#I'mma hit that button now I HAVE TO - he sat long enough in my drafts ugh

[chevvy-yates]

[NC_RES]-13062047-EUR-BU-NED de_wit_m_portraits_004_GA_HW.file ///core:_thyjs_de_wit.file\\\

—

⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

jumpsuit jacket by @pinkyjulien

—

'Thunder and lightning Heading your way Ride the rainbow Crack the sky

Stormbringer coming Time to die' — Stormbringer by Deep Purple

In other words:

'You've been thunderstruck' —Thunderstruck by AC/DC

—

Thyjs' theme playlist.

FIRST:

Yup! That's right – Thyjs is going to electrify y'all.

My original thought was that I've wanted to create a little playlist with thunder/storm/electro lyrics but then I stumbled over these songs in the list up there (first one shook me the most) and so I threw my original idea into the storm. Spending like two months on it now how to write down what I feel or see when I listen to this selection tied to Thyjs. So, here's his entire Playlist now: basically Introduction and fight theme songs as well as a calm one — like I did with V before but different.

Storm If I had to choose just one song for him, this one would be it. This awesome instrumental song is the ultimate standalone theme song for Thyjs. Like his goddamn introduction in a movie appearance. When I listened to it for the first time it just struck me like one of his lightning strikes. It is the only song that can be tied to the cyberpunk music genre since every song in the list is more classical soundtrack-ish (he needs that epicness. He's a godverdomme soldier). Back to the song: It sounds tempting right from the start with that beat giving you an overall Cyberpunk feeling at first, making you somehow feel alarmed because of the electronic sound. The air around you may feel electrified and you know something is coming. Then suddenly there is that melodic part setting in with those classical elements that literally screams 'Thyjs' to me. When I look at him I see; He's beauty, he is grace — but coming as an all through soldier package. No one would probably expect it but Thyjs does love to listen to classical music (piano, violin/cello and entire orchestra) of various known artists as well that is why it brought me on the way to look for songs like these in the list. It calms him down, especially after a long and hard mission. To me he feels unapproachable, like he's not from this world at all, yet he is. Wherever he goes in uniform or military gear, people will look at him with a certain respect. You're immediately drawn into admiring him because you probably ain't seen such a pale soldier like him ever before. He can make you feel like time stopped only to let you know with a loud thundering bang that everything you see is real and time is still running. That is when that part that sounds electrifying somewhere near the middle of that song, starts right out of nowhere. Sir! I'm so sold to it right now. I have to admit, the song is fairly long at 7 min, yet I recommend listening to it completely but the important parts really are the start and the middle.

Into the Storm is literally Thyjs getting ready for the battle that lies before him. Ride right into the storm, full force. It is like he can feel a storm is coming, with the storm being the enemies. You gotta know, Thyjs is a soldier to the bone. He devoted his entire life to it, trained as soon as he was old enough for it, to serve his country and Benelux Union. He's heroic in his own way. And that song does him justice.

I'm Electro A short song that strikes you after just a few seconds — the hard way. It represents that you gotta show some respect towards him if you do not behave correctly. He'll immediately put you back into your place where you belong, using his voice and electro shock (if you dare to enter his comfort zone) — like AC/CD would say: in the 'You've been thunderstruck' way (it's in fact exactly what happened to Ryder meeting Thyjs for the first time). Thyjs is capable of making use of electricity that is fed into his left arm, therefore also the glowing (Hanako) cyberware. The brighter it glows the more electricity Thyjs has to make use of. He already knew very early he was kind of immune to electricity after he grabbed an electrified fence feeling literally nothing. Once he lost his left forearm during a heavy battle with drones he decided to get himself some limb replacement that could make use of electricity since he literally survived a lightning strike as well on the battlefield during a thunderstorm, but more of that I'll keep for another time. That battle also gave him his nickname 'Storm', which he also uses as a code name. He can power up from any source that is running with electricity — Night City is full of it. He will give Arki and Ryder a boost if they need some as well. Ry gets himself Shock-n-Awe installed after having met his future lover for the first time. Thyjs even suggested the team to wear mods in their clothing gear if they do not want additional cyberware to their body because lightning can't be really controlled. It will always spread over to the next best source.

Storm Another Storm song (I wanted to decide for one of them but they are both so awesome I have to include them both). This one here seems to be a re-interpretation of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and this song hits differently: Thyjs has Sandevistan — the Militech 'Apogee' Sandevistan Mk. V of course. So he's fast. Like lightning. The fast stringed instruments represent his fast acting and when that thunder sets in right at the start he vanishes into air. The only time you'll see him is before he starts and when he ends it, with the ladder it is already too late for you. The highlights in the song can stand for that if you are able to watch him in action you will be seeing him in between, avoiding incoming their enemies that are fast as well, sometimes he may even look gracefully, appearing for a moment, time pausing for max 3 seconds until he vanishes again just to reappear in a different place again, slaying his enemies one after another. You can hear exactly 3x a loud bang in that song around 2 min in — this is him starting with Sandevistan going for the enemy, then disappears, leaving only electricity behind, and lastly he shows up again, right in front of you with his Constitutional Arms M2038 Tactician 'The Headsman' Power Shotgun –BANG– three enemies on the ground, limbs missing, or even their heads exploded. He's able to load his shotgun within his used Sandevistan time but he often makes use of his toxic knife as well dealing severe damage to the enemy who will die because of poison going into their bloodstream.

Tempest It's like that epic battle song everyone likes and may even get goosebumps from. It is fast paced, tearing forward, to set one strike after another. See it as the last boss battle. The final big one. Before everything is finally done. Battle won, for Thyjs and his squad (when he was still serving) or the team he joins shortly after the incident out in the badlands that led to his whole squad being blown up and him being the only survivor. If you can't imagine Thyjs' fight style in some epic battle try imagine a combination of playing battlefield V and e.g. watching Final Fantasy Kings Glaive. Thyjs moves similar like Nyx Ulric, the warps with the weapons I mean, only he does not warp, he's just super fast with his Sandevistan but also leaving lightning behind.

Van Gogh's White Roses Calm moments incoming. Thyjs loves to play piano. The pretty tunes calm him down as he plays them, or even just listens to them. It is his way to chill and he could do it all day long appreciating the calm moments of his live thrice as much because as a soldier he is mostly on high alert (even if it doesn't look like it) and always prepared that every day could be his last. So better especially appreciate the little things in live and things that he loves: music, art, flowers and his new gained friends and most of all; time with his love: Ryder. The moment I decided Thyjs is Dutch was when I added the ears cyberware to him. Idk I just got reminded of Van Gogh in that moment. So Thyjs went to be Dutch, he loves Impressionism and is ofc an admirer of Van Gogh's art (I might do an extra post for that as well some time why I made Thyjs like Van Gogh).

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 3: Food?

Third chapter is out! Not much to say about this one, expect that we finish up the day with some delicious Chinese takeout! Nothing heavy going on in here! Nope! Not at all!

When Stacy felt Scout was sufficiently distracted, she pulled her laptop out of her bag. 'Let's see, what was the group that guy was a part of? Vox I think...' She searched the group on Google, and found them almost immediately. She clicked the link to their website, and was struck by how professional it looked.

'So these guys are paranormal investigators...' From what the site said, they were a professional team that specialized in locating and researching. Specifically, they went after the newer, modern activity, like the Waygetter toys, or cursed animatronics.

'Where were you guys when I was a kid?' She shook her head. 'Focus, Stacy! Forget the past, focus on the present! You have a different problem to solve...<' She scrolled down and clicked on the contact button, which gave her an email address. She clicked over to her own email and typed in the address, but paused before writing anything.

'What do I even say to them? They didn't believe that Anthony guy, and he was one of them. Maybe if I send them proof...' Her eyes drifted to Scout, who was staring at the TV. Her attention was completely taken by the show, and she seemed oblivious to what Stacy was doing and thinking. 'A picture might not be enough, but maybe a video? But would she even agree to it? And could I even do that to her?'

Stacy shook her head, closing the laptop with a small sigh. 'I can't. Not right now. Maybe once things are settled...' She moved the computer to the side and stood up, stretching as much as she could. She then went into the kitchen and started digging through Sammy's fridge.

'Ugh, he's such a bachelor. There's nothing in here but some old lettuce and leftover soup. He'd better be buying groceries on his way back from work, or I'm telling Aunt Hannah he has no food again.' She closed the door, and then grabbed some bread and peanut-butter from the cupboard, and the last clean knife from one of the drawers. She quickly made herself a simple sandwich, cut it in half, then went back to the couch.

"Where'd you go?" Scout asked when she'd sat back down. She flopped over onto her lap, making Stacy jerk her plate up to keep it from getting hit. "You're missing the show!"

"I've seen it before, don't worry." Stacy assured her as she bit into the sandwich. "I'm not missing anything important."

"Hey, what's that?" She climbed into her lap and peered onto the plate, reminding Stacy of a cat. "Is that Host Food?"

"Yeah, it's a peanut-butter sandwich. I got hungry, and it was all Sammy had to eat, other than gross leftovers." She took another bite of sandwich, not really paying attention as Scout pulled the plate down a little. She watched the Puppet grab the other half of the sandwich 'Gross.', and examine it closely. Then, without warning, she tore a bite off and started chewing.

Stacy froze mid-chew, unsure of how to react. While she knew Scout had to have organs, she hadn't thought she actually could eat anything. It was quite surreal, watching a thing made of cloth chew and swallow real, human food.

"Hmm, not bad. Kind of sticky, though." She smacked her lips, then tore off another bite and turned back around to keep watching the show, leaving Stacy feeling like she'd smoked some of her cousin's weed. She shook the feeling off, though, deciding to come back to it at a later time. Like maybe when she'd actually had some weed.

Instead she finished her half of the sandwich(since she apparently only got to have half, now), and then pulled back out her laptop. She opened up a new doc, and started drafting up some plans.

'One way or another, I'm gonna figure this out.'

Several hours later, and Stacy had not figured it out. She had maybe one and a half pages of notes on the Puppets, most of which was on just Scout, and three different plans.

1. Go to the police.

-Too Risky for Scout

-Can lie about what's going on if needed

2. Ask Vox for help.

-Way too risky for Scout and me

-Can't lie to these guys about it

-They would know what they're doing tho

3. Arson.

-Has potential

-Can have a bon fire and roast marshmallows while we do it

-Could get arrested but might be worth it if we can get all the Puppets

-Might also be worth it just to see Scout try and eat a melty marshmallow

So far, plan number three was looking like the best one. It still wasn't the absolute best plan, but it was all they had at the moment. She'd have to talk to Will and see if he still had those gas cans in his garage.

"Hey, are you guys still here?" Stacy started at the sudden entrance of Sammy, surprised at how late it had gotten. She shut her laptop and put it to the side for now, standing up.

"No, we left and stole all of your soup." She told him. What you're seeing now is a hunger induced hallucination."

Sammy paused, the held up a plastic bag with a panda on it. "So you don't want the takeout I got?"

"Oooh, gimme!" Stacy rushed to snatch the bag from her cousin. She brought it over to the table, pausing briefly to pick Scout up from the couch. She started to set the food out while the Puppet settled over her shoulder, watching what she did. While she worked, she also pointed out what each different food was.

"So, all of this stuff is rice. We don't normally eat it, but they include it anyways with some of the meals. This is teriyaki chicken, and this is-"

"Stacy, really? Why would it even need to know what that stuff is?" Sammy tsked as he sat at the table and grabbed some noodle dish. "It's stuffed, and can't eat."

Stacy just stuck her tongue out at him and sat down. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and set about showing Scout how to hold and use them properly.

For awhile, they ate silently as Scout watched them, which Stacy personally thought was a little odd but didn't want to say anything. If the Puppet wanted to be weird, then she wasn't going to stop her. Sammy, on the other hand, soon fixed her with a hard stare and cleared his throat.

"So." Stacy looked up at him mid-chew, cheeks bulging. "What are you going to do when you get back to your apartment?"

She swallowed hard, putting on a more thoughtful expression. "Go back to class, tell Carol I can't do the article and why, maybe go tell the police about the psychopaths in the warehouse." She shrugged, digging out another bite of chicken from one of the boxes. "Y'know, stuff."

"And what about...?" He gestured to Scout with his chopsticks, and the Puppet glared back at him. Stacy, in a stroke of seldom seen genius, offered the Puppet her chicken before she could say anything.

"She's coming with me, of course. I live alone, so there shouldn't be a problem." Scout chomped down on the chicken, to Stacy's mild surprise. She quickly picked up some more food for herself. "Besides, Will is gonna love her. They're so much alike."

"Okay, ignoring the fact that you just fed that thing," Scout made an offended noise. "that sounds like a shit plan. There's no way in hell the police will believe you without proof."

"Fine, you're right. I have a back-up plan in the works, too." She thought back to her arson idea as she offered another bite to Scout. "But it needs work, so I can't put it in action yet." ‘And gasoline. Lots and lots of gasoline.’

"... Where's that food even going, anyways?" Both Sammy and Stacy turned to stare at Scout, who didn't even pause in her chewing to send them both a glare. Obviously, she wasn't going to be explaining anything, so Stacy turned back to her cousin.

"I have no idea. Don't think too hard on it."

'Don't think about why you're feeding her, either.' She ignored her own thoughts to shove some more food in her mouth. That was something to think about later. Or, perhaps, never. Never seemed like a much better time.

They finished their food, with Stacy giving Scout a few more bites, then boxed up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. Stacy then made Sammy get them a blanket because "It was too cold last night I almost froze to death!"

"It wasn't that bad, Stace." He told her, but fished out some spare bedding anyways. "It was near sixty."

"And yet, you had the air on or something. I swear it was colder than that in here." She insisted. She almost shivered just thinking about it. "You need to turn the AC off."

"The Ac's not on." He frowned at her, head tilted like he was studying one of his patients. "Maybe you're getting sick? You did spend God knows how long running around an abandoned warehouse with open wounds. I wouldn't be surprised if you caught something."

"God I hope not." She muttered, helping him spread the blanket out on the couch. "I gotta drive back to my apartment tomorrow. I don't wanna be sick while doing that."

"Well, if you do come down with something, promise me you'll go straight to the walk-in clinic or ER." Sammy told her seriously. "It could be something worse than a cold, like an infection from the stitches."

"Promises are curses." Stacy responded automatically. "But if something comes up, I will go to the walk-in. I don't wanna die after going through all of that bullshit."

"Wow, you're swearing. Must have been some pretty bad bullshit." He joked as he handed her a pillow. She resisted the urge to hit him with it.

"It was the second worst thing I've ever been through. It was horrible, and I hated it, but now it's over forever." Her eye twitched slightly as she placed the pillow on the couch, and saw Scout watching them from the side table. She was overcome with a childish urge to knock Scout over onto the pillow, which she quickly did.

"Wha-? Hey!" She pulled the blanket up over the Puppet, and heard a soft snort of amusement from Sammy.

"Are you ever going to grow up." He shook his head with a sigh as they watched the blanket covered lump move around.

"Nope!" She told him cheerfully. "I'mma be a kid forever!" She noticed the lump had stopped moving and leaned down, reaching for the blanket. "Uh, Scout? You oka-"

"DEATH FROM ABOVE!" Scout hit the back Stacy's head with far more force than necessary, knocking her onto the couch. She then bit onto the top of her head, though that didn't do much.

"AAUGH! How'd you even get up there?!?" She became aware of laughter and turned a death glare on her cousin. "Stop laughing! It's not funny Samuel!" She threw the pillow at him, but that didn't stop the almost hysterical laughter coming from him.

"Oh my God!" He gasped out, collapsing against the couch. "She just came out of nowhere! Holy shit!" He fell onto the floor while Stacy wrestled the apparently feral Puppet off of her head. She held her at arm's length, trying to simultaneously give her a disapproving look and check her over for injuries. It was hard to do, however, as she kept trying to bite her hand.

"Dude, seriously? That's not even gonna do anything to me..." She watched Scout thrash for a moment, actually struggling to hold onto her. "Okay, seriously, stop it right now, or you're going back under the blanket and I'm gonna sit on you." That got her to stop, but she kept up the death glare.

"Geez..." She looked over at Sammy, who was coughing on the floor, finally finished laughing. "It wasn't that funny..."

"It was fucking hilarious." He retorted between coughs. "Instant karma." He took a deep breath and started to pull himself up from the floor. "I like that Puppet." Stacy just sighed. "Whatever dude. Glad to know my pain is what made you like her." Unconsciously, she hugged Scout close and sat on the couch. She grabbed up the remote to turn Netflix back on, wanting a distraction from her humiliation. She let Scout drop onto her lap, and resisted the urge to drop her head into her hands.

'Defeated by a hand puppet. I'm never living this down.'

Sammy climbed up onto the couch seconds later, still wheezing. He went to speak, but another death glare shut him up before he could start. So he just shot her a smug look instead, holding out a hand for Scout to fist bump. "That was a pretty great move." He told the Puppet. Stacy ignored him, but heard a quiet "Hell yeah!" from Scout. "You should do it again the next time she does that."

"Do you want to die?" Stacy deadpanned, but Sammy just shrugged as he finally settled in to watch the show with them.

"Hey, it's just a suggestion." He couldn't keep that grin off of his face, and it was starting to annoy her.

"Whatever." She resolved to just ignore everything for now and watch the show. Sammy attempted a few more times to draw her into conversation, but quickly gave up when she didn't answer him and started watching too.

A few episodes later, however, and Sammy stood up and stretched. "Well, I need to get to bed, I have work tomorrow." He started towards his room. "I'll be gone by the time you two leave, so make sure you lock up tomorrow, okay?" "Kay. G'night Sammy." Stacy gave a halfhearted wave as he left, leaving Host and Puppet alone for the night.

"Leave?" Scout asked after they heard his door close. Stacy glanced down to see the Puppet staring up at her, a worried look on her face.

"Yeah. We gotta go home tomorrow." Stacy told her. "I gotta tell Carol about what happened at the HQ and find out what she wants me to do about that article. And then classes start back up soon, so I've gotta be back by then." "... I thought we were staying here." Scout said quietly, and Stacy felt a pang of... something. She wasn't sure what, but it made her feel bad and she decided right then that she hated it.

"Eh, it was more of a stopping point, really. Some place to get my mouth cut open and you off my hand." She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. "And as much as I would love to hide here until I die, we can't actually stay on Sammy's couch forever. He doesn't have any food, and would expect me to clean."

"..." Scout was silent, and no longer paying attention to the show, instead staring down at her hands as she played with the hem of Stacy's shirt. The Human felt like she should say something, but didn't know what. Instead she stopped the show and turned off the TV, dropping the Puppet to the side and standing up.

"I'm gonna get ready and go to bed myself. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and I want to make sure I'm ready for it." She started towards the bathroom, almost missing the quiet "Okay." in reply. She hesitated at the doorway, but forced herself through anyways.

Scout would figure out it was better this way. Her apartment was even further from the HQ than Sammy's was, and thus safer than Sammy's. Plus, it would be better if it was just the two of them alone, and they could figure things out.

Things would get better, starting tomorrow.

They had to.