#the ending was wrong without Bellamy in it

[the100isracist]

Idk if yall are still active but I just eagerly quit this show around early season two. I was kinda hate watching the whole way, but I started googling spoilers when I saw how fucked they were being to Lincoln and Raven (and more, but they’re my faves). Do you have any show recs that are similar with the shows “building a new civilization after tragedy” (minus the colonization and racism etc)

hey!

i actually binged the entire show recently and i can confidently say it was not as groundbreaking or cool as the showrunner believed. the first 2 seasons were incredible but it just devolved into a mess and the ending was so dark and horrifying. also the fandom was completely unhinged and did not need to act the way they did 😭

onto your question: yes!!!! battlestar galactica is what inspired me to watch the 100 in the first place. it very much shares the themes of mass tragedy, civilizational warfare, living in space, seeking a new home, and humanity fighting for survival without losing its soul. start with the 2003 miniseries (a three hour pilot) tho or it might be confusing. it also has diversity without the weird racist tones of the 100's diversity, although the cast is a lot whiter. the 100 has also obviously borrowed a lot of concepts and terms from it but i don't want to spoil you. all in all, it is one of the best shows i have ever watched and it delivers until its very last second.

lost in space is also quite cool. and i have heard good things about the expanse! another show that shares some themes (without the space element) is the society - very fascinating

[joker1315]

Tagged by @mobius-m-mobius Thank you very much! That's an interesting tag game ^^ let your spotify predict your 2024! shuffle your on repeat playlist, and the first twelve songs represent your 2024 I had to search the on repeat playlist first, but here we go:

Edit: I forgot September 🤦‍♀️😅 January: It Just Won't Quit - Meat Loaf - great way to start the year xD February: So Happy It Hurts - Bryan Adams - well, it's not wrong March: You Tell Me - Paul McCartney - a bit of reflection in March? April: Love Me Do - The Beatles - I won't say no to that May: Seaside Rendezvous - Queen - Yes, please June: Scotland's Story - The Proclaimers - scottish independence in June? July: Mr. Bellamy - Paul McCartney - I like it up here without you August: The Witch's House - Elton John - two months too early September: Scarecrow - Elton John - still a month too early or alternative Wake Me Up When September Ends - because I was clearly sleeping yesterday October: Kingpin - Jake Bugg - might be more attention than I prefer November: Kentucky - Jake Bugg - a young man from Kentucky with a guitar wins the US elections? December: Scene - Jake Bugg - and that's how great Spotify is in shuffeling songs

Tagging @thetv-junkie @rockyracoon17 @badluck990 @punchandspade @anthonytheshuhite @ithinkpeteisdead @paininmyheart-imalive @astaldis @the-wandering-whumper @a-book-locked-nerd @do-androids-dream-ao3acc and anyone who'd like to join.

[topazy]

The fierce and broken

Pairing: Raven Reyes × reader

Warnings: Mentions of smut, swearing

Chapter: 3.01

Soon as the door to your room is closed, you peel the sweaty vest top from your body and toss it to the side. The whiteness of it had long faded into a light yellowish stain, no doubt due to your body dripping of sweat at the end of each shift and the stour that seemed to constantly cover everything in Arkadia.

“Hey.”

You turn around to see Raven coming out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel. Although she’s smiling, you can tell she’s in pain by how her jaw tenses. It was a short distance between the bedroom and bathroom, but it took a lot out of her to walk it without her brace. Since the explosion at the dam three months prior, the pain in her hip had increased, but Raven was in denial about how bad her injury was and was refusing to talk about it. She sits on the edge of the bed, the wetness from her long hair dripping onto the bed. Although she was smiling, Raven appeared exhausted.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, just tired.”

“Raven,” you sigh. Your girlfriend was the most stubborn person you’d ever met, and point blank refused to admit how much pain she’s in while walking. You step in front of her and ask, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

She grins, “well…” She hooks her fingers into the loop of your jeans and pulls you forward. “I can think of a couple of things that might help us both feel better.”

“Raven,” you moan as she starts to rub at your groin, putting pressure on all the right places.

She pulls you down and captures your lips with hers. She unclasps your bra, pulls it off your shoulders, and then tosses it to the side. Raven kisses your neck down to your breast and wraps her lips around one of your hardened nipples. She reaches for the zipper on your trousers, but you catch her hand. “Slow down, Reyes,” you giggle. “I need to shower before we go any further.”

She smirks, “I can join you.”

You do your best to plaster a smile on your face. Your girlfriend was the most beautiful person in the world to you, and we wanted her to join you in the shower, but we’re worried she’d hurt herself without her brace. Knowing that mentioning the pain in her leg would only piss Raven off, you kiss her on the lips and say, “You could or you could get comfy in the bed while I quickly wash the medical smell off me.”

Raven pauses slightly but shuffles up the bed. “I’ll wait, but don’t be long. You know I hate waiting.”

You both laugh at her response before quickly going for a shower.

—

You kiss Raven's bare shoulder. She was leaving soon to travel to Sector 7 for a mapping mission, but the thought of her going scared you since it was so close to the ice nation border.

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

“I just… This is going to sound stupid, but I feel things have been going well for so long. I guess I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Raven brushes your hair out of your face. Since Mount Weather, you had become inseparable, Murphy was gone, Jasper was constantly wasted, and Bellamy was still trying to find his role in Arkadia since he was no longer a leader. You had developed a fear that something terrible would happen and you’d lose Raven as well. The only time you were focused on anything else was when you were working or training with Bellamy.

Raven sighs softly. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“No,” she snorts. “But we can get through whatever bad shit happens as long as we have each other.”

—

You spent most of your day tending to minor medical issues, including coughs and colds, removing stitches, and dealing with contraception. You had been so busy that you hadn’t had the chance to find out exactly what had happened to Jasper on the mapping mission. Octavia only told you that they ran into three ice nation warriors, and Jasper made the situation worse, resulting in Raven and Miller killing the warriors to save their people. Hearing what happened made you feel physically sick.

Octavia also told you that the Ice Nation was looking for someone called Wanheda.

Seeing Jackson about to follow Abby, who was chasing a drunk Jasper out of the medical bay, you call out to him. “Jackson, hey!"”

He looked more stressed than usual and had large bags under his eyes. “Something wrong?”

“We are running short of supplies.” You pull a list and hand it to him. “I went through all our stores earlier, and we are dangerously low. We only have enough stitches for two minor cuts; there are hardly any painkillers left.”

You had reported this to Abby days prior, but she was so preoccupied with finding Clarke that she hadn’t noticed. Jackson rubs at his face. “What else do you still have to do?”

“I have four more implants to remove, but nothing to replace them with.”

“Okay, once you’ve finished, I want you to go around the camp and pull all the resources you can together. I’m going to need to talk to Kane about organizing another supply run. Thanks Alba.”

It looked like you’d be working another late night.

[sometimesrosy]

Hi it’s been a while since I read your blog but I just had to share that I saw a bellarke gif for the first time in a while and I am in PHYSICAL PAIN thinking about how COMPLETELY RUINED their story was in the end. Especially with that ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHEMISTRY *bangs fists on table* sorry I just had to let that out I hope you’re doing well anyways bye

Hi! Nice to see you. I'm not here very much anymore although I'm still checking in more or less on a daily basis. I'm not getting a lot of asks anymore so I don't post very much. I have never just been able to be like 'aha i have a thought let me disseminate it to my followers.'

I do better answering asks or I suppose commenting on other people's posts but I've been wary of that since the great fuckening of the 100 fandom.

I'm not watching a whole lot of tv anymore. But I do binge watch some shows. What's my latest? Oh. Only Murderers in the Building. Out of genre for me. But fun.

Recently I've been thinking about The 100 and missing how much I loved it. How much we all loved it. And the great characters. And the great ship that was Bellarke. Yeah, he sacrificed them to his ego but that doesn't mean the story wasn't told for the entire time. I suppose it ended up being a tragedy rather than a romance but that isn't out of genre.

We knew that there was always going to be the possibility that he would fuck us over. Fuck the story over. I tried to believe because I loved the story so much. I tried to believe JR wasn't a a dick, or at least not a dick in that way. But I was wrong.

I wasn't wrong about the story though. Bellarke was a love story and Clarke and Bellamy were in love. A tragic, unconsummated love alas because JR refused to pull the trigger although the story was there all the way through the end of season 6.

We should schedule a rewatch as a fandom. Like everyone should be able to remember what they loved about the show, now, long after it's over and without any of the fandom drama.

How does one schedule a rewatch of a 100 episode show that the most people could take part in, with neither a too rigorous watch schedule nor a too lax one that wouldn't get the job done?? I don't know. That sounds like organization.

Anyone want to pull together the fandom for a rewatch?

[cherrylng]

2001 'Origin of Symmetry' Interview - Matthew Bellamy [CROSSBEAT Muse Special Book]

"You're playing mellow songs all the time, and then suddenly you can't help but explode and play the heavier stuff, because you keep doing the same thing and you get bored of it."

2001 interview revealing the background to Origin of Symmetry. Interview by Akiko Mima

The quality and scale of the songs on 'Origin of Symmetry' have improved dramatically. Some of the songs were already performed live when you came to Japan last year, so the songwriting process seems to have gone smoothly, but what was the most difficult part? 「For this album, it was difficult to manage the equipment and decide on the recording method. There were so many options. We ended up mostly sticking to a simple three-piece band format, because we got confused with too many instruments and equipment. 'Megalomania' and 'Space Dementia' are big, heartfelt compositions, and we struggled to find a good way to reproduce them with just three people. Especially as we did most of it on piano and the harmonies were quite complex.」

Yes. This time around, you made a new attempt in terms of sound-making, actively incorporating synths, piano and strings. Is this because you wanted to broaden your sound without sticking to a three-piece rock band? 「We want to break the limits of a three-piece band. Especially when I write songs, I'm half piano, half guitar, and I want to somehow incorporate that into the album. Of course, I also love bands like Ben Folds Five, and I want to show that a three-piece doesn't necessarily have to be guitar-oriented.」

What do you think is the difference between the first album and the new one? 「Well, I think it's that we're more confident. We've become more sure of our skills as musicians. Overall, we're sounding more like a three-piece band.」

The combination of your emotional vocals with the overall intense guitar sound of "Bliss", "Space Dementia" and "Plug In Baby" is impressive, but what is it that drives you to such intense emotions? 「Maybe it's that……. Uh, what's that? (laughs)…… Ah, yes. I think that people today have a vague fear that something is wrong with humanity, compared to people in the past. They have a premonition that in another 100 or 200 years there will be fatal environmental destruction or disasters, don't they? Young people are using all kinds of things as a medium to connect with other people in this situation. I also have the feeling that I need to be more connected to the world, and I think I'm driven by that. I'm not very good at conveying messages, but one thing I can say is that using too many words can be intimidating. So I'd rather stimulate people with music than with words. I want to make people realise the connection between people through sound.」

But usually artists want to express themselves first. Is that not quite the same thing? 「I don't think I can give you a definite answer, but the name of the band "Muse" was also given with the intention of inspiring people to be creative in the world…… Maybe (laughs). For me, music is a way of expressing what I can't communicate in my everyday life.」

What is it that you wanted to achieve with this album? 「It wasn't a very difficult idea. I just wanted to make life a bit better (laughs). I just wanted to make a better album than the last one, that kind of thing. There was no big concept, just a constant expansion of our knowledge of what was going on around us. Especially making this album, I learnt a lot about music and myself. Touring and meeting new people has also been very informative. I just want to keep absorbing information.」

What does the album title 'Origin of Symmetry' mean? 「It has to do with the artwork. There are about 15 artists involved, each doing something in a different form. It could be a two-dimensional painting or a three-dimensional statue. But they are all given a common theme. That's 'bringing order to chaos'. In other words, finding symmetry in chaos. It's the same with the songs, there are different styles, but the basic idea is the same. The title also ties in with my idea of "consciousness". For me, "consciousness" is the evolution of all elements. When objects are broken into incredibly fine particles in the Big Bang, they eventually make up the nucleus. When the nucleus becomes conscious, it becomes an atom. The atoms go back and forth violently with each other and eventually build elements. This process repeats itself and eventually evolves into planets and stars. The countless stars in the night sky were originally one star that exploded a long time ago. When you think about it, you realise that in the very beginning all the planets and stars were united under one consciousness. That's why, I think, humanity is in a violent collision with each other, i.e. in a state of chaos.」

I think the vibrant and dynamic sound of the new album is the result of repeated live performances. Muse is a band that places a lot of importance on live shows - what is the stage like for you? 「It's where I can feel myself as I am. I'm also happy to be able to present myself to so many people. Especially when you live in a city surrounded by a lot of people, you tend to become closed off, don't you? So it's fun to be able to expose myself freely on stage. Especially when you have friends close to the stage, you can be more honest with yourself. I think everyone does something similar in their own way.」

Yes. I also think that Muse's music is characterised by 'strange contrasts'. Within a single song, movement and stillness, hope and despair, light and shadow, heat and cold coexist. When you write songs, are you always aware that there are two sides to things, or multiple sides? 「Maybe I am. I don't know if it's completely conscious. At least not intentionally. But I do think that life is always about how you reconcile between the poles. In any case, I'll be playing mellow songs all the time, for example, and then suddenly I explode and I can't stop playing heavy stuff. Sometimes I mix mellow and heavy in one song. If you keep doing the same thing, you get bored of it.」

I see. And one more thing. I think there is always a sense of "pain" behind the intensity of Muse's sound. 「It's not "pain", it's me in an extreme state. Otherwise, it's the result of pushing my body to the limit using my emotions. Some people might see it as "pain", but for me it's the greatest pleasure. Well, it's not so much pleasure, it's more like a great emotional experience. I can't say it well. No, I can say it, but I'm embarrassed. For example, let's say I'm having the ultimate sex (laughs). It's the greatest pleasure, but if a child who doesn't understand sex sees it, it's just pain. What you see in music is also an extreme state of enjoyment for me.」

Yeah, yeah (laughs). Even in the song structures, many of the songs start off calmly, but then change key and become hard. Are you trying to express that kind of worldview in these songs too? 「I don't know. I wonder if it's just a quirk? (laughs) It's true that it's something that's inside me. In the end I'm making a sound that I find interesting, and that sound is somewhere between calm and extreme.」

Well, you go from calm to angry quite often, don't you (laughs). I wondered if it was the same for you, by any chance. 「Yes, of course, there are times when I feel limited by my physical condition or social situation. I just don't know the specific cause. I'll have to think about it next time (laughs).」

Considering when you started out in music, how do you think you have changed as a songwriter? 「Hmmm. I think I've gradually become more open than before. I'm no longer ashamed to be honest. In the beginning, I was worried about whether what I was sending out was reaching listeners in a meaningful way, but now I'm more satisfied with myself as I am.」

With the saturation of various technologies and methodologies, the concept of 'rock' is also changing, isn't it? Radiohead are a band who have found a new way of life for rock by dismantling the conventions of rock, what do you think of their kind of methodology? 「In the end, we're all human beings in the same way. Some of them use music as a tool to communicate their thoughts. But it doesn't matter what technology, equipment or style you use to communicate. What is important is the emotion in the music. People create different styles. Not only music, but also religions are very diverse. But the reality is that the world is now integrating so many different cultures that categorisation is becoming less and less meaningful. Whether you are a Christian or a Hindu, you are looking for the same thing. It's the same with music. Even if a band's style of music suddenly changes, you have to understand that it's still the same people who are making it.」

As for Muse, are you aiming to create a sound that will be ahead of its time? 「(laughs) I'm still too afraid to talk about that. Hehehe.」

Or is it always the individual listener that you are aiming for? 「Yes. I want to value the individual. I just want to keep making good music, but I don't want to be famous for it. In any case, any band that says they want to make a sound that's ahead of its time is going to be ridiculed by their listeners.」

"I genuinely believe that there can't be a new sound, that we're just taking what's been ingrained in us for thousands of years and mixing it with what's old."

Hahaha. But artists are all about "new", aren't they? They want to keep evolving, rather than going back to tradition. 「I think the 'new' is just a mixture of the old and the modern. Tomorrow, a new pianist might emerge and people might say that his style is innovative, but in fact it's a style that's been used for hundreds of years. Of course, it's important to keep learning new things to feed yourself. But I believe that there can never be anything genuinely new. I think it's always just a mix of old stuff. You're inheriting something that's been ingrained for thousands of years somewhere. If you try to trace the origin, it will be chaos, a big mess.」

Translator's Note: I've spent 2 days scanning more magazines to be uploaded onto my hard drive. Still quite a lot to go through, really.

[wonderswritings]

Starless Lovers {9}

Summary: They fell from the sky. We roamed the earth. We were always meant to clash. 

Warnings: The 100 Themes, Angst, Death, Blood, Unrequited Feelings, Slow Burn, Possibly more to come

Pairings: Lexa x Sister!Reader, Bellamy Blake x Fem!Reader (eventual)

War has always been brewing. With twelve clans, each with different ideals, it was always going to happen. But tensions rise when they come, the people from the sky. We watched from a distance, learning. But then they attacked, and if there's one thing all the clans can agree on,

Blood must have blood.

Starless Lovers Masterlist | Tags

The trig translator I was using no longer works, so I managed to find a new one but there’s a chance some words are still incorrect or even untranslated but I tried my best. 

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

“What if we’re wrong and cutting the power doesn’t disengage the locks?”

Lexa was laying down, her arms crossed over her chest as she responded to Clarke.

“Your people said it will.”

She opened her eyes, glancing over at where Clarke stood. 

“You should rest, Clarke.”

“We could blow the doors manually.”

Lexa huffed slightly as she stood, making her way towards Clarke.

“Plans don’t last very long in battle. Tiring yourself with questions already asked and answered is a waste of energy.”

Clarke turned, looking at Lexa.

“People died for this, Lexa. It has to work.”

“You’re doing what I did when I first took command.”

Lexa turned, walking towards the table with the water, pouring her a cup. 

“We can’t move forward and it’s giving you too much time to think. Once Bellamy shuts down the acid fog and the battle begins, everything will be clear.”

“What if he can’t? What if it was too dangerous and I sent him in there anyway?”

“You care about him.”

Clarke turned, clenching her jaw as she looked at Lexa.

“I care about all of them.”

“But you worry about him more.”

“I couldn’t have kept us alive all this time without him. We need him. And now I might be the one who gets him killed.”

Lexa walked forward, stopping in front of Clarke.

“That’s what it means to be a leader, Clarke. The truth is, we must look into the eyes of our warriors and say, ‘go die for me’.”

“If only it were that easy.”

Clarke turned back towards the table with the plans, huffing. 

“Can we please just get back to the plan?”

“No.” 

Clarke clenched her jaw, turning back towards Lexa.

“You could be a leader your people look to. Pour their hopes and dreams into. Someone they would fight and die for.”

“I never asked for that. I’m just trying to keep us alive.”

“You were born for this, Clarke. Same as me.”

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Bellamy held his card over the scanner, huffing when it didn’t work.

“Bellamy. Come in.”

“Yeah, I’m a little busy here Raven.”

Bellamy looked around, seeing another door that led to the emergency stairs, making his way to the door.

“You missed check in. Did you find the source of the acid fog yet?”

“I’m making my way there now. It’s taking longer than I thought.”

“I don’t know enough to crack it on this end. You gotta give me something.”

“I’m working on it.”

He tried his card again, slightly making a face when it flashed red.

“Something’s wrong.”

“What?”

“My key card isn’t working.”

“That’s not good.”

“I need to find another way in. I’ll call you back.”

“Stay right there.”

Bellamy turned, seeing two guards, their guns pointed at him.

“Hands in the air.”

Bellamy turned his head, taking a deep breath before he turned, running up the stairs.

“In pursuit of the target. It’s not Lovejoy. Repeat, it’s not Lovejoy.”

Bellamy’s hat fell as he ran up the second set of stairs, the alarms blaring as he ran down the platform. Cutting a corner he ran down the stairs, jumping a few at a time. Once he was at the bottom he stopped, looking up.

“Checking in. Go back down to the base level.”

One of the guards aimed his gun as he walked down the steps, Bellamy turning and running.

“You’re surrounded. There’s no way out!”

Bellamy ran down the hall, turning at a corner, looking around as he took a deep breath.

“Garza, do you have eyes on him?”

Bellamy grabbed the hand holding the gun as the guard walked by him, shoving it down as he punched the guard in the face. He punched him again as he dodged the guards attempt at hitting him, causing the guard to fall back, landing on the steps. Bellamy punched him again, knocking him out.

“Garza, what is your status?”

Bellamy checked the guards pockets, trying to find his key card.

“Garza do you copy?”

Once he found the key card he turned, grabbing the gun from the ground as he made his way to the door, scanning the card. He breathed a sigh of relief as it lit green, shoving the door open.

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Groaning, you slowly started to come to. The first thing you noticed as you came to was that you were laying down, your arms and legs weighed down with something, causing you to be unable to move. You turned your head to the side, making a face. You were in a room, but you didn’t recognize where you were. Medical supplies lined one side of the wall, various tools lining the other wall. You turned when the door opened, watching as two men walked in.

“Ah good, you’re awake.”

One of the men walked towards the medical supplies while the other walked towards you, stopping next to you and grinning down at you.

“Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Cage Wallace.”

He reached out, running his hand down the side of your face. You turned, opening your mouth and biting his hand. He jerked his hand back, lifting his other hand and slapping you. Your head slammed to the side upon impact, Cage slightly making a face as he shook his head, once again grabbing your face.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I know exactly who you are. Riheda, the dark commander. Interesting name.”

He glanced over at the man, letting your face go, nodding at him before he looked back down at you.

“The doctor has found something interesting within your blood. Tell me why that is.”

You said nothing, keeping your glare on him. 

“Answer me!”

He huffed, shaking his head as he lightly chuckled.

“You think your people are coming for you but they’re not. We know about your army.”

He tilted his head to the side, huffing slightly.

“Or rather, what’s left of it. You see, we bombed your little Tondc. Dropped a missile right on top of them. They’re dead. Every last one of them.”

You clenched your jaw as you fought against your restraints, causing Cage to laugh as he looked over at the doctor.

“Do what you must. I have some things to handle.”

The doctor nodded as he came into your line of sight, glancing down at you.

“We’ll be just fine here.”

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Indra made her way to the Commander’s tent, clenching her jaw, her mind clouded with worry as she opened the flap.

“Heda.”

She bowed her head, cutting a glare at Clarke when she saw her in the tent as well.

“Ai don news.” (I have news)

“I can-”

“Stay.”

Indra tightened her grip on her sword, huffing slightly as Clarke looked over at Lexa.

“I want you to stay, so stay.”

Lexa turned towards Indra, nodding.

“Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Clarke.”

“We’ve looked everywhere, Heda, but there is no sign of Riheda.”

“Esmeray is missing? I thought-”

Lexa sighed, glancing at Clarke.

“I lied, earlier. Esmeray wasn’t avoiding the clan leaders in the woods. She never made it to Tondc.” 

Clarke turned towards Indra, shaking her head, her mind racing.

“Esmeray left before you did. You didn’t see anything out of the ordinary?”

Indra looked over at Clarke, glaring at her. 

“Did you? We took the same path, Clarke. We saw nothing.”

Clarke looked over at Lexa, nodding slightly. 

“I’ll radio Raven, have her let Bellamy know to be on the lookout in case it was the mountain men who took her.”

Indra scoffed, shaking her head.

“Who else would it be?”

Lexa shot Indra a look before she turned, nodding at Clarke.

“Thank you.”

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

“Come in, Raven. I made it. I hope you have a plan.”

“Still working on it. Give us something to go on. What do you see?”

Bellamy looked around, slightly shaking his head as he made his way downn the steps. 

“A huge steel vat. Looks like a submarine. Some other tanks with chemical formulas and warning labels. Bunch of pipes running into the wall. Monitor.”

“Oo, go to the monitor.”

Bellamy huffed slightly, walking towards the monitor.“Hello to you, too.”

“Don’t mind Wick. He’s not really helping.”

“Hey Bellamy. How’s my boy Monty doing?”

“Fine. but I don’t know for how long.”

“Great. Pleasantries over. Listen, if that monitor is a control panel, we can use it to kill this thing. Look for a pH scale.”

“Right. It has a scale, but the rest… uh, look can I just blow this thing?”

“No.”

“No, they’ll know their defenses are down. They’ll send a tech to fix it or reroute it or pull out some other weapon we don’t even know about.”

“Plus, you’d probably melt your face off.”

“Look, you know I like a good explosion, but we gotta think our way through this one. We can do this. Here we go.”

“Okay, uh level indicator.”

“Nope.”

“Do you see an actuator anywhere?”

Bellamy made a face, throwing his hand up.

“I have no idea what that is.”

“Come on, what else.”

“Internal pressure sensor.”

“No.”

“Uh, setpoint and alarm.”

“Let’s avoid that one.”

“Maintenance and cleaning.”

“Bellamy, go to that subdirectory. See if there’s anything there that says passivation.”

Bellamy nodded slightly, starting to filter through the monitor.

“Okay, I’m on it. Got it. Say us, aqueous sodium hydroxide bath.”

“That’s a base. That’ll neutralize the acid. Select that.”

“It’s doing something.”

“You should be able to hear the pump.”

“I can hear them. Needle’s moving. pH is rising.”

“It’s working.”

“Passivation successful.”

Bellamy grinned as the pumps cut off.

“Alright. Send a flare.”

“Roger that.”

Bellamy turned to leave when he saw something, causing him to make a face as he leaned forward, wiping the smudge off, seeing a pH scale. He turned back towards the monitor, looking between the two before he walked towards the monitor, seeing the pH scale was still the same as before. 

“Raven, we’ve got a problem.”

He made a face when she didn’t respond, shaking his head.

“Dammit, where are you? I don’t think the acid fog is down. Get word to Clarke. We have to stop the army. Raven!”

Bellamy watched as the pH scale was reset.

“No.”

He looked up when the alarms started to go off, hearing a banging on the doors.

“Oh, no, no, no.” 

He looked around, seeing the oxygen tank. He glanced down at the acetylene torch in his hand when they managed to kick the door open, causing Bellamy to turn and run.

“Go! Go! Move in, move in!”

“He’s armed, don’t be a hero.”

“Come on out, hands up!”

Bellamy took a few deep breaths before he ran, the men shooting at him as he dived into the vents.

“Cease fire! Don’t hit the tanks!”

Bellamy crawled as far as he could before he stopped, turning back towards the entrance, shooting both guns until he was out.

“He’s out. I’m going in.”

“Got it. I’ll check the tanks.”

Bellamy tossed the guns to the side as he turned, crawling away as fast as he could. When the tanks blew the vent shook, causing him to lose his balance before he started to crawl faster, the force of the flames pushing him out of the vent. He landed with a harsh ‘thud’ the flames shooting out as he ducked, covering his head. When the flames disappeared he turned onto his back, coughing as he laughed. 

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Your hair was matted with sweat and blood, the doctor having hit you after you tried to bite him. After that, he’d tied a cloth around your mouth, forcing you to open your mouth so he could place the waded part of it in your mouth to keep you from trying to bite him or from speaking, which you hadn’t done the entire time you’d been awake. You were tired, and everything hurt, but you refused to fall asleep, forcing yourself to stay awake even if everything was screaming at you to stop and let go. Your eyes began fluttering when the door slammed open, causing you to jump slightly as you opened your eyes, seeing a blurry figure rushing towards you. Slowly, the blurry figure came into focus, causing you to glare weakly as Cage grabbed your face, squeezing harshly.

“Where is he? Where is the intruder?”

He yanked you forward when you didn’t answer, screaming in your face.

“Where is he?!”

“Sir, please! Do not move her too much, or you’ll interfere with my studies! She must remain still!”

Cage turned his head, glaring at the doctor before he scoffed, letting you go, causing you to fall back onto the table with a groan. Cage leaned back, standing to his full height as he took a deep breath, looking down at you.

“Where is he?”

You said nothing, causing Cage to turn and walk towards the guard that came in with him. You couldn’t see what he was doing, but he walked back towards you, placing the cold metal of the gun at your forehead, pushing it so it dug into your skin.

“Where. Is. He?”

“Sir, please! If you kill her, she’ll be of no use to us! Her blood is the key! We no longer need the kids! Her blood will lead us all to the ground again!”

Cage glared down at you, clenching his jaw before he stepped back, his chest heaving as he looked over at the doctor.

“Prepare her for transport. This location has been compromised.”

Cage turned towards the guard, handing him back his gun.

“Send a group to help move the doctor and the grounder. The rest of you will find those kids, and you will kill them.”

“Yes sir.”

Cage looked back at you as the doctor fluttered around you, grinning slightly.

“We can still win the war.”

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

Four months later and I've finally managed to update! Thank you all for being so patient with me! I hope to have the miniseries for this series posted soon-ish. The next chapter will be when Bellamy and Esmeray 'officially' meet!

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[dragynkeep]

it struck me again that the that the grounders are a cult worshipping the commander/ glorified usb stick and at the time nobody (that i saw personally saw) noticed makes me insane

imagine if the writers realised that and had other characters noticed that Clarke was acting like a grounder because of the forced and isolated proximity to the cult and we talked about it

and of course not to mention season 7 and Bellamy but there are parallels there as well as he joined a cult after being exposed to it with forced and isolated proximity plus a few more things that i am sure to be missing

clarke's s3 journey is just so weird to see in retrospect because it's being framed as this "romeo + juliet" relationship that will then go on to determine the rest of her adult life & how the grounders are just like skaikru & bellamy / skaikru are totally in the wrong 100% rather than the entire situation just being a complete mess.

& no character shows this more imo than lincoln. lincoln dared to choose love & freedom over the clan he was born into, the clan that is utterly devoted to the commander & the cult religion they're all indoctrinated into & even in s3 when he is allies with clarke & lexa: lexa still has a kill order on him. lincoln cannot leave arkadia under threat of death which is one of the exact causes of his death. lincoln died because the cult he left ensured there was nowhere else he could run to without his life being in danger.

clarke going through that exact same isolation because she has no allies in polis beyond lexa, the one that she has this ooc & rushed relationship arc with that includes clarke having to kneel to her in front of everyone & then having her entire adult life revolve around this two day romance. it's all just so frustrating to see with clarke because this would be a pattern throughout the rest of her life & there is no one on her side wholeheartedly. they had to make bellamy extremely ooc also just so that he wouldn't help protect clarke in s5.

they, especially clarke, genuinely deserved better. & the grounders being glorified in the fandom is so weird to see considering as we've said, they're the epitome of a cult & only end up making characters lives worse.

[scordoesart]

Season 2 is right around the corner but here’s an au

Picking up from the end of season 1, Stede and the part of his crew that was marooned are sailing around trying to catch up with the revenge, but are ill-supplied to be doing so both due to the small size of the boat on the open ocean and that Stede didn’t seem to have much in ways of supplied with him when he left Barbados. I don’t think the marooned crew would consider Stede as their captain at this time (given that he abandoned them to the kraken!Ed). Stede would probably be avoidant in talking about where he’s been (in the “rules for thee but not for me” way he operates) other than he’s back to stay, has no money, and only what little experience he’s had in his brief time sailing as skills. They wouldn’t abandon Stede though, seeing him as maybe the only person who could fix this mess. Stede and his bunch get picked up by another ship who, turns out, is also looking for the Revenge. This ship is either operated or in the command of Bellamy (though he’s using a different name these days because he’s supposed to be dead). When Stede introduces himself, he’s somewhat met with “a pirate captain without a ship and that wasn’t mutinied upon?” questioning (some amusement there on Bellamy’s behalf), and Olu or all of the marooned people explains to their understanding what happened on the Revenge while Stede was gone to the best of their ability. The tale of the Revenge’s crew’s current state was left in just drives them both to want to find it even more. (A good chunk of this story is tracking down information to find the Revenge, which fortunately, Bellamy still has information sources in spades. Sometimes things just happen on the sea. Maybe they run into Jack again?). Bellamy may or may not be a less than open about who he’s chasing after on the Revenge (haven’t decided, or maybe it’s something that eventually comes out but isn’t said directly at first? Bellamy would have little reason to give up his many-year alias/charade to Stede and also strikes me as the kind of man to hold his cards close until he wants to play them). Stede gets to know more about Ed as a person from someone who knew him years ago without Ed there to curate ( Much like Jack and Ed, they act like no time has passed next they meet. I think they would have had a kind of rivalry but also an underlying respect for one another. or at least some base kind of comeradery) and also about pirating when money isn’t your background. Just to complicate things, because Stede and Ed have escaped the royal navy, pirate hunters have been sent after the Revenge (Hornigold maybe?). This is discovered at one of the ports they stop at for information. Time is ticking for them to find the Revenge. Stede no longer has the family inheritance money to lean on, and from the change in lifestyle he’s had to take to compensate, he develops a kind of understanding if not respect for Izzy’s steadfastness in duty of running the ship. ------------- Meanwhile back on the Revenge.... Things keep getting worse somehow. Izzy knows he Fucked Up (see walking on thin ice with Ed), but keeps telling himself Blackbeard is back and this is what he (Izzy) wanted. It’s what’s best for Ed. Izzy tells himself this, but even he knows it’s all gone wrong. He can’t face that reality because Izzy only finds the value of himself in serving Blackbeard. This wasn’t always true. It’s not something he’s ready to confront yet. Izzy is also managing (not well) the missing pinky toe whose stump is healing about as well as Lucius’ finger did. His swordsmanship has also suffered due to the lack of balance from its loss. He must hide all this to the best of his ability to keep up appearances, but of course things will go horribly wrong. Ed notices none of this of course; too wrapped up in his own grief and trying to be the Kraken for the one last reliable person (Izzy) he’s scared will leave him if he isn’t being exactly what Izzy expects him to be. After all, Stede disappeared on him without a word, Jack helped Izzy sell Stede (though ed probably interpreted it as selling both ed and stede) out to the British. Ed and Izzy haven’t been talking outside of strictly first mate-captain business talk. And even then, sometimes it’s Izzy (nervously but with a front to show the crew otherwise) managing without Ed. Lucius is living in the walls at this point and sees and hears much from people when they think they are alone. Ed’s fragile state and crying. Izzy’s struggles with his foot and brief forlorn expressions when he’s alone. Maybe there’s times when he’d grip the ring, saying nothing but mind going mile a minute to something Lucius wouldn’t know at this point. He could probably pick up that it’s a thought of someone missed. Lucius can’t keep a secret for long so he’d start conversing secretly with some of the crew. Jim perhaps? The two of them have a precident of secrets kept a  la season 1. Those that were part of the Revenge both don’t see a way out of this and start trying to plan for a means of a way out of this. Would there have been more crew transferred from the Queen Anne’s Revenge to the Revenge to fill out the crew with competent pirates? Maybe. Eventually though Izzy can’t ignore that this isn’t anything like the usual moodswings of  Blackbeard he’s accustomed to managing. Things aren’t changing and he’s already been dragged too deep underwater by the kraken to surface from the situation. Might as well continue to try and keep the rest of the crew afloat and working as they should be. ---------- (A maybe possibility of an event but not sure how it fits in characterization wise?) Lucius eventually reveals himself to Izzy (under funny accidental circumstances probably). Perhaps when things have gotten Really Bad for Izzy’s foot and he’s bed bound with fever and infection? Would Izzy admit to Lucius he didn’t think an infection would be the thing to do him in? Probably not, but maybe in such a situation he would? (I didn’t think through this scene too much, but maybe some more direct hints that there was someone else (Sam) for Izzy a lifetime ago? But since Izzy never really dealt with the loss other than just shove it down, he doesn’t really want to talk about it? This would provide an opportunity for those that were left from the Revenge crew to gain a kind of respect and the briefest of peaks beneath the demanding middle manager demeanor Izzy has. HOWEVER, this seemingly conflicts with two of the truths Izzy upholds for himself: Loyalty to his captain above all else, and, pirates all just in the process of screwing eachother over) ------------ Back with not the Revenge... Bellamy, Stede, and the rest of the marooned crew eventually catch up to the  Revenge with barely enough time before the pirate hunters arrive. If Stede hadn’t but it together by now just who Bellamy was looking for, it would be outright said who specifically is being sought after. (Stede probably wouldn’t put it together that the man he calls Iggy has the name Israel or may be referred to by the nickname Baz) Stede could say it’s him and he’s returned, but Ed wouldn’t believe him. By now, Stede looks quite different a man. No matter what Stede says, It takes a proper pirate boarding and takeover to get Ed to listen. Maybe Stede getting stabbed by Ed (just like he was taught) to get Ed to listen. The revenge crew on both sides wouldn’t want to fight their friends/companions. The jig is seemingly up on romcom logic where everyone is going to be okay. Maybe Ed boils over and Stede sees the Blackbeard the books he has tell of? Does Ed kill someone in his kraken rage or just think he killed someone in order for him to snap out of it enough to allow that emotional vulnerability to show again? (It would have to be him directly doing it, not throwing someone into the sea, or fire, or anything like that. As with when Jack was talking about Ed burning people alive in ep 8, Ed considered it the fire doing the killing, not himself.) There is of course a dramatic and emotional reunion of all the couples. Them all dealing with what happened in their own ways. Izzy of course is beyond words. Not knowing how to emotionally deal with 1) Sam being alive. Sam being here. 2) Stede Bonnet is back. 3)Pirate hunters (Hornigold?) on the horizon coming right for them. That third point would cut everyone’s emotional reunions short, but also be the only one of the three that Izzy has any inkling of how to deal with after years of shoving his own emotions down and never dealing with them. The fight to even get on the Revenge having caused enough fatigue that a fuckery has to be used to get away. Stede gets to showcase what he’s learned as a practical, broke, pirate (and that probably not enough if he creates the fuckery without assistance from others). There’s a grand kind of confrontation between Hornigold and the two captains who were once under his command. Stede gains a deeper understanding of the man that in many ways shaped Ed (and Izzy and Sam and Jack and maybe other figures that could have been encountered while looking for the Revenge such as Anne Bonny and Mary Reed). And then finally, the crew can start to unpack and sort out the situation. It’s a long process. The world, under normal logic, wouldn’t wait for them to sort such things out. Maybe romcom time makes a comeback and they can sort through at least a good chunk of it. Ed, for his part, does a lot of growth or at least tries to. In the end, Izzy ends up leaving with Sam for retirement. Ed tells him to go, be happy. Releases him from service (much to Izzy’s conflicted feelings on it). Izzy insists that no that’s a big mistake. Ed insists that’s what would make Ed happy (even if that too is a lie in some capacity?): to see Izzy finally have that same happiness with Sam that Ed’s now found with Stede. -------------- As for what happened between Izzy and Sam all those years ago... Years ago, Sam was sweet on Izzy when they were both serving under Hornigold. It was a whirlwind romance. Sam promised Izzy fine things and retirement together- something so rare for those in their line of work. It seemed like the stuff of fairytales, but something made Izzy give Sam a chance to make it a reality. I haven’t decided what the reason they weren’t sailing together. Izzy and Sam would have been on different ships under Hornigold’s command. Sam with his own ship and Izzy under Ed’s command. Maybe Izzy’s sense of loyalty to his captain was there (as instilled by Hornigold in all his men), but at the time, he wasn’t giving both of his hands to his job. One for the ship and one for his own interests. Maybe Ed was jealous and didn’t want to “share” Izzy with a someone else and he pressed the loyalty to the captain aspect? Maybe there was some other fuckery a la Ed afoot? Maybe Izzy, being torn between duty and love, said he’d go with Sam once Sam got the money needed for that retirement? That seems to conflict with the intensity of which Izzy holds loyalty though. Hmm.... In any case, after splitting off from Hornigold and some time passing, Sam ended up reported dead along with almost all of his crew in the sinking of the Whydah. (The timeline with Hornigold’s involvement and if he’s still alive even seems to be pretty loose at this point as far as OFMD canon goes in comparison to history. Therefore the timeline between Bellamy being elected captain of what once was Hornigold’s fleet, his independent ventures, and the sinking of the Whydah can be played with fast and loose.) Ever since then, Sam’s been working under another name to regain those funds, find Izzy, and give his love the retirement he promised. News of what happened to the Whydah and Sam eventually made its way to Ed and Izzy. Izzy never really processed the grief. Just bottled it up and dedicated his whole self to his captain. Both hands to the ship. (“The only retirement we get is... death”)

[justinewt]

The Two-Horned Beast - THE 100 REWRITE Chapter Twenty-Five

[THE 100 MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: Raven was saved but the group wasn't out of the woods just yet. They still had to find a way to really put an end to Alie. Thanks to a book written by the hand of the woman that made the AI, they found a new lead, a Grounder named Luna, who might be the key to all this.

Words: 4.8k

Warnings: The 100 season 3 spoilers (episode 12 "Demons"), fluff, some romance, guns, knives, blood, stabbing, attempted & actual murder

The sun had risen in the sky as they drove full speed across a field. They drove all night really, with Bellamy at the wheels. Clarke was at the front with him, and Michelle was sitting at the back with the others as they all began to plan out their next moves to stop Alie and her army of zombies. They had saved Raven from her grip, but the latter was far from being the only one that was being mind controlled. Michelle looked through the windshield, listening to the conversation with one ear, leaning forward on her lap. She was wondering about the situation in Polis. Her father was there, and she hoped he was safe. For the time being, they were headed for Arkadia. It was probably fine to return since Alie and her minions were trying to find them and they were far from the trading post already. 

“Becca’s journal is amazing.” Raven exclaimed, carefully flipping the pages of the old notebook. “At 26, she found a pathway to access a human mind. That same year, she had to lock up Alie, because her answer for what was wrong with the world was “too many people”. She was 27 when it launched the bombs.”

“What did she write about the Flame?” Clarke twisted on her seat, turning towards them.

“Alie 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access a human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out, because it would be one of us. She put it in herself first. Altered her genes so her body wouldn’t reject the implant.”

“Bekka Pramheda, the first Commander.” Michelle glanced at Clarke. She nodded to herself before looking at the others, crossing the gaze of her best friend before she focused back on Raven. “The gene therapy made her blood black, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.” She said quietly, surprised that she knew this detail without having read the diary. She wasn’t the only one that was surprised.

“How did you know that?” Octavia enquired.

“Nightblood. That’s where it came from. Somehow it became hereditary. Luna has it. That’s why we have to find her. If she can access Alie-2…”

“She can tell us how to stop Alie-1.” Octavia said, concluding Clarke’s statement.

“Get back to the mind pathway.” Monty spoke, taking a closer look at the Flame. “If Alie uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there’s a chance my mo’s still alive.”

“That depends on your definition of “alive”.” Raven’s words must have shattered his hopes, but he shot his mother. The woman’s body wasn’t alive anymore and whatever was left of her in the City of Light, wasn’t her. Seeing him like this made Michelle quite sad and it made her think how if her father happened to take the chip, she wasn’t sure she would have the guts to shoot if he put someone in danger. She hoped she would never have to kill him to save someone else because if her father, her only remaining parent, died by her own hand, she would never survivre it. Losing her mother broke her and she didn’t even see her pass away, so it would be the last straw. She would never recover from it.

“Eyes sharp. Weapons hot. We’re almost home.” Bellamy spoke up as they approached Arkadia’s grounds. He called for Harper and Miller over the radio, telling them they were a couple minutes away from camp, but no one replied. It wasn’t a good sign. Michelle straightened up, stretching her, craning forward to look through the windshield. She couldn’t see Arkadia just yet. They were still too far but once they saw it in the distance, and noticed the gates were wide open and there was no one in sight, they stopped the vehicle. Some of them got out with their weapons, walking alongside the car, Jasper standing up at the back, sticking out through the roof opening and Bellamy had left the wheel to Michelle. She wouldn't have minded coming outside with him, Clarke, Octavia, and Sinclair; she was a pretty good shot, but he had insisted that she stay inside the Rover. Her assumption turned out to be correct though, Alie and her minions had deserted the place, probably since last night. From inside the car, she couldn’t really hear what the others were saying but she heard Jasper note that no one was there to fix the gate. It was like a ghost town as they slowly progressed inside the camp.

“Maybe they saw the open gate and went in for Lincoln’s book.” Jasper added, talking about Miller and Harper. Bellamy was still trying to get a hold of them, but no one was responding. When she looked in the mirrors and saw her peers stopping in their tracks, she slowed the car and turned her head to Raven, sitting in the front seat next to her. She met her gaze and she understood they had stopped by the pool of blood that must have soaked the grounds ever since Lincoln was shot by Pike. She gulped and they continued on their way to get the grounder’s book. It was supposed to guide them to other Grounders that could help them to stop Alie, with all that nightblood stuff. As they approached the hangar, the doors opened and she drove in, opening the window and popping her head through, to hear what Bellamy was saying. He looked at her after telling Jasper to close the roof.

“Turn the Rover around. We may need to get outta here quickly.” She nodded and sat back into the driver’s seat, waiting for the others to get out from around the vehicle to turn the car around. The doors of the hangar closed shut behind them with a thud. As the group looked around the large room, she did as Bellamy asked and then jumped out of the car. Climbing up the small flight of stairs, she, Raven, and Monty joined the others around the table where a bunch of stuff was scattered, decks of cards, half-empty plates and drinks, as if people just got up and walked away, leaving everything behind to rot, without a second thought. “We’re in and out. Pack as much gear as you can into the Rover.”

“I’ll get the map.” Octavia left almost as quickly as she spoke. Jasper went along with her. As she watched them walk away, Michelle was reminded of the fact that her precious jacket was still lying somewhere in Bellamy’s room, and she wanted to get it back before they left camp again. She was about to mention it to Bellamy, parting her lips, turned towards him, when Raven came from behind her and spoke up.

“What’s the rush? They won’t be coming back.”

“How do you know?” Clarke asked.

“Alie’s mission is to chip everyone. It wouldn’t make sense to return to a place she already took.”

“It might make sense if there was someone in that place, you, who could tell us stuff like that.” Raven agreed with Sinclair’s point, and they all went in different directions. Only Michelle went after Bellamy and he looked over his shoulder, hearing her footsteps. She still wanted her jacket, even if she was wearing her father’s ever since the group parted ways with him, Pike, and the Grounders. He nodded at her request, and they walked through the door towards the inside of the Ring, heading for Bellamy’s room. The two of them walked inside the room and Michelle kind of looked around while Bellamy opened a wardrobe next to his bed. He let his gun hang to his side as he took the jacket from a hanger. She took off the large, black guards’ jacket that her father gave her so she wouldn’t be cold and put it down on the desk while he handed her vest to her.

“Thank you.” She said as she took and put it on, one sleeve after the other. Then, she picked up her father’s and put it back on. She noticed Bellamy watching her as she got dressed and she looked at him with a chuckle, the corner of her lip stretching into a smirk. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head, looking away, and she took a step towards him, taking his hand, intertwining their fingers as they locked eyes. His eyes went down to her mouth for half a second and he cupped her face in his free hand, pressing his lips against hers. Their kiss grew more passionate as time went on and he let go of her hand to slip his fingers in her hair, at the back of her head. Her whole body felt like it was lit on fire when they broke their embrace, resting his forehead against her cheekbone. She was catching her breath, as if she had forgotten how to breathe properly and she heard Bellamy chuckle. She smiled, telling him not to laugh, playfully pushing him away, shaking her head and he caught her arms, pulling her back towards him into a hug and she wrapped her arms around him, warm under his jacket. She could feel him breathing in her hair while she rested her chin on his shoulder, closing her eyes. It was the first, real intimate moment that they had shared in many months and damn, how she had missed it. The words I love you, would take a little longer to be spoken out loud though.

“All right let’s go look around. We don’t know know how much time we have right now.” She broke the embrace and he nodded. They left together, exiting the Ring through the front door. She didn’t have a gun, so she remained behind Bellamy as he kicked open the door to the armory, holding his gun up in case he came face-to-face with someone. It was empty. She stepped in after him as he opened a mesh cupboard inside which they could see a bunch of automatic shotguns lined up. He checked the content of the boxes stored underneath. They were filled to the brim with bullets. He grabbed the radio at his belt and contacted the rest of the group still inside the hangar. 

“Everyone finish what you’re doing and meet us at the armory.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Clarke was the one to respond.

“You’ll see when you get there. We just got lucky.” While she told them they were on their way, Bellamy picked up a gun, filled a charger with bullets and gave it to Michelle. The latter started walking back and forth outside the door, looking around the camp, alert, and turned to Bellamy while they waited for the others to join them. Her mind was really making her do comparisons between what she now had with Bellamy and what she once had with Murphy. She didn’t want to keep thinking about both the relationships she had ever had but her conclusion was that the two were diametrically opposed. Maybe it was because she had grown since they first landed on the ground, and because Bellamy was a few years older, but their relationship had a much more mature feeling to it. The nature of their feelings for each other was very different from when she was with Murphy. When he left, she realized, even if he did love and care for her, she most likely loved him more than he did. She mentally shrugged, thinking it would have ended at some point but the fact that he just got up and left, with Jaha, it still bothered her. She shook the thought away when Clarke’s voice reached their ears. She was calling out their names weakly, panting and Bellamy caught her before she fell, giving her support so she could stand. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Emerson.” It was just one word, well a name really, but the three of them were very much aware of what it meant. The guy from Mount Weather, who they thought they had gotten rid of already, was back, harder to kill than a cockroach. The trio then walked into the ring, with Bellamy and Michelle walking in front of Clarke, their heads tilted, eyes glued to the viewfinder lens, guns up, flashlights on.

“Where’s Monty?” Bellamy enquired.

“Emerson took him. Why?” She frowned, trying to understand what Emerson’s motivation was. He grabbed his radio and tried to make contact with his sister, stopping in their tracks.

“Octavia, can you hear me? Come in.”

“Jasper was with her.”

“Jasper, are you there? Say something.” The only answer they got was a static sound crackling on the other end.

“Maybe Emerson got them too.” Michelle said quietly. Clarke looked down, frowning, shaking her head.

“Miller, Harper, Bryan… This is all my fault. I let Emerson live.”

“What are you talking about?” Bellamy looked at Clarke, blinking in confusion before exchanging a glance with Michelle. She had no idea what she was talking about either, but their friend seemed preoccupied. Her eyes went from one to the other.

“In Polis. I had a chance to kill him, but I let him go.”

“Bellamy, what’s wrong?” Raven’s voice came over the radio, interrupting their conversation.

“Raven, are you okay? Where are you?” He immidietaly asked.

“Still in engineering. We’re fine.”

“Raven, listen to me. Emerson is here. Are the others with you?” Clarke spoke up, taking the radio after Bellamy handed it to her. Raven replied in the negative. She was alone with Sinclair. Clarke then gave them instructions to lock down the hangar bay and to not let anybody in but the three of them. They had yet to find their other friends, who were probably held somewhere by Emerson. They ran there but when they came at the door, shouting out the mechanic’s name, banging on the door, no one answered, and the hangar was plunged in the dark. They left, running around the ring to get to the other door. When they reached the large door from the outside, it was just opened slightly, leaving a thin thread of light penetrate inside. Slipping through the opening one after the other, the two childhoos best friends kneeled next to the lifeless body of Sinclair, lying on the ground, a large stain of blood on his t-shirt, and blood running down his mouth. His dead eyes stared right back at them, frozen, and empty. Clarke still went to check his pulse, but it was obviously too late. He was already gone. She closed his eyes. Michelle sighed and got up, her hands on the gun hanging across her shoulders, glancing around the hangar. Raven was nowhere to be seen.

“He took Raven.”

“We’re too late.” Bellamy added, but Clarke somehow disagreed. She turned her head to them.

“He didn’t kill Monty or Raven. He would’ve left their bodies. Michelle is right, he took them somewhere.”

“If you’re right, Octavia and the others are there, too. Where would he be taking them? They could be anywhere. How does he even know his way around?”

“He was here. You were in Mount Weather.” As she talked, Clarke was already thinking, and she came to the conclusion that the man that had them running around the compound looking for their friends, had taken them to the very airlock in which he had been detained before. It only made sense that he would lock them up in there. She snatched the radio from Bellamy’s belt. “Emerson. I know you’re listening. We need to talk.”

“I don’t need to do anything.” They heard grunts in the background, confirming that he did have their friends with him. Clarke had their back to them, facing the hangar’s door and Michelle and Bellamy looked at each other. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“And now you’re here to kill me, is that it?”

“Something like that.”

“Then let my friends go.” She tried to bargain with him, offering to give herself over if he did what she asked. Of course, neither Michelle nor Bellamy wanted this to happen. She turned to them. “I know what I’m doing.” Michelle gave her a firm nod, trusting her, though this whole ordeal worried her.

“Come to the airlock. No weapons. Right now.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Bellamy stopped her as she walked away with a determined step. She was set on saving their friends and they didn’t disagree with this but neither of them wanted her to sacrifice herself.

“Look, when it’s over, take this to Luna. Promise me.” She took the Flame out of her pocket and handed it over to him. Her eyes went to Michelle who didn’t like the way she was talking about all this, as if she was going to die going to the airlock and there was nothing to do about it. She didn’t the decisiveness of this moment. Bellamy slightly squinted his eyes, shaking his head.

“No. You’re outta your mind your mind if you think we’re letting you do this alone.” Though she stayed quiet, used to go along with the flow of whatever Clarke wanted to do, Bellamy didn’t even think about it and included her in his statement, knowing that she was as much against this as he was. And in other circumstances, she would have sketched a smile, because he was right. Clarke glanced at Michelle before putting her gaze back on him.

“This is my fault. I’m not letting anyone else die for my mistake, okay? So take it!” She didn’t raise her voice, but her tone and gesture were strong and direct, urging him to take the flame from her hand.

“Are you through? I don’t know what happened between you and Emerson in Polis. But I do know that letting him kill you here today is a stupid plan.”

“You got a better one?” He pinched his lips and shrugged; his smirk tinged with sadness.

“You distract him, we shoot him.” Clarke let go of her original plan to just surrender herself to the mountain man and nodded to Bellamy’s proposition. She looked down at the flame while Bellamy stepped away. Now, they had to put the plan into motion, and hope it would go smoothly but what Emerson would do, and his reactions were out of their control. Clarke walked a few feet ahead of them, with Bellamy and Michelle with their guns right behind. They stood behind the corner, hidden in the shadows while she held up her hands and approached the airlock.

“I held up my part of the deal. Your turn. Let my friends go.”

“Tell Bellamy to show themselves first.” He must have seen Bellamy’s shadow, or he simply knew the girl would never actually come alone but they were both reminded that even though Michelle knew the man’s name and who he was, he probably didn’t even remember her, other than being that one Asian girl who was Clarke’s friend. She wasn’t even sure he remembered that she was one of those who basically got her thigh drilled into and almost died, if it weren’t for Clarke opened all exits of Mount Weather. The two gunsmen glanced at each other.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about...” She tried to lie, and he knew it. He grunted and Octavia let out a scream, prompting Bellamy to come out of hiding, telling Michelle to stay back with his eyes. She gave him a nod, standing her back to the wall to conceal herself better. He kept his gun ready to fire as he stepped into the hallway.

“Good. Now, take out the clip, throw it down the hall, put the gun down and get inside.”

“Please, you wanted me.” She tried to talk with him, but he wasn’t here to listen to her pleading. Surrending herself in exchange for her friends’ lives being spared, but something was off. He really wanted Bellamy to come into the airlock. The latter gave in, telling him to stop. Michelle didn’t know what Emerson was doing but she guessed that he must have been holding Octavia at gunpoint or something like that, for the young man to be this nervous. He did as order, took out the clip and kneeled, putting down his gun, along with the rest of his weapons, which included the two knives he had. He threw them away, making them slide down the hall and their course stopped right in front of Michelle. If it came down to it and using her gun was too dangerous, she would pick up one of the blades and use it against Emerson. It was clear that Bellamy took advantage of the fact the man was clueless about a third person being there. He then put his hands up in the air and walked towards the airlock, disappearing from Michelle's sight. She heard Emerson’s voice addressing Bellamy followed by Octavia grunting. Michelle was practically glued to the wall, taking deep, quiet breath, ready to step in. She clenched her jaw, hating the fact that she was blind to what was now happening, right around the corner. She listened to Emerson giving orders to Clarke, telling her to get down on her knees and put her hand behind her head. There were footsteps, certainly Emerson, followed by a beeping sound and the airlock door closing.

“No- You can do anything you want with me. Okay? Just let them go.” Hearing him grunt, Michelle peeked. Emerson was his back to her, holding Clarke the collar of her coat and pushing her towards the closed space. He put his arm around her neck, his handgun against her head, pressing her against the glass. Michelle then thought, using her gun would put Clarke’s life at risk, while using a much sneakier weapon such as Bellamy’s knives, would give her a bigger chance of neutralizing Emerson. She let go of her shotgun, letting it hang to her side and picked up both blades to her feet, holding the handles tightly. And she waited for the right opportunity to come out. Not knowing if he had his finger on the trigger didn’t help her determine when to act either and she couldn’t risk Emerson seeing her, it would fuck the whole plan up as well.

“You murdered 381 people. You took the lives of my children, my brother, my friends. Did you really think that I would be happy with just one life in return?” When she heard him step back, dragging Clarke with him, she took another look. The gun was now aimed towards the ceiling. He put his arm back around Clarke, right across her chest and used his free hand to uncover a glowing red button. She came out of hiding as he pressed it. A voice over PA announced that the airlock was being emptied of its oxygen. He looked to asphyxiate their friends. She took advantage of the loud, dull noise covering her steps and she rushed towards him, driving the blades of the daggers right into his skull with a grunt. A gunshot went off as he collapsed, dragging Clarke with him. She broke free from his grip and rushed to the airlock control panel to open the door. Michelle just then processed what she did and though she didn’t feel bad about it, she couldn’t help but stare at Emerson’s face, his empty eyes staring back at her. She realized her fingers were trembling, so she closed her hands into fists. The two knives looking like horns that had grown on the sides of his head. Clarke got up, stretching out her arms to reopen the airlock. Their friends inside weren’t exactly passed out but a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, breathing heavily, while the two were getting rid of Emerson. Michelle stepped over the man’s body, helped Clarke up. As she freed one of them, they helped free each other. Michelle went to untie Bellamy from the wall and frowned in frustration since her hands were still a bit shaky. She felt his gaze upon her.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly.

“You’re the one that’s restrained. I’m fine.” He grabbed her hand and glanced over his shoulder at Emerson. She huffed, following his eyes, and stared at the dead body. The knives sticking out of his heads, a pool of blood all over the floor and trickles having flowed across his face. His eyeballs were hidden, covered with a red layer. It wasn’t the first she had had a deadly weapon in her hands, but it was the very first time that she stabbed someone this violently, in the head, and not just with one knife, but two at that. She didn’t have such a hard time shooting at people with a gun but using bladed weapons did shake her up a little. She didn’t even think, she just did it to save Clarke. Seeing that she was staring at Emerson, he stepped aside, blocking her view, making her look at him.

“You did it to save Clarke.”

“Yes, I know why I did it.” She pinched her lips, not reacting the way she would have wanted to. She answered abruptly when he was only trying to help her. But he understood and only looked at her with concern for her on his face. She locked eyes with Clarke and Octavia, who noticed them holding hands and the latter were surprised to say the least. They obviously didn’t expect to see their siblings together. The group then eventually walked outside, dragging Emerson’s body away. At nightfall, while they were putting things away, they saw Bellamy walk through the gate, carrying a large body wrapped in a body bag, in his arms.  Because of the weight of the body, his gait was a bit slowed down, and his steps were heavy, sinking into the mud. He put it on the ground and took a step back while Octavia fell to her knees. She raised her hand to uncover the head and hesitated for a moment before finally doing so. It was Lincoln.

Octavia's sobbing turned into hearbreaking wailing. The rest of them were all silently standing there. Michelle felt her pain, though it was not over the death of the same type of love, she had cried just as hard over her mother. It made her want to cry and she felt a tear had run down her cheek. She swiftly wiped it away. They built a pyre and put both Sinclair and Lincoln’s bodies on it. Raven went forth, saying her goodbyes to her former mentor and stepped back while Octavia lit the pyre, pronouncing words in trigedasleng. Your fight is over. They all repeated those words in unison. While Michelle said it for their two peers, her eyes rose to the starry night sky and her thoughts went to her mother and she stared at the fire, losing her gaze in the dance of flames until Octavia's voice rises above the loud crackling.

“It’s time to go. I’ll get the map.” Bellamy watched her walk away, swallowing harshly. As he turned back towards the fire, he felt a hand hold his and his eyes went down to his hand and then up to Michelle’s face before they both observed the fire for a moment. After a while, they all went to the hangar to put their things into the rover and get ready to leave. Clarke was putting the flame back in its box and Bellamy was carrying boxes of weapons into the back of the car. Michelle was next to her childhood friend. The three exchanged a nod as he walked past them.

“Hey, we’re leaving. Why aren’t you ready?” Bellamy asked Raven and Monty as the two approached.

“We’re not going with you.” She then said, being helped down by Monty. “I can barely walk, and my shoulder is killing me. But my brain’s all kinds of awesome.”

“She remembered that Alie downloaded herself into the Ark mainframe. If the code is still there, we might be able to find a back door.” Monty added.

“I’m guessing once you connect Alie-2 to Luna, we’ll need to access Alie-1 to take her down.”

“Miller.” Bellamy called to the young man in the background, with his boyfriend and Harper. He motioned towards the other two.

“I’ll keep ‘em safe.”

“I’ll keep them safe.” Harper said, repeating his words with a smile.

“How about you? It’s gonna be dangerous.” Bellamy turned his head to Jasper.

“You know me well. I’m in.” On his words, Bellamy walked off while Clarke and Michelle said goodbye to their friends. Octavia went directly inside the car. Clarke went to the front with Bellamy and Michelle joined Octavia, followed by Jasper. The humming noise of the engine starting sounded in the hangar as Raven shut the backdoor and they drove away. Next step was finding this Luna and find a way to get rid of Alie once and for all.

[To be continued…]  

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Published (02/24/2023) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405​ @kika64 @mirellef2001

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Omfg, Swanhilde is completely and utterly usurping Bella's position as mother (just without the explicit title) even more thoroughly than even Rosalie ever could have done, and all without actually trying to do so! It makes me wonder how this situation would go with Hong Bellamy instead of Swanhilde Bellamy. Could you elaborate on that, Muffin?

The Seventh Seal.

To catch readers up. Bella's gift traveled back in time but ended up in Renesmee's body instead, concluded it was Renesmee's gift now, had to make a hallucination to keep Renesmee company, and then made that hallucination a person when the Cullens wigged out.

When it's Hong's female alternate form, Swanhilde, Bella loses her goddamn mind out of insecurity/feeling usurped in every way.

It's Hong Instead

Bella's fine now.

Oddly enough, a strange, beautiful, man fixating on her daughter and being the missing brother the Cullens never mentioned doesn't bother her in the least. There's no sense of competition, asking why Edward didn't choose Hong, no comparing herself to Hong and feeling herself come up short in every field that matters.

Bella's actually relieved as she'd been terrified about what the lack of Jacob would mean for her daughter. Hong's not her imprint, no one will be, but he's more than willing to babysit and form an emotional connection with her that the other Cullens (sans Rosalie but let's not mention her) aren't interest in.

Bella's Hong's number one fan and is very eager to get to know him as a brother-in-law to help cement her place in the family. She eagerly accepts the story of him being away in Europe and not having a cell phone during all the time Bella was in Forks. She accepts Alice not being able to find him for the trial as he's a hybrid, like Renesmee, Alice can't see him and had no idea where to look.

It's Edward who's going to be a problem.

What's Wrong with Edward?

Now, Edward's not the first anymore. He wasn't the one who started off the Cullens, it was Carlisle finding Hong in France/Germany (Edward does not question too deeply why a man by the name of "Hong" would have that appearance in that country at that time period except to grouse about it internally).

Added onto this, Hong has excellent control, never left the diet, is well-traveled, is a learned musician, can even do things like cook, and has always been and always looked more human than Edward.

Hong is everything Edward wants to be, and he does it effortlessly.

Now, Hong returns, and it's to the delight of Edward's wife and his daughter.

And it just gets worse. Hong talks freely with Carlisle about all the years they spent together when Edward hadn't been turned yet/when Edward left to eat rapists, Esme dotes on him as if he were her own son, everyone gets along with him even more than they do Edward.

And Hong, while stupidly gifted in a way even Edward has to recognize, has none of Edward's drawbacks. His gift isn't always on, he can respect the family's privacy, but he always knows what he needs to or can quickly find it out.

Edward begins to realize that he was happiest when Hong was away, that Hong returning changes things.

Hong even fucking looks more like Carlisle than Edward does, something that bothers Edward tremendously in Midnight Sun.

Edward Pretends it's Fine

Edward wants to be the better man, so he puts a smile on, and pretends this is great.

However, he breaks.

Bella's gushing about how amazing Hong is and how she wished she could have met him earlier in Forks. She pesters Edward with all sorts of questions about what Hong is like during the high school routine, how long he was in Germany for, how Carlilse found him, how he and Edward first met, what he thinks of Bella, etc.

Edward answers these curtly and tries to deflect the answers back to himself. Don't you want to know how cool I was in high school, Bella? Hong's boring, he's the pity brother.

Renesmee's also gushing about Friend/Uncle Hong, look daddy, they made a picture together! "Don't you want to talk about me, Renesmee?" Edward asks and Renesmee sort of stares because she hasn't seen Bella or Edward in three days.

At talk of them moving, on whether Hong should stay home to babysit full time or attend high school with them, on realizing that Hong Bellamy truly is back to stay and will be with them forever, Edward just dies inside.

Edward, feeling deeply insecure, realizes he can't do this.

Edward Subtly Hints Hong Should Go Back to Europe

Edward approaches Hong and starts dropping hints that it's great Hong came back and all, amazing, Edward missed him so much, but this isn't the best time.

Bella's new to vampirism and is in a very delicate place with the loss of Jacob (oh right, you didn't know that Hong, because you're not actually important). Renesmee's growing up fast, lost Jacob, and has deep emotional issues as shown by Friend. That Hong looks like this Friend character could only execrabate them.

The best thing Hong can do for the family is go back to Europe for a few years and keep--doing whatever he was even doing over there.

Hong refuses.

Edward then approaches Carlisle with this same argument. Wow, so great Hong's back, missed him tons, he should go to Europe because wife and baby. Carlisle reminds Edward that he can't and won't banish Hong to Europe, plus, that would just make Bella feel rejected and Renesmee as well.

Carlisle also doesn't see what the problem is. Hong's great with Renesmee, Bella seems to like him and seems to be making strides since Jacob's uh--whatever happened to Jacob, everyone's missed him for years, why would Carlisle kick him out when he's finally come home?

Edward has no good answer to that and goes away to stew.

Edward Gaslights Himself

Edward tells himself that he doesn't dislike Hong for unfounded reasons. That there appears to be nothing outwardly wrong with him, no pig-headed vanity like Rosalie, no violent past like Jasper, means that whatever's wrong with him must be more sinister.

Just what was he doing away for so many years anyway? Are they sure he stuck to the diet?

Why come back now after the danger is long over? Surely, even if the Cullens couldn't find him, he would hear through whatever means Vladimir and Stefan heard.

Edward tells himself that Hong is not only dislikable but a malevolent actor, an unworthy fraud, someone who only pretends to be this perfect but isn't truly.

He's come back, clearly, to ruin Edward's life personally.

Edward Confronts Hong Again

This time, Edward brings out the big accusations, he knows what Hong's up to. Hong plans to take the only thing Edward's ever loved, Bella Swan, away from him along with all of Edward's family and his daughter because he's an evil menace.

"HONG BELLAMY ISN'T EVEN A NAME" - Edward Cullen

Hong, once again, refuses to leave and also cannot understand what Edward's fucking deal is.

Hong has one job in life, one, protect Renesmee, and for some reason Edward's yammering onto him about Hong sleeping with his wife on the sly.

"Cool story, bro," Hong says then leaves the room.

Edward Summons a Family Meeting

Edward rings the proverbial gong and summons the family to dramatically tell them all his suspicions about Hong. Hong is a Volturi sleeper agent, he always has been, that's why Carlisle found him in Europe and why he didn't attend the trial. He also is clearly sent as a hybrid because they know that Alice's visions will be blocked.

Now, he's here to destroy the coven forever and ruin their lives.

Rosalie points out Hong could kill them all at any time.

Carlisle points out that, when he first met Hong, the Volturi had no reason to send a secret agent to infiltrate the coven he didn't have. They also have no reason to have secret agents. Period.

Emmett points out Hong's now been her for months and hasn't done anything. Wouldn't Hong have sold them off to the Volturi ages ago if that was the case?

Alice points out that, as much as Hong annoys her because ew vision blocking, he was here long before she showed up and so couldn't have been chosen by Aro to prevent her visions.

Renesmee shows the pretty picture of a rainbow that she and Uncle Hong drew together.

Bella's mortified. She's just mortified.

The family awkwardly suggests that maybe what Edward needs is a break and a vacation. He and Bella can go somewhere, they'll take care of Renesmee (read Hong will take care of Renesmee), and he can destress.

(Rosalie has also now gaslit herself into having distinct memories of Edward always having loathed Hong from the start out of jealousy and insecurity.)

Edward never thought the entire family, even Alice, would disbelieve him and feels not only abandoned but betrayed.

He confronts Bella later, she at least has to believe him, but Bella suggests that maybe they all just need to calm down a bit. What the others said sounds reasonable and Hong seems kind of amazing (and hot).

It Escalates

As you can imagine, we keep escalating, as Edward has to get rid of the threat to his family.

[luverofralts]

"Still? When's this going to be over?" Adrienne shouted at the cards on the floor. It was nearly Winterfest, which meant that it was time for the Helios family birthday party. Noelle, Adrienne, and Luciana all had the same birthday and their grandparents wanted to celebrate it the most economical way possible. By combining the three birthdays into one party, Elaine saved time and money. It also usually meant that her children wouldn't feel obligated to show up at her house on Winterfest itself. The less time she had to spend with Nathan and whoever he was bringing home that day, the better.

Theo had absolutely no interest in answering Roman. Instead, he and Adam were texting, since Theo had been unable to ditch the family event. They'd been texting non-stop about all the interesting things Adam was going to do with his own family on the school break. Adam was going snowboarding, and shopping in the high-end magical stores while Theo watched his little sisters blow out candles and his father argue with his siblings for an entire afternoon. They wouldn't get to see each other until after Winterfest, which felt like an eternity. How was he supposed to manage without Adam for so long?

"Theo? Can you help your father set up the living room? He needs a second pair of hands."

"Theo! Now. Go help your father. When you're done, you can come help me make dinner in the kitchen."

"I don't get it!" Adrienne shrieked, shouting at the unresponsive deck of tarot cards on the floor. "They can't just show up here, I told them that! Victoriana is supposed to know and then they come. They'll mess up everything!"

"Rien, put your cards away. Just because it's your birthday doesn’t mean that you can shut yourself away with them. Go celebrate with your sister and cousin. Make a friend, I don't care who. Please, Rien, please."

"Yes, Dad," Adrienne sighed. "But-but it's important that I see what's coming. There are huge plans in motion that-"

"Give me the cards," Roman snapped, cutting his daughter off before she could mumble strange prophecies again. "You're not getting these back for at least a week. No one can accurately predict the future, and even if you could, what's the point if you're not living it? Let whatever happens happen and we'll deal with it then."

"But Dad-"

"Now it's two weeks," Roman declared, glowering in the direction of his son. "Theo! Get off your ass now and help your father or Adam won't be allowed to come over for three months. Now mister, go."

Theo grudgingly stood, no doubt telling Adam how cruel his parents were via text. Roman didn't care what the teenagers thought of him, so long as it got Theo off the couch and helping his family set up.

Elaine passed her youngest son in the hall, deliberately avoiding him as best she could. The last thing she needed was to deal with Nathan's drama while the Bellamys undoubtedly brought enough of their own drama for the day.

"Ugh, Kaeileen is obsessed with me," Nathan grumbled, scrolling through his messages. "'Your child support didn't come in this month, why haven't you signed the form for Naethan's school trip?' Doesn't she have anything better to do with her time than bother me?"

"Happy birthday!" Luciana exclaimed, hugging her grumpy cousin. "What's wrong? We're getting presents and cake today."

"I don't want to talk about it," Noelle replied. "You wouldn't understand. Your parents care about you."

"Oh, what did Aunt Lucy do now?" Luciana asked. "Dad hasn't yelled about her for a long time. Did she get an important case? Is she suing the school so we get a longer break?"

"No, none of that. I found out who my other mom is and...and I can't talk about it."

"Okay!" Luciana chirped, ignoring her cousin's moodiness. Today was still going to be awesome even if Noelle was grumpy. Cake and presents always made things better. "Have you seen the presents on the present table? There's so many of them!"

"I don't care," Noelle sighed dramatically. "It's our birthday and I'll never see my other mother here. I've been abandoned. No one wants me."

"I can get you some pretzels," Luciana offered. She didn't have the focus today to put up with her stepcousin's drama. "Dad hasn't got the desserts out yet, but there are pretzels."

"Hard or soft pretzels?" Noelle asked. "I love the soft ones that just came out of the oven."

"Both," Luciana replied cheerfully. "You know my dad doesn't skimp on anything. Let's go find some before dinner. It'll be fun."

Noelle paused for a moment and considered her options. Her absent mother wasn't a priority to anyone else, and the one mother she did have in her life was completely distracted with her attention seeking behavior. No one wanted to listen to Noelle, so she might as well join her friend for a birthday pretzel.

"Hey, how are things going? Busy? I'm pretty busy. I don't get back to Arkhelios as often as i should," Nicholas said.

His old friend and stepbrother, Nathan, had been erratic their entire lives and didn't often call Nicholas to hang out, so this was probably the only time they'd see each other for a while. From what Nicholas understood, Nathan spent his life jumping from job to job, country to country. He spent days with royalty in Crystal Cove and then weeks hanging out with a vampire coven in Strangetown. Anything to avoid the typical life his mother wanted for him. Anything to avoid paying child support to Kaeileen, not that he held a steady enough job for her to collect from. He had Gareth and his boys for the length of the party, after which, Naethan would be returned to his mother and Gareth and Garth would return with him home, until Nathan had another impulse to disappear again. It wasn't exactly parent or partner of the year behaviour, but no one fought Nathan on it. He always came back, didn't he?

"Yeah, things are busy," Nathan replied dismissively. "I travel a lot, do a little work here and there. I can't complain. You're still where? Strangetown, right? You fled one desert for another. At least they have good clubs there."

Nicholas shrugged.

"I guess so. I wouldn't know, we're expecting our first child soon. All I've been doing is fixing the nursery and reading book after book. It's the greatest thing to ever happen to us. We're so excited."

"Eh, I guess," Nathan replied, rolling his eyes. "They're expensive and whiny too. Don't have too many."

"I can see why Gareth keeps you around," Nicholas remarked. "You're such a romantic."

"Oh, Gareth! Good to see you."

Abe waved to his ex and Nathan's fiancé as he walked down the hall.

"Hey Abe! How's the birthday girls? Excited for their party?"

Abe paused to consider his answer. Noelle had been sulking all day while glaring daggers at her mother and Rien was busy crying on the stairs because Roman took her tarot cards. Luciana at least was running around, shoving food in her mouth and laughing. At least one of the kids seemed to be enjoying the party.

"You know those three, always off doing something," he settled on. "God only knows what Theo's up to too. He's spent the whole morning texting and now I can't find him. He's supposed to be in the kitchen helping, but I can guess what he's actually doing. Just wait until your boys are teenagers; everything you ask of them will suddenly be the end of the world."

Gareth smiled politely.

"I can imagine. Is...uh, is Roman here too? He'd not like, running errands or anything?"

Abe cringed, remembering the first time Nathan had brought Gareth to the family house and how Roman had lost his mind threatening him for having slept with Abe a few times in college. Roman had been better with prolonged exposure to the man and the fact that Gareth was now engaged to Nathan. There was still hostility when Roman went anywhere near Gareth, but Gareth believed that there would be large consequences if Roman threatened him again. He'd lost Elaine's automatic support from his affair with Ulyssa, and Lucy tried not to indulge in petty pranks when her high profile wife was nearby. With all that protecting him, Gareth had downgraded the threat Roman posed enough to just be nervous of the man.

"Roman's in the kitchen, or he will be once he hunts down our son," Abe assured him. I doubt that you'll see him until dinner."

"Gareth? Gareth! Did you send Kaeileen money yesterday? My account is mysteriously missing the amount she wanted. I told you, Mom's going to draft something to get her off our backs."

"Sorry, I should talk with him," Gareth apologized. "He doesn't understand that child support is not optional, and that his mother can't just make his responsibilities go away."

"Yeah, of course," Abe said, watching Gareth storm off to yell at his partner.

He had no idea how Gareth tolerated Nathan. He was Abe's little brother and Abe couldn't stand to be in a room with him for more than ten minutes.

Naethan and Garth were well behaved, unlike their father. They were only half siblings, but they seemed to be inseparable and weren't too impacted by their shared father's inability to be a functioning adult. Abe didn't see them often, as he didn't willingly spend any time near his brother, but it looked like Gareth and Kaeileen's parenting was making up for Nathan's.

Elaine scoured the living room for her missing grandson. Roman was getting pissed off in the kitchen with Ironman, which made Elaine pissed off that her first grandson, with at least some of her DNA in him, was being a lazy slacker. For all the money she helped his parents pay to his fancy school, Theo certainly hadn't been taught manners or responsibility.

"Theodosius Bellamy, you come here this instant. You have been summoned to help with dinner, and if you don't get in there in the next three minutes, there will be consequences. Ironman knows how to block cell reception and take down the wifi network. It'd be a shame if you couldn't call anyone, wouldn't it?"

"God, I have to go, Adam, my bitch grandma is yelling at me for some reason. Yeah, I know. I miss you too. I'll try calling you later."

On his way to the kitchen, Theo's eyes spotted his grandmother's new karaoke machine in the living room. He loved to sing and play guitar, and it was there for the party guests to use, right? One little song wo wuldn't be the end of the world before he was trapped, cutting onions and peppers with his father.

He scanned a few songs in the catalog, while Noelle was already prematurely booing his future performance.

"Boooo! No one wants to hear you sing, leave the machine for the people with talent!" Noelle called out. Teasing Theo was almost too easy, but it helped ease the hurt she felt when she thought of her mothers.

Theo glared back at her, completely unshaken. It would take a lot more than heckling to rattle him. He could be just as petty as her.

"Her name is Noelle, I have a dream about her," Theo sang, making sure that his voice was extra obnoxious for his cousin. "Something something, I've got gym class in half an hour."

"Shut up already!" Noelle shouted, stamping her feet. "It's my birthday, and I'm sick of that stupid song everyone thinks is funny. There are other songs with Noelle in them! You're stupid! This whole party is stupid! Don't make me break your stuff. I'm still a kid, no one will blame me."

"THEODOSIUS ULYSSES BELLAMY. Get in the kitchen now, or I swear to god-"

"Coming," Theo groaned, putting the microphone away angrily. "This whole party sucks. I wish I were with Adam. His parents would never make me help with dinner."

[bellamyblake]

rant for 1x09 cause I gotta but under cut since I’m sure I’ll get hate

I really don’t get the O.ctavia and F/inn point here especially at the end of the episode. Yes, Jasper shot first but he didn’t make up the grounders in the trees-they were there and let’s not mention the fact that A/nya arrived with TWO armed soldiers at her side and all L/incoln said was “I was told there’d be no weapons” but surprise surprise there were! 

And Clarke was right to bring Bellamy along and keep an eye on them since she was sure the grounders wouldn’t keep up with any promises L/incoln or F/inn tried to make and she was right. A/nya’s whole angry speech is another aspect I don’t get-yes, the 100 are invaders in a way but come on, you and L.incoln specifically, observed them for ages (if he knew he wanted Clarke to come along as the leader, let’s be real and let’s kinda ignore the fact that the whole relationship with O is a bit...well...I can dissect that but I won’t right now); 

The point is they saw those were just children who knew nothing about the ground, had no weapons and fought against each other from day one. Those weren’t soldiers who went out there to seek land and kill the grounders-those were kids. A/nya’s other point-the falres? Sure, that probably caused fires but it was unintentional. Meanwhile what happened to them-they crossed Jasper on a tree and impaled him, killed and hunted a bunch of the others without any mercy and without stopping to think about asking what they’re doing here and what they do know about the ground (which is nothing); Her other point-capturing L.incoln and torturing him, yes, that’ IS bad, no one is denying that but that happened only after they hurt Jasper on day 1 of them coming down and killing 10 more delinquents and him stabbing F/inn. Let’s be real here, L/incoln isn’t some sort of helper to the 100 at first at all, he just observed them for a while and fell in love (weirdly) in O/ctavia which is why he blew the horn and saved her when he found her fallen. Does he want to change that later? Sure, he doesn’t think what they’re doing is right and he gets in conflict with his people but at first he was sent to scout, observe and possibly kill. 

So none of A/nya’s points on that brdige make sense. They knew those kids weren’t invaders-they observed them and saw them for what they were-children, with no way of fighting (like the grounder children did if we are to think like them and know about the conclave) or any way to support themselves. They are just barely surviving. Yet you went there and killed them. THOSE are acts of war. Yes, what Clarke, Bellamy and the others did wasn’t good either-capturing L/incoln and torturing him but they would’ve done and they did the same to them if we look at Murphy and what happened to him. 

The fight at the end of the episode between F/inn and O/ctavia on one side and Clarke, Bellamy, Jasper and Raven on the other is just...plain stupid for me. Yes, F/inn can want peace but he’s delusional if he thinks he’ll get it that way and O/ctavia if we’re going to be real is the one who acts out most as a teenager out of them all. I like this grounder and I’m gonna be with him for the sole reason that it will piss my brother off and that he is something different and adventerous that I want. She acts like none of the 100 ever got killed or hurt by them. Suddenly it’s all rainbows and unicorns and everyone else is wrong.

I’m not saying war and guns is the way but in this particular case Clarke and Bellamy were right and acted smart and in accordance to everything they knew about earth so far. The narrative blames them though just like it does later on many occassions. 

[fixedmoments]

my name is [ BELLAMY CAMPBELL ] … and i am from [ HELLTOWN, OHIO ] and i’m a [ ASSOCIATE AT CRIMINAL RECORDS ]. i lived in helltown for [ ALL HER LIFE ] because [ SHE WAS BORN HERE ]. i am [ 27 ] my pronouns are [ SHE/HER ] and i am [ CREATIVE, RESILIENT, DAUNTLESS ] though some may say i’m [ GUARDED, IMPATIENT , IMPULSIVE ]. i also hear i look a lot like [ MADELYN CLINE ] but, i don’t know if i see it. i’m here because [ I ALREADY TRIED TO LEAVE ONCE AND IT DIDN’T WORK OUT ] but, maybe there’s more to it than that. you never know with helltown.

ABOUT BELLAMY: She's impatient and I'mcomplacent with just a little taste of wasting time.

CHARACTER BASICS

FULL NAME: Bellamy Noelle Campbell

NICKNAME(S): Bell, Bells, Ella

AGE: Twenty-Seven

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

FACE CLAIM: Madelyn Cline

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5′6″

DATE OF BIRTH: November 18th

ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Slytherin

OCCUPATION: Drummer // Sales Associate at Criminal Records

HOMETOWN: Helltown, OH

CHARACTER HISTORY [TW: Mentions of a Toxic Relationship, Illness, Cancer, Gaslighting, Abuse, Death]

Born in Helltown, Ohio Bellamy was always surrounded by music. Her father David often kept a guitar close by, finding his voice early on in Bellamy’s life to provide her with the musical childhood that would mold her future. It was something to pass the time after a long day, the stress from the tireless work of building and managing clients in need of a proper defense. From the time her hands were large enough to play each chord she fell in love, her mind racing until she was able to focus on the symbols displayed on the sheets in front of her. She couldn’t help but allow it to take a front seat to her studies, music became the constant in her life while her father traveled in attempts to keep the cash flow consistent and pay off her grandmother’s medical bills. Her grandmother was lost at an early age due to an aggressive form of spinal cancer, one where Bellamy was too young to remember, most of her days were occupied by her drum set and the neighbors next door. Her parents were constantly working to give her and her sister the lives they wanted. She met a boy named Axel when she was 17 and he wanted her in his band, this is when Bellamy realized she enjoyed sitting behind a drum kit and controlling the rhythm more than anything. His band took off during College, providing Bell with the desire to leave their hometown and tour around the country. Things started off great, seeming like it was plucked out of a Netflix romcom with their happy ending in reach. Axel changed, the fame and groupies caused him to nitpick every performance and blame every mistake on Bellamy rather than except responsibility. He would gaslight Bellamy into thinking she was the problem, yelling at her to release his frustrations instead of dealing with them another way. One day things escalated, Bellamy caught him backstage with a girl who’d been following a few shows of their latest tour . Axel backed her into a corner, punching the wall beside her head. He wanted her to believe her actions caused this and Bellamy was stuck choosing between her passion and her mental health. She didn’t have to think about it for long, mid tour Axel decided to leave Bell behind in the dust by ultimately deciding to replace her and remove the female representation from his band completely. He said a manager wanted a different look for the band but it didn’t take long for the blonde to put all the pieces together — his girlfriend needed to disappear so groupies would fall at his feet. He needed to remove all possible competition from the stage so he’d look obtainable. It disgusted Bellamy beyond belief and caused the abrupt end to their relationship, but she couldn’t help but blame herself for went wrong on the flight back home. The girl found herself met with tragedy, a week after settling back into her childhood home her mother, Evelyn Campbell, disappeared without a trace. The bowling alley she’d spent most of her life working at was the last place she’d been seen and the police didn’t have any answers. It was like she vanished. She needed to get her mind off of things and decided to take on a new career opportunity selling records. Since tour she was hesitant to play music again, but her desires wouldn’t let her put it down altogether; she found the perfect way to maintain some creativity with choosing the music that played throughout the store. She’s been back in Helltown full time ever since, determined to overcome her inner anxieties and find answers for her mother.

[askthechronoverse]

Last Chapter •||• Next Chapter

The next thing that Kit knew for sure was that she was in the TARDIS. She knew she walked to the ship with the others, but the trip there was a blur. All she could think of was the words of the stranger. Maybe she had to talk to her parents now. It was clear that she had a history with this person, but there were too many unknowns. Bellamy sat by her side as she thought.

“Kit, you OK there? You've been crying for a half hour.” Bellamy adjusted Kit’s askew headband.

“I… I saw him again. Before he took the foundation element. He called me selfish, told me my dad was a child and he didn't know which of my parents was worse.” 

“I don't care what anyone has to say about something that happened over 20 years ago: Mr. B is a hero. He helped take down some really bad people. That counts for a lot in my book. And Regent B has been keepin’ the kingdom in good standing with the universe since forever!” Bellamy gave Kit a rough pat on her back. Before she could respond, there was a knock at the TARDIS door. “Go get that, Kit.” The girl sat up and opened the door. Tim flashed a smile, something behind his back.

“Your friends said that they're going to help us find the guy who stole the plate. I didn't want to miss you before you left. Take this.” He handed her a plush of the Despot Pokemon. “No one's mad at you. You have plenty of time to find him and bring back what he stole. I know you can do it. Good luck, Kit. And tell your dad I said hi. I'll tell my dad the same thing when I see him.” He turned and left, Kit closing the door behind him. The Doctor stood at the controls of the TARDIS, attempting to get the ship into neutral space. Kit walked up to her and waited for her to finish. When she saw the girl, the Doctor jumped.

“Hello!” The Doctor exclaimed, her hands on her chest. “You've got my hearts racing! Are you ready for the next lesson? I know we had a bit of a setback, but I have seen more dire situations. We can get the foundation elements back.”

“Do you think I'm doing the right thing?” Kit asked while she played with her headband.

“I think the fact you're asking yourself that question means that you're not as bad as you think you are.” The Doctor said after a moment of thought. “I suppose that could be our lesson: don't hesitate to do what you think is right, but it's all right to assess your situation. If you feel like what you're doing isn't for good reasons, it's all right to back away.”

“What does that have to do with time travel?”

“It's something I wish your father had done. If he had just a moment to think about what he was doing, maybe he would have stopped. Although, I do also believe that what he had done might be considered a fixed point in time.”

“That's the things that happen that have to happen, right?”

“Correct. As a time traveler, we can put a lot of stress onto the timeline. It can handle most changes, but there are major exceptions, as I have mentioned. I believe your father having to go through what he went through and doing what he did is one of those fixed points. From what I know of your world, that event was a pivotal part of your universal history. It needed to happen.”

“I guess you aren't wrong about that. Without the Battle for Syspocalypstar, the universe wouldn't be nearly as peaceful as it is. Does my dad know about this type of thing?”

“I don't believe he does. It's something that most time travelers get wrong about the nature of time. They either feel that it's too flexible or too immovable. That one small change could cause a ripple effect that will end the world. What else has your father taught you about traveling through time?”

“He and Doc came up with rules. They won't do anything if it's going to change something big or if it will mess with their timeline.” Kit spoke after taking some time to think about the question. “But I know I said that before. I don't really remember much else, but I know he does what he can to keep time in balance.”

“Maybe he understands the true nature of time travel deep down. Or his doctor is incredibly clever. I'm not sure which.” The Doctor chuckled. “Now, it's a bit difficult sometimes to tell what is a fixed point and what isn't. I can provide you and your father with a tool that I had when I was in school a very very long time ago that helped me figure that out.”

“I'm sure Doc will get a kick out of it.” Kit tilted her head. “What school did you go to to learn about time travel?”

“In my world, on my home planet, I would be what's known as a Time Lord. As a Time Lord, I would go to school for this type of thing.” The Doctor spoke in a far softer tone now. Her voice quickly sprung up into something far more chipper after what felt like a brief moment. “Right! So that will be the lesson, though it feels like a repeat. We just need to wait for X-PO to send us the coordinates to the next foundation element!”

“Do you have a way I can talk to my dad?” Kit asked suddenly.

“I can let you use my phone.” She handed her an antique bronze rotary phone. “I'll even dial it for you. I believe I know the number we'll need to call.” The Doctor's fingers were a blur as she dialed the number. It was ringing as she handed the receiver to Kit. “They'll ask you for a number. That number is PS3252022.”

“Prison Colony Alpha. This is Private Brickson.” The voice on the other line was harsh and impatient. Kit’s voice sounded so small in comparison.

“I'm looking to talk to someone you're holding?”

“Is that a question? Do you know the prisoner's tag number?” The private sounded like he was probably rolling his eyes.

“It's…PS3252022?” Kit didn't know why, but her voice was starting to shake.

“Could you quit asking the answers to my questions? What is your full name? This prisoner has an authorization list and I need to make sure you are on it. Give me the answer in the form of a statement.” His harsh tone was making Kit feel so worse, so much smaller.

“I am… I am Catherine Doris Brickowski.” The pause while he searched for her name was tangible and uncomfortable.

“You're an authorized correspondent. You'll be connected momentarily.” Kit took a deep breath as the phone started making long beeps that cut into her psyche. After what felt like an eternity, she heard a click and her heart leapt.

“Kitten? Are you doin' OK? Are you hurt? I'll do anything I can if you-!” RJ's voice was frantic, but he also sounded tired and worn down. It felt like one push would be enough to break it completely, and he was worried this was the break.

“I'm fine, Dad. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure you were okay.” This was mostly true. This entire journey was the farthest and longest she had gone without seeing her father. Hearing his voice was helping ground her, but only just a little.

“Kid, don't go to prison. The past couple of hours have been nothing more than a revolving door of lawyers and guards asking me questions and making me relive things I didn't want to relive.” Being left with only the tired and barely held together voice didn't make things much better in the grand scheme of things, which left Kit floored: it only been a few hours since she left. She would have to ask the Doctor about that when this call was over. “Can't believe you miss me already. I would have thought you would have wanted some time away from me after…”

“I can't… I'm not mad at you anymore. But I need to know something.” Kit’s voice was soft.

“You can ask me anything. I don't have anything to hide anymore.”

“You would never use me to hurt people or do anything bad… right?” Kit spoke slowly and almost fearfully. It felt like it took forever for her father to reply.

“No. I know it's hard to believe, but all I ever want for you is for you to find your own path. For you to be better than me. I never want you to have to go through even a small fraction of what I've had to go through. It's the only reason I've kept you in the dark for so long.” RJ's voice squeaked like a rusty hinge. “I love you way too much. I don't know who on that planet is filling your head with that garbage, but I promise you it's wrong.”

“It's not someone on Syspocalypstar who told me that. I think it's the person who hurt your raptors and stole your flux capacitor.” Kit swallowed. 

“Whoever that is, they're wrong. They clearly found a way to hurt you without touching you and I do not like that. I'm going to look into who the hell that person is. Don't listen to them. Much as your father and I have our secrets, we've done nothing but protect you. What other lies have they told you?” There was something behind his tone, a conflicting layer of tiredness and a dormant anger that made Kit just a little afraid.

“He said that we were soldiers in a war. That we were alike.” Kit decided to keep most of the insults and distaste toward her parents to herself. “He said we're fighting in a war that has been going on a long time.”

“I don't know what he's talking about, Kitten. Most of my enemies either tolerate my existence… or seem to have the power to make my life a pain in the present, no pawns required.” His voice was a lot calmer now. “Like I said: I'll look into that for you. If any of what's being said is true and somebody is trying to use this person to settle a grudge against me, tell him to go after me directly. You aren't responsible for what I've done.”

“I'm going to lose you for what you've done!” Kit shouted this loud enough to be heard by the rest of the group. “I've been so scared of never seeing you again! I don't think Unitron is going to take what you've done lightly!” The tears returned to her face. The quiet could be felt, thick and sickening.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said. Those two words for the least assuring things Kit could have heard, but she knew there was nothing he could say that could fix the situation he'd put himself in long before she was created.

“I don't want to lose you. I don't. This isn't fair!”

“Kit, you're not going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere that you can't go.” He didn't sound sure about the words he was saying. “Queen Wa'nabi is involved with the case. That's something my lawyer knew the nanosecond she took the case. She's not going to let anyone send me to the Man Upstairs just yet.” 

“You also won't be able to be there for me anymore. I will only be able to see you once a month or something and I…” After a minute or two of sobbing, RJ spoke up.

“Let's cross that bridge when we get to it. Nothing has happened yet. I'm still here for you. You can call me if you need me, Kit Kat, and please do. I want to hear your voice, too.” Kit could hear the weak smile that was probably on his face right now. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy.” She barely finished the sentence before an electronic voice stated that time was up and to have a good day. The girl was left holding the receiver, the sound of a busy signal cutting through her silent tears. She handed the receiver back to the Doctor and put her head in her hands.

“I'm so sorry.” The Doctor moved aside to let Bellamy, Vito, and Charmy give Kit the attention she needed. 

“Hey… Hey, now. Let it out. You let out some big emotions right now.” Charmy rubbed Kit’s back.

Ken rushed over, wearing a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses. “I know you're not Barbie, but you're just as awesome. Here, I think this will help.” He held out a silver chain with a pendant of a horseshoe with a horse head at the center. “This is my statement piece. Horses are awesome, just like you.” He put the necklace around her neck and she instinctively wrapped a hand around the pendant. She put the Tyrantrum away in her bag.

“Yeah. This isn't easy for any of us, but it makes sense that it hit you the hardest.” Vito added. 

Charmy turned the man in shades, watching her brother's eyebrow lift at the strange gift Ken gave her. “Ken, how well can you bake? Think you can make some cookies?”

“I'm not a Baker Ken, but I'll try it!” Ken ran off to find the kitchen. 

“You'll see him again.” Bellamy’s voice sounded calm and reassuring. “We just gotta finish this.” 

“Speaking of finishing things,” X-PO's voice chimed in from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. “I found the last foundation element. I'm sending the coordinates now. You better hurry. If the bad guy gets this last foundation element, there's no telling what he's going to do.”

[sunburnacoustic]

Muse’s Matt Bellamy: ‘I felt that we could do no wrong. Obviously, we could’

By Mikael Wood in the L.A. Times (pasted because paywalls)

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Matt Bellamy wrote Muse’s new album in a Santa Monica recording studio painstakingly decorated to resemble the so-called red room from “Twin Peaks.”

Crimson curtains, leather armchairs, black-and-white zigzag flooring: The 44-year-old frontman of one of England’s biggest rock bands reproduced every detail of the otherworldly chamber from the cult-fave TV show he remembers devouring during Muse’s first tour on a bus back in the early 2000s.

“It just sets a certain tone, you know?” he says, looking around the space with obvious pride on a recent afternoon.

Yet as Bellamy sat composing amid a thicket of electric guitars and vintage synths — including an old Roland model he says was the same used for the “Stranger Things” theme — what really inspired him was the tumult unfolding outside the studio, which he observed through an enormous one-way mirror in the building’s front wall.

This was mid-to-late 2020: Bellamy, who’s written for years about the menacing encroachments of technology and government, watched (without those on the street being able to see inside) as shops went out of business during the pandemic, as Black Lives Matter protesters marched through the city, as riot-gear-clad police and National Guard moved in to shut down demonstrations, as a man took up residence in a car parked right in front of the studio. Helicopters seemed to be circling constantly; a drone hovered over Bellamy one day as he loaded gear in through a back door.

“It was like being inside a scene from ‘RoboCop,’” he says now. “All the anxieties and the dystopian strangeness that had always been kind of speculative in our music — suddenly it felt like it was all coming true. It was actually happening.”

The result of his observations is Muse’s ninth studio album, “Will of the People,” on which Bellamy rhymes “a life in crisis” with “a deadly virus” and “tsunamis of hate are gonna drown us.” (Sample song titles include “Kill or Be Killed” and “We Are Fucking Fucked.”) But if the LP confronts a brave new world, it also knowingly looks back: Musically, the band—rounded out by bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard—dials down the fluorescent electro-pop vibe of 2018’s “Simulation Theory” in favor of the harder, more guitar-oriented sound that made Muse a prog-metal sensation more than two decades ago.

Muse performing in Philadelphia in 2013. (Owen Sweeney / Invision via AP)

What are those so-called worst parts of Muse? Probably a tendency to veer off and experiment in areas that we’re not very experienced in. Most of [2012’s] “The 2nd Law,” for instance — classical dubstep, weird clarinet solos, whatever else is on that album. I think we felt we’d achieved so much with [the 2009 hit] “Uprising” that we could do no wrong. Obviously, we could.

You produced “Will of the People” yourself after collaborating with the producer Shellback on “Simulation Theory” and with Mutt Lange on 2015’s “Drones.” With people like that who are so successful, I think sometimes we’ve gone in the studio and been a little bit like, “OK, we’ll do just whatever you say.” In hindsight, I wish I’d been more involved and put more of our stamp on it. So we’ve kind of gone back to our safe space on this album. If we’re in complete control, it may not be the most cutting-edge or the most modern-sounding thing, but it’s the only way to guarantee that we’re gonna love it.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

June 2020 was a heck of a time to bring a baby into the world. I came to America in 2010 as a single person looking to experience L.A. for a bit — and, boy, have I had an experience. Ended up with a Hollywood actress [Kate Hudson], had a baby together and the whole cliché scenario of the ups and downs of celebrity life. Then married a Texan [model Elle Evans] and had another baby. Been evacuated from my house during wildfires. Then the pandemic and the full January 6 Trump meltdown. It’s just been an unbelievable period to be here.

“Will of the People” suggests it hasn’t left you terribly optimistic about the future. It depends what your definition of optimism is. To me there’s a fighting spirit in the music, which is a form of optimism. It’s like the moment in “Rocky” when Adrian tells Rocky to win.

Do you think it’s clear to listeners who you’re fighting? In the new song “Compliance,” you’re singing sarcastically about people falling into line and doing as they’re told. It could be interpreted as an anti-woke anthem. I never thought about it that way. I thought about it in terms of the rising authoritarianism that we’re now seeing is a real thing— Trump in this country, but also Putin and the China situation. These ideologies, I feel like we kind of tested the waters in the 20th century and realized that fascism and communism are both just absolute disasters and that we don’t need to go near that stuff ever again. And yet it’s emerging.

What’s your reaction to that? I have an anti-authoritarian nature. My parents say that when I was a young child I was never very good at being told what to do. I don’t like the idea of vast centralized power that’s very far away from where I live. I come from Devon in England, which is a couple hundred miles from London. But when I went to see where my wife’s from in Paris, Texas, it’s like, Holy s—! It’s thousands of miles from the places of power in America. So the resistance to someone deciding how I should live who has no idea what my day-to-day life is — I can understand it, even though there’s a risk of it being hijacked by more extremist factions that have gone down roads I don’t agree with.

Have you considered becoming a U.S. citizen? I have. Overall, I actually think the United States’ structure is really amazing, with all the different ways to make laws at the local level. It seems like every month my wife is voting on some sort of proposition. I’m looking at that going, Wow, England is so behind on that front. We don’t ever get to vote on policy.

The oddest thing about that late-2020 period where things in America and California seemed so chaotic and crazy was that I felt my connection deepening. There’s something going on here that is critical to what’s happening in the entire world. America has become a kind of center point for this idea that there’s an empire on the verge of collapse, and how do we save it? Or how do we know which parts to save and which parts to let fall away?

For some people — Dom, to some extent — it made them want to get out. But for me it had the opposite effect. It’s everything I’m interested in, and it’s massively creatively inspiring.

Has becoming wealthy shaped your political views? I don’t think so. I remember all my feelings of what it was to be from a poor rural background with no opportunities and all the disadvantages. And I still have some views that would be considered pretty socialist by some. Universal health care is an obvious one; I can’t even believe there’s not universal healthcare here. I’ve also come to the view that maybe land shouldn’t be privately owned.

Can you relate to music that’s unambiguously joyful? Coldplay, let’s say. Absolutely. Chris [Martin] is a friend of mine. I love what they do. I wish I could write more songs that enter the love sphere. But I think it might be against the nature of the sounds our band makes. When the three of us are jamming, it’s like Rage Against the Machine riffs are coming out all the time. I can’t imagine hearing those riffs with Chris Martin singing about peace and love on top.

What’s the happiest Muse song? “Starlight” is pretty positive. I think “Verona” on the new album is pretty nice — little bit of “Romeo and Juliet” in there.

Do you think rock music is in good hands with the generation behind yours? My 11-year-old son likes Slipknot and Metallica. My stepson Ryder from a previous situation [with Hudson], he’s 18 and he’s really into rock. He turned me on to Willow Smith.

Can you envision touring in your 60s and 70s like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones? Yeah, but Metallica is the one that’s really made me think we could do it. The Stones and McCartney, they have universally uplifting music. But Metallica — I’m not sure how old they are, but they’re up there — that’s really heavy music and they’re still out there. The great thing about rock is that, even though the genre is largely irrelevant in the mainstream, you can actually grow old with it. You can make a real life career.

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 5: Murven, Divorce Song

Wanted to write but wasn't sure what I should write so here is a little angsty Murven ficlet. I listened to Exile in Guyville today for the first time in a while; this is inspired by Divorce Song but also doesn't really have the mood of Divorce Song so there you go.

Murphy/Raven, Modern AU, ~870 words

Written in about 27 minutes

*

What did he think? That somewhere along the way, their road trip up the coast, they'd fall in love? It's an awfully romantic notion, coming from him.

They get a late start, then lose their way, a wrong exit on the wrong highway and the steel-blue sky framed by the windshield, the fluttering of palm fronds at the edges of the roadway, the gathering clouds in shifting shades of gray. Murphy came to pick her up mid-morning. He'd stood in the doorway of her bedroom, watching her finish up her last-minute packing—stuff she'd put off because she was working last night, and cared for the work more. The best thing he could do was not lift a finger to help. He'd just get in the way. Still, it infuriated her to feel his eyes on her, watching and waiting.

"Almost ready, Reyes?" he'd drawled at her, and she'd thrown her duffel bag at his chest, and for a moment afterward they'd been caught together almost in the hall, continuously blocking each other's way with each step to the side. An exhausting moment.

She'd asked if he was fucking with her.

Isn't he always?

The plan was to leave early and get to Bellamy and Clarke's by the end of the day, but even before the wrong turn, she's sure it won't shake out that way. She's too tired to get behind the wheel, and Murphy only pretends to be a daredevil, obeys posted speed limits and tells her to get her feet off his dash. Maybe they'll get to Portland and the aura of romance will take them over. A wedding and all. Maybe as she grumbles, rearranges herself in the passenger seat, traces the edges of stacks of heavy clouds from over the ocean, she imagines as much, like some sort of sick indulgence. If she were really smart, like she tells herself she is, she'd never touch him.

Her phone runs out of batteries. His has no service. She forgot the map in the glove compartment of her car. The sky opens up wide, threatens to swallow them.

They have to stop for the night at a shady little place blinking neon VACANC-C-C-C-CY in the early dark and pouring rain: a motel with a big rectangular sign, barely legible in fading fluorescent. They hold their coats over their heads and splash the light into shards in the puddles on their way to the office. The rain is coming down so hard it's all Raven can hear in her own head: the thud of it on car roofs, the splatter of it on the asphalt. Inside, the motel is muddied with cheap yellow light. She stomps her feet on the welcome mate and beats at her jacket while Murphy shakes himself off like a dog.

She asks for two rooms without thinking. If it weren't for the map behind the greasy haired kid behind the counter, she wouldn't know what town they were in. Even now, the name doesn't ring a bell.

Murphy's standing close to her, glowering, cold. For a moment, his hand brushes against her back—low—like he forgot for a moment what role he was playing. What line he was using.

"You know, it would be cheaper—" he starts, as the kid fiddles around with the keys.

She keeps her gaze straight. The faded lines of the map, the off-yellow wall. "They don't have any twin beds left," she murmurs back. Sounds cold like unseasonable prickling rain even to her own ears. She takes her key in her hand and holds it tight so that the edges bite into her palm.

Their rooms are right next door to each other and for a while they stand under the awning, a bare bulb just above them encircling them in a stark halo of white. Her bag is in the stupid car. All she wants is a shower, the melding of running water and running water. A moment to feel clean. She starts to say I didn't mean anything by it, but it comes out, "What did you expect?"

He flinches, but it comes out as a scoff. Pale and shining wet, his hair flat against his face, and the rain so loud on the tin awning that it might drown him out, he answers, "Nothing," like a curse, a lie, and "Don't make me out to be the asshole here. I haven't done a goddamn thing."

They've been rejecting each other now for years. He'd say she's frightened. He'd say maybe there's something inevitable about them, something more than just the heat of human warmth when they stand close beneath the awning, shivering, not yet touching, except that her hand is grasping hard around the edge of his coat. Zipper teeth in one palm, silver key in the other.

She could just go in his room with him, let the other sit empty, but it wouldn't be for lust or anything as grand as love, but only to prove to him what a terrible idea they would be. Something raw and mean. Something she wants too much.

"You haven't," she answers, and lets go of his jacket, and lets herself into her room.