Shelter&Shadows

[shelterandshadows]

Hi, I’m Shelter.

This is a Detroit: Become Human sideblog mostly dedicated to Hank Anderson, Connor, HankCon, and post-revolution android worldbuilding.

I write fanfiction, overthink character dynamics, and occasionally yell into the void about what happens after the game ends.

Main interests:

Hank Anderson/Connor

Connor after deviancy

android autonomy, identity, personhood, and relationships with humans

canon-divergent stories, human AUs, and character-focused fic

What you’ll find here:

HankCon (RK brothers/Jericho) headcanons

fic notes and WIP crumbs

post-revolution worldbuilding

a very normal amount of feelings about a 2018 game

I’m not interested in ship wars. I’m here to enjoy the characters and write my little stories.

But I should probably warn you that Genshin Impact may occasionally escape containment. It was my first big fandom, and even though I’m not really active there anymore, Tartaglia/Zhongli still live somewhere in the back of my brain rent-free.

Anyway. Mostly DBH here. Occasional Genshin thoughts may happen as a treat.

AO3 Fic masterlist:

Define Flirting

Pairing: Hank Anderson/Connor Summary: Gavin Reed makes a stupid bet, and Hank Anderson knows better than to take it. He is tired, old enough to recognize a bad idea when he hears one, and usually smart enough to ignore Reed when he starts running his mouth. Usually. But the bet has a name attached to it: Connor, a temporary analyst Hank has no good reason to approach and every reason to leave alone. In Progress

What Hank Doesn’t Say

Pairing: Hank Anderson/Connor Summary: Five months after the revolution, Hank can still pretend most things with Connor are normal. But are they? In Progress

Half of the Whole

Pairing: Hank Anderson/Connor, Connor/Hank Anderson, Hank Anderson/CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60, Hank Anderson/Upgraded Connor | RK900 Summary: They weren’t supposed to matter. That was the point. In a city that rebuilds itself by habit, three men are placed — quietly, precisely — in the orbit of someone who was never meant to notice. Their purpose is defined. Their roles rehearsed. But what begins as calculation soon grows teeth, heart, and something far less predictable. Somewhere behind it all, Elijah Kamski watches. But even he can’t always predict the fault lines of the human heart — or what happens when strangers begin to choose for themselves. On hiatus, but not abandoned. I’m currently taking a break from this fic because my brain decided to develop several other ideas at the same time, and I want to work on those first while the inspiration is strong. But I do plan to return to this story.

English isn’t my first language, so please be kind.

[shelterandshadows]

And yes, I’m definitely going to write a university AU for Hank/Connor someday.

I already have far too many ideas for it. At this point, it’s less a question of whether I’ll write it and more a question of which WIP will finally let me.

[shelterandshadows]

Also, most of those Zhongchi fics were AUs.

I had the usual coffee shop AU, a couple of modern AUs, and even a university professor/student one that somehow became much longer than everything else.

Apparently putting those two into completely different lives was one of my favorite hobbies.

[shelterandshadows]

A small confession: I wrote a ridiculous amount of Zhongchi fic back when I was really into Genshin.

None of it was ever posted, and honestly, none of it ever will be. But I still reread those drafts sometimes when I need inspiration.

A few scenes and ideas from them have also started looking suspiciously useful for Hank/Connor.

Recycling is good, actually.

[piuriem]

forget me not this was supposed to be posted on his first anniversary but so many things came up its so delayed im cryin

[shelterandshadows]

I keep thinking about what Sixty’s relationship with Hank might have been like if he had somehow survived being shot in the head.

I don’t think he would like Hank at first. Hank would probably annoy him more than anything. Sixty already knows that Connor was given chances he never got, and Hank was a huge part of that. Then there is the small issue of Hank being the person who shot him. Sixty would understand why he did it. He had taken Hank hostage and was threatening Connor. But understanding the reason wouldn’t make it easy to move past.

What would catch him off guard is that Hank wouldn’t expect him to become another Connor. He wouldn’t ask him to be nicer or easier to deal with. He would argue with him, call him an asshole when necessary, and still treat him like his own person.

I think Hank would forgive Sixty for taking him hostage much sooner than Sixty would forgive Hank for shooting him. Not because Sixty believes Hank was wrong but because trusting the person who nearly killed you would take time even when you know you gave him every reason to pull the trigger.

Sometimes I just want to write a story about the two of them awkwardly trying to become friends, with Connor watching from the sidelines and realizing what is happening before either of them does.

Nothing planned yet. Just a lot of little moments from their lives that I would love to write someday.

[shelterandshadows]

One hankcon sex headcanon I really like is that Connor is much more talkative than Hank expects.

Not in a rehearsed dirty-talk way. He just says exactly what he notices: when Hank’s breathing changes, which touch gets the strongest reaction, what he wants Hank to do again.

At first Hank tells him to stop narrating everything like a report, mostly because it’s making him way too self-conscious. Then Connor realizes Hank gets even more flustered when those observations turn into praise, and of course he immediately becomes unbearable about it. The funny part is that Hank can shut him up very quickly by doing the same thing back. Connor is perfectly comfortable studying Hank’s reactions. He is much less prepared for Hank telling him exactly what he likes about him.

So they both end up using praise against each other and then acting like the other one started it.

[elvyn]

Forget-me-not

[shelterandshadows]

I don’t usually think of Connor, Sixty, and Nines as copies of each other.

Same line, yes. Same origin, technically. Same face, depending on the AU. But not the same person.

Connor is the one who was given the chance to become more than what CyberLife made him for.

Sixty is the one who saw Connor get that chance and knows nobody ever offered him the same.

And Nines was built to replace Connor, only to enter a world where that role no longer made much sense.

That’s why I like them as brothers. They are connected in a way none of them chose, but none of them really knows how to be a brother either. They have to figure that part out as they go.

[shelterandshadows]

I don’t think Connor would know how to relax at Hank’s house at first.

He’d keep asking if Hank needed anything, basically doing everything except sitting down.

At some point Hank would get tired of watching him hover and just say, "Connor. Sit."

And Connor would, mostly because Hank told him to.

But after a while he’d stop needing to be told. He’d sit beside Hank because he wanted to be there. Touching Hank’s hand wouldn’t need an excuse anymore, and staying the night wouldn’t be something they had to discuss every time.

I like the idea that Connor wouldn’t notice exactly when Hank’s house started feeling like his too. One day he’d just realize he hadn’t asked whether he could stay in a long time.

[haejjoon]

more experimenting

[nanashi-art]

what a diva

[shelterandshadows]

I like the idea that Sumo accepts Connor into the house before Hank admits how much Connor belongs there.

Connor sits on the couch. Sumo puts his head on Connor’s leg.

Hank sees it and says nothing.

But something in the house changes after that.

Because Sumo has decided that Connor is his best friend now.

And apparently that’s legally binding😆

[shelterandshadows]

A small Nines headcanon I’m very attached to:

I like imagining that he has a habit of holding Hank by the wrist and rubbing his thumb over his pulse.

I can see it in pretty much any version of them, whether Nines is an android or human. He probably starts doing it without thinking and only realizes much later that it has become a thing.

For android Nines, it makes sense that a heartbeat would be reassuring to him. It’s something he can feel and measure without asking Hank if he’s okay and getting the usual completely believable "I’m fine." In a Human AU, there’s no scan involved, obviously. He just likes feeling Hank’s pulse under his thumb, especially when he’s tired or worried, and refuses to examine that habit any further.

If anyone asked, he’d probably say he was checking something.

Checking what? None of your business.

This will definitely make its way into one of my stories eventually. I’m far too attached to it not to use it somewhere.

[highandroid]

Art by C45XLP

[highandroid]

Art by Mu

[highandroid]

Art by C45XLP