AlteredTundra

Collabs/Jumps/Forum Headings/Color Text

The older I get the more I come to realize that being able to get the most out of a story with those I'm writing with in solo posts is next to near impossible to do at the same pace as I did 5-10 years ago. It might be too obvious, but I just don't have the time nor energy to do solo post after solo post. Collabs are not only necessary, but for me preferable at my age. I find it allows for the organic flow of a scene rather making shortcuts because solo posts are taking so long. But for younger writers, I suppose it's all about personal preference. Some might prefer to do it old school and some like collabs. No right or wrong answer.

Yeah time skips are a thing. How else would you advance the story from a scene? Also depends on the kind of story. Is your way of storytelling to get the most out of a scene before advancing? Or are you more plot-centric where a handful of characters get screentime and then skip to others? Do you prefer the linear way of GMing and giving each person a role to fill out and plan the overarching plot of the story accordingly? It really can go either way, but yes timeskips are not just a thing but a requirement for me.

Timestamps and whatnot are nice for those who get lost in the reading and aren't made clear as to where or when things are happening in posts. Novels do it too -- well some of them do. I do agree that if you actually read the post, you'll know where and when a post is happening, but I also believe having that reminder at the top of the post is a good thing to have for the sake of clarity and courtesy for your fellow writer.

You mean as in using colors for character dialogue? Doesn't hurt or help if it's not present. It can add a nice additional level of depth to posts. Personally I couldn't go without it in posts, but I know others don't care for it and the rest simply don't care one way or the other. It's purely cosmetic and, like collabs, a preference thing.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: An Angel & Her Monster
FT: Jade Taylor & The Death Twins
Small FT: Dominic Wells, Lorelei Mercer & some Fallen Angels
tw. memories of child neglect, abuse against women, emotional abuse, violence}

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1, 2, 3, 4….

4, 3, 2, 1….

1, 2, 3, 4….

4, 3, 2, 1….

With his fingers clenched tightly around the steering wheel of the cab, Cameron stared up at the light coming from the fourth floor, third window on the left. She had been gone for two days. She had been gone for days and she didn’t tell him. Charlie had asked him to take care of Jade, to look out for her, to be the monster that scared away the other monsters that emerged from the weeds of the garden. Yet the blonde was doing everything in her power not to allow him to do so.

Hyde had done what he could to keep himself distracted from the growing boil that was heating up his venomous blood. He had spent much of the last few days with JJ, perfecting the mask of a perfect boyfriend, wining and dining her in very public ways so as to gain the attention he needed for his plan to work. In his downtime he had travelled west to see Cadence, a safe harbour in the storm of his mind. She was not part of the plan, she was an escape, a controllable outcome in his manic masterminded mission. He would see her again soon but first there was work to be done.

Cameron climbed out of the cab and made his way into the Lost Soul’s complex. No one stopped him, no one would dare try lest face the wrath of the beast incarnate. All through the ascension of the elevator, he could feel the burning rage fill up his body like a comforter, darkness, his old friend. As the feedback whining in his ear grew louder, a sure sign that his mask of sanity would soon slip, Hyde took his breaths, he counted on his fingertips and he tightened his bulging muscles in an act of restraint. Walking down towards the door, he could hear the sizzling of the pans and every fibre of his being was screaming to kick the door into splinters.Reaching forward, Hyde pushed his way into the apartment, welcomed inside by the visage of Jade in next to nothing, slaving away over some pans.

“Hello there.”

Jade never thought she might be the type to believe in the bliss that love could bring to a person. She sure as hell never saw herself ever believing in it because of her parents. Cameron Muller and Whitney. Those two shattered the concept of love for her before Jade got to experience it. Still to this day, she refused to talk to them. Refused to acknowledge their presence even after all the letters they sent her, all the times they tried to call her. But the woman sleeping in her bed, or laying down - really, Jade couldn't’ tell cause no sound was coming from her bedroom (unlike the last hour).

And that’s why Jade was in her poor excuse of a kitchen, mixing away some pancake batter. It wasn’t anything special, but Jade could make a decent stack when she didn’t go lazy and just go to Dolly’s for her breakfast kick. The butter was sizzling on a non-stick pan that had been rusted to the point of it kinda sticking and Jade felt…something. She didn’t believe in much of that voodoo crap, but there was just a delayed reaction as her apartment door opened. As calmly and just so fucking eerily, she heard two words that made the Angel Princess freeze where she stood. It was calm. Deep but not surprisingly so. His voice was so weirdly, uncomfortably soothing. Jade couldn’t turn her head around. Something forbade her. The menacing aura of the Devil? Maybe, but it was something else. Something that she felt just moments ago before her apartment door first opened. In the back of her mind, she was cursing herself for not locking it…as if it would make a difference.

She slid her eyes into a side glance his way. From where she stood, she caught the sight of those same cold eyes. Those blue eyes that stared her down as he grabbed her throat. The eyes that she could see thunderstorms brew for a moment. Her entire body was trembling and swallowing a dry breath made it even worse. She couldn’t look him in the eyes, but she had to say something. Acknowledge he was here or she feared what she felt was only the tip of it all.

“Hey..hey…” was all she could muster. It took her everything to say that and even that single word was in a stutter, one laced with an outpouring amount of dread.

“Did you have a nice time?” Hyde asked pleasantly before taking a comfortable step forward into the shit hole of an apartment. “Your little adventure to the land of Chief Sitting Bull or whatever the fuck?” It didn’t take much for him to figure out where Jade had disappeared to. He had always had his ways, his little birds to tell him the whispers of the world. It didn’t take too many strides for Hyde to encroach into and smother Jade’s space with his presence. “Pancakes huh?” He placed his hand over the blonde’s as she gripped onto the handle of the pan, taking full control. “Smells good. Tasty.” He tightened his grip over her hand, behind his cold eyes a tempest loomed. “I’m not very happy with you.”

The frozen blonde just nodded at every question and comment that came from the Devil’s mouth. Venom. Fire. It pierced her and at a certain point, Jade was rendered powerless. It was just like that moment yesterday morning. When he was looking at her, snapping the fear of Cameron Hyde into her and removing every ounce of strength Jade had then. Everything that she achieved at Blue Hill: the understanding of her mental and emotional state after talking to Natalia, her insightful talk with Key, and then everything that happened with Anya…

Jade felt it slipping out of her grasp and she was slipping back to how she felt the night of going to the Carlisle house. Everything she felt then just intensified an unlimited amount of times when she felt the coldness of Hyde’s touch over her hand and that same icy chill hovered over her when she glanced into his eyes. Just for a moment.

One moment. Two moments…

As she did and as he started to take over the pan, Jade took a single step back. Her chest was alive with fear, the dread gone but it wasn’t forgotten. Every rapid beat her heart made, the only time it did this was when she and Anya were so close to each other. It took her breath away then and Hyde did the same thing. But all she felt was how close she was to a wildfire, feeling the heat of the hellfire actually touch her, robbing her of any air.

She couldn’t breathe. Jade couldn’t breathe. Was she really suffocating with him so close to her? Or was it just the trepidation of what she suspected was close. “I’m..sorry..” She hoarsely said. Her voice was more than just a rasp. It was damn near inaudible. She forced herself to cough. “I’m sorry…” She managed to say that coherently, but it didn’t help her. Cameron Hyde’s eyes held her in a vice grip while she was chained up by his presence, and his touch like there was a fire poker that had been sitting in an open flame burning her from the inside and melting every ounce of strength she desperately clung to. That strength was the only thing keeping her from falling to her knees.

Cameron tried to exhale out through his nose, to breath out the smoke coming from the cackling embers inside of him, burning open the seal that held his anger behind a locked door. “You’re sorry.” His free hand found its way to the back of Jade’s neck. “You’re sorry.” the demon repeated as he held the angel princess secure within his grasp, she wasn’t going anywhere unless he allowed it. “That’s ok. This is just the first bump, we’ll get through it.” Hyde leaned in and kissed the side of her head gently, bed hair soft but matted, she had the stench of sex on her. This didn’t surprise him, she was a slut.

Then he saw them.

Those big blue eyes masked, caked in panda makeup. She caught his gaze and immediately retreated into herself but that moment was long enough. In her eyes, Hyde saw a shattered mirror, a telescope to the past and where Jade once stood he saw only his mother. They were the same, beautiful messes of human beings, if they could even be described as such, giving up their bed, poisoning their veins with the dirt that the Gonzalez’ and others of their kind peddled. Cameron was not their kind, he was something better, something stronger. He would burn that kind to the ground and use their ashes to fertilise his world. Jade was their kind and he knew he could only protect her for so long, long enough for Charlie to see her again, long enough so that they could say goodbye.

“I think they’re ready.” Hyde smiled as he began to guide Jade’s hand, lifting the pan of pancakes off of the hob. With one fluid motion and an ungodly, visceral roar from his stomach, the devil forced the suicide blonde to lauch the pan across the room where it collided with an almighty clatter against a wall. He kicked her feet from beneath her and took full control of her fist, forcing her head low, down towards the still burning hob where he paused and held her aloft above the flames. “How am I supposed to protect you if you won’t let me, Willow? Huh? Cross me again and I’ll melt that pretty face off.” He yanked her hair back and threw her down onto the floor in a heap.

Protect me. He’s here to protect me…

She was helpless. Powerless. Completely broken. She was broken beyond repair. I am broken…

Everything around Willow felt like it was closing in on her. Flashes of her childhood came to her in rapid succession, like a broken record that couldn’t stop playing it over and over again.

She was just seven years old. A child who should have been watching Powerpuff Girls and falling in love with Buttercup. Or developing her gay awakening because of Sedusa, but instead, she was left to fend for herself. At seven years old, where her parents should have been making sure she was fed and healthy and allowing her to have a childhood, Jade had to learn how to feed herself. She had to learn how to make the bare minimum and do everything a mother or a father should be present to help their only daughter through. But Cameron Muller and Whitney Taylor were never around. Never to show her what good role models should be to a little girl. They were getting high or scoring the drugs to get high. Selling everything they could to make a quick buck. All the while, Willow was sitting in their apartment, watching some old show on an even older television.

“You’re strong, Willow. You can take care of yourself,” her father would always say to her before leaving with her mother, disappearing for two days at a time.

And when they returned, they rarely paid any attention to her. Willow always greeted them with the widest smile, always holding out hope that maybe - just maybe - they would want to see her. Every time until her uncle assumed the parental role, no matter how much it hurt her, Willow always buried it deep and hoped that maybe one day her mother or her father would see her and she would have any form of acknowledgement that they actually cared.

But it never came. She never knew love from those that gave her life. Her Uncle Charlie was the first one to give her that and her Aunt Zippo. Eventually she understood that feeling from her cousins, from her Fallen Angel family.

Fallen Angels don’t fly because their wings are tattered but we rise with the darkness, becoming one with our tragedy and circumstances. In the Garden of Eden, we are watchful protectors..

“Rise with the darkness…” She muttered under her breath, her voice was still hoarse. She had her eyes on the ground, her face still hot from the amount of burning smoke she had forced on it. “I’ll do better. I promise…” She said as flatly as she could, but deep down, it was like poison on her lips. The last time she made a promise was at Blue Hill. To Key and Poppy. She promised them she wouldn’t ghost again. That she wouldn’t leave, but this one..it was different. It felt empty. Devoid of anything that sparked joy. It was nothing just like Willow was.

To develop self control, empathy and logical thinking, there must be full consciousness. Awareness of action, of behaviour, of all violence shown throughout centuries. Remove all of that in a second, with a snap of one’s finger, a monster comes out to play. Creatures are born with a core that isn’t capable of love. All they can see is red. All we are, what lays dormant inside of us, until we break the chains, is a monster.

We are monsters.

Cold and frenzied, darkness overtaking the woman that never was, the apex predator knew her vice very well. A vice that lasted throughout the ages, surviving the tide of change and the making of history. Death should be straightforward and quick. Death was unavoidable, coming for us all. Death was not the greatest loss one could experience. The greatest loss is what dies within the self. What you choose to give up on. What you’re forced to let go. Death was mercy. Death was forgiveness. Death was everything and nothing at all.

What was death but a friend waiting to embrace you?

What was death but a kindness?

Knowing where she stood, the Basilisk poised herself and watched the scene play out. Unsettlingly silent, she eased her breathing and waited. Waited as she let her sixth sense, her inner beast, take control of everything that she was. Everything that she could be. In a Gallows shirt that reached her thighs, wearing black undergarments, the Basilisk prowled closer, unnoticed and out of sight. Out of mind.

Once her target was distracted and occupied, she approached him, pre-genocide mode, on a chemical high like an animal devoting their time, their energy and their resources to war. Survival of the fittest. She was a killer and she had a kill to make. Abandoning her humanity, her heart and her soul, her expression void of emotion, her eyes glinted in a way that made her stand out among others, unnatural and not right. Heartless and absolutely frightening. Wicked and off the edge of sin. Hopeless and beyond saving. Eyes without a face.

The Basilisk gripped at the man, hurting what was her’s. Not caring who this person was, blocking all information but the objective in mind and in sight, the monster was able to forcibly separate the prey from his meal in a matter of seconds. After elbowing him in his side, she ripped him away from the wounded bird and slammed him into a nearby wall, twisting his left hand in the process. Not only did she break his hand, crushing it in her grasp, but she momentarily impaired his vision by the sudden trauma to the head. Her breathing stood steady like she could do this in her sleep. Her breathing was unnatural. Trained and calm. Balanced and focused. Her breathing was controlled. She was in control.

Hurling him across the room and into the dining room table, causing it to break, she stalked her prey. Her senses hyper fixated on her environment. She could smell lingering smoke from the burner, his womanising cologne and fear from a vulnerable and confused woman. She could hear the other two’s heavy breaths and saw his chest move with each sharp gasp. The Basilisk circled the man as he squirmed to get up. Ruthlessly, she kicked her bare foot into his ribcage. Pain was a reminder of how fragile life was. How fragile he was. Shackling him to the ground, her serpentine eyes scanned the man’s face. Not seeing the man she was hurting. Not seeing her brother. At this moment, Anya Kamensky was no more. Anya Kamensky wasn’t Jade’s Pancake. Anya Kamensky was not the sister of Cameron Mason Hyde. Anya Kamensky was dead and all that was in sight was a monster. A monster among men.

He roared in laughter; blood dripping out of his mouth onto the not-so pristine carpet and staining his lips red. It had been so very long since Cameron had felt anything like this. Pain to this degree, it was almost orgasmic. When he was younger, he had found pleasure in pain out of necessity at first. With a revolving door of men who would both beat him senseless or creep into his bedroom to indulge in sick fantasies whilst his mother did nothing, he had to do something to make it all ok, to make it so that it didn’t hurt any more. Hyde searched feverishly through the sharpness, the burning sensations and the dull aches to find a way to enjoy the unspeakable horrors that were befalling him. Once he did, there was no looking back.

When he got old enough, big enough, the tables turned and it became his turn to dish out the pain, to explore pleasure and catharsis through the infliction of great damage. Do unto others. His mother April would preach the word of God, pray and worship at his altar and beg for his forgiveness for allowing the monsters near her baby boy. God doesn’t forgive and neither did Cameron. On the day it all ended, when the fire inside extinguished and the pain and pleasure had ceased, Hyde would ascend into heaven to be judged for his actions, he would stand in front of St Peter at the Gates of Paradise and then he would tear out his throat. He would March through infinity until he was face to face with the Lord and he would take his head off for allowing the world to do to Cameron what it did. He was the God of Death come to take his rightful throne.

But that wasn’t going to be today.

With a mighty roar, Hyde grabbed at his assailant's ankle and swept it from beneath them. As quickly as he could, he mounted the half naked woman’s chest, pressing all of his weight onto her chest to pin her and with the one good hand he had, he grabbed a piece of broken table with the intent of piercing her face with its end. Cold blue eyes were awash with emotion as the maelstrom of rage swept through his mind. Cameron’s blood covered mouth made him look demonic, a hell spawn crawled out of the muck to take its vengeance.

It was as he brought the stake down that he then saw the green eyes. He couldn’t mistake them for anyone else. He knew those eyes. With his crippled hand he took a hold of her face and held it as firmly as the pain would allow, his bloody grin hovering over as he examined the features he knew all too well. “Well well. Baby sister.” He spat a mound of blood across the room before he got up to his feet and back away, dropping his weapon. Cameron raised his hands in feux surrender and began to laugh once more. This was hysterical.

_{”Stop it…”}

Her throat was a dry well, devoid of anything. Her body was devoid of anything. Willow…Jade - the struggle of those two names. The one she loathed because it was a reminder of her trauma and the parents that caused and one that became her identity. A shield and sword defending against the one that came before it. Both were her. Both were tied to the angel princess. Both were etched into her soul, but only one gave her strength. Only one could bring her out of the daze secured, copyrighted, and branded by the Devil himself and hearing what seemed like out of a nightmare or some book she might find at Swerve. Some demonic being.

But it was Hyde. Cameron Hyde who was bloodied. She could see it from where she was sitting. Willow Jade’s legs were shaking, but when she saw Anya on the floor, with the devil hovering over her, bearing a piece of the now broken dining room table, something in her just snapped. She didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care that in her weakest state, she couldn’t stop him from reducing her to a shell she hadn’t felt in over a decade. The Angel Princess stood up, gripping the countertop for support, intent to save her Pancake, but then four words froze her where she stood. It hadn’t put her in any mentally-isolated state, but when she heard Cameron call Anya his sister, she muttered, _"What…” It was a feeble attempt to speak and she was inching closer and closer to the gates of hell, saying it again but clearer, “What did you say?” She was feeling all kinds of emotions while so many thoughts came rushing to her mind. Willow Jade took in deep breaths, trying to process this but it was no use. Those deep breaths turned into shorter ones which eventually created a hyperventilating moment she tried to control. Willow Jade tried to control it and she failed.

She managed to get enough control on it to say, “No..you’re lying. She’s not…You’re not…” She proceeded to panic, falling to the floor in a slow, descending manner as if the entire world around her was coming to a stop and all she heard were those words on a repeated echoing loop.

Locked in a memory box, the Basilisk watched a beautiful blonde woman rush around in an attic, throwing as much as she could in a suitcase, including the blue brooch that Jade heard her talk about when they first sat at Dolly’s together. She spoke in fast Russian about an underground secret passage and how tonight would be the day they’d both fly out of this cage. The woman’s face was suddenly alerted by screaming coming from downstairs. She cursed under her breath.

Rushing to her daughter, who was small and holding a straw doll, sitting on a cot, the ethereal woman kissed her forehead and instructed her to take her jar of stars and run once the coast was clear. The woman pulled some wood panels up from the ground and slipped her child in the floor. It was almost as if she expected this to happen. In the darkness, the little girl found comfort. It was the moment she pushed the wood slabs up to escape that she saw the horrors that waited for her in the light.

A monster ripped the wings off an angel and let her blood stain the white bed sheets. An angel died and that’s because she was found by someone so inhumane and all that hope that once was in her eyes to fly was gone. All emotion was gone. She had no pulse.

Opening her eyes to the sound of Jade hyperventilating and Cameron laughing, Anya found herself staring at the ceiling. The Angel Princess’ tears struck a chord in her but instead of shutting down or rushing to Jade’s side, Anya laid there, centering her breathing. Burying any feeling of regret and sadness that was stirring in her chest, the assassin picked herself up and tilted her head at her brother, Jade’s sobbing fading in the background. “You think you some God, big brother? And this, putting fear in girls you hurt so easy… you call power? You have no idea what power is. You think you strong? Impossible to break? I can change that. You’re nothing, Cameron. Special to who? Only you. Now,” Anya stepped on the broken table and breached the distance between her and her half sibling, daring him to hurt her like he was about to, daring him to go near Jade. “This won’t happen again. You will leave and not come near Jade again. If you test this, you will regret. Understand? Or do I show you example of what I mean?”

“I’m no God, Anya. There’s no such thing.” Hyde dropped the stake from his palm, the clatter of it hitting the floor of the apartment piercing the eerie blanket of silence that had smothered the room around them. “If there was? He wouldn’t allow monsters like us and our darling brother to suck air.” His half twin’s words were pointed and sharp like the edge of a knife. They cut deep but he would survive, Cameron always survived. He’d been stabbed before and no doubt he would be again. He was so used to pain in all her glorious forms that he had almost become numb to it, like the nerves inside had been completely obliterated leaving only still blankness.

Hyde backed away from his sister, the red mist in his eyes clearing as he gazed upon the face they shared. He glanced at his broken hand with a blood stained smile on his face. “This was a good move, nice one….Pancake.” He spoke playfully as he tried to ball his shattered fingers into a fist but was unable to do so due to the pain his body was fighting to register. He breezed by the two women and made his way to the fridge, taking out a beer with his one good hand and cracking it open. “This is all very Shakespearean isn’t it?” He said taking a mouthful as he leaned against the counter top. “I’m sent to watch over the pasty white stick here, whilst the entire time she’s falling in love with my little sister. What next? You kill everyone that’s ever wronged you and live happily ever after? Anya saves her princess from this tower and rides off into the sunset on your Harley? It doesn’t work like that.”

The blocks of ice which Cameron called his baby blues drifted over to the crumpled heap which was once a woman on the floor. Jade reminded him so much of the mess that his mother was. How weak and pathetic the world around her had made her and the lack of strength to fight back. “It’s a little curious that you two are doing...whatever the hell this is and yet, Anya didn’t tell you about me, Jade. I mean I can almost understand that but has she told you about our brother too? I mean you know him as well and she actually likes him so...very Curious.”

She had to control herself. Control her breathing. She had to control everything so she could stop her entire body from shaking. But she failed at it. The Angel Princess failed at everything. Nothing she did would be good enough. Even after the gates of hell themselves seemed to close, the effects remained and there sat a frozen, semi-motionless Willow Jade trying to do something as simple as steady her breathing, but that became close to impossible to do when that very thing was overshadowed by the maelstrom of thoughts pouring in. Had it not been for his voice using the name that she gave to Anya, a name that became a thing of peace. A safe place for her to escape to, now it was being corrupted by his presence. Tarnished by his venom and somehow that snapped her to the present.

Slowly but surely, she was able to breathe. Her mind was still a crowded room but she could breathe, escape to a part of it where those were simply not a matter of importance. As she did and as she started to move like she was in control, the blonde remained seated, though she was looking at Anya. She was looking at her so-called protector. When he mentioned they had a brother and that he was somebody that she knew, again the thoughts poured in but she shook her head to shut them up…for the time being. “What are you talking about?” Jade asked, her voice still weak but loud enough for them to hear her clear enough. She slowly went to Anya’s gaze. “...What is he talking about?” She knew curiosity would kill her but part of her already died tonight after being brought to life, so it didn’t really matter how much deeper she went into these depths.

Not once did Jade care to ask about her family until now, until the Devil showed her fantasy was just that, a fantasy. The voice that once pulled Anya out of the dark was now forcing her back in. This was not the time or place for this conversation and she wasn’t going to give her brother the satisfaction of showing how weak she was getting because she believed she could love. Not looking at the broken winged angel who was seeking answers, Anya built her walls back up. Coldness feeling the air when the heart that once glinted in her green eyes was now buried deep, six feet under. Ignoring the woman and only addressing her brother, the Basilisk scoffed, humoured by his curiosities. “You know secrets better than most, big brother.” At this point, the damage was done and Anya knew the only way out was forward, even if it meant leaving what she thought was her happiness behind. “You care so much about my business. You honour yourself and tell her then.”

“Oh no no.” Hyde downed his bottle of beer and tossed it across the room. The place was a shitheap anyway, what was one more pile of crap? “I’m obviously intruding here, I’ll let you two lovers have some nice pillow talk.” Cameron tried to clench his fist again but the pain in his broken hand prevented him from doing so. The sensation he felt shooting between his fingers and down the wrist into his forearm was invigorating. As soon as he left here he would go to Jessie or Cadence, whoever answered their phone first and he would destroy them ...or maybe there was something else he could channel all this feeling into…?

Hyde stepped forward a few feet, breezing by Jade and making his way to his sister. It was obvious now that there was no real benefit to him protecting Jade. If she had chosen Anya as the person she wanted to be with, then Charlie’s niece was as good as dead. It was mostly just going to be a case of how cold her corpse was when he got out of prison. Cameron leaned in and rested his shattered hand on the bloodied cheek of his twin and smiled with his bloody grin. “Love you sis.” He kissed her temple before moving beyond the girls towards the front door. “Maybe we’ll do breakfast soon. As a family, you’re more than welcome to come Jade, our breakfasts are to die for…” Once again the Devil erupted into a fit of laughter as he departed the apartment, his hysterics fading quietly into the night.

That demonic choir of laughter that echoed in her mind as the door of her apartment closed lingered in her mind. He might’ve been gone but his presence wasn’t. The effect he had on her life as she knew it wasn’t. Jade was left with a spiraling cyclone of thoughts that poured into her, freezing her where she sat, and paralyzing every aspect of her soul. The only thing she could even think of that could help her in any way, shape, or form was the comforting gaze of her Pancake, but even that felt like it wasn’t an option. The coldness in her eyes was she had never seen before. Not even the glacier stare that she felt whenever Cameron Hyde looked at her compared. Maybe it was because he didn’t mean much to her, whereas Anya meant everything to her.

You have to get up.

The voice in her head was adamant about that and Jade still didn’t budge for a few more moments. Whether they were short or long ones didn’t seem to matter in the grand scheme of things. Jade gathered what strength she had to give to herself, all with the intent of just standing up. Something stopped her from moving towards Anya, who at this point didn’t move from where she was either. What had happened? Was it something Jade did? Or maybe it was Hyde? There was so much she still hadn’t fully processed yet and she needed time but all she wanted to do was hug her Pancake. The only person she knew could make this all better, but as she started to approach, as Jade started to move even an inch, there was something that refused that advancement from where she stood. The memory of Anya’s cold stare briefly meeting her eyes. The way she brushed her off so coldly. It stung and lingered like a bad aftertaste. That knife only dug deeper as Jade tried to force herself to speak. “Anya..I..” It didn’t feel like sweetness when she spoke her name. Not like before. What was it? Not poison but something hurt. Something burned.

“This…” Anya whispered, not finishing her thought out loud. She didn’t look at Jade. She looked at her hands. The hands that time and time again were covered in blood. The hands that murdered people for a living. The hands that rarely held someone close. Not in the way she held Jade. She balled them into fists, understanding why her Father told her emotions were for fools. She didn’t hurt. Anya couldn’t process the pain from this situation like a normal person. She felt stupid. Stupid for thinking something like this could ever be for her. She was a fool and it was all because she thought she could love and be loved. She thought Jade could love her. “I need to go.” Anya stressed and walked past her once-upon-a-dream-girl, not even giving Jade a second glance. She grabbed her coat and headed straight to the bedroom to change back into her clothes. Before Jade could follow her, there was banging on her door.

Don’t go…please.. was what she wanted to say. Was what Jade should say, but she couldn’t even speak. Her heart was shattered and it didn’t help anything when there was a rapid banging on her door.

”Jade! It’s Doc! Everything okay? Wanted to check in on you!” She heard Dominic Wells say from the other side, but all Jade wanted to do was snap herself into the present and stop Anya from leaving, but she also knew if she didn’t answer the door, Doc would think something was wrong, which was still technically the truth.

“I’m coming. Everything’s…” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say everything was fine when it wasn’t. It was the furthest from being okay, but Jade didn’t want to bring the overprotection of her family on her for something that didn’t involve them. So she opened the door, meeting Dominic’s clearly worried face and she gave him a fake smile, hoping that would be enough.

The loud noise did startle Lorelei and caused her to go catatonic in her new friends’ apartment. After Duke and Doc slowly brought her back from her ptsd episode, Doc was ready to investigate. Duke chose to stay back because it was clear this was an angel affair. Not only would it be weird for Doc to come out of his apartment, with a young girl, but he also didn't need anyone in his business. He'd be on standby mode with a first aid kit and ice pack until Doc needed him. As Dominic tried to leave, Lorelei held onto his sleeve and wouldn’t let go. Now she was here with him as the first responders. Poking her head from behind the older man, the eighteen year old gazed at the distressed woman. She didn’t say anything. All she did was cling to the man in front of her.

It wasn’t long until other angels started to gather, like the three prospects that had seen Jade walk out the elevator earlier, with a vengeful blonde woman that had a resting bitch face. One of them spoke up, “Did she hurt you?” They each looked past her to see if the other woman was in there. They were ready to handle it, if that’s what Jade needed.

Jade felt like the walls around her were closing. They were literally as the prospects and Dom and whoever the younger girl attached at his hip was, she needed a minute. She needed space, so she just put up her hand with her index finger up. “Just… give me a moment. I need some air.” She started to take in short, quick breaths just like earlier. Her heart was beating fast and she went into her bedroom. She needed Anya. She needed Anya. I need Anya…

And when she got into her room, hoping that by some miracle, she could just take a moment to talk to her without the chaos of what was happening inside or outside her bedroom, nobody was there. She saw her window was opened and whatever Anya had in Jade’s bedroom was gone too. She collapsed on the floor, on the ground. She hadn’t even bothered to close her bedroom door. She didn’t think to, but as she sat there, her head buried into her hands, she finally broke.

Her face became hot with tears, wails of anguish pouring out as she smacked her head repeatedly against the palms of her hands. Why did this even have to happen? She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand why any of this had to happen…

But she wasn’t alone. The Angels didn’t even hesitate. Dominic led them inside and without even realizing it, they had been by her side. They were always going to be by her side. By their princess’ side. Looking up at them, seeing how they wouldn’t let her fall, even though she couldn’t force herself to smile, Jade was so thankful for them. “I don’t want to be alone right now…” That’s all she brought herself to say as she let everything that had been building up out in a waterfall of tears, her entire body shaken, but most of all, her heart and soul were completely shattered.

For the first time in her life, Jade truly felt like a fallen angel.

Digimon: Materialization

@metanoia 2 main partners maximum, and they have to start out as Rookies.

@Big McLargehuge

Oh bitchin'! This will be fun to think about which two i wanna use. I tend to put a theme of some kind on my tamers/digimon partners, so with two, i'm gonna have some fun with this.

EDIT: Another question: Are we limited to data/vaccine or can we go virus too?

Digimon: Materialization

Ah fuck it, I'm in! Idea seems fairly dope and I can't help myself when it comes to Digimon

How many digimon "partners" can we have? I saw @The World has 2 but is there a limit to how many we can have as "main" partners? Any specific kind of circumstances for multiple partners?

Edgebaston Academy - SoL High School RP

Nicholas S. Grey 🎭 Junior

_{Nicholas. Just Nicholas}

^{(FC: Thomas Doherty || Color: Steel Blue/#4682b4}

^{"Baby, I'm a nightmare dressed as a better-dressed nightmare" — Taylor Swift (kinda)}

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Name:

Nicholas Salvador Grey
_{Don’t call him Nick. Don’t call him Nicky. Espeically not Nicky. You will call him Nicholas}

Age & Grade:

17

_{🎭Junior
🎭 June 5th
🎭 Gemini}

Gender:

Male - He/Him Pronouns

Sexuality:

Pansexual || "With so many beautiful souls out there, who am I to rob them of the pleasure of knowing what it's like to be with me?"

Label:

Self-professed “Drama King”.

Occupation:

Part-time Actor
_{↳Through the superior byproduct of nepotism, Nicholas, thanks in large part due to his father’s connections, managed to get his first big break in the acting business, filming a recurring role (with the potential to become contract) on a soap opera web series (streaming on Netflix), With or Without You, a show his father previously starred on for the last 15 years (he plays his father’s long lost son). The show itself films 5 months in advance and he recently wrapped up a 5-week (a total of 15 episode appearances and over 50 scenes) stint in which he was paid 3k per episode, ending up with a total of 45k in his bank account.}

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Appearance Details

• Hair: Dark Brown || Neck-length. Straight and Thin. Long bangs that flow over his face. || Nicholas takes excellent care of his hair, often using only high-quality brand names on it. Nothing is too expensive for his luscious locks. He goes to the salon multiple times a week for different reasons and he refuses to get his hair done by amateurs. If they don't have at least two degrees in the specific treatment he wants done to his hair, Nicholas refuses to pay.
• Eyes: The most perfect, glistening pair of sapphires for eyes you've ever seen. "I've been told they're just to die for. Maybe I say it to myself in the mirror every day. Or maybe people can't get enough of my eyes. Who's to say?"
• Height & Weight: 6’0 || 165lbs
• Body Type: Lean. Toned. Jacked! || For his age, Nicholas has a lean build but very toned. As someone who puts his health second only to his acting (but just as important), Nicholas believes that to be as perfect as he believes himself to be, he needs the body to match it. Because of this belief, since an early age, whether it was family Zumba classes with his family or taking his physical health seriously, Nicholas works out, eats right, and makes 5-times-a-week trips to the gym, thus resulting in his chiseled body that he’s never afraid to show off whenever given the chance (shirtless scenes in particular are his favorite)
• Clothing Style: Uniform - Nicholas wears the default boys unifrom with the light blue jacket and cream-colored shirt and blue tie. The only customization he makes to the uniform is his choice of a scarf in the winter times (typically with some kind of minimalistic floral design). During the warmer seasons, he wears an ascot with the same design of his scarfs.
  Personal Style - One thing to be said about Nicholas Grey is his sense of style. Bold. Ambitious. Truly himself. Floral shirts that vary in size, and type of flower featured. Slacks and shorts (depending on the season). But one thing that would often set Nicholas apart from most boys his age is his preference of loafers over sneakers or normal shoes that are common among his fellow students. Nicholas is pretty unique and independent.
• Makeup Wise: Being a theater kid and generally a very artistic and style wise, genderfluid as one can be, Nicholas isn’t afraid to wear some subtle makeup so that he looks pretty (prettier than he does naturally). Nothing too glaring but some shading and blushing here, a small layer of guyliner there, and anything to make his skin really POP.
• Scars, Tattoos and/or Piercings: No scars or tattoos (he's underaged), but Nicholas does have both of his ears pierced. Nothing too obnoxious, but still fashionable.

Personality

Charismatic → confident → well-mannered → flirtatious → elegant → conceited → dramatic → egotistical → has a superiority complex

Acceptance Status:

Bought and paid for

History

Everything in Nicholas’ life has always been represented by two sides that make up the complete picture: his two parents and their two separate careers that held them up most nights of the week, keeping them from being around when he and his sisters needed them, his two sisters that have meant more to him than anything in this world, the same sisters he’d do anything for, and the two cities he called home.

Yeah, you could say everything in his life always came down to two things.

Another example of this: his upbringing.

Nicholas was born in New York City. Specifically, he was born in the Upper East Side of the Big Apple. And there for most of his life - from infanthood to mid-teens - he lived in NYC with his parents, Billie, and Fiona. Fiona was the firstborn, so she always took care of the twins whenever their parents were busy with work. And he never really blamed them for it. That was the life they chose. His father, Kavi Salvador, was an actor who kept busy with roles, and his mother, Ariel Grey-Salvador, was a record producer. Again, he never hated her or anything close to it because he understood their jobs were important.

Besides, it wasn’t as though they didn’t make up for it when it mattered most. Even if he were to look back now, Nicholas had fond memories of family night where all of them took Zumba. Kavi and Nicholas were the only ones who showed any talent for the grace aspect of it, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying their time together.

But when family night -- or sometimes family weekend -- wasn’t happening, the kids came to know their nannies well. And they often drove them to wherever they needed to be: private school, after-school activities, and so on and so forth. But during those early years, Nicholas found a few loves: dancing and acting, which were always paired as one because they shared equal importance to Nicholas. Another was the debutante life. It also was where he fell in love with dancing, but it also served as one of the foundations that made Nicholas into the young man he is now. It built his confidence, made him act dignified (when he felt like it, of course), and it served as something he could pour his everything into.

The more he grew up, however, the more obvious it became that Nicholas’ confidence grew to heights nobody in the family thought he would. He became full of himself, had a near-identical personality to his father when he was a teenager, but also had the superiority complex that came from all of the years of praise, and generally any form of positivity that came his way. And it all went to his head.

Though he has been at Edgebaston since his sophomore year, having been enrolled at the same time his twin sister, Billie Jean, was, this is not the first time Nicholas has been at such a prestigous academy. So he was used to the culture - though moving south because of his father's cushy new job as the drama teacher and general head of the theater department was something of an adjustment. Nicholas had expensive tastes. He also had sensitive skin that didn't always do well in the harsh humidity the south had. Sure it might not be as bad as...Georgia or even Texas, but it was still quite harsh. That has been the only thing about the move that Nicholas wasn't a fan of.

It didn't matter the setting. It didn't matter if he was in St. Patrick's Academy for Boys in Manhattan, King's Academy in Palm Beach, or Edgebaston Academy in North Carolina. Nicholas would thrive because that's just what he did. He always managed to be the most important topic of any conversation because he has that dog in him. He is, after all, his father's son.

Extras:

Luggage: - No need for luggage when the family home is just down the street, but Nicholas does carry with him an emergency makeup kit, his cellphone (only the best for him), his wallet (which includes a couple of credit cards that are in his father's name but Nicholas pays for it himself), a debit card for his bank account, and of course the keys to his
Extracurricular Activities: Nicholas is a specific kind of beast. He's one specific tastes because how he came up.

_{Theater Club - It's in his blood. His father, back when he was an upcoming actor, made a name for himself starring in anything from Broadway to classic theater productions. As a result, Nicholas grew up loving the theater. The art of getting lost in a script, getting lost in a character, and respecting everything about theater. Does he also look in makeup and amazing costumes? Well obviously!
Dancing - A hobby more than anything, but dance has always been in Nicholas' blood. Whether it's the Zumba nights with his family, the classic training he had, ballroom dancing for every debutant ball he's attended and essentially being the star of every single one since he was thirteen, Nicholas loves to dance. He doesn't always partake in the dance recitals at EA because he's too focused on his growing acting career and responsibilities with the Theater Club. Nicholas dances for fun, but it is something that's become part of his daily workout routine or whenever he needs to decompress from carrying the burden of being beautiful on his broad, yet lean shoulders. It's hard but heavy is the head that wears the crown.}

_{🎭 Lives in the Salvador-Grey home that is about a twenty minute drive away from the Edgebaston Academy campus.
🎭 Nicholas drives a dark blue Audi RS 3 that was gifted to him through his working partnership with Audi as part of a father-son contract that he and his father each drive the latest model and flash it on the social media pages.
🎭 Every summer since he was thirteen, Nicholas has participated in the Debutante Ball. And every summer he and Billie Jean return to New York, he proudly takes part in it. In the debutante world, Nicholas is essentially considered royalty and the ideal partner because of his apt timing and devotion to it.
🎭 Nicholas' main guilty pleasure is watching weekly episodes of Greys Anatomy with Billie. It started when they were young and they just never stopped. It's a bit of a tradition for them and it's one of the few things they have for themselves. It doesn't matter how busy Nicholas is, he drops everything to spend that hour to two hours (depending on if it's a season premiere/finale or not, or if they're behind on a couple of episodes).
🎭 From members of his extended family, as well as his Aunt Nicolette (aka his namesake) has often compared him to his father. Not only in how he acts and dates more than not, but where his interests reside. Kavi Salvador was attracted to dance and acting and so is Nicholas. Those are his greatest passions outside of sex and soccer.
🎭 Nicholas' go-to sugary snack are skittles. Well, all except for the sour apple and lemon ones. Those he'll give to Billie.
🎭 Nicholas can be found on Instagram. His handle is @DreamingNGrey}

Edgebaston Academy - SoL High School RP

@Hedgehawk @HaleyTheRandom 1 of 2-3 sheets for your viewing pleasure

Nicholas S. Grey 🎭 Junior

_{Nicholas. Just Nicholas}

^{(FC: Thomas Doherty || Color: Steel Blue/#4682b4}

^{"Baby, I'm a nightmare dressed as a better-dressed nightmare" — Taylor Swift (kinda)}

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Name:

Nicholas Salvador Grey
_{Don’t call him Nick. Don’t call him Nicky. Espeically not Nicky. You will call him Nicholas}

Age & Grade:

17

_{🎭Junior
🎭 June 5th
🎭 Gemini}

Gender:

Male - He/Him Pronouns

Sexuality:

Pansexual || "With so many beautiful souls out there, who am I to rob them of the pleasure of knowing what it's like to be with me?"

Label:

Self-professed “Drama King”.

Occupation:

Part-time Actor
_{↳Through the superior byproduct of nepotism, Nicholas, thanks in large part due to his father’s connections, managed to get his first big break in the acting business, filming a recurring role (with the potential to become contract) on a soap opera web series (streaming on Netflix), With or Without You, a show his father previously starred on for the last 15 years (he plays his father’s long lost son). The show itself films 5 months in advance and he recently wrapped up a 5-week (a total of 15 episode appearances and over 50 scenes) stint in which he was paid 3k per episode, ending up with a total of 45k in his bank account.}

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Appearance Details

• Hair: Dark Brown || Neck-length. Straight and Thin. Long bangs that flow over his face. || Nicholas takes excellent care of his hair, often using only high-quality brand names on it. Nothing is too expensive for his luscious locks. He goes to the salon multiple times a week for different reasons and he refuses to get his hair done by amateurs. If they don't have at least two degrees in the specific treatment he wants done to his hair, Nicholas refuses to pay.
• Eyes: The most perfect, glistening pair of sapphires for eyes you've ever seen. "I've been told they're just to die for. Maybe I say it to myself in the mirror every day. Or maybe people can't get enough of my eyes. Who's to say?"
• Height & Weight: 6’0 || 165lbs
• Body Type: Lean. Toned. Jacked! || For his age, Nicholas has a lean build but very toned. As someone who puts his health second only to his acting (but just as important), Nicholas believes that to be as perfect as he believes himself to be, he needs the body to match it. Because of this belief, since an early age, whether it was family Zumba classes with his family or taking his physical health seriously, Nicholas works out, eats right, and makes 5-times-a-week trips to the gym, thus resulting in his chiseled body that he’s never afraid to show off whenever given the chance (shirtless scenes in particular are his favorite)
• Clothing Style: Uniform - Nicholas wears the default boys unifrom with the light blue jacket and cream-colored shirt and blue tie. The only customization he makes to the uniform is his choice of a scarf in the winter times (typically with some kind of minimalistic floral design). During the warmer seasons, he wears an ascot with the same design of his scarfs.
  Personal Style - One thing to be said about Nicholas Grey is his sense of style. Bold. Ambitious. Truly himself. Floral shirts that vary in size, and type of flower featured. Slacks and shorts (depending on the season). But one thing that would often set Nicholas apart from most boys his age is his preference of loafers over sneakers or normal shoes that are common among his fellow students. Nicholas is pretty unique and independent.
• Makeup Wise: Being a theater kid and generally a very artistic and style wise, genderfluid as one can be, Nicholas isn’t afraid to wear some subtle makeup so that he looks pretty (prettier than he does naturally). Nothing too glaring but some shading and blushing here, a small layer of guyliner there, and anything to make his skin really POP.
• Scars, Tattoos and/or Piercings: No scars or tattoos (he's underaged), but Nicholas does have both of his ears pierced. Nothing too obnoxious, but still fashionable.

Personality

Charismatic → confident → well-mannered → flirtatious → elegant → conceited → dramatic → egotistical → has a superiority complex

Acceptance Status:

Bought and paid for

History

Everything in Nicholas’ life has always been represented by two sides that make up the complete picture: his two parents and their two separate careers that held them up most nights of the week, keeping them from being around when he and his sisters needed them, his two sisters that have meant more to him than anything in this world, the same sisters he’d do anything for, and the two cities he called home.

Yeah, you could say everything in his life always came down to two things.

Another example of this: his upbringing.

Nicholas was born in New York City. Specifically, he was born in the Upper East Side of the Big Apple. And there for most of his life - from infanthood to mid-teens - he lived in NYC with his parents, Billie, and Fiona. Fiona was the firstborn, so she always took care of the twins whenever their parents were busy with work. And he never really blamed them for it. That was the life they chose. His father, Kavi Salvador, was an actor who kept busy with roles, and his mother, Ariel Grey-Salvador, was a record producer. Again, he never hated her or anything close to it because he understood their jobs were important.

Besides, it wasn’t as though they didn’t make up for it when it mattered most. Even if he were to look back now, Nicholas had fond memories of family night where all of them took Zumba. Kavi and Nicholas were the only ones who showed any talent for the grace aspect of it, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying their time together.

But when family night -- or sometimes family weekend -- wasn’t happening, the kids came to know their nannies well. And they often drove them to wherever they needed to be: private school, after-school activities, and so on and so forth. But during those early years, Nicholas found a few loves: dancing and acting, which were always paired as one because they shared equal importance to Nicholas. Another was the debutante life. It also was where he fell in love with dancing, but it also served as one of the foundations that made Nicholas into the young man he is now. It built his confidence, made him act dignified (when he felt like it, of course), and it served as something he could pour his everything into.

The more he grew up, however, the more obvious it became that Nicholas’ confidence grew to heights nobody in the family thought he would. He became full of himself, had a near-identical personality to his father when he was a teenager, but also had the superiority complex that came from all of the years of praise, and generally any form of positivity that came his way. And it all went to his head.

Though he has been at Edgebaston since his sophomore year, having been enrolled at the same time his twin sister, Billie Jean, was, this is not the first time Nicholas has been at such a prestigous academy. So he was used to the culture - though moving south because of his father's cushy new job as the drama teacher and general head of the theater department was something of an adjustment. Nicholas had expensive tastes. He also had sensitive skin that didn't always do well in the harsh humidity the south had. Sure it might not be as bad as...Georgia or even Texas, but it was still quite harsh. That has been the only thing about the move that Nicholas wasn't a fan of.

It didn't matter the setting. It didn't matter if he was in St. Patrick's Academy for Boys in Manhattan, King's Academy in Palm Beach, or Edgebaston Academy in North Carolina. Nicholas would thrive because that's just what he did. He always managed to be the most important topic of any conversation because he has that dog in him. He is, after all, his father's son.

Extras:

Luggage: - No need for luggage when the family home is just down the street, but Nicholas does carry with him an emergency makeup kit, his cellphone (only the best for him), his wallet (which includes a couple of credit cards that are in his father's name but Nicholas pays for it himself), a debit card for his bank account, and of course the keys to his
Extracurricular Activities: Nicholas is a specific kind of beast. He's one specific tastes because how he came up.

_{Theater Club - It's in his blood. His father, back when he was an upcoming actor, made a name for himself starring in anything from Broadway to classic theater productions. As a result, Nicholas grew up loving the theater. The art of getting lost in a script, getting lost in a character, and respecting everything about theater. Does he also look in makeup and amazing costumes? Well obviously!
Dancing - A hobby more than anything, but dance has always been in Nicholas' blood. Whether it's the Zumba nights with his family, the classic training he had, ballroom dancing for every debutant ball he's attended and essentially being the star of every single one since he was thirteen, Nicholas loves to dance. He doesn't always partake in the dance recitals at EA because he's too focused on his growing acting career and responsibilities with the Theater Club. Nicholas dances for fun, but it is something that's become part of his daily workout routine or whenever he needs to decompress from carrying the burden of being beautiful on his broad, yet lean shoulders. It's hard but heavy is the head that wears the crown.}

_{🎭 Lives in the Salvador-Grey home that is about a twenty minute drive away from the Edgebaston Academy campus.
🎭 Nicholas drives a dark blue Audi RS 3 that was gifted to him through his working partnership with Audi as part of a father-son contract that he and his father each drive the latest model and flash it on the social media pages.
🎭 Every summer since he was thirteen, Nicholas has participated in the Debutante Ball. And every summer he and Billie Jean return to New York, he proudly takes part in it. In the debutante world, Nicholas is essentially considered royalty and the ideal partner because of his apt timing and devotion to it.
🎭 Nicholas' main guilty pleasure is watching weekly episodes of Greys Anatomy with Billie. It started when they were young and they just never stopped. It's a bit of a tradition for them and it's one of the few things they have for themselves. It doesn't matter how busy Nicholas is, he drops everything to spend that hour to two hours (depending on if it's a season premiere/finale or not, or if they're behind on a couple of episodes).
🎭 From members of his extended family, as well as his Aunt Nicolette (aka his namesake) has often compared him to his father. Not only in how he acts and dates more than not, but where his interests reside. Kavi Salvador was attracted to dance and acting and so is Nicholas. Those are his greatest passions outside of sex and soccer.
🎭 Nicholas' go-to sugary snack are skittles. Well, all except for the sour apple and lemon ones. Those he'll give to Billie.
🎭 Nicholas can be found on Instagram. His handle is @DreamingNGrey}

Edenridge

______________________________________________________________________


______________________________________________________________________
_{TIMESTAMP: After Woman of Many Names (Tuesday Afternoon)}

The hour-long ride back to Edenridge had given Jade ample time to take everything in. It allowed her to truly digest everything that happened moments before she left Blue Hill with Anya. Initially, Jade clung to the bike and how it brought feelings of comfort. At the moment, that’s all she could fixate on. It was all such an overwhelming moment for her that the time spent clinging to Anya’s toned back (even with the jacket on), gripping her lover’s waist for dear life, and pressing her face against the leather jacket while the 60+ winds tickled her skin.

There was nothing like riding a hog.

But that indeed wasn’t the only thing Jade found herself clinging to. The ride allowed Jade some time to think deeper about certain things and the fact that her best friends in this world - her soul sister and soul brother - knew who Anya was. Knew of her, at least. Poppy knew her as Jane from the Library, which Jade would have probably known if she was a regular at it (she preferred Main Street Music with JP). Key knew her as The Basilisk, yet another name that went over Jade’s head - least, the specifics of it. Everyone and their mother knew of The Basilisk. Jade just never knew her Pancake was that person.

But a lot of things started to click for her. A lot of things she ran back in her mind. Jade began to piece it all together and that Anya was more amazing of a woman than she had ever thought her to be. To Jade, she was perfect. Maybe full of imperfections but she was still the most remarkable person she’d ever met. Someone that could make her feel alive without even intending to. Someone she could open her heart to. That month she spent away from everyone, she credits Anya for allowing her to feel comfortable enough to reach out.

And as they came into the Lost Souls apartment complex, a few serpents on watch duty today, Jade had a realization - more like an epiphany, if anything - that Anya was her person. She is her person.

When the stand was kicked up and Jade could get off the bike, she was quiet for a few seconds - long ones - before she smiled gently and sweetly at Anya. “Home sweet home.”

“It’s good to know home,” Anya took off her helmet, letting her blonde strands fall out and over her shoulders. After she latched it onto her handle, she walked beside the angelic princess to get a closer look at the apartment that she knew in great detail. Something Jade likely didn’t realize by standing next to her because of the built mask Anya wore to blend with those she considered normal.

Anya knew who resided here, what floor, what room and who each of their social groups were. Their associates, their lovers and their families, she knew it all. Edenridge was her territory, and what that meant was, every creature knew their nest. Every monster that lurked under a child’s bed knew exactly who they were scaring. Every ghost haunted someone they felt close with, never a stranger. Anya was all three.

A creature, a monster and a ghost.

Deep down, if Jade ever saw her for her, they would not last. As friends, as acquaintances, and as something more. What she was, it wasn’t easy to accept. Easy to want. Easy to love. What she was wouldn’t give Jade a normal life. What she was would only endanger them and everyone Jade held dear to her.

Similar to her little brother’s fears but so much worse, Anya knew she was not good. She was not safe. She was not meant for this fork in the road that led her to somewhere… normal. Led her somewhere she wished she could call home. What she was had nothing to do with her and everything to do with her Father. No, not the one that conceived her with her mother. She was talking about her Creator. The one that would always call the shots until the day she died. Anya would always belong to someone else and that would not be easy for Jade to commit to. Not easy for Jade to love.

Anya knew what she was but she did wonder if Jade knew how much she meant to someone as atrocious as her. Someone who was born in the dark and could not leave without permission. Jade was pure. Jade was good. Jade was light. To Anya, a creature. To Anya, a monster. To Anya, a ghost. Jade was her Angel. Her wish upon a star that she knew was out of reach… but she wanted it. She wanted to grab this girl and hold her close. She wanted Jade which wasn’t something she ever did before. Want something. Need something. For the first time in her life, she wanted something. She wanted someone. For the first time in her life, she wanted a woman. For the first time in her life, she wanted love. She wanted Jade.

If only…

The Basilisk wasn’t deserving of such a beautiful girl and yet, here she was taking a risk and exploring these budding feelings that resided in her. Her comment from earlier, that of home, clearly had a double meaning to it. Not only did the Russian woman mean it was good to know the area you live in but that it was important to know who were the people that centered you. That reminded you of your own humanity. Those you considered: your home. “Should I get leaving? You need rest? I go if this is what you want, Toast girl.”

The Angel Princess found herself lost in the beauty of her Pancake when she had removed her helmet. She found helmet hair oddly sexy and though there were clear signs of it affecting Anya’s golden locks, it didn’t take away from her radiance. Being home was bittersweet because the last time she was actually here, she had found herself in such a distraught state because of Cameron Hyde. She saw the monster that nearly killed Ley. Not all of it, she would assume, but enough to set the blonde straight in a sense. Seeking the comfort of her friends, she was put on a journey of self-discovery and eventually found an unexpected peace.

And then was rewarded again because she found out more and more about the woman standing next to her. The woman who was starting to become someone very close to her heart. A woman who, at times, had that child-like wonder that broke through every wall Jade had put up. She meant something to her and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet. “You don’t have to go…not yet. I’m not even that tired.” A half-lie. Jade was emotionally spent, but she wanted Anya to stay and no matter how exhausted her mind was, her heart was finally waking up. “I have some pancake mix in my apartment. I can whip us up a batch if you’ve got time. It’s no Dolly’s triple stack with all your sweet toppings but I do got ready whip and some good syrup. Went shopping recently for some essentials.” In truth, Jade wanted to get better at cooking for a moment just like right now. She wanted to make the pancakes like Dolly’s main cook did. How Anya liked it.

“Pancake from Toast girl?” Anya's smile turned into a grin as she looked at the slender woman with intrigue. “No need for triple stack. You touch it, it be good. I’m certain.” With a wave of her hand, she gestured toward the entrance for Jade to lead the way. As they did walk toward the elevator, Anya found her sharp, green eyes trailing down the other blonde’s figure and lingering on Jade’s tight jean bottom. Before Jade could catch her staring, the Russian woman looked away.

When they stood in the elevator, side by side, Anya looked up at the fluorescent lights. It was humid in here so when she got to Jade’s apartment she would need to take off her jacket. “You okay?” Her gaze fell on the other woman, having caught sight of the red eyes, dark circles, and drained energy since she saw the vixen on the reservation. Jade likely thought she was hiding it well but for a trained eye, it was easy to read. “Your breathing…” Among other things like the muscle tension in her voice or the sweaty hands that Anya had felt when they were on her bike and she made sure Jade was holding tight. All signs of anxiety. Anya wondered what was the cause of it or if it was her. If she was the one to blame for making her Angel uncomfortable. Did Jade not like being this close to her? If so, she needed to know. “You tired, I understand. But you nervous too, why?”

Like every Sunday morning (early at that), Anya saw through Jade. And Anya was right. Jade was nervous, but it wasn’t for anything bad…maybe. Jade didn’t know yet. Maybe she didn’t find as much peace at Blue Hill as she thought. She thought she was holding it in, that she hid it well, but there was nothing Jade could do to hide anything from Anya. She saw everything. All the bullshit. All the walls Jade could throw up. It made her feel safe just as much as it made her feel exposed.

Not because Anya was so perceptive, but because Anya is the first person since Roddy Callahan that made her afraid to feel. Of course with the blonde that stood next to her, anxiously waiting for the elevator to reach the second to highest level (where Jade lived), she wasn’t afraid to feel but was afraid to say it out loud. The moment she did, Jade knew in her heart that she would be completely exposed and Anya would have her complete heart. Whatever she chose to do at that moment would be completely out of Jade’s control.

Just as she was going to start to explain why she was nervous, the elevator doors opened. They were finally at their destination, but there were also a couple people - Angels. Patch members - who waved to Jade as she and Anya got off and they took their spot. As they walked a few feet, Jade said, “This is us.” Jade’s apartment was close to the elevator. Reaching into her pocket, with shaking hands, Jade went to unlock her apartment door, but she couldn’t find the damn steadiness to get the key into the hole and she dropped them. “Son of a bitch…” She muttered and took in a deep breath and kneeled down to grab them. “Sorry. I don’t know why…can you do it?” She said, handing the keys to Anya.

Instead of taking Jade’s keys from her right away, Anya cupped the girl’s shaky hands, clasping them together where the keys were between both of their hands. She didn’t say anything. Instead she studied the woman’s face and fixed her green eyes with Jade’s pretty blues. They were like fire in water. Passion in ice. She could swim in those eyes for hours. Silence lingered between them for a moment longer and then effortlessly, Anya slipped the keys into her grasp, abiding her heart’s desire’s commands. Once she returned the keys to its rightful owner, Anya motioned for the bewildered girl to lead the way.

Glancing to her side at the angels that walked past them, having not entered the apartment yet, the Russian woman’s soft gaze instantaneously turned cold, like a switch turned on. Or off. It was the Basilisk’s way of saying mind your business without having to say anything. Her eyes were her signature, after all. Her eyes that separated her from the rest of her sisters, her brothers, and her biker comrades. Her eyes which could be so completely void of emotion, one would wonder if there was even a human living inside the shell of her body. The rookie angels were quick to leave her sight. Shaken and uncomfortable from Jade’s guest. When they were gone, Anya’s gaze softened again, taking a step forward into the room. She smiled, looking around in awe, “This nice place you got! Look at Toast girl, living with herself, doing what she needs to do.” Closing the door behind her and not moving any further into Jade’s place, Anya asked, “Shoes off? Where I put my jacket?”

Jade’s hands weren’t shaking anymore, but she couldn’t shake the sensation of it. The feeling of her anxiety going through the roof. Anya was her saving grace and had calmed the storm that brews in the Angel Princess periodically. It took her a delayed moment to respond to her Russian lover. “You think so? It’s not bad. My Uncle Charlie lived here before he was sent away. Been just me ever since graduating high school.” And some months she wondered if she would make rent. She may have been considered royalty to the Angels and rent was the cheapest in town for a one-bedroom apartment, but some months were harder than most.

She set her keys on the countertop, as well as her jacket. When Anya asked about her, she turned around when one arm was still inside one sleeve. “No rules about shoes on or off. You can set your jacket on the back of the chair over there--” Jade absentmindedly pointed to Anya’s immediate left where her poor excuse for a dining room set, which consisted of a small, circular table and two chairs she picked up from a swap meet a few months ago. It was then she decided to do the same, walking over to the other chair and setting her jacket on the back of it…as she always did.

As if manners were drilled into her head, Anya slipped off her boots and pushed it with her foot into Jade’s mudroom. Attentively listening, the older woman followed suit, briefly coming behind the vixen to throw her coat on top of her’s. When the coat dropped, it opened a little to show a glimpse of a patch on the inside. By how close Anya was standing behind Jade, it was almost as if what she was doing was intentional. Gravitating to the wall, Anya scanned a couple pictures of Jade’s chosen family. Angels, her quartet, and her blood. Her eyes rested on the man that her Toast girl called ‘Uncle Charlie’.

Going deeper into the living room, by a side table, there she caught sight of more photos. She bent down to stare at a picture with many people, that of the Fallen Angels table and HCC. Jade at the center. Happy as can be. Anya knew exactly where she was in this photo. To the keen eye, one would see a person outside leaning against the clubhouse’s window, facing away from the camera, looking up at the sky. There when it mattered but never in sight for others to know her face. That was how Anya had to be. A mystery even to those she cared for.

To this day, Anya wondered why her Father, her creator, allowed her to join a gang when he was hers but he did and since then, she did what she had to do to keep this piece of family. All for herself. Selfish on her part because by that choice, she was endangering all these people simply by breathing in the same vicinity as them. Still, she wanted to be selfish. She wanted to keep them to herself. She wanted her Angel to herself. She wanted Jade.

Once again, her green eyes caught sight of CT and his stupid grin. Rolling her eyes, she cursed, “Pridurok.” Over the years, the Basilisk understood why her mother found comfort with that man. He gave her a sense of normalcy. Similar to what Anya found with Jade. Maybe not as romantic, then again she didn’t know much about her mother’s past but he cared enough to swear an oath to her. To be there for her when she needed someone. A parental figure, more so than her own. The one she actually considered a father. Not Ivan. Not her Creator. No. Charlie Taylor. That man earned her respect and for him, she would make sure her choice wasn’t in vain. She would protect him just as much as he protected her. She would kill for him because that's what family did for each other. They fought, they loved, and they supported. He was a moron but he was her moron.

Jade kept her watchful glance on Anya as she freely explored the living room. It was strange. Jade had always thought that the reason leading to getting Anya at her place would be different. She wasn’t a romantic by any means and she still hadn’t answered Anya’s earlier question about why she was so nervous, but that seemed like a distant memory now. What she felt for Anya was obvious. Her Russian lover was perceptive. More perceptive than anyone she knew, so maybe she did know but was waiting for Jade to say it. Maybe she didn’t need to say it. Maybe it was something that was felt and proven through actions.

As Jade leaned down to pick up Anya’s coat, what she saw, even if just a small glimpse of it, nearly shattered her…in the best way possible. She saw the edge of an angel wing. The yellow tone, with the red outline. “It couldn’t be…” She murmured, looking at where Anya was and she seemed engrossed with the pictures on the side table near the couch, so Jade had to know. She had to know for sure if what she thought she saw was the truth and as she flipped the inside more, she saw more of the emblem.

The Angel that rises with the sun but blacked out so it never receives its benefits. We, the Fallen Angels of Eden, rise with the darkness.

Those words have been ingrained into her memory. Both her uncle and her grandfather, one of the Club’s founding members, would recite that so much that she would become enraged through her exhaustion of hearing those words. Seeing the full patch on Anya’s jacket, Jade was speechless. She saw the one thing that clicked with her brain and answered so many questions she never knew she had. On the left pec part of the jacket, where most Table members had their role in the club, Jade saw “Enforcer” underneath the name of the club. “Enforcer…” She repeated, slowly making sense of everything. Nobody knew who the enforcer was. Nobody ever saw them around, but it was understood by the entire club that they were someone very close to Charlie Taylor. If this was true…no it was true. This was an official patch and everything. Jade knew that much.

She smiled, keeping her emotions in check…for now and set the jacket over hers, Basilisk side out and she walked into the living room, standing next to Anya and grabbed her hand, interlocking her fingers with her Pancake’s. Jade didn’t need to bring it up. She didn’t need to ask. Finding out was enough for her. It gave her some clarity that she didn’t know she needed.

She saw the group photo of the entire club. “That was a tough day for all of us. It was the day before my uncle’s sentencing hearing. He was allowed to be at home until his hearing because of his amazing lawyer. That was his going to prison party.” She giggled, finding the name of the party so absurd. “Give you one guess who came up with the name?”

“You tell me,” Anya turned her head toward Jade, knowing the answer but playing ignorance so she could hear the other girl talk. If she could, she would listen to the Angel Princess speak her heart out all night. It was better than any music she ever listened to. Something to calm her spirits. Placing the photo down, Anya turned to Jade and brushed the back of her finger on her pale, smooth skin. Her cheek which showed a hint of pink. CT’s precious jewel. Anya couldn’t find it in her to go back in the shadows, away from it. She wanted to take the jewel and make it her’s. This was a dangerous game she was playing. She wondered if Jade would mind… “You care so much for these people,” Bassy whispered, as she waited for a response.

“I do. They’re my family…” She couldn’t look away from Anya’s gentle eyes. An ocean of comfort that had carried her out of the darkness she was under. Anya was more than just Anya. More than just Pancake. She was the Enforcer for the Fallen Angels. Someone who protected the club’s interests. Someone who regularly handled problems that most members wouldn’t be able to. She wasn’t as engrossed into the club as she wanted to be, but Jade knew one thing: Anya was someone she knew would never hurt her. She was the one person she felt safe around.

And because she felt safe, Jade leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Anya’s. Her heart wouldn’t shut up. It screamed at a rapid rate, pulsing. Beating. It would take a forward action, one thing Jade was infamously known for prior to losing that piece of herself she never thought she’d find again. Anya was the one who helped her find it. So she took a leap, pressing her lips against Anya’s soft lips. It was a short kiss. A tender kiss. One that shook everything inside Jade. It had hesitation and fear written all over it. Jade was scared shitless while simultaneously being invigorated by this feeling she felt rushing through her body. When she broke the kiss, without even realizing it before it was too late, words just started to spill out of her mouth, “Earlier, you asked if I was nervous and I never answered. I was nervous. I still am, but it wasn’t because of anything bad. It was about…this.” Jade’s hands started to shake but she persevered and continued, “But it’s not just me being nervous. I’m afraid because I thought falling in love was out of the question for someone like me. I didn’t think I would find that kind of love because I never allowed myself to be completely open with someone, but here I am. Afraid but strengthened by the one person who makes me feel safe. Makes me happy…” As she spoke in a trembling voice, she controlled her equally as trembling hands by squeezing Anya’s harder.

I warn you, moya doch'. You find this feeling, it’ll break your heart but don’t give it up. You need it to breathe.

Anya could hear her mother’s voice, whose English was far better than her’s, something she hadn’t heard in years. So close to this feeling, this feeling that her mother described as love. She could reach for it, right now, and hold her, kiss her and show her she was the reason a weapon like her could feel. In the bleak of winter, the lonely assassin saw a girl in a parking lot, with her friends. A native boy and a pale, ghost-like girl. Trying to get them to be together.

Today she met that girl who never got to the beginning of her love story. Someone Jade loved deeply. By watching this riot of a woman for years, Anya knew Jade was someone who tried her best for others and when things didn’t go the way she hoped, the consequences were something she lived with. Anya knew she blamed herself for everything. That was simply the nature of the beast that lurked over the Angel Princess’ shoulders. But what if, with this one thing, this would be everything that was right in the world for her. This one feeling, so close, was everything they needed. That Jade needed. That Anya needed.

Until the day is over, your heart will be broken but if you grab it, reach out your hand, fight, Zhizn’ moya… you could have everything.

No one was going to kill her. If anyone was going to kill Anya Kamensky, it would be herself. Human feelings. Guilt, regret and grief. She didn’t understand it but when she got lost in Jade’s sapphire eyes, she could understand why she was trained to not feel anything. These beautiful jeweled eyes. Pacific blue light. This would be her weakness.

Weakness was not something any of her sisters should have. They all had different curricula that led to their chosen paths and for Anya, her learning was limited so that she could only understand necessary information. Human emotion was not necessary. The more Anya rebelled, she discovered having a weakness could be seen as strength. It motivated Legs to get away from her pimp. It centered Mika and gave him a woman worth protecting. It led Jade to her, ready to give it all, if Anya said the word. That meant Anya had a reason to not risk everything for her Father because she had someone that wanted to be by her side. She had a reason to live and that reason said she was falling in love. Falling in love with a monster. Falling in love with her.

While Jade let her fear show on her face, Anya gave a stupid grin, similar to that of Charlie Taylor’s. It was in this action that Anya knew exactly where she was. Two elements were at play and the one inside of Anya was pure unadulterated excitement. Sliding one of her arms around Jade’s waist, drawing her closer, and having more control of where she wanted her, the Russian woman used her other hand to gently run her thumb on Jade’s bottom lip.

Tightening her grip, leaving no room between them, conveying how she felt without saying a single word, Anya joined their worlds, one where Jade was in the light, and Anya was in the dark, and let them both explode into shards of molten light. Her hungry mouth merged with Jade’s sweet tasting, lipstick painted lips, insisting on her to shut up and enjoy this moment with her. There was no room for hesitation and by kissing her repeatedly, feeling her body and claiming her jewel, Anya decided this was the point of no return. No longer holding back, the Basilisk chased this feeling. This feeling that perhaps she too was falling in love. In love with a girl that she saw as an angel. A true angel. Her angel.

Jade was completely exposed to Anya. She could completely rip her apart if she wished, but when the Angel Princess felt that hand grip her waist and pulling her closer, there was a moment where the raw emotion of feeling seen reduced her expression to literal tears. Her eyes swelled up with a waterfall that she couldn’t hold back any longer. She smiled even though her face became both cold and hot of the overwhelming outpour of emotions, validation, and something so raw, so intense that she couldn’t find the word to describe it.

She was always so helpless whenever she was with Anya. So helpless and unable to hide what was truly in her heart. It was that smile. That damn smile of hers and the eyes that broke through everything that she put up between her and the real world.

Jade’s entire life was full of moments that built her up and broke her apart time and time again, but it never bothered to handle her with care. She learned how to cope and endure through the art of either surviving or succumbing to the pain. She never had anyone just hold her and tell her it was going to be okay. Never truly felt safe. Charlie T tried as much as he could and most of the pain caused by her parents was replaced with the love her uncle gave her, but Jade kept enduring setback after setback. Losing her Aunt Zippo was just the start of it.

But this woman…this one person that came into her life out of nowhere…God, she could make up for all of what Jade had to endure. What she experienced that tested the limits of her soul. With every kiss planted on her lips, Jade also found herself craving more. Yearning for Anya. To have her in every way imaginable.

“Take me…” Jade muttered, so clearly out of breath and high on this feeling as she slowly walked back with Anya, leading them in the direction of her bedroom. “..To my room..” Jade kissed Anya once more. Deeper this time. She wasn’t afraid anymore. Jade wasn’t afraid to love and she wanted to show this to Anya.

There was no need to say that twice.

Anya would take her. Anywhere and everywhere because this girl was her light and she refused to lose sight of that.

A monster needs an angel and maybe, just maybe, an angel could learn to love a monster.

Edenridge

JJ Milligan

_{"Partly, I like a bad reputation. But I also want a reputation of being a good person." — Joan Jett}

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𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚

Jessie James Milligan

𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨

JJ - Common nickname || Responds to it the most
Bluejay - Equally as common || Also doubles as her street name/callsign.
Jessie - Just another name people call her || No preference one way or the other.

𝘼𝙜𝙚

24 || July 19th || Cancer-Leo cusp

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧

Female, She/Her

𝙎𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮

Bisexual - Male lean

𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙨

Exclusively (she thinks) dating Cameron Hyde

𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨

▸ HEIGHT : | 5’5”
▸ WEIGHT : | 115lbs
▸ ETHNICITY : | Irish-German (Irish from mom’s side and German from her biological father’s)
▸ HAIR COLOR : | Naturally a ginger but dyes her hair blonde sometimes with strands of blue
▸ EYE COLOR : | Playful emeralds for eyes
▸ BODY TYPE: | Lean and fit
▸ MODIFICATIONS: | Ears pierced || Has a tattoo of a Bluejay on her inner-right wrist and one angel wing on the other inner-wrist. She also has a tattoo of a sunflower and stem with the words "forever in my heart" at the bottom of the stem in honor of one of the most vivacious people she had encountered in her life, Allison Davies.

JJ embodies exactly what it means to be a “biker chick”. All her life, her fashion has been strictly tight pants, shirts that don’t go past her belly button, and an assortment of leather jackets, wristbands, and sometimes bandanas. Through the years her style has had minor alterations, but the core aesthetic of her version of biker chic remained. Though, that isn’t to say she can’t work it if she needed to. She does enjoy wearing dresses or when she’s clubibng, she can rock it. Tight skirts, shirts that may as well be a bra of some kind, but always she wears her dark blue leather jacket. Nobody really knows why except her. It’s a blue jacket with the crest of a bluejay on the back of it. Her mother gave it to her for her 18th birthday, a gift she said that she wanted her to have it. Though she didn’t know it, it was actually something her father had made for her long before she was born and told Ivy to give it to her when she was 18. Or when Ivy deemed it fitting.

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮

Confident → engaging → adventurous → lively → authentically herself → loyal → honest to a fault → selfish → shortsided → oversensitive → impulsive → petty → has the irish temper

Depending on who you ask, there are varying opinions about Jessie James Milligan. Ask her mother and she’s the most forward, confident, exciting, and emotionally dynamic woman. She’s everything that it means to embody the Milligan name (and unknowingly the Taylor name, too). Ask her jaded ex, Angel and she might come across as a selfish, dishonest, bitch of a person who never commits. Which to that, JJ understands where it comes from. She’s not the easier person to deal with, be it as friend or someone that she just couldn’t put her everything into, but she has never apologized for being who she is. Because, for better or worse, Jessie is unapologetically herself. She wears it both as armor and as her main form of offense against her haters.

Growing up, she’s seen and experienced some reality checks that tested her. The growing jealousy that she sensed from Bornagh cause of her relationship with their father, the lack of being with who she saw as her one true love, and just always feeling like there was something missing. Like a piece of her soul was never whole. Much like her parents (and the father she never truly knew), Jessie is loyal almost to it being a double-edged sword. Her fire rages inside her. The irish blood from her mother and the steel will of the german side of her family fuels her to be this explosive force. This woman that lives and breathes living for the moment. She believes that tomorrow is never truly promised. You can hope for it, but odds are, you won’t ever see it unless you live in the now and see what happens. Impulsive and reckless as it is, but that’s Jessie James Milligan. She’s a wildfire.

𝘽𝙞𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙮

"Give a voice to your dreams, but don't let it dictate how your journey ends, Jessie James."

That's something mom used to say to me for the longest time. Every time I had a milestone in my life. When I grew an inch when it was recorded on the growing wall, she'd say it. When I'd pass all of the minor quizzes and major tests and exams throughout middle school and high school, she'd say it. When I got accepted into college, my mother would repeat that. She'd become a broken record over and over again with it. As far as I know, she didn't shy away from saying the same thing to Bronagh every time she had accomplishments.

My mother is someone I could never figure out completely.

Siobhan Maeve Milligan has always been someone and still is someone that wears her heart on her sleeve. For as long as she's been alive, her feelings were always known. Did it matter if she was happy or depressed? Not one bit because she'd always show it. Ivy, as most call her - well, at least those who weren't her daughters - has never been able to lie about how she's feeling. This all dates back to how she and her sisters came up: Edith and Deidre. Both have found good men. John Callahan and Garrett Cleary. Both foundlings and on some level, maybe that always made her feel left out. Being the only Milligan sister who didn't marry into a foundling family or even would eventually. She didn't know it at the time, but when they were teenagers, Ivy, like the poisonous plant she chose to nickname herself from, always had this affinity for danger.

Maybe that's why she felt a draw to a Charlie Wayne Taylor. The truth was, as high as her jealousy for her sisters was back then, this rings true to Ivy's highly sensitive soul. Her inability to do away with the excessive emotions. She feels so much because she has a big heart. Those with big hearts often get hurt easier and in the worst way. During high school especially, Ivy found herself both so full of life while simultaneously in such a dark place because she went through a rather aggressive rebellious phase that damn near gave both of her parents a heart attack. Charlie Taylor was also not a subtle person. His reputation and the reputation of the Fallen Angels MC was known in just about every corner of Edenridge. Charlie being the son of the then president of the club, it was destiny that he'd join the club when he was 18 as a prospect all the while Ivy was still heavily involved in his world. She knew Francis Dawson, Charlie's sisters Fiona and Whitney. She knew them well, at that. Still to this day, there have been moments when she still thought about the now deceased Fiona and what that was doing to Charlie.

But there was a moment in those years when she left being a teenager behind and to being a woman who had no clue what she was doing.

And that was when Ivy found out she was pregnant with her first daughter, Jessie James Milligan.

Mom never talked about my birth father much. She met Lance not long after she had me. He's a really good guy. He's the only dad I've ever known and even if by some miracle I can finally find out who knocked my mother up, it won't matter. I know it and I think she knows it too. Regardless of who he is, or was if he's even alive, there's nobody other than Lance -- Chef -- that will ever take his place.

My mom had instilled some priceless values in me, but it was Lance who helped form me into the fearless person I am today. Proud of who I am and unapologetic of that person. People will call me a bitch and maybe there have been points where I was unreasonably cruel to some people or just too set in my ways to realize when I was wrong or have done wrong. Dad always made me believe in myself when I was losing my way. Mom did too, but the effect that he has on the Milligan women, that's something that can't be ignored. Depiste everything that happened at a certain point in time.

For the second time in my mother's life, she had to be protected from a man she loved dearly. Both myself and Bronagh would protect her, try everything we could to keep her from ever falling for dad again. They were different people when they were together and every time he came rolling back into town, all the progress that Ivy made after finally healing was undone. And what's worse than that is mom never seems to notice it because she's always transported back to the days where they were all a happy family.

Maybe that's why my relationship with Angel never lasted. It also had to do with the fact that I've always had this huge crush on Cameron Hyde. No matter who or what came into my life, he was always my endgame. Even after I left Edenridge after graduating and I went to college at Worcester Technical Institute, which I graduated with high honors from including a BA in both mechanical and electrical engineering, I couldn't keep him off my mind. I couldn't let go of one day being his girl. Now that I'm back in town, I am his. Jessie James Milligan and Cameron Hyde are together. I'm back home and I'm Cameron Hyde's girlfriend.

I couldn't ask for a better life.

𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮

Milligan Family

Siobhan Maeve "Ivy" Milligan || Mother || 44 || Property manager for various residential properties in Edenridge (namely the Milligan Apartments) - ”I fucking love my mom to death. I will protect her from anyone who tries to hurt her. For a time, that was dad…Lance, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s our rock. For the longest time, both me and Bron had to watch her go into such a great depression after finding out the man she loved more than anything had another family. It broke her and now that he’s back, well I can’t help but wonder if he’s back for good. I love her and I want her to be happy, but I sometimes worry if dad being back is really the best thing for her well-being. I don’t know..”
Charlie Wayne Taylor || Biological Father || 43 || President of the Fallen Angels MC (currently incarcerated) - ”...””

Willow Jade Taylor || Cousin || 19 || Waitress at Edge of Sin - ”...””

Chef Lance Irvine || Father (only one she's ever known) || 48 || Professional Michelin-Star Chef - ”Dad isn’t perfect. He’s made mistakes and I don’t blame him for it anymore and I’m sure mom doesn’t either. His other family is something that we just have to deal with as our new normal. I have step siblings (even though we’re not related by blood). They probably hate my mom, but they haven’t tried anything against me or mom, so they’re nothing to me in all honesty.”
Bronagh Edith "Bron" Milligan || Younger Sister || 22 || Social Media Influencer/E-Girl - ”Sometimes I want to ring her neck but someone so energetic, so shamelessly herself, how could I not love this bundle of wild, chaos in a person? I’ll fucking kill for her. Tommy Hartmann, you better treat her right. I know where my mom keeps her gun.”

Through her Aunt Edith and Deidre, JJ is also related to the Cleary and Callahan families.

𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙘

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_{FC: Katherine McNamaraDialogue Color: #567ce0}
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Member of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduating class of 2021 with Magna Cum Laude distinction

Graduated with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Electrical Engineering
Midway through her masters program to obtain her Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Drives a dark 2015 Triumph Bronville Speedmaster that was gifted to her by both her mother and Lance when she graduated high school. Jessie has always been a motorcycle enthusiast. For everything she says about not wanting to know her biological father, it’s the one thing that she knows bonds them. She pretends to not care but deep, deep…deep down, Jessie cares and feels like riding a hog is the only thing that she can consciously do to show that. Her first bike was a Honda Rebel 500
JJ is an avid fan of heavy metal and hard rock. Her spotify playlist exclusively consists of the hits from the 80s and 90s. She actually owns an old vinyl record of the Gallows - their only full-length one - that she sometimes listens to that was gifted to her by her mother, who owned it previously. She doesn’t know much about their story or why they broke up. Even though JJ is a rocker and always has been, her favorite song is the first song on their only album: The Comet. It speaks to her soul. Becoming Woman is a close second but that’s only because she loves anything with badass women at the epicenter.
JJ loves to party. She loves the feeling of being in some old house where she’s likely to get murdered. She loves that brush with death and the danger that comes with it. She loves the music pulsating against her skin, the vibrations from the outrageously loud beat. She loves not hearing herself think but letting the trap beat, the bass drop, and the electricity of being in the club and living life to the fullest. But most of all, JJ loves a good party.
Jessie James has a few guilty pleasures, but the biggest one of all is eating the greasiest, fattiest, most unhealthy item on any menu and ordering two of them for herself. Maybe it might kill her before she’s 50. Maybe it’ll give her a bad case of heartburn, but if there was one thing JJ is always adamant about, it’s that she’s never going to let a little regret from tomorrow from letting her live today.
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts || Going to Hell by The Pretty Reckless || Adrenalize by In this Moment || Cherry Bomb by The Runaways

Edenridge

JJ Milligan

_{"Partly, I like a bad reputation. But I also want a reputation of being a good person." — Joan Jett}

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𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚

Jessie James Milligan

𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨

JJ - Common nickname || Responds to it the most
Bluejay - Equally as common || Also doubles as her street name/callsign.
Jessie - Just another name people call her || No preference one way or the other.

𝘼𝙜𝙚

24 || July 19th || Cancer-Leo cusp

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧

Female, She/Her

𝙎𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮

Bisexual - Male lean

𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙨

Exclusively (she thinks) dating Cameron Hyde

𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨

▸ HEIGHT : | 5’5”
▸ WEIGHT : | 115lbs
▸ ETHNICITY : | Irish-German (Irish from mom’s side and German from her biological father’s)
▸ HAIR COLOR : | Naturally a ginger but dyes her hair blonde sometimes with strands of blue
▸ EYE COLOR : | Playful emeralds for eyes
▸ BODY TYPE: | Lean and fit
▸ MODIFICATIONS: | Ears pierced || Has a tattoo of a Bluejay on her inner-right wrist and one angel wing on the other inner-wrist. She also has a tattoo of a sunflower and stem with the words "forever in my heart" at the bottom of the stem in honor of one of the most vivacious people she had encountered in her life, Allison Davies.

JJ embodies exactly what it means to be a “biker chick”. All her life, her fashion has been strictly tight pants, shirts that don’t go past her belly button, and an assortment of leather jackets, wristbands, and sometimes bandanas. Through the years her style has had minor alterations, but the core aesthetic of her version of biker chic remained. Though, that isn’t to say she can’t work it if she needed to. She does enjoy wearing dresses or when she’s clubibng, she can rock it. Tight skirts, shirts that may as well be a bra of some kind, but always she wears her dark blue leather jacket. Nobody really knows why except her. It’s a blue jacket with the crest of a bluejay on the back of it. Her mother gave it to her for her 18th birthday, a gift she said that she wanted her to have it. Though she didn’t know it, it was actually something her father had made for her long before she was born and told Ivy to give it to her when she was 18. Or when Ivy deemed it fitting.

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮

Confident → engaging → adventurous → lively → authentically herself → loyal → honest to a fault → selfish → shortsided → oversensitive → impulsive → petty → has the irish temper

Depending on who you ask, there are varying opinions about Jessie James Milligan. Ask her mother and she’s the most forward, confident, exciting, and emotionally dynamic woman. She’s everything that it means to embody the Milligan name (and unknowingly the Taylor name, too). Ask her jaded ex, Angel and she might come across as a selfish, dishonest, bitch of a person who never commits. Which to that, JJ understands where it comes from. She’s not the easier person to deal with, be it as friend or someone that she just couldn’t put her everything into, but she has never apologized for being who she is. Because, for better or worse, Jessie is unapologetically herself. She wears it both as armor and as her main form of offense against her haters.

Growing up, she’s seen and experienced some reality checks that tested her. The growing jealousy that she sensed from Bornagh cause of her relationship with their father, the lack of being with who she saw as her one true love, and just always feeling like there was something missing. Like a piece of her soul was never whole. Much like her parents (and the father she never truly knew), Jessie is loyal almost to it being a double-edged sword. Her fire rages inside her. The irish blood from her mother and the steel will of the german side of her family fuels her to be this explosive force. This woman that lives and breathes living for the moment. She believes that tomorrow is never truly promised. You can hope for it, but odds are, you won’t ever see it unless you live in the now and see what happens. Impulsive and reckless as it is, but that’s Jessie James Milligan. She’s a wildfire.

𝘽𝙞𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙮

"Give a voice to your dreams, but don't let it dictate how your journey ends, Jessie James."

That's something mom used to say to me for the longest time. Every time I had a milestone in my life. When I grew an inch when it was recorded on the growing wall, she'd say it. When I'd pass all of the minor quizzes and major tests and exams throughout middle school and high school, she'd say it. When I got accepted into college, my mother would repeat that. She'd become a broken record over and over again with it. As far as I know, she didn't shy away from saying the same thing to Bronagh every time she had accomplishments.

My mother is someone I could never figure out completely.

Siobhan Maeve Milligan has always been someone and still is someone that wears her heart on her sleeve. For as long as she's been alive, her feelings were always known. Did it matter if she was happy or depressed? Not one bit because she'd always show it. Ivy, as most call her - well, at least those who weren't her daughters - has never been able to lie about how she's feeling. This all dates back to how she and her sisters came up: Edith and Deidre. Both have found good men. John Callahan and Garrett Cleary. Both foundlings and on some level, maybe that always made her feel left out. Being the only Milligan sister who didn't marry into a foundling family or even would eventually. She didn't know it at the time, but when they were teenagers, Ivy, like the poisonous plant she chose to nickname herself from, always had this affinity for danger.

Maybe that's why she felt a draw to a Charlie Wayne Taylor. The truth was, as high as her jealousy for her sisters was back then, this rings true to Ivy's highly sensitive soul. Her inability to do away with the excessive emotions. She feels so much because she has a big heart. Those with big hearts often get hurt easier and in the worst way. During high school especially, Ivy found herself both so full of life while simultaneously in such a dark place because she went through a rather aggressive rebellious phase that damn near gave both of her parents a heart attack. Charlie Taylor was also not a subtle person. His reputation and the reputation of the Fallen Angels MC was known in just about every corner of Edenridge. Charlie being the son of the then president of the club, it was destiny that he'd join the club when he was 18 as a prospect all the while Ivy was still heavily involved in his world. She knew Francis Dawson, Charlie's sisters Fiona and Whitney. She knew them well, at that. Still to this day, there have been moments when she still thought about the now deceased Fiona and what that was doing to Charlie.

But there was a moment in those years when she left being a teenager behind and to being a woman who had no clue what she was doing.

And that was when Ivy found out she was pregnant with her first daughter, Jessie James Milligan.

Mom never talked about my birth father much. She met Lance not long after she had me. He's a really good guy. He's the only dad I've ever known and even if by some miracle I can finally find out who knocked my mother up, it won't matter. I know it and I think she knows it too. Regardless of who he is, or was if he's even alive, there's nobody other than Lance -- Chef -- that will ever take his place.

My mom had instilled some priceless values in me, but it was Lance who helped form me into the fearless person I am today. Proud of who I am and unapologetic of that person. People will call me a bitch and maybe there have been points where I was unreasonably cruel to some people or just too set in my ways to realize when I was wrong or have done wrong. Dad always made me believe in myself when I was losing my way. Mom did too, but the effect that he has on the Milligan women, that's something that can't be ignored. Depiste everything that happened at a certain point in time.

For the second time in my mother's life, she had to be protected from a man she loved dearly. Both myself and Bronagh would protect her, try everything we could to keep her from ever falling for dad again. They were different people when they were together and every time he came rolling back into town, all the progress that Ivy made after finally healing was undone. And what's worse than that is mom never seems to notice it because she's always transported back to the days where they were all a happy family.

Maybe that's why my relationship with Angel never lasted. It also had to do with the fact that I've always had this huge crush on Cameron Hyde. No matter who or what came into my life, he was always my endgame. Even after I left Edenridge after graduating and I went to college at Worcester Technical Institute, which I graduated with high honors from including a BA in both mechanical and electrical engineering, I couldn't keep him off my mind. I couldn't let go of one day being his girl. Now that I'm back in town, I am his. Jessie James Milligan and Cameron Hyde are together. I'm back home and I'm Cameron Hyde's girlfriend.

I couldn't ask for a better life.

𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮

Milligan Family

Siobhan Maeve "Ivy" Milligan || Mother || 44 || Property manager for various residential properties in Edenridge (namely the Milligan Apartments) - ”I fucking love my mom to death. I will protect her from anyone who tries to hurt her. For a time, that was dad…Lance, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s our rock. For the longest time, both me and Bron had to watch her go into such a great depression after finding out the man she loved more than anything had another family. It broke her and now that he’s back, well I can’t help but wonder if he’s back for good. I love her and I want her to be happy, but I sometimes worry if dad being back is really the best thing for her well-being. I don’t know..”
Charlie Wayne Taylor || Biological Father || 43 || President of the Fallen Angels MC (currently incarcerated) - ”...””

Willow Jade Taylor || Cousin || 19 || Waitress at Edge of Sin - ”...””

Chef Lance Irvine || Father (only one she's ever known) || 48 || Professional Michelin-Star Chef - ”Dad isn’t perfect. He’s made mistakes and I don’t blame him for it anymore and I’m sure mom doesn’t either. His other family is something that we just have to deal with as our new normal. I have step siblings (even though we’re not related by blood). They probably hate my mom, but they haven’t tried anything against me or mom, so they’re nothing to me in all honesty.”
Bronagh Edith "Bron" Milligan || Younger Sister || 22 || Social Media Influencer/E-Girl - ”Sometimes I want to ring her neck but someone so energetic, so shamelessly herself, how could I not love this bundle of wild, chaos in a person? I’ll fucking kill for her. Tommy Hartmann, you better treat her right. I know where my mom keeps her gun.”

Through her Aunt Edith and Deidre, JJ is also related to the Cleary and Callahan families.

𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙘

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_{FC: Katherine McNamaraDialogue Color: #567ce0}
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Member of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduating class of 2021 with Magna Cum Laude distinction

Graduated with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Electrical Engineering
Midway through her masters program to obtain her Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Drives a dark 2015 Triumph Bronville Speedmaster that was gifted to her by both her mother and Lance when she graduated high school. Jessie has always been a motorcycle enthusiast. For everything she says about not wanting to know her biological father, it’s the one thing that she knows bonds them. She pretends to not care but deep, deep…deep down, Jessie cares and feels like riding a hog is the only thing that she can consciously do to show that. Her first bike was a Honda Rebel 500
JJ is an avid fan of heavy metal and hard rock. Her spotify playlist exclusively consists of the hits from the 80s and 90s. She actually owns an old vinyl record of the Gallows - their only full-length one - that she sometimes listens to that was gifted to her by her mother, who owned it previously. She doesn’t know much about their story or why they broke up. Even though JJ is a rocker and always has been, her favorite song is the first song on their only album: The Comet. It speaks to her soul. Becoming Woman is a close second but that’s only because she loves anything with badass women at the epicenter.
JJ loves to party. She loves the feeling of being in some old house where she’s likely to get murdered. She loves that brush with death and the danger that comes with it. She loves the music pulsating against her skin, the vibrations from the outrageously loud beat. She loves not hearing herself think but letting the trap beat, the bass drop, and the electricity of being in the club and living life to the fullest. But most of all, JJ loves a good party.
Jessie James has a few guilty pleasures, but the biggest one of all is eating the greasiest, fattiest, most unhealthy item on any menu and ordering two of them for herself. Maybe it might kill her before she’s 50. Maybe it’ll give her a bad case of heartburn, but if there was one thing JJ is always adamant about, it’s that she’s never going to let a little regret from tomorrow from letting her live today.
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts || Going to Hell by The Pretty Reckless || Adrenalize by In this Moment || Cherry Bomb by The Runaways

Imgur to Delete Archive of Images

For me personally, I've been using Postimages. It's a solid hosting site with an easy-to-navigate UI.