responsible for robbing Naomi of her mother,” Seven said. “Please,” she added in a softer tone.     Samantha frowned, but then did as she was asked, moving outside of the lab, and behind one of the security officers.

Seven moved towards the drone, and extended her arm. The drone reflexively stepped back, surprising Seven.     “You will not be harmed,” she said. “You will be provided with instructions.”     The drone stepped forward again, close enough for Seven to extend her arm, and extend her assimilation tubules, though not for the purpose which they’d originally been designed for. After a few moments, Seven glanced at Tuvok.

“He understands,” she told him, but suddenly the drone grabbed her arm. She grunted in pain from the grip.     “The drone is probing my neural pathways,” she said, wincing. “It is trying to assimilate all of my knowledge.”     “Annie?” she heard Sam call from behind her, but the sounds she heard after suggested that the guards were holding her back from entering. Tuvok was at her side now, a hand phaser pointed at the drone.     “Stop it,” she told the drone. Tuvok fired, but a force field surrounded the drone immediately.     “Terminate... interface!” she grunted. The drone just stared blankly ahead, as if he didn’t even hear her.     “You are hurting me,” Seven said. The drone looked at her, and without changing his facial expression even slightly, stopped probing Seven’s mind. Seven retracted her tubules and stepped back.     “I will comply,” the drone said.

Seven, after taking a few calming breaths, finally spoke.     “We’ll need to try something else. Perhaps Borg data nodes will work. I’ve already activated its linguistic database, so communicating will be easier.”

---

    Samantha and Neelix walked down the corridor towards engineering, each carrying a Borg data node with them.     “It wasn’t necessary to help me, Samantha,” Neelix said.     Samantha smiled.     “I’m happy to help. Besides, ferreting all this stuff back and forth is going to be the only chance I’ll get to spend time with Seven today since the Captain has her so busy with the new drone.”     “As good an excuse as any,” Neelix said. “Still haven’t named him yet?”     “Seven insists he should pick his own,” Samantha said as they reached the door to engineering. “I’d try to talk her into it but I usually know when I can’t get her to budge on something.”     As they stepped inside, Neelix spoke up to grab B’Elanna’s attention.     “Special delivery! Two Borg data nodes.”     “More,” B’Elanna said, sounding exasperated. “Well, you know the drill,” she said, waving towards the data port.     “Having a bad day, B’Elanna?” Samantha asked.     “I’m just wondering how many more Borg hitchhikers we’re going to pick up along the way. They’ve suddenly turned from a force of nature threatening the galaxy into annoying in-laws.”     “I don’t think it happening twice counts as a pattern,” Neelix said as he hooked up the first node.     B’Elanna scoffed. “Or maybe it’s the collective’s new strategy. They don’t assimilate anymore, they just show up and look helpless.”     “Well, if it keeps them from killing people would that be so bad if they did?” Neelix said.     “Look,” B’Elanna said, “we don’t know what this drone will turn into! I don’t think I’m being paranoid here, it’s gone from infant to adult in one day.”     “It’ll be what we help it to be,” Samantha said.     “Exactly,” Neelix added.     B’Elanna rolled her eyes. “How Starfleet of both of you. I don’t even know why I brought it up. I just hope your girlfriend does a good job, Sam. We’ll all pay if she blows it.”     “I’ll pass on your vote of confidence,” Samantha said dryly. And I thought Annika and B’Elanna were finally getting along, she thought.

    B’Elanna just shook her head and went back to work, while Samantha hooked up the Borg data node she was carrying to another datalink. Once both nodes were filled, she and Neelix headed back to the lab.     “Is it just me,” Neelix said as they left engineering, “or is B’Elanna more agitated than usual lately? I mean, wasn’t she saying we should try and keep the drone just yesterday?”     “She’s been a little off for awhile really,” Samantha said. “I think she’s still upset about what happened to her Maquis friends back home. Can’t say I blame her to be honest.”     “Did you lose anyone to the Dominion?” Neelix asked.     “Not that I know of, but it’s also been months since we’ve been able to contact Starfleet.”     “True. In fact, sometimes I think people on Voyager actually forget there’s a war going on back home. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, though.”     “Who’s to say it can’t be both,” Samantha said. She and Neelix were quiet the remainder of the way to the lab. When they stepped inside, Seven turned and smiled when she saw Samantha enter. She stepped past Neelix to take the data node that Samantha was holding.     “How goes the upload?” Samantha said.     “It is going well,” Seven said. “The drone is assimilating the knowledge most efficiently.”

    “And he hasn’t tried grabbing you again?” Samantha said.

    “He has not.”     “Good. I might have to hurt him if he did.”     “Please do not take offense, but I believe you lack the combat expertise necessary to present a threat to… You were joking weren’t you?”     Samantha nodded. “You’re busy today, don’t worry about it.”     “Very well then,” Seven said as she plugged the first node in while Neelix set the one he was carrying down on nearby table. The drone stepped off his platform. Samantha found it rather amusing how his head seemed to bobble slightly as he walked.

    “We are Borg. State this unit’s designation.”     “We have compiled information into this data node for you to assimilate,” Seven said, ignoring the request.

    “We do not understand,” the drone said.     “You will,” Seven replied. “But first you must assimilate this data.”     Samantha found herself amused again, this time by Seven, who told the drone that he must assimilate data the way that she used to have to tell Naomi to brush her teeth.     “Give me your arm,” Seven said the to the drone. He did not move. Seven sighed and looked at Samantha.     “Was Naomi ever this difficult?” she said.     “She had a rough patch,” Samantha said. “but it only lasted a few months. Don’t tell her I told you, though, she’s very sensitive about it.”

    Seven nodded, then took the drone’s arm herself and held it over the data node.     “Inject one of your assimilation tubules into this access port,” she said.     “We do not understand,” the drone said.     “If you don’t mind,” Samantha said as she moved to stand closer to Seven. “might I suggest you demonstrate what it is you want him to do? You have tubules of your own after all.”     Seven nodded.     “An excellent suggestion Sam, thank you.” Seven then did just that, briefly extended her own tubules into the data port, before quickly removing them. “Now, you do the same, but use yours to assimilate the data in the node,” she said to the drone. It did so, and Samantha watched as the drone’s face changed, his mouth open partially, his human eye opening wider. His face bore a similar kind of awe and wonder to it that Naomi had had the first time she’d been shown what the warp core looked like.

    “Your designation is Seven of Nine. Borg,” the drone said after removing his tubules.     “Yes,” Seven said. The drone turned to face Neelix.     “Your designation is Neelix. Talaxian.”     “That’s me,” Neelix said.     “Your designation,” the drone said, now looking at Samantha, “is Samantha Wildman, Human.”

    “Correct,” Samantha said. She smiled as she put an arm around Seven’s shoulder. “Well done, Annie. The data nodes were a great idea. With the added bonus of preventing any injury.”     “Annie? Does Seven of Nine have an alternate designation?”     “It is,” Seven said, pausing briefly before continuing, “a designation that only Samantha is allowed to call me. You are to continue referring to me as Seven of Nine, or as just Seven.”

    The drone started looking around the room, turning in place.     “I am in a laboratory, on a vessel, traveling through interstellar space,” he said.     “Yes. You’re on the Federation starship Voyager,” Neelix said.     He almost seems excited, Samantha thought. It’s kind of child-like.     “Why?” the drone asked.     Okay, very child like.     “This is a vessel of exploration,” Seven said.     “I am an explorer,” the drone said.     “We all are,” Samantha said.     “We are Borg,” the drone said.     Swing and a miss.

    “You are a unique individual, one of many on Voyager,” Seven said. “This is not a Borg collective. Do you understand?”     “Individual. Yes,” the drone said, practically smiling. “I wish to assimilate more information,” he added, extending his arm towards Seven.     “Not yet,” Seven said. “First, you must meet with the ship’s Doctor for a medical examination. You will come with me. Sam, will you be joining us?”     “That’s okay, I’d just be in the way. I’ll see you later,” Samantha said.     “I may have to pass on dinner tonight. Send Naomi my regrets,” Seven said. “After we have gone to sickbay, I will upgrading one of the alcoves in the cargo bay to allow him to regenerate.”     “Okay,” Samantha said, giving Seven a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. “Welcome to Voyager,” she said to the drone as she left.

---

    As they walked down the corridor, two guards following them, Seven of Nine listened politely as one by one the drone began vocally naming off the various components of Voyager.     “Seven of Nine,” the drone said. “Before we left the laboratory, the one designated Samantha, she touched you with her lips. I do not understand.”     “It is called a kiss,” Seven said. “She kissed me before we parted way for the day because she is my romantic partner.”     “I see. Is this why your pheromonal levels went up and your body temperature increased when she touched you?”     “That is correct, though for future reference it is considered, impolite, to discuss such matters in a public setting.” Seven glanced back at the security guards. To their credit, both were acting professional. She imagined that if any other crew members had been there, there would’ve been giggling. Or worse, were it someone with only casual regard for decorum such Brooks or Chell.

    “Impolite,” the drone said. “To be not polite or courteous. Rude.”     “Also correct.”     “Will I be given a romantic partner as well?”     That time one of the guards failed to fully suppress a reaction, but Seven glared at him and he remained quiet.     “That is not how romantic entanglement works. I will discuss the admittedly complex history of my own relationship with Sam, if she gives me permission to do so, and only in private as the rest of the crew is not privy to such details. Privacy is another concept you will need to learn if you are to integrate into this crew. I should warn you though that maintaining it on this vessel can be difficult at times.”     “I am noticing that many of the other crewmembers we pass are afraid of me. I can detect their physiological responses.”     “Their fear is understandable,” Seven said. “We come from a species that is hostile to them. My position in this crew was earned, and it took a considerable amount of time. Though I admit to having made... mistakes along the way that prolonged the matter. However, as you have not directly assaulted any crewmembers since your creation, you will likely have an easier process.”     “I see,” the drone said, sounding sad, which was a surprise to Seven. “I want to know more about the collective. Tell me about the Borg.”     That was not a surprise to Seven. She knew this was going to come sooner or later.     “The Captain and I will determine when you are ready for that information,” she said. “You must not be impatient. There are other things for you to learn in the meantime, as well as adapting to life on Voyager.” Seven stopped walking when she saw the door to sickbay. She motioned for the drone to enter ahead of her.     “Good morning,” the Doctor said.     “You are the emergency medical hologram,” the drone said.     “Very observant,” the Doctor said. “Have you been given a name yet?”     “I do not have a name. Seven of Nine says I should choose my own, but according to the data I have assimilated so far, it is customary for humans to name their children. As my DNA is human, would it not be appropriate for my progenitors to give me my designation?”     “He has a point, Seven,” the Doctor said.     “Very well,” Seven said. “You name him then.”     “Why me?”     “Your mobile emitter merging with my nanoprobes in the transporter beam is responsible for the drone’s existence.”     “Wouldn’t that make both of us his parents then? And what about Mulcahey? Shouldn’t he get a say too since it was his DNA-”     “I have already discussed the matter with him,” Seven said. “He expressed no interest.”     “Well that just seems rude,” the Doctor said, as he opened his medical tricorder. Facing the drone he continued. “This is a non-invasive biomedical scan. You will not feel a thing.     “And another thing Seven,” he added as he started his scans. “I’ve been active for going on five years and I’ve yet to pick my own name.”     “A fair point. Though in all honesty I’ve wondered why you simply do not adopt the surname of your creator.”     “Doctor Zimmerman? I’ve considered it.”     “Doctor,” the drone said once the initial scan was done. “I am confused about my creation. From what I heard you and Seven of Nine say, I am an accident.”     “Well,” the Doctor said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Yes, but these things happen.”     “It was a random technological convergence,” Seven said. “But that is irrelevant.”

    “Am I unwelcome here?” the drone said.     “Unexpected,” the Doctor said. “That doesn’t have to mean unwelcome. If you are successful in integrating with the crew, you will find yourself most welcome.”     The Doctor began performing new scans, when suddenly he stopped.     “Edwin,” he said.     “I’m sorry?” Seven said, wondering where this seemingly random outburst came from.     “Edwin is Ensign Mulcahey’s middle name. I was thinking that’s what we could call you.  It’s not uncommon for human parents to name their children in such a fashion.” the Doctor said to the drone. The drone did not give any visible sign that he heard the Doctor, but after a few seconds began speaking.     “Edwin. Origin; Earth. Means ‘rich friend’ from the Old English elements ead meaning wealth or fortune, and wine meaning friend. This does seem not an appropriate name given my origins.”     “Good lord Seven, just how much data did you give him?”     “I did give him the ship’s linguistic database,” Seven said. “I did not realize he had processed that much of it already. But if the drone does not wish to be named Edwin, I suggest we not pressure him.”     “Edwin is acceptable as a designation,” the drone said. “Regardless of its inaccuracy.”

    The Doctor smiled.     “Well there you go,” he said. “Welcome to the crew, Edwin.”

    Seven sighed. It could be worse I suppose, she thought.

---

    When Seven brought the Borg drone, now calling itself Edwin, to the Captain's ready room, Janeway couldn’t help but notice that Seven was starting to behave almost like a proud parent, though in her own unique way.

Seven succinctly explained to her how she’d familiarized Edwin with Voyager, including a productive visit to engineering where the drone had helped B’Elanna Torres by predicting the rate of expansion of the proto-nebula.     After telling Janeway about his name and where he got it, and explaining that he had already assimilated forty-seven billion teraquads of information, he asked her if he was sufficient. When she told him he was, Edwin asked to be excused, as Torres had asked him to help improve the efficiency of the Bussard collectors.     Once he was gone, Seven remained behind.     “He’s been asking about the Borg collective,” she said. “I’ve been deflecting the conversation as much as possible, but I’m not sure how much longer I can put that off.”     Janeway stood up and clasped her hands behind her back.     “Maybe we won’t need to hold off much longer. It’s only been a few days but he’s already started fitting in well with the crew. Though from what I hear he could use some teaching in the personal space department.”     “He does still tend to stand too close to people when speaking to them,” Seven admitted. “I am working with him on that. I asked Samantha to help me, but since she never had that particular problem with Naomi she had little advice to offer.”     “Speaking of,” Janeway said. “has Edwin met Naomi yet?”     “No,” Seven said. “While he has been adapting well, as you said, and even though Sam has stated she is okay with it I admit to still being somewhat reluctant.”     Janeway nodded.     “I can see that,” she said. “The way I understand it, your relationship with Samantha started because she had similar concerns about you.”     “The similarity of the situations is not lost on me Captain, though at least in Sam’s case she did have specific instances she could point to to justify her concerns. I worry I am simply being overly cautious, as Edwin has not stolen a shuttle, or struck Harry Kim.”     “Good point. As for the matter you first brought up, wouldn’t you rather he learn about the Borg from us than from the collective?”     “The lure of perfection is powerful Captain. He may be tempted to seek out the Borg. That would pose a grave tactical risk.”     “All the more reason he should hear about them from us, but we’ll continue withholding that information for now. As an individual though he does have the right to know. I won’t give you an ultimatum, I’m going to trust your judgment on when to tell him, but you must tell him.”     “Understood, Captain. I have made the necessary upgrades to the alcove next to mine. After we have gone through a regeneration cycle, I will consult with some of the other parents on the ship to discuss the matter of how to present the information. Mister Tuvok and Mister Carey have multiple children, their experience would prove most valuable.”     “Okay. See you in the morning, Seven,” Janeway said. As Seven went to leave though, a thought occurred to her.     “Wait,” she said. “One last thing. Does Ensign Mulcahey know? About the drone’s name, I mean?”     “I do not know. Lieutenant Torres believes he will not be pleased to learn about it, however. Her exact words were, ‘Todd is going to flip his shit when he finds out.’”     Janeway smiled and chuckled.     “I hope you told her to watch her language,” she said. Seven groaned.     “After three months I’d hoped that that was finally over,” she muttered as she left the ready room.    

---

    Seven of Nine found herself abruptly brought out of her regeneration cycle. That in itself wasn’t unusual, though in the past when it had happened it was due either an intense nightmare, or a ship-wide alert.     Instead, she was simply not in the cycle anymore, and her eyes were opening to the site of Captain Janeway, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, and several armed guards with phaser rifles pointed in their direction.     “Captain?” Seven said.     “The drone transmitted a Borg proximity signal. Wake him,” she said.     Seven did exactly as she was told, feeling utterly disappointed, and a little worried. When Edwin opened his eyes and stepped out, Seven managed to impress herself with how level she managed to keep her tone of voice.     “You have contacted the Collective,” she said.     “I have not,” Edwin said.     “Check his transceiver,” Janeway said.     “Seven of Nine deactivated my transceiver two days ago,” Edwin said, seeming confused at the accusation rather than angry or defensive. Seven ran a tricorder over Edwin’s skull, and sighed.     “Your cranial implants have adapted,” she said. “They built a second transceiver while you were in the regeneration cycle. Tuvok, have long range scans picked up any vessels?”     “Not yet, but they have detected a transwarp conduit,” Tuvok said. “Assuming it is a Borg vessel, which is the most logical assumption, it will intercept us in approximately three hours.”     “The Borg?” Edwin said.     “Yes,” Seven said.     “I wish to meet them.”     “Seven?” Janeway said. “Looks like it’s time to have the talk.”     Seven nodded, wishing she’d had more time to prepare for this.     “Edwin, you are to follow the Captain and I to astrometrics,” she said.

    “I will comply,” Edwin said.

    Once there, Janeway put everything the ship’s records had on the Borg up on the large screen in the lab, including what visual logs there were of Wolf 359. Seven of Nine added some of her own from her own memory via her remaining cranial implants.     “The Borg have assimilated thousands of species,” Edwin said. What becomes of those species?”     “They lose their individuality. Everything they know becomes part of the collective’s memory, and they themselves become drones,” Seven said, bothered by the look of awe Edwin as on his face while he looked at the screen.     “I wish to experience the hive mind,” he said.     Crap, Seven thought.     “If you do that,” Janeway said. “You will no longer be unique. Your individuality will be destroyed.”

    “That is undesirable,” Edwin said, now looking at Janeway.     “Very,” Janeway said.

    “The Borg add voices to the collective against their will. I do not understand. Such a violent act would seem counter to the goal of seeking perfection, does it not?”     “I believe it is,” Seven said. “While I still share many of the desires I had as a part of the collective, since my link to them was severed I find their methods repulsive.”

    “The Borg are one of the most destructive forces we have ever encountered,” Janeway said. “With your technology, they would become even more so.”

    Edwin looked at the screen again. “That is unacceptable,” he said. “Knowledge should not be obtained through violence.”     Seven finally let go of the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. She was ready to congratulate Edwin on coming to that conclusion faster than she had, but Commander Chakotay’s voice over the comm interrupted them.     “Red alert! All hands to battle stations. A Borg vessel is approaching.”     “Come on,” Janeway said. “we need to get the bridge. You too Edwin. You can help us enhance our defenses.”

    “Understood,” Seven said. The three of them turned and exited the lab, heading for the nearest turbolift.

---

    Once on the bridge, Chakotay filled them quickly.     “The Borg vessel’s moving into range,” he said. “It’s not a cube though, too small. We think it’s one of their spheres.”     “A sphere?” Janeway said. “I read about that one in the data packet Starfleet sent us. Didn’t think I’d actually get to see one.”     “We’re being scanned,” Harry Kim said from the ops console.     “They’re preparing to attack,” Seven said. She turned to Edwin. “You must help us enhance our shields. This console over here will give you access to the field generators.”

    “Captain?” Chakotay said, sounding unsure.     “Do it,” Janeway said.

    “We are being hailed. Captain,” Tuvok said.     “Don’t bother responding, I think we all know the spiel by now,” Janeway said.     “I can hear them,” Edwin said. “In my mind.” Seven thought he sounded afraid, as though the Borg would be able to assimilate him through thought alone. The ship shuddered.     “They’ve got a tractor beam on us,” Harry said.     “I hear them too,” Seven said, “We must resist. This ship will be destroyed if we do not.” Edwin nodded, and with a look of determination on his face, he held his arm over the console and fired off his assimilation tubules into it. Within seconds, the ship’s shields began modulating, and Voyager was able to break free of the Borg sphere’s tractor beam.     “Can you enhance our phasers?” Janeway said.     “Yes,” Edwin said.     “Do it,” Janeway said. “Tuvok, as soon as he’s done target the sphere’s propulsion systems. Be prepared to jump to warp Mister Paris.”

    “Yes ma’am,” Paris said.     “Enhancements complete. You may fire,” Edwin said.     “Firing,” Tuvok said. A second later, the ship shuddered even more violently than when it had been caught in the tractor beam.     “They inverted our phaser beam with a feedback pulse,” Seven said. The ship began shuddering again as the sphere fired on them.     “They just took out our warp drive,” Paris said.     “Your technology is limited,” Edwin said. “I cannot enhance it any further. I must transport over to the sphere, and disrupt them from within.”

    “They will try to assimilate you,” Seven said.     “They will fail,” Edwin said very matter-of-factly, as if he were repeating something that he shouldn’t have to. Seven didn’t like it. She imagined that Sam would feel much the same way if it were Naomi offering to go fight the Borg all alone. Unlike Naomi though, Edwin could possibly do it, though that likelihood did little to temper her concerns.

    Seven looked at Janeway. Janeway looked back, and nodded.     “Harry,” Janeway said, “lock onto the drone.”

    “That won’t be necessary,” Edwin said, activating his own internal transporter.     “He’s inside the sphere,” Tuvok said.     Seven turned to look at the viewscreen, and tried not to let her worry overwhelm her. The ship took another hit from the sphere’s weapons.     “Shields down to 29%,” Harry said.     “Had they not been enhanced they’d likely be down already,” Seven said.     Harry chuckled. “No doubt about that,” he said. “The Krenim were able to hurt us worse than this.”     “We haven’t survived this yet Lieutenant,” Chakotay said. “Don’t get cocky.”

    Suddenly, the sphere stopped firing, and began moving.     “It’s heading towards the proto-nebula,” Tom said. “It’s gonna get crushed in there.”     Seven held back a gasp as the image of the viewscreen showed the sphere crumpling as it flew straight ahead, small pieces of it flying off into space while the rest of it collapsed in on itself like a mess hall napkin being crumpled up after its use.

    “Beam back Edwin, beam back,” she muttered just before the sphere exploded, the shockwave making Voyager lilt so quickly inertial dampeners couldn’t fully compensate, and the whole bridge crew nearly lost their balance and toppled to the right.

    Seven stared ahead at the viewscreen, her heart feeling like it was sinking into her stomach. The red alert lights went out and the main lights came back on, and Seven could hear Janeway giving orders to the command staff, but couldn’t process them, until Harry said something that snapped her out of it.     “I’m detecting a lifesign,” he said. “It’s the drone, he made it. He’s erected a multi-spatial force field, but it’s collapsing. I’m attempting to get a lock on.”   

    “When you have him,” Janeway said, looking as happy as Seven felt, “beam him to sickbay.”     “Aye Captain,” Harry said. Seven didn’t wait for permission, she bolted to the turbolift right away.     “Sickbay!” she said, wishing the lift could go faster. When she got to sickbay, the Doctor was already scanning Edwin, who was lying on the biobed, his armor looking beaten up, and a red welt on his exposed head, but otherwise he seemed fine. “Damage?”     “Several of his implants were fused in the explosion but they’re regenerating,” the Doctor said. “His biological systems are another story, Cranial trauma, internal bleeding, he’s going to need immediate surgery.” The Doctor closed his medical tricorder and moved quickly to grab his surgical equipment.     “The sphere?” Edwin said.     “Destroyed,” Seven said. “You were successful.”

Edwin closed his eyes and exhaled. “Good,” he said. He opened his eyes again and glanced at Seven.     “The Borg are aware of my existence. I could hear their thoughts when I was linked to them, taking over the sphere. They will pursue me.”     “Irrelevant,” Seven said.     “I need to get started,” the Doctor said, gently nudging Seven aside.     “No,” Edwin said. Seven’s lower lip began to quiver.     No, no, don’t do this, she thought.

“I should not exist. I am an accident. A random convergence of technologies.”     “You are unique,” Seven said, barely holding it together.     “As long as I exist,” Edwin said, “you are in danger.”     “We can talk about this later,” the Doctor said, going for Edwin’s neck with a hypospray, but it bounced off of a force field that was now suddenly surrounding Edwin’s body.     “Allow the Doctor to proceed,” Seven said in as commanding a voice as she could manage. Edwin simply looked at her, his breathing quickening as an alert noise came from the Doctor’s console.     “His synapses are failing,” the Doctor said.     “Edwin, you must comply.”     “I will not,” Edwin said, his voice shaking as his upper body convulsed.     “You must comply. Please,” Seven said forcefully. Then quietly she added, “You are hurting me.”     “You will adapt,” Edwin coughed out. Then the lights in his implants blinked out, his breathing slowed, and his body slackened, his mouth hanging partway open. Even before the Doctor walked up to her and said “I’m sorry,” Seven knew that he was gone. She couldn’t move, her eyes were beginning to wet, and she felt like she could barely breathe even though consciously she knew her lungs were fine.     Eventually, without saying a word, she managed to walk, slowly, and left sickbay, only once having to use one of the nearby beds to maintain her balance before she made it out the door.

She went back to cargo bay 2. When she stepped inside, she just looked at the alcove that Edwin had used. She hadn’t wanted it to happen, but it did. She had begun to see Edwin as her offspring. She wondered if the Doctor felt any of the loss she did. She wondered if Ensign Mulcahey had any regrets about never having spoken to him. She sighed, and sat down in front of her own alcove, and began to cry.     She wasn’t sure how much time she’d spent there when Samantha came walking in, holding a mug.     “Hey,” she said quietly.     “Hi,” Seven said back. Samantha sat down next to her and offered Seven the cup.     “Vulcan tea,” she said. “I think it may have cooled down a bit too much on the way over.”     “Thank you,” Seven said, taking the cup, but not bothering to drink it, instead focusing on the warmth of the sides of the mug in her hands.     “How are you holding up?” Samantha said.     “Not terribly well,” Seven admitted. “I feel like I lost a child.”     “Yeah, well, I can understand that,” Samantha said, shifting uncomfortably.     “Sam,” Seven said. “The Captain told me. About what really happened the day Naomi was born. The version that isn’t in the ship’s log.”     “Oh. I had no idea. You never mentioned it.”     “I did not feel I had the right to,” Seven said. “and even if I had felt I had the right, I also did not want to cause you any discomfort.”     “So, why mention it now?”     “If you, I mean, are you okay with me asking how you handled it?”

Samantha took a deep breath and put an arm around Seven’s shoulder, pulling her in close.     “I wish I could help you, baby,” she said. “I really do, but I never really got the chance to handle it. I mean, it felt like one minute my daughter is dead, the next she’s back in my arms because the other Voyager sent her and Harry over. It all happened so fast. The whole incident, with the duplication, and the pulses, and the Vidiians, it was barely even half a day. Sometimes I have nightmares about it, but they’ve never been frequent. I never truly got to experience losing a child and I wake up every day hoping I never have to.”     “We should all be so lucky,” Seven said. “But I’m not going to see Lieutenant Kim coming through a spatial rift with a perfectly intact Edwin following him.”     “No,” Samantha said sympathetically as she gently stroked Seven’s hair. “I guess not.”     “I’m torn,” Seven said after about a minute. “Between asking the Captain for time off to grieve, or simply throwing myself into a project of some kind. Maybe helping Tom with his new shuttle idea. He’s calling it the Delta Flyer. It seems adequate”     Samantha chuckled. “Coming from you sweetie I’m sure he’d see that as high praise.”     “What do you think I should do, Sam?”     “Take the rest of the day off. I can handle astrometrics for awhile, you’ve shown me the basics. Get some rest. Then, after that, decide which of those two you’re going to do.”     “Acceptable,” Seven said, resting her head on Samantha’s shoulder. “Just stay here with me for a few more minutes.”