#feel free to ask questions about him i wil answer to my best ability

[nervouslywaitingforlife]

Here's some more little sneak peaks of Bera as I was very busy over the weekend and couldn't finish the main drawing I was working on.

[kiara-w]

RaccoonInnit. (a Rewind one-shot?)

This a ficlet based on the fanfic Rewind by @a-non-ymouswriter, and exploring what if Tommy and Tubbo were hybrids in the Rewind universe. Especially with Tommy being very clingy because of trauma.

TW (Trigger warning) for emotional abuse, manipulation and mention of self-harm.

Wanna read more?

Apologies for any grammar errors, english is not my first language.

—————

Hybrids.

They come in many shapes and sizes, including different abilities that help with survival. But with every advantage comes a disadvantage, or a necessity to keep living.

And for Tommy Innit, there was one necessity that always made him feel ashamed.

He isn’t clingy, at least not all the time. But when spring is over, and the leaves start to fall, holding on to precious things is necessary to feel at ease and ready for the dangerous seasons. It's something that raccoon hybrids often do, hug their family or friends tightly at a young age to feel protected, and then offer protection when they reach adulthood.

If he could change one thing about his life, it would be that.

********

"You too, huh?" Dream asks awkwardly, Theo's head is buried in one of his shoulders with his arms close around his body.

Tobias is in front of him, his eyes look away and he doesn't give him an answer. He only pulls Tommy closer to him, even though the boy is already clutching his left arm very strongly.

Sapnap and George try not to laugh next to him, but the other people around don't find the situation as funny as they do. They are supposed to have a meeting after all. And both Tobias and Dream manage to sit with the two people still clinging to them.

Well, this will be difficult. He thinks as he notices how Theo closes his grip a little more tightly and hears faintly the sound of a growl. But he is not upset by it.

The thing that made him upset was finding out that Theo had hidden that need from them. George had been the first one to notice him a little distant, but by the time they really thought something was wrong, they found the man curled up in his bed around blankets, ears twitching, ringtail bristling, and awfully whimpering.

None of them were animal hybrids, but that doesn't mean they couldn’t have asked, that's why Dream was angrier at himself when he demanded Theo for an explanation.

"I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable." His protege had said with a low gaze and clearly embarrassed.

After hearing that, Dream didn't hesitate to give permission to be hugged.

********

Tobias feels angry.

He is feeling a lot of things actually. Happy being hugged by Tommy, frustrated at the sight of Dream with Theo, and hurt by seeing the aggressive look in the eyes of his old best friend. Unlike Tommy in his arms, who almost seemed to be sleeping with a faint smile.

But I deserve that look, don't I? He remembers one day, very long ago, when Theo asked him with an embarrassed face if he could hug him for the rest of the day. What was his response?

"I don't think that’s a good idea, we have a meeting discussing your situation, remember?" George's house had been burned and Dream had asked for consequences. "Besides, it would look embarrassing."

But by the time he saw the dirt pillar reaching the sky, he wished nothing more than to be able to hold Tommy one more time and never let go. He would've been more clingy than his friend would’ve ever needed.

And then Dream showed up with him. The strike of anger and jealousy that he felt during the winter days after, thinking of how his friend would hug that smug bastard looking for safety.

That mental picture always made him regret so many things.

********

Dream knew exactly what to do when Tommy, face red and looking down, grabbed his hoodie in silence.

In the free time he got between his visits to Logstedshire, he had read a lot of things about raccoon hybrids. How they tend to be aggressive towards people they distrust, how they used to find small places to sleep often away from big groups of people, how needy they could become during cold days.

He hugged the boy, moving himself and Tommy to the small tent to avoid the rain.

Sitting in the bed, he stroked the boy's hair and ears, and he noticed small sobs coming from him.

"Why?" Tommy's voice sounded hurt, but he didn't move away. "Why do I only have you?"

Dream only pulled him closer. "Because I'm your friend, Tommy." and the boy only cried more.

They stayed like that for quite a while, until Tommy's breathing got slower. What started with him clutching Dream's hoodie, ended with him hugging the man during his sleep.

After that, hugging Dream became a habit during the rainy days.

********

Tubbo woke up with a jolt when he heard a clap of thunder. The hard sound made an echo in the presidential office.

It was raining a lot those days. But as he looked at the window, a sudden fear rose up inside him as he remembered something. He almost collided with Ranboo as he exited the room.

"Tubbo? Wha- What's wrong? Are you-"

"I need to go to Tommy." He quickly walked past him.

"Tommy?" Ranboo's voice was close to a whisper. But he hurried up to follow him. "Why do you want to see him?"

Tubbo tried to ignore how soft the voice of the hybrid had turned. "It's raining. He gets clingy when it's cold and he needs someone to hold onto."

That's when Ranboo blocked his way, meters before he could get to the front door. "Step away, please." Tommy needed him, but the tall man grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Tubbo, he is- You can't go see him."

"Why not?" His voice grew louder and he felt irritated as he took one step forward. "He can't come back, but that doesn't mean I can't go to him. Let me through!"

"I'm not letting you go there, Tubbo." His tone was firm. After all, if he exited the building, Ranboo wouldn't be able to follow.

But goat hybrids are stubborn, especially when something is standing in their way. His horns tackled Ranboo's chest strongly, but his tall friend didn't move.

"I need to see him Ranboo!" He put all his strength into trying to push him. "I shouldn't have exiled him! He is all alone, don't you get it?!" Tubbo tried to ignore the tears running down his cheeks. "Wilbur- he's gone, Phil and Techno are not here either. I- I'm the only he can..."

He dropped to his knees as Ranboo held him close. "He is too proud to admit it. He- He bites himself to try to avoid asking. He did that a lot in Pogtopia."

"I- I know. You told me."

"Please, let me go."

"I can't."

"Why?..." How did he forget the answer?

"Tubbo," Ranboo embraced him, his voice sounding choked as well. "He's gone."

********

Philza turned around when he felt his cape being pulled.

They'd just finished their part of the outing and his son stood behind him with that horrible smiling mask covering his face.

"Tommy?" he talked to him in the softest tone he could, like treating a small animal that could flee at any second.

It was strange when Dream left Tommy with Phil for the mission of the day, and it was even stranger that his son had started a contact after being silent for months. He missed his voice, louder than Techno’s and warm like Wil’s. Ender, he missed him so much. Even so, he tried to hide the hope in his words. "Do you need something?"

Just let me hear you. Talk to me, please. But the boy didn't answer, his ears were down and his ring tail moved slowly. "We're close to the base, I know you want to wait for Dream but it's getting cold-"

He stopped as Tommy’s head hit Phil's chest weakly, and his hand grabbed part of his robe.

It's something that raccoon hybrids often do.

Philza couldn't resist a fond smile.

He realized that his hands were shaking when they rose up to touch the boy’s hair, and he caressed his ears as gently as he could.

Closing his eyes, forcing some painful memories away, he remembered his younger boy's face, blue eyes with a shy and pleading look to be held. He remembered the warmth of holding him during the rainy days when he was little. And when he remembered how Tommy called him dad a long time ago, Phil's eyes started to tear up.

His arms hugged Tommy strongly. Avians had instincts too. Wrap their loved ones in their wings it served to provide, or in his case, feel comfort. And so his black wings surrounded his son in a tight embrace as he breathed in the boy's hair.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Forgive me, please don't go. He wanted to scream those words but for some reason, he couldn't. He felt Tommy shaking and his grip tightened a little bit more.

He didn't want to let go, no if it meant the boy going back with Dream.

He could kill him, he thought. Once Techno came back, they could end with the nightmare that surrounded them and his son would finally be safe.

But his thoughts of hope were interrupted when he noticed how Tommy was struggling under him. And he barely managed to avoid the swing of the ax directed at his heart.

"Tommy?! What-?" The boy was crying away from Phil. Tears dropped below the mask, he listened to ugly breathing as Tommy hyperventilated, his tail moved aggressively and he heard a growl coming from him.

He forgot that Tommy was claustrophobic.

"Mate, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Tommy's ears moved quickly to the side and his head turned. Dream was walking towards them with Techno next to him. And before he noticed, the boy ran towards the other masked man and tackled him into a hug.

Could he really call himself Tommy's father? Shame and frustration filled his broken heart as he watched Tommy being petted by the man he hated. "It's fine, Toms. I'm here." Dream seemed ignorant of the deadly looks he got from him and Techno. "We took longer than we thought, but I knew you could hold on."

As sick as Dream’s games were, that was the moment Phil started to question if he really deserved to have Tommy back.

********

Technoblade thought that Tommy was running at him.

It was a foolish thought, the voices told him, but it still hurt. He would've asked what happened, but when he saw Phil's look of regret and frustration, he could get an idea.

Especially when it also happened to him a few weeks ago. The last rains started to become poisonous to every living thing that wasn't crimson. Lucky for them, the most basic armor could offer protection, but the durability would drop quickly.

And because of that, he, Tommy, and Dream were waiting for the rain to pass inside some caves next to a mountain.

The green man went deep, looking for coal to make torches in case mobs would spawn in the dark. That left the piglin hybrid with Tommy. The raccoon boy curled up against a wall, hugging his legs with his mask covering his face.

And he sat next to him. Not too close to touch, but enough to notice the boy shaking, the fur on his ring tail was bristling as well.

"I'm here, you know." He told him. Just like his father, he had noticed the way the boy fiddled with his tail and tried to hide his ears in his hoodie. "We don't have to talk, and I won't hug you back if you don't want to."

In the past, when Tommy's pride got the worst of him, Techno would always tell Wilbur or Phil. It was his way of compensating for the fact that he didn't like that kind of physical contact.

But at that moment, he was more than willing to let Tommy hold him as much as he needed to, even if it would take all of his strength not to hug back, even if the boy despised his existence, and even when he knew that he had lost all right to call Tommy his brother. He wanted to be there for him.

But the raccoon hybrid kept quiet. Only when he looked at him he realized that he was sleeping. Shivering, but his breathing was slow.

"Tech, I'm cold." He frowned at the memory. The voices began to speak louder, demanding that he give some warmth.

Techno's eyes stared at him softly. Despite not being sixteen anymore, Tommy still looked so small next to him. His arm surrounded him, but before making contact, another memory came.

Suddenly, it was not the boy resting anymore, he was curled up on the floor, shaking, blood dripping from his nose, and with several bruises on his face.

"It stays in the pit."

His hand backed off immediately. A wave of quiet anger filled his mind. Some of the voices were cruel to remind him of that sight.

Blue eyes saw him with anger once. And then again in a plain, in a little refuge whose name Techno had already forgotten. Tommy looked at him that way when he mocked his pain. And that look would be engraved in his heart for the rest of his days, he wouldn't forget.

How could he? When the boy's face was getting hard to remember recently, always covered in a mask and staying silent.

Technoblade felt the most pain at the thought of forgetting Tommy's face.

He stood up and left his cape around the boy carefully. He walked until he reached the exit of the caves. It was still raining, so he leaned on one of the walls and watched the raindrops slowly kill everything.

He breathed, ordering his thoughts and calming every single voice. Their mission wasn't over. The best thing he could do was not lose his focus.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps behind him, and the smiling mask appeared in his vision. Dream held his cape in front of him.

It was a single second of confusion. He grabbed the cape and the masked man spoke, making Techno's rage rise once again.

"Don't show compassion now, Technoblade. You once told him to die, and I pushed him to keep living."

Dream went back to the caves without expecting an answer, leaving him alone with the screaming in his head, every voice demanding blood, and never getting the satisfaction.

Techno liked to consider himself a calm individual, able to control his emotions better than others. But the voices called him a hypocrite when he pictured all the ways he could kill the masked man beside him.

********

Tobias blinks a couple of times when he feels a movement by his side.

And he almost screams seeing Theo clutching part of his shirt, eyes closed, and sleeping very peacefully over his shoulder.

For a second he considers the possibility of him dreaming, but he remembers entering Tubbo's house just minutes ago, he sat on the big couch feeling tired, and he didn't hear Theo come in.

He must be waiting for him. He recalls Dream asking Theo to wait since there were other matters to be discussed. And Tommy had gone with Tubbo to do other things as well.

A little part of him feels sad that he can't stop time at this very moment. But a warm feeling fills him as well, and he closes his eyes getting closer to the body beside him.

Just like raccoon hybrids often hug their family or friends.

He smiles. Theo can kill him later, he wants to enjoy the moment a little more.

—————

Man, this was a long one. You could say this is a bunch of ficlets into one? I dunno I just wanted to write something sad.

[inkribbon796]

Little Wonders Ch. 1

Chapter 1: Let Your Clarity Define You in the End

Summary: Dark goes house cleaning to flush out a dangerous mole in his network.

Chapters: 1, 2

Dark was outside his office, talking with Google when Logan walked out of his office. There were a couple papers in his hands that the Entity was reading through.

“Is this everything?” Dark asked Google as Logan came to stop a non-confrontational distance away. Logan had only been working for Dark for a little over eight months now, but he’d learned enough about him to tell Dark was already in a bad mood. All Logan could do was stand and wait to either be abruptly dismissed from the meeting he was supposed to go to, or for Dark to usher him inside.

“Yes, he wasn’t doing too much before he disappears from Florida state records,” Google answered calmly, his eyes tracking to Logan before smiling and looking back at Dark. “You’re certain I can’t take care of him myself?”

“Bim is in a hunting mood,” Dark refused. “If you’re lucky, you can keep the brain.”

“Unfortunate, but I’ll have to accept it,” Google allowed and then walked away.

“Ahh, Sanders,” Dark gave a small smile as his attention turned to Logan. “I was a bit worried that you had left early.”

“I leave on average at 2200 hours,” Logan commented walking into the office when Dark silently ushered him inside. He slowly closed the door behind him.

“Sit down, I won’t keep you long,” Dark promised, hands knit behind his back as he strode to sit behind his own desk. “I’ve been looking over your notes concerning my Lost One’s files. Some very useful ideas, wish I could still use them.”

“Did something happen?” Logan was braced for the bad news and an even later night.

“Yes, three of my Lost Ones were arrested, and Yancy is on parole,” Dark admitted calmly. “The whole mess was taken care of an hour ago.”

“I didn’t even know you had left,” Logan admitted. “I assume they are none the worse for wear.”

“Apart from Bim’s overdramatics, they’re all fine, the heroes were too busy thinking they were being coerced to start roughing them up,” Dark commented. “I honestly had nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good news,” Logan agreed.

“It is,” Dark replied in a thoughtful, rueful tone. “But the heroes know a bit too much about Yancy, which means we’ve got a bit of a fly on the wall in my network because they know things Yancy never told them.”

Before Logan could fully decide what to say or give options on how to help smooth over the problem, his chair was abruptly spun around which surprised Logan because he hadn’t heard anyone coming up behind him and hadn’t thought the chair was designed to spin.

Even through the distractions, Logan knew he was probably on a short list of suspicious individuals. The person he came face to face with was familiar but not in a way Logan could place.

“Hey Lo,” Orange smiled as he looked at Logan. “Having fun playing dress-up? That’s usually Princey’s thing.”

The Side frowned when he saw the guarded but uncertain look on Logan’s face. “Huh?”

Logan was braced for something, trying to remember where he’d seen this person before.

Dark came up behind them, “Something wrong?”

“He doesn’t remember me,” Orange answered, he took Logan by the lapels of his suit, which Logan immediately and indignantly tried to pull away from him. “Come on, Lo, you know me? Remember?”

“Oh,” Dark recognized, and put his aura on the top of Logan’s head, his aura lightly searching for something until he found it. The Entity pulled off another aura, almost like a mesh of spell work that kept Logan complacent and unaware of what he was doing, and Dark could practically feel the Host’s magic all over it.

As Dark’s aura subsumed the other aura Logan had a disoriented look to him before his laser focus landed on Orange and he startled in his grip. “Unhand me!”

“Nah, you’re already in deep shit, where would you swim to?” Orange grinned, Logan pressed back into the chair as Orange leaned over him, hands on the chair arms.

“Enough,” Dark cut in, using his aura to rotate back to look at Logan. “So, Mr. Sanders, is there any part of your resume that you weren’t lying on?”

“My distain for disorder and puns,” Logan answered.

Dark moved his hand and Logan felt something like a hand on the front of his throat, phantom claws on the soft flesh of his throat. “You of all people should know how I feel about moles, Thomas.”

“What?” Logan was barely able to still talk without claws sinking into his throat. “My name is Logan.”

The pressure in his throat abated for a brief second, but Logan wasn’t allowed to feel much of anything when Dark scored his aura claws down. Logan cried out, his cheek burning with sharp pain, and it felt wet. The Logical Side presumed it was with his own blood. The panicking part of his brain wanted to call out for Patton or Roman, he was acutely aware he wasn’t wearing his communicator.

“AAHHHHHH!” Logan screamed, and Dark physically grabbed Logan by the throat, pinning him to the chair, a bunch of papers in his hands.

“Thomas F. Sanders, date of birth: April 24, 1989. Gainesville, Florida.” Dark began casually reading off the paper and Logan tried to fight off the wave of palpable fear. Dark had gone looking for Logan and found Thomas instead.

Logan wasn’t sure what was worse. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to lie and make Dark believe he really was Thomas . . . and after this was all said and done, hope Dark would toss the papers away and not look deeper into them.

But Dark was always good at spotting lies.

“I am not Thomas,” Logan decided. “He doesn’t exist, Orange, you know my name is not Thomas, do not participate in this pointless charade.”

“Hmm,” Orange hummed, grabbing Logan by the hair and forcing him to look up, “nope, you’re Thomas alright, that dopey optimism, that personality that people can’t help but love!”

“Faksehood!” Logan shouted at Orange. “I am not Thomas.”

Orange slapped Logan on the cheek that was still bleeding. Dark was sitting behind his desk again, the quick change disorienting Logan a bit.

Dark was still looking at the papers, “You never told me you were an actor. A couple Community Playhouse credits in Gainesville, Hot Mikado, ooh, Singing in the Rain. I hate that one.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Orange paused in his sadism to question Dark, his face twisting up in the only Thomas-like display that Logan had ever seen from the other Side.

“I hate actors,” Dark scoffed, balling up an entire page and tossing it into the trash bin. “Wil adores the movie, but Singing is the Rain is about actors, which means I hate it all the more.”

“Harsh,” Orange scoffed. “Bad date?”

Dark glared at Orange, “I’m not going to humor that statement.”

“You know I am not Thomas,” Logan reminded Orange, his anger consuming his fear. “Why are you helping with what I assume will be my death. This will affect you as well.”

“Not as much as you think,” Orange smiled.

“Why are you insisting I’m Thomas?” Logan demanded. “Insisting such is offensive and incognizant.”

“Well unlike the others who want to fight over that name, Princey’s got all those social skills, and Pop’s is an emotional basket case. But you,” Orange tapped Logan on the nose, “have all those memories like going to school, Thomas’s folks, stuff like that. So if anything happens to those pesky little things, Thomas will die. Even if all the others fuse and try, they’ll never have those memories. Even if Princey rehearses until he believes his own performance they can’t bring them back. So if you die, it’s a win-win.”

Logan had been listening to Orange gloat and jeer and he hated that he had the gall to wear Thomas’s face while he said it. So he did something impulsive in his pain and anger, he spat in Orange’s face, moving to punch him but Orange was faster, slamming his fist into Logan’s face.

Over and over again.

The other Side was trying to get at the bloody scratches already present. In the scuffle Logan’s glasses were knocked free and Orange stomped on them, almost like a pained connection, Logan felt it when he heard the frame crack.

“You know, I’m sick and tired of Thomas this and Thomas that. News flash, Teach, he would have hated and been afraid of me. Why should I want to go back to that, to being so thoroughly buried I may as well have now existed to him? The best thing that ever happened to me was when he was broken apart and I was taken away from you.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dark cut in, his aura wrapped around one of Orange’s arms. What Logan couldn’t see because of his destroyed glasses, was the knife he’d pulled. “I need him alive for a bit longer and you’ve said your peace.”

“I thought you were going to off him,” Orange scoffed.

“Not quite yet,” Dark flicked his wrists and a Void portal ripped open, forcing Orange from the room.

“So, Logan,” a dark shape moved in front of Logan’s vision again as Dark sat down in front of him. He heard a tearing of paper.

“Regardless of who you were,” Dark clipped what remained of Logan’s glasses to the front of his shirt. “It’s time for you to choose, Sanders. The heroes, or me.”

“I think my decision would have been obvious,” Logan told him. “You and your network are deplorable and I have greatly enjoyed my work in helping to dismantle it.”

Dark clicked his tongue, “Regrettable.”

Logan felt Dark aura tighten around him and the chair like a snake and Logan just braced to get his neck snapped. He hoped it would be quick and he wouldn’t feel it.

To Logan’s mounting tension he was pulled through a Void portal and Dark was bringing him down what seemed to be a dark corridor. Logan had the ability to gaze around and wished that he could see where he was. It looked interesting.

“Trying to figure out where you are,” Dark mused proudly.

“My habit is to obtain information on new places or experiences,” Logan explained.

“Well,” Dark sounded smug, “no need to bother with that tonight.”

At that moment Dark caught movement down one of the tunnels and he threw his aura to scare the creature or person off. Logan tensed when he felt Dark’s aura curl up around him before the Entity struck.

“I hate the rats around here, I swear the magic from that old hag makes them grow bigger by the day,” Dark scoffed in disgust.

“You are going to have me eaten?” Logan asked tensely, fear bubbling back up onto his mind.

“Not by the rats,” Dark corrected. Dark opened a steel door, his aura moving into the cracks to open it from the inside, the rusted gears grinding loudly.

“Finally!” Bim shouted when the door opened, he was polishing his already immaculate scalpels and knives. Dark noted the darker eyes, sharper teeth, and almost sunken eyes. “I’m starving here, Old Man.”

“Yes, I merely had to pick him up for you,” Dark set Logan’s chair down, his hands on his shoulders. “He meets your outrageous standards, I hope.”

Bim looked at Logan and smiled and ravenous excitement, “Oh, what did he do?”

“Does he work or should I slit his throat now and be done with it?” Dark demanded harshly, the door being locked and sealed behind them.

“Yeah, yeah, just let me get the table open,” Bim said, and Logan heard the clicking of metal, his heart was racing.

“Well Sanders, I look forward to seeing which hero is missing in the coming weeks,” Dark smiled as he whispered quietly into Logan’s ears, patting him once on his shoulder.

Logan felt Dark’s aura grab him and began fighting it, trying to reach for anything but Dark dropped him onto a metal table. His wrists locked into a tight metal cuff at the top and his ankles locked into a similar cuff at the bottom. He had almost no room to struggle.

“Do not leave evidence,” Dark ordered his progeny. “The heroes will come looking for this one.”

“Shit, it’s like this is my first rodeo,” Bim scoffed.

“I mean it, be responsible,” Dark ordered and Logan heard the Void being ripped open, leaving him alone with Bim.

[poore-choice-of-words]

Nightingale & Peregrine Chapter 6

Whoo! It’s been awhile. But hopefully chapter seven wil come sooner than this one. Enjoy!

First, Last

...

He was late. Luckily, most people didn’t go to ice cream at one in the afternoon. Scratch that. A lot of people went to ice cream in the afternoon, unluckily. That was why there weren’t any parking spaces. He was sure his running speed to get there was better than his record in highschool, not that it was much of a record, but still.

This was the second time in as many days he’d literally bumped into Mandie.

“Hi.” he heaved a breath. “Fancy seeing.” Heave. “You here.” Heave. “Sorry I bumped in.” Heave. “To you.”

Helena was glaring at him, and was that laughter Mandie was suppressing?

“Hi.” She said, from behind a hand.

Definitely suppressing laughter.

“Hi,” He replied.

“You already said that.”

“Did I?”

Helena nodded. Moses decided to lift himself up so he was face to face with Mandie instead.

“Nonetheless, I insist upon buying both of you your Ice Cream as pardon for my transgression.” He bowed so that once again he was at eye-level with Helena.

“I accept your offer.” Mandie offered him a hand to get back up with, which he gladly took.

Helena looked skeptical.

“Think she suspects anything?” He whispered.

“Only what you just confirmed.” Mandie said.

Helena was squinting at him.

He bent down to be at eye-level her. These squats were going to help him work off that ice cream.

“I’m not gonna lie to you. I asked for you two to come here. I’m paying for your ice cream whether you like it or not. Then you can kick me out of the store.” He put his hand out for a shake.

Helena shook it, then pointed at her eyes and back at him.

“Gotcha.” He nodded for a bit before standing up. “Is this line ever going to move?”

“Lend me your arm?” Mandie asked. There was mischief in the tone that Moses ignored.

“Here you go.” He offered an elbow.

Mandie grabbed his wrist and leaned back, taking his arm, and nearly taking him, with her. He caught on quickly enough to hold his ground, otherwise he would’ve fallen on Mandie, and Helena might’ve kicked him out before they even got in the store.

They held themselves like that for a few moments, until she lifted herself up, making him stumble back. Then he noticed they were now holding hands. She was wearing gloves again, white silk, or some imitation. It was quite soft against his skin, and the gloves didn’t cover past her wrist, which he had been grasping onto while she’d been hanging.

He quickly released, realizing he’d had skin contact with her for more than a second and didn’t learn every one of her thoughts in his head for any amount of that time.

“How?” he looked at his hand. From the corner of his eye, Mandie seemed betrayed? Was that the word?

“There seems to be a couple, or a pair of siblings gumming up the line.”

“Do you always do that lean back thing?” He turned to Helena, “Does she always do that leanback thing?”

Helena shrugged.

“It’s not uncommon,” Mandie answered.

“Can you give a heads-up next time?”

“What makes you so sure we’re ever going to end up in a line together again?”

“Maybe it’s just a hope.”

Mandie half-smiled, then went into a straight face. Did she suddenly dislike him? Why had she come then? Was free ice-cream that irresistible an offer? Of course it was, it was ice cream.

“I’m getting the sense you don’t want to end up in a line together anytime soon. Would that be a warranted assumption?”

Mandie pulled her ponytail in front of her and began stroking it.

“What are you doing here, in town?”

He should have thought of an excuse before now. He was frozen for long enough that no matter what he said, she wouldn’t believe. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.

“I’m working for a secret organization to capture Nightingale, and I’m using you in an attempt to learn her secret identity.”

Mandie looked hurt, and scared, betrayed, that was the word.

“I swear that was a joke! I’m sorry. Has that actually happened before?”

“You wouldn’t be the first operative to fail at seducing Amanda Piec,” Spectrum commented in his head. He hoped it was just a memory and not the real Spectrum.

Back in the real world, the real Mandie looked at him with pity, and possibly laughter. Had he been played?

“I’ve actually been doing temp work for... a lot of places.” He was great at making excuses.

Mandie finally outright smiled. She bought it, or she didn’t care.

“Maybe I should call your company sometime. I could use some help.”

“With what?”

“I’ve always got packages that need delivering. I actually had to make a stop to send a package before we got here.”

Helena made a thumbs-down motion and a pouty face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means she doesn’t like waiting in the car.” Mandie turned her head. “Oh look, the line’s moved.”

She grabbed Helena’s hand and moved forward. The line kept steadily moving forward since apparently everyone had now figured out exactly what they were going to have. Moses should’ve thought about it. He was sure he didn’t want chocolate because chocolate was the worst ice cream flavor, except for maybe grape, but that wasn’t an ice cream flavor, yet.

“Why didn’t you want to hold my hand?” Mandie asked.

“What?”

“This isn’t middle school, and I thought you…”

She was right. This wasn’t middle school. If this were middle school, he’d be rushing into stuttered apologies. Instead, he waited a moment before stuttered apologies.

“It’s, uhh.”

Helena smacked his leg. He looked down at her, and she pointed at the counter, where the guy at the counter looked weary.

“Oh, sorry!”

…

They managed to get their ice cream, Helena hadn’t told Moses to scram, and Mandie asked to sit outside.

Overall things were looking okay.

“So you design for Nightingale?” He couldn’t think of a better question to start the ball rolling.

Mandie had an expression that said she was tired of that question, but ready to oblige an answer.

“I design for the entire Heroes’ Guild, but since we live in the same city, yes, Nightingale is my most common in-person customer.”

There were so many questions Moses could ask about Nightingale, but that was just the thing. He was talking to Mandie right now, not Nightingale. He needed to ask a question more about Mandie.

“Why white?”

That was still a Nightingale question, but it was also a Mandie question.

“It’s what she wore that first night.”

“First night?”

“Nightingale was Nightingale before I made the costume, and the first night she saved was in a white tank-top and a pair of jeans.”

“Seriously?”

“Still amazing, I assure you.”

“I don’t doubt it. You don’t wear white all the time without skill.”

Jeans? what made her switch to a skirt?

“Yeah, she has skill. She’s… perfect.”

Nightingale wasn’t the best conversation subject. She seemed to leave Mandie with longing. Moses stored the skirt question for later.

“Not that I doubt your skills, but why you?”

“What?”

Was she offended? Moses was screwed.

“Why of all the people in the world did Nightingale ask you to make the costume, or did you volunteer.”

“Well, most people who know me know I make my own clothes.”

Moses took a moment to look at Mandie’s outfit, a light pink dress with blue and purple flowers that looked embroidered onto the skirt.

“You made that?”

She nodded.

“Wow.”

“I make clothes for superheroes, and the dress get’s a wow.” Mandie was sarcastic, but she was also smiling.

“Yes! Most people don’t fully process big stuff, but this dress is right in front of me, and it’s beautiful by the way.”

“You don’t need to exaggerate for me.”

“I’m not, did you hand embroider the skirt or…?”

“I use a special machine, but I did design it.”

“See? I need to ask you for style tips.”

“I think you clean up well enough.”

Moses didn’t have a response. Mandie had cornered him in compliment combat.

“Thanks.”

He could feel himself blush. Maybe he wouldn’t seduce Mandie, but if he kept this up, she’d manage it on him.

…

Maybe Moses should have asked if Nightingale had any tips for superheroes just starting out. The closest he’d seen Nightingale to being tied up like this was when he was pointing a cane at her neck.

The worst part wasn’t that the chains were definitely power suppressant, which meant these thugs had a bigger budget than he initially thought. The worst part was that he probably wasn’t going to get Nightingale’s trust to help her if he couldn’t even help himself.

“Looks like someone fancies himself a superhero,” said thug number one, in what sounded like a very fake british accent.

“Looks like someone fancies himself a Beatle,” Moses retorted, getting a punch from the nearest thug for the comment.

“Maybe he just fancies one hero in particular.” They all had that probably fake accent, he knew because they all laughed in the accent too.

“You got me, I wanted to see Black Dragon, but I think I got the wrong town. Do you have a local hero associated with a particular neutral color?”

Thug number one was about to hit him again, when a familiar sultry voice interrupted.

“Now, Anders, that’ll make it much harder to get out on good behavior this time.”

Moses squinted in an attempt to find her in the rafters. Either she was behind him, or the suppressant was messing with his ability to see her.

“Who said I'm going to jail again, Katie?”

Katie? How did this minor crook know Nightingale's name.

“Nobody, because they don't have to.”

So maybe she hadn't been flirting with him as Ace of Spades, not that he thought she had. She just seemed to have a way of talking to her enemies, a way that could be interpreted a flirtatious.

“Is it my turn to comment?” Moses asked, “cause it sounded like you just got owned.”

No response, even a single laugh.

“Start struggling if you can fight.” He heard in the back of his head. The voice sounded like Mandie plus the voice in the back of his head that he never listened to. He was going to listen to it this time. 

His struggling looked more like trying to spin in mid-air than proper struggling, but hopefully the point got across to Nightingale, if she was the one he'd heard.

After a few excruciating seconds while Anders kept talking, he felt something hit his hand. He grabbed it, and felt the ridges of a key’s teeth. He felt for the lock with both his hands as Nightingale came down to the ground.

She took off the skirt to reveal an equally white pair of pants. He wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't that. The deployed skirt, which now looked more like a blanket, took two of the thugs out, pinning them to a wall.

He managed to get the key in the lock and turn it. He had to struggle a bit more to get out, but when he did, he punched the nearest thug, who glared at him.

Maybe that wasn't the best method. The next time he punched, he pushed at the thugs mind to knock him out.

“Don't use that on Anders, I need him awake.”

“Why?”

“Focus.”

She sounded irritable.

The next thug came running at Moses. He turned out of the way and pushed them to the wall. They looked back at him afterwards and attacked. He felt a pressure that the thug definitely felt more of since it pushed them into the wall again, this time knocking them out.

“Show off.” He said, aloud.

Nightingale glared, although the masked covered her eyes in dark lenses, which meant he couldn’t actually tell if she was glaring, but there was a feeling.

“Did I accidentally interfere in a lovers quarrel?” Anders asked.

“We’re not lovers,” Nightingale said.

“And who said we were quarreling?”

They both took a step towards Anders. Nightingale was closer, but Moses opted against closing the gap between her and himself.

“What do you want to know?” Anders grumbled, without the accent this time.

“I need some information on Ace of Spades.”

So Anders was a snitch, probably a good one, if snitches could be good.

“Word is the guy used to run with the suits.”

“As in the four suits?”

So Nightingale knew who they were. Moses was almost flattered. He wasn’t sure if he felt more or less flattered that she seemed to flinch when Anders responded.

“Yeah, then the guy disappears for half-a-year and comes back with the suit and cane.”

He was gone for six months? It hadn’t felt that long, it felt longer.

“And that’s all you got?” Nightingale asked, bringing Moses back to reality.

Anders shrugged. “The guy’s new--wait, some people are saying he’s a reincarnate of Inferno.”

“Dante Gionelli?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“The guy with a house full of booby traps?” Moses asked.

“Do I need to repeat myself to you?”

Moses turned to Nightingale. “I don’t think he likes me.”

“Go figure.” She turned to Anders. “Nothing else?”

“Come back when he’s been around for more than a month and maybe I’ll have something. This guy is different.”

Nightingale seemed to stew for a moment.

“Fine.”

…

Moses had followed Nightingale to the roof. Since she hadn’t stopped him, he assumed she didn’t want him gone. At least not yet.

“I don’t really plan on leaving so--”

“What’s your code name?” She asked.

“My what?”

“Call sign, title, superhero name. What is it?”

Before thinking about it, Moses admitted, “I never thought about it until this moment.”

“Take your time.”

He didn’t take much. Truly he’d been thinking about this for awhile, and one corny name remained.

“Do you mind if I spin off of you a little, I mean, I’m starting in your town, but I don’t wanna encr--”

“Go right ahead.”

“Alright, since you’re a Nightingale, heard but rarely seen, then I’ll be a Peregrine, fast and fearsome.”

Nightingale laughed.

“I’m sorry, it was just, so dramatic.”

Peregrine couldn’t help but smile at managing to make her laugh.

“If you’re going to stick around you’ll need a costume.” She switched to business.

Moses looked at his current outfit.

“A good costume.”

“Now that’s just mean.”

Nightingale smirked.

“Give me your measurements next time we talk.”

“When will that be?”

“Are you free tomorrow night?”

“I can be.”

“Good.”

She walked away, about to jump onto the next roof.

“Where are we going to meet?” Moses asked just before she leapt.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find you.”

...

Tag List:  @lynn-iswriting, @kaylewiswrites, @taz-writes, @theshadowsofthenight, @merigreenleaf, @lady-redshield-writes, @concealeddarkness13, @authorisada, @cadewrites, @elizabethwillow, @writing-in-mermish, @royalbounties

[inhumansforever]

Secret Warriors #9 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

The sinister machinations continue in this latest installment of the Secret Warriors, from the creative team of Mathew Rosenberg, Javier Garrón, Wil Robinson and Israel Silva.  Recap and review following the jump.

The last issue saw The Warriors in pursuit of The Dark Beast, the evil Mutant who had abducted Inferno’s niece.  They were aided in the mission by the former X-Man, Magik.  By way of Magik’s ability to teleport, The Warriors were able to follow leads and eventually track down The Dark Beast’s liar, where they battled a horde of his patchwork monsters.  The monsters were defeated and though the Warriors did not find Dante’s niece, they did locate a large number of abducted children fastened into strange stasis chambers.  

This issue opens up with the team finishing up the task of returning these various children to their homes.  Once more, Magik’s power of teleportation proves invaluable as she, Quake and Ms. Marvel crisscross the country, returning the children to their parents.  Ms. Marvel keeps insisting on specifying that they weren’t the ones who abducted the children in the first place; which annoys Quake to no end in that it inadvertently makes them seem guilty. 

 Also, none of the children vomit after Magik’s jarring process of teleportation, which annoys Dante to no end because he always had and has a running bet with Quake that at least one of these kids will puke.  

Back at the Beast’s former laboratory, Moon Girl has been studying what The Beast had been up to.  She hasn’t found any leads regarding the location of Dante’s niece, but has discovered that each of the children the Beast had abducted were latent Inhumans whose Inhuman genes have yet to be triggered into bloom via Terrigenesis.  

The narrative then shifts to the Ennilux Corporation headquarters where young Ahura is conducting a board meeting.   Karnak enters the meeting asking for an allocation of funds; and in so doing outs one of the trustees who has been embezzling money from the corporation.  

Having once more proved his worth, Karnak again requests funding for a side project he has cooking.  What exactly Karnak is up to remains a mystery (for now).  

Back in Florida, Magik, Quake and Ms. Marvel return to the Beast lab from reuniting more of the abducted children with their families only to discover that The Dark Beast has returned with his monstrous forces and have captured Inferno and Moon Girl.  The Beast had tried out Quake’s ‘advanced interrogation’ methods (re: torture) on Inferno sans the questioning... in short, he beat the kid to a pulp. 

A fight ensues.  Magik frees Moon Girl who in turn frees Inferno and the team takes on the Beast and his monsters.  The Warriors are tired and outmatched and soon bested by the Beast’s forces.  The Beast manages to get the drop on Quake, clutching her around the neck with his massive paw and suggesting that Quake would not have the time to use her powers before he chokes the life out of her.  

The fight ends when Mr. Sinister enters onto the scene and orders The Beast and his monsters to stand down.  Sinister is also able to get the Warriors to stand down by presenting Dante’s infant niece and commenting that a super powered battle is not exactly safe for babies.  

Also, we finally get to learn the name of Dante’s niece… it’s Ariela.  That’s a nice name :)

Sinister introduces himself to the Warriors, presenting himself as a man of science and discovery who actually has no bone to pick with these heroes as long as they allow him to continue his work.  He promises not to harm young Ariela if the Warriors can convince Karnak to allow Sinister to finish the project the two had started many months ago.  

Ms. Marvel claims the Warriors have nothing to do with Karnak, yet the Dark Beast suggests that Moon Girl knows exactly what Sinister is referring to.  Moon Girl has secretly remained in communication with Karnak and hence has the means to reach out to him and relay Mr. Sinister’s demands.  With that, the villains take their leave.  Inferno chases after them desperate to get his niece back, but they have disappeared.

In the wake of all this, the team turns to Moon Girl, demanding explanations.  Off the bat, Lunella doesn’t care for her teammate’s sanctimonious tones.  Each of them have done unscrupulous things, none of them are innocent.  She then goes on to explain that she has continued to maintain contact with Karnak because what he is seeking to achieve is a worthwhile endeavor.  She states that Karnak is attempting to obtain a new method of Terrigenesis, a way of offering the doomed Inhuman race a new future.    

The team then contacts Karnak over the video conference application on Moon Girl’s laptop.  Karnak admits that he had helped Sinister in his research because they shared a mutual goal, yet Karnak had cut of his assistance over a disagreement with Sinister’s methodology.  

Inferno is livid.  He introduces Karnak to one of the kids Sinister had abducted; he states that first the team is going to finish returning these kids home and then they are coming for Karnak and force him to make things right and get Inferno’s niece back.  

The call ends and Karnak ponders for a moment the situation.  Then he makes an interesting decision.  Inferno had stated that the child they were going to return home is from Des Moines, Iowa.  Karnak telephones the local news affiliate in Des Moines and informs them of a scoop for a feel-good story about a superheroes returning a kidnaped child to his family.  Why exactly Karnak does this, what the matter is meant to achieve, remains a mystery.  

The Warriors teleport to Iowa to return the child home and are met there by a bunch of news crews looking to report on the event.  Quake and Magik are bemused by the presence of these reporters, but Ms. Marvel doesn’t see why it’s so bad… they’re heroes after all, what’s so bad with the public knowing about their heroic deeds?  

The child’s parents are overjoyed to have him home.  The boy’s mother gives the Warriors big old hugs as thanks.  Again, Quake and Magik are disquieted by the display of thanks and affection, but Ms. Marvel is happy to receive it.   The boy then steps up to the news team to make a statement.  He says that he is an Inhuman and for far too long the human world has not respected his people’s power.  He then states something in the ancient language of Tilan.  Karnak watches the news broadcast from his office.  Upon seeing the boy issue this statement he remarks, ‘Sinister, what have you done?’  Clearly this boy has been implanted with some sort of brain washing, perhaps something more.  

The child’s parents are perplexed by his bizarre outburst, attributing it to the ordeal he has been through.  The Warriors are similarly mystified, until Ms. Marvelk comes to a terrible realization.  She shouts for everyone to get back and then uses her embigoning powers to reach out and grab the boy.  It’s too late.  The programing Sinister had instilled in the child has triggered some sort of chain reaction.  His body glows with a yellow energy and he suddenly explodes, a detonation that appears to envelope the entire areas, the Warriors included.   And it is with this harrowing cliffhanger that the issue comes to a close with the promise of continuation int he next installment.

Holy crap, what a frightening turn of events.  Are the Warriors okay?  Is that little boy dead?  Did his making that statement in Tilan on TV activate the other latent Inhuman children Sinister had abducted?  Will they blow up too?  Did Karnak suspect that this was going to happen?  

...Daunting questions that I’m not sure I want to know the answers to…

Rosenberg and company kick things up a notch in this thrill ride of an issue that acts to answer a number of longstanding questions, but doing so in a fashion that asks all new questions.  There’s lots of thrills and intrigue, as well as the fun character beats and moments of levity that has been the hallmark of this series to date.  

We now know that Karnak has set upon a mission to find an alternative means of bestowing Terrigenesis without the Terrigen Mists.  He had previously given into despair over the looming end of the Inhuman race, but now appears to have taken action (drastic action) to attempt to offer his people a new future.  And he has been willing to go to extreme ends to achieve this goal… namely aiding the research of the diabolical Mr. Sinister.  

Yet what is Mr. Sinister’s interest in all this?  In the past, Sinister’s central goal has been the forced advancement of Mutant evolution.  He believes that the Mutant race is destined for greatness and that this greatness must be forged by fire… that the weaker Mutants must be culled out and the stronger ones forced to adapt and evolve via dire adversities.  To this end, Sinister orchestrated the Mutant Massacre, where his team of Marauders killed off the majority of the Morlocks, believing that Mutants with weaker genes needed to be killed off less they pass on their less powerful DNA.  Of course this is not at all how evolution works and Sinister’s basic grasp of natural selection could use some serious brushing up on, but this is comics so we’ll let that one go.  

More recently, Sinister became quite interested in the Inhuman genome when the Terrigen Cloud was poisoning and sterilizing Mutants all over the globe.  Sinister sought to attain a solution to this threat by combining Mutant and Inhuman genes to create an aggregate species; yet his scheme was thwarted by the intervention of the Extraordinary X-Men.  

So what is Sinister up to now?  It’s clear that he doesn’t see the Inhumans as possessing superior genetic stock.  When he sees that Magik has joined forces with the Warriors he comments that her standing amongst them was tantamount to ‘slumming.’  My guess is that Sinister’s end goal is to either kill off The Inhumans in that he sees them as a threat to Mutant evolution, or that he might find some aspect of the Inhuman genome that will help to facilitate some sort of jump in Mutant evolution.  Whatever Sinister is up to, it’s no good and Karnak made a significant error in facilitating his research.

Which asks yet another question…  how is it that Sinister is so in need of Karnak’s assistance?  What knowledge or resource does Karnak possess that Sinister so requires?  Karnak is a rather smart and knowledgeable fellow, but Sinister and the Dark Beast are both geniuses (diabolical geniuses but geniuses nonetheless).  It all leaves me quite curious as to what it is that Sinister so needs from Karnak.  

A final question is how did Karnak know where to direct those news teams?  Des Moines isn;t a booming metropolis, but it’s still a rather large city.  Did he know the actual location of this kidnapped boy because he helped Sinister in locating him, or did he simply deduce the location by searching out missing persons notices for the city?  Or was it just a plot hiccup in the narration?

For me, having these sorts of excited thoughts and burning questions is a sign that a comic has definitely succeeded in offering up the kinds of thrills and intrigue that have made me a lifelong fan.  I already cannot wait for the next installment, so mission accomplished to the creative team.  

The issue being heavier on plot squeezed out some of the fun character building beats that Rosenberg and company so excels at.  We only got a little bit of flirting between Daisy and Dante and only a hint of Magik and Quakes exasperation over Ms. Marvel’s un-jaded idealism.  

Although Quake does not appear to be the central character in this arc, the central premise contrives to relate to her character development.   By this I mean that Quake is continuing to struggle with the basic question of whether or not the ends can justify the means.

The idea of ends justifying the means is a notion attributed to Niccolò Machiavelli from his 1505 work, The Prince.  Although to be fair, Machiavelli never actually used the term but rather suggested the idea that embracing vice is acceptable as long as the ultimate goal is virtuous.  This is the core tenet of the theory of consequentialism… that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of said conduct.  

Karnak has clearly embraced a consequentialist approach in his efforts to find a new means of Terrigenesis.  The end result of saving The Inhuman people is viewed as justifying Karnak’s decision to out his own son and many other children in great jeopardy.  The means (which are terrible) is seen as outweigh the strived for ends (which is nobel). The rest of the team sees this as abhorrent, but Moon Girl aptly points out that they have each acted in a fashion that is not all that different.  Quake resorted to torture in her effort to take down Hydra… is such a terrible act truly justified by the virtue of what she was trying to achieve?  

It’s a tough question and not one for which there is an easy answer.  Are terrible acts forgivable if they are done to attain a virtuous goal?  At first blush this may seem to be a question easily answered.  One might think: yes, the ends justify the means if the ends provide for the greater good.  Yet this creates a rather slippery slope wherein what is virtue and what is vice becomes an arbitrary matter rationalized by countless factors.  A person can be murdered and their organs used to save ten people’s lives… surely ten lives are more valuable than one life, so is the murder justifiable?  And who gets to make this decision?

Of late I’ve received a good number of ‘asks’ in regards to Quake and whether or not she should embrace a more bloodthirsty approach to achieving her goals.  A lot of her fans are annoyed by Ms. Marvel and how Kamala has acted as a foil to Daisy’s trajectory of taking on a harder edge.  Some fans want to see Quake become more like The Punisher, basically a ‘consequentialist hero’ wherein deadly means are justified by nobel ends.  

Quake remains balanced on the edge of a knife, she has not yet decided what kind of hero she is going to be.  Is she going to be more of a manipulative and Machiavellian hero, like her first mentor, Nick Fury Sr.?  Or is she going to be a more deontological and idealistic hero like her second mentor, Phil Coulson?  She has yet to decide and it is possible that seeing Karnak and Mr. Sinister take terrible actions so to attain what they see as the greater good may help her make this decision.  

cool stuff!

It might be just me, but Javier Garrón’s illustration seemed more crisp and better detailed in this issue compared to the previous issue.  There was a bit less compression of the panels on the page and it allowed Garrón to illustrate the characters with greater detail.  This made the Dark Beast and his monsters seem less cartoony and more frightening… cooler looking.  

Having more space on the page also helped hammer home the humorist bits, such as Quake’s side-eyed bemusement with Ms. Marvel as she tried to assure the parents that they had not abducted their kids.  

Once more, I’m not a huge fan of pairing Garrón’s illustrative style with that of Will Robinson.  I found the switching back and forth between these styles to be jarring.  Once more, however, this is merely an issue of personal taste.  Plus, if Will Robinson’s drawing several of the pages allows for Javier Garrón to take more time and put better effort into his pages, then I suppose the ends justifies the means… 

(sorry, couldn’t help myself :3)

Again, Israel Silva’s coloring is all but flawless. Another great issue and definitely recommended.  Four out of Five Lockjaws.  

[itsyourturnblog]

We most of the time struggle during a negotiation, not really knowing the best way to handle the challenge.

Frustration is the main outcome when this happens

Here below is a nine minutes summary of some negotiation ultra actionable practices.

Chris Voss, the author, developed the methodologies and tools as part of his job as an FBI negotiator in charge of freeing hostages in the four corners of the world.

In the book, he shares some real stories about the challenges he and his teams faced in some crisis situations and transposes what he learned to our daily lives situations. Because life is negotiation.

Before starting with the tools, a few words about the mindset.

You should engage the process with a mindset of discovery. Great negotiators are able to question the assumptions that the rest of the involved players accept on faith or in arrogance, and thus remain more emotionally open to all possibilities, and more intellectually agile to a fluid situation.

Be a mirror

When a request or a proposition seems unreasonable, try not to oppose it head-on. Be a mirror instead. It’s just four simple steps.

Use the late-night FM DJ voice.

Start with “I’m sorry…”

Mirror (repeat the unreasonable request)

Silence. At least four seconds, to let the mirror work its magic on your counterpart.

Repeat.

When using this simple framework, the person you are disagreeing with will by herself come to a more reasonable request or proposal.

Don’t feel their pain, label it

Tactical empathy is understanding the feelings and mindset of another in the moment and also hearing what is behind those feelings so you increase your influence in all the moments that follow.

Labeling is a way of validating someone’s emotion by acknowledging it. Spotting their feelings, turning them into words, and then very calmly and respectfully repeating their emotions back to them.

The reason why a counterpart will not make an agreement with you are often more powerful than why they will make a deal, so focus first on clearing the barriers to agreement.

We all want to reinforce the positive, anyway it’s very important to first neutralize the negative. We have to start by clearing the road and build a safe place for negotiation. Labeling is the way to do it and it can be declined in several versions.

You can simply label your counterpart’s fears to diffuse their power (eg. “It seems you don’t want to take the risk of…”).

You can also start with an accusation audit and label all the terrible things your counterpart could say about you (eg. “It sounds like you think we are the bad guys rejecting all modifications in the contract”).

The main benefit of such an accusation audit is that you get rid of the negative dynamics very early in the negotiation process and, because the accusations often sound exaggerated when said alound, speaking them will encourage the other person to claim that quite the opposite is true (or, at least, make some neutral and depassionate space for the negotiation).

Beware “Yes” — Master “No”

“No” is the start of the negotiation, not the end of it.

“No” means “I am not yet ready to agree”, “You are making me feel uncomfortable”, “I do not understand”, “I dont’ think I can afford it”, “I want something else”, “I need more information” or “I want to talk it over with someone else”.

On top of that, there are three kinds of “Yes”: Counterfeit, Confirmation and Commitment.

A counterfeit “yes” is one your counterpart is using when she would like to say “no” but wants to take the escape route.

A confirmation “yes” is just a simple affirmation in response to a black-or-white question with no promise of action.

A commitment “yes” is the real deal. it’s a true ageement that leads to action.

“Yes” is the final goal of a negotiation, but don’t aim for it at the start. Saying “No” makes the speaker more secure, slows things down and protect people from making ineffective decisions.

So, next time, Start with NO in order to Get to YES.

Trigger the two words…

“That’s right”.

Combining listening, labeling, paraphrasing and summarizing what your counterpart says (and doesnt’say) is the right way to obtain a “That’s right!” from her.

“That’s right” is even stronger than “Yes” and can really close the deal.

Bend their reality

We don’t compromise because it’s right. We compromise because it’s easy and because it saves face. Most people in a negotiation are driven by fear or by the desire to avoid pain.

The rule here is: never split the difference.

Creative solutions are almost always preceded by some degree of risk, annoyance, confusion, and conflict. Accomodation and compromise produce none of that. You’ve got to embrace the hard stuff. That’s where the great deals are. And that’s what great negotiators do.

That said, the lever to operate here is the concept of loss aversion.

People wil take more risk to avoid a loss than to realize a gain. Make sure your counterpart sees there is something to lose by inaction.

The key method to bend your counterpart’s reality is anchoring.

You can anchor their emotions (prepare them for a loss) and anchor their starting point (set an extreme value).

By anchoring first, you will bend their reality toward yours.

Create the illusion of control

The idea here is to push your counterpart to suspend his unbelief.

Unbelief is the natural state and mindset of all parties when starting a negotiation. It’s the active resistance to what the other is saying, complete rejection.

The key here is to ask for help with calibrated questions. A calibrated can start with “how” and “what”, as these two words are the ones that more widely open the question. “Why” is also a possibility but can most of the time sound very accusative.”Who”, “where” and “when” usually provide short answers and do not start an open the discussion.

The power of calibrated questions is that they offer no target for attack like statements do.

Asking calibrated questions is asking for help. It will give your counterpart an illusion of control and will inspire them to speak at length, revealing important information.

Guarantee Execution

Once reaching an agreement, we have to be sure it will happen. Said differently, you have to avoid the counterfeit “yes”.

There are multiple ways of doing this through combination of the following methods, tools and tricks.

Use calibrated questions that start with “how”. “How” is about the execution of the deal.

Pay attention to the motivations of ALL people involved in the result of a negotiation, not only the ones who sit around the table. What are the interests of those who are “behind the table” ?

Follow the 7–38–55 rule. Only 7% of the message is based on words. The other 38% are based on the tone of voice and 55% on the body language.

Get your counterpart to reaffirm their agreement three times and avoid the counterfeit “yes”.

Detect if the person speaking has the power to decide. If she uses a lot of “I”, “me” and “my”, there is a chance she doesn’t. If she uses “we”, “they” and “them”, there is a high chance you are dealing with the decision maker.

Bargain Hard

No part of a negotiation induces more anxiety and unfocused agression than bargaining. Skilled bargainers see more than just opening offers, counteroffers, and closing moves. They see the psychological currents that run below the surface.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Yourself, and the negotiators you are facing have a specific style. And depending on the style, some specific tactics will better fit.

The Analyst is hyper sensitive to reciprocity and skeptical by nature. Silence is an opportunity to think for him. The risk, for him, is to cut himself from an essential source of data, his counterpart. Asking too many questions too early to him is not recommended as he will not answer them before gathering the data and understand all implications.

The Accommodator spends time building the relationship. He wants to remain “friend” with his counterpart. He is very easy to disagree with but it’s much harder to uncover his objections. He will have identified potential problems and will leave them unadressed by fear of conflict.

The Assertive believes time is money. He loves winning, even at the expense of others. He has an agressive communication style. Most of all, he wants to be heard and he has very few ability to listen. He tells rather than asks. Only when he is convinced you understand his point of view, he will be able to listen at yours. For him, silence is an opportunity to speak. With him, the most effective tools are mirror, labels, calibrated questions and summaries until you hear a “That’s right”.

Human beings tend to think themselves as being “normal”, and that the world will look the same to others than it looks to them. There is a high probabilty they are wrong. Considering other worldviews is a first step toward success in the negotiation.

Once you know who seats at the table, be prepared.

Know your target, or your target range, and prepare an Ackermann plan. It works as follow.

Set you first offer at 65% of the target and calculate three raises of decreasing increments (85%, 95% and 100%). Use different ways of saying “No” (eg. through “how” and “what” calibrated questions) and nonround numbers, like 3467, for your final offer to give credibility to the number. Plus add a nonmonetary item at the very end to show you are at your limit.

Be prepared to take a punch (receiving an initial offer that would anchor you very far from your target) and avoid the compromise trap by punching back (by showing real anger, using “why” questions or “I” messages to communicate your feelings).

Anyway, punching back is the last resort and de-escalating is the priority when you think you are the hostage of the situation. Asking for a break is definitely possible and even recommended.

Never forget that the person across the table is never the problem. The unsolved issue is. So focus on the issue.

Find the Black Swan

Negotiation breakthroughs are created by those who can identify and utilize Black Swans.

The concept of Black Swan has been popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a famous risk analyst and author.

Basically, a black swan is an unknown unknown . Something that never happened ,that we do not expect, and that we even think is not possible according to our experience and knowledge.

As an example, the tsunami in Fukushima in 2011 is a black swan.

The black swan theory asserts that the past is of no use when predicting the future. There are events or pieces of knowledge that sit outside our regular expectations and therefore cannot be predicted.

This is a crucial concept in negotiation. We usually deal with known knowns and known unknowns. And now we have to add the unknown unknowns, the Black Swans.

In a negotiation, black swans are powerful leverages. They can either be positive leverages, negative leverages or normative leverages.

To cut a long story short, a black swan is a piece of information about your counterpart or the situation that will help you bend the negotiation toward your best interests.

To uncover unknown unknowns, the key is to collect as many data as possible about your counterpart through hearing, listening and observing. On top of that, if what your learn doesn’t fit any of the known models you have, or if the counterpart seems to be irational or act in a crazy way, avoid forcing it into an existing model because there is a high chance your would do a mistake doing so.

On the opposite, try to understand his worldview and the reason why he is behaving this way. The key answer lies there, sometimes well hidden.

There are many rational explanations. Your counterpart can either be ill-informed, constrained or have other interests. Discovering this cause is the path to success.

Negotation or manipulation ?

This is a question I asked myself when reading the book and writing this summary.

Should I promote tactics that could, for some of them, be related to manipulation ?

I think the answer lies in the cause you are fighting for.

Both Robin Hood and Prince John are stealing, but their causes are opposite. Does one cause justify stealing and the other not ?

Einstein developed the theory of relativity but did not invent the nuclear bomb. Is the discovery the problem, or the usage we make out of it ?

Chris Voss provides some efficient tools. These are enablers.

You are the one who decide why and how you use them. The change you want to make happen is yours.

And it’s definitely better if you play the infinite game and your cause is a just one.

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss was originally published in It's Your Turn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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