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fernslivers · 3 months ago

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MODERN MIZU THOUGHTS PT. 2

As promised, some more various little headcanons and scenarios for a modern-day Mizu (and everyone else).

Let me know if you want more! I have lots of stuff half-finished.

This one is a little longer! Has some Mizu fucking shit up but also being soft.

Part one has some context, but most of this should make sense without it.

TW: canon-typical violence (Mizu is gonna Mizu)

RINGO

The first time you met him, soon after Mizu moved in, you came home to find this stranger cooking in your kitchen

He greeted you very cheerily, chattering right away about how he was making dinner and there was plenty to share

You thanked him awkwardly. You were…surprised and disappointed to find out Mizu had a boyfriend, given your interest, but hey… you probably didn't have a shot anyway, you tell yourself sadly.

You meet her coming down the hall, and she greets you with the usual stoic grunt-and-nod.

You start to tell her that her boyfriend seems nice, you know, general small talk.

The second the word boyfriend leaves your mouth, her head whips around

“My WHAT”

Ringo’s voice echoes down the hall from the kitchen, “I’m WHAT”

He finds it hilarious, she does not

TAIGEN AND AKEMI

Akemi is an heiress that is 100% planning to go no-contact with her family but is playing their game for now so they'll pay for her degree

Pre-law 100%, this girl could argue/cajole/convince you out of your own name

She's one of those types who can run on the treadmill for hours while looking fab

Fashion icon on campus, but a total girls-girl that loves to give advice and encouragement

Do not party with her, this girl will get you PLASTERED

Hiding her relationship with Taigen from her family, again to keep her degree money coming

Taigen was still Mizu's childhood bully

Picked on the orphan to make himself feel better about his shitty home life

Eiji transferred Mizu out of that school QUICK once he officially could, so she didn't have to deal with him for very long

They lost contact at that point, to Mizu’s relief

He's at the university on an athletics scholarship

Saw Mizu training in the gym

(This is why she needed that yard of yours)

He is the champ of the school team and thought since she wasn't on the team, she must be a rookie

She'd be an easy win, and a way to show off for the gym bunnies

She whooped his ass then and there, naturally, in front of the entire gym

And then nearly switched universities because fuck dealing with him on campus

Thankfully Akemi has him on a bit more of a leash in the modern day and HAS dragged him to therapy

He's still an egotistical asshole, but he's TRYING, OK (-Akemi)

They still bicker horrendously but there is a tiny, tiny bit of mutual respect there

Taigen hasn't stopped trying to drag Mizu onto the school team, so she still tries to avoid him

Mizu privately thinks Akemi needs to get her head checked out

But she does approve of Akemi's effect on him in general

She wasn't thrilled to know that you have shared a few classes with Akemi and are now friends

This means there might be the prospect of more Taigen in her future

Great.

Are you sure you really like Akemi as a friend that much?

JOB COMPLICATIONS

So as I said, due to her possible fathers being involved in organized crime, she has also gotten quite comfortable in those circles

She “works” odd hours, or is sometimes gone for a few days

You aren't about to get nosy. You asked her once what she did for work and she told you it was “nothing interesting” with a very clear drop it expression

Message received

She has been rooming with you for quite a while, long enough for you to call each other friends, when someone, somewhere in the wrong circle gets wind of her home address

You hear a knock at the door one evening while Mizu is out at “work”. Quiet, but insistent.

You aren't expecting anyone...but maybe a surprise visit, or Mizu forgot her keys?

Instead, a very clean, erudite man in a suit says he's here to see The Onryō

What

You make politely confused noises at him, saying he must have the wrong address, and he smiles back at you with cold, dead eyes.

“I know he's here.” His voice is still serene, icy. “It won't take long. If you could go get him, please.”

Ok, you've had enough-

He catches the door before you can slam it, and oh. He's stronger than he looks.

And oh- ... that's a gun.

You back away into the apartment, and he follows, shutting the door behind him.

He continues to threaten and demand, always in a quiet, even tone, as you continue to back away.

You're terrified, of course, because you've never dealt with anything even remotely like this

You keep trying to shout over him that you have no idea who he's looking for

Of course your phone is on the kitchen counter, nowhere nearby, utterly useless

You're again trying to explain, in a shaking tone, that you genuinely have no clue what’s going on when

Running footsteps

The door bursts open with enough force to leave it bouncing off the wall. The man whirls away from you, gun whipping around–

He barely has time to gasp before Mizu is on him.

Can humans even move that fast?

All you see is a flash of metal and

Ssshnk-THUNK

He folds like laundry, crumpling to the floor.

You didn't get a good look at whatever she did to the front of him when he turned, it all happened while you were flinching, but there is a lot of blood starting to stain the carpet around him.

You're frozen, staring at the twitching shape.

“Don't look at him, come on.”

Mizu grabs you and starts to lead you by the shoulders away from him and back down the hallway towards the bedrooms

She's careful only to touch you with her hands so she doesn't get any blood on you.

She's still in get-shit-done mode, but trying not to scare you.

As she's leading you, you start frantically trying to explain what happened, babbling about what he said.

"He kept saying about some guy called The Onryō-"

You feel her fingers tighten on your shoulders, but she says nothing.

You've never seen that look in her eyes before, and you thought you'd seen her at her most stoic.

(Gods above, you could have been killed because of her-)

“Wait– wait, my phone is in the kitchen– Mizu, the police, we gotta call–”

“I'll call."

"But I'll have to explain--"

"I'll take care of it. Just go back where you don't have to see it.”

Sitting on your bed, you can hear her quiet voice on the phone to someone, you assume the police emergency line.

Soon, you can hear the murmurs of multiple male voices.

Ah, the police. They'll probably want your statement…but… you reach for the doorknob and stop.

Something in your gut urges caution, and you ease the door open cautiously, silently, just a crack

… Those definitely aren't police.

Thankfully, the men in dark suits have their backs to you, and only Mizu looks up at the door.

You make eye contact with her and shut the door again very quickly, your mind racing.

Mizu is trying to stay in focus-mode while she deals with the problem, having called in a few favors, but the back of her mind is freaking the fuck out with repressed trauma.

Are you going to hate her now? What if you turn on her like M*k*o?

Her gut cramps at the thought of you seeing her as a monster.

She should just leave but she doesn't want to

Back in the room, Your heart is pounding.

So many dots are suddenly connecting. Should you be worried about this? Are you in danger? Is she going to…

After a while, you hear more doors closing, then… water running?

Mizu, with wet hair and blood-free clothing, knocks, saying the coast is clear.

She's SO nervous, afraid to hear you scream at her to go away

When you don't, she cautiously peers in, still expecting to get something hurled at her head

Strangely enough, you just look relieved to see her. Maybe you're still in shock?

For you, every doubt and worry leaves your mind as soon as you see her.

The man on the floor is gone, leaving only a towel covering the bloodstain.

Mizu says very quickly that she'll take care of that too, that you don't need to deal with anything.

She's still nervous, still waiting for you to call her a monster, or demand answers.

You can tell she’s watching you.

You just nod.

You're a college student that just watched a guy get sliced open with a sword. What do you even say to that?

Should you be scared of her? You're not.

But you're still a bit disturbed by the violence.

When she realizes that you're not going to freak out at her or scream at her to leave, she quietly asks if you need some space?

You shake your head quickly at that. You can still see the gun pointed at you, the man’s unflinching gaze.

You feel much safer with her around.

She's relieved, but tries hard not to show it

She carefully suggests that you both spend time somewhere other than the living room for tonight.

She's uncharacteristically soft with you, for her usual standards, but she's also way out of her depth.

She shoos you off to take a shower even though you're clean, and calls Ringo in a hushed voice while you're in there, demanding advice on how to comfort someone

When you emerge, you’re hustled into your room with some water and easy-to-eat snacks

(She's honestly starving after her job but feels bad eating like it's nothing, like it didn't bother her)

(It didn't)

She gathers some extra blankets and things from her room, then sits quietly on the bed next to you, letting you watch stupid things on her laptop.

You don't think you're going to be able to sleep, but she makes a strangely soothing presence next to you, and you drift off eventually

When you wake up, she's still next to you, awake, and looks exhausted.

The towel is gone and the carpet is clean

She just tells you, very seriously, that nothing like that is ever going to happen again, she'll make sure of it

By the look in her eyes, you believe her

She's jumpy for several days after that, checking the windows regularly and watching you strangely every time you’re on a call

You're jumpy, too, but she doesn't complain when you hover around her almost continually, constantly getting underfoot.

If anything, it seems to calm whatever worries are going on in her head

When she doesn't find herself arrested, or asked to move out, she seems to relax completely

This incident clearly tells her that she can trust you, because suddenly it's like you've passed a sacred gate of trust

Now she's occasionally coming home with a little bit of blood on her

Sometimes she sports some nicks and slices

You never thought you would be googling how to do stitches but what are crushes friends for?

You haven't actually gotten up the courage to ask what's up with all of this, yet. It just seems…unwise.

Not that you're afraid she'll hurt you, weirdly enough,

but despite the danger that you're now aware of, you really don't want her to get spooked and move out.

You don't know this, but she decides not to move out because she fears that more men might still come by, thinking that she still lives there, and clearly ignorance didn't save you this time.

You also don't know this, but this is the threshold where her feelings go from a passing crush that she represses, to something she is actually considering how to safely approach...

She's impressed with how you handled that, as a person who isn't used to violence

She'd never pursue something with someone while they were unaware, but since you know a little now…

(Meanwhile, she doesn't know that, after the shock had worn off, you found the whole thing kind of hot…)

#mizu #mizu x reader #mizu blue eye samurai #bes #bes mizu #bes x reader #bes x you #blue eye samurai #mizu bes #modern mizu #tw: blood #tw: violence #Mizu imagines #mizu brainrot

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heliotrope155 · 9 months ago

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Post canon, they're all adjusting to not hunting, or at least not as much as they used to. Sam gets the bright idea to start digitizing their records and Dean needs something to do so he takes on some of it. He's reading over them and lost in thought about the way they spent their lives. It's weird not hunting anymore, even if he irritably tells people he's semi-retired Bobby-style. It's even weirder to think of leaving the mission undone, leave the Family Business to Claire, Jack, Garth, and Kaia. Dean feels like he should be more bothered, but he's not.

He keeps typing up notes on vampires, switches to updating some stuff about witches and realizes with a snort how many of their entries feature Cas. Sam's jotted meticulous notes on him, his abilities, nephilim, even if there's maybe a handful of angels out there.

Dean remembers Cas's lofty "Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me" and takes it more seriously to spare some other hunter a headache. He adds details about how Cas likes his coffee, his sandwiches, how shitty of an employee he is--and that's when he's not a budding megalomaniac. Writes about Cas's squinty-eyed look at things and how angels need to be baited with--

"Are you writing a hunting guide on me?" Cas asks, hugging Dean from behind, chin in his hair. He sounds almost charmed, like this is a perfectly normal and flattering discovery.

Dean smirks, patting his arm, "I'm not done yet." He taps out a warning that anyone trying to get at Cas would have to go through him, scary enough, and worse Jack and Claire. "Happy?"

"I want more details on how I slaughtered my way through hell rather than the fact I'm shorter than you."

"Oh whoops." Dean presses a button and the entry pops up in the new database.

Cas's eyes flash dangerously. "You know I have my own sections in this database don't you?"

Dean raised an eyebrow. He had not considered that. "Feel free to type up all the nice shit you said about me being selfless and loveable and--"

Cas turns his chair around, hands on either armrest. "Do you enjoy being married? Because I'd advise you to shut up now."

"Okay, I've made a mistake. I'll get Sam to change the entry when he gets back, okay?"

Cas smiles a little, letting up.

"Because I forgot how sensitive you can get about-- Cas come on!"

#supernatural #dean winchester #personal #castiel #destiel #fanfiction #spn #fandom #destiel headcanon #ficlet #post canon

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unhinged-domestic-raccoon · 2 months ago

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Miraculous Rewatch Where I Overanalyze Everything: Copycat

Warning! The last point on this post gets salty! It's appropriately marked.

Hang on hang on hang on. So Marinette says "I know who'll have Adrien's number!" and then she immediately calls Alya. Now. I'd like to know why Alya has Adrien's number in this episode. This is well before DJWifi gets together. She's not really friends with Nino at this point in time. Not more than she's friends with anybody else in the class anyways. Like, watching it back in retrospective, my first thought was "oh she probably got it from Nino," but even without my weird Netflix order, this is still extremely early in the show, and she and Nino really don't hang out that much.

As a kid, I think I assumed what's actually happening here: Alya's just a real social butterfly. She's gregarious and nice and never knows when she's gonna need to interview someone for her journalism stuff, so she makes sure to keep in good contact with everybody. This is as opposed to Marinette who, while friendly enough, is anxious and weird and also actually has a sort-of job (helping her parents in the bakery), and gets picked on by Chloe and Kim and Sabrina, so she's less integrated into the group.

Anyways, possibilities for Alya & Adrien friendship here!

Continued Under the Cut:

Remember what I said about Marinette being an extremely relatable 15 year old? Yeah. I would and have thrown my phone after having to leave a scary voicemail. Even if I did okay. I just want that thing out of my sight. No more people-ing, it's the worst.

ADRIEN'S PHONE BACKGROUND IS A PICTURE OF HIM AND NINO!!!!

This is too cute! Adrino nation rise, you have been summoned! This is a level of cuteness that even Alya and Marinette don't have (at least not yet)---we know from Mr. Pigeon that Alya's background is a bunch of ladybugs and Marinette's is a sewing collage.

Adrien laughing and whooping to himself while he jumps across the rooftops as Chat is precious to me. Just an amazing character moment. He really enjoys being Chat Noir, even when there's not necessarily anybody to be performing for.

(Sorry for the blurry paused screenshot lol)

So hang on wait. If the fencing class takes place AT the school, does that mean Adrien was coming here for fencing even when he was homeschooled? I mean, that absolutely makes sense---plenty of homeschoolers joined us for extracurriculars in my high school. But this does interest me, because it means Adrien isn't as isolated and new to this whole "school" thing as I think we all assume. He already has acquaintances that go to the same school as him. He could absolutely be eating lunch with the fencing club.

This just makes it even more baffling to me that it feels like the only person Adrien is at all close with is Nino. Even if he's not allowed to go to any parties or hang out sessions, you still talk during practice. They've got to know some stuff about him. More than a lot of the class does. I mean I know why they don't---having a second large cast of colorful and fleshed out side characters is a huge waste of time in the story and of the animation budget. But it's still really jarring that all of these people are just. Completely ignored. In fanon and canon.

IDK guys, I just feel like this needs to come up at some point. We need to take a bunch of extras and OCs and throw them on the fencing club.

WOW! The absolute DISRESPECT Theo has for Chat! He fully just sculpted a statue of Ladybug STANDING ON TOP OF HIM! If that isn't a backhanded compliment, I don't know WHAT is.

Hmmmm, this is interesting. So for context, my favorite episode of Miraculous is Oblivio, which I have watched I think 6 or 7 times. In that episode, Marinette does a trick where she breathes on the phone to see the fingerprint swipe glare from the unlock screen. I feel like it's exactly this incident that made her think ahead and learn that trick. She does try to learn from situations!

Oh my gosh, Alya being completely chill with thievery is extremely funny to me! Look at her face when Marinette says she stole Adrien's phone and when she says Chat just robbed the Louvre! She is not at all scandalized, just excited. This is actually hilarious, and not really a character trait I would have given her, but she does have 3 sisters, so it kind of makes sense. Getting her stuff stolen is probably pretty ordinary and not a big deal, as long as they give it back. I love this about her so much, this is great.

Plagg, my beloved, my favorite smelly cheese gremlin. I feel that in my soul. Getting dragged away from relaxing with a yummy snack because you have to go to work is the worst. And his little face! Someday Plagg. Someday you will actually be successful at eating your cheese.

Roger being the face of the ACAB movement again! "Let the professionals handle it." WHAT DO YOU THINK SHE IS!!!??? We know Marinette isn't exactly a well-trained superhero, but HE certainly doesn't! And even if he did, and even if Chat did commit the crime: That is still a superhero with superpowers! You seriously think a bunch of regular dudes are gonna be able to handle him? Clearly not! He demonstrates that they very clearly cannot! Ladybug IS the professional in this situation! I know she has demonstrated MULTIPLE times at this point that she is the professional! Stop being a stuffed-up self-righteous egotistical twit!

Sorry, I think I may have lied in my masterpost when I said I don't hate any of the characters in this show. I hate Roger <3. They could never make me like you Roger <3.

(I mean, I know I lied because Su-Han exists and I hate him on every conceivable level, but he's in one and a half episodes, he doesn't count).

That was so smooth! "I'm clearly better than him," PSSHHH. Our boy just needed to get you off-guard for two seconds before he owned you. More of this please. I like it when Chat just absolutely wrecks shop with the akumas, it's always funny.

Speaking of getting owned! When the duo fights this guy they don't just beat him, they come for his whole career! Gotta humiliate him by stringing him up on the ceiling too! And they are smiling and laughing during this whole scene.

This is actually a pretty regular feature of the show that does NOT come up in fandom enough: LadyNoir are SAVAGE to the akumas because they know they're gonna get their memories wiped! They can be as mean and judgemental as they want as long as the person doesn't remember that. I wish there was more content out there (canon or fanfic) of the later heroes just being super shocked when LadyNoir gets mean. Just like "did they really just say that? Are we allowed to say that?"

I gave you one for Adrino, I'll give you one for DJWifi too. Look at the way Nino is looking at her! He thinks he's so charming! And you can't really see because of the angle, but Alya's body language indicates that she's absolutely reciprocating. They're so coy and cute with each other.

[SALT WARNING FOR THE REST OF THE POST]:

So this episode left me asking: What is even the moral? Because this is a show targeted at children, every episode is supposed to have a lesson that the kids can learn from. The creators have explicitly stated that this is part of their formula. (Word of God is that Marinette specifically has to make a mistake she learns from in every episode, but that's one: a stupid rule since it makes you hate your lead and two: absolute bullshit that they're clearly not following because she didn't really make any mistakes in Stormy Weather OR Mr. Pigeon. Events just happened around her).

So far, the moral's been pretty explicitly stated: In Mr. Pigeon, it's that cheaters never prosper. In Timebreaker, it's that your responsibilities are yours and yours alone to handle, and you shouldn't shirk them or hand them off to other people.

While less explicitly stated, Stormy Weather is about how we don't always get what we want and that's a fact of life we'll all just have to deal with (Alya repeatedly tells Manon no, Aurore gets akumatized over losing the competition, and Marinette doesn't get to do her photo-shoot with Adrien in the end, all of which are painted as a "well that's tough kid, but life must go on" situation).

The Bubbler is one that tries to deliver a moral, but it falls flat. It pretty explicitly states that the lesson is "kids need adults, adults protect and love and take care of children." This is screwed up by the fact that the most relevant adult to the discussion is Gabriel Agreste, to whom this does not apply. The episode tries to paint Marinette lying to make him seem like he loves Adrien as a good thing, but I think we're all aware that it's absolutely not. That's a whole horror story waiting to happen. Adrien deserves to know that his father does not care about him, because that helps him recognize that when his father ignores him, it's not okay and he deserves better.

This episode is another example of one where I think they tried to deliver a moral, but the writers just really didn't handle it well. A lot of the romantic hijinks that happen on this show---including behavior that would be appalling irl---are played for comedy. And that's perfectly fine. A lot of these moments that the saltdom latched on to, like Marinette knowing Adrien's entire schedule for how many years from now, aren't even reasonably possible. It's absurd enough that you know you're supposed to laugh at it.

This is the first episode that tries to seriously address the ways people can be unhealthy when they're in love. Theo and Chat's jealousy get Theo akumatized, and Chat lying about his relationship with Ladybug is the inciting incident. Theo's extremely creepy entitled fan dialogue is played as a bad thing, not a comedic thing. Marinette says in this episode:

"Liars are losers." The message you are supposed to get from this episode is that jealousy gets you nowhere and neither does lying. If you want a proper shot at romance, it requires honesty and communication.

But here's the thing: Marinette lies in this episode to further her romantic chances PLENTY and it's treated as a good thing. She spends this episode stealing Adrien's property to delete an embarrassing voicemail, and she never tells him about this. Her genius plan for returning his phone is to lie and say she found it on the ground, and the show treats this as an absolutely great idea! There is nothing wrong with Marinette stealing his phone!

And I have sympathy for Marinette in universe! Of course I do, I'd probably resort to something similar if I left a humiliating voicemail like that! Trying to get rid of some embarrassing evidence is an extremely different level of "crime" than lying to someone about being in a relationship because of jealousy and includes far less malice.

But if the moral of this episode is supposed to be "liars are losers," and that honest communication is the key, then why would you have Marinette lie and fail to honestly communicate in the same episode, and treat it as a good thing? It makes her come off as pretty hypocritical, and in general, I feel this episode invites comparison between Marinette and Chat, who are protagonists, and Theo who is supposed to come off as a bad crazy fan, which isn't exactly great, because now all of Marinette's silly salivating over Adrien and Chat's silly flirting with LB is being compared to a situation that's played seriously and uncomfortably.

This could be grounds for something good and interesting: if they were setting up Marinette's lies as a character flaw with plans to address it later, then this could definitely be something, but nobody calls her out on this, not even herself. Everyone says it's a great idea and congratulates her for it.

And while that does create really fun character traits (Alya being super chill with theft is a goldmine of fanfic fuel), it also means that this episode fails to set up lying as a character flaw for Marinette (even though it's absolutely one she has. Ironic given her hatred of liars). Just like it does in the Bubbler. It confuses the moral and just makes the lead come off as a bit of an asshole who escaped karma is all.

I don't know, it's possible that I'm letting my general opinion of the show and my experience with their ability to develop characters color my perception of this episode and that I'm. . . well. . .overanalyzing. This episode is overall pretty harmless. It's not like Chameleon or the Season 4 and 5 finales or anything where it seriously messes up the course of the story. But it's another straw in the stack of episodes with writing that just generally fails to achieve what it was trying to do and is indicative of the greater problems in this show.

Phew! Alright, salty time over, we'll be back to fun hijinks in the next episode right? Right? *checks episode list* Oh god, it's Pharoah. Welp, at least that one will come with me getting to research and share a bunch of REAL facts about ancient egypt!

#Anne's Essays #Anne's Miraculous Rewatch and Overanalysis #mlb #miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous #ml analysis #miraculous analysis #mlb analysis #ml copycat #ml writing salt #Warning: I'm too salty for people who like the show and not salty enough for people who salt on the show #This is mostly me having fun noticing details and then a big ol section at the end where I go “this episode wasn't written great huh?”#Wow. First salt tag. This early. I didn't really address it in the bubbler #Both because I didn't wanna invite season 6 discourse in and because I'm trying to have fun and stay positive #but I'm five episodes in now and I couldn't keep ignoring it

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avelera · 7 months ago

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haha, whoops, i'm one of the people who're guilty of kinda enjoying the nickname thing (i don't write though), but it's a good point that it contradicts how they express themselves in canon

idk what country you're from, maybe this is not new info, but to maybe add further context:

i get an impression that in english getting called by a nickname/shortened version of your name is a very usual, casual thing, like if you introduce yourself as daniel you may get called dan by people immediately, unprompted, even in a [semi] professional setting? meanwhile i just don't like my name very much and want people to call me by the shortened version. just without the last syllable, nothing elaborate. and i do feel pretty weird introducing myself that way or explaining if asked, it feels like i'm asking people to show friendliness/closeness by asking that. also if they do know my legal name (at work for example) they end up defaulting to it often anyway. i think i could get away with it though if i had a more friendly and bubbly demeanor

basically i'm wondering if this is a thing because for some people it has more of a baked-in meaning of closeness, or at least overt friendliness, than it usually has in english. (though again i agree that this is not a thing in their canon dynamic)

Hmm, so my answer to this is multifaceted so bear with me for a second.

Just to keep it on Viktor and Jayce for a second, I'm a whacky stickler for writing characters as they are in canon. Many fanfics aren't even trying to be canon-adjacent though so while them using nicknames in a fic takes me out of the story, it's not necessarily right or wrong, it's just how the writer chose to write their story.

I was mostly making the point against them using nicknames from the point of view of, "If you're trying to write them in-character, why would you use nicknames? They never use nicknames." Which is also why I opened it up for the possibility that they do use nicknames in League of Legends, which turned out to be true and explains a lot of why that trickled into Arcane fic. I'm just an Arcane-only person so it raises my hackles a bit when I see those two blended but I get why people do it and would probably do the same if I knew League. (Jayce is just so different from his LoL counterpart it's hard for me to get on board with and it's why I didn't really engage with the fandom when only S1 was out even though on my own I watched Arcane like 100 times straight).

Ok as for the cultural stuff, obviously I can't speak for the entire Anglosphere but I can offer my perspective.

Yes, having a nickname is common and commonly used as a sign of affection. For example, my name is Maggie which is short for Margaret. I'd be put off if someone used my full name, but it has three syllables which is also a longer name than Viktor which is just two syllables I don't really get why it needs to be shortened further, but that's just me, the owner of a two-syllable name.

Unlike some other languages like, say, Japanese though US English does not have as rigid a hierarchy of which names to use to denote familiarity, at least not between adults (as a child, I was always taught to use Mr./Ms. "Last Name" with adults). You'd use last names upon introduction, sure, but switching to first names quickly is hardly unheard of, or even nicknames. I know some other languages like Russian, for example, also have a complex system for how and when to use diminutives and they specifically denote levels of closeness and familiarity (or at least, so my small brush with Russian literature taught me).

Now where I'd add the Jayvik nuance is that regardless of what someone's name is, long, short, nickname, or last name, you always use the name people ask you to use.

So if I had a colleague named William who wants to go by William and doesn't want to be called Will, it would be impolite for me to use a nickname if he didn't want it, even if it's easier for me to say. The most common polite thing to do with strangers or in a formal setting is use Mr./Ms. Last Name until that person gives you permission to use their first name, which is usually given pretty quickly unless the person is a bit of a jerk lol.

So yeah, to your last point, I think it's possible (I don't want to presume) that people having Jayce give Viktor a nickname when he doesn't in the show are either:

1) Basing it off League or general fanon or

2) Choosing to show closeness between them using nicknames as a love language that contradicts what the show portrays, which again, is an artistic choice that's completely valid, even if it's not for me. And I do think that yes, that's because I believe a greater mark of affection, for me, is using the name someone requests of you rather than using a diminutive or nickname that they didn't ask for.

I hope this sort of answers your ask and isn't just me rambling, lol!

#arcane #arcane meta #jayvik #again this is just MY OPINION it's fine if people write them with nicknames #i just never do because i'm a weird canon stickler

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novastar-creations · 5 months ago

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Au(? Plot extension?) where Hueso is really understaffed post-Kraang invasion and Sunita has to help him out (she got the job through nepotism exploding frankie)

It was really fun playing with different proportions and styles of the uniform - I had a limited colour pallet cos both Sunita and the Run of the Mill uniform had set colours and I didn’t wanna stray too far from canon. I was also focusing more on the actual designs and pushing proportion so I didn’t flip the canvas (had to actually restrain myself from doing it but y’know) that’s why some of ‘em look janky.

Left: My friend really liked this one (something about the pants?). The whole idea of Waitress!Sunita actually originated with this one, cos I drew it (and another one I think) in my sketchbook. That kinda triggered an inspiration bought and I worked on these for like, two days.

Middle: At some point I got the idea to give her wraps bc (headcanon time) she struggles keeping her form for long periods of time. I don’t really like this one as much as the others though, and I think it’s because she hasn’t got a shirt on under her vest? Something about that annoys me idk.

Right: This one was really cute! I do like the idea of her having really long cuffs or using her wraps to ramp down her sleeves - I might reuse that in the final design. Also, the hair on this one really stuck out to me for some reason.

MORE DESIGNS UNDER THE CUT ;]

Left: Don’t ask her what the specials are or what her favourite pizza is. She will ramble for ages and you’ll never eat. Design wise, I really like this one, and I think it’s because of how the vest tucks into the apron and crosses over itself. Something about that scratches my brain.

Middle: This one’s probably my least favourite, just cos it’s kinda boring. It’s cute, yea, but it just needs a little more flair. One might even say it needs razzmatazz. Also the boys fighting over the last slice of pizza would drive her endlessly insane, especially cos she can’t whoop their butts while she’s working.

Right: I think she’d sometimes try and do things too fast and accidentally slip. Hueso would be very forgiving tho. The little braid is cute, but I don’t think it’s my favourite hair (goop?) style I gave her.

Left: After a bit of time, her workload would decrease and she’d have more breaks - giving her more time to mess around on her phone. Also, it’s not fair Leo’s the only one with a nickname from Hueso. I think he’d give most of the regular (teen) patrons nicknames.

Middle: Sometimes she takes her time with delivering orders to their tables (tho she mostly does it out of spite when customers are rude to her) and dances over. I think she and Mikey would get on really well (hence the friendship bracelet).

Right: She would probably get herself in trouble because she messes around a little, and she’d have to do some less fun jobs, like taking out the trash, as punishment.

Left: This one will probably be the final design if I make it into an actual au? It has all the stuff of the other designs that I like, plus’s some other flairs. I think I’d redo it just a little, maybe give her the wraps, cos I really like that idea (and the matching friendship bracelet with Mikey ofc)

Right: This one was the precursor to the wraps, with the idea in this post that she uses armour to hold herself together. I ended up scrapping this really early on because I didn’t like the armour design I made (too boring). I might reuse the idea later, idk. I did really like the little puff sleeves. I think this was the other one I did in my sketchbook?

Despite all her clumsiness, hyperactivity, and various quirks, she’d probably be better than most of Hueso’s staff, cos unlike her, they all run from the mafia bosses (and/or compete for unicorns, destroying the restaurant in the process).

Sketches in (more or less) the order I started drawing them!

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ganondoodle · 2 years ago

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more thoughts

big part of why i loathe what totk did with its story and lore is that it tremendously hurts botw in retrospect

i said that before and mentioned all of these points before as well but i just have to mention it again; how totk did away with all the little mysteries in botw, like the ancient hero looking kinda strange leading to lots of interesting theories- WHOOP its a sonau mix guy revealed through a collectable and its straight up said by purah/impa that that is the ancient hero .. like it was an always known fact ......

the sonau ruins in botw of a long gone group of people that lived in the forest of phirone - WHOOP those are just monuments built by hylians in memory of the sonau and actually their real architecure isnt rare and few but everywhere en masse and doesnt resemble the ones from botw at all, aside from some vague dragon motive; theres more stuff of the oh so sadly gone and not at all mysterious anymore sonau left than there was of the ancient shiekah in botw (and now it doesnt exist at all anymore, who cares about them, how important they were, or this worlds history, especially zelda, she never cared about shiekah or history that wasnt about sonau :)))) )

one of the biggest crimes, to me, personally, is what totk did with the dragons not actively mind you, but still changed my view of them and i hate it; i always saw them as these ethereal otherwordly spirits older than time itself (i liked the idea of them being like a final evolution of the dragons from skyward sword, tho of course i dont need that to be canon lol) and then totk comes along and .. the newly revealed -always been there super cool- race of people from the sky is heavily based on their designs ... and they have armor sets imitating the dragons ... and have ... magical never heard of before stones that turn people into .... dragons .... i get how that can be an interesting thing for people to connect but for me personally ... its a mystery that REALLY shouldnt have been solved, at all, or even touched, the fact that you knew nothing about the dragons other than they are here was what made them feel so much more divine and awe inspiring (i know you could try to think of it being the other way around, the sonau worshipping the dragons so much they dedicated all of their cultur around them ((but then again were is that anywhere, if they worshipped them so much then they sure didnt matter in any of what we say of them in memories..)) ... but the sonau designs, the armor ... the stones ... its all such an obvious connection ...) and its really hard for me to ignore it, i actively have to work now to keep seeing the dragons as these untouchable ethereal spirits instead of some sonau guy eating a fucking stone

and yet again its like .. can you really blame me for feeling weird about the sonau/dislike them when ... theres nothing that WASNT touched by the sonau, they already had tech way above the level of the shiekah, they were in the sky, the surface AND the underground all along, theirs is the actually important influence on the history of the world, they have been in every place that was once important, hell they were in every place were a settlement of people is EVEN THE FEW YEARS OLD TABURASA (tarrey town), their buildings look like they were abandoned 10 years ago, all their shit is still working, they founded (this) hyrule, they are the royals, they are the gods, they are the dragons, the ancient hero was a sonau mix clad in waht totk made out to be their signature design elements-

we had recordings from that time (tapestry) and even PEOPLE (the monks) and yet the sonau were a total mystery? even though their culture was literally still there when the shiekah built their tech?

what gets me escpeially is how .. they didnt NEED to erase anything shiekah, they didnt need to act like they never existed, they didnt need to make the sonau be the coolest guys ever and were so desperate to get that into your thinking everyone in the game is obsessed with them and tells you why you should be obsessed too

like am i just insane or is it a rather .. obvious connection to make that the shiekah found the tech of the sonau and built theirs inspired by what they could find, it was so old at that point that its non functional or even recognizable in the present, but when the shiekah found it they could still research it; given how the shiekah built multiple shrines and puzzles to them WITHTIN ruins that, in botw, were sonau ruins, i thought that was the logical line to draw and a good way to connect them while still leaving the sonau to be a mysterious ... mystery (this is what im going for in my rewrite btw)

also another thought, if the ancient shiekah could see the future to a degree they built stuff to prepare the next hero for the next calamity that would happen in thousands of years .. how did they never find out about gan? i know they were more about the future than the past but like ... were they really so stupid to see that the calamity will come back just the same from the same place and NOT investigate?? ESPECIALLY considering that the weird half sonau ancient hero was literally THERE when they saw the furture and built all of that for it???? the sonau werent gone gone in any sense and you CANNOT tell me that the shiekah jsut ignored this weird half whatever looking guy outfitted in an aesthetic and culture that wasnt obviously present anymore and clearly connected to somethign else, with probably clear scars were whatever buildings were lifted into the skies- SOMEHOW- and monoments LITERALLY STILL READABLE IN THE PRESENT that tells you about all theshit that went down?? even if you hid them with some weird mechanisms, are you realyl not gonen investigate?? also why hide it anyway?? if its supposed to be a monument to the sonau why the fuck would you built stuff to HIDE the information from it?? gan cant reach it anyway bc hes KINDA STUCK you are telling me the group of people with a vision of the future and high tech stuff that are famously obsessed with the stars and sky didnt see any of the sonau shit floating around there?? ohoho but it was hidden by magic uwu WHY bc you wanted to wait thousands of years for the "right" link to come around?? so you let thousands of people suffer and die just bc you wanted a specific guy? why not the ancient hero instead?? and solve the problem right then and there?? or would that mess too much with the history all of the sudden, you didnt care about messing anythign else up before either

its all just so messy if you start to think even a little bit about whatever the fuck happened in totk and i ahte it, it solves stuff that didnt need solving, ignores or even erases stuff that didnt need erasing and was all ready to go and be more explored, its infuriating

(also additional thought about the previous rant where i mentioned how characters, esepcially zelda, regress HARD in chaarcter development) someone mentioend this about link and ... YEAH, in botw the main thing was the connection between link and zelda, how they didnt like each other at first and at the end were THE brotp; in totk, aside from zelda mentioning how strong link is, theres nothing, the link that was revealed in botw to only be so silent and expressionless (not fully but like supressing everythign rly) bc of the immense pressure that was put on him is now just the most importanest sword guy who didnt even shed a tear when you get the memories of zelda basically killing herself; or did he know she will just be returned to normal with no harm or memory done no problemo in the end?? i dont WANT link to talk mind you, i never want to hear him talk tbh, i like him being mostly silent aside from his grunts when he climbs a cliff or soothes a horse (i go non verbal in high stress situations too) but you could have shown him be affected by it at all, or idk DO ANYTHIGN WITH THEIR RELATIONSHIP they are best friends whod die for each other but that doesnt actually matter in anything bc he just do what sword man does-

#ganondoodles talks #zelda #totk #ganondoodles rants #it really is a replacement for botw isnt it #might as well not have happened

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hugmekenobi · 2 years ago

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S2: The Bad Batch (7)

Chapter Seven: Back to the Past

Gif by @jenstar1992-2

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: Going on a mission with Phee sees you travel back to a time you had been wanting to forget and of course, trouble manages to find you.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, swearing, my interpretation of how Nal Hutta is, brief moment of anxiety, reader having a dodgy past and being a bit shady/reckless (cause apparently I need to include flaws lol), beatings, injury descriptions (mentions of blood, stabbing, bruises, death), protective Hunter is a bit mean to Phee, hurt/comfort, fluff and feelings, light angst

Word Count: 7.3K

Author's notes: Tried to get the best of both worlds with the off show plot for this chapter so hope you enjoy! Excited to get to work on episode 8 now and thanks for all the support and patience!

“Hello, hello!”

You turned in the direction of the chipper voice and saw Phee waltz through the door.

“Phee!” Omega called out happily.

“Hey, kid!” She said with a wave before she made a beeline for you and Hunter. “How’s my favourite couple doing?”

“What do you want?” Hunter asked by way of answer.

“Straight to the point. That’s what I like about you, Bandana.” Phee charmed.

“What is it, Phee?” You asked again.

“I got word of a lead on-”

“Some sorta valuable, ancient artifact?” You and Hunter sussed.

Phee nodded. “I need some assistance following up. Was wondering if I could borrow you and Omega?”

“Yes!” Omega replied instantly but a sharp glance from Hunter told her she better hold off until she had official confirmation.

Your brow furrowed. “Why just us the two of us?”

“Typically, we do missions together.” Tech pointed out from the table you.

“Don’t worry, brown eyes. You’ll get your turn at some point.” She said.

Tech didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just focused his attention back to his datapad. He missed the smirks from his two brothers sitting across from him.

Phee now answered your question. “Figured it would be good for the kid to keep seeing new places and it’s a simple mission so little risk. And we made some progress back on Kaldar, let’s not lose that.” She left out that she wanted the time to also figure you and certain behaviours of yours out. There was something more to you that you that she needed to uncover.

“Okay.” You said hesitantly, still not fully satisfied with that answer but you sensed you weren’t going to get anything more.

Phee turned her attention back to the two of you. “What do ya say? I promise not to let either of your girls be hurt or led astray.” She told Hunter as a means to sweeten the deal.

Hunter focused his gaze on you. “If you want to go, you can go. I also have a feeling she won’t let you stay.”

Phee feigned a look of surprise.

You shrugged. “Gets me outta here for a little bit, I guess.”

“That’s the spirit.” Phee said with a roll of her eyes.

“And me? Please, Hunter?” Omega begged.

I’ll be an extra set of eyes, she’ll be alright.

Hunter sighed. He wasn’t thrilled by this by any means, but he had promised himself to give Phee a chance and you were going with them so that helped things a little. He nodded his permission.

Phee carefully observed you and Hunter. The two of you did it again. That secret, slightly above normal silent communication that seemed to go through you both with perfect understanding.

“Yes!” Omega whooped in victory before she gathered her stuff and darted towards the door.

“Where exactly are we going?” You queried.

“Nal Hutta.” Phee replied.

That made you pause but you covered it quickly. You heaved a sigh and pushed yourself up from your chair.

“Show some enthusiasm! This is going to be fun!” Phee said with a smile before she started to follow Omega out.

You made sure your armour and weapons were secure before you faced Hunter. You gave him a chaste kiss to the lips before his arms enveloped you in a hug.

“Be careful, yeah?” Hunter said as he released you.

“Hey, it’s me.” You said with an innocent grin.

“I know. That’s why I’m asking.” Hunter said, his tone light but the intent behind the words serious.

“I’ll be fine.” You said before you waved to the others and jogged to catch up with the other two.

“Nal Hutta, huh?” You repeated as you walked in the direction of her ship.

Phee cocked her head at you as she heard the slightly nervous way you spoke. “Yeah, not too rough for you, is it?”

You shot her a look. “No. There’s just… some people I’d rather not run into.”

“It’s a big place, the odds of that happening are low.”

“Tech gives much better estimations than you do.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure his sway on the more pessimistic side of things. That’s one thing you gotta learn about me, (Y/N), I like to look on the bright side.” She thumped your back. “Now, come on! We got a lead to hunt down.” She jogged to catch up with Omega.

You were yet to be convinced by that philosophy. But you’d allow her this opportunity. After all, it had been quite a few years since you’d been there. The odds had to be low… right?

Nal Hutta

“You know this place is not going to be glamorous.” You warned Omega as the ship touched down.

“How long did you live here for?” Omega asked. She’d seen the anxious look on your face the whole time the ship had been en-route and she knew that if she asked about it, you wouldn’t lie to her.

“A few months. It wasn’t my scene.” You replied briefly as you pushed up your hood and mask up as high as they could go just as the door opened.

It had not changed. The green and yellow tinge to the environment around you was just as off putting as it had been when you first smuggled yourself here.

It was hot.

It was humid.

You already felt a layer of filth settling on your exposed skin.

And the swamp rain had already started and the stench from said swamps made your nose wrinkle under your mask. You had forgotten how bad it was. You chuckled as you glanced down at Omega to see her hand over her nose. “Told ya. Just let it hit you for a few minutes and then it’ll be fine.”

Omega reluctantly lowered her hand.

“Where’s this lead, Phee?” You asked, adjusting your weapons.

“We won’t need those.” Phee said confidently. “My source is in the local watering hole.” She pointed over to the only bar in the area.

Of course, they are. You thought irritably to yourself. You almost wished your travels for this source would see you go into the swamplands because at least out there, the likelihood of running into someone who might recognise you would be minimal. Going to this bar significantly increased the risks for you.

“Did you come here?” Omega asked as the three of you headed towards the run-down bar.

You kept your sight low as the people you passed on the way over gave you all the once over. “Uh yeah, was a regular back in the day.”

“Really, here?” Phee said with surprise.

“It was a different time.” You said by way of justification.

“What brought you here in the first place?” Phee asked.

Omega glanced up at you, curious about the answer herself.

“Just had to get away.” You said airily.

“From what?” Phee pressed. “And what exactly did you do here anyway?”

The already thick air started to feel like it was settling in the back of your throat. You didn’t like that Phee kept pushing it. “It’s not really any of your business, okay?” You snapped.

Phee raised her hands and backed off. “Damn, okay. You can have your secrets.”

You took a breath. “I’m sorry I snapped. It’s just a period I don’t like to remember, that’s all.”

The rest of the walk was done in silence and when you came upon the rundown wooden door, you were filled with sudden flashbacks of meetings and drunken brawls you were set with the task of ending. You shook the memories away as you opened the door.

A low thrumming from a music box in the corner echoed over the voices and sounds of glasses clinking. You smiled fondly to yourself as Omega looked around in wonder and took in the various people and species that occupied the room. Bounty hunters, gangsters, people scraping by and more- Nal Hutta was the sorta place that attracted the people on the lower half of the scale.

Phee pointed to the bartender. “This shouldn’t take long. Take in the sights. I’ll be done soon.”

You nodded and led Omega over to one of the many dark corners of the cantina and kept a watchful eye over Phee as she talked to the bartender.

You were getting twitchy now. It looked like Phee was struggling with the bartender and each passing minute of their struggle was making your heartbeat that little bit faster.

“(Y/N)? Is that you?”

You brushed off the hand on your arm that was starting to face you. “Uh no. Sorry, you got the wrong person.” You grabbed Omega’s hand and started to move away but couldn’t stop him as he darted in front of you.

You stopped short and kept your eyes to the ground. “Sir, I’m just trying to get past.”

“Our friend is over there, and we need to join her.” Omega added, doing her best to help you.

The man swore your voice was familiar. He stooped and finally caught a glimpse of your eyes as you tried to avoid his. “It is you!”

“You have the wrong person.” You insisted before you started pushed past him.

“I don’t think so.” He acted quickly and went to pull your coverings down.

You shoved him away, but he managed to hook a finger in your mask, and it fell.

“Well, I’ll be damned, we thought you were all dead. I know someone will be pretty pleased to hear you’re not. She was really pissed off, you know.”

Fuck fuck fuck. You thought repeatedly. You ignored and shouldered past him. You were out of time; word would travel fast now.

Omega followed your hurried footsteps. “(Y/N), what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later, Omega. We need to leave.” You replied hastily. There had been no point in pulling your mask back up, so Phee got a good look at the nervousness lingering behind your eyes as you approached her.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked.

“Do you have it?” You said instead. “We need to go. Now.”

“Well, we can’t yet. Someone is changing the terms of the deal.” Phee griped, crossing her arms in frustration.

“You want more money?” You guessed as you talked to the barkeeper.

He shrugged. “Information ain’t cheap.”

“The amount we agreed was-”

“Give her the data.” You interrupted Phee and kept your attention on him.

Phee and Omega observed you. Your manner had completely changed. You were distant and cold as you dealt with him.

The bartender guffawed and rested his arm on the bar counter. “Cute negotiation tactic but no. My price has gone up.”

You lazily rolled your eyes and within the blink of an eye, your vibroblade was pinning the lose fabric of his shirt to the wooden counter and you held his head on the counter, so he had little choice but to angle his eyes up at you.

A shocked Phee and Omega took half a step back.

“Here’s how this is going to go.” You whispered in his ear, your voice firm and intimidating. “You’re going to give her whatever it was you promised, for the original price, and you’ll get to keep your hand attached to your body. Okay?” You hoped the threat was enough, you weren’t wanting to descend back into the way you had acted here in previous times.

“No.” He grunted.

He was stubborn, you gave him that, so you tried another method. Riskier but was a way for everyone to leave unharmed. You channelled the Force and directed it towards his mind. “You will give her the information.”

“I will…” He trailed off and shook his head. “No. I won’t.”

You pushed harder and went again. “You will give her the information.”

“I will give…”

Omega deduced that his reaction was due to you using your Jedi abilities and she knew you wouldn’t be using them unless it was truly necessary, but she worried for you as she glanced at Phee. The woman was looking at you with a keen sense of interest.

You weren’t wanting to do this for a third time so you waited as you could sense his resistance was fading.

“I will give you the information.” He said finally, his voice hazy before he reached down and put the data card on the counter.

Phee picked it up and glanced between you and the barman. What the hell had she just watched?

“Pay him and let’s go.” You said emotionlessly as you sheathed your blade in your vambrace and turned to leave.

“You wanna tell me what that was?” Phee demanded as the three of you hustled out the cantina.

“What was what?” You deflected, avoiding her stare and nudging Omega in front of you.

“Nuh uh.” Phee grabbed the top of your arm. “You can’t just insist we leave, get the information from a man who was adamant about not revealing it, and then run out without saying how you did it and why we suddenly need to go.”

“Phee, you got the information you wanted. I don’t see what the big deal is. We need go.” You implored as you turned around to face her.

Any protest Phee was going to offer died on her lips as she caught sight of the crowd of people approaching.

“But we haven’t had the group reunion yet.” A sing song voice laced with venom called over to you.

You closed your eyes in despair and slowly turned on your heels to face the crew you had really wanted to avoid. The two Gamorreans were new but the two Trandoshans, three Twileks were from your time. Your eyes however focused in on the leader. She looked the same as she had when you’d left. Slim odds my ass. You thought to yourself. You stepped forward slightly, so Omega and Phee were more behind you.

“Hello, Vaya.” You said coolly.

“It’s been a long time, Two Knife.”

“I meant to come visit.” You lied, no warmth behind your words.

“Two Knife?” Omega repeated as she looked to you, but you didn’t turn to meet her eyes.

You cringed as you heard your old nickname leave the young girl’s mouth.

“For the two vibroblades she used when she was part of us. No blasters, only ever those knifes. I think she liked killing up close and personal.” Vaya taunted cruelly. “Though it looks like you traded one of them in. What happened? Grow a conscience in your time away?”

“Shut the fuck up.” You snarled.

Vaya sneered. “Oh, what’s the matter, (Y/N)? You didn’t tell your new…” She looked to your companions and gave a mocking laugh as she saw the child. “ ‘crew’ about your old friends?”

“Take it these were the people you were hoping to avoid?” Phee worked out as she saw the icy stares the two of you were giving each other.

“Friends is a generous term.” You said but you didn’t want her to keep talking. You didn’t want Omega knowing exactly what you had been a part of here. At least not from her. It had all been an act built from repressed anger, disappointment, and misery, but you were ashamed of what you’d become in your time here.

Vaya pretended to look wounded. “After all we achieved in this shithole. You want to forget it so eagerly? Then again, that would make sense. You stole from us and ran pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, well, finding out you were giving a cut of what we stole to the Separatists during the war wasn’t what I signed up for.”

“So, I take it you haven’t come to pay it back?” Vaya said with a glare.

You couldn’t help the laugh that left your mouth. “Nope. I am dead broke and, as hard as it might be for you to believe, I did not come here for you.”

Vaya’s lip curled into a nasty grin. “Then it’s just my lucky day.” With that, she clicked her fingers and her subordinates straightened up and cracked various bones in their body.

Omega, you, and Phee get back to the ship. I’ll meet you there.

“No, we’re not leaving you.” Omega hissed as she kept her bow activated.

Phee glanced down and the young girl and then to you. There it was again. That level of communication that was something more than just good team chemistry. She was sure you hadn’t spoken yet Omega seemed to know exactly what you had said. Plus, there was still that incident in the bar that she needed to follow up on. What were you?

You didn’t take your eyes of the group in front of you. Trust me. Please. “All this because of a little money I stole from you years ago? Can’t we just let bygones be bygones and no one gets hurt?” You reasoned with Vaya whilst Omega tugged on Phee’s arm and turned to go in the direction of the ship.

“You know our law here.” Was Vaya’s steely reply.

Yeah, you did, and it had been why you’d avoided this place like the plague after you’d left. Money was all anyone here cared about and they didn’t care who they hurt to get it. And… you’d been a key part in that for a while.

Phee hesitantly moved backwards. “(Y/N), you sure-”

“Get outta here.” You ordered firmly.

Phee didn’t like it, but you seemed determined and the last thing she wanted was Omega getting caught in any crossfire. She left you behind and ran back to the ship with Omega.

“After them.” Vaya signalled to the two Gamorreans.

Two quick stun shots from your blaster halted any movements from the two as they dropped to the ground. “You deal with me, or the next round leaves a more permanent outcome.” You said with a hard stare.

Vaya merely shrugged. “Fine by me. So long as the result is you dead in the ground.”

“Still got that lovely street demeanour.” You mumbled. “Same rules I take it?” You asked, already unholstering your blaster and tossing your vibroblade a safe distance away.

“It’s like you’ve never been away.” Vaya jeered before she took a step back and allowed her crew to advance towards you.

“Fucking hell.” You wheezed as you shoved the dead Trandoshan off your chest. His body flopped to the ground with his neck sticking out at an awkward angle. You didn’t want to kill him but when you found yourself on your back with his clawed hands squeezing your throat, you were left with little choice.

You hunched on all fours as you worked your way up to stand but you didn’t get very far. A hard kick was sent to your ribs, followed swiftly by one to your stomach. You rolled across the ground and retched before you were allowed to get to your feet. You swayed and pointlessly wiped away the blood running from your nose as you faced the two twileks and the lone trandoshan. One companion dead, the other unconscious on the ground.

As the two twileks stalked towards you, you called on the Force to give you that extra bit of strength you found yourself needing. “Four down, four to go.” You said to yourself before you raised your arms and let them come to you.

The two twilelks- one red skinned, one blue- started their attack first. They came at you from either side. You remembered these two and from what you recalled, they weren’t the brightest of the bunch and you only hoped that would remain true. As the red one made to strike you, but you ducked and instead his fist crunched into the nose of the second one who yelped in pain.

You kicked the red twilek in the groin which sent him crumbling to the ground and whipped round to face his friend. He was still nursing his hurt nose, so you easily dodged the aimless and distracted swing of his arm. One well-placed and strong hit of your elbow to his temple followed by a harsh punch to the underside of his jaw had him collapsing to the ground but it was after this you got yourself into a bit of trouble. You were sluggish and didn’t turn around quickly enough to stop the second twilek from grabbing the back of your neck.

The remaining red-skinned twilek hit the back of your knee and kept doing so when you didn’t immediately go down. Once you finally succumbed, he pinned your arms behind your back and the trandoshan got to work on punching your face.

It was a struggle to stay conscious as the assault continued and so you acted swiftly. When the next hit came, you tipped to the side and the punch wound up in the gut of your captor you let your hands go on instinct as he doubled over.

You forced yourself to stand up quickly and you faced your two foes once more. All of you were breathing heavily.

“Any chance you guys want to call it a day?” You tried, your jaw aching with the effort and the metallic taste of blood was filling your mouth and the back of your throat. You spat it out.

The answering growl and ‘fuck you’ gave you your answer.

“Alrighty then.” You sighed. Your best bet here was to use their weaknesses against them. Both were eager to be the one to deliver the final hit and that meant they were unfocused. You ducked, weaved, and parried their strikes for now. It was almost like you were dancing in a pattern to get them closer to each other whilst they were aiming for you.

One misplaced kick from the twilek combined with a perfectly timed dodge from you meant that the trandoshan got clipped in the thigh which caused his step to fumble as he got ready to set himself once more and that was your moment. You dashed round the back of the twilek and twisted his arm behind his back and used him as a shield when the trandoshan barley looked up and threw a powerful punch but rather than you sinking to the ground, it was his teammate.

You tutted and shook your head as you released the unconscious body. “Didn’t anybody teach you that you’re not supposed to punch out your own gang member?”

“I forgot how much shit came out of your mouth.” The trandoshan hissed.

You shrugged. “Keeps things entertaining.” With that you and the trandoshan went at it once more.

The two of you had been going at it for much longer that you would’ve liked.

You were able to punch his cheekbone but, at the same time, he sent a strong kick to the centre of your chest sent you sprawling on your back. You released a winded cough and as he stepped towards you, you swept your leg out and took his out from under him. He fell to the ground, and you took your chance. You groaned with the effort it took for you to climb across his chest, but you managed it. His fist skimmed across your jaw since you moved it away in the nick of time, so the resulting impact of the punch was lost. You lifted his head and smacked the back of it off the ground a few times before he too was left unconscious. You moved off him when you were sure he wasn’t going to come back around.

You were only allowed a moment of respite since you still had one more person to deal with. You braced a hand on your knee and heaved a few deep breaths. You spat some more blood out your mouth, stood and beckoned Vaya to come towards you.

Vaya snarled and ran at you, knife in hand.

You dodged the quick jabs of her knife, but you were sore and exhausted, your movements had grown slower. You didn’t quite manage to avoid the next swift, well-placed stab of her knife. It sliced through your side. You swallowed your shout of agony and stumbled backwards. You ignored the pain and sensation of warm blood dripping down your body. It would give Vaya too much power if she saw how badly she’d wounded you.

Vaya smirked. She hadn’t missed the way your face had contorted as she made contact with you. She studied her blade which was now dotted with your blood. “You’re getting sloppy.”

“You always were a cheat.” You said through laboured breaths.

“Give up now, and I promise I’ll make the rest of it quick.”

“Nah, this was all to give you a fair shot.” You taunted.

Vaya snarled and stalked towards you once more.

You studied her and when you saw the glance she sent towards your shoulder, and you grabbed her wrist and bent it back, so she was forced to drop the knife.

You caught the movement of her other fist that was aiming for your mouth. You blocked it and managed a punch of your own that met her cheekbone. You then landed a kick to her stomach which sent her reeling back.

She was pissed and, unlike you, had all her energy. You knew the longer this went on, the less likely it was that you would be the one walking away. You needed to get under her skin and make her lose focus, so you smirked as you saw the welt that was already swelling beneath her skin. “Knife strike followed by a punch to the mouth. It’s still the same but then again, you never were all that creative.”

Vaya cried out in frustration and charged towards you.

You knew what she was going to do. You let her tackle your waist and ignored the wave of agony it sent through your body as she repeatedly hit your open wound. You pushed the black spots encroaching on your vision away and kept your feet. You kneed her in the ribs which caused her to loosen her grip for a moment. You did it again and again until she let go and regrouped.

Vaya saw the weary and pained expression behind your eyes. Your heart wasn’t in this, and she could use that. She caught her breath back and ran at you again.

This time though, you couldn’t fight the pain it caused you and you weren’t able to stay standing. The two of you crashed to the ground. You felt her reaching out to the side and when you turned your head, you saw why- her knife was within her grasp. You made the rather unwise decision to headbutt her, an act that saw stars exploding behind your eyes due to the pain it caused your already injured face. It only dissuaded her for a second. You choked out a pained grunt as she placed her knee on your chest- limiting your movements- and managed to get her weapon back.

Vaya straddled your chest and brought the knife down towards you.

You blocked her descent with your forearm, but she continued to press down, and the sharp point of the knife was edging closer to your throat. You let the Force flow through you and found whatever reserves were left within you and pushed back- hard- and used your other hand to lift her elbow to the side. You could tell by the way the knife was moving away from you and the sheer frustration in her face that you were going to get out of this. You managed to get her half off you but the momentum you had caused meant you rolled too, and she kept it going.

The two of your struggled on the ground, the knife getting lost between you both and it was then you heard the sound of metal meeting flesh.

You weren’t sure how it happened, and you wished you had found a way to stop it.

You watched the fearful realisation in her eyes, and you glanced down. You pushed off her you and she fell to the side. You gingerly sat up and recoiled in horror as you saw her knife embedded in her own chest. “Vaya, I-”

“You always- always were the stronger one.” Vaya rasped.

You bowed your head. You didn’t want it to go like this. “I’m sorry.”

A pained laugh rattled from Vaya’s mouth. “You’ll- you’ll understand if I don’t feel like forgiving you right now.”

You released a low, sad laugh. “Can I help?”

“No, I’m-” Vaya coughed, and a trickle of blood left the corner of her mouth. “I’m done.”

You watched as the light left her eyes and her chest stopped moving. “I’m sorry.” You whispered sincerely before you gently lowered her eyelids. You had never wanted this.

You stood up and made to take a step but instantly felt your knees buckle as your beaten body finally let itself be feel all the aches and pains you were experiencing. You slouched to the ground. You finally pressed a hand into your side and hissed in discomfort. You lifted your shirt and examined the wound. It wasn’t as deep as you’d feared but it was no small cut either. You definitely needed medical attention. You released a shaky breath as you got to your feet. Your knee burned under your full weight so you had to accommodate your step accordingly as you weaved your way through the bodies, picked up your abandoned weapons and made your way back to the ship as quickly as your body would allow.

Phee and Omega took in your battered and bruised face as you limped towards them. You were clutching your side and there was a blood trail behind you.

“(Y/N)!” Omega cried anxiously as she and Phee ran towards you.

“I thought you had a handle on things?” Phee said as she reached for you.

You waved them both off and grimaced. “I did. Just-” You readjusted your stance and groaned in pain. “Just get- get back to Ord Mantell.” You kept one gloved hand on your side as you all boarded the ship.

You winced as you sat down and took the cloth from Omega and put it over your nose to stem the blood flow.

“Hunter is going to kill me.” Phee mumbled as she turned her worried gaze from you and got the ship in the air.

As Omega started to take off your armour and anxiously watched the way your eyes flickered, she wasn’t confident enough to tell her that he wouldn’t.

“AZ, we need you!” Omega shouted urgently as the three of you entered the parlour.

AZ dropped the tray of dirty glasses in his hand and whirred towards Cid’s room. “Bring her back here.”

The rest of the Batch jumped to their feet as they saw you slouched against Phee.

“What happened?!” Echo asked as he and his brothers hustled over to you.

Your only reply was a pained grunt.

“We ran into some lowlifes.” Phee explained for you as she strengthened her grip on you since she felt you lean into her more.

“Where’s Hunter?” Omega asked quickly.

“He’s out with Cid.” Tech replied, already halfway to the exit.

“Don’t-” You sucked air through your teeth in discomfort as Echo and Wrecker took over from Phee in supporting you. “Don’t bother him. Give me 20 minutes and I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Wrecker disagreed. “You know what he’d do to us if we didn’t tell him this?”

“I’ve been imagining a few scenarios.” Phee piped up.

“I’m going to be fine.” You protested through gritted teeth. You didn’t want to worry Hunter with something that in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t a big deal and would be sorted pretty quickly.

“I do not suggest we test the idea.” Tech advised before he slipped away as Echo and Wrecker began to lead you into the back room where AZ was setting up.

“What are you after, Goggles?” Cid asked roughly as she saw Tech sprint towards them.

Tech ignored her.

Hunter took in the look on his brother’s face and his muscles tensed. It was a rare sight to see Tech looking troubled. “What’s wrong, Tech?”

Tech caught his breath back. “It’s (Y/N), she’s hurt. She-”

Hunter didn’t wait to be told the rest. He just started running.

“Hunter, hold on. Don’t-”

The warning calls from all his brothers didn’t stop him. He made a beeline for Phee.

Phee saw both the fury and panic on Hunter’s face and that was a dangerous combination. She dashed around to the safety of the bar counter. “Hey hey hey. Let’s just talk.” She said but she couldn’t quite keep the fear at bay, so it came out her mouth very quickly.

Omega had paused for a moment to watch but she knew she’d be better off helping AZ treat you, so she left the main parlour.

Wrecker acted quickly and braced his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. He knew his brother wasn’t going to physically hurt Phee- it wasn’t his nature- but he couldn’t guarantee the words he would say would carry the same considerations.

“What. Happened. Out. There?” He spat angrily at her as he shoved Wrecker’s hand off him. He stopped his advance, however.

“Everything started off fine. We just-”

“Clearly it wasn’t. You told me they would be alright!” He couldn’t stop his voice from growing louder. He was too wound up and upset to think straight right now.

“We were. It was only at the end where-”

“I don’t care when it was! You said nothing was going to happen!”

“I-”

“I know you like to lie about your various adventures, but I didn’t think you would lie about ensuring the safety of my squad!”

“If you would just-”

“Guess you really are a pirate.”

“Look, I didn’t think anything would go wrong! I can’t control what she does! She has her own mind you know!”

That made Hunter pause. “What are you talking about?” He took a deep breath and relaxed his stance a bit.

“Oh, you’re letting me get a word in now?” Phee retorted.

“Don’t.” Hunter warned. “Just tell me what you mean.”

Phee sighed. “Look, overall things were fine. It was just at the end. She got all jittery about needing to leave so we did but then we ran into some people that she insisted she deal with herself. I wanted to help but the kid was there, and (Y/N) told us to go. And technically, she did handle them. She got away, didn’t she? She’s right here. It’s not my fault she felt the need to take on a whole gang of people by herself.”

“You-”

“Hunter, instead of focusing your attention on Phee, why don’t you go check on (Y/N)?” Tech interjected.

Phee shot him a look of gratitude.

Hunter’s jaw clenched before he gave Phee one last glare and hustled through to the back room.

He practically crashed through the door when a big enough gap opened and you hastily covered the wound on your side that AZ was beginning to tend to. You started to sit up. “I told them not to bother you.”

“I am not yet finished with my examination.” AZ said, indicating that you should lie back down.

“What happened?” Hunter asked, his voice tight as he struggled to keep the distress at seeing your bruised face. Your lip had split and there was a cut along the bridge of your nose. Not to mention the purple and blue welts that were scattered across your face, particularly your cheek, eye, and jaw.

“You should see the other guys.” You joked before you winced as AZ started to work on your stab wound.

“Believe me, I wish I could.” Hunter said with protective rage.

“I’m okay, Hunter.” You comforted as you patted the side of the bed in invitation.

“Are you okay?” He asked to Omega first.

Omega nodded as she cleaned the spots of blood from your face and took off you gloves to clean the scratches on your knuckles before applied the bacta to the various bruises on your face. “Not even a scratch. It was an interesting mission until it went a bit wrong.”

Hunter hung his head in relief before he took your hand and came to sit by the bed. “How’s it going, AZ?”

“The bruises on her face and ribs will heal quickly. Her knee will take longer but the treatment is the same- some bacta and rest. This wound on her side, however, is more concerning.”

“AZ, I thought we said not to mention the injury there.” You grumbled.

“Yes, AZ, what’s concerning about the injury on her side?” Hunter said, shooting you a look.

“The knife wound isn’t deep, closing it up will be a simple process, but the blade that inflicted it was unclean and there is subsequent dirt from whatever happened after the original wound occurred. I am worried about infection.”

“See, a ‘simple process’.” You said with a small smile.

“The ‘worried about infection’ part just didn’t reach your ears?” Hunter chastised.

“I’m choosing to not think about it. And looking out for your health. You know, you should be avoiding unnecessary stress.” You said breezily.

“Forget about my non-existent blood pressure issue. You were stabbed!” Hunter said, hanging his head in utter exasperation.

“Lightly.” You corrected with a slight smile.

Hunter breathed deeply. He wasn’t prepared to be calm about this yet.

You felt the distress that rippled through him. “Hunter, I promise I’m feeling much better.” You brought his hand to your chest and let him feel your heartbeat. “See? I’m right here.”

Slowly but surely and with each strong beat of your heart, Hunter started to feel himself relax. “Do you have enough supplies to clean it, AZ?”

“I do. The process will just carry a degree of discomfort.”

“Feel free to squeeze.” Hunter said softly as he kissed the back of your hand as he held it.

You gave him a grateful smile before you signalled for AZ to start.

“I have finished my treatment.” AZ declared.

“Thank you.” You said as the droid left the room. You sat up. Your still body ached but you figured that would be the norm for the next few hours at least. You accepted Hunter’s help to stand and practically fell into his arms as he didn’t give you much time to get oriented before he wrapped them around you.

“You know the idea of letting me just walk in and find you like this with no warning was a sure way to put me through unnecessary stress?” Hunter murmured into the top of your head.

“I know.” You admitted. “At the time, I thought it was the better route to go down.”

A beat of silence passed before Hunter spoke again. “I need you to be more careful, okay? We can joke all we like but when Tech said you were hurt…”

You pulled your head back to look at him.

“I can’t lose you.” He murmured as he brushed the backs of his fingers tenderly across your bruised face.

“You won’t.” You reassured him, your voice gentle.

“I could have. On more than one occasion and it’s not something I ever find myself prepared for.”

“Hunter…”

“I know the risks of what we do. I account for everything, or at least I try to, but the one thing that I always struggle to plan for is losing anyone here, especially you. If I-” He stopped before he tried again. “If I lost you, I think a part of me would die with you.”

You cupped his face and looked deep into his brown eyes. “Good thing that’s not going to happen.”

He swallowed thickly. He knew you both knew there were no guarantees in this galaxy but hearing you say it helped, nonetheless.

“It won’t.” You affirmed again. You wouldn’t let it. He and this squad were a source of light for you in the ever-growing darkness of this galaxy and if you didn’t have that, you dreaded to even think about what you would do. “I’ll stop being reckless and you avoid heights.” You said with a smile.

Hunter laughed. “Sounds like a decent plan.” He hugged you again.

“How much did you lay into Phee?” You asked with a knowing smile as you adjusted your head to glance at him.

“I was probably a bit harsh.” Hunter admitted on reflection.

“She told you I told them I’d handle it, right? She was actually following an order.”

“Yes.” Hunter grunted in displeasure. “When you’re 100% I’m going to come back and lecture you about that.”

You snorted out a laugh. “Come on, Sergeant. We got some apologies to make.”

As you hobbled into the main parlour with Hunter providing a helping hand, Phee dashed to hide behind Wrecker.

“What did you do?” You admonished with a playful punch to his arm.

Hunter winced at Phee’s reaction. “I’m sorry, Phee.” He said genuinely.

Phee peeked out from behind Wrecker. “Oh yeah?”

“Yes. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I was scared and I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have.”

Phee fully emerged. She could tell he meant what he was saying but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a bit of fun first. “So, you’re sorry you yelled?”

“Yes.” Hunter nodded.

“And you’re sorry for not letting me get a chance to explain first?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re sorry you blamed me?”

“Yes.” He said again, not liking the direction Phee was taking this but he had it coming.

“And you’re sorry for implying that I would deliberately endanger your team?”

“Yes.” He squirmed.

“And you’re sorry for calling me a liar and a pirate?”

“Hunter.” You scolded.

“You were injured!” Hunter said awkwardly. He really had been an ass. “I didn’t know how badly; I just knew you were hurt and reacted with a bit more emotion that I should have. I’m sorry.” He said again.

Phee nodded appreciatively. “We’re cool, Bandana. You were worried for your girl, I get it. Just next time, take a moment before you jump down someone’s throat.”

Hunter dipped his head in acknowledgement.

“And Phee, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. I was careless and didn’t fully think about how a rather protective someone would react. I’m sorry for getting you into trouble.” You said earnestly.

“Don’t sweat it.” Phee said with a wave of her hand. “I just hope you left those other guys in a worst state cause you really don’t look too hot right now. Now, if you all would excuse me, I got some treasure to find.” She had decided to wait you out a bit longer, it wouldn’t be fair to try to figure out what your deal was with your current condition being what it was.

“Let us know what you find!” Omega called after her.

Phee grinned before she made her way out the parlour.

“Do the other guys look worse?” Wrecker asked.

“They will have to be in considerably worse shape if you look better.” Tech said simply, only realising how it sounded when all heads gave him the same pointed look.

You merely laughed. “Yes, Tech, they looked considerably worse. Some more than others.” You said to yourself quietly, regretfully.

“Alright!” Wrecker celebrated as he gave you a high five.

“Can you fill us in on what happened?” Echo asked.

“I did bring it on myself, it was from a time before I met you all. Believe or not, some secrets of my past before you all still remain. And this time, Omega isn’t going to reveal them.” You kidded as you all sat down, but you were nervous. You weren’t sure of the reaction you’d get. It was a dark, shameful part of your past where you’d just left the Order and had started doubting everything you’d thought you’d known and through that, you’d lost yourself for a while. “It was pretty soon after I left the Order…”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @fuckoffthanos, @tpwkcalli, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx, @starwarsnerd111

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boneyardbob · 10 months ago

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Whoops I said I’d post this like three days ago my bad. Head canons for the masks in Marble Hornets! I may post a bunch of shorter stuff that are general headcanons soon. Also if you want more details on this lmk I’d love to dive deeper @forgottenporkbun @monszsterz

Here's my headcanons for the masks. Honestly I could go on like a huge, rambling essay about why I think these things, my inspo for these ideas, down to the details of what they feel like and how they work but Imma try and keep this short. I plan to put all that other stuff in my fics anyway and if you're reading this you'll probably wanna read my MH fics so you'll figure it out eventually. The idea that Tim and Brian made their mask with stuff from Hobby Lobby is REALLY funny but I have to stick with the idea the masks are gifts from The Operator (TO). Tim got his in college because if he was given it at any point while in the hospital, it would probably be found and taken away. TO waited until Tim was free before gifting it. Its when their "relationship" begun. TO switched from this unfamiliar, constantly looming monster into this warped guardian angel. This is obviously very fleeting because by the time Jay runs into Tim in MH, he's forgotten this entirely, or repressed it, and is back to viewing TO how he did his entire childhood.

During the tail end of college, while filming Alex's project, is when this Masked Era began and it ended for an unknown reason a quarter of the way into MH. My timeline isn't great but roughly that's the situation we're talking about. This is when we get all those videos of Masky and Hoody stalking Jay and Alex. I don't think I could fully call Tim and TO's relationship that of worship but that's the closest I can get. Tim knew what he was dealing with was some kind of unimaginable creature, but it could feel human emotions FOR HIM. At least if he listened. If Tim did what TO wanted, then in return he got benefits. At some point he understood TO needed him-either to keep living or to stay grounded to earth, and things got a little extra toxic. I imagine its a LOT like the Fears and their respective Avatars in TMA. I use you to get food, I give you powers that make it easier for you to get food, win win.

These benefits were really only accessed when wearing his mask. The more he wore it and the more work he put in for TO, the better things got. At the very least it instantly cleared up his lungs so he could breathe easily, he no longer suffered from migraines, he didn't have any hallucinations that weren't purposeful messages from TO, and most debilitating affects from mental disorders were gone so he wouldn't feel depressed or anxious. Fuck if I had a magical mask that made me neurotypical and took away my chronic illness I'd kill people in the woods too/j. More benefits were added on with time like growing stronger, healing faster, its kinda giving the vampires from Twilight ngl. My RP partner and I make a LOT of Twilight vampire jokes about them. It also spiraled Tim into a euphoric mania, giving him the energy and desire to sprint around the woods all hours of the night. This was an addictive sensation that had him craving his mask. He had to share it with someone.

His closest (and really only) friend at the time was Brian so he opened up to him about it and eventually got him involved. Because of Tim's medication and natural resilience to TO he eventually got OUT of this cult-like situation but Brian couldn't. He got to the point he was constantly under that mask and if he took it off for long enough, he'd probably suffocate and die. This explains why he ends up homeless, constantly in his mask state, and seems to have uncanny abilities. He just disappears into thin air, he seems to be doing physically GREAT despite living on a mattress in the woods with no source of food or money, and we only ever hear him cough. That ties back into my idea their vocal cords melt due to the TO disease. He can take the mask off for short bits of time. Its not like an astronauts helmet, more so an oxygen tank while hiking a tall mountain.

#marble hornets #masky marble hornets #tim wright #mh hoody #jay merrick #brian marble hornets #creepypasta #headcanon #the operator #slenderverse #slenderman #alex kraile

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ivormybeloved · 2 months ago

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woe, more fugitive au thoughts upon thee because the brainrot returned (on mobile so if this sends multiple times whoops)

Besides Jeb the sheep, do you think either of the boys ever try to take anything else, such as a dog or other livestock? It’d be pretty funny to watch the boys killing skeletons for bones, only to get frustrated when the wolf they’re trying to befriend takes them all and leaves without being tamed

hey if Milo has difficulties swimming with the manacles on… what’s an encounter with a drowned gonna be like for him?

Since Reginald has to start off more-or-less being Milo’s bodyguard since he can’t fight for himself super well, does Reggie resent the fact he has to keep an eye on and help take care of Milo in the beginning? Especially considering Reggie only fell because he was trying to defend Milo to begin with

Conversely, what is Milo’s opinion on Reginald to start off? I know the boys butt heads a lot and generally just argue, but besides Reginald annoying Milo is there any other issue he has with the guard, or not really?

after the events of Order Up! and Sky City has been abandoned, does Isa ever address Reginald and Milo’s situation or does she just try to ignore the fact they’re both alive?

on that note, do Isa and Reginald ever talk about him being ‘banished’? The two seem fairly close in-game so I’m curious to know if Reginald has anything to say to Isa after the fact

if the boys don’t make it back up to Sky City imagine they’re both minding their own business and then suddenly Isa falls from the sky with this rando. Milo is going to make SO MUCH fun of Isa friggin immediately

The boys are on a mining trip and discover a mineshaft with a cave spider spawner right in the first tunnel they find. How are they handling this situation

hehehe yes... (I'm on mobile always dw)

1. Yeah they probably gave up on taming wolves because of all the bones they needed. Reginald isn't very fond of them anyway.

2. Lot of kicking and trashing in the water. Afterwards, he wouldn't go back in the water out of fear. Even in a boat (unless forced or bribed)

3. Reginald can't fight that well either, but he definitely can fight better than Milo. Sky City guards (in this AU) weren't trained much for combat as they didn't have any high level threats other than the people of Sky City. This also causes Reginald to get a bit irritated with Milo too easily paired with the whole "having to protect him" thing.

4. Milo sees him as bossy and overall just treats him almost the same as he treats Isa in canon. Other than that, nothing much.

5. She addresses it and seems to have changed her mind about her actions now that there's land. Milo, however, is not as convinced.

6. They're not close in this AU per say, they pretty much treat each other with respect (Reginald still looks up to Isa tho). While Reginald is absolutely hurt by the banishment, he will go with anything the Founder commands him too—even if that means sending him to his death. He IS convicted of treason in Sky City anyway. Reg does figure some stuff out (bro is having a mid life crisis in this AU while Milo's feeding a sheep in the background 😭) and they do talk.

7. He'd make fun of her, definitely, but the first moment he sees her his immediate emotion is fear that this woman will KILL him

8. Blocking the tunnel and leaving it until they're ready. Spoiler alert: they tried to fight the cave spiders—many times—and never beat them. Gave up and moved on 😭

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm au #minecraft: story mode #fugitive au #mcsm milo x reginald #mcsm milo #mcsm reginald #mcsm jailbirds #mcsm isa

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tezzbot · 1 year ago

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congrats on finishing your essay! :))

Love your Sonic Underground au, btw! I need some lore drops on my boy, Manic, tho. It doesn't even have to be a long explanation. Something goofy like, how many times has he been arrested?

Also! Do the triplets eventually form a band? [side-eye]

Oh my goodness, hello!! I love your art so much it's all so cool!!!! Thank you lol!

Some stuff about Manic in the au lets see...

He was kidnapped as a baby after the triplets had been sent halfway across the continent for their own safety, whoops lol, he's quite charismatic, must always have been since he managed to endear himself to Ferral pretty much immediately lol, he grew up pretty much similarly to the canon of underground, getting by stealing where he has to bartering and stuff, he's part of his own found family within the city and they're all very close, a tight-knit little community of thiefs sfgdhj, though every so often one or two of them decide to spread out (though they stay in touch), which is actually the reason for Manic's being on the train alongside the others, he has family he misses! And he has some things to get to them! (little does he know he'll be meeting more family than he anticipated lol) Though he's never actually been out of the city he grew up in himself (despite what he may claim lol), uhh he is very technically minded he loves to tinker and making little thingamajigs and doohickeys that look like they wouldn't have any practical use but he usually finds a way lol, nothing, like, robotic like Tails does, he's more a manual guy fdsgfgdf, aaand just a random headcanon he's fairly dyslexic n has some trouble reading, he usually has someone help him. There's also gender happening to him :thumbsup:

As for how many times he's been arrested lol uhhhh I think that early on he was pulled up a few times, probably spent some time in juvie, but he hasn't actually been caught in quite a while, I don't imagine Manic gets caught all that often lol you know those videos of kids running from cops and the police just making absolute clowns of themselves trying to catch them? That's Manic JHGJFG

So wrt the band, I'm sort of playing around with ideas right now? The main idea that I'm running with is that, the medallions only react to them when the triplets are getting along, when there is harmony between them (eehh? geddit? lol) that's the only time that they are able to be activated. Which, given the rocky start that they all have with one another obviously takes time, with Sonic being reluctant to share pretty important info with them and generally keeping his distance from them, Sonia's frustration with him and her being Very mad at Manic for scamming her, not much harmony going on for a fair bit of the journey. Eventually the three of them do get along and discover the powers of the medallions and they do perform a few times throughout. Eventually Sonic does spill that they're family and after the reactions they come up with the idea to use their music to get their mothers attention, Sonic is hesitant etcetc. I DUNNO! I'm still futzing with it lol I'll decide on stuff eventually fdghfg

Oh and I do want Sonia and Manic to have their own powers like a lesser version of Sonic's speed but, again, still deciding LOL

Anyway! Sorry this got so long lol, I've thought a lot about this AU! Thank you for the qs!!

OH ALSO Manic uses "bro" and "brother" on Sonic just as a casual thing but the first few times Sonic is like .Does He Know... GJFHG OKAY I'M DONE

#sonic underground au #I love it when and artist I really like and respect very suddenly pops up in my notifs this is crazy<3 #thank you for taking an interest in my silly little au lol

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intervalart · 1 year ago

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I absolutely love your art of Sundown, he’s one of my favorites (next to Akira) 🙂 honestly he’s hilarious in the Dominion of Hate, he’ll literally fight Akira for no reason, he’s got this “tired single dad handling 6 kids” energy to him, and he even like…scolds Oersted? It sounded like? (His voice actor, Reagan Murdock, played Aki Hayakawa in this anime called Chainsaw Man, so i guess he has experience with voicing a guy who needs to wrangle teenagers 😅) do you happen to have any hcs for him?

I'M SO SORRY IT'S TAKING ME SO LONG TO GET TO THESE ASKS, i'm packing to move, so that's taking up most of my time and energy ;;;v;;;

BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH WAAAAAAA, I'm glad you like how I draw the schüt man <333 (who has somehow accidentally become The Muse, whoops lol)

Sadly there are currently no in-game dialogues showing how he interacts with the other party members (party banter like octopath is a common DLC request), but Mad Dog has a line about Sundown "being bad with the little ones", which is either Mad Dog's interpretation based on what he wants to see, or Sundown's stoicism and bluntness really does tend intimidate the kids. (I don't watch CSM so I will take your work for it... But I'm sure Mr. Murdock does a great job! He has a great voice for it...)

But from what we do know for sure (from his recruitment quest and his dialogue to Sin when out of the party of the final 4) is he is very tired, and wants nothing to do with you.

tbh that's part of the reason I'm fascinated with him, is in a whole party full of spunky/quirky anime youngsters who have Psychic powers, martial arts, laser canons, ninja powers, etc. (the oldest being Masaru who's usually hc'd at 25 years old for the meme).... there's just. A guy. Maybe late 30s/early 40s. With a gun.

People joke about Masaru being the Straight Man (which is true to some extent), but I feel like he handles the weirdness a bit better than Sundown does, just on account of his adaptable nature. If Mad Dog's reaction to O. Dio's true form was any indication, supernatural stuff is... Not normal for their time period. So I think Sundown is much more the Straight Man in the DoH just cuz he stands out so much from everyone else. (not that he isn't silly in his own way... he's based on Clint Eastwood ffs lol)

...and I wrote all of this text without even getting to my headcanons, so if that isn't any a warning for how much I can ramble about him at length, then let this cut should tell you. (you asked, sorry not sorry lol)

So warning in advance, there's gonna be a teeny bit of overlap with Mad Dog hcs on some of these because of how much the two intertwine with each other. They kinda come as a package deal.

Some of my hcs you've probably seen in this comic. Most notably; not just the survivor's guilt, but also in the panic of the raid on the town and the flurry of using the Hurricane Shot, he's not entirely sure if he only shot the invading bandits. :( He worried he might have gotten some townsfolk in there too. (Mostly illustrated on pages 5-6 when all the figures kinda blend together)

At the time I made the comic I thought it was just a theory that he'd placed the bounty on himself, I somehow missed the fact that it was canon. But the fact that it is canon definitely drives home both the survivor's guilt, and him fearing death despite having a death wish. (There's much easier ways to off yourself homie, you don't gotta have a bizarre death ritual with randos obsessed with fame and glory... </3)

On the earlier topic, he might not so much be bad with kids, as he is... blunt. He doesn't sugar coat stuff, and he's probably very hands-off. If he really was the respected sheriff of [Unnamed Town], he probably had some experience with kids in the past, but I suspect between the trauma and some degree of wanting to keep everyone else safe, he's cold and aloof on purpose. He was probably more sociable before The Incident. (Much like a certain blond knight)

But he does work well with others in the DoH and is brief but polite to everyone, even the younger characters. (I cry every time he says "thanks" or "sorry" when another party member heals him... TT0TT)

All that aside, some of the more domestic hcs:

• I think Sunny is very skilled at sewing!! Living out in the wilds and not having access to new clothes very often/if at all means he had to get good at repairing his own clothes. And between sleeping out under the stars and the bullet holes, he has plenty of practice... (MD called him girly for it once, and with a completely straight face, Sunny said "Why do you think being self-sufficient is inherently feminine...?". MD never mentioned it again.)

• The trade-off however is that he's... Not an amazing cook. Everything is either eaten raw or roasted over a fire, and he doesn't have a ton of access to spices and herbs in the wilds... Very utilitarian in his cooking methods.

• That ties into the next point; the dude's got a cast iron stomach. If the guy can canonically down an infinite number of glasses of milk (LONG after most adults develop lactose intolerance), the guy can eat pretty much anything. Including whatever rattlesnakes (and cactus) he found to eat.

• This is actually canon, but he does know Spanish. If not fluently, at least enough to understand it but not speak it. (I hc him as fluent though.)

• Sunny is probably a very skilled dancer! If for no other reason other than dodging bullets for years lmao. MD catches a glimpse once. Sunny looks him dead in the eyes and says "No one will ever believe you."

• I've already discussed this, but Sunny probably used to be left-handed, and either due to societal necessity or an injury, he became ambidextrous!

• Now that I'm thinking about it actually, I drew Young Sundown in the comic with much less facial hair to just make him look younger... But it actually makes sense that between the depression (and possibly self loathing), he kinda uses the facial hair as like... A mask? Like, so he doesn't have to see himself in a way? (I might be reading too much into it, the OG art does show he shapes his scruff and it's not completely unkempt, so maybe it started as Depression Scruff, and he just shaves it as best he can with a knife lol)

• I used to hc that he didn't name his horse because he didn't want to get attached. (He just calls it Horse) But after talking to another Really Cool Wild West Artist in the JP fandom, it's not impossible that he could have had the same horse the entire time... So that's not a hill I need to die on lol.

• For obvious reasons, he's a hard guy to get to laugh. If he does, it's usually wry and understated. But on the rare occasion he does genuinely laugh, he's more inclined to stifle it at first, more out of habit than anything else. It takes a lot to get him rolling in the aisles.

...But that's getting into BBFF territory, which is a whole 'nuther post, and definitely not something I have rambled about at length and stored on a hidden discord server.

AND that's not talking about my Mad Dog hcs......

-gripping you anon- Do you see why I am in hell.

#live a live #anon ask #answers #not art #long post #the sundown kid #headcanons #head canons

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abyssalzones · 6 months ago

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hey!!!! i really REALLY really love your journal 3 adaptation series... it's genuinely incredible in colour scheme matching journal 3 literally and in vibes, your art style is really good at capturing the whimsical and fantastical nature of things WHILE ALSO being grounded in reality and a sense of matureness, your ford portrayal is REALLY good, and your attention to little details is awesome. And your comic formatting is genuinely really pleasant to follow and flows really well. Also i'm just a sucker for people expanding on existing canon, especially when it comes to comics. i stumbled across the bottomless pit one first, and got really excited to see that someone else knew the tidbit that ford kept the photo of him and stan with him in his coat, and i really enjoyed how you worked it with the rest of the comic. the humour and narrative work you've got in the whole thing is extremely well made, and i had such a treat going through each one made so far !!! just out of simple curiousity, i know that it'll be focused on ford and fiddleford, but the moment with the photo had me thinking. will there be any other points where stan somewhat Narratively Haunts the comics? just with ford's complicated feelings on stanley, with him being understandably angry at him but also missing him. given how often he thinks about stanley due to all the times he writes about him in journal 3. EITHER WAY keep up the awesome work!!!! i will be seated for the next comics!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you so much!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed the ad astra chapters that exist, they were definitely extremely fun to execute and I love hearing that I managed to balance the tone well :]

I /did/ actually plan to have more about stan's absence haunting ford's life in a weird way, including a flashback sequence I was really looking forward to drawing. after the 1982 segment of the comic I wanted to include a sort of 2012 "intermission" following the more lighthearted antics of the twins' entries in the journal, as well as the latter half where ford returns home and recounts his adventures in the portal- basically anything that was in the journal that wasn't in the show, namely digging into ford's most important dynamics. the thing is that... uh... presently I don't have plans to continue ad astra per aspera as a full project. whoops! extremely sorry about that.

I haven't said as much officially because right now I'm in a weird place of not entirely knowing what to do with what remains of the project-- I put a lot of love into it. like, a "thousands of words of written outline" amount of love. the thing is that since writing ad astra, my priorities have entirely shifted. I planned everything out during a time in my life where I had no idea there would be more gravity falls official content, much less anything following up on ford's story. there was so much overlap in the things I wanted to convey in ad astra and the meat of tbob (namely in terms of bill's ongoing abuse of ford, which. I mean there was a scene in tbob that was eerily similar to something I had written months prior. at the time I had thought what I wrote was a little on the nose... now? not as much) that I felt too swayed to stick to my original plan of not including any of the new stuff that had been established... but the outline had already been written in such a way that changing it wouldn't have been easy. and to be honest, I felt fulfilled by what we got in tbob in a way that made the point of what I wanted to get across in ad astra per aspera moot. I had wanted to extrapolate and shed light on aspects of the story I saw in the margins of the journal so to speak, and then tbob did that exact thing for me. does that make any sense ?

that isn't to say I don't have ideas for more comics about that era in particular, of course. in fact I could definitely draw isolated parts of the outline that I still like some day! but all in all, it's a combination of feeling like I don't need to do it anymore, and the fact that I would like to focus on telling my own stories, as far as long-term projects go. hopefully that isn't too disappointing for people to hear and I really appreciate how much everyone enjoyed what I did end up making :]

#askbox #figured I'd have to say something about this more officially but had no idea how to broach it #sorry that I had to let you down in the process !!

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flare-the-freak · 1 year ago

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Made a fix it JJK au bc sillies! So here's some random silly things :3

I post more goofy stuff on my friend's and I's JJK server! I'll drop the invite below ;)

The only reason this somehow happens is because Toji gets paid MORE by Gojo, so he gets a salary by Gojo and ends up more in an uncle position with Megumi and Tsumaki! More in depth is Gojo helps Toji get back on his feet, and actually chooses to yoink Megumi and Tsumaki so they doesn't get stuck with the Zen'in

Suguru DOESN'T defect, but still hates non sorcerers, and sometimes rants to Gojo about how he wishes he could just- implode them! Non-sorcerers tend to avoid Suguru since he sometimes talks about this in public

Curses are actually integrated into society! There's two "types" of curses that you can encounter. The Normal curses we know (Animalistic, runs on fear as fuel, extremely dangerous and tend to kill a ton of people) or "Humanoid" curses, IE Jogo, Hanami, Mahito, etc! Non-sorcerers can see both breeds, however usually only interact with Humanoids!

Yuji, Sukuna, Choso, and Kenjaku (in Ms. Itadori's (does she have a name?) body) all live together. Kenjaku never gets in possession of Geto's body (since he doesn't die) and Sukuna is an elder brother to Yuji, but younger to Choso. Same abilities but toned down

Sukuna is a third year at Jujutsu Tech

Choso is in college, studying the fine arts

Kenjaku is a single mom. She's not the greatest in this, but damn it he's trying! (and genderfluid)

Gojo and Geto teach at JJK tech. Gojo even got Toji a job there!

Rainbow comes back! No one realized curses can reform and keep it's memories, or it's just a special case..but she's back! She found Gojo once when he was on a mission, she very clearly wasn't tethered to Geto anymore, but still clung to Gojo like a giant cat. She shrank herself down to the size of a big dog and followed him home

Gojo and Geto now have Rainbow in their house, Megumi was so mad (Curses don't need to eat though, thankfully. She keeps shredding his bed with her nails though.)

Speaking of Megumi, him and Sukuna have known each other awhile, and Sukuna tries to wing man him AND Yuji (He hates watching them pathetically flirt. It makes him so mad)

Sukuna came home with face tattoos (inspired by a JJK art piece I saw will tag once I find!) after being dared by his friends to get them while drunk. Kenjaku grounded him for 3 months. Anytime someone asks, now Sukuna says it's part of his cursed technique.

oh whoops! dropped some ocs in there! shout out to @notagremlim

for their sona Grem who I've traumatized beyond repair using Toji! GREMJI BRAINROT TIME! <3

Grem and Toji were married, until Toji got involved with some dumb shit and divorced his husband as Toji didn't want them involved. Grem was...not happy when Toji came back. Refused to talk to him for like- 3 months. Toji was like a pathetic cat, and Gojo was not great advice considering bro was a teen dad and still traumatized from getting mauled!

Speaking of getting mauled, Itadori meets Megumi through Sukuna, who had to come pack for a trip and Megumi (against his will) is forced to come with! Gojo wanted Megumi to have experience on the battlefield against the "feral curses" (Geto isn't happy.) And Itadori...man bro is GONE. Even Kenjaku is raising a brow. Megumi summoned the divine dogs to take care of some curses terrorizing some little kids, and Yuji is like "Oh shit! He's handsome and is a dog person?" Sukuna decides to take Yuji with, who then figures out his cursed technique is....well throwing hands. Pretty much canon stuff there but without Sukuna's abilities and the fingers.

Curses are extremely abundant, with humanoid ones actually helping to exorcise the feral ones. Mahito is a bit of a menace though and Jogo and Hanami are just there to keep him in check

Gojo sometimes works overtime to make sure Geto has time off in case he noticed Geto spiraling

(Suguru has to bring this up when Gojo was gone for a week, came home, and immediately collapsed all six eyes out. And yes. He has a legit six eyes here, it's just he hides it with cursed energy! But when he's super excited about something or REALLY tired they pop out, or if he just- is relaxing at home.)

Server join below ;)

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boygiwrites · 2 years ago

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Harley D. Dixon 2

An amazing edit inspired by this story! (Cred to Cora_Line99) Harley D. Dixon's Pinterest Board! Harley D. Dixon's Playlist!

📖Chapter List.

Author's Note. Get ready for the first major change in the canon story-line hehe

Please enjoy reading! :)

"You want me to sing tonight, chicken?"

It's way past my bed-time. The sky looks like a giant film of blue cellophane above us, with millions of little white holes poked through. I pick out the shiniest one, 'cause that one's my Momma. Then I realise I gotta pick one out for Uncle Merle, now, too, so I pick the one right next to Momma's and wish him goodnight in my head.

After my Dad dragged all our stuff further into the woods, because we shouldn't sleep next to people we don't trust, we curled up in his camping chair and we haven't moved since. I'm wrapped up in a grubby gray blanket that I think used to be white, 'cause it's all we got, and I'm wearing two pairs of socks plus my Dad's jacket but it's still cold. I feel like a baby joey in a Momma kangaroo's pouch. Through the trees, I can see the main camp's fires all glittering like tiny orange fireflies and I can hear 'em all laughing. I think they're celebrating. Me and my Dad — We're mourning.

Tomorrow, they're heading back to the city to look for my Uncle Merle, even though we all know he's dead already. He's dead and he's gone and he ain't never coming back, so why does my Daddy wanna go get killed, too? Don't he know I need him?

"I don't wanna go to sleep."

"Well," He reminds me, "Sometimes it don't matter what little girls want. I'm sayin' it's time to sleep, so it's time to sleep."

If he wanted to talk about it, I'd tell him that I don't wanna go to sleep because it means that when I wake up, it'll be the day my Daddy either dies in the city or he doesn't, and then I'll be all alone forever. I don't wanna pick a star out for my Dad. But I don't tell him any of this.

"Now, you want me to sing, or not?" He asks me again.

"I said," And half-way through I'm huffing this out, I know I've made a mistake, but I keep goin', anyway, because at least if I make him super angry, he might wanna talk. Unlike Officer Rick, my Dad is easy to make angry. "I don't wanna go to sleep."

I feel his stomach fill with air underneath me. "Scuse me?"

I twist to face him. Half his face is glowing from the fire, and the other half is glowing just from how mad he is.

"I... don't... wanna," I spell it out real slow. That's what people do when someone's not listenin' properly. "Go... to... sleep."

I hear main camp laughing again. For just a second, I wish I was over there, instead.

I look my Dad in the eye. It's really hard.

"You lookin' for a spanking, Harley Dixon?"

"No," My voice wobbles.

"'Cause you keep back-chattin' me, that's where you're headed."

"But—"

"What I just say?"

I snap my mouth shut like a kettle lid. Does he even have the words in him? Do I gotta beat on his chest 'till they come flying out? Do I gotta kick and yell and scream 'till he can't hold 'em in anymore? What do I gotta do to make him talk? How am I meant to like it over here, in this lonely camp with no Momma and no Uncle and maybe after tomorrow, no Dad, neither?

"Quit that look, Harley Dixon. I'm warnin' you."

"No."

"You really gonna make me repeat myself?"

I snap.

"Maybe I'on care!" I shout. We're both shocked. Then, he's about to lay me over his knee and whoop me 'till I'm black and blue, but I don't stop for nothin'. "Maybe I'on give a crap! I said I don't wanna go to sleep, so why you makin' me? I don't wanna! Uncle Merle's dead! He's dead and you don't even care!"

"How can you say tha—"

"You don't care because you're goin' back to the city tomorrow and you're gonna die, and I'm gonna be alone again, and you don't even care! Uncle Merle is dead! Just like Momma, he's dead!"

"We don't know that, Harley."

"Yeah, we do! Rick killed 'im, and now he's dead."

"That ain't true. Harley, you listen—"

He grabs my arms, but I smack him away. He gets angrier.

He points a finger in my face. "Do not fuckin' hit me, girl."

"I'on care."

Now he really grabs me, and it's so tight I can't smack him at all, or wriggle, or even look away. I see two miniature versions of our campfire in his eyes, burning away. It's a familiar look. I start to cry. I wish I wasn't here. I wanna be in main camp, where they're laughing.

"You stop this bullshit right now, Harley." He says, low. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but if it don't stop right this second, you're gonna regret it. You understand? Don't you ever hit me again. I'm leavin' tomorrow, and that's final."

"But why?"

"'Cause I'm choosin' to believe in yer Uncle Merle. You heard what all them said. There's a chance he ain't dead, and that's a chance I'm gonna take, because I'm a Dixon. Dixons look out for each other." He gives me a little shake. "If it were either one of us in that city, he'd be raisin' Hell on his way there already. Now, I don't wanna hear another word outcher mouth 'bout this. No more tears, neither. Got it?"

It's still not good enough. I want more.

"You wouldn't go back for Momma." I mutter, before I even realise that's what I've chosen to say. Somehow, that's the worst thing I've told my Dad all night, and I didn't even need to shout it. We stare at each other for a bit. "You wouldn't go back for her. You killed her."

I promised I'd never bring it up again, but there it is. I said it.

I think I might throw up again.

Just like that, our argument is over. He doesn't say anything, and then I don't say anything, either, and the not-saying-anything keeps going until we're back to sitting against each other in silence. The moon is high in the trees, now. One by one, the orange blips in the distance die. The chatter gets quieter and quieter until it's gone, and then me and my Dad are truly alone. He holds me tight, but it doesn't feel nice like it did before. It just feels like we're back to square one, because we are, and everything is a little to the left. Like when you get a pebble in the corner of your shoe, and you gotta walk a little funny to pretend it's not there, but it is, and you can feel it, and you hate it.

"You want me to sing for you, chicken?"

This time, I just say yes.

I watch the cube van drive into the distance until it's a white speck.

Dale stands next to me, even after everyone else has shuffled back to camp. "You've probably heard this from ten other people by now," Dale says, holding onto the strap of his heavy sniper rifle, "But your Dad? Well, he's going to be just fine. Toughest man in camp, I'd say."

My Dad, he's tough as nails, and he could shoot a walnut off a fencepost from a mile away, but he's also just a man. He's just skin and bones and blood like everyone else, like me, like deer and squirrels, and a bite from a dead person will kill him just the same. I don't say this to Dale.

He doesn't seem to mind. "Do you remember your first day here?"

A strange thing to ask. 'Course I remember. "What about it?"

"Things were a little more desperate, back then. We'd just ran out of our last tin of beans. People were hungry. I remember your Dad spent the whole morning telling people to leave him alone, because everybody was just begging him to go hunting. I think I did, too." Dale laughs. "One by one, he shot them all down. We were all so sure we'd have to start rationing. Then, the next morning, I go to wash my face behind the RV, and what do I see? Your Dad, dinged up and covered in sweat, dragging this... just... huge, simply huge... deer, into camp. I was gobsmacked. I remember thinking, 'who on Earth could have possibly convinced this stubborn man to go hunting'? Then, later in the day, I see him handing you a bowl of fried deer meat, happy as a clam, and that's when I knew he did it all for you. Tooth and nail, he made sure you were fed. And that's how I know he's coming back."

I think about all the times my Dad's done somethin' like that for me, like with Ronnie, and I feel a little better. My Momma once said my Dad would crawl back out of Hell on hot coals for me, and that I should never forget that. I feel bad for forgetting.

"I didn't tell him I love him, before he left." I admit to Dale. "I was real mean to him last night. I wish I told him."

"That's okay," Dale bumps my shoulder, and when I look up, there's a smile in his white beard. He winks. "I think he knows. Dads always know."

Something about Dale's cheeky attitude makes me giggle. I think I believe him.

"Now, lucky for us, we're certainly not short on food around here anymore. So, how about we go get you some breakfast?"

The day goes by like it always does, 'cause it don't know any better.

I can see Amy and Andrea fishing from the bank of the lake. Their boat looks like a little grain of salt in the middle of a giant green coin.

I'm up to my knees in the water. I'm trying to catch frogs. I'm missing. Shane and Carl are here, too, because even though we ate a whole sleeve of cheese and onion crackers for breakfast, Officer Shane says frog legs are gonna be all the rave, soon, when the peaches and jerky run out. We told him that's super gross, but he just smacked his lips and told us to grab our hats. We gotta do things like this, now. Things like sharing one tube of toothpaste, and only using two squares of toilet paper when you gotta go, and the adults gotta try and make it sound fun.

I hear Carl somewhere down the rocks, going awww and man 'cause he keeps missing, too. All I know 'bout Carl is he can't spell 'adventure'.

"Hey, man, it happens. How you doin' over there, Harley?" Officer Shane asks me. "You managed to catch any of the little suckers yet?"

"No, not yet." I say. "But I can see 'em."

When we first got down here, Shane asked us kids to provide a little muscle for him. Shane's got plenty of muscle, already. He was just kiddin'. He does that a lot, and his laugh is real loud. He also gives high fives that knock you on your butt, and he's got a heavy walk and a dog tag. I think he must have taught little league, or somethin', before, 'cause he talks like a teacher. All fun and games, but also lots of rules. Like how if you say a bad word, he flicks you on the ear and tells you to mind your language.

I'm still not used to any of these people talking to me. I think they're just glad I ain't biting and hitting on them, anymore.

"How many's in there?" Shane wades over to me.

The only reason I trust Shane is because he's an adult, and adults can be trusted.

I count the frogs. "Um... Three."

"Three? Hm, talk about a gold mine, huh?" He laughs and, yep, it's real loud. "Let's see if I can't help you out here."

He sets our bucket down, which has two wet frogs slipping around inside it.

He rubs his hands together. "C'mon, girl. Let's catch us some frog legs."

He says they eat frog legs in France. I never knew that before today. French people are weirdos.

"You gotta get 'em quick, 'cause they're quicker." I warn Shane. It's something my Dad says 'bout squirrels and possums, so I say it now, too.

"Sure are." Shane agrees. "How 'bout I scare 'em out, and you try grabbin' one?"

"With my hands?"

"What? You plannin' on using your feet?" Shane grins, and he splashes me. I giggle. "C'mon. Get ready."

Officer Shane rolls up his blue sleeves. I take three long steps backward and squat a little, like I'm playin' basketball or somethin', and then Shane grabs the metal bucket and clangs it against the rocks, and all three of the fat froggies come bursting out into the water like wind-up toys. I almost panic — almost — but that's what idiots do, so I steel myself, which means I'm not an idiot. I lunge at the closest frog and wrap my hands around the green blob it makes under the ripples.

When I pull my hands out, I realise I've caught it. It's real wriggly and its skin is cold.

I jump a little, smiling wide. "Look, Shane! I got one!"

"Way to go, Harley!" Shane says, and if I pretend hard enough, it sounds like my Dad's accent praising me instead. "Look at you!"

I drop the frog in the bucket. I hear cheering, and when I look out, I see it's Amy and Andrea. They're clapping. I guess they were watching. Carl comes hopping over, too, and tells me I did a good job. I know he's a bastard cop, and I know his friend murdered my Uncle, but maybe Shane ain't so bad. He makes me miss my teachers. Maybe this group ain't so bad. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

We call it a day after that, and we squeeze out all the water in our clothes on the gravel shore.

"C'mon, y'all," Shane says, "Time to haul butt back to camp."

What he really means to say is ass.

The sky goes from blue to purple, and soon, it'll be black.

We're gonna have a feast tonight. A fish feast.

Dale, who's sitting up on the RV, because he's like a barnacle on a boat, reads us a poetry book while we scrape scales off of fish with plastic spoons. After the book runs out, we pop cassettes in the radio. It's nothin' like what my Dad listens to. It's too nice.

I try really hard not to think about my stomach. It hurts real bad, which is what happens when you're nervous. I realise, a little guiltily, that I almost haven't thought about my Daddy or my Uncle Merle all day, until just now. I say sorry to them in my head, because I didn't do it on purpose, I promise. I was just focused on other things, like doing dishes, and getting my hair brushed by Lori, and strippin' fish skin. It was easy, during the day. But it's gettin' late, now, and every minute that goes by, I'm closer to being the only kid in camp with nobody to tuck me into bed.

I'm standing on a crate, which means I'm almost as tall as all the ladies. Makes me feel a little better. All women remind me of my Momma.

Maybe if I ask, Lori can tuck me in tonight.

"Hey, Harley, you're doin' real good over there." Jacqui tells me. The sun's on her shoulder. "Doin' better than me, at least."

I mumble a thank you, because it's good manners. I done dressed plenty of fish before. It's easy. Like peelin' bananas.

"Our Dad used to take us girls fishing all the time." Andrea tells us. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you name it. We were out on the water."

"Sounds fun," Lori says. "I always wanted to go fishing with Rick and Carl, but it never happened. We were indoor people."

Jacqui laughs. "Not anymore, you're not."

Lori makes a face. "You don't gotta tell me twice."

"What about you, Harley?" Asks Amy. "Your Dad ever take you fishing?"

There it is again; my stomach climbing up the back of my throat like a balloon. "Uh," I mumble. "Yeah. A lot."

Carol asks me, "You like it? Being on the water?"

"It's okay if you don't." Amy scrunches up her nose, smiling. "I was never that into it. Motion sickness 'n all."

I'm about to say no, I didn't like it, but something stops me. It's true, I never liked stabbing the alive worms on the hook, or gettin' sunscreen smeared all over my face, or carrying all them heavy buckets full of crayfish and bluegills back to the truck, but that doesn't matter. I was with my Dad. And I liked that. So, "I liked it," I say. "We went every weekend, in Dad's boat. It was sorta old, but he liked it a whole lot. He let me name it."

Lori smiles. Lori loves when people tell nice stories. "What'd you choose?"

"I named it after our old dog." I tell her. Hey, I'm smiling. "His name was Tank. So, Dad's boat was, 'The Tank'."

Lori pouts. She loves animals, too. "Aw. That's nice. We had a dog."

"What was his name?"

"Fido," She scoffs. "You can thank Carl for that one."

"I can't imagine Daryl lettin' anybody tell him what to do," Amy chuckles. "He's always so grouchy."

Dale must be eavesdropping, because he leans over his fold-out chair and calls down to us, "Now, now, remember that time with the deer?"

The story he told me this morning, to make me feel better.

All at once, the women start giggling together, and nodding, yes, they do remember that time with the deer. I catch it, like a stomach bug, and I start giggling, too, because I guess it is kinda funny. My Dad, with his squinty eyes and angry mouth and big, scarred fists, doin' whatever I tell him to. I never saw it like that, because it's always the other way 'round. For the first time today, I'm thinking of my Dad, and it doesn't hurt, not one bit.

"Like a gaggle of geese over there," Shane shakes his head from the fire. He's laughin', too. Bunch of eavesdroppers, these people. "Get back to work!"

"Yes, sir!" Andrea salutes, rolling her eyes.

We can't stop giggling.

The fish fry is, basically, a family barbeque.

My dinner is hot, and greasy, and it's even got yellow rice and onions in it, like takeaway. Takeaway is always good. Around the fire, all I see are happy faces and all I hear are jokes, and gasps, and laughter. They're talking about college, and how Lori used to wear the ugliest skirts, and how, yes, Shane can confirm, he was there to see it and, no, it wasn't pretty. When I look through the trees, I imagine me and my Daddy's sad little camp on the other side, abandoned. I was right. It is better over here. I hope he would think so, too.

"W— Hey! They were in style, back then!" Lori holds her fork up, like a pointing finger. "Everyone was wearin' them!"

"Oh, I remember." Shane shakes his head. "N— No, listen, I remember, alright! So short it was like a damn belt!"

Amy slides off her tennis shoe and launches it at Shane's legs. "You can't argue with fashion, Shane!"

He laughs. "Oh, that's what that was? Fashion?"

"Hey, I got some pretty nasty pictures of you with that damn perm on your head, so you might wanna quit while you're ahead." Lori sasses.

We all picture Shane with a mop of curly poodle hair, prolly posing like He-Man, and we all roar with laughter again.

Up until the very last grain of rice gets eaten, we talk about everything and anything, because stories are all we got to give each other anymore, Dale says. Dale talks about how he planned to take a trip around the state with his wife, in their RV, but she passed away before it could happen. So, when the world ended, he was in a gas station, buying ice creams and lookin' at maps, 'cause he was doin' the trip on his own. He says he's glad that all the small decisions he's made in life has led him to this quarry, with these people. Everybody calls him a sap, but he gets a side-hug from Jacqui. He smiles over the fire at me. Andrea and Amy talk more about their Dad.

I talk about the tyre swing I used to have, in my yard. Shange suggests building one here, too.

Jim talks a little about his old job as a mechanic. Morales talks about how much he misses his recliner.

"Aw, man, I'm telling you," He groans, like he's in a deep, deep pain. "It was remote-controlled, and it had blue-tooth, and everything."

Shane slaps him on the back. "Too bad the world ended; Had to get off your fat ass!"

More and more warm, silly laughter.

It's around us kid's bed-time when Dale checks his watch.

The other kids all complain straight away, but we get dragged away, anyway. I can hear my Daddy's voice in my head, telling me sometimes it don't matter what little girls want. Lori and Carol take us around the back of Shane's Jeep, where all the bathroom stuff gets kept, like the gallon jugs of water, the towels, and stuff Glenn brings back from runs. We brush our teeth, and splash our hair with water, and use baby wipes on our armpits.

I can see the tippy-tops of the city's tallest buildings from here, like skinny black popsicle sticks in the smog. I keep lookin' back, for my Dad.

I'm lookin' right now. Everyone else is trying to find Sophia's hairbrush in one of the bags, but I'm not helping. I can't look away.

There's a figure, stumbling up the road.

At first, I think it's my Dad, somehow. When you're expecting somethin' so much and for so long, and with all your heart, it's the first thing you think of. Even if it makes no sense. If they were really back, they'd all be together; Glenn, T-Dog, Daddy, and Rick, because my Daddy would make them all stick together, 'cause he's smart like that. But the shadow's alone. And he's got a limp. Just a little one. He hop-shuffle-hop-shuffles closer to us. No, no it's not my Dad. There's no crossbow; no big boots, no backpack. The shoulders aren't wide enough. Actually, the shoulders aren't wide at all. They're droopy. Too droopy, like they're... like they're melting off the bone, like hot cheese melts off pizza.

I hear a gurgle through the night. That's when it all makes sense.

"Walkers!"

And one second after that, the fish feast goes to Hell.

Someone snatches my wrist. We go rushing back into camp, where there's people, and lights, and noise. And shouting. Lots and lots of shouting; so much shouting it's like being stuck inside a beehive. I see flashes of legs and t-shirts and hands pulling me around, toward the bonfire. The bonfire must be brighter than a lighthouse out here, in the dark. Suddenly, I'm noticing everything wrong with the fish fry. The smells, the noise. I'm remembering my Daddy's rules, 'bout how loud is dangerous and dangerous is stupid and oh God — I can hear Amy shrieking like a piglet, near the RV. I hear shotguns pumping and bullets exploding and sloppy plops of skin falling of the dead people afterwards. I'm screaming.

The bag — The emergency bag, the one in our tent. I should grab it, right? That's what I'm supposed to do, right? So we can live?

"Lori!" Shane's hollering. "Carl! Harley! Where are you?"

"We're over here!" Lori cries.

"Start moving!"

Everywhere, everywhere, legs, legs, legs, all rotten and slimy and dead. Then, a gap, filled with darkness. The tent is out there. The bag.

I can make it. I know I can.

"Harley!"

That's Lori, screaming like she's never screamed before, because I just broke away from her, and I can feel something hot sliding down my arm, and it must be blood, 'cause she must have ripped my arm open with her short razor nails. I run straight for the gap in the wall of dead people, and I throw myself past them, like they're bowling pins and I'm the ball, and then I'm on the other side, in the dark, dark woods, running, running, running, all by myself. I remember the path to our camp. Big rock, little tree, old fence. It's all there, it's just covered in night.

I hear Shane yelling for me, and Morales, too, and more screaming, more dying.

A dead man slams into me. We go tumbling into the branches and the leaves, and then down a little hill, and then into a ditch. I smack his growling face away from mine, and I kick his stomach, and I wriggle away. The dirt is slipping away from underneath me, like dust, but the roots are easy to climb so I climb those, and the dead man follows me out. He's swiping at my ankles, scampering for my legs, slobbering on his lips.

His nails catch my arm.

I see the tent.

I'm running again, but only for a second. It's my pants. They're stuck. The dead man's grabbing onto them. I kick his fingers off.

"Get away," I grunt.

The pebbly ground barks under my shoes when I tear off again, and it only takes a couple heartbeats for me to reach my Dad's camping chair, and then the black fire pit, and then the truck, and then the tent. I rip open the zipper and fall inside. The bag, the bag, the bag. I scramble for my Dad's sleeping cot, and drop to my knees, and pat around all the spare shirts and pants and socks and blankets he's got stuffed under here, praying, please God, it's gotta be here, like he says it is. My fingers hit something soft, then something hard. A buckle. I grab. I pull.

It's the bag. It's the bag, with the compass and the rope and the matches. I did it.

A branch cracks. I look over my shoul—

The dead man crashes on top of me, all two hundred pounds, through the tent lining. He squirms against me like a finger in a glove.

I scuttle backward as fast I can, under the cot. The dead man flops and turns and twists until he finds the tent opening, and he slithers inside, 'cause he's a hungry animal and I'm his food. An electric lamp clicks on underneath my foot. The dead man's shadow gets projected onto all four of the tent walls; big, like the bogeyman. I hug the bag like a teddy bear and then that's it, and there's nowhere else to go. His fingers reach for me, and they look like big, black, dead spiders, all curled up. I see his face, now. It's shredded. It's beaten.

It's Sophia's Dad.

Something clamps around my shoe, and it's his teeth. A whole row of thick, white teeth. A bite.

I squeeze my eyes closed and hope my shoe's thick enough to keep me safe. There's nothin' else I can do.

Then, a great, big bang.

Then, hot, slippery puddles of blood, and little bits of neck and skin and jaw, splattered across my face. He slumps. Is it over? It's over? His head's cracked open like an egg, and his brains are leaking out like yolk. There's a bullet hole between my two feet. That means — That means someone shot his shadow, through the tent. Only someone with a very good shot could have made that, without killing me at the same time. I claw my way out from under all the blankets, and the body, and the cot. I can hear voices shouting, Oh Fuck, Oh God, and, Where are you, baby, and, If you hit my daughter, I will fucking end you.

The electric lamp flutters off.

The tent is ripped open.

I look up. I'm blinded by big, white circles of flashlight light. Someone gasps.

My chin crumples 'cause I'm crying, like a little baby.

Rick's standin' there, Sherriff's hat on, revolver smoking. Shane's there, too, wild-eyed, and very, very sweaty, with a shotgun. There's Glenn, panting. They look at the blood on the blankets, and the blood on my face, and their dead friend on the floor, with half a head. Then, they see the scratches on my arm, and for some reason, some of them look like they're about to throw up all over themselves. But the person in front, the person that got here first, that's my Dad. It's my Dad, and he's alive. He doesn't even stop to look, like the others. He doesn't care.

"Harley," He chokes, like he's been punched, and he drops to his knees in front of me. He presses me into his chest. He's alive. He's alive.

I'm alive.

"Daddy," I cough-sob, 'cause I can't help it.

I only ever call him Daddy instead of Dad in my head, or when I'm really, really upset.

He must notice, 'cause the hug gets tighter; safer. "Baby, I'm here. You're alright. You're alright. S'alright, now."

I bury my face in his sweaty, stinky, dirt-smeared neck, and I never wanna come back out. I sob and I sob and I sob, and I sob some more. He pets my hair and shushes me, like how he does when I get nightmares. We rock back and forth. I sob, sob, sob.

Someone says my Dad's name real weird, like they're boutta keel over, and only then I remember me and my Dad aren't the only two people in the world. Footsteps crinkle on the tent canvas. Someone kneels next to me. It's Rick. He takes off his hat and sucks in a breath, glances at the others — He steels himself — and then he gently grabs my green sleeve, and I wriggle into my Dad, who's lettin' him do this, and he slides it up my arm. Fresh claw marks, and blood, pouring down my skin. We stare at my arm for a long time. They glance at Sophia's Dad. Why are we staring at my arm?

I look at Rick. I look at Glenn; at Shane. I look at my Dad. He's gone white as a ghost.

"Harley, what is that?" He whispers to me.

I look back at my arm. It's just some stupid scratches. I wipe 'em away, 'cause I want 'em gone. "It's nothin'."

"Harley," He says again, this time with a very clear, very angry, no-nonsense voice. "You look me in the eye. What is that?"

Something is very, very wrong.

Glenn has to walk away.

"Wh—?" I shake my head, sniffing. Why do I feel like I'm in trouble? I didn't do nothin' wrong. "It's nothin'. Lori, she scratched me."

"It was Lori?" Rick raises his eyebrows, like it's very, very important that I'm not lying right now.

I'm not lying. Rick, he's a liar, but not me.

"Uh-huh." I nod hard, so they believe me. "It was Lori. H— He got me, too, I think, but it don't hurt. I promise. He ain't do it too hard."

I didn't say the right thing.

They're all looking at each other. They're speaking without talking, and I don't like it.

"Daddy, what's goin' on?" I'm mumbling now, 'cause I only want my Daddy to hear me, 'cause I'm scared. I'm really scared. I don't know what I did wrong, and I don't know what they're thinking about, but I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again. I was so busy worrying about the teeth in my shoe that I wasn't thinking about anything else. I think I should've been, though, and I'm sorry I wasn't. I'm sorry. All I know is that I'm sorry. I don't know why, but I'm sorry. Daddy picks me up, even though he's told me over and over I'm too old for that, now. He's shuddering.

"We'll check Lori's nails." Rick tells him, nice and steady. His police-man voice. "If there's blood under them—"

"This bastard's got blood unn'er his nails!" Dad gives Sophia's Dad a hard kick in the head. I shriek. "The stupid fuck! It don't fuckin' matter!"

"It does matter. It does." Rick keeps saying. "We can't make any conclusions. Not 'til then. We just can't."

"You wanna talk 'conclusions', officer? Let's talk 'conclusions'."

"Daryl, we'll figure this out."

"How the Hell did y'all even let this fuckin' happen?" Dad yells. "You're like a fuckin' bad luck charm, you people!"

"This is nobody's fault." Rick says, but he sounds like he knows he's lying.

I can hear people panicking far away, back at camp, in whispers. Glenn ran back there a few minutes ago.

"First my brother, now my—?" Dad cuts himself off. He's about to cry.

Nobody's got anything to say.

We listen to the sounds of leaves rustling and crickets chirping and the distant yelling and the breeze and my Daddy's big strong heartbeat, which is goin' buh-bump, buh-bump, buh-bump under my ear, real, real fast.

Shane steps forward, but it's all over already.

This is what it was like the night Tank got put down. I realise that I'm like Tank. Tank was dying. I'm a dying dog. The scratches on my arm, I get it now. They're from the dead man and they're from Lori at the exact same time, and until we know which it is, that means I'm dying. He scratched me — I remember, now. He got me. He did. I don't wanna be dying. I was alive just a second ago. I swear I was.

Unlike yesterday, Daddy doesn't bat Rick off when puts a hand on his shoulder. Something changed in the city today. I think we're all one team, now, even if my Daddy likes to bite and snap and blame. There's no more line between them and us. There's not two camps, anymore. Only one.

The stars are bright, tonight. I watch them twinkle over my Dad's head.

"If this happens," Daddy's voice cracks. "Every single one of you are gonna be real, real sorry."

Author's Note. Yep, you guessed it, Jim survives! And Harley is the one that gets attacked.

No more ominous hole-digging for you, Jim. Sorry.

Phew. This took a long time to write. I had to re-work almost every scene about four times, because some things just weren't working, and I had to delete some others. It all worked out in the end, though. Here we are with chapter two.

Please let me know what you think! :)

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