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beepboop358 · 3 years

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Victor Creel Theories

(also includes ST movie DNA series: Star Wars)

Victor Creel is described as "a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s." We know he will be institutionalized at Penthurst mental hospital, where Peter Ballard works, based on leaked on set pics.

There a few possibilities regarding his character:

He could be a former test subject with some kind of powers and a connection to the upside down (which would also follow the even/odd season pattern of a main character being directly involved with the upside down creatures) I think it's highly likely that Victor Creel will be involved with the mystery/danger in Hawkins in some way, and have a connection to the upside down. He could also be disturbed on top of this, and he could be involved in Eleven's storyline this season.

That he is not a test subject and is ONLY mentally disturbed.

He may be related to one of the already established characters. Most likely Joyce, and maybe Terry but it's a stretch.

Before I go any further into that last possibility, I just want to preface that this idea of an "evil father/grandfather with powers" could be a purposeful Star Wars parallel. The Duffer brothers have already paralleled and used Star Wars references a few times in the show:

In Star Wars, Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father, and Palpatine is Rey's grandfather (aka the literal worst guy in the universe). A common theme in ST is abusive/bad fathers - that post here. Interesting...

Palpatine is also Anakin Skywalker's father, so Luke and Leia are both the grandkids of Palpatine as well as Rey is, but it's unclear if they are just force midichlorian related or actually dna related as well but I won't get into that here!

Luke and Rey are both force sensitive (have powers), so are Darth Vader and Palpatine; their descendants (kid/grandkid) have powers, and so do they (father/grandfather) The descendants use their powers for good, while the ancestors use their power for evil. Who has powers in ST? Eleven and Will - and they both already have this idea of abusive/bad/evil fathers: Will has an abusive father Lonnie, and Eleven has an abusive father figure Dr. Brenner "Papa".

So... Victor Creel being the evil/bad grandfather to either Eleven or Will and the evil/bad father to Joyce or Terry, would make a FULL Star Wars parallel to people who are morally good and have powers (Will and El - Luke and Rey), discovering they are the descendant of an evil male figure who also has powers (Victor Creel - Darth Vader and Palpatine)

If Victor Creel turns out to be the father of anyone in the show my bets are it's either Joyce Byers or maybeee Terry Ives.

If he was a test subject, its likely he went "crazy" with some of his powers and the government couldn't cover it up so they declare him mentally insane to get him committed, and he probably goes insane being locked away as well. Personally, I think he may be 001 or an early test subject, when they were still working out the kinks of the program, and I think he does have a big connection to the upside down.

The Duffer Brother's on s4: "In Hawkins a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything"....

Now let's get into the possibilities for Creel's storyline/who he could be related to (split into 3 parts).

Part 1: Creel could be Joyce's father

Based on Victor Creel's description as "disturbed" and that he is "in a psychiatric hospital", it could connect him to Joyce's bloodline.

There are several comments in the show hinting to this idea of mental instability in Joyce's family:

s1 ep.5: When Lonnie comes to visit in s1 after Will goes missing, Joyce says to Lonnie "No, don't look at me like that, like how everyone is looking at me, like I'm out of my damn mind" He responds saying "I think you need to consider the possibility that this is all in your head. Remember your Aunt Darlene?" Joyce quickly replies, "No, this is not that."

That conversation, although quick, is very telling. Lonnie is implying that Joyce had an aunt who was mentally unstable - and Joyce clearly knows about her aunt being unstable because she responds to his comment by saying what's she's experiencing is not that (the mental instability of her aunt)

s2 ep.2: Joyce says to Bob, "this is not a normal family", when he suggest moving out of Hawkins.

I used to think Joyce was always was referring to the whole 'my son got stuck in an alternate dimension with supernatural monsters and is now traumatized, and we were sworn to secrecy by the government' thing but maybe she is also referring to her biological family.

s1 ep.2: When they are searching for Will, one of the other police officers, says "Joyce is one step from the edge" and the other officer responds "She has been several steps for quite a while now".

If Joyce is related to Victor Creel biologically, and he did also happen to be a test subject, has powers, or has some other relation to the upside down, this could possibly have contributed to whatever kind of abilities Will has, because he would be a descendant of Creel. But Joyce does not seem to have any powers and neither does Jonathan. If they were related to Creel, it's odd that they both didn't get powers, but Will did. I've always thought Will was born with his powers, like El.

We know almost nothing about Joyce's past, it's never discussed in the slightest in the show, which I feel like is purposeful. We don't know Joyce's maiden name; she doesn't change it back after she and Lonnie divorce. Maybe the Duffers are saving Joyce's backstory for s4 (and possibly s5), like I think they are doing with Will and El's connection. Will, El, Hopper, and Joyce were pictured in a series of 4 tweets posted by the stranger writers, hinting to the main 4 storylines for season 4. My analyzation of this tweet here.

I think it's possible that Joyce's storyline this season could also have to do with her past- not just her searching for Hopper- but also more personal information about her. Perhaps we will see flashbacks of younger Joyce and maybe learn about her biological relatives.

Noah also said this would be the darkest season for Will, so this idea of being the grandkid of someone evil or disturbed could fit into that.

Part 2: Creel could be Terry's father/Eleven's grandfather

The only other person I could see potentially having a biological; relation to Victor Creel could be Terry Ives and Eleven, (because it would complete the Star Wars parallel mentioned earlier) but it's a stretch for several reasons, the main one being that Terry and Becky's father Bill Ives, died in a car crash (year unknown).

So for Victor Creel to be Terry's father that either has to be:

Her adoptive father OR

Her mother cheated and led Mr. Ives to believe Terry was his kid but her father is really Victor Creel, and Becky is actually Bill Ives son (which would explain why Becky has no powers)

Right of the bat it's interesting Terry's father's name is Bill. Bill is a nickname for William (Will Byers full name is William), and Billy's a nickname also for William... Hmmm....

Immediately after El is born, Terry is adamant that Brenner stole her child to use as a weapon to fight the commies BECAUSE SHE HAD SPECIAL ABILITIES - and she's completely right about everything. How does Terry know El had powers immediately after she was born? Because she knows she has developed some kind of special abilities from the experiments as well. When El goes to visit her mother in s2, THE LIGHTS FLICKER, just like they do when the upside down is near, but it's not Eleven controlling it. Her Aunt Becky says it's just the wiring, and Eleven responds: "IT'S MAMA. She wants to talk." And then we see Terry's NOSE BLEED, just like El's does when she uses her powers.

Quick side note about El's biological father is Andrew Rich: (It's revealed in the canon novel Suspicious Minds that Andrew Rich is El's father) He was a college student who got expelled from school due to protesting the Nixon address, making him eligible to be drafted in the Vietnam war, and he died in battle. Terry was involved in the Project MKUltra experiments at Hawkins National Laboratory in College, under the direction of Dr. Martin Brenner, but didn't know she was pregnant at the time. Andrew never even knew Terry was pregnant, meaning she was extremely early on in her pregancy at the time he was sent away, not even Terry was aware yet. It's also stated in this book that BRENNER HAD A HAND IN GETTING ANDREW EXPELLED SO HE COULD SEND ANDREW AWAY. The novel states that Brenner has Andrew drafted because he wants to SCARE Terry, to show her how much power he has over her life. There's definitely some history between Terry and Brenner that we don't know about yet.

If Victor Creel is in fact Joyce's father it's interesting that the powers seem to have skipped a generation with Joyce, and also one kid with the Byers, but if Victor Creel is Terry's father, no generations were skipped in passing down powers. ANYWAYS, this is all just theories and speculation since we have no actual concrete reasons to believe he will be related to Joyce or Terry.

Part 3: The possibility that Creel could be involved in Eleven's storyline this season does not rely on them being biologically related.

**One of the filming locations for this season is the Claremont House, which is RUMORED to be Creel's house and also "Vecna's lair" the new monster for s4 (unconfirmed) This is the house the Hawkins group goes into in the ST4 sneak peek, where they see the grandfather clock striking midnight. If that's true, there's a connection between Creel and the upside down and having powers, which could connect Creel to Eleven. The Duffers: "In Hawkins a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything". This thing "that connects everything", could be Creel's storyline (his possible connection to the lab/upside down/person in the show), because Creel's storyline also spans all the way back to the 1950's and before that, so there's our "long buried" part most likely.

Robert Englund recently revealed in *an interview* that his character Victor Creel gouges his eyes out, making him unable to see. Englund also mentions what it's like working with Millie Bobby Brown and talks about the first time her met her, he doesn't mention any other cast members in detail like he does Millie.

He's clearly working closely with Millie's character Eleven.

But why? I think Creel could be involved with Eleven getting her powers back, and her reliving her past. Once the government baddies realize El has no powers, they're gonna want them back. If Creel was in fact a test subject, maybe there is some kind of connection between them, Such as Eleven revisiting what happened to her in her past and how that could relate to her getting her powers back.

Another thought I had was that perhaps the gruesome murder he committed is somehow related to something that ends up impacting in Eleven's life.

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Whatever Victor Creel's storyline is, it will be an important one, and it will carry somewhat into s5, since he will be a returning character. He is not signed as a series regular, but as a recurring character, which means we don't really know to what capacity he will be in s5. It could be flashbacks mostly, or he could have just as big or small of a role.

Source: indie wire

That detail about eyes being gouged out reminds me of fear street 1666 when the townsmen who was sacrificed to the devil becomes possessed and gouges the kids eyes out. Leigh Janick, director of fear street, is married to Ross Duffer. They both direct and make horror/sci-fi themed series about kids in a small town set in the 80's, who fight supernatural evil with a heavy undertone of queer themes, that are even filmed in a lot of the same locations (the mall, the town streets, etc.) I'm not saying it's the same thing, it definitely won't be. But there's so many similarities between ST and Fear Street, I thought I would mention this as another.

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strangertheory · 3 years

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It's pretty much a given that Dr. Brenner will be returning. Do you think he's in the states still trying to track down El? I always suspected that he may have ran away to Russia so he could continue his experiments and research (maybe that's how the Russians knew about the Upside Down). I've been trying to avoid any BTS photos that could provide any major spoilers so there could be news I missed.

From the way that you contextualized your question, I believe you might prefer to avoid spoilers and any Stranger Things 4 leaks or rumors.

I am going to offer you two answers: one which is in the first part of this blogpost, and one which you can choose to read at your own risk which is below the “read more” divider and that takes into account my current thoughts on a few leaked photos and rumors.

I don’t believe that Dr. Brenner or the Lab was necessarily trying to track down El throughout seasons 2 and 3. Even though the Lab assured Nancy and Jonathan that the people who “made mistakes” in the past are gone (presumably they are referring to Dr. Brenner) the Lab and Dr. Owens seem to have a few different mysterious arrangements with Hopper. What these arrangements might entail have been implied but never openly stated. We do see Owens giving Hopper a birth certificate for Jane and telling him to “give it a year.” We see Hopper getting into cars and having shadowy interactions with people that we can only assume are affiliated with the Lab. But now that Hopper is gone and presumed dead (as of the end of season 3) is it possible that the mysterious arrangement that Hopper had with the Lab and/or with Dr. Owens would be nullified and that El would become the target of the Lab’s interest again? It’s quite possible. And perhaps Dr. Brenner, if he is alive and still doing experiments and research, might return and look to find El again.

I’d like to discuss a second hypothetical reason why I expect we could see Dr. Brenner in season 4, too:

In my opinion El’s conversation with Kali in season 2 foreshadows the return of Dr. Brenner, or perhaps it foreshadows the return of someone who might represent Dr. Brenner in some way.

"Now you're faced with the same choice, Jane: go back into hiding, and hope they don't find you. Or fight, and face him again."

"Face who?"

“The man who calls himself our father.”

Dr. Brenner was conspicuously missing from seasons 2 and 3, but we are led to believe that we haven’t seen the last of him yet. (Dead? Not dead? MIA?)

I theorize that Dr. Brenner will make a return appearance in season 4 because I have been waiting for the writers to reveal the secrets behind El and Will’s shared mysterious connection to each other that is implied to involve (among other things) the Lab and Dr. Brenner.

I believe that El now living with Joyce, Will, and Jonathan sets up the opportunity for this intersection of El’s and Will’s storylines to finally be explored and revealed to us.

I have considered a few very hypothetical ideas regarding what we might see in season 4 based on a few alleged Stranger Things 4 rumors and leaks. Keep in mind I treat all leaks as inconclusive information that is highly unreliable, and I try to avoid making many theories based on rumors and leaks. But! I cannot stop my brain from thinking about the information and ideas being passed around the fandom, and I do have a few ideas and hypotheticals that I’m happy to share with you.

Potential spoiler alert! For the rest of this blogpost I will be talking about a few rumors and alleged photo leaks that have been discussed by fans online over the last few months which influence my thoughts and ideas:

There were photographs leaked of alleged Stranger Things 4 filming in front of a movie theater that listed movies from 1982 such as The Dark Crystal. (1982? Yes! 1982.) This would mean that we might get flashbacks or scenes set before the events of 1983 when Will went missing and El escaped from the Lab.

If we will be seeing events that took place prior to season 1: it is very possible that we could see Dr. Brenner again in flashbacks that are relevant to either El or Will’s history with Dr. Brenner and the Lab.

Could we see Dr. Brenner in the present-day? Maybe, maybe not. El told Kali “Papa is dead.” But perhaps he either A) isn’t actually dead B) will still be a relevant character from El’s past within the story and we will get to see her or other characters interacting with Dr. Brenner in the past.

I believe that season 4 is going to focus heavily in addressing the mysterious connection between El and Will and I also suspect that Dr. Brenner is involved in that in some way.

To refer to the alleged leaked photograph of the movie theater again: the theater name suggests that it is located in “Lincoln Square.” There is a Lincoln Square in New York City and there is also a Lincoln Square in Chicago. We have characters who have connections to both Chicago and New York City in the series, and so it’s hard to determine the precise location of this movie theater. Regardless: we can say with greater confidence that, assuming these leaked photos were of filming for season 4, that this scene they were filming might take place in 1982 and show us events from characters’ pasts. I’ve considered the possibility that since Kali and El pursued a Lab employee (presumably living in or near Chicago in season 2) that it is possible that the Lab might have offices in that city as well as Hawkins. This is one reason I lean towards the possibility of seeing scenes set in Chicago at some point either in season 4 or season 5. (But who knows?)

In season 2 Will expresses his dislike for doctors and tells Joyce “No doctors. You promised!” and Hopper also asks Joyce, while she’s stressing over what to do about Will, whether she wants to “take him back to Chicago.” One can assume from the context of that conversation that Hopper is referring to medical treatment that Will had in the past.

Could Will have been a former patient of Dr. Brenner or another division of the Lab prior to his appointments with Dr. Owens?

I think it’s quite likely.

I’m not convinced that Dr. Brenner is who we think he is, however. I think there’s more to Dr. Brenner’s role in the story than we officially know (yet.)

To return to El and Kali’s conversation again:

"Now you're faced with the same choice, Jane: go back into hiding, and hope they don't find you. Or fight, and face him again."

"Face who?"

“The man who calls himself our father.”

If, as I suspect, Stranger Things is about a DID System and Will and El are both part of it: I have been wondering for a while whether the reason Dr. Brenner has all the Numbers refer to him as their father is because he is in fact actually their father in a more literal sense than simply being the mad scientist raising them to learn to control their powers.

If El is indeed an alter in a DID System, then perhaps “Papa” is actually an NPC or persecutor alter in the DID System based on whoever “real dad” is. Maybe El’s memories of being isolated and abused at the lab is a trauma memory that she experienced as an alter, and Kali is another alter who had similar traumatic experiences.

Maybe when we meet “Dr. Brenner” again he won’t be who he was before, but embodied by a different character who is chillingly familiar to El.

As I mentioned in this recent answer to another Ask: I am curious how El might react if she ever met Lonnie and whether she would recognize him as someone she knows or not.

I realize that my thoughts about Brenner might be a little bit hard to follow: this is because I don’t have any clear-cut expectations for when and how we will see Dr. Brenner again. What I described above is purely speculative and I wouldn’t even consider it a theory. It’s simply a few ideas. :) I’m a lot more comfortable analyzing what we already know about the series and finding hidden connections within the episodes and content that we already have available. When it comes to speculating about super-specific future plot-points I see it as a less exact science and (for me, at least) it can easily become fanfiction. I might have an opinion on the general trajectory of certain character relationships based on foreshadowing that we have been given, but the specific way that they will manifest themselves in the story is beyond what I can say.

Thank you so much for your Ask! Dr. Brenner is a fascinating character and there’s so much that we still don’t know about him. Discussing hypotheticals about Brenner always interests me even though I don’t feel especially confident in any one possible route the story might take and I relegate most of my thoughts about him to the “maybe?” section. But I do think we’ll see him again.

#stranger things 4 #stranger things 4 rumors #rumors are below the read more section #doctor brenner #dr brenner #stranger things #stranger things theory #stranger things theories #the did theory #will byers #el hopper

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keefechambers · 5 years

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Robin and Steve get asked to become legit spies a year or two after that summer. Maybe even join the Men in Black.

Of course it was a surprise to see Dr. Owens in the video store, on a November day that could only be described as “blustery”. Steve only knew him vaguely from the fourth, and from the recording that Nancy had made the year before that, exposing the lab’s responsibility in Barb’s death.

“Could we grab a spot of lunch, you two?” he asked. “I’m sure that your lovely manager --”

“...Keith...” the aforementioned Keith choked out.

“Wouldn’t mind giving you a lunch break?”

“Of course not...sir...” he said. Keith had no idea who this guy was, but he could tell he was important.

Steve and Robin followed Owens out to a black SUV, and they all piled in the back seats, pulling away from the video store at a startling speed.

“Are you going to kill us?” Robin asked, looking out the tinted windows.

Owens laughed. “No. I wanted to...offer you jobs,” he said, as if this was as strange to him as it was them.

“What?”

“You cracked a Soviet code in a day, including the discovery of it’s location within Hawkins, and then kept yourself alive in an underground base full of Russian military and an interdimensional gate. You, I think, would be deeply useful assets to our operation, especially with Jim Hopper gone.”

Steve thought it was weird he didn’t say dead. “So what would we have to do?”

“Well, the agency is willing to help cover both of your expenses in order to send you to the police academy in Indianapolis. Or maybe Chicago. Whichever you’d prefer. Enrollment for the next term is coming up. You’ll attend, become licensed police officers, and attend a few night classes a week in order to train you for our more specialized line of operation. You’ll be the eyes and ears of Hawkins, keeping us aware of anything strange.”

Robin gawked. “You want us to be cops.”

“I want you to be highly trained government operatives whose day job is small town cop,” he corrected as they pulled through the Macdonald’s Drive thru. He didn’t ask what they wanted, the driver just ordered a random smattering of items.

“Room and board included?” Steve asked.

“Within reason.”

“And we can’t tell anyone about this, I assume.”

“Well, I was working under the assumption you’d be telling Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers immediately,” Owens said with a shrug.

He’d been considering it. “But no one else, I promise.”

“Then it’s a deal?”

“Yeah, it’s a deal,” Robin said, looking a little giddy.

#robin #steve harrington #stranger things #fanfic #look steve and robin working for owens would be amazing #Anonymous

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gottacatchemallsims · 5 years

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A Wild Legacy Challenge Appears!

Welcome to my index post for the newest adventure I’m embarking on amongst all the other crazy adventures going on on this blog. This is the My Sims Legacy Challenge which is a legacy style challenge created by Alexis3142 on the Offical Sims Forums. Basically it’s currently a 16-Gen Legacy Style challenge based on the MySims Trophy collection the game and their character counterparts in the MySims universe. Right now it’s 16 but of as there are more statues in the game so the creator has said that more Gens could possible be added when stuff shows up that fits the remaining characters.

You can fin the original post HERE though I will be including the full rules will be below the cut. I will mostly be following the rules as they’re written but more then likely will be adding extra stuff for More Challenge because...that’s just how I roll.

Full Gameplay From the Start * Current

Index

Generation One: Tatum Bright (Chef Gino)

Overall Rules: 1. You must complete the MySims Trophies (Collectibles) Collection by the end of the challenge/legacy 2. Money cheats can be used, but don't go overboard 3. You can live where ever you want 4. You can follow any legacy succession rules you want here is the link: https://www.simslegacychallenge.com/sims-4-legacy-challenge-rules-succession-laws/ 5. Lifespan on normal or long, you can decide 6. Potion of Youth once per generation 7. If you fail to complete the rules for that generation you do not have to start over, you can just leave it up to the next generation to complete Have fun! I really hope you guys enjoy this or find it interesting let me know! I would love to see some pictures and stories! *Your Heir and following do not have to be named or resemble the MySim of that generation if you would like you can but they can look like whatever they want to and be whatever they want to be* Generation One: Chef Gino This Generation is based on the MySim, “Chef Gino” His description is “Gino's skill in a kitchen are matched only by his sense of melodrama. The tiniest thing goes wrong and he's "ruined". To date, Gino has been ruined 9,685 times.” In this generation, you start off from the bottom you have always loved food and loved making messes in the kitchen, and now you dream of owning your own restaurant or being the head chef of one! You strive to be the best chef in the world, exploring different cultures and locations to learn all the best foods the world has to offer. Traits: Foodie, Cheerful, Clumsy Aspiration: Master Chef Career: Culinary (Chef Branch) and/or Own A Resturant Generation Rules: Master the Culinary Career (if you decide this route) and complete the Master Chef Aspiration Master Cooking, Gourmet Cooking, and Baking Skills Complete Experimental Food Photos Collection and learn their recipes Unlock the 27 City Living Recipies Generation Two: DJ Candy This Generation is based on the MySims, “DJ Candy” Her description is “ DJ Candy is like a living, breathing dance party that never stops. With her roadies and #1 fans, Zach and Sapphire, she travels the world bringing the party to those who need it most.” In this generation, as a child, you are a Social Butterfly, and hang out with your best friends as much as you can. You loved making music and banging pots and pans together until your parents decided to buy you a digital piano. As you grow up you loved going to parties and DJ-ing sure it doesn’t make your parents proud but you want to make a career out of it. Traits: Creative, Music Lover, Bro Aspiration: Musical Genius Career: Entertainer (Musician Branch) or Freelance Song Writer Generation Rules: Master the Entertainer Career (if you decide this route) and complete the Musical Genius Aspiration Master the DJ skill and instrumental/vocal skill of your choosing (Guitar Skill, Singing Skill, Piano Skill, or Violin Skill). With the Get Famous EP you can also choose the Media Production Skill and use the Music Station to produce songs Generation Thee: Elmira Clamp This Generation is based on the MySim, “Elmira Clamp” Her description is “Elmira is sour, strict, impatient, and fussy. Her favorite sound is absolute silence and her favorite hobby is toil. On the plus side, um... she's pretty good at remembering names? That's something, right?” In this generation, you didn’t have a great relationship with one of your parents (DJ Candy Generation) They were always out partying when they should have been taking care of you and you resent them for neglecting you growing up, and you never really get passed it as you got older. You love reading books because they are a way for you to escape. You want to write books for people so you can inspire them, and you want to have the best relationship with your child(children) Traits: Bookworm, Loner, Family Orientated Aspiration: Bestselling Author Career: Writer (Author Branch) Generation Rules: Master the Writer Career and complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration Master the Writing Skill and Parenting Skill Generation Four: Ol' Gabby This Generation is based on the MySim, “Ol' Gabby” His description is “Gabby's a cantankerous old grump who lives with his junkyards dog, Grit. He enjoys tinkering with things and getting into feuds with his long time frenemy Barney. (Sorry there's no Barney figurine.)” (This generation was hard to write about so it might be a little far-fetched if you have feedback let me know!) In this generation, your parents spoiled you as a child and got you a dog, they have been your best friend since the day you adopted them. You have always been a rather curious child always asking how things work. As you grow up you have a knack of fixing things. Eventually inventing a building your own furniture and statues. You don’t stop there, you want to fix what's wrong in the world, sure it might be hard because you get pretty hot headed at times but you are more than what meets the eye. Traits: Hot-Headed, Genius, Perfectionist Aspiration: Friend of The World Career: Politician Career (Charity Organizer Branch) Generation Rules: Master the Politician Career and Complete the Friend of The World Aspiration Master the Handiness Skill and Charisma Skill Become Companions with your Dog BFF Generation Five: Hopper This Generation is based on the MySim, “Hopper” His description is “BOING! RIBBIT! Hopper is a young boy in a frog suit. How did this character get so popular? SPROING!! In this generation, your parent had a very strong bond with your family dog growing up, you don't know how that dog lasted so long and when they passed away a hole was left in your family. You have always loved helping animals, in fact, your favorite animal is a frog! Traits: Loves Outdoors, Dog Lover, Cat Lover. Aspiration: Friend of the Animals Career: Veterinarian (Own a Vet Clinic) Generation Rules: Master the Critics! Have your Veterinarian Hospital get to 5 stars and complete the Friend of the Animals Aspiration Master the Veterinarian Skill Complete the Frogs Collection Generation Six: Poppy This Generation is based on the MySim, “Poppy” Her description is “Poppy is an adorable little ray of sunshine who love love LOVES flowers. She also loves her older sister, Violet, and is completely unaware that she is usually the source of her sister's constant headaches.” In this generation, you have a great relationship with your parents and your siblings, you have always loved being outside following the (Hopper Generation) around, but instead of finding frogs you loved picking flowers. Traits: Good, Outgoing, Loves Outdoors Aspiration: Freelance Botanist Career: Gardener (Florist or Botanist) Generation Rules: Master the Gardener Career (Florist or Botanist) and complete the Freelance Botanist Aspiration Master the Gardening Skill, and Floral Arranging Skill. Complete the Gardening Collection Generation Seven: Dr. F This Generation is based on the MySim, “Dr. F” His description is “Dr. F is the indomitable mad scientist with PhDs is robotology AND robotonomy. There are many, many conflicting reports as to what the "F" actually stands for. He invented TOBOR.” In this generation, your parents really pushed you to do good in school, every year at the annual science fair you would build a robot, you love robots and you love inventing. As you grow up you get a job as a scientist, inventing and creating potions with the help of your parents garden is right up your alley. Traits: Genius, Erratic, Perfectionist Aspiration: Nerd Brain Career: Scientist Generation Rules: Master the Scientist Career and complete the Nerd Brain Aspiration Master the Logic Skill, Handiness Skill, and Rocket Science Skill Visit Sixam and the Forgotten Grotto Generation Eight: Chaz McFreely This Generation is based on the MySim, “Chaz McFreely” His description is “Chaz McFreely is the world's greatest extreme sports athlete, according to Chaz McFreely. In his mind, there are only two kinds of people: Chaz Fans and Chumps. Which are you?” In this generation, you didn’t really inherit the love of knowledge and the drive to do good in school, you always focused on playing sports any kind including esports. Your parents always pressured you to do more in life and they pressured you so much to do good in school, it was mad annoying. Sports and exercise were your way to escape and cool down. You love to play basketball and lift weights, so what if maybe you are a dumb jock? You'll prove to your parents that you don't need the brains to succeed in life so you strive to be the athlete. Traits: Active, Bro, Ambitious Aspiration: Body Builder Career: Athlete Career (Professional Athlete Branch) Generation Rules: Master the Professional Athlete Career and complete the Body Builder Aspiration Master the Athletic Skill and Wellness Skill Generation Nine: Lyndsay This generation is based on the MySim, “Lyndsay” Her description is "With an insatiable thirst for adventure, Lyndsay always keeps one eye on the horizon. Her contagious energy often sees her friends swept up in her latest quest. May have had a thing for Buddy at some point??" In this generation, you love to travel. Your family was always traveling for sports events and you got to see the world. Now that you got a taste for adventure you don't want to let it go. You love to explore and travel and you document your travels with your camera. Though you may be a bit low on funds, you don't mind to borrow things you happen to find. Traits: Kleptomaniac, Glutton, Goofball Aspiration: The Curator then City Native (if you decide you would like to) Career: Freelance Explorer Generation Rules: Master The Curator Aspiration and/or City Native Master the Archaeology Skill, and Photography Skill Attend the all the City Living festivals at least once. Complete the Snow Globe Collection Generation Ten: Buddy This generation is based on the MySim, “Buddy” His description is "There is no better sidekick than your ol' pal, Buddy. Supportive, optimistic, and fiercely loyal, he'll stick by your side through any adventure. Last seen moonlighting as a special agent." In this generation, your house was a museum of plum. All these old artifacts and snow globes littered the halls, and the worst part, they don't belong to us. Your parents basically robber their way to riches, and you don't understand how they got away with it. Sure they say they "found it" but it used to belong to someone! You are a goody two shoes and you want to spread justice and solve crimes. However you are a pretty funny person, but sometimes you take jokes a bit too far. Traits: Good, Ambitious, Hot-Headed Aspiration: Chief of Mischief Career: Detective or Secret Agent (Diamond Agent) Generation Rules: Master the Detective or Secret Agent (Diamond Agent) Career and complete the Chief of Mischeif Aspiration Master the Logic Skill, and Mischeif Skill Fall in love with a Criminal Generation Eleven: Morcubus This generation is based on the MySim, Morcubus His description is "Beyond time and space is a world of black fire. From the heart of this maelstrom of horrors was born the infernal Morcubus! As president and CEO of MorcuCorp he advances his dark designs, and he also leads team-building workshops." In this generation, you aspire to gain riches and follow in one of your parent's footsteps, after almost failing school you join the criminal career as soon as possible. Money and reputation mean everything to you, and it's not until you meet "the one" where you finally settle down and correct your old ways. Traits: Kleptomaniac, Mean, Perfectionist Aspiration: Public Enemy and once finished do Career: Criminal (either branch) Generation Rules: Master the Criminal Career and complete the Public Enemy Aspiration then complete the Soulmate Aspiration Master the Mischief skill Marry Your Soulmate Generation Twelve: Goth Boy This generation is based on the MySim, “Goth Boy” His description is “Meet Goth Boy! Nothing makes him feel warmer than wrapping himself in a cloak of emotional darkness. He loves writing bad poetry and hates his job at Turkey-on-a-Fork. Wait a second...is "Goth" even still a thing?” In this generation as a teen, you have a part-time just as a Fast Food Employee, you’ve always loved being alone and felt different from everyone expressing yourself in dark clothing. As you grow older you wonder about the lore of vampires are they real? You find yourself reading romance stories to pass the time, pushing your desire and creativity into art, you spend a lot of time hoping to find yourself a vampire lover that will turn you. Traits: Romantic, Gloomy, Unflirty Aspiration: Master Vampire Career: Painter (Master of The Real Branch) Generation Rules: Work as a Fast Food Employee as a teen writing poetry on the side Master the Painter Career and then complete the Master Vampire Aspiration Generation Thirteen: Violet This generation is based on the MySim, “Violet” Her description is “Dark and dramatic, Violet Darkshade nonetheless has a beautiful heart. She does her best to take care of her kid sister, Poppy, even if it usually gives her one of those headaches that sits right above her eye.” In this generation, you don’t really want to be supernatural, you have always wanted to be cured. Until you can find a way to cure yourself you try to be a good vampire resisting Sim blood. Eventually, under the disapproval of your parents, you find a cure and start a family. Traits: Good, Family-Orientated, Squeamish Aspiration: Good Vampire, Successful Lineage Career: Stay at Home Parent Generation Fourteen: Gonk This generation is based on the MySim, “Gonk” His description is “Gonk is happy and hungry little cave-lad from the Uncharted Isle, which strangely can be found on most maps. His best friends are Bobaboo the dinosaur and a dissatisfied grad student named Sylvia, whom he calls "Girl".” In this generation, your parents let you lived freely, always told you that you can be whatever you want. They only thing they asked was that you stay close to home. Unfortunately for them, you want to explore the world, well in this case, the jungle. Your parents who are very understanding, support you traveling and collecting artifacts, and always welcoming you when you come back home. Traits: Cheerful, Glutton, Clumsy Aspiration: Outdoors Enthusiast Career: Free Lance Explorer Generation Rules: Complete the Ancient Omiscan Artifacts Collection and Omiscan Treasures Collection Master the Archeology skill and Selvadorian Culture skill. Generation Fifteen: Jenny This generation is based on the MySim, "Jenny" Her description is " Jenny was a fan fiction pioneer! Sure, nowadays EVERYBODY gets a publishing deal or a movie based on their self-published stories, but Jenny's "Starcruiser X" fanfic was the first!" In this generation, your parents weren't around that much, too busy going on work vacations to find silly artifacts. So you took to the internet to make friends, as it was fairly easy. You start with fanfiction sites and move your way to SimTube where you start creating content and creating a following. As you get older you continue vlogging and streaming making a living off of it, but your lack of parental affection left a hole in your heart, you need a bunch of realtionships to make you feel content, its not the best way to cope. Traits: Geek, Outgoing, Romantic Aspiration: Serial Romantic Career: Social Media (Internet Personality Branch) Generation Rules: Master the Social Media Career and complete the Serial Romanic Aspiration Have an affair while engaged, leave them at the altar for the sim you had an affair with. Master the Media Production Skill Generation Sixteen: Trevor Verily This generation is based on the MySim, "Trevor Verily" His description is" Trevor is dramatic ac-tor... of WONDERS!! His stirring interpretations of classic works are the very essence of the theater! One time he got stuck in an Astronaut Costume." In this generation, your parent had a huge social media following, so many fans and so many people that supported them. You wanted that, but bigger. You always loved being the center of attention, as you grow older you want to be an actor/actress so that the spotlight is all yours. Traits: Self-Absorbed, Snob, Self-Assured Aspiration: World Famous Celebrity Career: Actor/Actress Generation Rule: Master the Actor/Actress Career and complete the World Famous Celebrity Aspiration Master the Acting Skill

#MySims Legacy Challenge

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justanoutlawfic · 5 years

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Private Practice: An Outlaw Queen One Shot

Summary: Dr. Regina Mills packs up and leaves Washington to escape drama with her ex-husband. She joins her best friends, recently divorced Marian & Robin's, private medical practice. What happens when she falls for Robin?

For the last day of @oqmovieweek, to go alongside a manip I made of Private Practice but with OQ.

Also on AO3

It had been a long time since Regina Mills had to go to work without putting on scrubs. She almost hadn’t known what to put on as she stared at her closet, which she had only recently unpacked over the weekend. It was like her first day of college, after 12 years at a private school with a uniform. When you’re told what to do and what to wear every day of your life, you forget what it’s like to make your own choices.

Regina tried to shake that thought out of her mind. She couldn’t keep blaming her repressive background on the choices she had made in her life. Too many people from her circle did it, she saw it on the news every day. Being affluent wasn’t an illness, using it as an excuse for poor choices only got eye rolls and judgement. Regina knew she had to take ownership over the choices she had made in her life. There were a lot of things she could blame on Cora, but the end of her marriage wasn’t one of them.

After she put on a red dress and black heels, Regina walked out onto her deck, which looked out over the ocean. You couldn’t get this view in Washington or New York and she had certainly missed it. She inhaled the sweet, salty smell of the ocean, imagining what it’d be like to go for a midnight swim whenever she pleased. Maybe she could even convince Ursula or Carletta to visit her. They’d love…

“Regina?”

Regina turned to the source of what broke her peace, finding it to be at the house next door. She did a double take when she saw it was Robin Locksley. She wasn’t supposed to see him for another hour when she drove into work.

“Robin?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first.”

Regina laughed, though she soon realized that maybe Robin wasn’t happy to see her. “I…I start work at yours and Marian’s practice today.”

Robin took a step back on his own deck. “What?”

“Yeah…didn’t she tell you?”

Robin didn’t answer the question, he didn’t have to. Instead, he turned right back around and went inside. Regina faced the ocean once more, suddenly not feeling as relaxed as she had a few moments prior.

Oceanside Wellness was located in the center of Los Angeles, inside a larger building. Regina made her way up on the elevator, going to the floor Marian had directed her to in her e-mails. That was where she got her first surprise. The lobby was very open and lively, the offices having see through glass walls. That never would’ve flown at the hospital, but she supposed that was why things were different there.

She approached the desk where a young-looking man sat, wearing yellow scrubs with little unicorns on them. “Hi, I’m Regina Mills, I’m here to see Marian.”

The young man didn’t look up from the computer he was vigorously checking. “Take a seat and Dr. Locksley will be right with you.”

“Um, actually, I’m....”

“Regina!”

She would’ve known that voice anywhere. Regina felt herself being enveloped in a big hug by Marian. She let out a deep breath, feeling welcomed in this place for the first time since her plane landed. Regina and Marian had been roommates in medical school, sharing a tiny apartment in New York City. They quickly became best friends, especially as their specialties were so close. Regina had gone into gynecology and fetal surgery, while Marian had studied fertility. Med school was where they had each met their husbands. Marian and Robin had married in the spring after graduation, while Jefferson and Regina had in the fall. Now both were divorced, though it could be argued that one was on better term with their ex than the other. Or so Regina had thought.

“Did you not tell Robin I was moving here?” She asked, when they pulled out of the hug.

Marian bit her lip, rubbing her arms. “I, uh…”

“Marian. I thought you two were on good terms.”

“We are, we are, and not just for Roland. We’re still friends.”

“Then why was he surprised when he saw me this morning?”

“He already saw you?

“Apparently we’re neighbors.”

“Oh…” A pang of guilt filled Marian’s face. “Look, I’ve just been so busy. After our last OBGYN quit, I’ve been in over my head running the practice. Robin has been out on a book tour, which is great, but it means I’ve been left with most of the work. For both Roland and the practice.”

Regina sighed, feeling a little guilty for pushing. “I get it, it was just a bit awkward this morning. But it’s fine,” she assured her, smiling so Marian would too. “Show me around?”

“Of course, of course.” Marian turned to the desk, putting a hand on the young man’s shoulder, causing him to look up. “I guess we’ll start with someone you’ll be working closely with. This is Killian Jones, he’s studying to get his midwifery license and also works as our secretary. Killian, this is Dr. Regina Mills, she’s taking Kathryn’s place.”

Killian tilted his head. “Oh. I’m sorry about earlier, I’m just trying to order a crib and there’s so many options…”

Regina cut him off by holding up a hand. “It’s okay. I look forward to working with you.”

Marian put a hand on Regina’s hand, leading her away from the desk.

“He seems nervous.”

“He’s normally more jokey and frankly, a bit annoying. But he had an ex drop a baby on his doorstep last weekend and he’s been in over his head ever since.”

Regina let out a low whistle. “I guess babies really do change everything.”

“They really do.” Marian lead her into a room towards the back of the office. It was set up like a kitchen, with brand-new appliances and beautifully designed cabinets. “This is the break room.”

“Wow, a far cry from the hospital cafeteria.”

“You could say that. We normally have donuts or bagels here in the morning, Killian will grab you coffee or whatever you need throughout the day.”

The door to the breakroom opened and two people walked in, laughing and bumping shoulders. One was a taller man with curly hair and brown eyes, the other was a much shorter woman with auburn curls and the deepest blue eyes Regina had ever seen. They stopped laughing and paused when they caught sight of Regina.

“Belle, Neal, this is Regina Mills, our new gynecologist.” Their mouths dropped open, but Marian steamed ahead, not missing a beat. “Regina, this is Neal Cassidy, our pediatrician and Belle French, one of our psychiatrists.” She linked arms with her friend. “I’ll see you two later.”

As Marian whisked Regina out of the room, the latter got a sinking feeling. “Marian, exactly how many people at this practice knew I was joining?”

“Plenty.”

“Which means?”

“I knew.”

“Marian!”

Marian sighed, pausing outside of a door. “Look, you sounded so desperate to get out of Seattle and well…”

“This is a pity job?!?”

“No, no.” Marian held up a hand. “We really needed a new OBGYN. We have Killian, but he’s not even certified and he needs hours.”

“But you didn’t tell anyone. Did you think they’d say no?”

“Of course not. It’s just…we’re a family here at Oceanside. Kathryn leaving took a toll on all of us. I knew they were going to struggle having someone new come in.”

The door to an office down the hall opened and a tall blonde came storming out, her stilettos clacking against the floor. A frazzled man with red hair and a tweed coat chased after her.

“Mal! You can’t storm away every time I suggest an alternative method!”

“I know what I’m doing, Archie!”

Regina arched her eyebrow, looking at Marian as Mal slammed the door to another office. “Oh yeah, seems like one big happy family.”

“Archie Hopper is our second psychiatrist, he typically helps alleviate Belle’s client load, but lately he’s been helping Mal with her patients.”

“And Mal’s specialty is…?”

“Sexology.”

Regina snorted. “You cannot be serious.”

“It’s a real thing.”

“I’m aware, I just didn’t think anyone actually studied it.”

“She’s also an attending at the local hospital, but she does work here. Anyway, she’s kind of set in her ways, so be careful. Not that I think you’ll have to consult with her very often.”

“Well, I do get patients that have questions about safe sex during pregnancy, so maybe she would be of service there.”

“Like I said, proceed with caution. Anyway, this is your office. The birthing suite is around the corner…”

“Birthing suite?”

“Yes.”

Regina gave Marian a look, once again and she had a feeling it wasn’t the last time her best friend would be receiving it that day.

“Here at Oceanside, we practice alternative types of medicine. I mean, you know that’s Robin’s specialty.”

“Yeah, Robin’s, and I’m sure that works for him, but…”

“Look, most of our patients prefer to give birth here. The hospital is close by if there’s an emergency, but here they can have the perks of a homebirth in a more professional setting.”

Regina let out a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but there was no going back. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Marian grinned. “Great.” She handed Regina a clipboard. “Your first patient will arrive in a half hour. Just your standard ultrasound.”

scandalous that caused the end of their marriage. No one cheated, there was no fight that they couldn’t come back from. They just realized that as much as they loved each other, they weren’t in love. It didn’t change that they could still be friends or the way that they parented their 5-year-old son. When they had decided to separate, they went to see Archie. He told them that the key to any separation was communication. Robin felt that he and Marian had done that very well in the year since their divorce.

Until that day.

He tried to catch her in between patients, but she was conveniently always “too busy”. Robin could hear the other members of the practice whispering about the new member. They liked Regina fine, but they couldn’t believe that Marian had added her without consulting any of them. Robin shared their frustration, but he felt that he had more of a reason to. He and Marian had started the practice together a few years out of med school. They had agreed to do everything together, that included hiring and firing. Through the divorce, they each kept half the practice and agreed that they would run things the same. Clearly, Marian had gone back on that.

After lunch, Robin camped out in Marian’s office and waited. He didn’t have another patient for a couple of hours and had nothing but time. The two shared a schedule through their phones for Roland’s sake and he knew that she’d be done with a consult soon. Robin kept his eyes on the clock, waiting for the knob on the door to jiggle and for her to walk through.

“Robin!” She jumped a bit. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

Marian sighed, shutting the door. “Can’t this wait?”

“No, it can’t.” He rose to his feet. “We need to hold a meeting tonight, after Regina leaves.”

“Regina is a part of the team now. She’s apart of all staff meetings.”

“Well, we’re having the meeting because of her. No, wait, that’s not fair. We’re having the meeting because of you.”

Marian sighed, pulling her thick curls back into a ponytail. “Look, I know you’re all a bit miffed…”

“Miffed? You hired her without telling any of us. That’s not how it’s supposed to go, especially not between the two of us.”

“It’s Regina. Our Regina. Do you really care?”

“Of course I wouldn’t care. But that doesn’t change that this isn’t how we do things. We always vote, always.”

“The others will have to get over it,” Marian said, walking over to her desk.

Robin’s mouth dropped a bit. “How can you be so caviler about all of this? Do you even feel bad?”

“Honestly, Robin? I don’t!”

Robin raised an eyebrow, seeing how upset Marian’s face was getting. He walked closer. This wasn’t like her, not at all. They talked about everything and if he had done this, she never would’ve let him live it down. The thing was, he wasn’t surprised that he had hired her without asking, but to act like no one had a right to be upset about it? That was the weird part.

“Look, I get it. You’re the charming one. You’re the one that all of our friends like.”

“They like you too.”

“Sure, they do. They’re nice to me, we talk. Back when we were married, they’d come to parties at the house. But I see the way they look at me. I’m their boss. You’re their friend.”

Robin’s face fell. “Marian, that’s not…”

“So, I needed a friend. Someone that I could talk to about stuff, the stuff I can’t talk to you about. And maybe that’s selfish, but I haven’t done much of that since I met you. Heck, my entire life, I’ve always put other people first and I don’t regret that. But now?” She shrugged. “I did something for me. I hired my best friend, who frankly needed an out from her old life as much as I needed her.”

Marian walked out from behind her desk, folding her arms over her chest.

“And you need to work out your issues with her.”

“I don’t have issues…”

“Yes, you do. And I get it. I do, but she was our friend first.”

Robin looked away. “Jefferson was my friend too.”

“And we both know that he isn’t innocent in any of what happened either.”

“She cheated on him, Marian.” He looked her in the eyes. “You did the right thing when you felt like you were falling out of love with me. She didn’t.”

“We all make mistakes, Robin. And punishing her for it, isn’t going to help.” She looked out the window, noticing that Mal, Archie, Belle, Neal and Killian had all gathered outside of it. “I’m going to go apologize to them for not going over it with them first. You need to work things out with Regina.”

She walked out of her office, leaving Robin alone with his thoughts. His eyes flickered to Marian’s desk, which was cluttered with photographs. Most were of Roland, but there was one from their med school days, before Jefferson transferred to their school. Regina’s parents had allowed her to bring Marian and Robin along on a trip to Maine. Marian sat in the back of the chaise, Robin and Regina in the front, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her. They were all smiling, they were all so happy.

He knew deep down that he wasn’t mad at Regina for cheating on Jefferson, not really. In all reality…he was jealous of the man she had cheated with.

Regina had always liked wine. In WASP circles, it was easy to start drinking at a young age. She could remember trips to Puerto Rico with her father, her grandmother pouring her large glasses when she was only thirteen. Her father would try to reprimand her, but she would always chastise him back in Spanish. Regina didn’t know much of the language, as Cora didn’t want her and Henry to be able to communicate behind her back, but she knew she said something to the effect of “She’ll live.”

The love of red wine lasted long into her adulthood and when she found out that her new home had a wine cellar, she was more than pleased. After a long day of new patients and one delivery in the weird yet calming birthing suite, Regina headed down the beach, a bottle of red in one hand and a folding chair in the other.

She was two glasses deep when she heard another chair plop down beside her. Regina looked up to find Robin setting up, a six pack of beer in his hand.

“You talking to me, now?” She asked.

Robin cracked open a beer, taking a long sip. “I never stopped.”

“You never returned my e-mails or calls. You avoided me all day at the practice.”

“I was surprised to see you.”

“I assumed Marian told you I was coming.”

“Yeah, well…she didn’t.”

“That’s not my fault. I hope you’re not mad at me because of that.”

“Of course I’m not.”

“Then why are you so mad at me, Robin?” She looked at him, biting her lip. “Is it because of what happened between me and Jefferson?”

Robin took another sip of his beer. “He is my friend.”

“When’s the last time you two spoke?”

“That doesn’t change what you did. You slept with his best friend.”

Regina nodded, looking out at the ocean. “I hate myself for that, you know? You can hate me, Robin, but you’ll never hate me as much as I do.”

There was a pause. “I don’t hate you, Regina. I never could.”

“Sleeping with Victor was wrong, I know that now.”

“Then why’d you do it?”

Regina traced the rim of her wine glass. “I wasn’t happy. I know that’s stupid and I know it’s the opposite of what you and Marian did.” She sighed. “I wish I could say we got caught up in the heat of the moment, but Victor was there and Jefferson wasn’t. I regretted it as soon as it happened.”

“You didn’t have to tell him.”

“If I didn’t, then we’d still probably be married.”

“And you didn’t want that?”

“No.” That was the first time Regina had admitted it out loud. “I didn’t. I had a husband, a great husband, and I didn’t want him anymore. So rather than doing the right thing and leave him, I made him be the bad guy and leave me.”

Robin reached over, putting his hand on top of hers at the sound of her voice cracking.

“Jefferson isn’t perfect,” he whispered.

“He never cheated.”

“That doesn’t change that he could be an asshole. This is the guy that moved in on you so soon after Daniel died.” Robin paused again. “Marian told me what he did when he found out.”

“I probably deserved it.”

“No, Regina. You didn’t.” He touched her chin so she’d look at him. “He forcibly removed you from your own home, he threw you out into the rain.”

“He was hurt.”

“Doesn’t make it right.”

Regina let out a shaky breath. “If you knew all of this, why the hell have you been treating me the way you have?”

“I guess my anger has been misplaced.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I found out you cheated on Jefferson, I was surprised that it was with Whale. He’s a guy that slept with everyone with a pulse. That’s his thing and he’s my friend too, but he’s not your type.”

“I wasn’t exactly looking for that.”

“I know. But I guess I wished…” He tilted his head back, shutting his eyes. “God, this is going to sound stupid.”

“Robin…”

“I was jealous of him. Of Victor.”

Regina swallowed, letting his confession wash over her like the ocean that was so close to them. She thought back to med school, back before Jefferson. She had met Robin before Marian, they were in the same class and ended up in a study group filled with incompetent people. They spent many a night eating bad junk food and listening to rock music, talking about their futures and what they wanted out of life. Regina had been so close to falling for him and a part of her always knew that Robin already had.

Then her ex, Daniel, came back into the picture. They had broken up when she left Maine to attend school in New York. He wasn’t rich like she was and he didn’t have goals of becoming a doctor. He had just finished up his secondary education degree and had gotten a job teaching at a local high school. He asked Regina to give him a second chance and she had given it to him with no question. They fell back in love as quickly as they had the first time. Sadly, it lasted about as long too. Daniel caught a bad strain of the flu, that caused him to be hospitalized. The doctors made a mistake while treating him and it claimed his life.

Regina’s family wasn’t very supportive. Her father had passed away by that point and Cora had never approved of Daniel, so it wasn’t a big deal in her eyes. Her sister and her had never been very close. All she had, was her med school family. She would never forget Robin holding one of her hands, while Marian took the other. They sat with her in the front row, besides Daniel’s mother and brother. They had been the only people to get her through that day.

Months later when she found out that the two of them had begun dating, she had been happy for them…but felt something inside of her. She didn’t quite understand what it was. She had just lost Daniel and was in no state to move on, but she almost felt as though it was a betrayal. She had shaken it off, knowing that Robin wasn’t her property. They were friends and Marian was her best friend. Not long after that, Jefferson pushed his way into her life and there was no looking back, for either of them…until that moment.

“You shouldn’t say stuff like that,” Regina finally whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Robin shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

“Marian is my best friend.”

“And we’re divorced.”

“She wanted me to come down here for her. If I start dating her ex…what would that do to her?”

“She’ll find a way to get over it.”

Regina looked into Robin’s eyes, unsure if she really believed him. She didn’t care about what Jefferson or Victor thought, they had both moved on anyway. Jefferson was expecting a child with his new wife, which had partially sparked Regina’s need to move. Seeing Priscilla walking around the hospital with her ridiculously cute baby bump had been more than she could bare. And if she had to sit through one more Victor and Jefferson screaming match, she would’ve stabbed them both with a scalpel.

It had been three years since her divorce and mostly everyone involved was trying to move on. Regina included. She had dated a bit when working at Seattle Grace, but no one that really mattered.

Sitting in front of her, with his sandy blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, he mattered.

Regina gave Marian a final thought, before leaning in and kissing Robin.

They did the secret dating game for a few months. Regina would try to resist him, but somehow always found herself going back. They’d go out to dinner or take walks on the pier, most nights landing in bed at one of their houses. Somehow, they managed to keep it a secret from everyone. There were a couple of close calls, like the time when Marian dropped Roland off early one morning and Robin had been at Regina’s, but for the most part…they were getting away with it. She hated how dirty that sounded in her mind. She hated even more that with every date, every laugh and every bad joke, she was falling more in love with Robin.

The people at the practice were adjusting to her, as well as they could anyway. Belle and Neal were still a bit standoffish, but both Robin and Marian assured her it was normal. They were best friends, having worked together since the practice opened, and were pretty cliquey. Marian assured her that in time, they’d warm up to her and they could be friends. Regina didn’t see a time when she’d end up friends with the cute but opiniated psychiatrist, but she’d keep an open mind.

Surprisingly, Mal, Killian and Archie ended up being her favorite colleagues. Mal was a take charge woman, not letting anyone give her crap whether it be about her specialty or her attitude. Regina respected her, understanding how hard it was to be taken seriously in a male dominated field. Archie was sweet and cared deeply about everyone in the office, even offering to consult some of Regina’s patients that might be suffering from postpartum depression. Killian was a great assistant and though he only had one working hand (the other being a prosthetic), he worked twice as hard and was somehow pulling off getting his license, work and single fatherhood.

The only issue was working alongside Marian. That had originally been a perk of joining the practice, since her best friend was a fertility specialist, she could go onto refer patients to Regina. They could work side by side to help each other out, something they hadn’t done since their residencies. Yet, it was so hard to keep everything a secret. Marian seemed so much more relaxed to have her best friend in the room, while Regina couldn’t wait to get out of it.

“I can’t keep feeling this way,” she told Robin, one night over dinner. “I just can’t.”

“You really think telling her will make you feel better?”

“It has to.”

“I thought you said a secret was best in the beginning.”

“That was before…”

Robin tilted his head. “Before?”

Regina bit her lip. “Before I thought I could fall in love with you.”

A smile spread across Robin’s face and he took hold of her hand. “I love you too, you know?”

“We need to tell her, then. Especially for Roland’s sake. He’s going to be confused why Auntie Regina keeps spending time at his daddy’s.”

“You’re right. We’ll tell her, together.”

They decided a game night would be the best bet. Regina invited the entire practice over and they played, drank and ate cheese. Killian left first, having to relieve the sitter. Mal and Neal followed out not long after, Belle heading out to go on a date. Archie was the last to leave, offering to help clean up, though soon realizing that Robin and Regina wanted to be alone with Marian. He gave them both a knowing look, that scared them a little bit. If he had figured it out, who else had? Seattle Grace was full of gossip, despite being a large hospital. Everyone seemed to know about Regina’s affair. She wasn’t sure why she was so surprised that a smaller practice wouldn’t be different.

They waited until the food had been packed away and the games were put back in the closet, before pouring out some more wine for the three of them. Regina and Robin exchanged a look as Marian checked her phone, clearly texting the sitter to make sure Roland was in bed. She set it down, looking between the two of them.

“Okay, what’s going on?”

“We need to talk to you,” Regina said.

“We?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Is it about the practice?”

“No.”

“Then what would we need to discuss?”

Robin drew a deep breath. “It’s been 18 months since the divorce was final.”

“I know that.”

“And we’ve both been seeing other people.”

“Well, isn’t that one of the benefits of a divorce?” Marian partially joked. She dropped the smile when neither of them did, looking between the two once more. “Wait….”

“Marian…”

“How long?”

“Please, just let us explain,” Regina tried to get out.

“I asked, how long?”

Regina bit her lip. “It started the night I started working for the practice. So…about six months ago.”

The silence that killed the room was enough to kill someone. Marian stayed seated on Regina’s couch, looking between the two some more, clearly waiting for one of them to say it was a joke. Instead Regina was staring at her, and Robin was looking at his feet. Marian stood up, her wine glass shaking in her hand.

“So, the two of you have been sneaking behind my back for six months?”

“We didn’t know what it was at first,” Robin said. “And then over time, we weren’t sure how you would handle it.”

“Well, it’s my best friend and my ex-husband. I think I have a right to be a bit freaked out.”

“We don’t want to hurt you. We just want to be happy.”

“And I want you both to be happy, but that requires lying to me?” Marian took a long sip of her wine. “Have you two really thought this through?”

“Yes, we have.” Robin took hold of Regina’s hand. “I love her.”

Marian looked at Regina. “And do you love him?”

Regina looked at Robin, taking in his kind face and beautiful eyes, before looking over at her best friend. “I do,” she whispered.

“This is…it’s a lot.” Marian finished off her wine and Regina moved quickly to pour her some more.

“We don’t expect you to be okay with it right away. In fact, if you’re not, that’s fine. Take all the time you need to process.”

“We don’t even have to tell Roland,” Robin pointed out.

Marian nearly choked. “Oh God, yeah, how are you going to explain screwing his godmother?”

“Marian!”

“You said I could take time to process.”

They were silent, knowing she was right. Marian got up, looking between the two of them once more.

“This is real,” she whispered. “You two love each other.”

“We do,” Regina told her. “We really do.”

Marian bit her lip before nodding. “Well,” she said. “I guess there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“Marian…”

“Look, I’m not going to be over the moon, but I’m not going to stop you either. You have to acknowledge that this is awkward.”

“We know it is,” Robin said.

“But, I also know that you two wouldn’t do this if you didn’t think it was worth it, so…” She sighed. “I just need some time.

She put her empty wine glass into Regina’s hand, before grabbing hold of her purse and walking out the door. Regina felt herself leaning into Robin, who wrapped his arms around her.

“She’ll adjust,” he whispered.

“I hope you’re right.”

“No matter what, I love you, Regina.” He tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

Regina felt a ghost of a smile go across her lips. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Me either.”

#oqmovieweek #outlaw queen #outlaw queen au #oq #oq au #regina mills #robin hood #marian hood #ouat #once upon a time

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theshejen · 5 years

Text

Chapter 2-I Finally Have People Who Feel How I Do

Emma, Killian, Henry, and Brer Fox are in one taxi while Brer Bear, his sons, and wife are in the living room, waiting to leave, making last minute preparations. Nicky is in another room with his family.

“How do you thinks it’s going for them.” Emma asked a blank-faced Fox.

“Well, did you ever tell people that they had a whole another life, did it ever happen to you?” The short man asked. Killian and Emma look at each other.

“Yes, I I thought Killian was crazy.”

“She put me in the worst prison I had ever seen where I was force fed bologna.”

“And let me guess, there was some ‘magic potion’ to bring Miss. Emma’s memories back.” Killian nods.

“And you can just call me Emma, not Miss or Lass or anything like that.” The Fox nods.

“Part of the reason why I love this era.”

“I can’t believe you never aged.” The blonde inquired.

“Well, the Blue Fairy, who cursed me, is from your realm and that is the one that got cursed.”

“That’s why we need you, fox.” Henry turned his head around to look at him. The man smiles.

“So, what’s everyone’s names? We named ours off the writer and actors.”

“Well, Red, Little Red Writing Hood is Ruby. Hook here is Killian. Jiminy Cricket is Dr. Hopper--

“And the Evil Queen? Look, I know she’s there. What’s her name, what does she wear?”

“Regina Mills, she is Henry’s mom. She wears pantsuits.”

“How horrifying.” Nicky and his family come into the room with suitcases.

“We are ready.” The tall man’s voice has a hint of uncertainty.

His wife is a larger women, just like him, and his twins look about eight and have cute outfits on, compete with bow ties. Emma tries to comfort them.

“Listen, I know what it’s like to live in a fake word, but we will get your memories back as soon as we get back.”

The woman nods, as do her children. The then-animals pick up their suitcases and join hands with everyone. There is a flutter of light, then a blast of light, then the house is empty.

The group arrives in the forest. The newbies look around at the crisp greenery.

“This way.” The sheriff said to the group, leading them out of the forest. The fox goes up to her.

“Where will we stay exactly? Or will you just poof us home every night?”

“I can’t control my power enough to do it every day. There’s a hotel, Grannies, that you can stay in.”

Meanwhile, Regina is talking to Mother Superior in the Mayor’s office. Regina is wearing a red collared shirt with cleavage showing paired with a black skirt, boots, and blazer. While Mother Superior is in her conservative sweaters

“I can’t believe you cursed him. You never tried to help me. Make me better.”

“I had to. That man is clever, he could cause many problems. Now look at him. He’s wealthy and gives away his money to people who need it. Granted, I wanted him to have a position of power, but at least he is a good person.” Regina rolls her eyes

“With Gold here, he’ll definitely change. Even if he won’t succeed. I know he’ll want to help but what we really need is that detective.”

Emma comes into the Mayor’s office with Henry. Regina gets up and hugs her son.

“They are settling in at Granny’s. Brer Bear brought his wife and children. Fox knows where the detective is. He has also not been aging. No one who came over here has.” Mother Superior looks in Emma’s eyes.

“That’s because I cursed them. When the curse hit, it included my curse on him, making him not age.”

“Mom, how can he help us. As much as I like him, Fox is just a chef, and not even a fox.” Regina bends down and looks at Henry.

“Because, honey, he can succeed at anything. I will not let your memories of me or anyone else go lost.” They hug again.

Later that day, Emma, Regina, the Charmings, Henry, Mother Superior, the dwarves, Hook, Belle, Gold, Robin, and their guests gather at Grannies at a potluck for the Brers. Emma is in the front of the diner with Joel and Nicky. Emma begins to speak once they quiet down.

“Everyone, this is Joel Harris and Nicky Johnson, aka Brer Fox and Brer Bear. Fox is cursed to be perfect at everything. He knows the detective and so we need to to the Victorian realm to get him, since the two are the smartest people in existence.” The fox smiled.

“Why thank you, Emma. I was cured into perfection by Blue. The thing is, I have always been very smart, too smart. When I came to her and told her that I wanted to go to a different, better realm, she said that I had been cursed to only be good at good deeds. I have the curse to be perfect if I do all good things. I had heard rumours from my friend and author of my story, Joel Chandler Harris, that there was magic in other realms. He was able to bring Blue to me and the rest you know. When I was transported to this world, it was 1970. I got rid of my books and film and made sure no one could suspect me. I stopped aging when Emma was born and only just resumed doing so. The detective and I are from the same time and he was brought over here, so we will go find him!

The group begins clapping. People scattered to get food. Henry walks up to the fox who is smiling at the group of people.

“These people need your help, but they’re also really accepting of people who may have been bad in the past. I mean, they were nice to Regina after a while.”

Meanwhile, Regina and Emma are talking together.

“I’m glad the trip went well.” The brunette replies, placing a kiss on the blonde’s lips.

“He know what to do, where to go. Apparently, Sherlock is in London, go figure. Fox said that he gave a relative location. The man, is, however is reclusive and may take the situation awkwardly.” The blonde looked distressed. Regina placed a kiss on her cheek.

The fox notices the two but goes back to his conversation with Granny.

“My granddaughter would be happy to meet you. A magical fox. She doesn't transform into a wolf.”

“About that...these people don’t really know that I was a real fox.” The women pats him on the shoulder.

“All in good time, fox. All in good time.” Ruby walks up to the pair while Granny leaves.

“So, why are you called Brer Fox, you don’t have a tail.”

“I used to be one. I think I have always been cursed, but when I came to this land in 1970, that changed. But, I’ve heard you are a wolf, some of the time at least.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Don’t you feel like...you’re being pulled to do something. Like your not in control?” The fox inquired.

“That’s just animalistic instinct. You gonna get something to eat.” Ruby asked, nodding to the food on the counter.

“Nah, I just want to talk to people. This is all to new and exciting for me. I do, however, need to get a house or somethin’. I don’t know how long I’ll be here for, but I need to cook. Not spaghetti or a burger, real, fancy food.

“Well, if you could afford it, why not get a summer home? You wouldn’t have to shovel snow.”

“No, Brer Bear does that. If I can find a realtor and a house, I’ll buy it.” The Fox replied.

“No need.” Came an answer from the queen herself.

“I’ll make a house in the middle of the woods for you, I know that’s where you like them. How many square feet would you say?” The fox stared at the sorceress.

“Just small with a sharpener for my tools.”

Regina nods and goes back to speaking with Emma.

#swanqween #emma swan #OUAT fandom #fanfic #Regina Mills #brer bear #brer fox

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believingispowerfulmagic · 6 years

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“Reunited at Last” Chapter 3: Suspicions

Diana dragged her feet as she walked through Town Hall to get to the Mayor’s office. People greeted her but she kept her head down, continuing her long, slow walk as if goring to her death. It was only the second day of her indefinite punishment and while Lacey was pretty cool as far as babysitters went, Diana missed having the house to herself. She dressed as she wanted, played music while she did her homework or danced around, read her books, played with her toys--whatever she wanted without anyone being in the way. She loved it.

“Hello, Diana. Did you have a good day at school?” a kind voice broke through her sulking.

Looking up, Diana’s heart sank when she saw she was standing outside her mother’s office and next to her assistant’s desk. Johanna was a kindly older woman who had served as the assistant for several mayors, including Diana’s grandfather and great-grandfather. She sat right outside the mayor’s office in a little cubicle decorated with a desk and a few filing cabinets as well as some personal knick-knacks Johanna had collected over the years. Diana always liked Johanna and returned the smile the older woman gave her.

“It was okay,” Diana replied in answer to her question, not wanting to be rude to Johanna. She was not part of the battle between the supposed mother and daughter. “Still a lot of reviewing to make sure we remember everything we learned last year.”

“That does sound boring but I’m sure it’ll get interesting again.” Johanna motioned to the door. “Go on in. Your mother is waiting for you.”

Biting back the urge to snap that the mayor was not her mother, Diana thanked Johanna. She opened the door, ready to face Mom. Her teacher had told her earlier that Mom had spoken to her about her supposed homework assignment the day before so Diana knew she was busted. It had been her mother’s late day yesterday so she had gotten home after Diana had gone to bed. Diana hoped she could get away without a big lecture today but she doubted it.

They mayor’s office was decorated in earth tones, as Diana knew from her art classes at school. She also had memories of when her mother decorated the office, though she doubted now that they were even real. Still, she could rattle off the name of each color--the rug was canyon brown and the walls mocha cream with harvest gold accents. It made the mahogany colored fireplace stand out more. Chocolate brown couches faced the fireplace with a mahogany coffee table between them. Mom had a book full of pictures of Storybrooke for visitors to peruse on it.

All of that was to Diana’s left. On her right was a long, cherry wood dining table with several matching chairs. Mom had meetings with other government officials and her staff members there, usually providing them with food and beverages from the snack bar against the wall. It was stocked with several types of snacks and drinks, as well as a good variety of fruit--except for apples. Even the basket of wax fruit Mom kept on the table contained no apples, something Diana only recently noticed. It intrigued her, just like her mother’s fascination with birds. She had several paintings of them hanging on the walls both here and at their house. Diana gave one the side-eye as she stood in the doorway.

“Why don’t you grab a snack and then have a seat on the couch? I just need to finish up one thing and then we can talk,” Mom said, head bent as she filled out some paperwork on her desk. It was located in the middle of the back wall, right in front of the large windows that overlooked the town. The only other place to offer a better view was the clock tower above Storybrooke’s abandoned library. No one went up there, though, as the clock was broken--unable to move forward because the curse had stopped time for the citizens of Storybrooke. It made Diana question so much and she wished she could find the answers, not have to tap dance around her “mother.”

For now, she did as her mother suggested and grabbed a granola bar as well as a juice box from the fridge. She then sat on the couch, her book bag at her feet, and waited for Mom to finish her paperwork as she munched on her snack.

It didn’t take long for Mom to sit down next to her, tucking her black skirt under her as she did so. She placed a picture frame upside down on her lap before adjusting the pink sweater over her white shirt. Mom leaned closer as she smiled at Diana. “How was your day, princess?”

“Okay,” Diana replied, shrugging. She then repeated what she told Johanna.

Mom nodded. “Revision is very important. You need to make sure you have that foundation in order to build up your knowledge.”

When Diana shrugged again, Mom pressed her lips together. She then said: “I spoke to your teacher yesterday.”

Diana’s heart sunk. “I know. Sister Trina told me.”

“So I know that there was no survey assignment. I also went to talk to Ms. Mills yesterday as well,” Mom continued.

“You did?” Diana asked, her stomach twisting up in knots. “Did she tell you why I was really there?”

Mom nodded. “I wasn’t pleased that you lied to me but you were only following Ms. Mills’ lead and she was trying to spare my feelings, so I’ll let it slide--for now. But we need to talk about your sudden belief that I’m not your mom and Ms. Mills is.”

“Because it’s true,” Diana protested.

Mom’s brow furrowed. “Why? Because some book told you?”

Diana knew that when she put it that way, it did sound silly. Yet she also knew in her heart that it was true. She doubted Mom would accept that and would keep pushing until Diana doubted her own heart. Villains were very good at that thing.

“I don’t look like you or Dad,” she said instead. “I don’t feel part of this family.”

Mom’s eyes filled with tears and she wrapped her arm around Diana. She lifted the picture frame to reveal the photograph of herself lying in a hospital bed holding a newborn baby wrapped in a white blanket and wearing a pink hat. “Your father took this the day you were born--the happiest day of our life. You are our daughter--my daughter.”

She let Diana hold the picture as she moved in closer. “I know things have been different since your father’s accident. I know it’s been hard not having him around. It’s been hard for me too, trying to be the mayor as well as both mom and dad to you. And I’m willing to admit that maybe I haven’t been so great a mom these past few months.

“I have a proposal for you,” she continued. “I promise to make more time for you. Starting this week, I’m going to block out a special chunk of time that’s only for the two of us. We can do whatever you want--go to the movies, go shopping, have lunch, practice archery. How does that sound?”

It sounded tempting. Diana loved all of those things, especially archery. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to spend time with the enemy. Perhaps she could get some answers while lulling Mom into a false sense of security. This appeared to be a win-win situation.

“That sounds great, Mom,” she replied with a smile.

Mom smiled but her tone sounded serious as she continued: “Now you need to do something for me. You need to stop all this nonsense about Ms. Mills being your real mother. I spoke with her and she’s agreed to have no contact with you.”

“What?” Diana exclaimed. She would’ve jumped up but Mom had tightened her grip. “That’s not fair!”

“It may not seem fair but it’s for the best,” Mom insisted. “I don’t want you talking with Ms. Mills either. Instead, I want you to talk with Dr. Hopper.”

Dr. Hopper was the town’s psychiatric and Diana’s stomach twisted at the implications. “I’m not crazy!”

Mom caressed Diana’s face as she softened her tone. “Of course you’re not. I just think a lot has happened and you need someone to talk to, someone who can help you work through everything. Dr. Hopper can do that. And you won’t be alone. We’ll also have sessions together to become stronger as a family, okay?”

Though it sounded like she had a choice, Diana knew she was going to see Dr. Hopper whether she wanted to or not. She sighed, her shoulders slumping as she said: “Okay.”

�� “Thank you, princess. Things are going to get better, I promise.” Mom hugged her. “And the first step is for you to give me the storybook. I think it’s best if we got rid of it.”

Diana had been expecting that and she was glad she had already left it somewhere safe. It allowed her to truthfully say: “I don’t have it. I gave it to a friend. The book was meant to be shared.”

Mom’s eyebrow went up but she relaxed, seemingly accepting that answer. “Good. I think we’re off to a very good start then.”

There was a sharp rap on the door before it opened. Johanna stood there, facing the two. “Lacey is here for Diana,” she said.

“Thank you. Tell Lacey she’ll be right out,” Mom replied.

Johanna nodded before closing the door. Mom stood. “I’ll be home in time for dinner. Be good for Lacey.”

“I will,” Diana replied, putting her book bag on. Mom opened her arms and Diana hugged her, playing along for now.

Mom let her go and Diana headed out of her office. Lacey stood there, tapping one of her blue pumps impatiently. She leaned against the wall, her black skirt ending far above her knees. Her bright blue sequined halter top sparkled in the fluorescent lighting and when she caught sight of Diana, her necklaces clanged together as she straightened up. “Hey, kid. Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she said. “What are we doing today?”

Lacey shrugged, glancing at the door. “How will your mom react if I gave you a makeover?”

Diana looked over Lacey’s messy ponytail and expertly applied makeup, admiring them. Though she thought a makeover sounded like fun, she shook her head. “I’m already on thin ice with her and I’d rather keep you as my babysitter.”

Lacey laughed. “I’m sure. Or else you’d have to deal with Mrs. Figg again.”

“Ugh,” Diana replied, scrunching up her nose. “She was the worst.”

Mrs. Figg had been her babysitter when she was a little girl. She had been strict with a lot of rules Diana had to follow and only had prunes for snacks for her, which had prompted Mom to start sending snacks with Diana. Mrs. Figg did not own a TV and usually preferred Diana to read quietly, though she did let her play with toys as long as she didn’t get too loud and didn’t make a mess. As she got older, it was harder and harder to please Mrs. Figg no matter how much Diana tried to obey her rules.

It had been a relief when her parents had decided to trust Diana with more responsibility now that she was older and got Lacey to start watching her at home before only having her come on nights when they had to work late. Lacey wasn’t the typical babysitter, though she made sure Diana ate healthy meals and did her homework. She didn’t hover over Diana and gave her her space. While it would’ve been easier to sneak off to see Regina without Lacey around, it still didn’t keep Diana from plotting her next move to break the curse and get her real family back.

Continue reading on FFnet, AO3 or Wattpad

#once upon a time #outlaw queen #oq au #oq ff #snow queen #reunited at last

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superlepato · 6 years

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Another Harringrove Au. Bit of A/B/O and serial killer stuff.

So here I’m again, and I hope this will the last of this Au because I need to write other plot bunnies and I need to wrap this first before starting other stuff.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

• Billy didn’t return to school even after the expulsion was over, it didn’t seem right also he didn’t think he would be able to concentrate in class while Steve was out there God knows where.

He didn’t want to entertain the possibility but it has been fourth months and with each day the idea grew stronger. There was a chance of not finding him and other bigger chance of not seeing him alive.

• Benny the owner of the garage was a great boss even before the disappearance of Steve, now? the guy deserves an award for all the shit that he put him trough when he snapped to the clients that saw him with pity, almost telling him “my condolences”, all the time he times he got late ‘cause he falls asleep or was with Hopper following a clue. That man was the only reason why he still has his job.

• Steve is heavily pregnant and dreads the birth of his child, he doesn’t want his child in the hands of the maniac beta Dr. if escaping before was hard now in his state was beyond impossible, he was tired all the time, out of breath and constantly wanting to pee. He couldn’t imagine himself running, hell he has to double check his footing while climbing the stairs since his balance was off and couldn’t see his feet.

He sees in 011 what kind of future his child could have if that happens, 011 could be the person most close to what the beta want to accomplish, it took some time but after bonding, she trusts in him enough to show his abilities. He thinks that Brenner doesn’t know the whole extension of 011 abilities, and maybe she purposely wanted that.

maybe that's the reason why she helps him to find help.

• Usually, her loyalty to his Papa overpowered any aversion she might felt, except this time. She had never interacted with one of the other subjects/victims the same way she did with Steve, she can tell now that this isn’t how somebody should live and that what his Papa does is bad.

Since she is the only one that has some sort of freedom in that house, she is the one that is going to search for help.

• They waited until it was dark, he told her that she needed to go where they first met and tell the first person she found to call the police, and if for some reason it did go wrong, she deserved a life too so it was okay if she didn’t look back.

• It was dark and everything looked different she wasn’t able to reach the center but she literally ran into five people on bicycles.

• It is almost midnight when Billy receives the phone call from Chief Hopper, that he needs to go immediately to the Wheelers household, that apparently they might have found a person that knows where Steve is.

There is this girl setting in the middle of the living room with all of them surrounding her, according to everybody, she knew where Steve was, in fact, she was living with him for fourth months since it was his father the motherfucker who kidnap him. He was livid he didn’t go for the kid because he needs her to find Steve and because he was in danger as if being kidnapped wasn’t dangerous enough.

• Hopper, the kid and him went to where the kids found her wandering, they had to walk the rest of it since it was more easy for her to locate the house. They were walking for hours and Billy was going to lose his shit if they didn’t find that fucking house in the next five minutes, God must be hearing him. Finally after being silent all those months, because they did find the house. He went on a rampage after that.

• At 5:00 am Steve was in the hospital, in a private room. Hopper has to hold him up and threatened him with a trank if he didn’t leave the doctors and nurses check Steve.

It was like being in a dream, he still couldn’t believe that Steve was here with him, it was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. They were alone so he could take his sweet time watching and caress him as if his life depended on it.

• Steve was pale, like really pale, his hair was a mess, marks on the wrists and ankles, bags under his eyes and more thin, the only part of him that didn’t look diminishing was his belly, God it was so big, it looked ready to pop out. He didn’t know when he started to cry, maybe he has been crying the whole time.

• The news break in the whole nation, the only surviving victim being a young pregnant male omega and his mate that killed The Frankestain, magazines, and newspaper were selling the story like a real life fucking Love Story.

The Harringtons were there three days later, after being the lasts to find out the news of their own son and seeing how probably would be seen their absence. They wanted to take Steve to home, but the Harringtons household, and over his dead body he was going to let that happened.

In so much simpler terms he threatened them with telling everything to the media, how they kicked their own pregnant son to the streets and how little they care about his absence since they believe that he escaped with other alpha.

• In the end, it was more easy to bribe him than the whole town to cover their bad parenting. They paid for the hospital fees and a whole bunch of baby stuff (the baby was just a one month to come to this world and they didn’t have a crib). He wasn’t above to guilt trip them until the day they died, for all he cares they own them.

• Billy didn’t leave Steve side, he couldn’t. This whole experience took their sense of security, Steve looked over his shoulder all the time and for a time he couldn’t have someone at his back, feeling that he has someone at his back still makes him nervous but can handle it better now. Billy had to be always close to Steve and everyone has to move carefully around them, sudden movements towards Steve made Billy snap. Eventually, they started to work how to be apart, because they both need to gain a sense of normality again. Going to work, return to school, all that stuff.

• The first day they returned to their house, they were received by the kids, the Wheelers, Mrs. Henderson, Joyce Byers, hell Nancy and Jhonatan were there, even Susan in an abstract way. (Max delivered some soup in her name).

Mrs. Henderson came every day to the house and made sure that Steve ate, he really needed to put some weight.

• Charlie was born in August. He was the most beautiful baby he has ever seen, anyone could fight him for that.

It was obvious from a young age that Charlie was...special. Steve beat himself for that, Billy had to convince him many times that it was not his fault, and that Charlie had nothing wrong, Besides they now could say rightfully that their son was more special than the other kids.

• Jane Hopper became Charlie confident and his teacher with everything related to his powers.

In his 7th birthday, Jane gifts him the book, Matilda. When the movie came out they were in the premier.

• After his experience Billy decided to become a police officer, he was determined to imprison all the sick fucks out there. For his part, Steve finds out that he wanted to be a teacher and help kids like Jane. She was always going to be his first student and his favorite, of course.

This is the end I hope that you like it (the devoted 20 people that read my posts) I admit that I have more in mind, especially with Charlie, but God I really didn’t want to have a part 5 so that, I could think about it if you really really want to know.

#harringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #ABO / Serial Killer #my writing

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sarissophori · 4 years

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Forebode, Chapter 1

UCS Wayfarer, registration 0732-419-058B

Crew: 15

Homeport: Sorenson Orbital Shipyards, Nova Astria, Reyal system

Destination: Uncharted system XH-31590M

Mission: To locate UCS Wanderer and crew, classified missing;

To rescue, if any, survivors from Wanderer;

To resume, if able, Wanderer’s assignment of surveying moon XH-Ld for possible habitation.

Manifest: Hindel, Captain Laura B.

Ellson, Ensign Brian A.

Tajmaran, Ensign Ashok K.

Komev, Ensign Nanya H.

Walsh, Dr. Kane S.

Talgold, Dr. Elliot T.

Hornens, Chief James G.

Mason, Chief Ben R.

Ausmith, Lieutenant Jim A.

Han, Dr. Henry F.

Varrez, Dr. Anna I.

Barrens, Sgt. Frederick R.

Farzen, Pvt. Jon D.

Davis, Pvt. Calvin S.

Duvin, Pvt. Amal L.

The interior of the Wayfarer was empty and still, the corridors dark, lit only by reserve power. The dull drone of the engines, the ship’s loudest noise, hummed through her three main decks, with no one to listen. For six standard months this was how she traveled, ghosting her way from her home system out to the unknown for the purpose of making it known, boosted by her main drives to a fraction of the speed of light. The onboard computer monitored, along with everything else, the closing lightyears and astronomical units towards the ship’s ultimate destination: a distant system once beyond the reach of humanity’s interstellar grasp, and far, far beyond the homeworld where that reach started near three centuries before.

Now entering the boundaries of this alien system, the computer decelerated the main drive to impulse power, and warmed the primary generators; harsh florescent lighting kicked on, and it began waking the crew under its care.

Its lonely sojourn and last-minute tasks completed, it now awaited the command to return automated control of the ship to manual, reverting to standby once more, until the long journey back home.

Inside the Wayfarer’s stasis chamber, fifteen cryo-pods began the process of slowly revitalizing their occupants, gently rising them from frozen sleep to the eve of consciousness. The lids hissed and opened, taking the crew from dark pleasant numbness to a stark, florescent reality.

Stiffly, one by one, they sat up, rubbing their cold dry skin and stretching in the artificial gravity. The crew’s assigned search and rescue (SAR) contingent, sergeant Barrens and privates Farzen, Davis and Duvin, were first on their feet.

“We’re warming up before we hit the showers” Barrens said, rolling his shoulders. “Come on, forty reps each, get to it.”

“And lose first dibs on water, sir?” Davis said.

“I guess so” Barrens said. “A small price to pay for keeping your mind and body sharp floating in the middle of nowhere. Don’t make me go to fifty.”

With that Barrens dropped and started his push-ups, his men following.

Next out was Captain Hindel of civilian rank, who wasn’t quite as enthused with exercising first thing after cryo-sleep. Stifling her yawns, she went from pod to pod, checking on her crew and helping them amble out onto the deck: engineers Hornens and Mason, and shuttle pilot Ausmith, veteran ship-hoppers with years spent beyond the core systems, always used to doing more with less; doctors Walsh and Talgold, on their first deep space assignment; ensigns Ellson, Tajmaran and Komev, fresh from the academy and also on their first assignment; civilian science officer Han with a twenty-year background in xeno-biology; and geological specialist Varrez, who had never left Nova Astria before; a fresh crew under a first-time captain hoping to make a good impression for Sorenson.

They all showered, dressed, ate and manned their stations, be it the hangar bay, engineering, or the bridge. Captain Hindel was already at work, giving the computer the codes necessary for manual control, restoring initiative to all primary consoles and terminals. Successful readouts showed green across her display, and the soft hum of electricity filled the bridge.

The doors behind her opened and her flight officers walked in, each assuming their post under the gaze of her captain’s chair.

“Morning ma’am” they said.

“Ensigns” Hindel said. “Enjoy your first cryo-sleeps?”

“Ugh, if you can call it sleep” Komev said, sitting down at navigation. “More like passing out inside a freezer. Christ, they’re cold.”

“You get used to it” Hindel said.

“If you say so, captain” Ellson said, joining Tajmaran at the helm.

“At least none of you got nauseous” Hindel said. “That’s very common with first timers.”

“I wanted to” Komev said. “I still want to.”

“You can, just not on your console, please.”

Komev swished a quick salute. “Aye-aye, ma’am.”

“Good” Hindel said. “Has manual been fully restored to helm?”

“Yes ma’am” Ellson said, testing his controls for responsiveness. “Helm’s green.”

“Scanners showing green as well” Tajmaran said.

“Navigation?”

“Navigation’s green” Komev said.

“Secondaries?”

“Checking with Engineering” Tajmaran said. “Engines on medium burn, fifty percent impulse. Reactors within normal parameters; coolant systems functioning properly.”

“Any signals from the Wanderer?”

“No ma’am” Komev said. “No beacons, no distress calls, not even broadband transmissions. Just space and static.”

“Keep trying” Hindel said, even though she, and they, knew how remote the chances were of picking up anything. The last transmission from the Wanderer was nearly two standard years ago, before she was declared missing; a check-in from their captain letting home base know they had reached the system safely. That in mind, Hindel sent out her own check-in back to control at Nova Astria, getting a funny, foreboding feeling as she did.

The Wayfarer sailed on into system XH-31590M, the twin suns Xandra and Halbert shining faintly off starboard side, bathing radiance on the twelve planets and dozens of moons in orbit; mostly small, rocky worlds bare to radiation, unfit for colonies. More promising was the system’s four gas giants and their impressive array of planet-sized moons, some measuring twenty thousand kilometers in circumference, with atmospheres.

Gliding past the outermost three, after one-hundred and twenty standard hours, the Wayfarer came into visual range of the innermost and largest of the giants, XH-Lambda, a rusty orange twinkle on the forward windows, three point twenty-five AUs from their current position; Xandra and Halbert were now the brightest stars in their relative space.

“Try again” Hindel said.

For the hundredth time Komev sifted through all available channels for any kind of transmission indicating the Wanderer was still broadcasting, repetition somewhat dulling her resolve, but always ready to catch the faintest ping on her headset. After a few minutes, she shook her head.

“Nothing, ma’am.”

“Are you scanning for short-range comms as well?”

A slight pause, then “With respect ma’am, those aren’t strong enough to make it out this far— assuming its originating from the planet.”

“Even so” Hindel said. “Now that XH-L is in visual, I’d like you to start. Your point is noted, but we can’t assume their position until we have confirmation. I want confirmation.”

“Aye Captain.”

Hindel turned to the helm. “Anything on scans?”

“Just dust and radiation feedback” Tajmaran said. “A few metallic signatures too, but none matching the Wanderer; most likely asteroids.”

“There’s a debris cloud point seven-five AUs off portside” Ellson said. “But that puts it too far out from the Wanderer’s course to be her. Scans show the composition doesn’t match anyway.”

“I still want a report sent to my quarters before rotation’s end” Hindel said.

“Will do, ma’am.”

Hindel sat back in her chair, elbows on armrests, and stared off past the forward windows to the twinkling gas giant growing before them with every hour, touching the dark corners of the bridge with a soft orange. Her training always insisted on proactivity and improvisation to help achieve a mission, especially in uncharted space, but what more could be done? Sitting in a chair, listening for a noise, looking for a signature, repeating to nauseum; it gnawed at her instinct to do more, especially after so long with nothing to show for it.

Yet she admitted to herself, quietly, that her expectations really weren’t too different than her officers at this point. She knew they weren’t going to find anyone out here in the literal middle of nowhere, not after all this time. This was a glorified salvage mission, absolutely. Still, she felt the need as captain to put on a brave face, insist on finding survivors, and keep her crew focused. Besides, if they were ever lost, she’d sure like to know that any ship sent to look for them didn’t simply write off hope at the start. Anyone lost out here deserved that much.

After one hundred and sixty-eight standard hours since waking, the mass of XH-Lambda filled the forward windows of the Wayfarer’s bridge, making them polarize for compensation. Bands of red and dusty brown swirled and mixed like estuaries, blending into thunderheads flickered by pinpricks of static lightning, or swelling into deep crimson spots fed by their own tidal rotations. Ellson and Tajmaran took their readings and uploaded them to the ship’s computer.

The Wayfarer tilted slightly starboard and nosed down, shifting their view of XH-Lambda and making a play of the shadows. As they entered its outer orbit, they came within visual of a moon glowing in the distance, an unassuming speck in the void. This speck, XH-Ld, was the Wanderer’s destination, and likely location.

“Scans, people” Hindel said. “Give me some good news today.”

Static crackled in her headset as Komev tried again to hone in on a manmade signal, beacon or communication on any frequency…finding none. Tajmaran analyzed sensor pings around the moon’s orbit for artificial traces, including wisps of ionized radiation, also coming up empty.

“Sorry captain, the usual story.”

“Well that just leaves the moon itself then, doesn’t it?” Hindel said. “Ellson, take us within low orbit over XH-Ld, holding at three hundred kilometers.”

“Setting course” Ellson said, tapping in the coordinates. “ETA in four hours.”

Hindel nodded and stood up from her chair.

“Ellson, you have the bridge. I’ll be in my quarters if anyone needs me.”

The captain isolated herself in the ‘study’ of her bedroom, taking the time to send off her first report since entering the XH system:

<Log 1

Hindel, Laura A. manual report

Mission time: 4,488.23.00 hours

System scanned for all comms; negative finds, no responses. Within short range

broadcast of XH-L and moon. Area around moon scanned; no results. Will attempt

again once in low orbit. Search team on standby. Secondary mission parameters

still assumed. >

“Computer, sinfonia number two, the romantic.”

Classically-styled music played from her desk, filling the room with its waltzing melody and sending her worlds away from the tedium of the bridge, back to the green, rolling fields of Coasta Paradizia on Mars where she grew up. She closed her eyes and saw the sun again, and wind-swept plains with deep canals emptying into the wetlands of Mare Cydonia. The summer cloud fronts over the Arabia Gulf made for particularly beautiful sunsets, and she saw them again, here at her desk, at least for a while.

#story #sci fi #science fiction #horror #sarissophori

0 notes

thelanternwielder · 6 years

Text

Too Late - Part Six

Author’s Note:

Have you ever felt vicarious pride towards a non-existent person?

I didn’t, until I wrote this part.

Previous Part: >Here<

The Start: >Here<

Edit 2018/02/07: Part Seven: >Here<

Tell me what you think. Feedback is always appreciated.

Breathing. The only thing that could be heard was breathing.

It was constricted, shallow.

Hargrave had woken up in a cold, dark place. He was pinned down by a great force.

It was hard, rough.

He wriggled, gauging what kind of situation he had found himself in.

There was a grinding of stone against stone.

He pushed upwards with his hands. The rock was incredibly heavy.

With a clatter, an opening appeared.

The butler clawed at it, hooking onto the edges.

He heaved himself out.

He crawled from the hole, out of a pile of rubble.

Breathing deeply, he stumbled to his feet. He dusted himself off nonchalantly.

This wasn’t the first time the butler had been buried alive. The Doctor and he have had several of their bases collapse on top of them for many reasons, all involving Team Core-Tech one way or another.

Hargrave scanned his body. Everything still seemed to function.

He put a hand on his chest. The harness for his robot arms was missing.

No wonder it was so difficult to get out, he thought.

He patted himself on the chest.

Are my pockets empty? he puzzled as he felt the flatness.

He rummaged his coat and vest pockets. They were bare.

No Monsunos. No launcher. He was completely defenceless.

He was struck with concern.

He looked up and around.

The area resembled a gargantuan arena, now in ruins. Part of the ceiling had fallen; the night sky peeped through, darkening the already dreary place. The patches of ground that could be seen among the shattered stone was covered in solid dirt; what flora that hung onto dear life here struggled to penetrate the earth.

Hargrave’s shoes crunched on the pebbles and debris as he walked through the wreckage.

What happened? he wondered as he gazed around, feeling foreign.

He came to a huge boulder. He clambered up. He was so used to having his robot arms to do the climbing that it felt bizarre to do it without them.

He got to the top, staying crouched to avoid tumbling down the sides.

A glint of a green glow caught his eye.

At the foot of the boulder, there was a pit. That was the source of the faint light.

He dropped to the front of the boulder, feet first. He slid down on the side of his leg.

He landed with a step. He brushed his pants. He was surprised that they didn’t tear on the jagged rock.

He stepped to the edge of the stone pit and peered into it. At the bottom of the giant cracked bowl was a symbol engraved in the centre: three lines forming a curvy X with a vertical pole through it. Bioluminescent liquid had pooled into it.

Hargrave’s eyes grew. That was the symbol from the monk’s vision.

He quickly backed away from the edge. He didn’t want to fall in.

His nose twitched. He caught a strange smell.

He shielded his nose and mouth with his hands out of repulsion.

Oh God, what is that?!

He turned to where the odour seemed to originate. Fear and morbid curiosity churned within.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” the butler mumbled as he headed towards the smell.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Every step closer made the stench more pungent. It stank of something off, something rotten.

It made him a little queasy.

He stopped when it became unbearable. He pinched his nose and surveyed where he ended up.

He was greeted by massive piles of rubble containing stone bricks. Cracks in the ground ran underneath them, illuminating them with a soft emerald light.

He approached one of the piles.

Poking out from underneath the heap were some ghostly white fingers, splayed apart.

They were not moving.

Hargrave slowly seized with horror. His breaths became lighter.

Like a malfunctioning robot, he jolted away.

His eyes met an even more hideous sight. He covered his mouth, wincing with the sickness.

There was a body half covered by boulders. An arm was stretched out, completely limp. The ripped white sleeve that clothed it was stained underneath with darker patches on the end closest to the torso. Wedged underneath the rock was the head. Its eyes were open and lifeless. Strands of long dark hair draped the side of it. One of the cheeks had decayed completely, creating a festering cavity in the face, uncovering the bone and teeth.

Hargrave closed his eyes and turned away. He was close to vomiting.

He uncovered his face and bolted as far away from the corpses as possible.

He ran towards the sky, the seemingly only way out. He needed to escape the death trap he found himself in.

He didn’t want to become another dead body.

He halted when he realised that none of the rubble was remotely high enough to reach the ceiling.

A sense of hopelessness gripped his torso, strangling his lungs. He tried to calm himself down.

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out.

It wasn’t working. He was wheezing.

He stepped backwards. He clutched his chest.

Another step back. He could barely catch his breath.

One more step.

He teetered on the edge.

He slipped and plunged backwards into the pit.

GASP!

Blink. Blink. Darkness.

There was no rank smell or rocks.

There was only the warmth of the bed.

Hargrave whispered with all the tension leaving his body, “Oh, thank the Heavens! It was only a bad dream.”

The thing that he wasn’t grateful for was the sudden tingling in his head he felt immediately afterwards.

***************

The sound of whirring blades cut through the serene evening sky. The seaside city below was painted with the hues of the setting sun.

Zooming towards the location were two Cloud Hoppers, one tinted blue and the other the default yellow and black.

Earlier that day, the Commandant Marshall Jon Ace himself received a threatening video message.

It was Dr Klipse. He had Beyal, bound and gagged. The boy would never be seen again unless they surrendered Six.

He said that he would be waiting in Costal City. The time and coordinates encoded into the message indicated that the meeting would be at dusk, in an abandoned warehouse district.

In the tinted Hopper were the remaining members of Team Core-Tech. Chase insisted that they should be the ones to meet the Doctor in person. He didn’t appreciate being buried in the mountains. The group’s Monsunos were the reason that they survived. Dax and Jinja were just as vengeful as Chase, wanting to give their friend a second chance. Bren, not so much, being the cautious one of the group.

In the regular Hopper were Strike Squad and friend. There was a serious atmosphere in the aircraft. Six was on board, sitting at the back of the helicopter. He had convinced the Commandant Marshall that he would be an asset during the mission. He knew Dr Klipse better than anyone else. He could predict what his father would do.

Six wanted to show that he could change, unlike his father.

Alpha pressed a button and spoke into the microphone of the vehicle, “Are you ready?”

Chase’s voice answered with aggressive enthusiasm, “Never been readier in my life!”

“Remember the plan: you attack the front, we go behind.”

“We know. We got this! Over and out.”

The transmission ended. Underneath the two choppers were the derelict buildings. Some used to be warehouses, others were originally offices.

Team Core-Tech made a b-line to the given location. Strike Squad looped around, going much further away.

The azure aircraft landed with a clang. The children inside slipped on their earpieces so that everyone could communicate.

“Hey, Core-Tech. Kick some ass,” they heard Kilo say.

Dax replied with a laugh, “We plan to, mate.”

The door clunked open as the four children departed. It made the same sound as it closed.

The orange rectangles towered over them imposingly as they walked to the destination. The breeze that blew in between them was hushed.

Bren had pulled his tablet out from his satchel. On it was a GPS map, showing the distance to the coordinates.

“We should be getting close,” the boy looked up and around, “but, uh, I don’t see anyone else.”

“You sure it’s not your glasses?” Jinja remarked.

“No, B’s right,” Chase confirmed, “we are the only ones here. I think this is a set up.”

“Or,” Dax suggested smugly, “Mr Big-and-Scary is big scaredy-cat!”

Suddenly, there was a fifth voice that halted the children.

It boomed, “Speak of the Devil and he shall appear.”

A figure slowly swaggered from behind one of the buildings and stopped in front of the team, sunset shadow stretching along the ground. There was a malevolent snicker.

“Team Core-Tech,” it said.

“Klipse,” Chase responded, recognising the voice.

“However did you escape your tombs?” the man questioned with a smile.

Dax stepped forward angrily and yelled, “No thanks to you!”

Bren slipped the tablet into his bag, turning to the side to do it.

He saw something approaching from behind from the corner of his eye.

He looked up, “Oh crag.”

The others glanced behind.

Boxing them in were Drezz and Dom Pyro.

Bren whispered to his group, “He was right. The Doctor isn’t alone.”

Jinja demanded loudly, “Where’s Beyal?”

Drezz sneered, “You don’t have Six, so we won’t give you the monk.”

Dom Pyro giggled with twisted glee, “Oh, instead we’ll give you,” he ripped the cores off his sash, “a battle!”

The children stood in combative positions, back to back.

Dax noted, “Four against three. Odds in our favour, right?”

Chase turned his head to him, “Let’s hope that’s true.”

The children shouted in unison, throwing their cores, “Team Core-Tech! Launch!”

The men simply cackled as they hurtled their cores in response. Flashes of crimson and cobalt sprung above the sun-kissed blocks.

Strike Squad had already landed and stayed in their Hopper, awaiting the signal.

All six of them heard Bren’s frantic voice in their ears.

“We’re fighting Dr Klipse! And Drezz, a-and Don Pyro! Wah!”

The boy was cut off. Alpha nodded to his team.

They burst out of the helicopter and ran in the direction of the coordinates.

Tango stated, “We’ve only got eight minutes.”

X-Ray added, “Nine, if we’re lucky.”

“Nine?” Six asked.

“Yeah. Lock’s so powerful that it can stay out a bit longer,” the boy with glasses explained, “Go figure that Dr Suno gives his son the special Monsuno.”

As they raced around the buildings while the night eclipsed them, they were watched from above.

Tinker spoke into his earpiece, “Doctor, they brought friends. And Six.”

The Doctor’s voice replied, “Then give them a warm welcome.”

A mischievous smirk crept onto the man’s face.

He pitched an orange core, “Vicegrip! Launch!”

Throttle and Ratchet, from their vantage points, saw the small beacon as it spun towards the tail of the team.

“Si!” Throttle slung her core with zeal.

Ratchet was relieved. She was sick of waiting for action. She did the same as her fellow Punk Monks.

Strike Squad and Six were suddenly surrounded by orange mechanical monsters: a tentacled hermit crab, an axolotl with turbines on its back and a dog-deer with iron rods for horns. The S.T.O.R.M. specialists quickly armed themselves.

“Only three of them? Easy-peasy!” Bravo commented confidently.

Six turned to them and began to talk in a low and authoritative tone.

“Alpha, you’re coming with me. The rest of you can deal with this.”

Alpha became defensive, “Who put you in charge?”

He was about to launch his Monsuno, like the rest of the group.

Six grabbed his arm, “Listen to me. We will not find Beyal here. He’s being kept far away from the fighting.”

Sapphire light erupted from Strike Squad’s cores. Their Monsunos emerged with bellows.

Tango looked over to the boys, “I trust him.”

Kilo boasted, “We’ve practically got this in the bag, Red.”

“Alright then,” Alpha said as Six released his arm, “Let’s go.”

The two boys dashed as the blue beasts lunged at the cybernetic creatures.

They disappeared among the shadowed blocks. The screeches of the Monsunos as they clashed became more distant.

“Where do you think he would be?” Alpha quizzed Six.

“In one of the buildings. We just have to find him.”

“How?”

Six smiled, “Don’t you have a wolf Monsuno?”

Alpha glanced at the core in his hand, “Yeah. Tripwire’s part wolf.”

“And it was able to catch Hargrave’s scent, was it not?”

Alpha skidded to a halt, “You think Beyal is with Hargrave?”

Six staggered to a stop and faced him, “Well, think about it. Dr Klipse, Dom Pyro and Drezz are with Team Core-Tech and the Punks Monk are with Strike Squad. That leaves two people: Professor Tallis and Hargrave.”

Alpha interrupted, “And Charlemagne. She’s with them now.”

“The Doctor wouldn’t trust her with anything important. She’s still an enemy,” Six reasoned, “One person would have to mind the ship which leaves the other with Beyal.”

Alpha crossed his arms, still sceptical, “And you think it the butler?”

Six held his hands out, “The Professor panics easily. Hargrave is a robot in comparison. Besides, it’s the latter’s job to be a bodyguard.”

Alpha blinked as Six beamed.

Alpha dropped his arms, “I hope you’re right about this,” he flung his core at a wall, “Tripwire! Launch!”

Ting!

Leaping from the bursting golden light was the black and white wolf with the barbed whips in its tail.

“Tripwire, down,” its controller commanded.

The wolf obeyed, lowering its head. The children climbed on to ride it. It rose again.

“Find Beyal. He’s with the butler, apparently.”

The wolf’s nose wrinkled as it sniffed the air. It turned its head, locking onto a scent.

Alpha quickly grasped the Monsuno’s fur as he jerked backwards. Six chuckled; he was holding on, expecting the sudden movement.

The wolf weaved through the buildings with an excited pant.

Meanwhile, off the coast of the city, the Eklpise Resistance ship bobbed underneath the waves. It was submerged to hide it. The massive airship would have looked incredibly suspect if it were any closer to land.

Professor Tallis and Charlemagne were stuck inside. The Professor wore an earpiece and was watching the radar. He also monitored the communication channels used for the nearby Hoppers that were detected. He was sitting down, resting his head and arms on the terminal. His cane was propped next to him.

Charlemagne was pacing, irritated with the idea of being trapped under the sea.

She stopped suddenly and barked, “Status report.”

The Professor groaned, fatigued by the request, “Y-y-you just asked five m-m-m-minutes ago. It is still the s-s-s-same as before.”

The woman grunted, “I should be out there. I don’t know vhy Emmanuel decided to seal me in this stupid can with you!”

The Professor sat back is his chair and swivelled around to face her.

He fidgeted with his hands together, “I w-w-w-wish I could be out there t-t-too. Perhaps, he b-b-believes that we will i-i-impede him.”

“Bah!” the woman spat dramatically “He doesn’t trust us, Shandler!”

“Well, he did e-e-entrust us with the ship,” the Professor shrugged.

Her snarl lessened, “He did, didn’t he?”

She wandered a bit closer to the man, holding her hands out as she regarded him.

“Vhy don’t ve just leave? Ve can fly away and he can’t do anything.”

The Professor was aghast at the idea, “A-a-and abandon everyone? For shame, C-Charlemagne!”

She growled, clenching her fists and stormed away, jacket sweeping behind her.

Her pacing became more vigorous, “Ve are not doing anything here!”

The Professor spun around, flopped to his original position and muttered, “I am.”

The only sound in the room was of the woman’s marching boots on the floor.

The lethargy of the situation had consumed the Professor. He began to daydream.

He mumbled, believing the thought was still in his head, “I w-w-w-wonder if she k-k-k-knows how beautiful she is.”

Charlemagne’s boots screeched to a standstill.

She glanced at the Professor, “Vhat did you just say?”

Her voice wrenched the Professor back to the present with a shudder.

“D-d-d-d-did I s-s-s-s-say something?” he quietly asked, pop-eyed.

“You did,” she stated sternly, “Vhat vas it?”

“N-n-n-n-n-nothing,” the Professor sank into his arms, trying to hide his red face.

She sighed, “Right,” she began to stroll out of the room, “I’m going for another valk.”

“Okay.”

She left, creating a quiet emptiness in the room.

The Professor finally had space to think. Coyly, he was off with the fairies again.

Above sea level, the skies over the abandoned buildings sounded of the shrieking of Monsunos.

Shrieking and smashing.

Team Core-Tech had taken cover behind a concrete cube, now half broken by the monsters that rampaged. It was bombarded with molten fireballs from Acro.

The winged serpent was yanked from the sky by an avian blur. The ampithere was tossed towards the three-headed cyborg dragon with turbine thighs. The dragon zoomed upwards, letting the snake crash into the rock-hard ground.

Dax heard his Monsuno’s cry. He grinned.

He stuck his head out from the hiding spot, “Yeah! Go Hyper Airswitch!”

Bren turned to him, “Does that mean that we’re not being blasted anymore?”

Dax gave a thumbs-up, “That’s right, matey. We’re safe.”

Jinja pointed in the opposite direction and exclaimed, “Try telling that to them!”

The children jumped as they heard another beast bellow behind them. They faced it and saw that Bronto had found them.

“Run!” Chase shouted.

They dived out of the way as the brontosaurus fired shots from its front legs. The wall they were standing behind shattered in an instant. The children scrambled away.

Around them, their Monsunos were surrounded by enemies. Hyper Charger and Triplex were locked in a fearsome clash, bony frill grinding on antler.

Drezz and his finned lizard Iguano spectated them from a distance.

He directed to his Monsuno, “Fire!”

The dinosaur’s fin shone with vermillion power as it shot at the moose.

The antlered beast was hit by a glob of fire in the face, causing it to flinch. Its head was propelled upwards by the triceratops, rearing. The dinosaur rammed its horns into the moose’s underbelly. The moose wailed.

The polar bear-gorilla Hyper Lock bucked and flailed, attempting to throw the black beast Backslash off its back. The dark bear flipped off and landed with a skid, snarling at the powerful Monsuno.

The Doctor ordered, throwing his hand towards the wolf-bear, “Fearsome Flex!”

Backslash glowed with a crimson aura. Its muscles grew substantially, almost popping from the bone.

It lunged into a grapple with Hyper Lock. The bears struggled, snapping at each other. Backslash was much smaller than its opponent. Even with the bulk up, it was skidding backwards.

The polar bear dug its claws into the black beast’s arms. Backslash glanced at its arms, then at its opponent.

Lock seemed to smile.

Like a ball on a chain, Backslash was spun around by its arms and hurled into the sky.

A long, skeletal whip whacked the polar bear in the back of its head. It turned and glared.

A giant orb of molten lava was hurtling towards it.

It glided out of the way. There was another flaming ball coming towards it.

Hyper Lock breathed its artic breath at it, freezing the lava to the ground.

It roared at the lizard responsible: the sabre-tooted Odon.

The dinosaur spun around, elongating its tail, and slapped the bear across the face with an audible crack.

Racing through the night sky was the dragon Hyper Neo-Quickforce, pursued by the three-headed jet-propelled dragon. The bird beast flipped to face its foe and fired an orb of electricity from its horns.

The cybernetic dragon collided heads-first into the attack and corkscrewed out of control.

The bird dragon mocked its enemy as it watched the cyborg crash.

It looked down.

A green tiger with metallic wings was rocketing towards it, antelope horns aimed for it.

The tiger’s horns landed an uppercut on the dragon with a mighty whack before it could react.

Hyper Neo-Quickforce began to drop to the earth.

Mid-air, it was collected by a catapulted Monsuno. They both plummeted down to the battlefield below with a yowl.

Team Core-Tech were being chased by a certain rabid parasaurolophus. It threw its drill hands at the children, plunging them into the concrete every time it missed.

Bren shouted as the four ran away from the monster, “This was an idiotic idea! Why did we listen to Chase again?!”

“That’s pretty bad if it’s coming from you!” Jinja snarked at the same volume.

“And do you have any better ideas?” the boy retorted.

Chase grabbed another azure core, “I’ve got an idea.”

“Oh no!” Bren replied fearfully.

Chase flung the tiny cylinder at the dinosaur, “Deepsix! Launch!”

With a burst of light, a silver tiger-shark appeared and clawed Sauro’s face. The dinosaur staggered backwards as Deepsix dropped to the ground on all fours.

“Now that’s a plan that I can get behind!” Dax whipped out his core, “Clubber! Launch!”

Another blue light exploded in Sauro’s face.

The dinosaur was wacked by a heavy club with red crystals. The lizard slid back.

A blue quad-horned bull with crimson crystals covering its back and a clubbed tail joined the land shark. It snarled at the dinosaur.

The children heard a maniacal guffaw.

They faced the origin and saw Dom Pyro riding on the back of a stomping Bronto.

“Phalanx Flare!” he called to his Monsuno.

Two long necks suddenly burst from the dinosaur’s body, giving the beast three heads. All three fired at the children.

Clubber leapt in front of them, shielding them with a vermillion forcefield. The shield rattled with the shots.

A flash of blue from behind revealed a butterfly-hawk that soared above the confrontation.

“Skyfall!” Jinja instructed, “Decoy Trap!”

The bird spat white globs. They transformed into clones of it. Soon, the skies above were swarmed by dozens of butterfly-hawks.

Sauro and Bronto cried with confusion, becoming overwhelmed.

Bren’s voice shouted, “Longfang! Fang Barrage!”

A blue beam shot right at Dom’s feet. He yelped, leaping off his shaking Monsuno. He landed with a roll.

An azure cat with crystals for sabre-teeth stood beside Bren, roaring.

Bren spoke into his earpiece, “I hope you guys are having better luck than us!”

Dax added, turning to the side slightly, “They’re wiping the floor with us!”

Bravo replied in a slightly snippy tone, “Yeah, you’d think that we’d have a better time!”

There was a screech from his spear-headed dragon as an explosion struck it. It faltered in the air before rushing towards the robotic deer-dog.

The dog bounced away. The dragon’s face met the club of an ankylosaur. The dragon rebounded upwards.

It was blasted by a tornado breath in a different direction by the axolotl.

Tango calmly stated, “They have more Monsunos than anticipated.”

She dived from supersonic waves intended for her. It originated from an orange mechanical bee. It was tackled by the blue beetle Hyper Ironjaw.

She ran from an exploding wall. The skeletal insect Lithos had charged through it.

X-Ray was hiding underneath a giant, black and white spider with a swollen, multidirectional, Gatling gun thorax.

“This is the reason why I brought an extra Monsuno,” X-Ray remarked.

The spider tanked a flaming beam from Tyrant the dragon. The arachnid responded by raining the lizard in shots from the spikes on its thorax.

The dragon was gunned down by a beam from the organic saucer Skysite.

The hovering Monsuno was then bombarded by bullets from a robotic scorpion’s back cannons.

“Ah, shut up!” Kilo snapped to X-Ray through his earpiece.

His arrow-headed dragon was blocking attacks from the cybernetic hermit crab’s tentacles with its thick arms. The dragon flicked its arms up and bellowed sapphire rings at the monster. The hermit crab was blown away like a tumbleweed.

The dragon was smacked on the back of the head by two boomerang blades. They returned toa cyborg praying mantis.

“How long can you hold out for?” Alpha asked, bobbing with his bounding Monsuno.

Chase responded, “We can buy you a couple of minutes but no more.”

“That’s all we need,” Six said.

“Whatever you’re doing, you better make it qui- !” Chase was interrupted by a bang.

Six smiled. He and Alpha knew that Tripwire was getting close to the scent’s source.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the warehouse district, in an abandoned office floor, Hargrave peered at the silent world below. It seemed far away, being so high up in the building. The window he looked from stretched to the ceiling and floor, covering one wall almost completely.

“I am surprised that you haven’t attempted to run away,” he remarked, turning to the shadowed corner of the wide room.

He regarded Beyal. The boy’s hands and feet were tied with ropes. A third piece was strewn to the side. It was meant to be around his mouth but was taken off when Hargrave realised that the boy wasn’t making any sounds.

Beyal gazed at the butler blankly.

“If you did try,” the man continued the train of thought, “we would both find out what my lasers can do to human skin. They can melt through steel.”

He strolled towards the boy, hands behind his back, shoes clicking on the hardwood floors, “You know that you would have to be the quietest hostage I have ever come across.”

The shoes scratched to a stop in front of the boy.

“Well?” he prompted, “Aren’t you going to say something? A quip of sorts, perhaps a sensationalist statement of how Eklipse Resistance will never get away with this.”

Beyal was still emotionless. Hargrave narrowed his eyes.

There was an edge of annoyance to his voice, “Anything?”

A small smirk crept onto Beyal’s face.

“Alright,” the butler knelt in front of the boy to be at eye level, “Two can play this game.”

His voice became a whisper, “I can save my breath,” a malicious grin spread across his face, “and no one will ever find you.”

Beyal’s smirk disappeared as the butler got up again.

BANG!

The butler jumped at the sudden sound, smile shaken off his face. It came from the door. He rushed to it and carefully opened it to listen.

A Monsuno’s growl echoed into the room. Thumping and footsteps carried upwards.

Hargrave closed the door and informed with his earpiece, “Sir, I have some grave news.”

“What is it?” the Doctor demanded crankily.

“I have been found.”

“Impossible!” the Doctor snarled, “I know exactly where everyone is. Team Core-Tech is with me.”

Another bang came from the door.

Tinker chimed in, “Yeah, and Strike Squad and Six are with us,” he paused for a moment, “Wait a second, there’s only four of them here!”

“WHAT?! YOU’VE LOST TWO OF THEM?!” the butler flinched at the Doctor’s outrage.

Tinker stammered, “T-they must’ve snuck away without us r-realising!”

A gentle knock came from the door.

Hargrave turned to it with a furrowed forehead.

SMASH!

The door flew off its hinges and into the room.

A giant wolf’s head was biting at the wide-eyed butler as he backed away. The wolf rose upwards, taking the door frame and part of the wall with it. Dust billowed into the trembling room, causing its occupants to splutter.

A voice came from the cloud, “Hello Hargrave.”

The butler’s ears pricked at his name. The dust settled.

It was Six and Alpha.

“How very clever of you,” the butler grumbled.

He reported to the Doctor, “I have been discovered by Six and that red-headed boy.”

The S.T.O.R.M. specialist proclaimed, pointing at him, “That’s Alpha to you!”

Hargrave could hear his master seething on the other side.

“You better deal with it,” the Doctor threatened.

The butler replied in a hushed tone, “That is the plan, sir.”

Tripwire suddenly barked. The butler stepped back in start.

Six turned to Alpha, “I’ll help Beyal. You can handle Hargrave.”

He ran over to the monk who was overjoyed to see him. He began to pull at the taut knots, attempting to unravel them.

“Get in here, Tripwire,” Alpha ordered.

The Monsuno pulled the piece of the wall out, threw it away with a mighty boom then entered, glaring at the butler.

The butler’s robot claws twitched in anticipation of the attacks.

“Get him!” Alpha directed towards him.

Tripwire lunged with open jaws. Hargrave slid to the side and struck the Monsuno with his robot arm above the elbow. It squeaked in surprise, jerking off its leg.

Alpha was stunned. The butler was retaliating without a Monsuno.

The wolf snapped at the butler as it pursued him around the room.

It dived towards him, jaws ready to snatch him up.

The butler’s robot claws hooked onto the beast’s mouth and jammed it open.

Alpha was open-mouthed, “You haven’t even spun out…”

Hargrave scolded the boy, “Do you honestly believe that this floor is strong enough to support the weight of two Monsunos?”

Tripwire raised a paw.

Wham!

The butler was thrown to the ground, sliding onto his back.

He scurried from the paw that slammed into where he was. He evaded the slapping and was backed into the window.

A paw swung towards him.

He ducked. The window shattered.

The butler glanced behind and saw the drop. He looked back at the snarling Monsuno.

He was cornered.

Six was struggling to untie the rope.

Beyal looked up at the broken window and saw the butler.

“Do not let him escape!” he alerted his friends, “He still has my Monsuno!”

A grin appeared on Hargrave’s face upon hearing the monk, “That I do.”

Alpha scoffed, “He’s not going anywhere!”

A dark chuckle came from the butler.

Alpha and Six became suspicious.

Hargrave grabbed his harness and stepped backwards.

He dropped from the window.

Six stood up in disbelief. Alpha’s face was awash with confusion. Tripwire blinked.

The soft sound of whizzing blades came from outside.

The butler zoomed upwards.

Six’s and Alpha’s jaws dropped. There was a sense of silent bewilderment in the room.

“He can fly,” Six stated the obvious, still grappling with what he witnessed.

Alpha looked at him, “You didn’t know?”

Six shook his head, becoming guilty, “He never mentioned it.”

He buried the feeling and let resolve take over.

He directed Alpha, “You can help Beyal,” he pulled out a black core and headed towards where the door formally was, “I’m going after him.”

On the roof of the multi-storey building, Hargrave landed with a step. His propellers reverted to robotic claws.

He leaned over the edge and taunted, “You weren’t expecting that, were you?”

SMASH!

The butler almost fell off the building. He turned around and saw that the roof had erupted, leaving a gaping hole in the centre.

The shriek of a Monsuno pierced the sky.

He looked up and saw a sleek four-winged black bird. Its sword-tail shone in the moonlight.

His mocking expression had evaporated, “Touché Six.”

The giant bird dived towards the butler.

He instinctively ducked. The Monsuno whooshed above him like a whirlwind.

He popped up like a meerkat trying to see where the blur went.

It was hurtling towards him, talons pointed at him.

He gasped.

The butler’s robot arms folded in front of his face as he shielded himself, curling his body in.

Whack!

He was flung to the opposite corner of the building. He slammed into the concrete on his back with a skid.

He wearily got up, groaning. Swaying side to side, he saw someone walking towards him.

He backed away, eyes refocusing, “Six.”

He stopped suddenly. He had reached the edge of the building.

He looked over the edge, noticing the vertigo-inducing height, and whimpered “Oh, that is an awfully high drop.”

“You can’t fly away this time,” Six informed, crossing his arms.

The butler glanced at him then at the bird. It had landed. It squawked ferociously.

The Monsuno could pluck the flying butler out of the air before any chance of evasion could occur. He was grounded.

“All of this for a silly little core,” he commented as he pulled the cobalt cylinder from his pocket and examined it.

Six held a hand out, “Give it to me, Hargrave.”

The butler’s eyes flicked back to the boy.

“Fetch.”

He casted the core off the edge of the building out of spite. He didn’t like being bashed into the ground by the giant bird.

Six’s eyes widened at the action.

The boy shouted at his Monsuno, “Blackbullet!”

Electrified by his voice, the bird sprung into the air and swooped after the tiny container. It created a gale with its wings that the butler shielded himself from.

It flew up again, clutching the core in its beak.

It landed with a flutter, dropping the core into Six’s hand. He slipped it into his pocket.

He turned to the butler, “You’re not fighting back. Why?”

The butler shook his head, face filled with worry, ‘Quite frankly, I don’t want to, Six.”

The boy revealed a red core, “Are you sure about that?”

Hargrave froze as he spotted the anger flare in the child’s eyes. It was just like his father’s.

Six held his arm up, aiming at the butler, “Archaic Lock!”

“Wait! Stop!” the butler threw his open hands up, “Surely we can talk?”

The boy gritted his teeth as his grip tightened around his core, “I’m sick of your tricks!”

He raised his arm higher, winding up.

There was a scraping from below. He glanced down and saw a launcher at his feet.

He looked back at the butler with distrust. He knew that the man would try anything to escape.

Hargrave reacted to Six’s expression with sadness. He grabbed the harness of his robot arms.

He pulled them off, over his head. He took a few paces and placed them to the side.

He returned to the corner. He pulled the earpiece out of his ear and put it in his pocket.

Six’s arm began to gradually drop, trying to decipher what the butler’s motivation was.

Hargrave held his hands out, eyes showing a hint of fear, “All I want is to ask you one simple question,” he gulped, “but you can launch that core and kill me, if you wish.”

The rage left Six completely, now replaced with shock. His arm was down by his side.

The boy knew that the man would only risk his life for his master, never just to flee a precarious situation like this.

“What’s the question?” he quietly asked.

The butler’s hands lowered. His voice was soft and solicitous.

“Why don’t you want to come back with us?”

Six’s eyes flickered as he tried to find the right words, sorting through his memories.

He spoke measuredly, “I don’t want to come back because I have been happier in the last two months in detention than I have ever been at home.”

He glanced back to the butler who gave an encouraging look.

The boy continued, “I haven’t felt like that I needed to,” he hesitated, “fight to prove why I should exist. I can just be. And people respect that,” his eyes darted to the side, “I have since realised that the cause of my unhappiness was Father.”

All the boy ever desired was to please his father, but the Doctor never seemed to be satisfied. There was always something wrong.

The Doctor wanted Six to live up to his perfect image. It was impossible.

As a result, the boy had a constant nagging feeling of inadequacy.

“He always could find some way of dragging me down, no matter what,” anger swelled within the boy, “And you always just stood by him and did nothing!”

The words hung heavily in the air, lingering around the butler.

Hargrave sighed, “I know, but there wasn’t much that I could do.”

He gestured to himself with his hands, “I have frequently reminded him that you are human.”

The Doctor had referred to the boy in the same way one would to an animal. In his eyes: the child was just another experiment.

The butler was unable to disconnect from the humanity like his master. It was in his face; he couldn’t ignore it.

He admitted, “And I do feel a degree of responsibility for this whole,” his hands tilted forwards, “thing, for lack of a better word.”

At the time, the man told himself that he would be impersonal towards the boy. He was just a clone.

Then the boy started to help him, voluntarily, with his menial tasks, like cleaning. He wasn’t quite sure of how to react at first; no one else ever assisted him like that.

He began to teach the boy how to perform the jobs. The child was quite cute with his eagerness. His eyes were filled with wonder and that gave the man a feeling of warmth.

For a while, Hargrave didn’t know why he felt like this around Six. He later realised that he had developed a fondness towards the boy.

The butler was filled with shame, knowing that he turned a blind eye to his master who hurt the child.

He folded his hands together as he gazed to the ground, “I’m sorry.”

Tears began to well in Six’s eyes.

“I don’t want an apology from you!” he cried, voice cracking, “I want one from Father!”

The butler looked up at the boy and cautioned, “I am unsure if you will be able to get one from him.”

The boy’s anger dissipated again, leaving despondence in its wake.

There was a silence. The cool breeze chilled the atmosphere on the building.

The quietness was interrupted.

Six heard Alpha hiss in his ear, “Six! Do you have the core yet?”

“Yes,” the boy turned to the side, “I do.”

He put the core in his hand back into his pocket.

“Go,” the butler said solemnly.

Six looked at him one last time.

He shook his head, “I don’t know how you are still happy to work for him.”

He faced his Monsuno. The giant black bird launched into the air with a flap and picked Six up with care. It flew down the hole it entered.

Hargrave walked up to his launcher and collected it, still stuck on the very last sentence Six spoke. He slid it into his vest.

He paused to ponder something he rarely considered: his own feelings. The Doctor had always come first.

The butler pulled out the earpiece from his pocket and regarded it with a dawning realisation.

He wasn’t sure if he was happy.

He frowned, only briefly. He couldn’t let his emotion control him, especially during the execution of a plot.

He placed the earpiece in his ear.

He sprung into the air like a rocket at the sudden shouting.

“HARGRAVE! HARGRAVE! ARE YOU THERE?!”

“D-Doctor!” he replied shakily, “I am here. No need to shout.”

“What the Hell happened to you?!” Tinker questioned crossly.

The butler walked over to his robot arms and grabbed them.

He played dumb, “I’m not quite sure. Were you unable to contact me?”

The Doctor roared, “YES!”

The butler recoiled again. He slipped on the harness for his robot arms.

He continued the act, “Oh my! I hadn’t the foggiest idea.”

He heard the Professor’s unimpressed voice, “C-c-clearly. What do you have to r-r-report?”

“Ah, well,” Hargrave wandered towards hole created by Blackbullet and peered down it, “It’s not good news.”

The Doctor’s voice was low and menacing, “Spit it out.”

The butler braced himself for the reactions, “I regret to inform you that they got away.”

There was a moment of silence on the other ends as the news sunk in.

“What?!” Tinker exclaimed.

“G-g-g-got a-a-away?” the Professor was frightened.

The Doctor said nothing. That scared the butler the most.

A recognisable hiss came from the bottom of the building. Hargrave rushed to the edge of the rooftop.

He caught a glimpse of Alpha, Six and Beyal riding a triple-headed snake as it slithered away.

There finally was a response from the Doctor, “We are leaving. Now.”

“Yes, sir,” the butler replied quietly.

“Onto it, Doctor,” Tinker answered, his voice quavering slightly.

Hargrave gazed along the concrete boxes to the distant fighting. He could see flashes of red and orange rise above the buildings.

They had lost this battle, plan foiled. And yet, the butler didn’t feel the usual disappointment towards the defeat. In fact, he almost felt at ease.

But then the dread of what he would face set in. The Doctor was going to have his hide for this.

He wasn’t looking forward to that. Not at all.

#monsuno #fanfic #cw abuse

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echobasegazette · 6 years

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Stranger Things

I haven’t ever written about a TV show before, mainly because I don’t watch much non-sports TV. I really just watch movies and reruns when I turn on the TV because I can’t seem to ever remember to watch shows I like when they air. But recently I have been watching TV shows, on a strictly binge-watch basis, on Netflix or HBO. Like most people, when I can’t find something to watch, I browse the “you might like this” on the Netflix homepage, and a recent addition to that category was Stranger Things. I still don’t know why I decided to watch it; maybe it was because of the ticking timer that showed up when I first clicked on the show, “4 hours until the release of season 2,” or maybe it was some of the hype I’d heard from people I know. But once I started the series, I couldn’t stop. I plowed through all 18 episodes in seven days, and when it finished, I couldn’t help but think that the final episode was absolutely perfect.

For those who haven’t seen the show I will give you some quick points to peak your interest and then suggest that you stop reading until you’ve finished the series.

Super Quick Review

The show takes place in the mid-80s, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. There are four kids who are playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basement when the show starts. After the conclusion of their mission/quest they all head home. One of the kids, Will, is attacked on the way home by a creature from another dimension called the Upside Down. Meanwhile there is a secret facility in town run by the United States government, and as you would expect, they are up to all sorts of no good. This show is advertised as scary, but it’s more of a thriller and suspenseful, very similar in feel and “scare” level to Super 8 by J.J. Abrams.

Now if you haven’t seen the show, I would advise you to stop here since everything going forward is full of spoilers.

This show is really freaking good so I am not going to write a review on the show itself. What I am going to do is talk about a few things that I have been thinking about since I finished watching. Some of the following points have come from reading other articles online, and some are just my own perceptions and reflections.

Why do people care about Barb Holland and Bob Newby?

It took me seven days to finish this series, and while watching it I refrained from reading anything online about the show. The main reason that I do this is so the ideas of authors don’t infect my own. So, when I finished the show I went online and started reading articles and reviews about the show and people seemed to really like these two characters, and I have no idea why.

As soon as Barb was captured, I knew she was dead. They had to start killing characters to create the perception of threat to the main characters, and she was the perfect fit. Online there started to become a #justiceforbarb following on social media, but why? She appears to be a good person and a good friend to main character Nancy Wheeler, but her biggest contribution was being dragged to party she didn’t want to go to and trying to cock-block her friend. Do I think her parents should have been told of her death so that they didn’t sell their house trying to pay to find their daughter? Yes, of course. But someone had to die in that first season, and she is easily the best option.

Bob Newby is different than Barb; he wasn’t a throw-away character who had to die just to create the potential of a threat. Bob is a main character who dies because he made too many mistakes. First, he convinced Will Byers to tell his dream demons to go away. Sure, that’s sound advice if you are having run of the mill nightmares, but its shitty advice if you are being stalked by an interdimensional power known as the shadow monster. Second, Bob nominates himself for a suicide mission because he is really the only one who is capable of operating the computers. But once he’s finished he leaves his gun on the table before heading to the exit. Rookie mistake Bob, when you are being chased by aliens, zombies, talking toys, or inter-dimensional Demi-Dogs, you never forget your gun.

The third and final/fatal mistake Bob makes is he doesn’t complete the catch before looking up field. This might not make sense to anyone who doesn’t watch football but sometimes a WR will be about to catch a pass and then he will turn to look up field, taking his eyes off the ball leading to a dropped pass. So, make the catch and then turn up field. Bob makes the same mistake, metaphorically. He has just escaped a maze of horrors and slammed the door in the face of a Demi-Dog, he is within 30 feet of safety and he looks up and celebrates the moment. In the next instant the demi-dog crashes through the door and eats him. Bob died because he didn’t stay focused on his objective; he was too busy trying to be “Bob Newby, Superhero”.

What was the deal with Eleven’s standalone episode in Season 2?

Eleven has been stuck in a cabin for 350+ days, and Hopper has been driving her crazy because he never shows up on time. She is pissed off at Mike because she saw him chatting up Max, and so she decides it’s time to go visit her mother. While she is there, she sees a vision of another girl, Eight/Kali, and takes off to Chicago to meet up with her. Kali is the leader of a gang which robs people and kills “bad people”, and she convinces Eleven to join for a short time.

I hated this entire episode; everything about it was completely horrible. Eleven is “good guy”, sure she was a little impulsive, but she was getting training at the hands of Chief Hopper. She was on the right path. Then she meets up with Kali and her gang of losers. I was so happy when Eleven finally decided to head back to Indiana to help her friends.

My other complaint was that this episode, “The Lost Sister”, existed outside the rest of the story timeline. Every other episode jumps around between the different characters so that time passes evenly for the cast. But not this episode it’s just an entire episode of bad decisions by a 13-year-old with superpowers. It would have been better if this storyline was split between several episodes throughout the middle of season two. But really, I still don’t think I would have enjoyed the story line.

Why did Dr. Brenner want to be called by Papa by the experiment kids?

Dr. Brenner is the main human villain in the first season, and he runs the Hawkins Energy lab building. One of his duties at this covert CIA-type laboratory is training the captured children in the use of their powers. He is also in charge of keeping the experiments at the Hawkins facility a secret for the local community. In his normal duties, he has to experiment on children and kill anyone who finds out the secret nature of the facility, so basically his job sucks. Even if he donated part of his salary to charity he would still be a “bad guy” best compared to Joesf Mengele, the Doctor at Aushwitz who experimented on children. But the creepiest thing about this guy is that the children call him “Papa”. Why? The kids are isolated from the rest of the world, he could tell them to call him anything. But instead he has created this weird father relationship with the children. He should probably be investigated by the Officers of the Special Victims Unit because something weird is going on here.

Why isn’t Nancy creeped out by Jonathan Byers?

Early in the first season Jonathan Byers is walking through the woods looking for his brother Will when he stumbles on Steve Harrington’s house. There is a party going on at Steve’s house, so Jonathan pulls out his camera and starts taking pictures of the frivolities. While taking picture he captures a photograph of Nancy taking off her clothes in Steve’s room.

After developing his photos Jonathan is walking through the school parking lot and happens upon Nancy, Steve, and his goonish friend. Steve and the goon take his photos and find the revealing photo of Nancy; they proceed to rip up the photos and smash his camera. At this point Nancy feels bad for Jonathan, which is understandable given that her “friends” have just bullied the poor kid. But she ends up becoming friends with Jonathan and later dates him. Why isn’t she creeped out by the fact that he took these photos? I know he gives her some lame excuse about capturing people as they actually are, but it’s still completely creepy. I just don’t understand why this isn’t a huge red flag and major turnoff.

Who is the MVP of the first two seasons of Stranger Things 2?

Stranger Things has now completed its first two seasons, 18 episodes of content, and there is a lot going on. But my favorite thing to think about is who is the biggest hero of the show. Who is the MVP?

There are certainly a lot of quality options. The two most obvious choices are Eleven and Chief Jim Hopper. Eleven is a 12/13-year-old with some X-men like powers. She took on the Demogorgon and kicked its ass, then she threw down with some demi-dogs and closed a massive portal to the Upside down with her mind. There were some rough patches along the way, like shoplifting and joining up with a crew of losers, but she always shows up when the bread needs to buttered.

Chief Jim Hopper is just a local police chief, but he can really kick some ass. In fact, I think he punches out every person at Hawkins lab. He has no powers except an awesome beard and a willingness to battle interdimensional beings, even though it’s way out of his jurisdiction. Heck he even looks out for Eleven when she has no place to live.

With any MVP race there has to be some dark horse candidates and here are those four options. Joyce Byers is Will and Jonathan’s (why doesn’t he go by John?) mother. She doesn’t give up on Will even when everyone thinks he is dead and that she is crazy. But her ex does throw her off for an episode. In season two she really steps up her game as she helps Hopper solve the maze that Will has drawn. Her and Bob team up to locate the missing Chief Hopper, and finally, she teams up with Nancy and Jonathan and gives heat to the shadow monsters to save her son.

The trio of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas would also make a solid choice. Sure, they make some mistakes, they often need to be rescued by other characters, and they fight amongst themselves. But they go toe to toe with a scary ass monster with nothing but a slingshot. The also use their knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons to explain everything that’s happening to the rest of the characters. They do have some rocky moments but they remain steadfast in their desire to help their friend.

Neither Jonathan nor Nancy has a strong case by themselves, but together they are a pretty sweet team. The buy some bear traps and other tools in an effort to distract the Demogorgon. They help Murray the reporter bust open the secret on the Hawkins facility, kicking those bastards out of town. They even manage to help out Barb’s parents avoid losing their home and all their money in a desperate search for their daughter. And with the help of Joyce, they manage to save Will from the clutches of the shadow monster.

Billy Hargrove is a complete asshole and would never have a chance at the MVP, but his mullet is freaking awesome. Every time Billy does something awesome, smoking while lifting weights, seducing Nancy’s mom, playing shirtless basketball, that’s the power of his mullet. But even his mullet couldn’t save him from getting his ass kicked by his sister.

If you’ve seen the show you know none of those people have a chance. The real MVP is Steve Harrington; he even has a sweet nickname perfect for the MVP of the show, King Steve. Steve is the only character who really changes throughout the events of the show. He starts out as a douche who is just hooking up with Nancy to get another notch in his belt. Next, he morphs into bat wielding defeater of the Demogorgon. Steve then becomes a good boyfriend, ready to take the next step with Nancy Wheeler, even putting up with a depressing dinner of KFC with Barb’s parents. Don’t worry he’s not done. Next, he gets his heart crushed but comes back as super-babysitter, equipped again with nail embedded bat. Steve closes out the show dispensing lady advice to Dustin and even drives him to the dance. Steve and his breathtaking Farrah Fawcett hair is your undisputed MVP of the first two seasons of the Stranger Things.

The Duffy brothers are set to make a third season and there are rumors of five seasons in total. Hopefully they start filming soon because I am really excited for the next part of the show. Plus, the kids are all set to hit puberty and we don’t 20+ year old high school students in future seasons. Lets just hope that future seasons don’t ruin the absolute perfection of that final episode of season 2.

Big O

#stranger things #netflix #tv show #Review

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Day of the Dead: George A. Romero’s Misunderstood Epic

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When legendary horror auteur George A. Romero set out to make Day of the Dead — the third chapter in a trilogy that included the wildly popular and groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1979) — he envisioned it as an epic conclusion to the story that he first began telling back in Pittsburgh in the late 1960s with a crew of friends and co-workers and a budget of just $114,000.

But the movie that Romero ended up making was not the one he started out with — and even though many were perhaps initially disappointed with Day of the Dead, it’s been re-evaluated over the years by fans, critics, and even by the late Romero himself, who wound up calling it his favorite of the original trilogy.

“When it first came out, the audience was like, ‘What the hell is this?’” says Lori Cardille, the Pittsburgh-based actress who starred as the film’s lead, scientist Sarah Bowman. “They said, ‘It’s too talky. It’s too over-the-top. These actors are too over-the-top. This is not Dawn of the Dead. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not what we expected.’ That’s why it sort of came and went, except for some people that held it and saw it for what it really was meant to be.”

Romero turned his attention to Day of the Dead after the success of 1982’s Creepshow, his collaborative homage with Stephen King to the EC horror comics of their youth. His original script for Day of the Dead was massive — with various drafts running anywhere from 122 to 204 pages — and takes place several years after the conclusion of Dawn, with the human race almost completely displaced by the reanimated dead.

A group of human refugees find their way to a tropical island — after battling both roving bands of humans and zombies — where they discover that a new civilization is rising. The lower classes live above ground in decrepit housing, while cadres of scientists and military personnel live in an underground bunker. The scientists are training the zombies to perform simple human functions — using human flesh taken from the aboveground residents as rewards — and handing them over to the military, who are shaping the ghouls into an army of the living dead.

Ruling over it all from the deepest part of the bunker is a self-styled dictator who lives in lavish style with his cronies and sycophants. But the entire situation, from the sharp division of classes to the brutal system of punishment, is primed to blow, which it does in an incredibly gruesome and explosive final battle in which the “government” is toppled — even as the zombie plague itself comes to an end.

Almost immediately, Romero’s plans for the third movie ran into problems. With an estimated budget of $7 million, it was too expensive for distributor United Film Distribution (UFD) to back — especially if it went out, like Dawn, unrated, which limited the number of theaters that would carry it. With UFD only offering to put up half the original budget — $3.5 million — Romero was forced to sit down and rewrite the script from page one, scaling back the action, the scope and the cast of characters.

Meanwhile, Romero had seen Lori Cardille in a play called Reckless and had her in mind for a major role in the original version of Day. Cardille’s father, Billy “Chilly Billy” Cardille, was a local horror host on Pittsburgh TV and an old friend of Romero who made a brief appearance in Night of the Living Dead. According to Paul Gagne’s 1987 retrospective on Romero’s films, The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh, Romero at first wanted Lori Cardille for the role of Mary, the lead scientist, before offering her the part of Sarah, then a rebel leader. The two characters were ultimately combined when Romero revamped his screenplay.

Cardille maintains to this day that she was much happier with the version of Day of the Dead that was filmed, since it was less reliant on action and spectacle. “I’m an actress that wants to play cool characters,” she says. “So when George had to pare it down, he was more focused on character, which of course was good for the actors.”

In the filmed version of Day of the Dead, the focus is shifted to the underground military installation, where a small team of research scientists led by Sarah work fruitlessly to find a cure for the zombie plague as the living dead roam in the millions above. They are allegedly protected and supported by a squadron of soldiers, but the latter have degenerated into more or less a band of hooligans led by the megalomaniacal Captain Rhodes (Joseph Pilato). With tensions rising between the two factions, it’s only a matter of time before Rhodes and his men turn really ugly.

At the same time, the eccentric, quite likely insane Dr. Logan (Richard Liberty) is having some success reactivating the dim human memories of a zombie nicknamed Bub (Sherman Howard). The seemingly intelligent zombie recognizes music and knows how to handle certain objects — including, ominously, a gun. But when Rhodes discovers that Logan is feeding Bub pieces of dead soldiers as his reward, all hell breaks loose. The third act features some of the most incredible gore seen on screen up to that time, courtesy of the legendary Tom Savini, who took his makeup effects work to a new level with this film.

Sherman Howard as Bub in Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead began filming in October 1984, with exteriors shot at two Florida locations, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, and interiors filmed at a limestone mine complex near Wampum, Pennsylvania. “It was grueling, and it was like a three-month shoot,” recalls Cardille. “We took a little break in there for the holidays. But we were in this cave, and we would get up early in the morning when it was dark, go to the cave, where it was dark inside, and then leave again at night, so we did not see the sunlight.”

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Cardille says she can still remember the smell of the mines vividly. “We were hunkered down together in this atmosphere, and it did add to it,” she says. “It did permeate us. It’s like the dankness permeated us physically. It permeated our minds and brains, and it helped with the development of the characters and the conflicts, no doubt. The smell was kind of mildewy in a way, and there was always the sound of dripping water. There were 26 miles of lakes throughout this cave structure, so there was this dampness to it… It was actually pretty depressing, but we made the best of it, and we had a lot of fun too.”

Joe Pilato in Day of the Dead

The actress says that the entire cast became “brothers and sisters” while shooting the movie, adding that she became especially close with Joseph Pilato, who died in 2019 at the age of 70. “I got to know Joe well, of course,” Cardille reminisces. “He was a really good theater actor, and he was very, very bright. You could talk about many subjects with Joe Pilato, and he was fun to talk to.”

Cardille adds that she would see Pilato frequently on the horror convention circuit in the years after Day came out, although she laments that the actor’s personal problems eventually got the better of him. “Joe had a drinking problem,” Cardille says. “He was an alcoholic, and that was really tough for him, for his family, for his friends. And I don’t say that as a bad thing. It’s just, he had that illness and that was very painful… I think just in the long run, it sort of wrecked his body.”

On a brighter note, Cardille says she has also kept in touch with actors Terry Alexander and Jarlath Conroy, who played, respectively, the helicopter pilot and radio operator who make it out of the mines alive alongside Cardille’s Sarah. Yet even though the trio survive at the end of the movie and find their way to an uninhabited tropical island, Cardille says there was never really any talk about revisiting the characters to see where they ended up going.

“Sometimes I’d bring it up to George,” admits Cardille. “I said, ‘What about continuing these characters?’ I mean, we’re still alive.” But Cardille adds that the rights to the film and the character are tied up in various ways, making the possibility of seeing them again remote. And of course, Romero himself passed away in 2017. “It would be arrogant of us to do it,” says Cardille. “Selfishly, it would be fun to do it, and I would love to do it, but I would have loved to have done it with George.”

Although we may never find out the ultimate fate of Day of the Dead’s survivors, the movie itself lives on in more ways than one. For example, a lot of the original conception eventually found its way into Romero’s 2005 effort, Land of the Dead, in which Dennis Hopper played the slimy politician who lorded over a crumbling, walled-in section of Pittsburgh from the top of a luxury apartment tower — sort of like the underground kingdom in the original Day, only inverted.

“Once again, (George) was ahead of his time,” says Cardille. “I think of that movie a lot. I think about the wealthy people in the big tower, with the zombies outside and the grunts working to try to save humanity. It’s happening now. It feels like that in America. It is the land of the dead. All the themes are there.”

But Day of the Dead — the movie that Romero made under duress in 1985 — has grown in stature in the 35 years since its release. Although critics at the time did not treat it as kindly as Dawn, and box office was down as well (it grossed around $34 million worldwide, as opposed to Dawn’s $55 million), Day of the Dead has since escaped the shadow of its popular, satirical predecessor and managed to carve out its own space on the top shelf of horror cinema with its bleak, claustrophobic view of humanity turning against itself in the face of almost certain extinction.

“It’s a movie that has to grow on you,” Romero told author Lee Karr for his book The Making of George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead. “I think everybody wanted Dawn…but what I’ve tried to do with all the films is make them different. I mean, that makes it more fun for me.” He added, “I think it’s very much me and…it remains my favorite of all of them.”

“Day of the Dead has become a part of me,” says Lori Cardille, who largely stepped away from acting to raise a family in the years after the movie came out. “When we made it, we knew it was special and we are all still friends 35 years later. That has been a huge gift. Another gift has been meeting so many wonderful people who have been fans of the movie. I’ve learned so much from them. They taught me to appreciate the horror genre.”

Cardille also appreciates that Romero was ahead of his time in his conception of her character Sarah. “It’s also been an honor for me, as one of the first strong female characters in the horror genre, to have served as a role model for other women,” she says. “I’ve been told that the strength displayed by the character, the determination, the persistence, have served as a positive example for many young women in their lives. It is very fulfilling to know that something I helped to create will be a part of film history. I am forever grateful to George and the fans. It was an honor to bring Sarah Bowman to life.”

Watch here for more from Lori Cardille about The Living Dead, the upcoming novel from George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus — completed by Kraus after Romero’s death — that is out August 4. Cardille and actor Bruce Davison (X-Men) have read the audiobook version.

The post Day of the Dead: George A. Romero’s Misunderstood Epic appeared first on Den of Geek.

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jerrytackettca · 5 years

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Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover From Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses

Annie Hopper is a limbic retraining specialist. While you may never have heard this term, limbic hyperactivity or dysfunction appears to be a foundational core of the dysfunction and challenges associated with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia and a number of other conditions, and by retraining your limbic system to respond appropriately, symptoms may subside or vanish.

Hopper was herself homeless for a time due to her EHS, which made her unable to tolerate modern environments. I recently met Hopper in Peter Sullivan’s electromagnetic field (EMF) tent at an autism conference run by Jenny McCarthy called Generation Rescue. Sullivan is an environmental health funder who focuses on toxins and wireless safety.

Sullivan had also benefited from Hopper’s work. Intrigued, I read Hopper’s book, “Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover From Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses,” which is a great resource.

Developing EHS — A Personal Account

Hopper describes the challenges that led to writing her book:

"It started in 2004. I was working as a core belief counsellor in Kelowna, British Columbia. I was working at an office that [had] mold … [and] my office was located right next door to the janitor’s supply room, where they held all the cleaning chemicals for the office, all those really heavy-duty industrial cleaners.

What I also didn't know was that the actual office that I was renting used to be a part of the janitor's supply room. They just put up a wall to make a little office space. It didn't have proper ventilation either.

I worked in that office for about five months. Over that period, I started to get progressively sick. Before that, [and] this is what we call like the perfect storm for a limbic system impairment … I was in a car accident where I had a minor whiplash injury. That was probably about the fifth car accident prior to this mold and chemical exposure.

Anyway, for the five months that I was in this building, I started to progressively get symptoms, like anxiety, chronic muscle and joint pain, and this growing sensitivity to just everyday things in my environment, like perfumes and colognes. That's how it started … Really, it felt like I was being literally poisoned by any kind of chemical exposure.

I moved out of the building eventually because I recognized that it was the building that was making me sick, but by that time, it was too late. The damage was already done … [Then] I had what I call a tipping point. I was walking through a bookstore and by a scented candle display. Someone else might be OK with that, but … at that point, something happened to my brain.

I went over the edge in terms of this fight-or-flight response that just did not stop. At that point, it felt like I was having a brain hemorrhage or something. Light hurt. Sound hurt. Smell hurt. Everything hurt … When I woke up the next morning … I couldn’t wear the same clothes that I’d worn, because my brain was now picking up on the smallest amount of chemical residue from laundry detergent as potentially life-threatening.

That started a very bizarre kind of science fiction world where I really had to navigate how I did life. If I was walking down the street and someone happened to be doing their laundry and they had dryer exhaust going off, if I walked by that, I might go into convulsions.

It was very serious, hugely debilitating. I had to quit my job. I had to stop socializing. I was very much homebound and getting depressed. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. What seemed like overnight, I developed EHS.

By this time, I've already got severe chemical sensitivities. I also have fibromyalgia. I was suffering from anxiety, insomnia and a host of other things, and then I developed this EMF sensitivity. What that meant was that my body could detect EMF."

Chemical Sensitivities and EHS Often Go Hand in Hand

It's a known fact that many who struggle with chemical sensitivities are at higher risk of EHS, and that was certainly Hopper's experience. In addition to a burning skin sensation, which is a very common symptom of EHS, she also lost her ability to speak, which she says is a severe symptom associated with both chemical sensitivities and EHS.

"When I started to talk, I would say something that really didn't make any sense. It wasn't actually what I was thinking," she says. "There was something very cognitively off as well. I had a lot of brain fog and just not being able to focus, inability to articulate, to think, to put thoughts together, to string a sentence together, all of that."

To survive, she had to get away from all these chemical and EMF triggers. At the time, she was living with her husband, James, in a condo in Kelowna, British Columbia. It was impossible to get away from wireless radiation. In the end, she had to resort to camping.

"Even before this time, I knew that my brain was being affected. It really made sense to me that my brain was not processing sensory information accurately anymore," she says.

"Somehow, the fight-or-flight centers in my brain were being triggered so much so that it was distorting some of the information that was coming into my brain and making this overreactive, overresponsive, hypervigilant reaction that was also affecting my immune system, my endocrine system, my neurology — all of it …

It made sense for me that it was some sort of brain injury, some form of brain trauma — something was wrong. I started to look at what area of the brain was responsible for sense of smell because, to me, that seemed like the right place to start."

The Role of Your Limbic System in EHS

As a result, Hopper began researching the limbic system, which is the emotional and reactive part of your brain, responsible for filtering sensory and emotional information, and sorting that information into two distinct categories: safe or unsafe.

"You can imagine that if any of those neurons along that neural network are damaged or not working functionally in any way, then that can start to categorize information that would not normally be considered dangerous as life-threatening," Hopper says.

This is an entirely unconscious response, of course. Essentially, your brain gets stuck in the fight-flight-or-freeze mechanism. She also researched neuroplasticity, which is your brain's ability to change.

She discovered there was a lot of research showing limbic system overactivation is common denominator for many different illnesses, including CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, depression and anxiety. While reading Dr. Norman Doidge's book, "The Brain That Changes Itself," she had a sudden revelation.

"He was talking about Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, who is the guru for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schwartz recognized that with OCD, there is a part of the brain that just wasn't functioning properly. That's what keeps people in this feeling of contamination or obsessive worrying. I thought, 'I don't have OCD, but certainly I feel like my mind or my brain is stuck."

Schwartz would scan his patients’ brains to see how the brain was operating when they were having an OCD attack. He then gave them a series of self-directed neuroplasticity exercises to do at home, and rescanned their brain after a period of time. What he discovered was that their brains were actually being rewired.

The more they practiced these exercises, the more their brain changed, to the point where they actually reversed the changes that were happening during OCD. As a result, they were able to function normally again.

"It seemed to me like that was the right place to look,” Hopper says. “I started to become my own personal guinea pig, looking at how could I change the limbic system, knowing that it was the feeling and reacting brain and knowing that it could be categorizing information or distorting information … This is not unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, I think. Or traumatic brain injury …

You know, I was just as surprised as anyone else, to be honest with you. When I started to notice changes in symptoms, my first thought was, ‘Hallelujah’ … Through influencing this part of my brain and rewiring the brain, it actually dampened and reduced symptoms, and miraculously normalized my sensory perception.

When your sensory perception goes back to being normal, your body is no longer reacting to everything. That made it possible for me to live in the world again and be of the world again, and be an active participant in my life."

What Causes Limbic System Impairment?

So, what actually causes this limbic system impairment in the first place? As noted by Hopper, it could be a number of different things, including viral, bacterial, emotional or psychological stress. It could be chemical injury, mold or excessive EMF exposure. “Usually it’s a combination of all of that that leads to what we call the perfect storm. These kinds of stresses are cumulative,” she says.

Ultimately, her experience and research led her to develop the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS) course, which is now offered as a five-day interactive training program around North America and Europe. The program is also available online and as a 14-hour DVD series.

It's not a quick process. It can take many months of diligent work, but the end results are clearly worth the effort. Hopper recommends practicing the program daily for at least six months.

"It takes a while to change those neural networks. Even though people might start feeling changes within a few days or a few weeks or a few months, you really want to repeat those exercises on a regular basis to make those really permanent changes in the brain," she says.

The IMAGINE Acronym

Hopper came up with the acronym called "IMAGINE" to encapsulate the strategy of the program:

I stands for intention — The intention being to strengthen alternative neural circuitry and moving the focus away from symptoms in order to change the fight-flight-or-freeze response and normalize limbic system function.

M for motivation — It's not an overnight fix, so you need to find the motivation to do the exercises daily.

A for awareness and association — You need to become aware of how limbic system impairment affects your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. When you catch those thoughts, emotions and behaviors, you'll want to redirect your brain in that moment into an alternate route so that it doesn't continue down the neural pathways associated with the impairment.

You also need to look at your associations. What kind of associations have you created with stimuli that might be activating the threat centers in your brain on a continuous basis, and how can you change these associations?

G for gain — It's important to recognize the gains you make throughout your retraining process. "This is interesting because we all have an innate negativity bias, meaning we're going to notice what's going wrong before we notice what's going right," Hopper says. "If you have limbic system impairment, that negativity bias can be magnified because of the impairment itself."

I for incremental training — It's a form of neural shaping that helps strengthen alternative neurocircuitry by exposing yourself to small amounts of stimulus to help retrain your brain to respond differently to it.

N for neurological and emotional rehearsals — "There's a part of the program where we use our imagination and visualization," Hopper says. "The great thing about imagination is the brain does not know the difference between what's real and what's imagined. There is no end to how we can use our imagination to help in retraining the brain."

Using guided visualization, you can alter your neural chemistry. When in fight-flight-or-freeze response, you release a lot of cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine. Using this guided visualization technique, you can stop the production of those stress hormones and increase production of feel good hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins.

E for environmental awareness — Last but not least, you need to assess your day-to-day environment and create the most pristine and beautiful healing environment for yourself.

The Importance of Addressing Cellular Injury

In essence, the central principle of DNRS is that neurons that fire together, wire together. The purpose of many of these exercises is to rewire them in the direction of healing, because they've been hyperfacilitated in the direction of injury.

While testimonials attest to the effectiveness of Hopper's program, it's also important to realize that this does not address the cellular injury that EMFs cause. My view is that your limbic system alarms and alerts you in order for you to take steps to stop this cellular damage that is occurring.

So, I believe it's vitally important to address both your limbic dysfunction and the cellular damage that has occurred in your body. Hopper agrees that both angles are equally important, but that limbic system retraining is the missing link for many:

"Let's take chemical injury for example. Is it affecting the tissues? Is it affecting the cellular level? Absolutely. Detoxification might be a good thing for most people, but for the person who has a limbic system injury, they'll still be sick even after they've detoxified … or they might find that detoxification treatments actually heighten symptoms rather than lower symptoms, because the brain is stuck in that trauma state.

The cells of the body have also affected the brain. We could do all these treatments to help with the cellular, clearing the body celullarly from what is happening, yet for a lot of people, that will be enough. If they're still sick, then we really want to look at that brain component too."

So, remember, just because your symptoms dissipate, which the DNRS method will do for many, that doesn't necessarily mean you've mitigated the cellular injury EMF exposure has inflicted. Ideally, you want to do both. It's a combination of the two that's so crucial for complete healing.

Amazing Stories of Recovery

Hopper’s book contains a number of accounts of remarkable recovery stories using her program. One not included in the book is Riley, who was bedridden for three years with severe chronic Lyme disease.

"He could not speak, could not eat. He was partially paralyzed. He was sensitive to light, to sound, to movement, to chemicals. He’d also had mold exposure. His mom kept him alive by feeding him little Dixie cups of soup.

He’d been to a lot of really great practitioners and had come a long way. They got him walking again and being able to talk, but he was still left with a lot of different issues, like food sensitivities, chemical sensitivities, some OCD, some movement disorder.

Riley came to the program. It took him about a year to recover from the symptoms that were left … that were related to limbic system impairment. He’s fully recovered. He traveled in Europe and went backpacking for a year. It’s a pretty amazing story."

Hopper also recounts two other success stories, including one of a woman with a balance disorder who made a remarkable recovery on the program. Another is of a young woman who had severe POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) who went from being in a wheelchair to rollerblading. At present, Hopper has two research projects in the works.

One is an observational study at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, involving 100 participants with a wide variety of medical diagnoses. This study aims to assess how the DNRS program affects quality of life and measure changes in symptom severity over the course of a year.

The second research initiative is taking place at the University of Calgary. In this study, they will review brain scans of people who have chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or chemical sensitivities to get a baseline brain scan and then look at how the brain changes when someone is actually implementing the program for a period of at least six months. According to Hopper, the estimated success rate of improving quality of life is about 90 percent. Hopefully, these studies validate that estimate.

More Information

While the program appears to be very effective, you do have to be motivated to do it. Being under a high degree of stress may also dampen results. Homelessness might be an example here. "But by all means, give it your best go. You might not get the results that you want to see as quickly, but that doesn't mean that you won't see results," Hopper says.

That said, she does not recommend the program for certain mental conditions, such as schizophrenia, or if you're currently going through extreme situational stress, such as if you're going through a court case, or grieving a loved one who just passed away.

"That might not be a really good time to start the course," she says. "It doesn't mean that it's impossible, but it might slow the progression down. I think that if someone's just passed away, you're dealing with grief or loss, there's a natural progression to grieving and a natural process where grieving takes place.

I don't think that would be a really great time to start the program, because we really want people to focus specifically on elevating their emotional state as much as they can, not only when they're doing the exercises and also throughout the day. If you're in the grieving process, it's kind of a little bit difficult to do."

Barring severe mental illness or extreme stress, if you've been suffering for a long time with a chronic and mysterious illness, be it CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, EHS, Lyme disease, food sensitivities or any number of other difficult-to-pin-down ailments, consider giving limbic system retraining a try.

"Don't give up hope. There's an answer. There's a way out of suffering," Hopper says. "I made a promise to myself when I was sick that if and when I find an answer, I would share that with the world. I'm doing my very best to do that. Our team is expanding more and more.

The DVD has been translated into seven languages. We have people from all over the world and over 65 countries report to us that they're recovering their health through limbic system retraining. All I would like to say is, 'Give it a try. Embrace the program.' I think that people will be pleasantly surprised with the results."

To get your feet wet and learn more about the science behind the DNRS program, pick up a copy of “Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover From Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses.” If you decide you want to go through the course, you can pick up the 14-hour DVD course on Hopper’s website, RetrainingTheBrain.com (you can also opt to do the training online).

There you can also register for the five-day interactive training seminar. Since people coming to the program have a wide variety of sensitivities, great care is taken to ensure a safe and healthy environment for most participants.

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/17/limbic-retraining.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/wired-for-healing-remapping-the-brain-to-recover-from-chronic-and-mysterious-illnesses

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paullassiterca · 5 years

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Wired for Healing: Remapping the Brain to Recover From Chronic and Mysterious Illnesses

youtube

Developing EHS — A Personal Account

Hopper describes the challenges that led to writing her book:

“It started in 2004. I was working as a core belief counsellor in Kelowna, British Columbia. I was working at an office that [had] mold … [and] my office was located right next door to the janitor’s supply room, where they held all the cleaning chemicals for the office, all those really heavy-duty industrial cleaners.

What I also didn’t know was that the actual office that I was renting used to be a part of the janitor’s supply room. They just put up a wall to make a little office space. It didn’t have proper ventilation either.

Anyway, for the five months that I was in this building, I started to progressively get symptoms, like anxiety, chronic muscle and joint pain, and this growing sensitivity to just everyday things in my environment, like perfumes and colognes. That’s how it started … Really, it felt like I was being literally poisoned by any kind of chemical exposure.

It was very serious, hugely debilitating. I had to quit my job. I had to stop socializing. I was very much homebound and getting depressed. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. What seemed like overnight, I developed EHS.

By this time, I’ve already got severe chemical sensitivities. I also have fibromyalgia. I was suffering from anxiety, insomnia and a host of other things, and then I developed this EMF sensitivity. What that meant was that my body could detect EMF.”

Chemical Sensitivities and EHS Often Go Hand in Hand

It’s a known fact that many who struggle with chemical sensitivities are at higher risk of EHS, and that was certainly Hopper’s experience. In addition to a burning skin sensation, which is a very common symptom of EHS, she also lost her ability to speak, which she says is a severe symptom associated with both chemical sensitivities and EHS.

“When I started to talk, I would say something that really didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t actually what I was thinking,” she says. “There was something very cognitively off as well. I had a lot of brain fog and just not being able to focus, inability to articulate, to think, to put thoughts together, to string a sentence together, all of that.”

“Even before this time, I knew that my brain was being affected. It really made sense to me that my brain was not processing sensory information accurately anymore,” she says.

“Somehow, the fight-or-flight centers in my brain were being triggered so much so that it was distorting some of the information that was coming into my brain and making this overreactive, overresponsive, hypervigilant reaction that was also affecting my immune system, my endocrine system, my neurology — all of it …

The Role of Your Limbic System in EHS

“You can imagine that if any of those neurons along that neural network are damaged or not working functionally in any way, then that can start to categorize information that would not normally be considered dangerous as life-threatening,” Hopper says.

She discovered there was a lot of research showing limbic system overactivation is common denominator for many different illnesses, including CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, depression and anxiety. While reading Dr. Norman Doidge’s book, “The Brain That Changes Itself,” she had a sudden revelation.

“He was talking about Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, who is the guru for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Schwartz recognized that with OCD, there is a part of the brain that just wasn’t functioning properly. That’s what keeps people in this feeling of contamination or obsessive worrying. I thought, ‘I don’t have OCD, but certainly I feel like my mind or my brain is stuck.”

“It seemed to me like that was the right place to look,” Hopper says. “I started to become my own personal guinea pig, looking at how could I change the limbic system, knowing that it was the feeling and reacting brain and knowing that it could be categorizing information or distorting information … This is not unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, I think. Or traumatic brain injury …

What Causes Limbic System Impairment?

It’s not a quick process. It can take many months of diligent work, but the end results are clearly worth the effort. Hopper recommends practicing the program daily for at least six months.

“It takes a while to change those neural networks. Even though people might start feeling changes within a few days or a few weeks or a few months, you really want to repeat those exercises on a regular basis to make those really permanent changes in the brain,” she says.

The IMAGINE Acronym

Hopper came up with the acronym called “IMAGINE” to encapsulate the strategy of the program:

M for motivation — It’s not an overnight fix, so you need to find the motivation to do the exercises daily.

A for awareness and association — You need to become aware of how limbic system impairment affects your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. When you catch those thoughts, emotions and behaviors, you’ll want to redirect your brain in that moment into an alternate route so that it doesn’t continue down the neural pathways associated with the impairment.

G for gain — It’s important to recognize the gains you make throughout your retraining process. “This is interesting because we all have an innate negativity bias, meaning we’re going to notice what’s going wrong before we notice what’s going right,” Hopper says. “If you have limbic system impairment, that negativity bias can be magnified because of the impairment itself.”

I for incremental training — It’s a form of neural shaping that helps strengthen alternative neurocircuitry by exposing yourself to small amounts of stimulus to help retrain your brain to respond differently to it.

N for neurological and emotional rehearsals — “There’s a part of the program where we use our imagination and visualization,” Hopper says. “The great thing about imagination is the brain does not know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined. There is no end to how we can use our imagination to help in retraining the brain.”

E for environmental awareness — Last but not least, you need to assess your day-to-day environment and create the most pristine and beautiful healing environment for yourself.

The Importance of Addressing Cellular Injury

In essence, the central principle of DNRS is that neurons that fire together, wire together. The purpose of many of these exercises is to rewire them in the direction of healing, because they’ve been hyperfacilitated in the direction of injury.

While testimonials attest to the effectiveness of Hopper’s program, it’s also important to realize that this does not address the cellular injury that EMFs cause. My view is that your limbic system alarms and alerts you in order for you to take steps to stop this cellular damage that is occurring.

So, I believe it’s vitally important to address both your limbic dysfunction and the cellular damage that has occurred in your body. Hopper agrees that both angles are equally important, but that limbic system retraining is the missing link for many:

“Let’s take chemical injury for example. Is it affecting the tissues? Is it affecting the cellular level? Absolutely. Detoxification might be a good thing for most people, but for the person who has a limbic system injury, they’ll still be sick even after they’ve detoxified … or they might find that detoxification treatments actually heighten symptoms rather than lower symptoms, because the brain is stuck in that trauma state.

The cells of the body have also affected the brain. We could do all these treatments to help with the cellular, clearing the body celullarly from what is happening, yet for a lot of people, that will be enough. If they’re still sick, then we really want to look at that brain component too.”

So, remember, just because your symptoms dissipate, which the DNRS method will do for many, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve mitigated the cellular injury EMF exposure has inflicted. Ideally, you want to do both. It’s a combination of the two that’s so crucial for complete healing.

Amazing Stories of Recovery

“He could not speak, could not eat. He was partially paralyzed. He was sensitive to light, to sound, to movement, to chemicals. He’d also had mold exposure. His mom kept him alive by feeding him little Dixie cups of soup.

More Information

While the program appears to be very effective, you do have to be motivated to do it. Being under a high degree of stress may also dampen results. Homelessness might be an example here. “But by all means, give it your best go. You might not get the results that you want to see as quickly, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t see results,” Hopper says.

That said, she does not recommend the program for certain mental conditions, such as schizophrenia, or if you’re currently going through extreme situational stress, such as if you’re going through a court case, or grieving a loved one who just passed away.

“That might not be a really good time to start the course,” she says. “It doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, but it might slow the progression down. I think that if someone’s just passed away, you’re dealing with grief or loss, there’s a natural progression to grieving and a natural process where grieving takes place.

I don’t think that would be a really great time to start the program, because we really want people to focus specifically on elevating their emotional state as much as they can, not only when they’re doing the exercises and also throughout the day. If you’re in the grieving process, it’s kind of a little bit difficult to do.”

Barring severe mental illness or extreme stress, if you’ve been suffering for a long time with a chronic and mysterious illness, be it CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, EHS, Lyme disease, food sensitivities or any number of other difficult-to-pin-down ailments, consider giving limbic system retraining a try.

“Don’t give up hope. There’s an answer. There’s a way out of suffering,” Hopper says. “I made a promise to myself when I was sick that if and when I find an answer, I would share that with the world. I’m doing my very best to do that. Our team is expanding more and more.

The DVD has been translated into seven languages. We have people from all over the world and over 65 countries report to us that they’re recovering their health through limbic system retraining. All I would like to say is, 'Give it a try. Embrace the program.’ I think that people will be pleasantly surprised with the results.”

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/17/limbic-retraining.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/183510762801

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