Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Lord's Drink: a floral, steamy blend of milk and honey, perfect for those brisk zone winters!

Puppy: The youngest member of a gang, often one you have to look out for. Kind of a 'kid sibling' type of relationship.

Un-aide: A killjoy who doesn't belong to a gang or whose gang has been ghosted.

Paper boy: Someone who travels up and down the Zones collecting news, gossip and reporting deaths. This is a job position that radio stations offer for a few carbons an hour.

Sand Worm: A derogative term for killjoys, most commonly used among high ranking members of Better Life industries (BLind)

Cloud: A large group of Draculoids or a Draculoid encampment in the desert, a term originally used to describe large groups of bats

Black Smith: Someone who knows how to repair and modify ray-guns (alternatively referred to as a smithy)

Ghost Chase: the act of searching the zones for someone who may possibly be dead

Witch's Garden: a large expanse of land in zone 3 where many wild desert plants grow.

Royal: used to describe something high end or fancy, most commonly drugs.

Sun Sandbox: a place in zone 5 where so much glitter has been mixed into the sand that they are basically one and the same.

String King: used to describe someone who plays guitar extremely well.

Acoustic: someone who chooses to us an old-fashioned gun as supposed to a laser one. the most common reason for this is because they want as little dissociation with bli as possible, this includes their technology.

Chilly: used to describe something suspicious or out of place. 

Sand pup: someone who was born in the zones or has been there since childhood.

Battery Acid: a killjoy term for city drugs that have been smuggled out to the zones

Squeaky: Someone who isn't on better life industries radar, mostly neutrals or joys who have yet to commit a crime against battery city.

Solitary Host: a quick fuck or one night stand.

Wheelie: a wannabe 'poser' or motorbaby.

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Sun Skin: the at of covering your body or certain parts of it almost entirely in glitter, done most commonly for events involving speed such as; drag races, and derbies.

Angel Cakes: 'joys who travel up and down the zones selling food; feeding any and all starving desert darlings who've got the carbons for it.

China doll: someone who's afraid to get their hands dirty.

Rose dust: elderly souls who've lived in the zones for most of their lives and feel it's time to stop fighting and accept death however it may come

Alarm Clock Radiation: another name for the sunrise, most commonly used in a begrudging or sarcastic manner.

Floral: rare type of innocent beauty.

Wind chasing: a game young Killjoys like to play, where they follow spirals of sand and leaves that get picked up by gusts of wind.

Rongee Kays: the kids that wander from party to party, who've long since abandoned their homes, and pasts and are only recognizable under strobe lights. It's an incredibly easy scene to wiggle your way into, just as long a you follow the faint trail of zoneweed smoke.

Whispy: the experience of a calm or dreamlike drug high. 

Brown Sugar: patches of desert land where plants are able to be grown, such as the witch's garden and Tommy's (no so) secret little greenhouse in the back of his shop.

Metalbox company: impromptu head in the back seat of a car.

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Batt Rat: a derogatory Sand Pup term for inexperienced 'joys from the city.

Boxing Ring: a one-on-one firefight between two members of rival gangs.

Trojan Horse: a painfully obvious lie.

Robin Hood Honey: those sleazy underground beauties that you can never take your eyes off of. Swaying hips that draw you in, and an obscene tongue that can charm any 'joy out of the drink in their hand and carbons in their pocket. (basically the opposite of floral)

Audition: the intitation rituals that one most do in order to prove themselves deserving of joining a certain gang (most commonly the bigger, more powerful ones). These rituals can range from harmless humiliation pranks to committing serious city crimes which can result in being arrested or being killed. 

Sour Milk: the patch of wet sand where water has accidentally been spilled and wasted.

Lawyer: someone who ruins all the fun. basically the killjoy term for killjoy.

Blanket drive: the act of driving at night at full speed with the car headlights off, only guided by stars and moonlight.

CamBoy/Girl: a derogatory juvie hall term for people who feature on BLI broadcasts.

Honey Bun: someone who's so nice to the point where you can't help but question their intention. their smile is a bit like bubblegum that's too sweet, and you check every helping hand they offer for a knife that might just end up in your back.

Cemetery Drive: those places where dracs ambush joys and many lives are lost, like old battlefields. you can see masks and jackets lying in the sand, dusted over and sun bleached. as a sign of respect the 'joys leave them untouched, lime colorful tombstones. only if the ghosted 'joy left you the next owner before the firefight can get it. it you happen to find one, the entire car grows silent until you've passed through it.

Chapter 11: a term meaning gay guy, most commonly used in Zones 4 and 5.

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Baby carriage: that trusty ol’ car that’s been with you through heated firefights and freezing desert nights alike. Hitting the red line in that thing is comes second nature and sleeping the back seat feels like home.

Static: another word for sand, or the remote areas of the zones, most commonly used on homemade maps and certain radio stations.

beamless: to be confused. This term originates from the feeling of disorientation one feels while driving the zones at night with headlights off.

Phoenix Plead: to narrowly escape death, believing that the only reason you survived is because the Phoenix Witch was in your favor.

Cavalry: a group of draculoids or S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W on motorcycles

Maple Plaza: places in the desert (mainly zones 5 and 6) where radiation is still thick and dangerous

Picket Fence: “The border separating each zone from the next. Picket fences re labeled by the number that corresponds with the zone they border

Spearey:(“spee-ree”) Silver-tongue ‘joys, manipulative and good with words. If they wanted, they could make you believe that the sun itself is out to get you.

Top Left : a term with similar meaning to “no lie” in the sense that they’re both used to emphasize the honesty of one’s words

Joy-Killer: a zone neutral who tries so hard to come across as a Killjoy, but anyone can plainly see that they’re not rebelling against anything anytime soon

Digital: an important moment in time shared amongst two or more people where you can just tell that you’ll never forget it.

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Rusty Throne:  A ‘joy who used to hold a position of power in their gang but was kicked out (the reason of which they were varies)

Trans Station Ave: A spot along Route Guano that’s traveled extremely often, making it a popular place for hitchhiking joys to pick up a ride

Home Coming Parade: that little piece of destruction that juvie halls leave behind when they leave the city to become Killjoys

Visco Water: The sticky pulp inside certain cacti that if chewed, can replenish your body’s water levels. (The term Visco derived from the word viscous which is used to describe thick or sticky liquids) 

Dive sidestreet/get off the highway:  A humorous way to tell someone to fuck off

Groupie: someone who travels with different gangs and trades sexual favors for food, protection and sometimes drugs.

Dr's Office: one of the many street names for Dr. Death Defying’s radio station

Screwhead: someone who parties way too much, thinks they’re the belle of the ball, and makes dumbass decisions

Ph-Heights:  (pronounced “fights”) ‘joys who used to deal battery acid, but started dipping into their own supplies and became waveheads themselves 

P Amie: a friend with benefits. This phrase is derived from the French term “petite amie” meaning girlfriend

Banksy: to owe a debt to someone or have a bounty on your head

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Red Dawn: That single moment right after a firefight when the survivors are left standing in the settling dust, wondering if the blood they’re covered in belongs to themselves, a drac, or their fellow gang members and friends.

Bifrost: areas of the zones that were so greatly affected by the bombs that the desert sand became glass.

Geeks: another name for people working in the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W unit of Better Living Industries

King Skin: the calluses one gets on their fingers from playing guitar. This phrase correlates with the phrase “string king” which is used to describe someone highly skilled at playing guitar 

Compass Rose: a ‘joy (most commonly a sand pup) who knows the desert like the back of their hand.

Honey-lemon: a general term for natural remedies

Cherry Pit: The nervous feeling in the base of your stomach when you think something bad is about to happen

A Nobody: A killjoy that’s given up, turned themselves in, or their heart just isn’t in it anymore

Name tag: a term for the jacket connected to a killjoy’s identity

Deadface: a general term used to describe the effects of City pills

Fly Half Mast: to be in the state of having recently lost someone that meant a lot to you

Shower Curtain: Those rare days where the sun is blocked out by clouds. A blessing to all zone souls and a day to get things done before the heat comes back

Birch: a general term for any oral stimulant that replicates the act of eating food (such as chewing gum)

Bacon: a drac or C/R/O/W that’s been shot. This term originates from the fact that dracs are often called ‘pigs’ out in the zones.

Porno-Droid: A derogatory term for zone sex workers, sometimes used in relation to kinks such as degradation, humiliation, and objectification.  This term was originally taken from a Bli product of the same name, furthering the degrading aspect of it.

Ember Bridge: The act of willingly cutting all ties with your gang. It’ll be either the smartest or dumbest thing you’ll ever do

Center-City: an insult to call someone untrustworthy or you suspect them to be working for BLi (going off the fact that the closer to the center of Battery City you get, the more BLi influence you seem)

Halo Head:‘Joys who believe their involvement in the revolution puts them above others, often treating Batt Rats and Neutrals like the scum of the earth

Smiley: Someone who acts like or seems to be a BLI informant.

Gemini: someone suspected of being a spy for BL/ind.

Lighthouse: well-known places such as old motels and warehouses throughout the zones that act somewhat like a safe house, offering shelter to those on the run and sometimes food when it can be spared

Show Tongue: to basically be a smart ass to someone, usually in a situation that can get them hurt, used by juvie halls, named after a HC that they basically put a whole bunch of colors on their tongue as a way to show they are aligned with the cause and stick them out as a sign of defiance

Gravehead: Refers to crazy crazy Killjoys that are maybe the last member of their group, or who otherwise have lost an immense amount, and their response is to throw themselves into fight after fight in the hopes that a Drac or a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W agent get's em. If that fails, they usually either leave the zones or attack the City head-on.

Pally: an offensive way of calling someone a friend

Puppy: The youngest member of a gang, often one you have to look out for. Kind of a ‘kid sibling’ type relationship.

Lord’s Drink: a floral, steamy blend of milk and honey, perfect for those brisk zone winters.

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pocket watch: its slang for a smiley chain. if you don't know, a smiley chain is a combo lock attached to bike chain or another chain

Commit Mercy: A killing out of mercy for another joy or person.

Streaker: Someone who tries (on purpose or accidentally) to run you over

Spongehead: That one asshole in the gang who seems to use up all the group resources (e.g. eating excess amounts of food, wasting gas by driving everywhere, buying unnecessary bullshit from chow mein). They are most likely city born.

Cactus fucker: A 'tree hugger' in the zones.