#de.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

➥ younger brother: the middle of the alstead boys, also a mess like shelby but not the original family disappointment just misunderstood perhaps.

DIGGING DEEPER.

he was meant to be the golden boy from the start but shelby alstead didn’t take long to show everyone he was the original family disappointment. a mess on wheels despite the efforts of his parents to get him to act right, which ultimately had them sending shelby into the military academy. they told him it was to straighten him out but they had been planning the move ever since they confirmed another child was on the way. shelby was going to make the family’s money troubles go away and bring them honor. their ambitions couldn’t be further from the truth.

to the east atlantic military academy’s credit, they definitely tried to break shelby down and make him into a compliant, perfect soldier with a big ol’ brain and a poster boy smile. a smartass mouth tried to remind them time and time again that he wasn’t moldable and he had a real hard head. it took them seven long years to figure out what he’d tried to tell them all along. he would never comply and he wasn’t an orphan so they couldn’t go about getting rid of him. no, there was no legally standard way of getting shelby alstead to follow their instruction, there was no future for a soldier who won’t take orders.

it was on his fifteenth birthday that he was discharged back to his parents, expelled from the e. a. military academy. after a solid week of daily lectures and arguments of what he planned to do with his life from there on, it turned to the silent treatment and after that his parents never had too much to say to him unless it was to get after him again. he was dishonorable and a disappointment and he couldn’t foresee that changing in their eyes no matter what he did so he stopped trying. instead, he focused his efforts on his younger brothers and keeping them safe from what he had to go through and not letting his parents put them in some kind of mold they didn’t fit in.

besides school, which he was never good at because he simply didn’t have the attention span or care. he kept himself busy doing something he did enjoy. long before sofia took over the ranch, he got a part-time job there and it turned out he had a natural talent for wrangling cattle and general dairy farming. by seventeen he’d dropped out of high school and started living on the silva ranch, learning everything he could and making a steady paycheck. most of which, he drank and partied away, or spent on impulse decisions like his truck betsy or his dog tater tot. none of which changed much as he got older. he’s managed to keep his job by some miracle but he hasn’t stopped drinking, sleeping around, or antagonizing anyone with authoritarian uniforms or complexes yet. the only thing he does keep true to is being a somewhat decent big brother and actively plans to take the government down someday with the silver lining militia.

EXTRAS.

family & connections :

stacey alstead: youngest brother

sofia silva: boss

jeremiah moore: bouncer who removes him from the mad scientist from time to time and wakes him up when he passes out outside in the back of his truck.

guy dwerryhouse: co-worker, drinking buddy, occasional partner in crime

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zodiac: sagittarius sun, libra moon, aries rising

mbti: estp

DIGGING DEEPER.

chapter 1 ( living in my cathedral ) : in the wake of his brother's role as the family disappointment, his parents had pivoted to sue to fill the role as the perfect son, the golden boy. for the most part growing up, sue had no trouble following it, really; they gave him enough slack in his leash that it didn't chafe, and he quickly proved himself quite a precocious boy. much of his development, specifically mentally, seemed to be trying to speedrun a checklist of promise; he could speak at a surprisingly young age, he could read on his own when he was barely three years old, and he seemed to quickly pick up on new concepts, not to mention the fact that he showed quite the power of observation. after the disaster that was shelby, sue was everything his parents could hope for.

chapter 2 ( don't make any sudden moves ) : although he was also meant to follow his older brother to military school, the more they tried to tug on his leash, the more rowdy sue would become, until he and his parents settled back into an equilibrium; one where he wouldn't make too much trouble for them so long as they didn't make too much trouble for him. this status quo lasted for quite a while. sue poured himself into his studies and into reading and writing—largely notes on things like philosophy and literary theory—not because his parents expected him to, but because it kept him occupied and focused, feeding his vibrant, relentless curiosity. pleasing his parents in that was merely… a by-product, one that wasn't even close to a priority to him.

chapter 3 ( hit ‘em right between the eyes ) : he's eleven years old when his older brother is discharged from the military academy, and it didn't slip past sue his parents’ treatment of shelby thereafter. to sue, who loved his brother exactly as he was, just as he loved the twins exactly as they were, his parents broke the status quo. one could call it petty, but sue would call it just. while shelby imagined he protected his younger siblings from having his fate forced upon them, sue saw it his duty to protect him just the same. and while before, he hadn't been much of a problem for his parents, allowing them to put down their guard in the stability of their equilibrium, to sue, they declared war in their treatment of his older brother. it's at eleven years old that he decided he'd use all the wit and cunning that came so easy to him, that made him so effortlessly successful in school, to making their lives as difficult as he could make it.

chapter 4 ( you're gonna go far kid ) : that's when the almost daily arguments in school started—not just with his fellow students, but with his teachers even. he'd become a disruptive force in classes, and in the event that they or his parents tried to punish him for anything, he would make sure even that would backfire. malicious compliance was his favourite weapon as a teenager, making sure to perform every instruction to such a literal degree that every source of authority would either think twice telling him what to do, or they would have to twist themselves into a mental pretzel trying to make sure he wouldn't find a loophole to exploit to make their wishes a horrifying reality.

chapter 5 ( i've always liked to play with fire ) : when stacey turned out to be much more compliant, they largely gave up on trying to steer sue towards any sort of direction that would be beneficial for them. best to stop rubbing that smirking genie's lamp and move onto the next candidate. like his brothers, he'd find himself on the silva ranch, not so much because he had any sort of fascination with it, but simply to remain close to his brothers, to turn his rebellious streak into their defence, should they ever need it. it's by accident that he bonded with the animals there, particularly a new stallion on the premise, and curiosity dictated that he learn everything about animal husbandry, but particularly anything related to horses. on the ranch, he's on his best behaviour so long as he and his brothers are treated right, though in burnington, he's still known to cause trouble, though half the time it's a wonder to anyone if it's out of retribution or just because he's bored.

EXTRAS.

( CONNECTIONS. )

shelby alstead ( older brother )

stacey alstead ( younger brother )

sullivan alstead ( younger sister )

( MEDIA. )

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soundtrack

( QUICK STATS. )

mbti : entp

enneagram : 7w8

moral alignment : chaotic neutral

temperament : sanguine-choleric

greek god : hermes

zodiac : aries sun ; gemini moon ; gemini rising

( CHARACTER INSPIRATION. )

cayde-6 ( destiny )

horrible goose ( untitled goose game )

wade wilson ( deadpool )

diogenes of sinope ( history )

brennan lee mulligan ( dropout )

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

➥ her former command sergeant ( age utp / cis man / fc utp ) : his personality is entirely utp, as well as whether he ever actually had feelings for her, or even whether he knows the details about what truly happened to their children, and how he feels about her disappearing.

DIGGING DEEPER.

TW : pregnancy, child death, kidnapping

chapter 1 ( your time is borrowed ) : clay’s entire childhood had been the army. the only home she’d ever known, the only family she’d ever known. the chief warrant officer was like her father, her warrant officers were akin to uncles and aunts, and the kids she grew up with sisters, brothers, cousins. clay grew up fiercely loyal to the east atlantic army, believed with all her might in what they did, in the good they brought about, the measures that had to be taken to preserve peace and life. under no circumstance had she ever considered that they might lie to her; what purpose would they have for doing that? clay took a principled approach to her studies, sucking up every bit of information that was offered to her, finding her particular niche in physical education and biology—she didn’t know what she wanted to do with all this information and all the skills she was being taught, just that she’d want to make the world a better place. maybe she’d become a warrant officer herself, when she got older?

chapter 2 ( the die is thrown ) : ultimately, the decision was made for her, and if she’d said she minded too much, it would’ve been a lie. the chief warrant officer knew what was best, oversaw all the goings-on at the academy, knew the skills and weaknesses of every student that passed through the academy’s halls, so why would she question their judgement? so she went through boot camp with the same fervour as she’d gone through the academy. lithe and small as she was compared to most others, clay knew not just her own body, but the bodies of others; the biology she’d been so enamoured with growing up, spent hours reading up on, proved vital in a hand-to-hand combat situation. there’s no need to be strong and big when you could hit someone at their weakest points and eliminate them before they even realised what had happened. by the time she graduated as a specialist, she’d earned the name ‘claymore’ after claymore mines, the way she knew how to rip anyone apart in a calculated manner, with devastating results.

chapter 3 ( the winter of woe ) : in a fight, clay was deadly, taking down opponents much bigger than herself with seeming ease. on recon missions she was an asset for the way she seemed to be able to contort her body into incredible spaces, able to climb to and balance on things most would see as a death sentence. socially, while quiet, she was warm and easy to talk to, always looking out for those in her unit, including her first sergeant and her command sergeant. it’s how she fell in love—perhaps frowned upon to fraternise with your command sergeant, but at twenty years old, it was the last thing clay would’ve thought about. their escapades eventually lead to a pregnancy, and while the who was unfortunate, in a world where fertility is a very sought-after ability, clay took this as a sign that she was on the right path. while her command sergeant started holding her back from the most dangerous missions, clay insisted to be part of the unit up until the moment she absolutely couldn’t. labour was fraught with its own complications, and it was the first time clay felt she’d kissed the reaper’s cheek before it ultimately passed her by. when they’d stemmed the blood and clay had regained consciousness, the doctor delivering the news of her stillborn tore a wail out of her weak body that could’ve been heard across the world.

chapter 4 ( lock up the rage ) : for years, she struggled with the guilt, as well as regaining the physical strength she’d had before she’d gone through the traumatic labour. she’d dive into books once more, information and learning filling a void newly carved into her heart; her (former) command sergeant would be by as much as he could be, insisting it hadn’t been her fault at all, assuring that he still loved her. it took clay almost four or five years until she got to a place, mentally and physically, that she could pick back up where she’d dropped off years previous. and she threw herself into her work with more energy, more determination, more of a need to prove herself than ever before. when she got pregnant again at twenty-nine, it was with none of the excitement as she had years prior; a dread so intense filled her that it nearly left her unable to function for weeks. but she pushed it away—this time is not last time, and the fact that the stars were aligned to give her this second chance at all meant something. that’s what she believed anyway. this labour wasn’t nearly as complicated as the last had been, and while it surely had exhausted her, she could hear the cries of her baby with her eyes closed, the doctors taking it away to make sure it was healthy. when she woke up from her well-deserved rest, again a doctor stood at the foot of her bed to deliver her the news that her child had been stillborn. this time, no grief filled her. for the longest time, it was a stunned silence that filled the room, as a deep-seated rage filled her up.

chapter 5 ( in the steel and the rags ) : they’d been lying. they’d been lying to her for years and years and years. but clay knew better than to make a scene, as much as she wanted to tear them to shreds. no, she worked to regain her strength, keeping her eyes and ears open about any information shared with and around her, noting it all down. dots connecting, the memory of her childhood tainted from the root; she’d been told her parents had died, and that’s how she came to the academy as just a baby. is that what her children would be told? that she’d died? just like they’d told her they had died. once she felt her body was back to operating strength, she’d broken into the chief warrant officer’s office and taken any and all relevant data she could, bringing it to the one group she felt might be able to take a stand against this monstrosity of moral deficiency: the silver lining militia.

EXTRAS.

( CONNECTIONS. )

dante winters ( friend )

( MEDIA. )

pinterest

soundtrack

( QUICK STATS. )

mbti : infj

enneagram : 9w8

moral alignment : neutral good

temperament : phlegmatic-melancholic

greek god : dicaeosyne

zodiac : aquarius sun ; capricorn moon ; cancer rising

( CHARACTER INSPIRATION. )

faith connors ( mirror’s edge )