#if you are reading this remind me to make my art fights refs

[feedgarf]

i didnt finish rendering this one cause i ran outta steam but i spent too long on it so fuck it we ball 💪

chapter 33 from ABoT was my aaabsolute favorite. i love Ritsu suffering from his own bad decisions he is so silly

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 23 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: AMC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: You were right in Alpha seeking revenge for crossing into their lands and now swarms of Walkers are arriving at the gates of Alexandria. Still trying to deal with the emotions in your own mind, you are tasked with supervising Aaron and Negan who are to work together. What happens when the three of you get stuck over night in a cabin together and what is Carol thinking?

Word Count: 6061

Warning: Swearing

Song I Wrote To: “My Blood” by twenty one pilots

Note: This one takes place in ep 3 of season 10 called “Ghosts”. In this chapter, we get a better look at the reader’s life before the end of the Savior war and especially what they knew about Carl and the letter he left for Negan.

-------

A cataclysmic event.

That was what you witnessed when they dropped fire on Atlanta. Everything was burning and the air was thick with the smell of hot metal and melting tar. You could still remember the way your skin felt as you ran through the street, trying to flee from the destruction. 

That was the first night you finally saw a Walker up close. You had seen them on the TV and images that flashed on public monitors in the heart of the city, but never had one been mere feet away. It moved towards you as if you were the only thing in the world that mattered. You wanted to run, to scream, but you just stood there, watching. 

You could hear the commotion behind you as people ran for their lives, but nothing could distract you from the Dead man in front of you. Fresh blood dripped from its mouth as it reached for you. Stumbling back, you couldn’t think to do anything else but examine how something as beautiful as a human being had become...this. 

A shot came from a nearby convoy as the military tore through the rubble-filled streets, ending the Walker once and for all. They didn’t stop to ask if you were okay and they didn’t yell at you to run, they just kept going and you were alone again. 

As you stared down at the man that once was, you couldn’t stop the thoughts that ran through your head that said, “Perhaps this is next for all of us. Perhaps this is what is meant to happen.” 

That thought followed you all the way from the city and into the hills where you eventually met Carl Grimes and it had never truly left you. 

Even now as you watched Walkers approach your home in waves, those two little sentences were buzzing in the back of your mind, trying to make themselves known. However, just as you had for about a decade now, you shoved them away and picked up your weapon. 

The number of Walkers that fell upon Alexandria was something that you hadn’t seen in years. Being so far from the cities, it was rare to find massive hordes right near the communities or even groups of more than ten or fifteen. However, now there were groups of ten or twenty every time you turned around and you knew why. 

Alpha was pissed. 

You had tried to warn them when they went over her borders, but of course, nobody batted an eye when you spoke up. 

You couldn’t understand how one day your thoughts mattered and the next, they went clear over everyone’s heads. You knew you weren’t in charge, that didn’t both you. What did bother you was that your people had begun to question you, rather than relying on your council. You started to notice it after the blizzard and then even more so as your relationship with Negan furthered. 

While you still held a position of respect within Alexandria, you knew that you were looked at differently because of Negan, but you didn’t hold an ounce of resentment towards the man that you loved. Negan was the most important part of your life now and if that meant that nobody looked to you anymore, that was something that would have to get used to. 

Especially in moments when you were the only one dealing with the Dead. 

Aaron and the others had arrived home in the early hours of the morning, desperate to get their children home safely and when they saw you on watch, they had avoided your eyes immediately. You knew why they crossed over, but if you had had it your way, you would have been glad to watch the world burn. 

There had been a discussion, well rather an argument, earlier as more waves of Walkers approached. Lydia had been present in the meeting hall when Daryl had begun questioning her.

You had stayed in the back, ready to jump in to defend her if necessary, but she was handling it well. Lydia had explained that she didn’t think the Walkers were from her mother and that Alpha would have sent a horde. You weren’t so sure about that.

You knew fear tactics and this was textbook. 

Then there was the fact that Alpha now wanted to speak to Michonne and Daryl. You hadn’t even volunteered to go with them to the South border because you knew they would shut you down. However, you didn’t mention that bringing Carol was just as much of a risk. While you were pissed and wanting blood, Carol’s vendetta was even more personal.

Once some of the Highwaymen began throwing insults at Lydia, you took her out of the room and let Daryl deal with them. The last thing she needed was more venom thrown at her and you weren’t going to have her stand by and be spit on. 

Instead, you began to help clear out the Walkers again while you thought about what to do about her mother. While you didn’t agree with accepting Alpha’s terms and her borders, antagonizing her was the last thing you wanted to do.

If you were going to take her out, you wanted to do it when she didn’t expect it. You didn’t want a firefight or a clashing of swords, you just wanted her and Beta dead. It was that simple. Though, like most things in the fucked up world known as the apocalypse, nothing was ever truly simple. 

Negan was not too far away from you, helping to load the corpses into the wagons. You were keeping an eye on him as he worked, but you kept finding yourself distracted as the day wore on. Especially by one memory in particular…

--------

Months Earlier…

“This is either a trick or you pulled some huge strings on the puppet masters of Alexandria,” Negan said as he closed the door to your house behind you. Lydia who was sitting on the couch glanced up from the art book in her hands, something you had found in the garage a few days before and gave to her. 

“If you keep questioning Michonne’s decision, she’s gonna send your ass back out into the cold to sleep in the snow,” you warned, taking off your heavy coat.

“I’m not complaining,” Negan said with a grin and a wink. With a sigh, you gestured for him to make himself at home. 

“Lydia, did you eat?” you asked as you entered the living room to turn on your newly fixed fireplace. 

“Siddiq brought me something,” she said quietly as she stared at Negan who looking at her with curiosity. You gestured between them.

“Lydia, this is Negan. Negan, meet Lydia,” you introduced. 

“Nice to meet ya, kid,” he said with a neutral face, trying to gauge her reaction. 

“Hi,” she said shyly, folding her legs underneath her on the couch. 

“Jailbird here is gonna be staying with us when it’s below zero,” you explained as Negan leaned against the wall near the fire. “So just watch where you step so you don’t step in his ego while he’s here.” Negan scoffed. 

“Wow, (Y/N), that hurts,” he said. 

“Yeah? Well, so does this,” you said, as you gestured to the fresh wound on your side. “I’m gonna go change the dressing, try not to corrupt her, yeah?”

“I would never!” he called as you climbed the stairs towards your room. However, instead of searching for gauze, you remained on the landing and listened in on Negan and Lydia. “What are you reading?” Negan asked after a moment and you could hear the flipping of pages in the quiet of the room. 

“(Y/N) found it in the garage,” Lydia said. 

“Ah, Dalí,” Negan said. “I like his stuff.”

“The clocks are cool,” Lydia admitted and you smiled to yourself. 

“That they are,” Negan agreed. “How are you doing? I heard life is sort of kicking you in the teeth at the moment.” 

“I’m better than I was yesterday,” Lydia said. “At least a little bit.”

“And tomorrow you’ll be a bit better than you were today. Takes time,” he said.

“Nobody wants me here,” she whispered, almost too quiet for you to hear. 

“(Y/N) does,” Negan said, “and trust me, coming from them, that means a lot.”

“Why are you locked up?” Lydia suddenly asked and Negan remained quiet. It was only after about a minute that he sighed. 

“Do you really want to know? It’s not a pretty story,” he said. 

“Neither is mine,” Lydia admitted and then you heard her shifting on the couch, settling in to listen to him. 

“Alright,” Negan said, almost reluctantly. “It all started when a man named Rick visited Hilltop for the first time…” 

-------

You were knocked out of your memory as arguing reached your ears.

Still reeling from your thoughts, you searched for the cause only to see Gabriel stepping in between Aaron and Negan. Aaron’s morning star prosthetic was already attached and you could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears as you rushed over to find out what the damn issue was. 

“You need fighters,” Gabriel was saying. “He can fight, you’re taking him.” 

“What now?” you asked, already regretting the question. 

“Your buddy doesn’t trust me to help him take out Walkers,” Negan explained. “Though, I’ve already expressed my desire to stay here and bury corpses instead of hanging out with Captain Hook here.” Aaron glared at Negan and you were already getting a migraine. 

“Seriously?” you asked Gabriel who was already on the verge of giving up. “Fine, I guess I will play babysitter.”

“Fucking perfect,” Aaron swore. 

“Hey,” you said, pointing at him, “don’t break the asshole pact,” you said, reminding him of the conversation the two of you had on his porch before you left for the fair. You had finally repaired your relationship with Aaron and you weren’t going to blow it now. 

“I know, I know,” Aaron said, getting where you were coming from, “but it doesn’t extend to him.” 

“I never said it did,” you defended. 

“You want to referee these two?” Gabriel asked, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Fine, be my guest!” Gabriel stormed away and you turned to both of the men before you with your arms crossed. 

“Great, now you’ve pissed off the Priest.”

————

The three of you walked through the thick forest in silence. 

Normally, you would have been chatting or joking with Negan about being outside the walls for the first time together, but your romantic getaway was nowhere near as special as you thought it would be. 

Aaron dragged his feet alongside both of you. You could hear his feet digging in the mud and you knew he was doing it on purpose to annoy Negan. Jesus had taught him how to move through the woods in silence just as Lydia was teaching you. 

This only made you even more annoyed.

“You’re quiet today,” Negan observed, poking at your side. You looked over at him and took his hand, squeezing it a few times before letting go. 

“Sorry,” you said, returning your hand to rest on your sword.

“What’s gotten into you?” Aaron asked. 

“I’m pissed off, Aaron,” you explained with a huff. 

“Well, I can see that,” Aaron said. 

“Not helping,” Negan shot back. Aaron just rolled his eyes at Negan’s comment. You pushed on, ignoring both of them. It had only been a couple of days since the satellite fell and while Eugene felt that harvesting the tech from the machine was necessary, you still thought it was foolish. 

Your mood wasn’t getting any better no matter what Lydia or Negan tried. If you were being honest with yourself, you just needed a break. All you wanted to do was go away for a while and not think about communities arguing or masked menaces tracking your every mood. 

You just needed a moment. 

Now with the meeting happening at the Southern border, you didn’t know what to expect. Just as long as Daryl came back in one piece, you would be okay.  

For now. 

The three of you ended up in a clearing not too far from Alexandria, but far enough to see where the Walkers would be crossing towards the main road that led home.

Aaron gave Negan an old broomstick to handle the Walkers and he wouldn’t give in to your request of giving Negan your knife. It was ridiculous, but you figured it was better than Aaron yelling and Negan making ridiculous comments. 

“You have that look on your face,” Aaron observed as he took a swig of his water after taking out another Walker. 

“What look?” you asked, unbothered by the blood stuck to your blade. Negan was nearby, always twirling his stick around to amuse himself. 

“It’s the same look you had the day Rick and Daryl brought Jesus to Alexandria,” he explained. 

“Annoyed?” you asked, staring off into the trees. 

“More suspicious,” he said. “Though, I would throw in just a dash of pessimism, too.”

“Is that so?” you asked.

“You know, when I met you, I really didn’t like you,” Aaron said and you scoffed.

“Ouch,” Negan muttered. 

“There was just something about you that I didn’t get,” he went on. “Rick acted as if you were some kind of boogeyman.”

“This isn’t sounding any better, Aaron,” you said, leaning on your sword. 

“What I’m trying to say is that you always seemed like the black sheep of the family and I think we need that kind of thinking right about now,” he said, surprising you. 

“I thought you would be on team, ‘cross the border’,” you said.

“So did I,” Aaron said. 

“But?” you prompted. 

“I don’t know anything at this point. At least, I feel as if I don’t,” he admitted. “All I do know is that we can’t treat these...people like we have in the past with other enemies,” Aaron said and you didn’t miss the glance he threw at Negan. Negan ignored him, but he was still listening.

“Right, and now with Daryl agreeing to meet with these psychos...” you sighed.

“Daryl knows what he’s doing,” Aaron tried.

“Well, out of the three of us here, I’ve known him the longest. I know how blind he can be when it comes to his family and with Carol hurting the way she is, he ain’t gonna stop until Alpha is dead,” you said. 

“I remember how he used to be,” Aaron said, but you shook your head.

“You didn’t know him before Alexandria, before the Prison,” you said. “Daryl used to be loud and sharp. After his brother went missing he became standoffish and reckless. Nobody could work with him, not even Rick. The crazy son of a bitch once impaled himself on his crossbow bolt when his horse threw him off. Then, he got shot in the same afternoon on Maggie’s farm cause Andrea thought he was damn Walker. The man doesn’t know when to slow down.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Aaron asked. 

“It was when nobody knew him. Nobody knew what to expect. The only people he was even decent to were Carol and Carl.” 

“Not you?” Negan asked, hauling another body over to the pile. 

“Definitely not,” you said, thinking about all the arguments the two of you would get into. “We were civil, but I think we saw too much of each other in another. I remember Merle, Daryl’s big brother seeing us work together against the Governor. He used to make some really ridiculous comments, but one always stuck with me. Merle would say that we were ‘just two screwed up kids who ended up at the end of the world,’ and hell, he was right.”

------

The three of you worked into the late afternoon, early evening as sweat bloomed on your brows and blood stuck to your boots. 

Negan did his best to take out the Walkers with his stick, but he was itching for a blade. If Aaron wasn’t around then he knew that you would give him one without question. 

As he watched you, he could see how anxious you were getting. You had mentioned that Daryl never slowed down, but you never did either. You became distant and restless when you didn’t have a target in your sights. It was one of the many things he loved about you. 

After taking down another three Walkers, you wicked the blood from the sword that had become a part of you. 

“I’m going to get some more water,” you announced. “Try not to kill each other.”

“I’ll do my best,” Negan said with a wink. You ignored him as you grabbed the canteens and headed into the trees. 

Negan and Aaron were silent as they continued to kill the Walkers that broke off from the main horde that the others were handling. Without you to be there as a buffer, Aaron began to bite his tongue so he didn’t blow up at the man next to him.

Negan however, could feel the heat coming off him. 

“Are you just gonna keep staring at me or are you going to man up and tell me what’s on your mind?” Negan said, turning to face his adversary. 

“I have nothing to say to you,” Aaron said. 

“Ah, we both know that’s not true,” Negan said. “You’ve been just dying to give me a piece of that mind buried under all those curls. So, come on, lay it on me.” Aaron was quiet for a moment before he let his anger win over his decision to remain somewhat civil.

“You’re not good enough for them,” Aaron said and Negan raised his brows, taking in the words.

“If you think that pisses me off,” Negan began, “then I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the first to disapprove.”

“I won’t be the last either,” Aaron threatened and Negan caught onto what he was saying. 

“If this is about Maggie,” said Negan, “then I think you need to take a step back. She can want me dead all she damn well pleases, but the fact is, she had her chance to kill me and she didn’t take it.”

“She’d do it now,” Aaron said. 

“Why, because I’m in love with one of her friends? Are they friends? Because last time I checked, (Y/N) never talks about her.”

“You don’t get to dissect every relationship they’ve had. You are the reason that (Y/N) lost two people they really cared about, three if you count Sasha,” Aaron said. 

“I had nothing to do with Sasha’s death,” Negan said. “I didn’t kill her.” 

“No, you didn’t,” Aaron agreed, “but you are the reason she’s dead.” Negan glared at Aaron, trying to control his breathing. 

“It was war, Aaron, or are you forgetting your merry bunch of survivors killed my men as they fucking slept? You pulled the trigger first. You can be pissed at me all you want, but do not look at me and see a monster when you’ve shed just as much blood.”

“You wanna know what I see?” Aaron asked. “I see someone that's pretending.”

“Come on, man, just let it go,” Negan said as he moved past Aaron, going to follow you. However, Aaron was faster, throwing out his leg and blocking Negan’s step, sending him to the ground. “Jesus!” Negan swore. “Did you just trip me? What, are you? Twelve?” Aaron sneered at him, but Negan wasn’t having it. Getting to his feet, he towered over Aaron. “What the hell is wrong with you? I've been puttin' my neck on a block for you people all goddamn day!” 

“You don't give a damn about us,” Aaron said, not believing it for a second.  “If you gave a shit, you'd leave. That's what everyone needs.”

“I can’t do that and you know it,” Negan said. 

“Because you love them?” Aaron asked with a scoff.

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Coming from you? Absolutely! They may have forgiven you for all the death and torture, but the rest of us haven’t!” 

“Nobody has forgiven anyone!” Negan said. “You think (Y/N) forgives me for murdering their friends right in front of them? They don’t and I haven’t asked them to! Look, I did what I had to do back then.” Aaron was silent then as Negan’s words cascaded over him. 

Aaron then tilted his head just as a predator would when watching its prey. “What did you say?” he asked, but Negan remained silent. “No, no, no. Open that up. Tell me why the love of my life had to die,” he ordered. 

Negan shook his head, but he took the bait. “Okay. One simple fact. One truth kept my people going... if you don't protect what belongs to you, then sooner or later, it belongs to someone else. That goes for your land, your wallet, your home, your country... everything. It is your job as a man to protect it. That's the story of America, the story of the whole goddamn world. And ain't nothing changing it... not you, not me, nobody,” Negan said, getting into Aaron’s face, but the latter wasn’t backing down. 

“Are you saying that Eric's death was my fault?” he asked but Negan remained still. Aaron then shook his head, stepping into Negan’s space even more. “Well, if I failed Eric,” he whispered. “Then you failed your wife.” Negan went still, looking down at Aaron with fury in his eyes.

“Careful,” Negan warned, trying to remain calm, but Aaron wasn’t done.

“Yeah. She died hating you, right? Gabriel told us the story and I know that (Y/N) has heard it, too. Hate to break it to you, but you will never see her again.” Negan’s mouth turned into a smirk as light entered his eyes. 

“What? You wanna say something?” Aaron challenged. 

“Yeah,” Negan said and then with a quirked brow pointed over Aaron’s shoulder. “Behind you,” he whispered as Walkers converged on Aaron. Aaron took out one in a hurry as another, which was covered in vegetation, fell on Aaron, taking him to the ground. Aaron yelled as the Walker reached for his face, but he was able to hit it over the head with his morning star, killing it easily.

However, something was wrong. Negan was gone and Aaron couldn’t see.

------

By the time you got back to the clearing, it was night. 

Of course, this was the time for you to get turned around and have to double back. You pushed into the clearing, ready to get the boys back on track when you were met with an empty space. 

“Seriously!” you yelled, throwing your hands up. “I say not to kill each other and they leave me,” you muttered. “No, no, (Y/N) they’ll be just fine, just two people who hate each other. Why should it matter if they both care about you? It’s not like that fucking matters.”

You continued to talk to yourself as you shone your light on the ground and managed to find Negan’s footprints. “It’s a good thing you’re practically bigfoot,” you whispered as you headed into the trees. You were then very happy that Daryl had taken all that time to teach you how to track or you’d be out there stumbling over Walkers and roots.

The tracks were accompanied by another set. You figured they were Aaron’s considering how precise they were. Walker tracks were more random and uneven. They led away from Alexandria which only made you even more annoyed. “Right, let’s go away from the walls and the warm food. Assholes,” you swore as you climbed over a fallen tree and kept moving. 

Eventually, you saw a flickering light in the distance. Stepping over what was either a dead Walker or a half-eaten deer, you arrived at a cabin. Noises of alarm echoed from the cabin and you ran towards it, kicking open the door. You slid into the main room just as Negan finished killing the last Walker with a crowbar. You would have to ask where he got that later. 

“What the hell?” you asked, alarming Negan. 

“(Y/N)?” Aaron’s voice came in the dark. “Negan?” 

Negan looked at you and in the dark of the room with only the moon to illuminate his features, he looked incredibly intimidating. “You alright?” Negan asked Aaron who was looking around the room rapidly. You took a step closer to him, confused. 

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “How did you…?”

“Your light switched on,” Negan explained, reaching down to turn off the flashlight that was on Aaron’s belt. 

“What’s wrong, Aaron?” you asked. 

“I can’t see,” he said, looking around the room, trying to focus on anything, but couldn’t. Negan kneeled in front of Aaron who stiffened as Negan got close. 

“Flowers growin’ out of the Walkers is hogweed,” Negan explained, looking at Aaron’s eyes. 

“Hogweed?” 

“Nasty shit,” Negan said with a glance over at you. “Causes rashes, blindness…”

“Is it permanent?” Aaron asked as you leaned against the wall. 

“Sometimes,” Negan admitted. “You wash your eyes out?” 

“Yeah, in a stream, but I… I didn’t have,” Aaron tried and then you realized you still had the water. 

“Here,” you said tossing the full canteen to Negan who gave it to Aaron. Aaron drank half of it in one go, desperate to quench his thirst. 

“Alright, come on,”  Negan said as he helped Aaron off the floor and you were surprised to see that Aaron let him. Negan got him settled in the old chair before joining you next to the window. 

“What are you doing?” Aaron asked. 

“We’ll take watch and leave first thing in the morning. That good with you?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said softly. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“You two are both idiots,” you said, crossing your arms. 

“We know,” Negan and Aaron said at once and you couldn’t help but smirk at that. Aaron settled into the chair, the reaction to the hogweed taking its hold, but he didn’t sleep.

Instead, he listened. 

“Maybe don’t run off in the middle of the night when a lot of Walkers are around, okay?” you said.

“Sorry,” Negan said sheepishly. You nodded to him, peering out the windows, letting your mind wander. “What are you thinking?” he asked. 

“What?”

“You look lost in thought, have all day,” he said with a shrug. 

“Uh, I was thinking about Rick,” you said. 

“Anything in particular?” he asked. You were quiet for a moment before turning to fully face him. 

“I lied to you before,” you said. 

“When?”

“When you asked me what the vote was on what to do with you. I told you that Rick just decided. He and Michonne had the final say, but that wasn’t the whole truth,” you admitted. “Rick asked me what I thought he should do.” Negan was quiet for a moment.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing at first,” you said. “I didn’t have an opinion right away. I was angry with you and I wanted you to pay for what you did, but I… I didn’t know if death was the answer. I was conflicted.” 

“Why?” he asked and you looked at him with glossy eyes. 

“Because of Carl,” you admitted and you saw something shift behind his eyes at the mention of the late teen. “I read the letter that he wrote to you. Michonne let me after she had given me the one Carl left to me. I knew what Carl wanted. He wanted the fighting to stop, he wanted the hate to stop, and he wanted you to be a better man. How was I supposed to deny him that?”

“Did you tell Rick this?”

“Sort of,” you said with a sigh. “I told him that Carl had written to me asking me to take care of him and Judith. Carl trusted me to be the protector of his family because he couldn’t anymore, but he never needed to ask. I would have died for Rick and I will die for RJ and Judith if it came down to it.”

“I know,” Negan whispered. 

“I thought about it for hours, the question Rick asked me, and then I told him that it wasn’t up to me and it wasn’t really up to him either. Carl had already made the decision. Rick had already made promises to the people he loved. He promised his best friend, Shane, that he would protect his family because Shane did it first; He promised Lori that he would protect Carl and he did.

“What happened to Carl wasn’t Rick’s fault no matter what he thought. Most of all, Rick promised Michonne that he would build a good life for their daughter, and I had to remind him that he wasn’t allowed to break that promise. Carl had an idea, and if we had killed you, we would have been dishonoring him and everything he wanted to fight for but couldn’t. I had to make a choice and for once it wasn’t for my survival, but for securing Carl’s legacy. You once asked me why I stayed in Alexandria when I felt as if I never quite fit.”

“And you said it was because Carl was buried there,” he remembered. 

“Alexandria is strong and still standing because of Carl. It’s not just because his grave is there. It’s because everywhere I turn, I see that kid’s influence. I made a promise when I read the letter he wrote to me. I can’t break it now and I never will.”

“Where is all this coming from?” Negan asked. You wiped at the tears that formed in the corner of your eyes. 

“I feel as if I’m starting to lose sight of him, Negan,” you said. “I look around and I don’t see Carl, I see Alpha’s face or Jesus’ blood on my hands. I can’t see the good anymore.” 

“There is still good in this world, (Y/N),” Negan promised. “You just gotta search a little harder.”

“I’m tired of searching,” you said. “I try to be there for Lydia, but most days I have no idea what I’m doing. What the hell does she see when she looks at me? I don’t even know what I see when I look at her.”

“Do you wanna know what I see when I look at Lydia?” he asked. 

“What?”

“I see a scared kid who’s had a shit life and who needs you to look out for her,” Negan said. 

“Right,” you said, but Negan wasn’t convinced you were getting it. You then looked up at him. “What do you see when you look at me?” Negan didn’t even hesitate.

“Possibilities,” he said and it threw you for a loop. Looking at him in the dark of the cabin, you could only see the truth pouring from him. 

“What do you see when you look at yourself?” you whispered.

“Not much,” he answered.

“Negan…” 

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’ve accepted it. You know, when I went back to the Sanctuary and saw what everything had become, I finally got it.”

“Got what?” you asked. Negan reached out and dragged his knuckles along the back of your arm, savoring the feeling as if you were going to fade away. 

“That my number was up the second Rick told me he was going to kill me in that clearing,” Negan said, avoiding your eyes. “I just didn’t know this would be how he’d do it, condemning me to a life of self-hatred,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. 

“Why are you saying this to me?” you asked.

“I’m just trying to let you know that it’s okay if I don’t get the happy ending. I was more of a fan of horror films than fairytales anyway,” he admitted. 

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Just…” Negan trailed off and then pulled you towards him, wrapping his arms around you. “Just be still with me right now. Just, be still.”

-------

Negan eventually fell asleep after you convinced him to get some rest. 

You were too wired to even think about sleeping. You sat on the floor between Negan and Aaron, your sword reflecting moonlight across the dark room. The next time you heard a voice, it was Aaron’s and not Negan’s. 

“I’m sorry,” Aaron whispered. “I didn’t mean to run off.”

“It’s okay,” you said, reaching up to squeeze his hand. Aaron went to say something else then when Negan began talking in his sleep. You were used to it from all the times you spent by his side in bed, but Aaron froze as he listened to the nonsense. 

It wasn’t until actual words were formed that Aaron sat up. “Simon,” Negan muttered. “Si…,” he said again and then went back to mumbling before growing silent again. It had been a while since he dreamed about Simon, you realized. 

“What the hell was that?” Aaron whispered. 

“Negan, he talks in his sleep. He says the names of his victims sometimes.”

“Simon?” Aaron asked, surprised. 

“Negan strangled him when he tried to overthrow him. Simon was the one who ordered all the men and boys to be killed at Oceanside. He killed the boy at Hilltop and was the one who massacred Jadis’ people. Negan never knew any of it,” you whispered. 

“Makes sense,” Aaron said and you furrowed your brow.

“How so?”

“Negan doesn’t hurt kids,” Aaron said simply. 

“No, no he doesn’t,” you said, glad that Aaron understood that. 

“He still grinds my gears,” Aaron said. 

“I know.”

“And since when is he a fucking botanist? Hogweed, really?” Aaron scoffed. 

“He’s been out in the world for a long time,” you said. 

“Yeah, I know,” he said and then, “I never knew about Rick.” You sighed, but you figured he had been listening. 

“Nobody knew, that was the point.”

“I guess I never realized just how much he put on you,” Aaron said. 

“I didn’t mind,” you said, leaning your head against the chair. 

“Maybe you should’ve.”

-------

The next morning, Aaron was still struggling with his eyesight, but it was getting better. 

Negan slung one of Aaron’s arms around his shoulders to help him walk as you carried the weapons. Rosita pulled open the gate when you got home and yelled for Siddiq as you explained what happened. The doctor came running down the street with worry. Once he saw that Aaron was in one piece more or less, he took him from Negan.

You knew that Siddiq and the new doctor, Dante, would get him fixed up in no time. After making sure Aaron was okay, you began to lead Negan back to his cell. As you approached the Grimes’ house, you noticed Michonne, Daryl, and a very pissed of Carol standing on the stoop. 

“Uh oh,” Negan said as he stuck close to you. As you got closer, Carol shoved past both of them and into the house. The look on Daryl’s face made you incredibly nervous considering he had just returned from the meeting with Alpha. 

You and Negan stopped next to them and Michonne seemed to relax at the sight of you, knowing that at least you were okay. 

“What happened?” you asked. 

“Carol shot at Alpha,” Michonne divulged and you sighed, trying to contain your anger. 

“Fucking fantastic,” you swore. “How much shit are we in now?” 

“She knew we crossed,” Daryl said. “She knew about all of it. The fire, the blizzard, and even when Michonne and Aaron crossed by the river. She’s got people everywhere.” 

“So Carol felt the need to light the fire further?” 

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t have?” Daryl challenged but you remained quiet. Daryl shook his head as he walked away. “I need to find Lydia,” he said before heading across the street. 

“This is only going to get worse now,” you said to Michonne who nodded. 

“I know,” she said. “Get ready for a fight.” Michonne turned and followed Carol back into the house, still rigid from the night before. You sighed, gripping the sides of your head as every fear was coming back.

“Are you actually pissed Carol tried to kill Alpha?” Negan asked. 

“No,” you said, removing the keys from your belt, “I’m pissed that she missed.”

AN: Next Chapter is going to be an important one. Hint: Carol becomes desperate and turns to an unlikely ally. 

TAGS: 

@lucillethings @cameronsails @stark-dreams @amaroho @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @scootankle @ritajammer21 @writteriguess​ @tea-atfive @jennydehavilland @waspyyy @yespleasejayhalstead @hoemadegrace @writingdeadangel @huffledor-able541 @pulplorrd @felicisimor​ 

[tiny-stack-of-knights]

AH SO I FINALLY FINISHED AN OFFICIAL REF FOR MY META KNIGHT GIJINKA AND? Not gonna lie I’m pretty happy with his design and stuff (:

I HAVE. SO MANY NOTES

So uh feel free to read them below the cut 😳

warning it’s a LOT

OKAY HERE WE GO

for starters, these are specific to my gijinka, buuuuut most of them also fit my general interpretation of him

- Meta Knight is not his actual name. It’s just the title he gave himself to sound cool.

- As such, he’s not technically a knight, just in spirit. A meta knight, if you will (:

- He takes his image very seriously. It used to be so bad that he would take literally everything seriously, and had a reputation for sucking all of the life and fun out of everything and anything. But, he’s softened up a lot since he came to dreamland. He’s actually a pretty fun guy nowadays (and maybe just a little chaotic, or, rather, enthusiastic when excited...)

- Because of his once dreadfully serious nature, his face is stone cold and “dead eyed”. Once he broke himself of his old habits and lightened up, he became humiliated by how stone faced he is, and it’s one of the many reasons he wears his mask.

- Speaking of his mask! He is sensitive to light, and his mask helps tone it down for him. He can go without it, but if he’s in a well lit area for awhile, he will start to get a migraine.

- As such, he has pretty good night vision.

- Yes...he is very bat like. That’s for a reason! My hc for my puffball gijinkas is that they have a lot of traits similar to their wing type. For instance, since Galacta has bird wings, they have some bird like features like sharp vision, soft feathers strewn about their hair, and squawking when startled.

- Yes, this implies that Meta makes cute bat-like trills and squeaks......(he also purrs. puffs purr, because they are basically just round cats)

- He is very kind and caring beneath his persona, which has become more and more evident. He is also incredibly protective of those close to him. He secretly worries he will lose them, and as such, he does everything to keep them around.

- Despite his agility, he can be quite clumsy at times. This has led to some...embarrassing injuries.

- He’s tiny! 5’0 with heels and 4’10 without them, but since he almost always wears them, he will tell people he is around 5’0 (but almost 5’1!)

- As a knight of sorts, he has a strong sense of chivalry (which is basically canon). It is hard for him to accept any sort of kindness, since he feels he owes something in return. He always makes sure to express his gratitude however he can.

- However, he is really bad at emotions and expressing himself. He suppressed most of them early on when he was painfully serious, and as he’s lightened up, he’s had to deal with actual emotions.

- He uses art and poetry to cope with this and express his emotions. He never lets anyone see it though.

- He also draws cute things. He loves cute things, but is still hesitant to let others know this, as he worries it will

- a) damage his reputation and

- b) confirm to him he is, very much, a rather cute little puffball

- There are many (often very specific) things he is fascinated by, and can talk on for hours on end. However, his more personal and less “serious” interests he rarely talks about to anyone he isn’t close with, and if they’re brought up in public, he often gets very flustered. (yes, he’s shy but he’ll never call it that)

- He loves sweets and has a passion for baking. He’s quite good at it, but not at cooking actual meals.

- Despite Kirby (and the meta-knights) thinking of him as their dad, he is absolutely horrid with children. Does not know how to deal with them. He gets very flustered (and often frustrated) if he ever has to watch them. Since he doesn’t really know how to deal with them, he kinda just treats them as he would anyone else. Because of his caring and protective nature, many still consider him dad-like.

- Oh yeah, Kirby is the exception to this since he is (usually) such a wonderful little dude. If left alone with the other puff, he can act like a semi-competent father. It is very rare that this actually happens though.

Okay, time for some darker headcanons, including a lot of post Mecha Knight stuff (‘:

Oh yeah I have a Mecha Knight gijinka too 😳

-He suffers from depression. This was one of the main reasons he used to be so dreadfully serious, and why he’s so used to suppressing his emotions. He used to use his knightly persona as a not-very-healthy way of coping.

-As a bit of a lighter note, after many years of care and support from his friends, he’s seriously lightened up.

-However, he still has days when it surfaces, and it often takes the whole day to get him back to a more functional state. Yes, even Meta Knight has to take mental health days sometimes (:

-He has a serious issue with abandonment. He worries nobody could actually care about him, and frets constantly that he will lose the people close to him. This stems back to when he got his wings, as many saw them as “demonic” and as a “bad omen”

-Because of this, he has a really low self esteem, which, again, is why he used to live through his knight persona primarily, and was so ashamed of his actual self.

-The Mecha Knight incident left him with serious mental scars, giving him minor ptsd through nightmares and panic attacks when strongly reminded of the incident.

-It also left him with a robotic eye and arm.

-During his fight with Haltmann Works, his non-gauntlet arm was severely injured. Instead of just trying to fix it, Susie gave him a shiny new robot arm. It was originally Haltmann red and black, but he repainted it and, with some help from his crew, slightly modified it to more of his style.

-He also had an eye replaced in order to be compatible with the “eye” that swerves around the mask. He’s been too scared to try rewiring or recoloring it.

-The Mecha Knight incident really set him back from all the progress he made.

-During the first few months post Mecha Knight, he hid himself, only showing up when needed. He became paranoid of him hurting his friends without knowing it, which furthered his isolation.

-Much like how he managed to learn to cope better with his depression, it took him a lot of time and help to get him back to where he used to be.

-And, to end this little segment on a happier note, as of the time of Kirby Fighters 2, he’s much happier than he’s ever been. He’s made a lot of progress, is much more open with others, and much more accepting of his soft side (:

I could honestly go on and on, I have SO MANY notes that haven’t made it into this post, including his backstory, his relationship with the other characters, and a few other miscellaneous details (I even gave him a more...normal name that he never uses cause its cute and why not). If anyone’s ever interested in more though, feel free to ask me, I do have anon ask on after all, and boy do I have a lot to say (:

God, maybe I put a little too much thought and psychoanalysis (and maybe just maybe a liittllleee too much projection) into my interpretations but? hey, I had fun with it

If you actually read all of this bullshit, holy shit thank you and I hope you had fun too (:

[lumilasi]

Finished her pretty quick, I just got an idea surprisingly fast. Also this confirms Ryuu has a type: Redhead, intelligent, wears lot of black and red lmao. Also her pose is a bit wonky, but eh. it shows her outfit well enough.

....This reminds me, I should rewrite Reidou’s bio somewhat, I don’t quite like her BG story yet. 

Anyway, further info below:

Age: 27 (she was 20 when she met Ryuu)

Sexuality: Bi

Ezuko’s QUIRK EXPLAINED

BASICS (Pros in normal, cons in bold)

Quirk name: Living ink

Ezuko is able to create ink-like substance into any surface she touches, basically allowing her to create tattoos and art pieces without needing tools. She just needs to imagine what she wants the picture look like, or have a reference to look at. She can also turn liquids into this inky substance.

Ezuko tends to need more time and proper focus if she wants to create larger and more intricate designs. For her to create these images or change a liquid into ink, she does need to be touching the object/liquid.

TATTOOING/ILLUSTRATING

She can easily create tattoos for people with her ability that is pretty much pain free, or graffiti or even basically change the color and design of an entire building, piece of clothing, etc.

The image she’s made, she can shift and change and make move however she wants, even after a long time. She can use these moving images to even temporarily blind people by making the image shift around their eyes.

The process in some cases take even longer than doing the same tattoo traditionally would take, at least if the image is complex and large, and she doesn’t have proper references for it.

For her to be able to make the pictures move, she usually requires having been touching the object/person minimum of five seconds.

Her quirk ultimately is not meant for combat, and she can’t really use her drawings in a fight, only disorient them to either flee or find a chance to use her liquid shifting ability.

LIQUID SHIFT

Ezuko’s ability to change liquids into ink can allow her (accidentally or on purpose) to turn a person’s blood into ink and basically poison them to death near instantly. 

She can neutralize liquid based attacks as well by turning them to her ink, which will automatically start to listen to her commands.

She is immune to most acids and poisons (non-digested ones) because she automatically turns these things into ink when they touch her. It’s not her quirk being passive however, but rather a survival reaction she has developed. 

In order to do this, she needs to be able to touch the liquid she wants to change, which means in a case of a fight, she needs to either make the person bleed (or get them to spit or whatever, she prefers the blood as its “easier.”)

PERSONALITY SUMMARY

Ezuko tends to be fairly blunt, no nonsense type of person. She’s mostly pretty calm and level headed even in tight situations, but when her temper flares it can be pretty bad. She’s gonna let you hear where you screwed up exactly, in other words. 

Ezuko tends to not like people with “strong” quirks by default, because the whole obsession over quirks let to her family disowning her for not having a “good enough” power and wanting to do something else than be a hero or have some other profilic career. She can change her mind about you (like she did with Ryuu) once she gets to know you better, and sees you’re not putting all your value as a person on your power. 

She’s quite intelligent and enjoys reading and learning about a lot of different things, partly because it helps her imagination run wilder and thus makes it faster to create her images. 

BACKGROUND STORY (A quick summary, details may develop)

Ezuko was born to parents who were all about status, and quite disappointed to find out her quirk wasn’t suitable for heroism. They then tried to push her for something else that could rise their wealth and standing in society. Ezuko herself didn’t want to do this, dealing with a lot of arguments and abusive language from them, up until she moved out at age 18, heading to study arts. After that her family basically disowned her, refusing to even answer her calls. Ezuko quit trying to reach them, figuring she’d be better off without.

Then, when she was doing an apprenticeship in a tattoo parlor, she ended up having to deal with an abusive customer one evening, where he started harassing her. In a panic, she ended up discovering another, unfortunate side-effect of her quirk, where during the struggle she managed to make the guy bleed, and then swiftly turned his blood into ink, killing him near instantly. Some local residents came to see the commotion, and instead of asking her side of the story just automatically began to call her a murderer as the customer was a regular, forcing her to flee the scene. 

The local press and everybody around there started to exaggerate her temper and further paint her in a bad light, forcing Ezuko to flee the place altogether. She tried to reach for her parents for help, but they refused to help her, believing the media that she’d done it on purpose.

Sometime during her runaway spree she ran into Ryuu, who’d only recently gained lot of notoriety, though the girl was unaware of this. He helped her in a fight against some thugs, and she brings the injured Ryuu into her hideout to fix his injuries. They stick together for a bit, and Ryuu even brings her to a person he knows that generally tends to help out with people like her - a broker named Giran. Giran let’s her work in his bar, also making sure that everybody knew not to bother her as that’d be a bad idea. He even helps her to get a place to stay in eventually. Sometime during these years, she hears rumors about “Frostbite” having potentially died, which makes her a little sad initially, though Giran cheers her up be stating that there was probably more to the story than that.

Some years after that, she finds out about Ryuu being alive through Giran, as he sends her to bring something to “an old acquaintance” as the man put it. This said acquaintance turned out to be Ryuu.

Few more extra details;

- She’s the only person out of the people around Kain who actually understands his more scientific talk. They can end up having long conversations about a subject that none of the others have a clue of.

- Her name translates to “Paint” (Pandoru that she pronounces as pandora) and “illustration lake.” (Ezuko)

- The world she lives in is based on my fic Reanimate, which basically means there’s no league of villains, as Tenko never became “Shigaraki.” Giran is the only important member (outside of afo) that is still a criminal in this AU. Because of Kain’s dimension hopping ability, this doesn’t mean she doesn’t get to interact with the more villainous versions of the gang, though. 

- Ezuko made Ryuu’s dragon tattoo as a thank you for helping her.

- Her surname is bit of a pun, as it’s written as “Pandoru” aka paint, but after leaving home and her parents behind, she began saying it as “Pandora” referring to Pandora’s box as a bit of a darker joke about her choosing to go against her parents and thus unleashing a lot of bad things into her life. This proved to be even more accurate after the parlor incident. 

- Her parents wanted her to either find a way to become a hero with her quirk, or go into some other highly respected profession for status and money, when Ezuko just wanted to do something artistic.

- Ryuu actually didn’t start crushing on her until after they met again years later after their first meeting, when he and Kain returned from another eventful dimension hopping trip to visit their little sanctuary corner and friends, Wasabi and his mums. Up until then he’d seen her just as a friend/acquaintance

- Wasabi digs her a lot because they have similar hairstyles.

- The vine tattoo represents her quirk and spreads around her arms and shoulders more when using her quirk. When using it in extreme amounts (Like turning a large body of liquid into ink for example) her skin around those parts gets so covered it looks like she just has one large pitch black tattoo covering those areas, and you can no longer see the vine details. 

Also, the ref sheet base was made by yourultraarchive as usual

[riisinaakka-draws]

Part 4 of my old Black Sails scraps and doodles from 2016–2021. Not in any particular order.

And of course, please do not steal and repost elsewhere. But if you do get inspired, feel free to make your own interpretations! :D

This post contains chicken on Walrus doodles, lots of touching faces, mustache shenanigans and grooming, inktober plans, surprisingly many parental moments (?) etc.

Under the cut, because this is another very long post!

Old plans for the “chickens on the Walrus” serie (2016) inspired by [THIS]  @balloonstand​​’s post (s4 ideas) where The Walrus crew aquires lots of chickens and here are some scenes I imagined could further happen, lol.

The fluffy chicken and those rubber ones were a hot thing at the time, so I tried to incorporate them somehow xD Also I think only one person “got” my joke of “c*ck between his legs” but I guess it was also because I didn’t really draw a proper rooster... Here the chicken have occupied the cabin and are looking at maps:

Max trying to console Anne while Jack looks, snuggled in a hammock. This was right after the episode 7 of season 4 and I had no idea how things would go - but I wanted them to make amends :) I like this sketch more because the end result (2017) became quite murky and blurry :/ (I think my screen wasn’t calibrated properly, lol)

I drew this in 2016 and I remember how paranoid I was after the series ended (in 2017) because I was so afraid that some anti-silver people would be mad if they stumbled on this and didn’t read the caption properly and somehow took this like I was trying to replace Thomas (yeah I know I was overthinking things wayyy too much but things were quite heated after the finale).

But anyway, the sad hidden truth is that the ref for this was the moment when Flint is grieving Mr Gates in s1 and holding his body... and I drew this because I was just wishing there would be at least a hug in season 4 (because who else would be there to hug Flint now that Miranda was gone too? Well now we know!). Still wish there had been also a silverflint hug...

Now moving on!

“That’s my wee lad, Gimli.” (2017) This is one of the early drafts for Woodes Rogers and captain Berringer. Idk why, but I laughed when he was looking at that locket in the show and it reminded me of the Hobbit movie scene with Legolas and Glóin... Woodes regrets asking about the locket, lol. This was around the same time as the MaxAnneJack+hammock, because the lantern is very similar here. And I was drawing these right after the episodes.

Next, the grooming shop at the Nassau’s market (2019):

as you can see, the original sketch was mirrored. Another one, thinking about the values and adding Anne:

There were other versions too. One where Flint is twirling Thomas’ (?) new mustache and one where Flint is playing with Silver’s hair/mustache while they are in bed, one with Jack and his mustache and one where the Brothel Blackbeard, Silver (still clean faced bb) and Max have fun after the orgy with fake mustaches made of their long dark curly hair and Jack stumbles on them (shocked, when he wasn’t asked to join) - but the timelines were all over the place and one art was enough, lol. Although this idea grew into another piece with Flint, Thomas and Silver but I have not finished it yet.

This is original plan I had for the Abigail and Miranda piece (2018):

The ref was from the show but for some reason I ended up changing quite a lot. Although I like the colours and the ship in this one a bit more than the final result.

I just realised that this post has a lot of touching people’s faces! xD

As does this one too, lol. (finally posted the finished art in 2021)

The original working title was “PinkyChair” because the idea was that Flint was tied to the chair and Silver was teasing him, but Flint still managed to touch with his pinky, lol.

The parallels, lol ~ This is just a sketch with no further development. It had something to do with the funny pose when 1) Flint is fighting Teach on the beach and falls on his back, leg kicked straight up 2) and what if Silver used his peg leg as an extra blade when he and Flint were training.

Next, some plans for inktober 2017. I was planning to draw Anne and was trying to figure out which prompt would fit. I brainstormed almost all the prompts so I wouldn’t have to spend time thinking about them daily during the month, but never really got into it after all.

Some ideas I did use later, tho, like the De Groot and “SCREECH”:

Same batch, prompt “TRAIL” (Dooley and Flint carrying the treasure chest and Silver, Israel and company going after them). 

The next sketch is quite old (and never continued) and had something to do with the interview where Toby talked about eating his kids candies secretly or something? and how hard he found lying to his mom about things? I don’t quite remember anymore. But of course here’s a combination of Captain Flint and his mom, the dowager from Downton Abbey, heh.

Thank you for checking this out and I hope you had fun! <3

[tsarisfanfiction]

Grounded pt4

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: Scott, Tracy Family

7k words later and this thing that was supposed to be a short explanation for what I saw as a plot hole in Venom is finally at an end. Got rather out of hand but since when is that unusual with fics? This’ll be proof read, edited, and then posted on AO3/FFN soon; I’m still undecided if I should chapter split it or have it all as a oneshot but it won’t be exactly as it’s been split here because I’ve posted this as I wrote it.

Someone mentioned ‘what if the ep was really like this’ so I’ll reiterate some of my earlier notes: this fic is a reaction to the lack of TB1 or Scott doing any sort of piloting in the S3 Venom despite it being a rescue where speed was important.  All the events in part 2 fit around the events we see in the episode seamlessly (I literally watched it in 5 sec bursts as I was writing to make sure of that), so to them and everyone else who thought that: this fic is designed to be that episode, just viewed through a different lens.  And then I made it worse after the episode was over because why not.

The reaction to this has been fantastic so far, way beyond anything I expected!  Thanks for that, and I hope you enjoy this last installment as much as the rest of it.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

There was a steady beeping, calm and methodical.  Beep… beep… beep… it went, more of a reassurance than an irritant to the dregs of his consciousness.  Scott recognised it, but couldn’t place it, and found himself more interested in the fresh air flowing around his mouth and nose.  That was more immediately familiar, a constant from his last bout of consciousness, and it didn’t take his stirring brain long to label it as a rebreather.

Was that really necessary? Frowning slightly, he lifted a hand to his face and tugged the machine away, fresh air replaced with warmer air that had just the faintest tang.  The air of the sea.  He’d been on Thunderbird Two, but Thunderbird Two’s air didn’t taste of warmth and salt, rather the recycled air of an enclosed plane in flight, crisp and just a little bit off.  If this wasn’t Thunderbird Two and he was tasting sea air, there was only one place he could possibly be.

He smiled, hand still holding the rebreather falling to his side limply.  He was home.

Opening his eyes was a little more of a challenge, eyelids still heavy and eyelashes catching on each other, but as he blinked his way into awareness, beads of moisture forming in the corners of his eyes but not falling, he realised that he was almost sitting upright, the bed raised to its full extent so he was facing the wall with its fake holographic window rather than the plain and boring ceiling.

Scott appreciated that, letting the rebreather fall from his fingers as he wiped the sleep and moisture from his eyes.  He’d spent far too many hours staring at the ceiling that never changed, and at least the hologram could change.  The actual reasoning behind his positioning was more likely his rib, which Scott would worry about later.  It wasn’t his rib that had tried to kill him, and he looked down at his left arm.

A neat band-aid – a childish one, decorated with bright red biplanes soaring across a blue background that he’d always fought for as a kid – stood out against his bare skin, just below the elbow, and he smiled, wondering which of his brothers was responsible for that one.  On that same forearm he also saw a cannula, attached to tubing with translucent liquid passing through, and grimaced.  He never liked being on a drip.

He was no longer in his uniform.  Part of him – the part that contained his pride – bristled at that, wondering who had stripped him while he was unconscious and why, but the clothes he was wearing were comfortable, well-worn, and unmistakable as his favourite pyjamas even without him looking at them.  His comfort-pyjamas, although he was fairly certain he’d never made the mistake of letting that slip to anyone.  The ones he turned to whenever things got particularly rough, a plain unassuming dark grey with worn patches from the times he’d needed all the support he could get.

It could just be a coincidence, although Scott was uncomfortably aware that if there was one person he couldn’t keep anything truly secret from it was John, but whatever the reason, he was glad of them now.  There was nothing like comfort clothes after a near-death experience.

Considering he’d just had a near-death experience, the lack of anyone in the room with him was somewhat unusual.  Virgil in particular he’d expected to see, his younger brother blaming himself for bringing him out on the mission even before he’d been bitten, let alone afterwards. Kayo hovering unassumedly in the corner, sharp eyes full of concern.  John flickering by his side, watching him for the slightest change. Grandma, retired from caring for strangers but never too old to stay up all night with her family.

Scott eyed the drip. If none of his family were with him, physically or virtually, then that meant something else was going on that trumped his condition.  In their family, there was very little that trumped an unconscious brother or grandson. And if they weren’t with him, he had no intentions of staying put.

He’d removed drips hundreds of times – his own and other peoples’.  By this point, he had it down to an art, even if his sneaky family had tried to make it harder on him by putting it in his dominant arm; there were benefits to being ambidextrous.  He reached across with his right hand, fingers gently probing the needle, and had just found the sweet spot when there was the unmistakable hsss of the door sliding open.

“What do you think you’re doing, young man?” Grandma demanded, striding in and gently but firmly forcing him to release his grip.  “That’s there for a reason.”

“Hey, Grandma,” he greeted, grinning at her and ignoring that she’d just caught him trying to escape. “How long was I asleep?”

“Your siblings brought you back four and a half hours ago,” she told him, picking up the discarded rebreather and placing it on the bedside table before perching on the bed.  Scott watched her carefully, accepting the hand cupping his cheek as a thumb swiped at what was presumably some sleep he’d missed.  “Trust you to wake up the one time I have to use the toilet.  This old bladder can’t hold it in like it used to.”

Scott grimaced good-naturedly at the tmi and she chuckled at him, patting his cheek lightly twice before letting her hand rest.

“You gave us all a scare there, Scott,” she said softly, eyes running over him once before meeting his own.  “You don’t have to try and beat Gordon on that score, you know.  It’s okay to let someone else have that crown.”

“I’d appreciate it if he never gave me another scare in my life,” Scott admitted, before glancing around the room again.  “Where are they, anyway?  Not to sound self-centred, but I don’t usually wake up here alone.”

“Alan and Kayo are dealing with a stalled freighter just outside of orbit and Gordon and Virgil are responding to a sinking cargo ship,” Grandma told him.  “They’ll all be back soon, and delighted to know you’ve decided to re-join the land of the living.”  She tangled her fingers with his, pressing them to her chest with a hand that was almost trembling.  “It was a close call, Scott.  Your brother almost didn’t make it in time.”

His brother? Virgil?  John?  John had had a plan, he remembered that much, although he wasn’t sure he’d ever heard the details.  Wait…

“I heard Thunderbird One,” he said, recalling the roar that had soothed him to sleep like a purr.  It could have been a figment of his imagination, but he didn’t think so.  A smile spread across his grandmother’s face.

“Of course you did,” she laughed.  “You boys and your machines.  Well on your way to see your mother and you still recognised your ‘bird.”  The smile was bright for a moment before it dimmed again. “Alan flew all the way to a lab in China to collect a dose of the antivenom before rendezvousing with Thunderbird Two to deliver it.  I’ve never seen that ‘bird fly so fast without you in the hotseat.”

Alan.  Scott could well imagine his youngest brother, face screwed up in concentration and fear, sat in the pilot’s seat.  The idea tied a knot in his chest, but at the same time there was pride, and an unexpected thankfulness for the rib injury that had kept him grounded and subsequently given Alan more flight hours in his ‘bird. Without that…

Without that, he might well have died.  The realisation doused him like cold water, his eyes leaving his grandmother’s to stare blindly at his lap.  He’d known he was dying, remembered a desperate fight against whispered promises of the stars and seeing his Mom again, but sitting in the infirmary, home and safe, it carried a different weight.

“Oh, Scott,” Grandma whispered, releasing his hand and cheek only to draw him in to a careful hug around his shoulders.  “It’s okay. It’s over.”  After a moment his hands found the back of her always there purple onesie, fisting around the fabric as his head rested in the crook of her neck.  “It’s okay.”

There was the slightest of cracks in her voice, a reminder that no matter how much steel she was made of, she wasn’t immune to the idea of loss.  Her parents, long ago, before Scott’s memories began.  Her husband, daughter in law.  Her son, who might still be alive and waiting for them.

“I’m okay,” he repeated, as much for her benefit as his.  “I’m okay.”

Her hand found the back of his head, fingers threading through his hair softly as though he was a young boy woken from a nightmare again.  It was the sort of treatment she didn’t give him in front of his brothers, knowing that he preferred to keep up the illusion of strength in front of them, no matter what.

“I want you to take it easy,” she told him after a minute or so, releasing him and instead gripping his hands in hers.  One pair was trembling, but he didn’t know if it was his or hers.  “I know that’s not in your vocabulary, but I refuse to let you throw yourself back in harms’ way until you’re fully recovered after what happened today.”

“But-” Scott protested, complaints and reasons why he shouldn’t be bedbound queuing up one after the other on the tongue.  A single look from his grandmother quelled them all before he could vocalise any.

“If you can’t do it for the sake of your own recovery,” she said, something in her voice implying that she thought he should treat himself better – he treated himself fine! – “then do it for our peace of mind, Scott.  We were all terrified when we heard what happened. Virgil was stuck watching you slip away with no way of stopping it.  That fear doesn’t magically go away, Scott.  We all know that.”

He was saved from answering by the swish of the door opening again.  He glanced over, wondering who it could be when he hadn’t heard any Thunderbirds come in to land.  Brains and the Mechanic were the only others on the island, and while it wasn’t unusual for Brains to check up on the infirmary, Scott didn’t want the Mechanic near him in his current condition.

It wasn’t the Mechanic. It wasn’t Brains, either – or MAX, for that matter.

“h’Oh, you’re h’awake!” Parker said with a surprised but delighted grin as he fumbled his way into the room carrying a tray laden with food.  “h’I was just bringing food for Mrs Tracy…” he trailed off, but continued to approach the bed.

“Parker, you shouldn’t have,” Grandma smiled, releasing one of Scott’s hands to move the rebreather off of the bedside table.  The older man set the tray down before stepping up to Scott’s side.  He didn’t reach for him, keeping his hands loosely behind his back, but sharp blue eyes raked him up and down.

“’Ow are you feeling?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m fine,” Scott replied, ignoring the eye roll from his grandmother, who clearly didn’t agree with his assessment.  Aside from some token weariness, which he knew was normal after a spell of time unconscious, he really did feel perfectly fine.  Even his rib wasn’t bothering him.

“h’I suppose that’s because you’re h’on the good stuff,” Parker shrugged, making Scott pause.  He should have realised that, especially after all the trouble his ribs had given him on the mission.  The temptation was there to ask how badly his recovery had been set back, but that would have just given Grandma even more ammunition to stay in bed. Besides, he’d be told eventually. Of more immediate interest was Parker’s unexpected visit.

“What brings you to the island, Parker?” he asked, glancing around the room again.  “I don’t see Lady Penelope around?”

“M’Lady’s in the lounge,” Parker told him.  “We came ‘ere to drop off the Centurion-21 fuel for Brains, but ‘eard h’about you and M’Lady requested to stay h’a while.”

“You’re always welcome here,” Grandma reminded him, and Scott smiled in agreement.  “Is she making any progress?”

“h’I couldn’t say for sure,” Parker shrugged.  “But I know M’Lady and Master John won’t stop h’until they get their way.”

Scott frowned.  Combined, John and Lady Penelope were an almost unstoppable force, but he couldn’t think of any reason for that tag-team, not right now.

“What are they doing?” he asked, because anything that big, he needed to know about.  Especially if working on that was a higher priority for John than checking in on him – John, the brother who was too used to sitting out of the loop and firmly inserted himself virtually into any situation with a brother operating at less than one hundred percent.  Scott knew he wasn’t at one hundred percent, not even by his own standards.

“Making sure today’s events never happen again,” Grandma answered, curling her hand back around his again.

Today’s events. The rescue?  Him being bitten?  That was all bad luck, how could they possibly ensure it never happened again? Although, he supposed, if anyone could, it would be the duo currently working on it.

His confusion must have shown on his face, because Parker took it upon himself to explain.  “h’It transpires that the reason the ‘ospital ran h’out of h’antivenom was a funding problem,” he said, sounding somewhat unimpressed.  Scott didn’t blame him – whenever money was the problem, he found himself wanting to strangle whoever had decided lining their pockets was more important than human lives. “M’Lady h’is setting up a charity to make sure all ‘ospitals can ‘ave all the h’antivenoms they need.”  Admirable and welcome, but that didn’t explain John’s involvement.  He certainly hadn’t been needed in any of her past charity ventures.

“So what’s John doing?” he asked, hoping his brother was not ruining whoever had decided money was more important than lives.  It wouldn’t be the first time, and while Scott agreed that they deserved it, sometimes John could go a little too far.

“Arranging for International Rescue to have our own stock of all known antivenoms,” Grandma told him, squeezing his hands gently.  “We might not be able to stop spiders sneaking into our Thunderbirds, or you boys throwing yourselves in front of each other, but there is no reason why you should have had to suffer for an hour because you didn’t have the right antivenom on hand.”

That made sense, and Scott nodded his approval.  International Rescue did have a stock of common antivenoms, as well as everything they needed to deal with the local fauna on Tracy Island, but if they could broaden that, at least to the most dangerous venoms, it would only be a good thing.

It was also a typical John reaction – finding out why something had gone wrong and immediately finding a way to stop it happening again.  That, at least, told Scott that John was okay.  If he’d found a solution to the problem then he would be satisfied. No doubt Scott would find himself under close holographic scrutiny in the near future so John could see for himself that he really was fine, but with a solution the what-ifs wouldn’t be playing on his mind.

His other siblings would be less easily pacified.  He had no idea what Gordon knew, having not seen his water-loving brother at all that day thanks to a fishing trawler in trouble, but Virgil and Kayo would be kicking themselves black and blue, and Alan would be stuck in the what if I’d been too late loop.  Scott knew that feeling very well indeed.

He hadn’t yet decided if the fact that it had launched rather than exploded made the fact that he’d reached the Zero-X too late better or worse.  He wasn’t sure he’d ever decide.

“Still, I think we’d better let them know you’ve woken up,” Grandma said, releasing his hands.  “I won’t be long, so don’t even think about getting out of that bed, young man.”  She shared a look with Parker.  “If you’re hungry, see if you can eat some of that food Parker’s brought in.”  A gentle hand touched his cheek lightly before she stood up and left the room.

One look at Parker told him he wasn’t going to be going anywhere, especially when the man perched on the section of bed Grandma had just vacated.  Parker was the one he’d learnt many of his escaping tricks from – if there was one person that would see through them all, it was the butler.

“h’I wouldn’t be in too much of a ‘urry to h’escape, Master Scott,” the older man said, and Scott found himself relaxing back against the bed.  Master Scott.  It was his favourite of Parker’s ways of referring to him, but also the rarest.  He’d graduated to ‘Mr Scott’ after the Zero-X, the man’s acknowledgement that he was now the head of the family without using the dreaded Mr Tracy.  Parker never called him that, not even in public when the rest of the world insisted. Sir was a substitute when society demanded, and Scott always appreciated that.

Master Scott only came out when Parker was being fussy, and never with an audience.  Just like Grandma, he knew and accepted there was a front to be held in front of younger siblings – even if neither of them approved.  If he was Master Scott, he wasn’t expected to make any decisions or take on any of his father’s responsibilities.

“Some food?” the butler asked, gesturing to the tray.  It was homemade, but not by Grandma, and Scott would have to be far worse off to even consider declining that.  In answer, he reached for the toast, only for Parker to lightly touch his wrist and stop him. “You’ll get crumbs h’everywhere if you h’eat like that,” the older man scolded lightly.  “Stay still, there’s a good lad.”

The tray was relocated to his lap, and Scott tore into the offering as soon as Parker retracted his hands, to an amused chuckle from his companion.

“h’It’s not going anywhere, Master Scott,” Parker reminded him.

“He’s just trying to finish it before the others get home and want to share,” John commented, and Scott’s head jerked up to see his brother’s hologram materialise alongside him. He looked tired, not that that was an unusual occurrence over the past few weeks.  “You’re looking better, Scott.”

“I can’t imagine that’s hard,” he managed through a mouthful of food.  The last time he’d been aware of John’s presence, he’d been deep in the clutches of deadly venom.  If he’d looked half as had as he’d felt, it would have been an awful sight.  “How’s the campaign going?”

John pulled a face.  “They’re asking for money, which by itself isn’t a problem because I expected that, but they’re trying to charge us triple what they charge hospitals, and as Lady P’s working to get those rates reduced because they’re extortionate, I’m not letting them use our lives to line their pockets.”

Scott grimaced along with him.  Money grabbers were the worst.

“So what’s your plan?” he asked, because there was no way John was letting that slide.

“Persuading them that it’s better in their interest long-term to not try and bankrupt us,” John offered, a bemused look on his face.  “We could afford it, but if they think that they’ll be driving the prices up with every new shipment.  More realistically, I’m talking to Colonel Casey to see if the GDF can’t pull some weight. As they’re military and not private, the companies couldn’t charge them as much.  It would leave us needing the GDF’s good will for access, but we already know the GDF don’t dare put us out of business.”

It was Scott’s turn to pull a face.  He hated getting the GDF involved in anything; for as long as Colonel Casey was a dominant figure in the organisation International Rescue wouldn’t have any issues, but in the longer term he was brutally aware that she was their father’s generation.  At some point, she would be forced to retire and then they’d – he’d – have to handle the full force of the GDF without inside help.

Still, he trusted John and Colonel Casey.  Anything they implemented would be beneficial to International Rescue.

“Let me know what you come up with,” he requested, and John nodded, turquoise eyes briefly scanning across him.

“Alan and Kayo will be returning home in five minutes,” he told him.  “Do you want me to tell them you’re awake or let them find out for themselves when they check in?”

“Tell them once they’ve landed,” Scott decided.  “Virgil and Gordon, too – what’s their ETA?”

“They’re racing Thunderbird Three home,” John shrugged.  “But Thunderbird Three will win.”  Scott chuckled.  Alan somehow always won their races home, no matter how much further away he’d been.

“What are they betting this time?” he asked, and John grinned.

“Loser gets to be your slave for the week,” he said.

“Mine?”

“Well you’re not doing much on your own any time soon,” John told him matter-of-factly.  “Has Grandma given you the rundown?”  Scott blinked, pausing mid-bite.

“I thought I was supposed to be walking around with the ribs,” he ventured tentatively.  “But no, I haven’t been told what the damage is yet. Care to fill me in?”

John glanced away at something Scott couldn’t see.

“Your rib re-broke,” he started bluntly.  “Which I’m sure you’ve realised.  So that’s another six weeks grounded, and this time no-one’s sneaking you onto a Thunderbird before that’s up.”

“Six weeks?” Scott groaned.  John raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“Well what did you expect?” he asked.  “Kayo filled us in on the mission details once you were stable.  You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”

“But-” Scott protested. “What about the mission to find Dad?” John shook his head.

“The new Zero-X will take longer that to construct,” he told him.  “Brains and the Mechanic finished the T-Drive while you were out in Brazil and we’ve got the fuel, so they’re going to test fire it tomorrow to make sure it’s all working before they start on the craft itself.”

“Tomorrow?” Scott asked. “If it’s ready why not today?”

“Even engineers need breaks sometimes, Scott,” John scolded lightly.  “They’ve been working almost non-stop for the past five weeks, which I know you know.”  There was a slightly accusatory tone at the end of his sentence, and Scott realised John knew how closely he’d started watching the two engineers.  “Besides, Grandma and Virgil won’t let you out of that bed for at least twenty four hours, and we all know you won’t be happy unless you see it for yourself.”

Well, they weren’t wrong.

“You still haven’t told me why I’m getting a slave for a week over a broken rib,” Scott realised, and John once again raised an eyebrow at him.

“You haven’t tried to get out of bed yet?”

“Don’t h’encourage ‘im, Master John,” Parker groaned.  “Mrs Tracy ‘ad to stop ‘im h’earlier and ‘e ‘asn’t ‘ad h’a chance since.”

“It was an hour before the antivenom reached you, Scott.  The damage doesn’t get miraculously fixed just because the venom’s gone,” John continued.  “Your blood pressure is still low so I’d wager you’ll probably pass out if you try to stand right now, no matter how ‘fine’ you feel, and we don’t yet know for sure if it’s done any damage to your heart.”

“My heart?”  The soft background beeping caught Scott’s attention and he turned his head to the EKG.  It was on, signalling that it was receiving data from wireless transmitters.  He put a hand to his chest; underneath the pyjamas he felt the tell-tale patches, leaving him with no doubt that it was his own heartbeat it was recording.  “Oh.” That was low.  Not dramatically so, but lower than his normal resting rate.

“It’s recovered reasonably well, but Grandma and Virgil still aren’t happy with it,” John told him. From his tone, it wasn’t only the family medics unhappy.  “I know you don’t like staying in bed, but unless you want to fall over and make your ribs worse, I would suggest you stay put.”

Scott scowled.

“You’re also recovering from dehydration, so drink up and leave that drip in,” Grandma added, walking back in with a large cup, complete with straw.  “I see there’s nothing wrong with your appetite,” she observed. Parker obligingly removed the now-empty tray away from Scott’s lap and stood so that she could sit back on the side of the bed.  “Drink.”

Obediently, he took the cup with both hands and sipped at the liquid, which revealed itself to be simply water.  A dull rumbling even through the soundproofing of the infirmary told him Thunderbird Three was back.  John confirmed that before signing off to talk to their returning siblings.

Scott made a note of the time, wondering how long it would take before he had visitors.

Three minutes later and the door slammed open to find Kayo and Alan shoulder-to-shoulder, clearly racing each other.

“No running in the house!” Grandma barked, but neither of them looked the least apologetic.  They did at least walk the distance from the door to his bed, where Grandma had slipped off to let them get closer.  Both stopped short, Alan fidgeting from foot to foot at he stared at him with open relief, and Scott rolled his eyes.

“Come here,” he told his youngest brother, spreading his arms in demand of a hug.  As always, Alan needed no further invitation, crashing into him and wrapping his arms around him tightly, although it didn’t miss Scott’s attention that it wasn’t Alan’s usual rib-squeezing hug.  He appreciated that, curling his own arms around his brother’s shoulders.

Alan was trembling.  “I thought I was going to lose you,” he mumbled into Scott’s neck.  “I thought-”

“I’m still here, kid,” he interrupted quietly.  “And I hear I have you to thank for that.”  The sniffle he got in response told him it was Alan, the baby brother, rather than Alan the emergency responder he was dealing with.  “You did good.”

“I thought I was too late,” Alan mumbled, and there were tears against Scott’s skin.  He tightened his grip on his brother.  “You looked d-dead.  I d-didn’t think you were breathing.”

“I’m here and breathing,” Scott reminded him, letting him sob on his shoulder as long as he needed, rubbing the neoprene – both siblings were still in uniform – underneath his hand reassuringly.  He remembered the same reaction after EOS had first made herself known to them, only that time it had been John Alan had clung to in tears, post-adrenaline rush. They needed to stop putting their lives in Alan’s hands like that.

But Alan would settle, barring the new nightmare fuel that never went away, once he’d let out the initial emotions.  It was either a blessing of youth, or a coping strategy he’d been forced to employ too young. Kayo, who was watching with unguarded relief across her face, was like John; pragmatic and level-headed.  A serious conversation would settle her, although when she met his eyes, he linked his hands together behind Alan’s back and made them flutter, shooting her a quick grin.

The resulting glower she sent him didn’t hide the softening in her eyes, or the way her shoulders slumped. Satisfied for the moment, he returned his attention to his youngest brother, who seemed content to stay where he was.  Scott let him, nodding at Parker when the older man gestured that he was going to leave the room.

No sooner was Parker gone than Gordon burst through the door, Virgil hot on his heels.

“Scott!”  Gordon skidded to a stop just behind Alan, reaching out to put a hand on Scott’s shoulder where he could.  “Don’t do that again,” he demanded, amber eyes flicking to the EKG for a split second before he found some space to perch on the bed behind Alan.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Scott shot back.  Gordon grinned.

“I won’t if you don’t,” he said.  “Deal?”

“Deal.”

They couldn’t really promise that, not in their profession, but Scott saw something lift behind Gordon’s eyes, the banter regardless doing something to reassure him.  Gordon had always used humour to cope.

Four siblings down, or at least addressed, and one to go.  Somehow, Scott didn’t think a hug or joke would work quite so well on Virgil. Guilt was deep-set in brown eyes, but Virgil didn’t look at him directly, focusing on the EKG and drip as he bustled around.

“Virgil,” he said, pulling one hand away from Alan to catch his brother’s arm the moment Virgil got in reach. It was the arm with the needle in it, bright band aid stark against his skin.  Virgil’s eyes focussed on it and Scott sighed, tightening his grip on the neoprene beneath his fingers.  “Look at me.” He couldn’t do much, not while Alan was still clinging to him, but hell if he was going to let Virgil shut himself away and stew in a self-inflicted puddle of misplaced guilt.

Virgil stilled, but didn’t obey.  Scott closed his eyes and sighed again, squeezing Alan lightly.  The blond snuffled but didn’t otherwise move.

“Virgil.”  That was John’s voice, his final brother reappearing holographically at the foot of Scott’s bed.  The middle brother ignored him, too.

“Kid, your brother’s talking to you,” Grandma chipped in.  “At least have the manners to look at him.”  Despite the words, there was no scolding in her tone, just a quiet encouragement.  Virgil glanced up at her, and a look passed between them that Scott couldn’t see before Virgil slowly turned to face him.

“Thank you,” he said before Virgil could apologise, or say something else nonsensical.  Whatever his brother had been gearing up for, it clearly wasn’t that; he blinked, startled, before opening his mouth to probably-protest. “I know it was Alan that got the antivenom, but you’re the one that kept me alive long enough to get it.”

“I’m the reason you needed it in the first place!” Virgil snapped, looking away again.  “If I’d paid more attention… if I-”

“If nothing,” Scott interrupted, conscious that they had an audience but unable to ask anyone to leave.  He wanted his family there, with him, and knew they were all busy reassuring themselves that he was going to be fine.  “You’d have done the same thing if our positions were reversed, except I’m not as good as you with all the medical stuff.”

“You’d have done enough,” Virgil mumbled, and Scott rolled his eyes.

“And you did enough,” he returned.  “No what-ifs, Virgil.”  Hell knew he’d told himself that enough through the years, with varying levels of success.

Virgil at least met his eyes again, even though Scott could see it wasn’t enough to lift the guilt. That would take much longer, including him making a full recovery and a conversation without the rest of the family listening in, intentionally or not.

“You’re staying in that bed,” he said instead, and Scott made a grumbling noise of protest.

“So I’ve been told,” he replied.  “I can’t say I’m happy about it, but John made quite the compelling argument.”

“Does this mean you’ll listen to me for once?” John asked disbelievingly, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

“What do you mean, for once?” Scott asked.  “I listen to you!”

“When it suits you,” John rebuked.  “I have a list, if you’d care to hear it.”

Scott wouldn’t put it past John to actually have a list.  He turned his attention back to his other brothers without responding, to an amused noise from the space monitor, and gave Alan a grin as the youngest finally pulled back from his shoulder, eyeing him with teary blue eyes.

“I’ll sit on you if you try and get up,” the youngest told him firmly, look somewhat ruined by those eyes. Gordon laughed.

“Alan, you’re a twig.”

“Am not, fishboy!”

“Are, too!”

“Not!”

“Boys,” Kayo interrupted, taking a few steps closer to the cluster on the bed.  With one arm now free, Scott reached for her and got a light hug at his silent request.  It didn’t last long, but it was enough for the rest of the tension to leave her shoulders before she stepped back, out of his reach again.

“Hey, where’s my hug?” Gordon demanded, and Scott raised an eyebrow at him.

“You want a hug, you’ve got to come get it yourself,” he said.  “I’m not moving.”

Permission gained, Gordon shoved Alan out of the way, the younger falling off the bed with a squawk of indignation, and wrapped himself around Scott.  It was far looser than his usual hugs, but out of all his brothers, Gordon was best at gauging what an injured person could take.  Scott rested his chin on his shoulder, feeling the dampness of the neoprene that betrayed that Gordon had been in the water during his mission.

Tension drained out of his aquanaut brother’s powerful shoulders and Scott found himself relaxing as well.  He’d always found it easiest to relax and wind down when his brothers were okay, and with three out of four openly reassured, his own nerves were less on edge.

“I’m still sorry,” Virgil said after a moment.  Scott still had hold of his bicep, and glanced up at him as he spoke.  That pain and guilt was still there in brown eyes, but it was Gordon and Alan that Virgil was looking at.  A big brother himself, he too was being drawn into some sort of reassurance by the youngest two calming down.

There were many responses Scott could give, and maybe later once it was just the two of them he’d dive deeper in if Virgil hadn’t managed to settle himself and needed a stronger release, but in that moment, with his family around him and the knowledge that whatever happened next, they’d survived this hurdle, there was only one thing to say.

“I know.”

Surprised brown eyes met his, as though Virgil had expected another rebuke, another it’s not your fault, but Scott knew better.  He didn’t blame Virgil at all, but it wasn’t his forgiveness Virgil needed; his brother needed to forgive himself for his perceived transgressions, and that he couldn’t do as long as Scott stayed stubborn.  He tugged at the bicep in his grip, coaxing Virgil closer with an inviting smile.

Virgil hesitated, understanding but unsure.  Scott didn’t say anything else, didn’t push harder, but then Grandma put a hand on Virgil’s other arm and whatever remaining fight there was seeped away.

It was Gordon’s turn to squawk as he found himself nudged out of the way, but he went willingly, surrendering the space to Virgil as Scott’s dark-haired brother wrapped his arms around him cautiously.

“I’m okay,” Scott murmured into his brother’s ear, returning the hug as fiercely as he could.  Like Alan before him, Virgil shook ever so slightly under his touch, but unlike the youngest, no tears were shed.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Virgil mumbled.  “You stopped breathing for a minute just before Alan arrived and I thought that was it.”

“I heard you,” Scott admitted, just as quietly.  “I don’t think I’d have had the strength to keep fighting without you.  Alan might have got the antivenom, but you saved me, too.”

Virgil gave a shuddering breath and his arms tightened, just a little.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Scott managing to relax further now that was the fifth and final sibling’s immediate concerns addressed, but eventually Virgil pulled back, the ghost of a smile on his face.  He looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could, Gordon crashed into him.

“Group hug!” he declared, reaching out to snag Alan and pinning an unprotesting Virgil in place as Scott’s three youngest brothers gathered as close as they could for a tangle of arms and bodies on Scott’s bed.  Alan flailed in Kayo’s direction and the woman stepped closer, slipping an arm delicately around the back of Scott’s neck and more tightly around Alan.  Scott grinned at her before looking past the mass of brothers to lock eyes with the one he couldn’t reach.  John grinned back at him, and even though he wasn’t physically there, Scott didn’t need it to know his immediate brother was just as relieved.

The hug lasted until Grandma intervened, suggesting that they let him have a little bit of space. He didn’t need space, but they all heard the underlying reminder that he was in that bed for a reason.  After that, it was back to business as usual, his on-Earth siblings scattering to change on Grandma’s order and reconvening later in their civvies with various forms of entertainment while John went back to his latest project.

Lady Penelope poked her head in later, but he didn’t see Brains – or the Mechanic – until the next day.

“I-it’s time to t-test the T-Drive e-engine,” the engineer told him the next morning, after checking him over in his own desire for reassurance; there was some guilt there as well, for pushing him out on the rescue, but thankfully Brains was much easier to calm than his brothers – the fact that Brains hadn’t seen him almost dead helped.

“Give me five,” he said, reaching for the drip stuck in his arm.

“Make that ten, Brains,” Virgil rumbled, catching Scott’s hand.  “Scott’s not up to walking even if he thinks he is.”

Scott groaned, but Virgil raised an eyebrow at him.

“I thought John made a convincing argument for you to stay in bed?” he challenged, and Scott shrugged.

“That was yesterday.”

“And your heart rate still isn’t back to normal, so it’s the hoverchair or nothing,” Virgil rebuked, rolling his eyes.

Scott sighed but dutifully held out his arm for Virgil to remove the drip instead.

“No, that’s coming with you,” Virgil corrected, gently pushing it down to his side again.  “Just the EKG.”  The machine was turned off, but Virgil made no move to relieve him of the transmitters, telling Scott that it was being linked back up later. Wonderful.  “Now then, let’s get you out of this bed-”

Scott leaned forwards and swung his legs around, placing them on the floor and pushing himself to his feet.

“Woah!”  Virgil sprinted around the bed and caught him as his vision fuzzed.  “John’s compelling argument?”  Scott was vaguely aware of being shifted around as the world spun around him, but it was a surprise to find himself in the hoverchair by the time he was fully aware of his surroundings again.  Usually, Virgil would dump him straight back in bed.

“Okay, John’s compelling argument still holds,” he admitted, leaning against the back of the chair and closing his eyes briefly as the world tried to spin a little more.

“Let’s get going,” Virgil sighed.  “Hands off the controls; I’m steering.”  Scott grumbled, but had no doubt that the controls had actually been disabled.  “As soon as the test is over, you’re coming straight back.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” he asked, and Virgil chuckled.

“Not at all.”

They were last to the balcony; it didn’t escape Scott’s notice that the Mechanic was the other end to the rest of them, talking quietly to Brains but otherwise ignoring the Tracys. That suited Scott just fine; if the test worked, he was well aware he owed the man an apology for his accusations of sabotage.  Although maybe he’d keep that back until the Zero-X2 launched successfully and Dad was home. Just in case.

“You look pale,” Grandma commented.  “Did he try to stand up?” she asked Virgil.  Scott glowered as Virgil rolled his eyes in answer.

“What do you think?” he asked rhetorically.  “He didn’t pass out entirely, otherwise the test would be happening without him, whether he liked it or not, but it was close.”

“He is right here,” Scott grumbled.

“And he’s going to keep his mouth shut and drink this up,” Grandma informed him, pressing a cup of water, complete with straw, into his hands.  “You shouldn’t be out of bed at all, young man.”

“T-test is ready,” Brains announced before Scott could find a retort that wouldn’t get him taken straight back to the infirmary.  “I-igniting T-Drive in three, two, one.”

Without binoculars, it was difficult to see what was happening on the platform, but nothing exploded and after several moments all that could be seen or heard was the whining of an engine.  It was higher pitched than the engines Scott was used to, but there were none of the warning noises suggesting that something was wrong.

Beside him, Virgil sighed in relief while Gordon and Alan whooped.

“C-cutting engine,” Brains called, and it powered down easily.  Smooth as any of the best plane engines Scott had piloted – and he’d piloted many.

It had worked.  They had a T-Drive engine.

They could go find Dad.

“Scott?”  Virgil sounded worried, and he opened his eyes – when he had closed them? – to look up at his worried brother.  Alan and Gordon hovered nearby, and he looked at them all in turn, even John’s silent hologram – his ginger brother hadn’t been there when the test had started, hadn’t been expected after he pointed out their holotech’s range didn’t reach that far.  “Are you okay?”

Was he okay?  He had a broken rib, was recovering from a near-fatal spider bite and its side effects of dehydration, bradycardia and hypotension, and the man who had almost killed his brothers multiple times was standing the other end of the same balcony.

But they were one step, one significant step closer to Dad.

“Yeah,” he said, staring out past them, at the platform cradling the most important engine International Rescue had ever created.  For the first time since that horrid trash mine day five weeks earlier, he could honestly say, “I’m okay.”

Fin

[zitkaplushie]

nightwing secret files liveblog:

this is gonna be a long one so it’s under a cut!

taking wing-

is that jason??

i like this 'a christmas carol' type exposition i'm ngl

i'm not sure if 'jason''s dismissal of the circus is dixon using an unreliable narrator, or if dixon actually believes that

god i hate this art so much

how dare u insult the teen titans in any way 😤 i like the name

also titans cameo!!

more awful jason characterisation (pls dixon just stay 8732894738 feet away from jason)

"without robin i have no family" i guess the titans are just chopped liver huh

"i always thought that one day i'd be batman" nope nope nope nope you have 0 understanding of dick's character if that's what you think mr dixon

i love clark having a part in dick becoming nightwing - i adore it - but the way dixon retcons the importance of the titans, and especially kory, in dick becoming nightwing rubs me the complete wrong way. i'm choosing to read this as a between the scenes moment, but i 100% dixon intended this to replace the titans' importance. and the way ppl just swallow it up w/o thinking about the reasons behind why dixon would want to erase the titans - and kory - pisses me off lmao

"i didn't mean to stay so long [with the titans]" *eternal screaming* he really wants to undermine the titans at every possible turn wow

at least the next page acknowledges the importance of kory in dick's life, but right afterwards we have "lmao she must've liked your costume. all the girls did. you're a chick magnet" (paraphrased) and i'm just back to sighing

also hi i'm mad at the framing of babs being the endgame bc of course they'd do that. and also at kory being shorter than dick. thanks! i hate it! i'm willing to bet that dixon asked for that specifically.

"this is where i came in" i'm confused at this part but tbh i don't care enough to think abt it any more

i'm also ughhhh at the way they're trying to give bludhaven importance. i don't care, i don't like it, he should've never moved there

ok i do really like that last page

the fact files things are good enough, i love the art for the haly's circus one! the pt barnum ref is 😬 though (ik ik it's the 90s but fjskdh why)

lost pages: teen titans-

ok so, i don't like devin grayson. i don't like her writing at all, i don't think she gets the characters at all, and hot take: if you dislike a character who's super important part of dick's life, and helped him come into his own and be who he is, you shouldn't be writing that character. (i'm talking about kory here, but tbh if you dislike any of the characters who dick interacts with frequently and are a huge part of his life - especially his love interests, and his family - you shouldn't be writing dick.) so i'm not going into this story with high hopes. however i've seen ppl talk about this story as being really good so i hope i'll like it too

you can tell she mostly cares about the fab five, which wouldn't be a problem if she treated the ntt characters better but alas ://

kory and vic both say 1 thing the entire page lmao

ALSO KORY NOT KNOWING WHAT DAY IT IS IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE

i loooove the parallel between dick grasping wally's hand and young!dick holding his dad's hand 🥺🥺🥺🥺

vic legit says one thing the entire story lmaoooooooo 🙃🙃🙃

i love garth and roy being brought to the tower 🥺

this is def some of grayson's better work, but it suffers from the same thing all of her stories do. she doesn't fully understand all the characters. if one character is off it affects the whole story. a lot of her stories have good ideas and poor execution, and this one definitely doesn't have awful execution but there's still something missing and as someone who loves the titans it's just sad. i get why people like this story - it made me tear up at the end ngl - but the rest of the titans are just as important as dick and it feels like the writer doesn't understand that. (i get this is a dick comic but it's still a titans story.) (it does however make me want to write a fic expanding upon this moment and the aftermath bc the idea of the titans all coming together to cheer dick up is so goooooood. are they gonna have a party celebrating dick's parent's lives? are they gonna eat junk food and watch a comfort movie? are they gonna just sit and talk?? the possibilities are endless!!)

the art is gorgeous as all of jimenez' art is, i love his style so freaking much!!

the next page is of the bludhaven supporting cast and all it does is remind me how much i do not care abt them. i think the only one i actually like is clancy, the others are expendable and forgettable. (i do love clancy a lot though, i wish she'd been written by more people than just dixon). though, i usually love guice's art, i think i actually prefer mcdaniel's take on clancy??? which is 100% a first for me.

i like seeing the set up to dick's apartment, bc i'm a sucker for layouts and maps. i wish this comic was way better written bc the concept of dick living in an apartment building and interacting with his neighbours is one i really like, esp in superhero comics. but again i have to say, alas.

a day in the life of nite-wing/hangin'-with tad:

painful... just painful...

i physically couldn't care less about this if you paid me

the next page is tad's file and i am Not Reading That. nope nope nope. and also fuck you.

next is a map of bludhaven, and like i said, i'm a sucker for maps.

the page after that is brutale's file and again i just do not care. the art is by damion scott who i really like, but the design looks like knock off scarecrow so

the next pages are files for double dare, lady vidc, shrike and blockbuster and i'm skipping them all bc i give negative fucks

next is a spread of what i assume is dick's cork-board? it looks kinda interesting but the writing is hard to make out and i don't care enough to try to decipher it

next is torque's files and same same, idc idc

nightwing's romances/orange you glad i didn't say banana?:

ok so y'all know i hate dickbabs. i hate everything about how it was built on the foundation of tearing down kory and dickkory and i'm a kory fan first and foremost so i hate this whole situation. so i'm already predisposed to disliking anything that talks about how babs is dick's true love, and talks down any of his other love interests. i come into this with an admitted bias. i'd try to be charitable but i don't see why i should when no one involved in the writing of dickbabs is charitable towards my faves so 🤷

i love love love stelfreeze's art! he's drawn babs in something else i read and i loved it then and i love it here!

i adore dick and babs' friendship, so the beginning is really sweet and cute. i also love the concept of baby!dickie being obsessed with watermelons and wanting to eat them forever

dewey decimal system!!! librarian babs reference!! fdjkh she's such a nerd i love it

babs trying to talk about romance and dick's like 'lol nah what abt fighting' lmao

i Do Not like babs hitting dick while talking abt 'i was segueing into talking about romance, hint hint'

this is romance? dick giving exactly 0 fucks?

why are these writers obsessed with hinting at dick and donna??? like first dixon and now grayson??? please stop!!!! i do love how he says he loves her bc 🥺🥺🥺 i love them

ur not being slick having babs call donna 'donna' and kory 'starfire', i see you grayson. i see ur hate for kory.

and reducing kory to just her body, and dick's sexual attraction to her boils my blood

i'm choosing to interpret babs's face in that panel as her being attracted to kory too

i do like that dick talks about being in love with kory, and thinking about still being with her. a) i'll take those crumbs, and b) thats how i see dick's relationship to love as being (though devin views him as kinda flighty and unfaithful so idk how we're agreeing on this lmao)

pls stop talking shit abt huntress devin, ur the one who made dick/hel a thing

since devin loves her brudick subtext, i'm side-eyeing the mention of bruce there

also why are we hinting at cass pls stop

babs being jealous and petty pls stop

the ending was smooth i have to admit it. if it was any other ship i'd probs love it but as it is, i'm tired of everyone else being downplayed in favour of the ~babs is dick's true loooooveee, it's always been herrrrr, from the beginningggggg~

i don't mind babs being dick's first crush though, in fact that's my hc for him because hello?? who wouldn't have a crush on babs??

thank you mr stelfreeze for accurately portraying babs' bitchface bc she's being a petty bitch here (and i love her but lmaooo i hate this whole thing)

next is the files on the bludhaven pd and i do not caaaare

then there's a timeline, but i don't care about any timeline that dixon writes. i'm petty though so i'm gonna read it and talk abt why i don't like the retcons.

i hate the dickbabs reference in YEAR FUCKING 3 jfc. pls stop with the retcons.

also lmao the difference between the way dick's canon relationship from that time is described in the shittiest way possible (though reluctant at first, dick begins a long and tumultuous romance with teammate starfire.) and how he wrote dick and babs' relationship (robin first teams with ... barbara in her guise as batgirl. the two will pair time and again over the course of their careers and develop a burgeoning affection for one another) this was at a time when they weren't even remotely interested in each other!!! there was no affections there dixon! no matter how much you wish it to be true!! and again the contrast with 'starfire' and 'barbara'! like it's dehumanising and i hate it.

and he can't even bother to get the new teen titans' team name right.

no mention of kory's importance in dick becoming nightwing, nope we ignore that bc it's thanks to superman now.

stepping away from the way he hates kory to talk about the way he hates jason! jason's described as a 'troubled orphan' and a 'juvenile delinquent'.

no mentions of how jason and dick bonded but as soon as tim gets introduced he talks about how dick and tim 'switfly bond as brothers'.

another incredibly impersonal description of dick and kory's relationship (the wedding of dick grayson and kory anders (aka starfire) is aborted by the rogue titan raven. dick and kory soon part company and dissolve their relationship.) but at least he calls her kory this time.

also i love how he speeds up through all the 'non important' development for dick but spends a whole page talking about all the bullshit he's been writing for nightwing. i understand why, but it's just lmaooooo 🙃 when you read it like that, it really shows how shitty this comic is.

talks of the 'doomed relationship' between dick and hel and i really hate it pls stop

the last page is dick's evaluation by the police academy and i do not care so i'm skipping it too.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Hey there, butt shover anon here! I think I'm having Walking Dead withdrawals and was wondering if you have any hc things or beliefs about the kids of Ericson? Also, a reminder, #ProtectMyKids AND #ProtectHomeGirl (That's you homie)

Hello, friend! 

I feel ya on having twdg withdrawals. It’s hard to find newer content when the game itself is finished. Thankfully, we’ve still got lots of lovely people writing fics and creating fanart and plenty of other content here. I myself am replaying the game again -just finished ep2 so I’m emotional again- and working on my rewriting and that’s really kept me enthralled with the game. And, of course, talking to you guys through these asks definitely keep me coming back. 

As for some headcanons, y’all know I’ve made several of these, but I can give you some more because I’m full of them. 

Louis keeps a wall of art in his and Clementine’s room displaying drawings courtesy of AJ and Tenn. This is a headcanon that I have explored more than once in my stories because it’s an idea that I absolutely love. AJ drawing pictures of him, Clementine and Louis together? 

Y’all know that shit warms Louis’ heart. It’s also a display of AJ’s growth through the years and they hold plenty of memories for them. 

There’s a lot of crap that they keep in the basement, but when the weather gets warmer, Mitch totally goes down there and brings out the wonderful volleyball net. 

Oh yeah, you bet your ass that these guys all get together to play a game of volleyball together. They split into two teams with Aasim as their exasperated ref. 

These teams are usually the same: Louis, AJ, Tenn, Ruby and Violet, and Clementine, Mitch, Willy, Omar and James. 

Louis always has AJ and Tenn on his team because he insists that they’re the best players, constantly instilling confidence in the two boys and their abilities to play. 

Mitch, Clementine, Ruby, AJ, and Violet are the most competitive while the others are there to have fun and don’t really care who wins. 

But seriously, imagine these guys playing volleyball together. Imagine the trash talking, okay?? And poor Aasim’s trying to coach a fair game but holy shit 

However, the games usually end with Ruby spiking the ball into Mitch’s face because he’s a trash talker and Ruby’s a sore loser. 

This makes Aasim facepalm every single time. 

And speaking of Ruby, she’s a total romantic. She hides this well from the others, but she totally has a stack of mushy-gushy novels that she reads at night before bed. She’s read each of them over and over again to the point where she sneaks into the library to try and find some new ones.

Of course, Aasim catches her. And she becomes defensive. 

Upon learning that she’s secretly into these types of books, Aasim reads some himself. They’re not his favorite and he ends up critiquing them for their obvious focus on the romance -duh, Aasim, that’s the point ya dingus- rather than the world and characters around them. 

This doesn’t stop him from giving them to Ruby in secret and the two end up having little meetups at night to discuss their recent reads. They even swap books, Aasim reading another gushy romance and Ruby reading a fantasy with a complex magic system. 

This leads to several hours of debate between the two. 

And lots of sleepovers because it’s late and Aasim’s too tired to go back to his room I mean it’s all the way down the hall and he might as well stay in the spare bed so that they can keep talking until they can’t fight off sleep any long amirite?

What I’m getting at is this is the beautiful start of rusim, okay?

One of my favorite headcanons is Clementine teaching everyone the knee trick. This came on after Mitch saw her doing it, thinking it’s an easy enough technique, and almost fucking biffing it and getting himself chomped after haphazardly trying it and having the walker fall on top of him. 

Now, when they’re out clearing walkers, Louis’ll knock a walker down and get a clean show at knocking its head off with Chairles, and Mitch has 100% mastered it now and with his knife skills he can take these walkers down no problem. 

Well, until James shows up with his pacifist ways and wants to collect the walkers rather than kill them. 

Everyone’s pretty skeptical about this, but when Clementine explains that they can use the walkers like a weapon -like when they broke into the delta- everyone more or less agrees the let James take care of the walkers as long as they don’t become overwhelming. This puts in place their system of James clearing out an area before any of them go hunting or scavenging, and in exchange, James is given his own room. 

Well, they’d let him stay anyway, but it makes James feel like he’s helping the group out so...

One time Tenn and AJ found some beads and using some fishing wire, they made bracelets. AJ made one for Louis and he still hasn’t taken it off. 

James is actually a pretty good artist when it comes to doing portraits. Again, this is something that I’ve explored in my writings because I love the idea of James and Tenn bonding over this and James teaching him how to draw more realistically. 

This one for Marlon was actually hinted at in the game, but Marlon knew how to play guitar. I like to think that Marlon and Louis actually met in band/music class and their friendship came to fruition because of their love for music. While Marlon lost his interest in practicing once he became the leader, he was glad that Louis continued to play the piano even if distracted him from more important things. 

There’s some that are new and some that are old. Hopefully, that gives you a little something to think about. :)

[slowgo123]

Persona 5 Familiar AU

@ren-amamiyaa (hope you don’t mind me tagging you since you were interrested in the AU)

This will be just a more in detail post from the AU I brought up.

This AU was created and developed by me and my friend @oracle-nila. 

More under the “read more” because this is long because I don’t know when to stop

The basic idea behind it is that each of the PT’s persona have an animal form they use in the real world to follow around their user, look after them, give them advice or be a be a nuisance if they want to be.

Each of the persona’s can only be understood by persona users, normal people will only hear animal sounds. Each persona has the general needs of the animal they are and not taking proper care of them can affect fighting inside the Metaverse, meaning that each Phantom Thief has to properly research of how to take care of their respective animal. Depending on animal and personality they are varying degrees of hard to keep alive, they can get sick and even “die”.

Death is not that permanent for Persona. A Persona dying in the real world means that they will be unable to be used for a short while and be weaker than normal until growing back to full strenght. During this time the user of the respective Persona will also be affected, they suffer from a lack of energy and will be pretty tired, their Persona dying will also cause an emotional imbalance. (Using persona uses SP more often then not which is pretty much “mental energy” or at least it’s referred to such in pq  so I think it makes sense for their death to affect their user mentally)

Now I’ll just go into detail about each persona for a bit:                                           Also hope no one is bothered my unrealistic desings and hhhh art abwfk also tumblr sucks and likes to resize images so rip me

Arsene:

Arsene is a Raven (not a crow as some heathens from shujin would like to make you believe) I mostly made him one because of Arsene’s majestic wings (also fun fact: a group of ravens is called an unkindness or a conspiracy)

Arsene stays around Ren 24/7 having a habit if sitting on him (I mean Ren’s hair is basically a nest awnflfw) which confuses some students at Shujin and does bother some of the teachers (though I can’t recommend trying to throw a piece of chalk at him)

He is smaller than the average raven making it easy to mistake him for a crow

He also has the habit of stealing things from students at Shujin (he steals a lot of different things, mostly food, but he has stolen a wallet before)

He’s also a pretty good spy if need be

It isn’t suprising to see Mona or Loki get annoyed with him (he does get along with Carmen tho so not the entire cat squat wants him dead awfbkbw)

Zorro:

[ He’s a small bug and I didn’t have the energy to make a desing for him so there’s nothing here]

Zorro is a mosquito. Why you ask? because he reminded me of a mosquito when I first saw him and was 100% convinced he looked like one. (and because it’s funny)

He is the most fragile of all of the Persona (even if he says otherwise) this is used to tease him most of the time

Zorro is a male mosquito so he doesn’t drink any blood, though that doesn’t mean that that everyone isn’t going to be worried if he were to complain about hunger

Stays in Mona’s fur most of the time for safety reasons

Kidd:

Kidd is dog, more specifically a border collie. The border collie is a dog breed originating from the scottish border, we thought it’d fit more than some other dog breeds because: scottish breed - scottish pirate

Both eyes work fine, but he has the eye patch because pirate aesthetic

also has a scar on his right hind leg but my idiot butt didn’t reallly make any kind of ref for how the scar looks and didn’t really draw it in the only drawing I have of him

Carmen:

Carmen is a calico cat and also extremely fluffy

She’s a little taller than Mona

She often comes to school with Ann and charms people into giving her food (she’s quite talented at it)

She uses her close connection to Ann to her advantage when she can by manipulating Morgana or making small deals with him (that almost always end up with her not actually holding up her end of the deal)

Goemon:

Goemon is a ferret and possibly the least realistic and most colorful desing of all of them

[haha he hasn’t actuallly gotten that much development]

Johanna:

[also hasn’t gotten a proper desing/drawing made yet]

Johanna is a swan

HONK HONK

one of the least convinient persona to care for since Makoto not only has to explain to Sae why a swan keeps following her around at some point, but also is way too big or heavy to be carried via bag (though the latter thing could also be said about all of the other bigger/heavier persona)

Makoto can usually be found around the park because of her persona

Makoto is team mom and I’m 100% convinced Johanna is team mom for all of the persona

Necronomicon:

Neccie is a bat (the desing was based of a brown bat specifically)

They’re nobinary and I’d give my life for them

Futaba and Neccie have both terrible sleep schedules due to both staying up when they should be sleeping (being the only nocturnal one of the group is hard)

They try to make Futaba go to bed at more resonable times, but often get too invested in whatever Futaba is doing at the time

They also like cuddling (which is good with Futaba’s tendency to manhandle animals)

has a tendecy to swear when angry

Milady:

Milady is a fox, looks cute but can be still quite dangerous (her desing is mostly based of a red fox)

[she also hasn’t gotten much development, sadly]

Robin Hood:

[doesn’t have a desing yet]

Robin is a golden retriever (golden retriever RH ftw)

He is trying his best to help Akechi (he has gotten both gotten the nickname of “Akechi’s self control” and “what’s left of Akechi’s moral compass” by me)

He actually likes to cuddle

Robin is also larger than the average golden retriever

Robin and Loki can bud heads from time to time, but they can still get along

Robin urges and tries to get Loki to interact with the other Persona whenever he can

has a habit of picking up Loki by the neck when needed

He also follows Akechi during bike rides (being a dog means that he needs proper daily exercise)

Loki:

Loki is cat, he’s a lot bigger than the average cat and is a short hair. (and also gets second place in least realistic desing) 

I like describe the relationship between Loki, Robin and Akechi as: Loki gets Akechi in trouble and Robin tries to get him out if it

He has the habit of pushing stuff of tables, annoy Akechi and in general be the asshole cat he was meant to be.

He likes to play the tsundere game strong

He avoids social interaction most of the time

He can be a bit chaotic and mischievous, you know, trickster god and all

He has the highest death count of all of the persona (suprising seeing how one of them is a mosquito)

Welp, now with the basic info about the persona and how the entire familiar thing works I might aswell go a little more into detail about scenarios and story and other shenanigans.

Akechi in this AU is found out way more quickly, at least the multiple persona and that he has a persona part, making him join the party earlier than in canon.

He is pretty much the first person they got to when they have questions on the whole persona thing since he had to deal with Loki and Robin for quite a while now. For example, if a persona were to get sick and they don’t know if it’d be better they can ask Akechi about or maybe even ask questions about how the whole “death” thing works. (how helpful he actually is can depend on the question and situation awnfljf)

Further on the topic of Akechi, he doesn’t get as strong of an effect if one of his persona then rest of the PT (because he only has one dead and the other is still alive), but if somehow both die he will barely be alive, because the effect is way stronger than the any of the PT would have. His brain would be short circuiting while the extreme exhaustion would make him almost pass out the entire time. (and let’s not forget that Robin and Loki are pretty much his only proper emotional support that he can genuinly talk to)

Btw, the first time Loki died was a shitshow, because that was during Akechi being really lonely and still young having no idea they could just “come back”. 

The general story wouldn’t actually change that much give or take a few death and persona related shenanigans, even with Akechi getting to be part of the PT earlier and getting to know all of them better than in canon.

The interrigation room pretty much plays out exactly like canon with Robin being a good amount of disappointed that it had to end like this.

Later on while Loki is off on his own when Akechi, Robin and him where somewhere near the Diet building he notices the PT being a lot more active than they should be and aproaches then, realizing that Ren is actually alive, he makes sure to try and dissuade them from continueing doing what they’re doing, which ends up with Loki killing Arsene and then just legging it, trying to weaken their leader before getting the news what’s going on to Akechi asap.

Akechi is super worried at how bloody Loki is and it takes a moment to click what Loki is telling him. Akechi enters Shido’s palace and the traitor fight happens a bit earlier in the palace than in canon, meaning that they aren’t in that cursed boiler room. Cognitive Akechi shows and instead of any kind of sacrifices being made the PT just beats the shit out of it. (also I like to think that Ren can still use persona even with Arsene having freshly died, just that attacks take a lot more energy and he has to struggle with the effects)

From then on Akechi join the PT again and the awkward, tense road to redemption is now opened to him (with Loki having to apologize for killing Arsene)

Also might I also say that through my endless need to insert Shuake into everything I make, just imagine their persona trying to be their respective wingman/men, Robin would have good intentions, but I’m mostly conviced that if anything Loki would just use knowing about the crush to be a little shit.

PS: thing that that nila noticed was that Arsene was a raven and that’s really similiar to a crow and I’m sure there’s something you connect with crow and Loki a cat and there’s a certain character people often compare to a cat.

Alright, I don’t know what to add currently so I think this is it for now until I decide to maybe edit it incase I make some more proper desings and/or this AU gets more developed [edit 1] fixed problem 

[mom-tings]

So… apparently people can’t like things anymore?

The article I have for you all today is a doozy, so stay with me. This one is called, “What we talk about when we talk about bronies,” by: Anne Gilbert. If you don’t know what bronies are (which is surprising considering this is tumblr), they are grown men who are devotees of My Little Pony. Often seen as social misfits due to their non-normative sexuality and masculinity, the fandom is regularly criticised by outsiders. Gilbert emphasizes that this criticism is largely in part due to the highly-gendered nature of children programming, and that such outsider perspectives fail to acknowledge the benefits and pleasures the cartoon can have on the adult male audience. 

A quote that stood out for me in the text was, “Participatory culture, including fandom but also produsage, cocreation, and other patterns of convergence, is lauded for its liberating potential, but can privilege young male users with disposable income and technological know-how—the perceived early adopters [...] Fandom, too, is often a gendered proposition, with factions and hierarchies divided such that feminized practices and female fans are kept separate, less valued, or outright ridiculed (Gilbert, 2015, n.p.).” While the text focuses on bronies and how “implicit preconceptions of media consumption, sexuality, masculinity, and children's media contribute to privileging particular fan identities (Gilbert, 2015),” in that bronies are criticized for indulged in a highly-feminized text, I think it is interesting that the author mentions the flip side of the situation, wherein female fans of other texts are scorned, depreciated, and often ignored. 

I think it is important, before moving on to my thoughts and an example I find relevant to this discussion, to touch on what participatory culture actually means, and how to identify it in the children we care for. Essentially, participatory culture just means that rather than simply consuming media texts, individuals also produce their own media texts in response. For example, bronies dress up, connect via online and in-person groups to engage in trivia about the show, sing songs from the show, and discuss primary themes from the episodes (Gilbert, 2015, n.p.). 

One thing that came to my mind when reading this article was anime. From the few anime shows I’ve seen, I would argue that the majority of them are suitable for children under 13, and are not particularly gendered in the way that My Little Pony is, however, female anime fans are no stranger to ridicule, shaming, and belittling. I wonder, why is that? Specifically, I would like to focus on the anime Naruto. I grew up on Naruto, as did many others my age. Even now, watching the episodes gives me an immense feeling of nostalgia, and I would indeed consider myself a fan. In terms of participatory culture, many fans edit fight scenes and add their own effects and music, produce visual art including the characters, and, of course, cosplay. 

Fan art of the character Itachi from Naruto. Retrieved from 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/965530423/itachi-fan-art-poster-print?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=naruto+art&ref=sr_gallery-1-6&organic_search_click=1&pro=1&frs=1

However, I noticed that other female fans online were receiving hate when they mentioned their interest in the series. Some comments I’ve seen on TikTok and Instagram in particular have said that female anime fans: 1) pretend to like anime to satisfy their boyfriends 2) only like anime because they are crazy obsessed with the fictional male protagonists, or 3) are simply dismissed as fake fans for literally any reason under the sun. That is, for some reason, women and girls are simply not allowed to genuinely like anime. This reminded me of the Gilbert article in that outsiders argue bronies exist for any reason other than genuine enjoyment of My Little Pony, and female anime fans are perceived similarly. 

So, as caregivers, what can we do? How can we make children feel safe in their interests? One suggestion would be to embrace the child’s interests, regardless of if it is in something that is highly-gendered in their orientation or not. If they want to paint a picture of their favourite Naruto character, let them. If they want to dress up as a pony, princess, or ninja, let them. And who knows, maybe they’ll end up liking the same anime you watched at their age. 

[unt2017]

No, David! By David Shannon Image

Genre: Easy Books

  Evaluation/Response

Even though this book is short enough to be read through in about two minutes, it has a strong message about family, parenting, and how children fight to push the limits their parents set for them.  I was a very hard-headed child (depending on who you ask, I am still considered very hard headed) and it is because of this trait that I felt for the child main character in this book. Children are known for pushing boundaries and limits and that’s what David does in the book. He keeps getting told “No, David!” because he does things like color on the walls and track mud in the house (typical child anyone?”).  Although the pages aren’t numbered, in one particular sequence he does what a child does when either given or found pots and pans. He makes “music” which is when he is then told “David! Be Quiet!” (Shannon, 1998).  This type of sequence goes on the entire book, the child does something he shouldn’t and is told “No.” Repeat.  All in all, not an interesting book from an adult perspective unless a reader is just looking at it as a weird book of things children shouldn’t do. However, the truth is children will always do things that adults don’t necessarily like. It’s how boundaries are learned.

With that being said Tunnell, Jacobs, Young & Bryan (2016) state: “Truth be known, children are arguably more visually aware and alert than many adults” (36). I can see the truth in this because as I was reading through the children’s books for this blog not a lot of them made much sense.   I think that’s why David kept trying his parent or parents’ patience and nerves with his antics.  He saw things in a way child often do – bright with endless possibilities.  The adult’s view point jut sees the mess or hears the constant noise.  “Settle down! …Stop that this instant! Put your toys away!” (Shannon, 1998).   I don’t have children; however, I wonder if we tried harder to see the world and life as children do if that would help us be able to connect with them better. Illustrations seem to liven up books therefore, livening up the time we give towards the children we read to or have read to us.   Canaday (1980) states:“The function of art is to clarify, intensify, or otherwise enlarge our experience of life” (as cited in Tunnell et. al., 2016, p. 37).  That leads me to the parts of the book that the illustrations help me focus on: reinforce text, depicting action, and creating depth with detail (Tunnell et al., 2016, pp. 38, 43).

The first part I want to look into is how illustrations reinforce text.  This is actually difficult for this book because the illustrations show David doing something like reaching for cookies and the text just shows the words “No, David!” (Shannon, 1998). How does the picture reinforce the text here?  I believe it is because it reinforces the fact children push boundaries in order to learn. In this case, it doesn’t reinforce the text, but the lessons children learn as they grow. Their parents say no and that’s all they hear so they see it as a challenge. Children can pick up on certain things, but small children do not understand that their parents tell them no or settle down, or that’s enough to protect them. So, although the pictures in No, David! don’t reinforce the text in the way most readers may think it should or would, it reinforces the opposite. Sometimes that’s all kids need to understand. Toward the end of the book his parent says “Davey, come here. …Yes David…I love you” (Shannon, 1998). This I think was the only time the picture didn’t reinforce the opposite of the text. It reinforced the text perfectly, the illustration showed David’s mother hugging him and reminding him that no matter what he does that yes, he is still loved and cared for.  It was difficult to understand how the text and illustrations made sense until that page, but it was worth the read none the less.

The next part I want to discuss  is that illustrations help depicting action.  This was easier to see more so than the reinforcing of the text.  In one sequence the text says “Put your toys away!”, but the picture shows David surrounded by his toys while he watches a sci-fi show or something similar. Another example is on the next page when the character David is about to “play baseball” around a lot of furniture, some of it looks valuable and; therefore breakable, which is why his parent tells him “Not in the house, David!” (Shannon, 1998) because let’s face it a boy with a baseball and bat inside the house cannot end well…at all. David in the scene is holding the bat with one of the helmets on his head.  His stance is one where he’s about to throw the ball and hitting it possibly causing a bigger mess and possible injuries.  Children are known for the constant motion and much more energy than I could have had as a child and definitely more than I have now as an adult. I find that to be one of the greatest mysteries that has yet to be solved.

Illustrations help create depth with detail according to our textbook. Tunnell, Jacobs, Young & Bryan (2016) state that “Careful attention to detail often requires extensive research before an artist begins on illustrations” (43).   I’m not sure how much research went into these illustrations, but they go well with the words.  I believe that the way the words are read can also bring a better response to the words and make the imagery more vivid.  There are many things that make the pictures stand out along with the story.  By the end of the book, I was able to see that children can learn one of two things with a book like this: 1. They learn boundaries and limits or 2. They learn that acting out is the only way to get affection from their parents by acting out. Luckily in this instance, I believe most children would figure out point one, but that too also depends on the guidance they receive outside, as well.  It also helps that the image on the final page was one of happiness, acceptance, and love.

 Conclusion

Overall, I don’t feel like I am really qualified to give a good or bad review on this book.  This book isn’t for me in many senses of the word.  I thought the pictures were vivid and colorful, but other than that I did not enjoy the book that much.  The main point of the book seemed to be that children may push boundaries, but in the end, they are loved anyway.  I really liked that thought, but I also feel like it reiterated that this book was not for me. I am an adult yes, but I am not a parent and don’t have contact with children outside my job.  So, really any opinion I give on this particular book would need to be taken with a grain of salt.

 References:

Shannon, D. (1998) No, David!  New York: Blue Sky Press

“No David!” (1998). [image]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/No-David-Shannon/dp/0590930028/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Tunnell M.O., Jacobs, J.S., Young T.A. & Bryan, G.  (2016). How to Recognize a Well-   Illustrated Book. in Children’s Literature Briefly, (pp. 35-46.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

[miss-awesome0948]

Have a Trial Marriage With Husband, Demanding Extra Effort

Summary:

On the wedding day, her fiance and his lover had a love affair and eloped. Her eyes were dim, she seized the man in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau.”To sum it up, your bride is not here, my groom ran off, wouldn’t it be better if we… fight together?”. Before marriage, she said, “Even on the bed, between me and you, there will not be anything!” After the marriage, he said, “Do not try, how do you know?”

Chapter 1: A Flash Marriage, and a New Wife

It was nine o’clock and the evening was sultry.

Tang Ning had drunk too much at her bachelor party, so her fiance brought her back to her apartment, but when she opened her eyes in spite of her headache, she could see a pair of man and woman exchanging a passionate kiss.

Tang Ning, like a lightning strike, when she sluggishly looked at the two people kissing by her bed, her heart erupted in anger.

“Yu Rou, do not be so reckless, Tang Ning just fell asleep!” The man holding the woman’s waist said.

“Why? Are you afraid of your fiancee waking up?” Mo Yu Rou softly complained, “Tomorrow you will be married, so this night, you must give it to me!”

“Baobe1, let’s not make trouble, and instead go to another room!” The man coaxed.

“Don’t! I’ll be here! I’ll be in front of her!” Mo Yu Rou quickly unbuttoned the man’s shirt, the two kissing again for a while.

Tang Ning’s tears fell, how could she expect that the fiance she would register tomorrow with, would have an affair on her bed?

“Be good, let’s go to the bathroom, don’t you like it when we use the bathtub?”

“You go ahead into the water!” Mo Yu Rou gently pushed the man’s chest, waiting until the man left, before she stepped in front of Tang Ning, sneering, “Tangning, tomorrow, I will not let Yu Fan have the opportunity to register and marry you, because I am pregnant, and he is mine!”

Tang Ning’s hands clenched into fists, but she did not fight back and make a sound, until soft moans could be heard from the bathroom, did Tang Ning feel herself break.

Three years ago, she was Beijing’s first supermodel, but for this man, she gave up everything, her position was given to Mo Yu Rou, it turns out that she was just giving someone else a wedding dress. No, she was just dreaming, she just had to wake up and it would be alright.

Tang Ning kept on lying to herself, but until midnight, Mo Yu Rou’s body were wrapped with Han Yu Fan’s body, and they left the hotel, Han Yu had so neatly abandoned her away!

But they were going to be married tomorrow, ah!

With a bitter smile, the next morning, Tang Ning, according to the original plan, drove to the Civil Affairs Bureau, and after getting off called Han Yu Fan, but he gave her a cold answer, “Mo Yu Rou had a stage injury, I have to first deal with important things, let’s register another day.”

Another day! Tang Ning reminded herself in her heart.

Tang Ning turned around to leave, putting on her sunglasses, before she was surprised to see a tall figure come towards her, a dark blue retro suit wrapped around a strong body, *chest pocket with a wine red scarf, looking down the legs were straight and slender, a pair of shiny brown shoes.

This man… gives a sense of oppresion that is too strong, just like a medieval noble emperor!

Especially after he approached, even though he was wearing sunglasses… *his face looked as if it was carved with a knife, especially his thin lips which could drive a person crazy.

Tang Ning recognized the man, he was the Hai Rui entertainment president Mo Ting, back when she was famous, *he once attended a party she was also in.

He was also going to get married today?

“President… Miss Chi did not arrive on time… she has been late for ten minutes!” Behind him, an assistant respectfully said.

“Call my family, *those who are late even for marriage, will always be late,” the man said coldly.

“But the chairman said that today you must marry, that even if you marry a demon he wouldn’t object,” the assistant said timidly.

“Then randomly pick a lady, I will only give half an hour....” The man spoke, seeming a bit unreasonable.

At first, she thought they were in the same boat… but it is different, Mo Ting had it easier, as someone who who was already rich, he did not need love, he only had to cope with the elders asking him to marry.

Suddenly, Tang Ning had an idea. She removed her sunglasses, walked to in front of the man, and whispered, “*Mo Ting, your bride is not here, and my groom has ran off, wouldn’t it be better if… we fight together?”

Behind Mo Ting, the assistant was stunned, a woman could actually be so bold…

But Tang Ning’s back were straight, as she had all of her courage.

Mo Ting took off his sunglasses, revealing eyes as dark as ink, his pupils like diamonds, emitting a sharp light, but after a moment, he turned to ask his assistant, “Give me her information!”

The assistant, of course, knew the identity of Tang Ning, directly searched on his phone her name, and then respectfully offered it. Two minutes later, the man’s lips thinned slightly, only to spit a word at her, “Okay!

Tang Ning felt that it was her luck that allowed her to meet Mo Ting, because he did not need a woman, did not need her so-called love, furthermore did not need anyone else in his bed!

Also, she would make Han Yu Fan regret it!

Two marriage certificates were quickly processed and half an hour later, Tang Ning received a marriage certificate, and from then on, she became a married woman.

“Mo Ting, don’t know if you have some time, can you listen to a few words of mine?”

“In the car!” Mo Ting put on his sunglasses, and began to leave the registration hall.

Tang Ning followed behind Mo Ting, and inside the Rolls-Royce, sent a nervous look towards Mo Ting Dao.”Thank you for getting married to me, whatever you need me to do, I will be unconditional, but there are two things I hope you can promise me.”

“Speak!” Mo Ting said.

“First, please do not interfere with my private affairs, since we are married, you can rest assured that I will not have too much contact with other men.”

Mo Ting heard Tang Ning’s words, his lips slightly raised.

“I promise you… however, I will give you time to clean up your messes from your past, we will try being married, six months later… I will fully open the news of our marriage.”

“Thank you!” Tang Ning nodded.

“And also… I do not agree with couples living separately! I will give you three days to move to the designated location, my assistant will contact you afterwards!”

Tang Ning did not object, since they were husband and wife, this request was very reasonable, so she nodded submissively, “I promise you!”

“Good!”

After the two’s agreement, Tang Ning left the car, and the assistant sitting on the driver’s seat looked at Mo Ting, “President, are we going to go back to the company? Or are we returning to your house to tell the chairman?”

“You drive to Tang Ning, tell me her whereabouts!” Mo Ting told the assistant, and then he got off.

Suddenly he was married, *nothing can not happen!

As he was the president of a multinational entertainment company, he had not heard of Tang Ning’s name, who had been famous in the modeling industry, but three years ago, Tangning suddenly refused the first-class model company Xinghuang’s offer, *it was a comprehensive ban, after that, she was announced signing with Arts Entertainment, and their boss Han Yu Fan *played fervently.

--!--!--!--

Translator’s Notes:

Hello there, nice to meet’cha! This is just a bare translation of this novel that I somewhat read on a chinese novel website (somewhat because, well...). I used Google Translate to turn it into english, Hopefully I haven’t done that bad of a job in translating it, but I wanted to try translating a novel... I apologize if it seems difficult to understand. There asterisk marks there are where I got stumped on understanding what the phrases meant.

To be honest though, as it stands, I’m not even that sure if what I posted as title was the correct translation, and if I continue this there might be times when you'' notice some words/phrases have been changed... still, until someone wants to translate this novel, please bear with me!

Baobei - babe, term of endearment. ↩︎

[fightlog-bdbrw]

Scouted for the Brotherhood

@Qhuinn_BDBRW @Tehrror_BDBRW @Rhage_BDBRW Rhys: |Izzy had a booked night at her shop and I had my normal shift at the bar then a fight to get to. She was upset she couldn't see my match but I told her we would have our own match when we both got home. She said yes to my proposal. In all my years I never expected to find a female I would bond with. Before we parted I kissed her forehead and told her to call me if her asshole brother showed up. My shift at Razors went rather fast for once. Maybe it was because I was looking forward to getting in the ring tonight. Or the fact that I had a beautiful female to go home to. We didn't discuss living arrangements yet but I gave her my spare key and told her not to wait up for me. After I cashed out, I said my goodbyes to Max and Ally, grabbed my gear from the office and headed to the warehouse. Tonight's fight was a big cash prize. I needed to win tonight. I had a female to provide for now and had to do right by her. Heading to my locker, I dropped my bag on the splintered bench and pulled my gear out. Thankfully it was quiet in the locker room. Most of the guys avoided me since my last fight. I changed out of my work clothes and pulled on my red shorts. The whole time I kept the image of Izzy and what that hairless rat I fought the last time said in my brain. It kept me on point. I wasn't fighting to blow off steam anymore. I was fighting for her honor and our life together. I took my tape out next and began taping my knuckles as I headed to where the match ups were posted. Scanning the lineup, I saw I was the last match and I was going again Crusher. Fuck. He was a vamp and had been in the underground scene for a few years now. Got his nickname for crushing his opponents into the mats. Most didn't walk out of the ring on their own two feet after he got through with them. I was determined not to wind up like one of them. Seeing as I had some time, I sent off a quick text to Izzy, telling her I loved her and hoped she had a good night before I started to warm up.| JM:  Not having any direct training contact with the trainees, I still liked to fuck with the little shits. I loved to wander around the dorms. I felt like the drill sergeant watching the trainees straighten up and look tough. It reminded me of myself before and after my transition, granted the memories were not pleasant but it made fucking with them a mini vacation for my aggression. Since I have been haunting the dorms and the training center, I would sometimes catch little bits of whispered conversations. I would hear ‘fight’ and ‘cage’ and ‘underground. Interesting. I wanted to know more. I was hoping none of the trainees were fighting somewhere. Having your brains scrambled was not good. I cornered one of the little shits. *Standing to my full height, I look down and write*  tell me about this underground fighting! I thought he would piss himself. With voice shaking, he told me about the fight clubs. *Writing* where and when are these fights? Are any of the trainees fighting?  Thought he would shrink, he was shaking so hard. He said the trainees went and watched once in awhile, but no one fought. He said there was a fight tonight and told me where. I assured him I would not rat him out, this was between us. I told him he needed all his energy to get through his training. *Laughing, I went outside and dematted to the warehouse district.* It was quiet, I saw lot’s of cars. There were a few big bruisers near the door. Walking up, I saw the entrance fee written on a blackboard. *Handing over the money, I smile seeing the trepidation in the big goons eyes. I wander in. It smells like blood, sweat and fear. Looking around, I see a chain link cage* One man is down and the other is being heralded the winner. The cheering and money changing hands is amazing. Standing off to the side of the cage, the announcer states this is the last bout of the night. He introduces “Crusher” the place erupts with some cheers but, mostly boos. Then he introduces “Rabid Rhys”. The place goes crazy. Obviously, this guy is the favorite. Two vamps fighting, I settle into the corner to watch the action. Rhys: |Finally it was my match. The warehouse was packed tonight and I heard some talk of people placing their bets on me because I was the underdog in this fight. Sure Crusher was large but you know what they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall. And that's what I intended to do, make him fall face first into the mat. My name was announced and I walked out the doors and through the crowd. Cheers and boos echoed off the walls as I stepped inside the ring. The ref did his usual pat down of Crusher first, then me. He went over the rules for a “clean fight”, all the while I was bouncing on the balls of my feet and sizing up my opponent. Adrenaline shot through my veins as the bell rang. Crusher started circling me, sizing me up and calculating his first move. Unfortunately for him, he took too long and I swept his legs from under him when he began to close in on me. His back hit the mat with a loud thud. The crowd roared and got to their feet. I didn't waste a minute as I went down to the mat and let my fists fly, my knuckles connecting with his jaw. The ref came over and urged me back on my feet, giving Crusher a few seconds to stand and get his bearings. He shook the stars from his sight and let out a war cry before charging me. His broad shoulder hitting me square in the gut and pushing me back against the cage. Instinctively, I brought my knee up, connecting with his ribs as I elbowed his temple. He got a few good hits in before I forced him back, putting space between us. Blood filled my mouth from his right jab and I spit it on the mat. This was going to be a tough fight but I was determined to win for Izzy. | JM: Man, the action is fast in this type of fighting. I’m used to fistfighting or grapling, maybe, martial arts. This is a mash-up of all, and brutal. This guy, “Rabid Rhys” is impressive. He picks his moment, he studies his opponent. He reads him, times his hit and goes for the moment when he spots it! The other guy is big, but big is not always what will win. Being in shape, smart and calculating is a big part of being a winner. Interesting I think. We teach one on one fighting but, this covers all the forms of fighting we would face while on patrol. I straighten up, watching the crowd. Big money is circulating here. I guess that is what brings everyone here. That is what brings the fighters I guess. Big money for having your bell rung? The humans are really at a disadvantage here! *Grabbing my phone* I text Qhuinn and Rhage: Have you two heard about the Underground Fight circuit? You have to see the fighting here. I think we, and the trainees could benefit from learning this style of fighting. Our enemy won’t know what to expect. Hone in on my phone, get yo asses down here ASAP! Rhage: *Hearing my phone go off, I slow down my run on the treadmill reading the text. I think to myself Holy Scribe underground fighting ring. I can see a lot of young humans and  vampire kids alike thinking they are bad and getting into this. I'm not sure this type of fighting would be good but maybe we can see some young males have some potential for trainees. I fire back a text to JM I’ll be there soon”. I turn off the treadmill wipe off and head for my shower. I kiss Mary and tell her that JM thinks he found something interesting and I'll be back close to dawn. She lets me know she has some work at safehouse I shower and and dress ready for anything check my daggers and glock and demote to the address he sent me.* Qhuinn: I had just finished the fourth glass of bourbon when the message came in. My gaze that had been focused on the TV screen in a quite blank and bored way shifted to my phone and I took it to read the message. [Benefit from cage fighters? Are you kidding me?] I stared at the screen before shaking my head. I just couldn't take this message serious. Of course I knew about these fights but benefit from them just sounded surreal. I looked around in the bedroom and a sigh followed by a low growl escaped my lips. Where was he? He should be here by now but he clearly wasn't. I just poured myself another drink but just took two more sips from the glass before I got up. Maybe some distraction would be better than drowning my thoughts with Bourbon. [Be there in a minute] I hit the send-button and got dressed. After checking the weapons I demoted to the place JM wrote me. My body was tense and I was trying to focus on this situation to clear my mind from all those damn feelings and thoughts. Worry, Anger, Jealousy, Despair….there was no place for all of this shit right here and now. I walked towards the entrance and after paying stepped inside the huge hall. JM: Still holding up the wall near the cage. My gaze wanders and I see Qhuinn. He spots me and I wave him over. Qhuinn: It wasn't that hard to spot JM as we were both taller than the majority of people around. I could feel several eyes on my as I made my way through the hall towards my best friend. A slight smile curled my lips once I reached him and I slightly tilted my head. “wanna earn some extra money?“ I nodded towards the cage and focused my eyes on the fight for a moment and arched a brow. I had to admit that this wasn't bad at all. “we should give this guy a real challenge.“ I looked back to JM glad that this situation was blurring my thoughts and emotions...at least better than the alcohol before. JM: *sign* Not me man. I like my brain sitting solid, not scrambled. Just wait until Rhage gets his peepers in here. This fighting style, it would cover anything we find on the field while patrolling. Plus, it would be fun to mess the trainees up a bit. This shit is crazy. I wonder if anybody here would train us? Rhage: *walking through the crowds feeling everyone eyeing me I smell fear and blood. I think to myself what the hell people trying to kill each other for fun I laugh my kinda fun. I scan the crowd and see my two boys standing out taller than the rest, I make my way over and nudge them* Hey boys,  fight and I’ll place my bets on you two for the win. JM:  *Sign* Yeah, and you just splain’ black eyes, bruises and the like to Mary, don’t think it’s worth it. But, just look at that fighting. You gotta have gonads to get in there and mix it up like that. I haven’t been here all that long, but, I would love to have this style of fighting come naturally. You two agree on the possibilities? Qhuinn: “Hey man“ I nodded in Rhage’s direction and my eyes slightly sparkled. “Yeah. I’d be totally in for a fight but our friend here thinks that this guy would scramble our brains with his style of fighting.“ I looked at JM before focussing on the fight again crossing my arms. Yes this guy was good but this was just show after all. This was just for money...not for survival but it definitely seemed to be an effective way to reduce energy and aggression. “You think they have a free place on their fighting list?“ I mumbled lowly but loud enough for the brothers to hear. Rhage: I like this kind of fighting but I don’t think the King would let us put this in our training, it does have its advantages on getting aggression out. *I look back up at the ring to watch the next fighters come out as I see the next kid come out I can tell he’s a vamp civilian at that.  I shake my head as I know this is going to be a slaughter* Look at this vamp kid the human he’s going to fight won’t have a chance on him. Rhys: |I was slowly getting the upper hand on Crusher although my ribs would say otherwise. His large frame was swaying like a willow tree in the wind. I knew I had to take the final blow before he got his bearings and I lost momentum. Gauging his swaying I pulled my right fist back and connected with his temple. I followed up with a flying roundhouse kick straight to his sternum sending him flat on his back and seeing tweetie birds spinning around his head. The ref came over and checked to make sure he was breathing and just knocked out. Bending at the waist, I pulled out my mouth guard and tried to catch my breath. Still undefeated. The crowd roared as the ref took my arm and raised it in victory. Once I could breath normal, I stood to my full height and did the victor wave thing before exiting the cage. People stopped me for pictures and congratulatory hand shakes or pats on the back, which normally I took with stride. Tonight however, I just wanted to shower, get my caddy and get home to Izzy.| JM:   *sign* Rhage, you and Qhuinn are  more one on one with the trainees, what do you think about what we just saw? You think we got something to add to the training?  Your more senior Rhage. How do we proceed here? Rhage: *sighs* I like some of what I seen, but the King I don't think he'd like it. We can talk to him about it and see what he would want to do. I think we need to get that fighter to the compound. *turns to Qhuinn* Qhuinn, you and JM get his attention and see if he will come talk to us about the brotherhood. I'm going to call V. Qhuinn: “The king would definitely kick our asses if he knew what we're doing here but I think this guy could give us some pretty good input.“ I looked at Rhage and a slight smile curled my lips. “getting his attention? Easy thing.“ I straightened and narrowed my gaze a bit before making my way through the crowd. Amused I noticed that most people were stepping aside instinctively. I walked over to the guy blocking his way and looked directly into his eyes. “hey mate. We need to talk. Although I wouldn't say no to a decent fight as well. But we better move that to sometime later.“ I smirked at the stranger. “no questions..just know that you won't regret it. In fact you should feel honored.“ I shrugged and watched every movement..just to be prepared and make sure. Rhys: |I was almost to the locker room door when a big ass male stepped in front of me. His shoulders were massive, his mismatched eyes hard and those piercings a little intimidating if you met him in a dark alley. He was a warrior that much was a given. What he wanted with me however, I had no clue. If he was a warrior, he certainly didn't need my help learning fighting skills. If he wanted to fight, he needed to talk to #BigPaul. | Look buddy, I just had my ass beat ten ways to Sunday. I have a female to get home to and I need a shower and my ribs taped. If you want to fight in the ring, find Big Paul. Unless you're a meathead I don't think you need any fight training. If you want to talk, follow me to the locker room. |I walked passed him, not really caring if he followed or not and made my way through the door. I grabbed my towel and went straight for the makeshift showers | JM: I keep behind Qhuinn and slightly to his left. Just keeping our sizes well noticed.  *I smile* as I watch everyone part to let us pass. After the brief statement by the fighter, we follow him to the locker room. I will let Qhuinn do the talking. Most people don’t know what to make of my signing. I put my hand briefly on Qhuinn’s shoulder to let him know I have his back. Qhuinn: The first glance he gave me was slightly irritated. But he didn't seem to be much of a talker after all. One part of me simply wanted to step in his way to stop him...no matter how but I somehow could imagine that this wouldn't improve the conversation that much. And after all we were the ones that wanted something from that guy. So I did my best to stay calm which was all but easy. The frustration, the despair, all those thoughts and the high energy level made my body a time bomb that was about to explode. But for now I was as calm as I could possibly be and followed the fighter. Once we reached the locker room I felt a hand on my shoulder and nodded in John's direction. I was glad that he was there. He truly was someone to rely on and that was what I needed more than anything else. I pulled up one corner of the mouth and showed him a crooked smile. “I am Qhuinn and this is my friend John. We saw your style of fighting and well...yeah….I think impressive would be the right way to explain it.“ I shrugged and leaned to the wall. “We would be quite interested in learning some of your moves and I am sure you could use a bunch of challenging sparring partners. So it'd be a situation we’d all benefit from.“ I looked over to John for approval and then back to the stranger. “What do you say?“ Rhys: |I look at the two males and listen to their pitch. Granted I already told them that I wasn't a trainer but I figured that telling them again would only cause grief on all ends.| Look I appreciate  what you're offering, but what do I get out of this deal? Like I said before, you guys look like you can handle yourself. So I'm a bit confused as to why you want me to show you my moves. Rhage: *after a quick talk with V about the fighters style he thought the same as me let's see what the King think then let's see what the male has get him to the compound and we can go from there I sigh and make my way through the doors into the locker room. The looks I'm getting from everyone backing up out of my way kinda makes a male feel pretty good. I make my way over to the males while they are talking with the fighter all all I hear is what do I get out of it? That kind of made me irritated* How about knowing your going to help save our race that should be enough kid? *I look him up and down with the sneer on my face* And how about serving your king who has fought all his life protecting you. *I turn my back and I quickly call the King and he wants to hear and have the fighting style told to him. He wants to know everything about the style he has so he wants him brought to the compound as well.* Rhys: |The king? Saving the race? Fuck I screwed up here. Running a hand through my hair I looked at the newest arrival to the locker room.| You’re a Brother aren’t you? |I scanned the male with the movie star looks and immediately felt like an ass. If he was a Brother, that means they are recruiting me. And I just royally fucked up| I meant no disrespect. They didn't tell me anything other than they wanted me to show them some of my moves. I get that a lot and just thought they wanted me to train them for ring fighting. If what you are saying is true then sign me up. Qhuinn: The reaction the cage fighter showed was all but satisfying. My hands balled to fists as I felt anger and frustration taking over which wasn't a good combination to all the unused energy in my body. Who did he think he was? I frowned and was close to losing my patience when Hollywood suddenly took over. And his clear words didn't fail its purpose. Maybe I should have mentioned the king before because this was definitely impressing this guy. I took a step back leaving the stage to the other brother and crossed my arms. I looked to JM and slightly shrugged calming down again. “Sign you up?“ I let out an amused chuckle. “First we need to find out if you are worth that man.“ I stated arching a brow. Rhage: *I turn back and look at him with a narrow eyes* Have you join oh no, kid you have to go through extensive training first anyway even if we thought about having you join. We just want to show the king your style kid. Grab your shit let's go you're already getting on my nerves. * I turn and get ready to head out looking at everyone irritated. Who does he think he is? Like we are just going to let him join the brotherhood.* Rhys: |Grabbing my gear I fall in line behind the rest of the males. I shoot a quick text to Izzy to let her know I won't be right home. Scribe what did I just get myself into?|