âIt was strange how she found out, One moment she didnât know; the next minute she did. One moment her mind was as blank as the desert; the next minute the snake of suspicion had slithered into her thoughts and raised its poisonous head.â -Â Thrity Umrigar
â ⌠° âž dichen lachman + female + she/her â have you met maggie xue? they are a thirty-four-year-old known around town as the firebrand. theyâve been in the gang life thirty years and currently work for the cobra as a leader. they are an asexual libra, which means they are adroit + assertive, as well as reticent + jaundiced. the smell after rain, a taste of iron, 'liberty' carefully craver into the back of a leather jacket. Ă alex. twenty-one. they/them. utc +1. ĂÂ
//hello - iâm just her to slither in (iâm so sorry but there will be snake puns, you have been warned). this is my new bby, the king cobra, maggie. a started-from-the-bottom-now-weâre-here bitch.
background.
born in salt lake city, child to a pair of chinese immigrants, life shouldnât have been exciting, shouldnât have been dangerous, shouldnât have ended like it did. it was good, for a few years. it was normal. but when her mother died, just before her fourth birthday, it turned to shit. then the life she remembered began.
her father lost faith and happiness the day her mother was buried, and with her sweet smile gone from their shop, her father had to turn to various different places for money. they were deep in debt before she even started in school.
soon laundry cleaning would turn to laundering. a favour for his new âfriendsâ. they took over more and more until they owned him enough to send him to valdez. she was the last thing he owned. and in the end, he even gave her to them to keep himself alive.
valdez, colorado.
the first years they were at least kind to her. a four-five-year-old couldnât do much. she would run errands, lived in a cellar with a teddy bear and some cloth of her own. upstairs were kind women. and a lot of guests. she didnât know what happened and was always send down at night, but they gave her candy and pencils to draw with so she didnât think much of it.
for a brief time, she hoped she might end as a soldier, loyal and strong, not caught in a room upstairs. she was even allowed to train. learned to shoot a gun. but just after her fourteenth birthday, when one of the women got lucky and escaped, the only way one could permanently, she was pulled upstairs to take her place instead.
 it was a sudden and permanent move. she was given a bed and told she finally had the opportunity to work down her father's debt. so she did what she could. thought of his debt decreasing a little bit, each time she spread her legs. and as long as she focused on that it was okay. it didnât take all before it was the only thing she felt. she hated the work, she felt no pleasure. sex was brutal, she didnât see how anyone could feel love through it. it was a scam.
it was easier to hide, inside herself, it didnât hurt when they just thought she was stupid, they wouldnât be so mean. and her goal got more and more in reach, she could feel freedom on the tip of her tongue, but in the back of her head a mess of anger, sorrow and hellfire were bobbling. it started as a simmer but grew to a crackling fire, a midsummer bonfire. and in the shadow of her fatherâs dead a pyre.
but just when she was about to step into the sun, the darkness called for her again. An opportunity, a weakness - she should have been clever enough to say no, choose the good instead of exploiting what she saw - but the need for revenge was strong.
so she let her fatherâs debt sit, acted as if it was building again, though he was dead. she needed a cover to hide her true intentions. she could bear spreading her legs for whoever was interested in, for a bit longer. as long as it got her closer to her new cause.
she waited five years. she knew how to get the pot to boil, just like the back of her mind was. in abandoned warehouses, someone's garage, back rooms. like a virus. she wasnât the only one with a wish for more. the only tears she cried on caitoâs grave were of happiness.
connections.
the sister in arms - an escort who been with maggie from the start. they bonded over their hatred for the work they have to do. maggie would do almost everything for them, as one of the ones she truly trusts. whether or not they switched sides with her doesnât matter, but maggie will certainly try to win them over - she has a mission to keep them safe
the one who brightens the night - a friendly smile and hugs. someone that understands that being a former escort has left it ridges on maggie. she doesnât need a hook-up or a wild sex life. perhaps just a friend and a good meal - preferable a cobra
the one weakness - at her fatherâs funeral, she learned of him. a younger brother whos life as well have been gifted to valdez. she tried to track him down and talk to him, feeling a sense of responsibility - and now she can offer him freedom, but will he take - has to be a masculine figure
the one with a knife in their back - someone she royally screwed over by making the cobras. perhaps someone who protected her and has taken her side before without knowing of her snake sides. she has a debt to pay, and is hellbent on giving back even though they are from the other side - has to be savages
the red cloak before the bull - someone who angered her in that past has a debt to pay and she will make them do it. more for someone who likes to be a target
a snake in the grass - someone taken in by the cobra on pity, she doesnât trust them and will do anything to test their loyalty and hopefully see them fail - has to be a newly turned cobra
generally friends for whatever reason
and enemies. lots and lot of enemies.
