#pip gen 1...?

[moonsyrups]

a long time ago a little baby named noah was born

[pixelddump]

New addition to the family, Nibbler

[slugpupencyclopedia]

Thoughts on the pups+ mod?

Generally its a good mod, I really do enjoy pups+ I have like, minor issues? but thats really it. I'll put a read more and a more in depth look.

Pups+ is a mod that adds new versions of pups to your game based on some of the playable campaigns, this includes abilities, personalities, and food needs. Yes I like it, it has its issues but I do like it. It's a great mod. /gen

Tundrapup -Saint variant. -Gives the player saint tongue. -Unable to throw spears. -Can't store food. Aquaticpup -Rivulet variant. -Increased speed and agility. -Fast in water. -Gives a boost underwater. Hunterpup -Hunter variant. -Able to throw spears at Survivor strength. -Carnivorous, eats large corpses. -Taller then an average pup.

Rotundpup -Gourmand variant. -Highest food requirement, eats basically anything. -Throws spears at Hunter strength, exhausts very easily. -Large, slams on creatures, carrying one will let you do the same. -Spits up items when given a disliked food. The basic spawn chance for these pups is 18% for a Aquaticpup 11% for a Tundrapup 25% for a Hunterpup 16% for a Rotundpup 30% for a regular pup

You can adjust these in the remix menu settings. PROS: -This mod allows for pups to be waaaaay more fun and useful. -The variety breaks up gameplay, its nice, each pup has its own look and food requirements.

-The mod is compatible with multiple different mods, Slugpup Safari, Rainbow pups (eeeeeh), Dress My Slugcat, and Dev Console. -Also allows for slugpups to store items! -Also works with Genetic Slugpups! (for everyone but survivor and monk, lol) CONS: -Because of the way the color generation works, and how its linked to personalities, a lot of variants will be the same color scheme, so yes it works with Rainbow Pups, but, variants tend to look the same.

As you can see, a lot of the colors match up. even if you do adjust the percentage typically they'll still group up into colors- why is there a routund pup in the tundra pup cage wait. -Hunter pup is almost indistinguishable from a regular pup, technically they are meant to be "taller" but, typically the only way to tell is 1. the color (see con above) or two, throwing a corpse at them to see if they eat it. /lh

The left pup is the regular pup, the right is the hunter pup. -This would be fine if you could see the food pip bar, before hibernating, but what ends up happening es a lot of time my hunter pups starve for a cycle, because they will still eat plants. -Hunter pups I find typically very useless to me, and more frustrating, if you're good at combat, they tend to just get in the way. -Rotund pups can be INCREDIBLY frustrating, but that's just because of the exhaustion mechanic when they're on your back. I think if it was a little less often it'd be better.

All in all I DO enjoy this mod, and do use them in my own playthrus, I do recommend it, but highly suggest adjusting the ratios on spawns.

[derelictheretic]

Siblings Q&A | 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕊𝕀ℕℂ𝕃𝔸𝕀ℝ𝔼 𝕊𝕀𝔹𝕃𝕀ℕ𝔾𝕊

Thank you for the tag @inafieldofdaisies ! I love any excuse to talk about my sibling OC's (plus my own siblings OC lmao)! I might do this for Pip and Cas and the 2nd gen Sinclaire kiddos later because this was super fun! 🤗🩷

Note from OP: This Q&A can be used for any family member/friend who's close to your OC!

1. Who looks the most like dad?

Dean groaned, head dropping and his hand rising. Michael and Remiel both pet his shoulders in sympathy.

"It's really only the nose—and at least yours is the small cute version of it!" Remiel offered with a nervous chuckle.

"Don't lie to me."

2. Who looks the most like mom?

Michael and Dean both point at Remiel, their mouth falling open in offence.

"What the fuck you guys?" They whine, their brothers shrugging in unison.

"It's only the nose, but it's smaller and cute so that's better right?" Dean grins.

"Fuck off, shithead."

"Love you too."

3. Who eats the most?

"Me, don't even say it I know it's me." Remiel turns their head, refusing to look at their grinning brothers.

"Yeah, when you remember to eat." Dean snorts.

"Their stomach is a black hole." Michael mused, Remiel playfully sobbing in response.

4. Who has been in the weirdest situations?

The three paused, looking between one another as they mulled over the question.

"These two," Michael then said, pointing to Remiel and Dean, "they always get themselves into shit somehow." He shook his head. Remiel and Dean both shoot him offended looks and he just rolls his eyes.

"I think we get ourself into the normal amount of shit." Dean mutters.

"Yeah." Remiel agrees with a pout.

5. Who sleeps the most?

"Remiel." Michael and Dean don't miss a beat, Dean wrapping an arm around Remiel's neck in a pseudo headlock. They slap his arm but don't disagree.

6. Mom and dad's favorite?

"Their favourite first baby cigs." Dean joked, making both Michael and Remiel snort in agreement.

7. Most stable romantic life?

"That would be me!" Remiel announced proudly, breaking free of Dean's headlock to lean over and grab James' hand; their partner who had been politely sitting off to the side in silence.

"I would argue Alexys and I are pretty stable." Michael muttered.

"Yeah but Remiel and James are practically already married and they're like.... Both lil rays of sunshine, I don't think they know how to have a fight." Dean gestured vaguely and Michael just hummed unimpressed.

8. Worst habit of each one?

"Sleeping too much." Remiel sighed.

"Fighting as a coping method." Dean coughed.

"Not reading instructions." Michael shrugged.

"His refusal to use a cane or leg brace." Remiel and Dean argued; Michael just shook his head.

9. Who's the most dramatic?

"Remiel." Dean said, Michael and even James nodding in agreement.

"Hey, what the fuck."

"It's true baby, sorry." James pet their hand comfortingly and they just huffed with a small frown.

"It's not my fault you two are emotionally stunted and I can't hide how I feel." They snipped.

"We didn't say it was a negative thing!" Dean laughed.

10. Who had a weird phase?

"Dean." Michael snorts.

"Shut your face hole Mike." Dean snaps, hand shooting up to cover his mouth.

"Are we talking about the angry emo phase or the sad musical phase?" Remiel grinned, Dean spinning around to cover their mouth with his other hand.

"I actually hate both of you, shut up."

11. Best cook of the family?

Dean proudly stuck his hand up and Michael and Remiel gave appreciative nods.

"Michael's the better baker though, I can't bake for shit."

"True."

12. Best memory together?

"The first time we all went to the local pool in our hometown together." Dean decides and Remiel and Michael mull it over before nodding in agreement.

"We were diving for the hairties and coins at the bottom of the deep end and pretending to be mermaids." Remiel reminisced with a fond smile.

"Michael did some cool dives, he wasn't cool enough to be a mermaid though." Dean nods to himself, Michael scoffing.

13. Worst memory together?

"Too many of those." Michael smiled bitterly, Remiel and Dean nodding absently.

14. Dream trip together

"Japan! Just—everywhere in Japan!" Remiel near shouted and Dean and Mcihael both chuckled and nodded.

15. Would you rather not being able to shower for a month or have the same clothes for a month?

"Same clothes for a month." All three agreed.

16. Who's the older one?

"Michael, the ole' bag of bones." Dean grinned, patting Michael's back heartily.

"Okay, infant." He scoffed.

17. Describe each other in three words

"Michael is... Dependable, strong and grounding. Dean is grouchy but thoughtful and caring." Remiel held up their fingers as they listed off the words.

"Remiel is kind, a bit naive and very passionate. Mikey's more of a grouch than me, but yeah super dependable and cool as hell." Dean grinned.

"Dean is reckless, stubborn and loving. Remiel is empathetic, lazy and creative." Michael smiled.

18. Role model?

"Michael!" Remiel and Dean exclaimed, Dean wrapping his arms around his middle while Remiel leant over him to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

19. Who usually has the worst ideas?

"Toss up between these two." Michael nodded his head towards Dean and Remiel who both gasped in denial.

"It's Remiel"

"No, it's you."

"Nah it's not."

"Yeah it is—"

20. A GIANT insect is on the wall, who's taking care of it?

"Me, these two are chicken shits." Michael smirked.

"I don't fuck with anything that has more than four legs." Remiel grimaced, Dean nodding solemnly in agreement.

no pressure tags: @adelaidedrubman @deputyash @simplegenius042 @megraen @clicheantagonist @socially-awkward-skeleton @strangefable @kyberinfinitygems and anyone else who feels like it!!

[petra-creat0r]

Fankid Master Post (WIP)

Because I have so many and I want a place to keep track of all the information and current refs. Fair warning, most of these are old and I'm working through updating refs and information so this is mostly for my own reference. For the most part though, if something is here then I still plan on using the information/it's still true to some degree. If a kid or some information isn't mentioned here, it's likely outdated or that kid no longer exists

Older Gen

Soriel

Sariel | family relationships ask CK | Birth Ask Comic Boys Fav foods ask Sariel's Friends: Karri & Arcas (OLD) | Aster (OLD) | Bahns (OLD) | Trip Squad updated

Papyton

Broadway (OLD) Rexi (OLD) | Adoption ask Chicago | Baby | Side blog | Healing | Hair strand | Ringing ask | Playbill (OLD) | Rebooted design Cologne ask (OLD) Chicago's Friends: Hotspots (OLD) | HS Dark World (OLD) | Spamton HS reaction ask | Addison Parallels

Alphyne

Giko (OLD) Izuku (OLD) Naomi Naomi's Clutch | Clutch ask Nex Annie

BrattyCatty

Britni | Zealous goth ask

Ghostly Webs

Alice (OLD) Aranea, Nellie, and Joy (OLD) Wilbur

Misc info

Parents Reaction ask Traditions ask Ish Fan Kids tag Junior Secret Squad tag JSS Overview JSS and Mercair SBs JSS Older designs Fool's Fate Masterpost

Nicepants

Graham (OLD)

RG01XRG02

Vee (OLD) (Fuse all)

Dogi

Trix and Trixie (OLD) Dogi 1 Dogi 2 Dogi 3 Pup

FukuSkate

Sizzle (OLD)

Trauma Boys

Mei (OLD) Milo (OLD) Tae (OLD) Hyunie (OLD)

Italian Sparrow

G'resh Ezio & An (OLD)

Johnson Kids and Daz's Kid

Edgy Kids (OLD) (Rework)

Younger Gen

Vanilla Choco

Karma (OLD) Neri (OLD)

FriskKid

Liz (OLD) Gecky (OLD) (Rework/fuse Velox) | Gecky ask Azula (OLD) (Rework) Somil (OLD) (Rework)

Asriel's Kids

Hope (OLD) (Rework) Faith (OLD) (Rework)

Suselle

Donny (OLD) | Baby

Non-Ish/AUs

UnderCult

Neriah Kariem | Drawing

IshSwap

Papgore kids (OLD) | Updated Tempest design Napstasans kids (OLD) T-Rex kids (OLD) Oriental Lily kids (OLD)

Spamvil

Cameran, Pinochle, Scamlynn, Pip (OLD) | Cameran updated | Pinochle, Scamlynn, & Pip updated Pyramid & Ponzi (OLD)

Swatchton

Gradient & Buckette (OLD)

Misc.

The Owl House

Azura Apollo Piper Kiara TOH fankids ask

Pokemon

Joyce

Fankid Adopts

Fankid Adopts

[two-braincells-in-total]

Materlist

A little guide to my posts (the ones that don't have a link are things that I'm still working on and will be posted eventually)

Shatter me

Fanfics

A Coffee Tale (coffee shop AU; mainly warnette with side ships; not finished yet, but updated every once in a while)

Never forget that there's a 'he' in 'cheat' (ACT's backstory; featuring the drama with Leila, Kate and Anderson; will be out when I finish ACT)

Promise for forever (happens during ACT, but it's one-shots of Emmaline x Haider; will be out after I finish ACT, similar to Bonus Chapter 2 from ACT)

ACT Bloopers (not really a fanfic, but the notes I'm using to write ACT, because I'm convinced I'm funny I'm not, but I like attention)

Christmas miracles (warnette Christmas office au, will be a start of a seasonal warnette collection, will be out some time in December)

Character/plot point analysis

Juliette Ferrars (kinda sucks, might rewrite eventually)

Adam Kent (will be out at some point, not sure when)

Emmaline and Ella's names

Kenji and Juliette's friendship and it's contribution to their character developments

Adam and Juliette's relationship and it's contribution to their character developments

Nazeera Ibrahim

Emmaline Sommers (still not sure if I'll ever write it, but putting it here as a reminder for myself)

Headcanons

Nazeera, Kenji, Warner and Juliette as a friend group post-war (will be out eventually)

See me

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's a wattpad next-gen Shatter me fanfic by jackssfox, I really recommend checking it out

Character/plot point analysis

Kai Kishimoto (coming soon)

Emmaline Leila Warner (coming soon)

Theories about what happens next (tho they might be VERY far from what's actually gonna happen lol) (hopefully coming soon?)

Incorrect quotes

Day 1

Day 2 #1 #2

Day 3 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Apparently I missed day 4, but I was spamming day 3, so it's okay

Day 5

Day 6 #1 #2

Day 7 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Day 8

Day 9 #1 #2

Day 10 #1 #2

Day 11 #1 #2 #3

Day 12 #1 #2 #3

Day 13 #1 #2 #3

Day 14 #1 #2 #3

The Inheritance Games

Fanfics

Wedding plans with Jameson Hawthorne (Avery and Jameson planning their wedding; idea from @xo-zozo; coming soon)

Meant to be (next-gen fanfic; idk if I'll write it 'cause I got the idea before TBH came out, so idk if it's even possible for this to happen, considering the series isn't finished yet, and it was supposed to be AveryJameson's daughter with Eve's son, but idk if it's kinda like incest because of Toby? Please comment if you want to see it)

New memories (Nash and Libby Valentaine's day)

Behind the speaker (Avery, Jameson, Nash and Xander watching the players in tgg; coming soon)

The one to hold him (Jameson is sick and Avery is taking care of him; requested)

On the sand (Avery x Jameson beach date)

Character/plot point analysis

TGG review

Brady Daniels (hardly analysis, more like a rant lol)

The kiss scenes (with one reblog from me to add some stuff)

Gigi Grayson (currently working on it)

Savannah Grayson

Avery Grambs (idc that she's not a mc anymore, she's still my favourite and CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED)

Jameson Hawthorne

Headcanons

Rohavannah headcanons

The Reappearance of Rachel Price

Fanfics

As if you never left (Bell and Ash reunion)

What it should've been (Reachel, Bell and Carter just chilling)

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Character/plot point analysis

Andie and Pip paralles

The stuff at the end of Part 1 of AGAD and how it affected Pip

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is it for now, things from potential requests will be added. The fandoms that I'm in are listed in my intro post.

As you can see, there's a lot of stuff that I have in plan that I haven't written yet, but all of this takes time, I need at least a day for each of these things. Some of those things will take quite a while to post, so I'm asking for your patience <3

If anything here caught your attention, follow me so that you can see the progress of it. If you want to be tagged in my posts about a fandom or a specific thing, reply here and I'll tag you when the time comes.

I have random posts about some of these fandoms that are not included here and I'm kinda random (and I think I'm funny), so you can check them out, too.

I'm kinda unserious, so don't expect the character analysises (is that a word?) or fanfics to be profesional

Bye for now <3

[protosymphonette]

apparently I shouldn’t ask you your fallout 4 opinions? Now I want to ask you your fallout 4 opinions :)

i warned you about my fo4 opinions bro. i told you dog.

most of these are like. technical and story related. bee tee dubs

ok under cut because i have a lot to say and most of it is TOXIC because i LOVE TO COMPLAIN

listen. listen. i have a lot of feelings about this game. most of them aren't very good. so lets start with the ones that are mostly positive.

i think a thing fo4 did really well was the companions. a lot of their arcs are more realized than the other fo games (despite the fact that 2 of them don't even have full names, but i digress), they have more unique voicelines... and being able to romance them doesn't hurt either. honestly, half the reason i found myself willing to continue playing the game was getting all of the companion questlines and such. i also like how connected it was to fo3 character (like with li, maccready, maxson) and storywise (the institute, railroad, synths), made me feel Smart for getting the references. the way weapons... work? i guess is the best term? is also pretty decent- though the more advanced display hurts my eyes whenever i use energy weapons (which is always because they are the only guns worth using in any fo game)

i'll probably add more positives as i go, but- now time for parts of the game that i don't particularly enjoy... i don't like how many gameplay changes they made. like with the perks and special system (why would they change it. why remove skills?? why start all special stats at 1? the removal of skills really gets me; like, they were a more tangible and easier way to recognize what, well, SKILLS you had and just removing them entirely makes no sense) and the pip boy ui (WHY did they make holotapes go into general "misc" as opposed to having their own "notes" section??? you use holotapes like 40x more often in this game why. what the hell todd) the weapons and armor system irks me too, somewhat- the fact that once you progress to a point in the game in which you are like, unable to see if an armor/weapon is better than what you have because of all of the goddamn superfluous adjectival modifiers. i wish single piece armors were more practical- the mix-and-match nature of the new armor system is... i don't mean to be like, petty, but its Fugly. i know it's the wasteland but, DAMN, my guy's fit is trash! there are too many modifiers to armor, too, i feel. like, ballistic v energy v whatever damage resistance... all i want to know is if this thing is better than this thing, and you're tellin me it is SOMETIMES but not all the times? my iddy biddy pea brain came here to have FUN and SHOOT not to think about strategy in armor. tldr for my technical qualms with this game: they shouldn't have changed allat. it was great and fun as was.

storywise i don't... to put it succinctly, i don't like this game's story. it's boring to me. i don't necessarily care about my son, or my spouse, with the 5 minutes i spent with them during the tutorial and the "hey honey!" holotape you gave me is doing nothing to change that in any way. also, while on the subject of spouses, the game tries SO HARD to railroad (heh heh) you into being the male sole survivor- he NARRATES the damn intro ffs (and replacing the legend ron perlman is a crime which can never be forgiven) AND is a veteran (combat+power armor experience) and nora... is a lawyer? a job in which it would make no sense for her to already have power armor training or experience with weapons. (oatus the power armor ui is fucking ugly and gross too and i've literally never used it outside its introduction with the minutemen because of this) i think the fact that i don't give 2 shits about my son is why the institute is soooooo dry to me. like, why am i supposed to side with these assholes? because my son who is an old man is, what, their dad? or something? (also shaun being the gen 3 synths "father" and you being able to romance a whole slew of gen 3 synths is... weird, plainly put) also the factions are just boring to me. like no flavor at all. i don't want to bring up Beautiful Golden Child New Vegas (but i do) but like... obsidian did the "choose a faction" thing a whole helluva lot better. like i don't really give a shit at all about any of the stakes or factions within fo4 like even a little bit all i care about is my Guys who are my Friends and we Kill People Together.

also this is like very petty and opiniony but i don't like how good the graphics are i feel like fallout is a game franchise meant to look a little shitty

tldr; fallout 4 would be such a good game if it was a good game

[definitelynotadeathclaw]

Ren crouched behind a rusty file cabinet, fingers fumbling as he reloaded his beat up laser rifle.

"We don't have to do this!" His voice echoed through the corridor ahead. The intercom crackled, but no reply.

Quickly he looked through the scope, blasting the last turret with a well placed shot. He sighed, turning back to Nick and r01.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, kid, but are you sure you want to just walk in there? It's a room full of synths, and likely not all of them as agreeable as yours truly."

Ren nodded firmly, holstering his weapon carefully.

"It's worth a shot. He has information we need, and Kellogg doesn't look the type to be an institute regular. I'm still hoping we can do this." He sighed, standing as the door ahead clicked open. "Besides, I have the best helper two clicks away. And you."

He stepped forward, carefully leaving the door ajar. 3 gen 1 synths held lasers at his chest, while a man stepped forward, hands up and empty.

"Let's talk about this" a familiar voice, the same one who ordered the death of Nora many years ago, the scarred face sending a jolt of anger through Ren. He pushed it down, taking a breath.

"I'm not here to fight" he held out his own hands, empty. "I just came here for information, which we both know you have."

Kellogg sighed, leaning against one of the desks in the middle of the room. "You also know I can't tell you what you want to hear. The institute comes to me, ive never been there. I can't give you back your son."

"But you can help me. You were hired, were you not?" Ren slowly pulled out a bag from his pockets, bottle caps clinking loudly in the quiet room as he sat the bag down on a nearby console.

"500 up front. I have weapons and armor as well, most of it hand made by myself."

The other man hesitated, then started incredulously. "You really think your craftsmanship is better than what the institute can offer? They have hundreds of scientists-"

"Mass producing the same one thing, in different wrappings." Ren whistled sharply, the synths in the corner shifting uneasily towards the door.

The door opened, slowly and first, as a metalic arm opened it fully, revealing a modified assaultron, one arm a full sword, flame jets affixed on the sides of the blade, the other a janky railway rifle. The face a basic robco armor plating, the internal laser still visible throughout.

"Nothing I make is as flashy or clean as the institute no doubt has, but I have years of individualized training. My military time was not simply fighting."

He waited there, hands out, keeping firm eye contact with the man who had killed his wife and aided in the kidnapping of his only child. He knew he was mad for trying this, that it would not end the way he wanted.

But he had to try. Senseless violence was never his vibe.

After a prolonged silence that went on, kellogg chuckled.

"Fine," he cautiously walked forward, carefully picking up the bag of caps. "Let's see where this goes"

Without a word, he spun, drawing an old style revolver, quickly dispatching the gen 1s that were watching carefully.

Nick stood at the doorway, watching carefully. "Alright, but I suggest we leave quickly. The institute doesn't approve of people messing up their toys"

The group quickly made their way to the roof, ren hacking into the terminal and rendering the turrets that were left quiet and benign.

Stepping onto the roof, the sound of engines and spotlights overwhelmed them. "People of the commonwealth-"

The pip boy on his wrist beeped, flashing the same signal from the police station. He groaned, shutting it off. "Let's get you guys to sanctuary. Looks like I've been drafted."

[sergeantsporks]

Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 38/39: Pack

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17,  Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36, Ch 37

An alternate universe in which Evelyn managed to save Caleb after his confrontation with Phillip. The two of them escaped to present day through time pools, and have been using time pools to secretly rescue grimwalkers just after Belos attempts to kill them. The story follows Darius' mentor as he adjusts to his new life, as well as changes to the course of canon.

Ao3

Silver screamed. Phoenix almost joined them. His arms rippled, retreating to flesh and back again.

Caleb gasped, looking down at the blade, and back up at Belos. “Hah… guess you had it backwards. You’ll go through me… before you get to any of my ‘soldiers…’” He winced. “Always… ends… the same way, eh… Pip?”

Belos drew back with a messy squelch, pacing like an animal. Blood dripped from his fingertips to the ground, crimson droplets like little drops of setting sun splattering against the dirt of their home. “That was your fault,” he accused, no pleaded, “You wouldn’t—you made me—”

Evelyn knelt next to Caleb, her hands already glowing blue. But the magic flickered—of course it did, of course she wasn’t ready for this kind of healing. She hadn’t been operating at full capacity for weeks now while trying to keep the shield up, and she’d barely been breathing only minutes ago. But her magic did its best, and Caleb’s chest still rose and fell, if erratically. Phoenix let out a sigh of relief. He’d be alright. For now.

“It was his fault,” Belos snarled again, stalking towards Caleb’s limp body, “It was—”

Spikes of ice jabbed up out of the ground, forming a barrier around Caleb and Evelyn and shooting outwards towards Belos. Meleager crouched on the ground, one hand touching a glowing ice glyph.

“Stay away from him,” he commanded, his voice steely and deadly calm. His breath steamed in the cold air next to his barrier.

Belos stepped back, eying the barrier, but before he could spot a weakness, a spear slammed into the ground at his feet. Hamlet stepped back, and Horus took his place, hefting a spear of his own and preparing to throw. Venari traced a glyph in the dirt with their good arm, making another spear to replace Hamlet’s.

Belos dodged the second spear, and, before Hamlet could throw his new one, pounced on Petro’s semi-conscious body. He rose shakily to his feet, and Phoenix’s stomach twisted. Even Belos didn’t seem quite able to fix the damage he’d done earlier—or maybe he didn’t want to. He shuffled forward, his eyes flickering into blue even while he winced in pain.

“Go ahead,” he taunted, spreading out his arms, “Strike! You won’t hurt him, not now that he’s betrayed me and joined y—”

A glittering knife made of stone whirred through the air, slicing across Belos’ cheekbone. The knife sprouted vines that latched onto the wound, wrapping around the left side of Belos’ face, covering one eye and continuing their steady creep over his forehead.

Sam pushed up his glasses with his free hand, dropping the hand he’d used to throw the knife. “Somehow, I doubt the person who was suicidally dedicated to killing Phoenix will mind too much if he gets a little banged up while we try to get rid of you.” His voice held a matter-of-fact quality to it, but vibrated with barely-contained rage underneath. “And besides, you picked the wrong grimwalker to pull the ‘you wouldn’t hurt him, would you?’ card with.” A small, cold smile appeared on his face that didn’t quite match the tears blooming behind his glasses. “You might want to check your blindspot, Uncle Pip.”

Belos’ head swiveled to the left, but, Phoenix realized, it had just been another distraction. Lucy swept down from the sky (when had she taken off? Phoenix hadn’t thought such a huge creature would be capable of such stealth, but the last few minutes had been chaotic enough he supposed), Joseph steering and Cherry standing on the griffin’s back. He leapt off his perch, easily overpowering the disoriented Belos and pinning Petro’s arms to his sides.

“Leave his body before this gets more painful for both of you,” Cherry told him, “Those broken ribs are going to hurt an awful lot in about three seconds.” He squeezed slightly to emphasize his point, and Belos yipped in pain, his eyes flickering from blue to magenta, and back to blue.

Sam tilted his head at Meleager’s group, who watched patiently with their spears in hand, waiting for Cherry to no longer be in firing range. “I guess we weren’t the only little group who made a contingency plan.”

“No,” Phoenix agreed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Novus quickly twisting together the barest skeletons of windup toys while Matt, Cyrus, and Ash armed them with glyphs, “I guess not.” He blinked, tallying up Grimwalkers in his head. “Wait—where’d Lake and Locke go?”

Petro’s face shifted, and Belos sort of… ripped away from him, like a second head extending from his neck, snapping at Cherry’s throat. Cherry dropped him with a yelp, stepping back, but Belos was didn’t get to enjoy his new freedom. Petro’s eyes burned, and his hands twitched weakly. “Get… out…” he hissed, “Get…”

Phoenix heard two sharp, twin intakes. Lake and Locke appeared behind Belos, invisibility glyphs burning away. Before Belos had time to wrestle back control of Petro’s body, Lake grabbed Belos’ hair and yanked, while Locke pushed Petro’s body in the opposite direction with one foot. Belos yelped, and with a disgusting slurping noise, pulled loose from Petro. The moment his arms reformed, Lake and Locke jumped backwards to avoid his swipes. Petro dragged himself just far enough away from Belos that the emperor couldn’t grab him again, then collapsed against the dirt again.

“And there’s part two,” Sam remarked calmly.

Phoenix bounced Ghost up and down in his arms, turning their face away from the fight. “I’m surprised your plan was to get Belos out and not just take Petro down with him.”

Sam shrugged. “Usually I’m all about efficiency, but honestly, I sort of want to beat each of them separately. More cathartic that way.”

Belos rose to his feet, but almost immediately had to twist and dodge more spears from Hamlet, Horus, and Meleager. Novus released the little army of toys, and they waddled across the field, exploding in flashes of bright light or puffs of smoke. Belos roared—he’d turned to his completely monstrous form, abandoning any pretenses at remaining human.

The disorientation from everyone’s combined effort was all the rest of the Grimwalkers needed. They charged forward, summoning glyph weapons of their own and surrounding Belos in a deadly, pointy ring. He whirled around in a circle, unsure of who to choose while they struck, darting in close and taking a swing, then skipping back out of reach before he could overcome the disorienting blow and strike back. Dagger and Venari stayed outside of the mob, drawing new glyphs, and the grimwalkers around Belos moved in an intricate dance of striking, retreating, retrieving a glyph from Dagger or Venari, and rejoining the circle.

Phoenix thought he and Ghost might be the only ones besides the rescued hostages left out, but Hunter quietly stood next to him, watching in awe. “They’re incredible,” he murmured.

A small, proud smile worked its way onto Phoenix’s face. “Yeah,” he replied, “They are.”

Hunter gripped his staff tightly. “I should help.”

“Are you ready?”

“I want to be.” But he shuddered, glancing Petro’s direction.

Phoenix understood. Hunter had just been possessed—and he’d nearly lost Flapjack, to boot. Of course he was nervous. “Don’t worry about it,” Phoenix told him gently, “This is what being part of the family is for—you don’t have to confront him unless you’re ready. And they’ll protect you if you’re not—even if you’re never ready. I get it. I wish I could help, but… I think I’d just get in the way right now. Can’t move fast enough.” He nodded to his injured leg. “And I never learned glyphs well enough to draw them. Besides,” he added, forcing cheer into his voice and patting Ghost’s back, “Someone has to take care of Ghost.”

A smile flickered across Hunter’s face. “They do not want to let go of you,” he agreed. He turned his attention back towards the fight, taking tiny, shuffling steps forward and then back.  

Sam finished drawing a massive glyph in the dirt, and darted forward, stomping to activate it. “Haha!”

Nothing happened.

“Uh…” Sam hit the glyph again, but again, nothing happened. Belos whirled around, striking out at Sam before he could move out of the way.

“Look out!”

Hunter disappeared from Phoenix’s side in a flash of gold, reappearing next to Sam and teleporting him away just as Belos’ scythe sliced into the air where he’d just been. Hunter resurfaced next to Phoenix again, both he and Sam’s chests heaving for air. Sam patted himself as if to make sure he was still there.

Hunter hissed. “That was close.”

All around the circle, glyphs flickered and went out. Meleager attacked with a spear made of ice, but it shattered against Belos’ skin. Belos turned towards him with a dangerous glow in his eyes.

Again, Hunter disappeared, and again, he snatched Belos’ target just in the nick of time, dropping him safely with Phoenix and Sam.

Belos’ lips curled into a sneer, and he went on the offensive, lashing out at the grimwalkers who were now too close, with no way to defend themselves. Hunter disappeared and reappeared all around the circle with a distinctive whoosh, always barely half a step ahead of Belos’ attacks, always just in time.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” Phoenix thought he heard him repeat to himself as he dropped their siblings to safety, “I can do this.”

The remaining grimwalkers broke ranks, retreating from Belos’ onslaught, half-panicked and some of them fruitlessly still trying to use glyphs. Hunter continued to pull them from danger, while others retreated on their own, backing out of Belos’ reach.

Belos lunged at Cherry, the last grimwalker within his easy hitting range, but something seemed… off… about the attack. His eyes shifted behind Cherry, and Phoenix realized what he was up to just before Hunter teleported to grab Cherry.

Belos lashed out, almost quicker than Phoenix could follow, but instead of hitting Cherry, he aimed past him. His hand slammed into Hunter just as he solidified, knocking his staff out of his hands and sending him skidding backwards. Cherry stepped in, taking swing to divert Belos’ attention, but Belos batted him aside with barely a second glance.

“You should have stayed dead in the human realm,” Belos hissed, raising his scythe.

Hunter’s staff rolled to Phoenix’s feet, and the bird on top sprang to life. The staff flew into Phoenix’s hand with a shrill cry that Phoenix understood perfectly—save him. Without thinking, Phoenix moved, stepping forward. The palisman did the rest—that step blurred gold, and when his foot landed on the ground, he stood over Hunter, holding one arm up to block Belos’ blade and angling his body to keep Ghost away from harm.

He flinched as Belos’ scythe sank into his arm, almost certain it would push past the layers of mud and cleave straight through bone.

But instead the curse wrapped itself around the scythe when it made contact, gumming up the blade and stopping it completely.

Hunter stared up at him, wide-eyed. “Flap-jack?” he whispered. Phoenix dropped the staff, and it fluttered to its witch. Hunter scrambled to his feet, clutching the shaft tightly. “Phoenix—”

Belos pushed harder, and the blade came dangerously close to Phoenix’s face, his own curse dripping and splattering onto his skin in steaming droplets.

“Take Ghost,” Phoenix grunted, “Now.”

Hunter wrapped one arm around Ghost’s waist and disappeared, back safely with the others in the blink of an eye. With his other arm free, Phoenix lashed out, scraping claws against Belos’ arm. Belos stepped back with a hiss, reevaluating and holding his dripping arm. A savage smile to rival Petro’s flickered across Phoenix’s face.

“Not so easy to kill us when we have the tools to fight back, is it?”

Belos’ face twisted into an ugly snarl, and he lunged again. Phoenix caught his hands with a grunt, digging his feet into the ground and pushing back.

“You won’t get past me.”

Belos’ face was already half-melted, showing his teeth like a skull, but he still somehow managed to smile. “That’s fine with me.”

Tendrils of Belos’ mud separated from the rest of his arms and jabbed into Phoenix’s own cursed flesh, like twisted harpoons lashing the two of them together. Belos clutched Phoenix’s hands so that he couldn’t pull away, his rotting breath heavy on Phoenix’s face.

“Together, then,” he hissed.

Phoenix’s arms rippled in terror, pushing back against the connection, trying to force Belos’ influence out.

No. No, no, no—

The glow of Belos’ eyes spread across Phoenix’s sight, tinging everything blue. Behind him, someone screamed his name, and he slowly, slowly tore his eyes away from Belos’, twisting to look.

Jason had leapt off of the gallows and ran towards him, but Cherry caught him, his one eye widening in horror. He wrapped his arms around the struggling grimwalker to keep him back, shouting something, but Phoenix couldn’t hear him.

Fight it, Cherry’s lips mouthed, Fight him.

What does he think I’m doing?

Phoenix turned his head back to Belos, but the emperor was gone.

Oh.

Phoenix’s arms pulsed, twice as big as they were supposed to be, and spreading towards his shoulders. Phoenix lifted his hands, slow as if he was moving through honey, clawing fruitlessly at the growth.

You never stood a chance.

Phoenix’s head throbbed in time with someone else’s heart. Something clawed at the inside of his chest, tore at the inside of his skull, ripped at his soul with razor sharp claws.

Stupid

Weak

You failed me—you were always going to fail them, too.

Phoenix curled up in himself, a voice that sounded suspiciously like his screaming somewhere outside of himself, then abruptly cutting off as his lungs succumbed to the overwhelming pressure.

Stupid

Weak

“No,” Phoenix whispered, but his body didn’t respond, didn’t pass the word along.

Something slammed against his consciousness, tearing at it with massive claws.

“Did you think you would fight me with my own power?”

A knee—no, an elbow—no, a foot—slammed into Phoenix’s chest, and a massive paw curled around his throat.

“I gave you that power,” Belos’ voice whispered, surrounding him like a cocoon, dissolving his insides, “I made you, and made you everything you are. You. Belong. To me.”

Phoenix’s soul constricted, and somewhere, he could feel that terror from his curse, the deep fear of a hunted animal. It didn’t want to go back to Belos—maybe remnants of Belos were in his curse, but remnants of the palisman were, too. And they were terrified.

“Please,” he whispered.

“Please? Oh, we’re far past the point where you have any say.” Belos’ laugh echoed all around him and that horrible force dropped him.

“Please,” Phoenix whispered again, reaching out towards that sad, scared thing inside him, “He’ll kill us both again. I know it’s hard to stand up. I know you’re scared, and it’s okay to be scared. But we have to do this together. We can’t do it alone.”

Belos tore at Phoenix’s soul again, scraping him out of his own body. “You were never going to be clever enough or strong enough to defeat me. Goodbye, Hunter.”

Something wrapped around Phoenix, anchoring him to himself like a lifeline. A cold, slimy, acidic lifeline, but a lifeline nonetheless. He took a deep breath. Then another. And another. And he felt that breath echoing in his body. One slow piece of control at a time. One recovery by one recovery. His heart started to beat with his pulse, not Belos’.

“I don’t need to be clever enough to get rid of you.” The words ebbed out of him—he didn’t say them, they just sort of echoed, pushing Belos away in pulses of warmth while the curse kept him anchored in his body. “I don’t need to be strong enough. I just need a little help.”

His arms rippled again, and this time, this time, Belos went flying backwards, Phoenix’s curse rejecting its origin and pushing him out. Belos skidded against the ground, and Phoenix slowly marched towards him. His curse covered his arms, but twisted around him in the air, too, forming wings of mud.

“Maybe it was your power,” Phoenix said, and this time, his voice was his own. This time, his body was his, only his, curse and all. “Maybe you made me what I am.” The wings spiraled back into his arms, and he grabbed Belos by his collarbone. He seemed… smaller than Phoenix remembered him ever being before, barely Phoenix’s height. “But it is my choice what I do with it.”

Belos tried again to possess him, creeping spikes of mud jabbing at Phoenix’s arms, but his curse didn’t give, didn’t let him in again.

“I choose who I am,” Phoenix told him. He slammed Belos against the ground, drawing his hands back for another blow. Belos scrambled to his feet, but he couldn’t move away fast enough. “Not you.”

He brought his clawed hand careening right towards Belos’ face.

Belos caught it, struggling to push Phoenix’s hand back before it could plunge into his eyes. “Ah—wait—wait—”

I’m winning, Phoenix realized as Belos took a step back, and his arms shook under the force of Phoenix’s onslaught, He’s not strong enough to beat me—to beat us.

Belos’ foot slid backwards again.

Almost—

Belos’ eyes darted down, and his foot swung forward.

He hadn’t been losing a step.

He’d been drawing back for a kick.

Belos’ blow crashed into Phoenix’s injured ankle so hard the cast cracked and shivers of pain rippled up his spine. Phoenix’s leg buckled, and the moment of hesitation was all Belos needed. He twisted away from Phoenix, grabbing Phoenix’s face in one hand and slamming him back against the ground. He pulled Phoenix up again, this time pushing him forward against the earth. He couldn’t see—couldn’t feel—there was nothing but emptiness.

“Stop!”

Stars danced in front of Phoenix’s eyes, and he slowly rolled out of the crater Belos had made with his body. He’d gone past the point of hurting—all he could feel was a startling numbness and some bright flashes of… something… from the curse in his arms. Not quite fear. But a weakness and a hunger.

Belos had left him the moment he’d blacked out—he’d turned his attention back to the gallows, back to Evelyn’s flickering magic, back to Caleb.

But Jason stood in his way, arms out.

“Leave him alone.” Tears ran down Jason’s face, but Phoenix couldn’t tell who they were for. “I know you were hurt, but haven’t you punished him enough for it?”

No, Phoenix thought dizzily, trying and failing to push himself up, to crawl, to do anything but sit here uselessly, He can’t be reasoned with—Jason, you have to move.

But to his surprise, Belos stopped. To his surprise, Belos hesitated, struggling against himself like an animal chewing its own leg to get out of a trap.

“I’m not punishing him,” he said finally, “I’m saving him.”

Jason gave Belos a look so quietly sad, Phoenix’s own eyes grew wet. “Do you even know the difference anymore?”

Belos snarled, lunging at Jason, but froze halfway, looking down at his feet. Phoenix blinked once or twice, wondering if he was hallucinating. But no, the creeping grey didn’t disappear, instead spreading up.

Belos was turning to stone.

Belos twisted around to find the source of the magic, and Phoenix followed his gaze. Mole stood behind Belos, a giant glyph drawn in the dirt around him—the petrification glyph, Phoenix realized. In the middle, stuck in the dirt like a flagpole, was Petro’s dropped staff. The red gem at the top glowed and crackled with red lightning, powering the glyph with the last of its magic. Belos twisted and swiped, but Mole stood just out of reach, unfazed.

“I suppose it always was going to be you,” Belos snarled, “You never held any loyalty to me, did you? I should have bashed your head in with a shovel before you ever crawled out of the mud.” The petrification had crept up to his chest now, and his lips peeled back in a sneer. “What, nothing to say? Even now?”

Mole didn’t respond, just watched coldly as the stone devoured more and more of Belos’ skin. Belos turned frantically back to Jason, reaching almost gently towards his face. His own face changed, back to the face of a battered old man.

“You’re not going to let him do this to me, are you?” he asked, his voice honey-sweet, but tinged with desperation, “No, Hunter, you’re not going to let him kill me. We’re going to the human realm, remember? Just you and I, no one else. Phillip and Caleb again. That’s what you wanted, remember? You said that’s what you wanted, just you and I, no witches, none of these other grimwalkers, nothing. Just you and I. You won’t let him kill me. You promised.”

Jason said nothing for a long moment, just looked at Belos as if he was searching for something, then sighed. “You were so good at tricking people. So good at telling them what they wanted to hear,” he told Belos in a low, sad voice, “You told so many lies—can’t you recognize one when you hear it?”

He stepped back. Belos reached out towards him, but his fingers turned to stone just before he could touch Jason again.

His face froze tilted towards Caleb.

Mole took a deep breath, pulled the shaking, smoking staff out of the glyph, and pointed it at Belos’ petrified body. A pulse of red energy shot out, and the statue collapsed into rubble. The red gem at the top shattered. The last remnants of him… gone.

Xxx

Jason watched Belos’ face fall to pieces in front of him and fell to his knees with them. He’d thought he’d feel something when Belos died. Happiness. Pride. Maybe even a little bit of sadness. But he just felt… empty. Scraped out and hollow.

Is this how Dad always felt?

Mole dropped the staff and leapt over the rubble to him, taking Jason’s face in his hands and anxiously looking him over for injuries.

“I’m okay,” Jason told him wearily, “Hey—really, I’m alright. Um.” He slowly twisted around. “We should check on—”

Mole nodded, helping him to his feet and watching him like a hawk until they reached Phoenix. He’d managed to roll over and get himself up on his knees, but he stared vacantly into space, a look Jason felt in his soul.

“Hey—” Jason reached towards his face. “Concussion buddies?”

Phoenix smiled weakly, gripping his hand. “Probably. Hey—I’m glad you’re safe. If a little banged up.” His eyes slid back to Belos. “He’s… it’s for real this time, right?”

Mole nodded fiercely. A grim smile worked its way onto Jason’s face. “Well, glyphs don’t seem to be working very well at the moment, so even if Sam wanted to turn him back, I don’t think he could.”

“And… Caleb?”

Any words Jason could have said died in his throat. He turned and wandered as if in a dream towards the foot of the gallows, pushing through the crowd of grimwalkers gathered around their parents. Evelyn still held that flickering magic circle over Caleb’s chest, but the wound… didn’t seal up. The blood flow had barely stemmed up. Sweat dripped down Evelyn’s face, and the magic flickered more dangerously, nearly going out completely.

“It’s not enough,” she whispered, looking up at Jason desperately, “I’m out of magic, I can’t…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Auric?” she said faintly.

“I can start packing the wound, we can try to get him back to Hexside, the griffin is at the ready—”

“Auric, listen.” Evelyn opened her eyes again. “There’s one more spell I can try, and hopefully it will negate enough of the damage that he’ll survive. But I’m… going to be out of commission. I need you to take care of the rest—of him and me, okay?”

“Okay,” Auric said quietly, “Okay, okay, I can do that. But what—”

Evelyn released the spell with a sigh. “Here we go.” She pressed her forehead to Caleb’s, taking a deep breath. “With this spell declared,” she murmured, “let the pain be shared.”

She fell next to Caleb, the wound on his chest shimmering and shrinking. Evelyn’s own chest tore open, and blood flowed from the wounds.

Auric yanked out bandages and potions, swearing a blue streak while he packed the wounds. He looked up at Jason, horror dawning in his eyes. “It’s still too big,” he whispered, “She was wrong, I can’t fix this—I don’t have magic, I don’t have…”

“We need to make it smaller,” Jason murmured.

“What?”

“We need to make it smaller,” Jason declared. He gripped Evelyn’s bloody hand.

Auric’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, Jason, don’t—”

“With this spell declared,” Jason announced, “Let the pain be shared.”

For a moment, nothing. Then, a tearing, aching rawness spread across his chest, opposite the scar on his back. Jason doubled over, gasping. The ground beneath him blurred, and the strength he’d had left drained. He reached for Evelyn and Caleb’s hands again, his own shaking uncontrollably.

“With this spell declared,” he heard Cherry’s voice murmuring, and Caleb’s wound shrank even more.

“Spread out the damage,” Auric breathed, “If all of us—it can be manageable. All of us take a little so that they don’t take too much.”

Mole gripped Jason’s shoulder, his lips moving soundlessly. The pain lessened—still a tearing rawness that made each breath an almost insurmountable effort, but lessened. All around him, the murmur rose up—the spell repeated over and over again, Belos’ damage spread out between them evenly. Jason held his parents’ hands tightly.

Let us save you this time.

Xxx

Phoenix limped towards the gallows. All around Caleb and Evelyn, the rest of the family murmured the words of a spell. They shared the burden of the wound, and it shrank smaller and smaller each time. Sam held up a hand as he approached.

“Uh—no offense, Phoenix, but I think if you try, it’ll just…” His face softened. “Look—you’ve taken enough more than enough hits for us today. Let us do this part.”

A frustrated, helpless feeling rose up in the back of Phoenix’s throat. “But I want to hel—”

“You have. Easy, soldier. Time to take a break.”

Phoenix retreated. He hadn’t helped, not enough. He’d come so close to beating him, but… not enough. Belos had still won out. And he’d been left in the dust again.

Speaking of left in the dust… Phoenix slowly lowered himself in a painful, aching crouch next to Petro. He wheezed, opening one eye to glare at Phoenix.

“I still don’t like you,” he grumbled, “This doesn’t change that.”

“I figured.” Phoenix sighed. “How long?”

“What?”

“How long were you planning to kill him? Was it the whole time, or…?”

“No.” Petro stared up at the sky. “Ah… after I left you at the keep, I retreated to watch him win and destroy everything. Sort of seemed like there was nothing else to do. And then… he didn’t.”

“Mhm.”

“I went looking. I had to make sure for myself, you know. See if he was actually dead this time. And I found him, a mashed-up puddle of footprints in mud.” Petro shuddered. “It was like he was waiting for me. He knew I’d come back, and he just had to hold on until I did. And… he possessed me again. But it was different. I couldn’t tell you how, but it just felt… I don’t know, desperate. You know how someone who’s drowning will drag you down with them? Like that. And I knew, when he possessed me again, that he was going to use me up. He was going to take everything I had left, and then just leave me in a ditch somewhere.” He chuckled, then winced. “I was always willing to die for him, little bird. But I thought that sacrifice would have some meaning. That he’d care if I did. That possession… he didn’t care. I was just a means to an end, and he’d forget about me once I was gone.”

Petro took a deep, shaky breath. “And I realized… I was never going to be good enough for him. He was going to replace me, again, this time with the real article. The real Caleb. And how could I possibly compete with that?” His voice cracked. “Even if I killed Caleb, he wouldn’t love me more. He wouldn’t ever choose me over the brother who left him, even though I was right there, even though I always came back to him. Even though I would have died for him.”

Petro shook his head, his eyes suspiciously wet. “I just don’t understand how he thought I never cared this whole time. I wasn’t going to betray him, not at first. I don’t understand how he could think… I was loyal. I was loyal. How could he think I only returned to stab him in the back?” His eyes latched desperately onto Phoenix’s. “I had to. He didn’t give me another choice—I was loyal. I had to.”

“I understand,” Phoenix said softly, “Trust me, Petro, I understand. But—look. Hey. You can give your loyalty to someone who deserves it more. Someone who will be loyal back. I think… I think your caretaker would like that for you.”

“It’s not gonna be you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Come on.” Phoenix slung one of Petro’s arms over his shoulder and hauled him up to his feet.

“Let me go,” Petro grumbled, “Leave me to die here.”

“You’re not dying. And I’m not leaving you behind.”

Petro chuckled, breaking into a cough halfway through. “You’re not in much better shape than I am, little bird. You can barely stand.”

“I can stand enough.”

Phoenix dragged Petro towards the rest of the family. Lucy knelt on the ground, allowing Joseph to drape Evelyn and Caleb across her back. Caleb still hadn’t opened his eyes, and Evelyn wasn’t much better, watching them with hazy, weak eyes. But they were alive—and the gaping wound had been reduced to a nasty gash, easily packed and bandaged by Auric’s steady hand.

“Oh, no,” Sam said immediately as Phoenix approached, “He is not coming with us.”

“Good,” Petro mumbled, “I don’t want to. You’ll keep me locked in your lab again.”

Phoenix elbowed him. “No, we won’t. Sam, come on—”

“After everything he’s done?”

“He turned on Belos,” Phoenix pleaded, “He saved Evelyn.”

“For his own gain, not because he cares about us.”

“Okay, but he still helped! That has to mean something, doesn’t it?He can change,” Phoenix argued, “He’s already started—we didn’t think he’d ever turn on Belos, did we? But he did. It’s like Caleb said, he’s growing. Slowly, but growing.” He turned desperately to Cherry. “You wanted him to change—and he is. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Cherry avoided his eyes. “Maybe he’s changing. But… I’m not sure I want to be around him while he does. He hurt us, Phoenix. He led the Collector right to us. On purpose. He had our home destroyed.”

“He stabbed Lake!” Sam yelled.

“He did do that,” Lake agreed, rubbing their shoulder.

“And he hurt Silver,” Chryses piped up, uncharacteristically angry.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Silver murmured, patting his arm, “It was part of the plan, sort of—we had to get Dad to pull the gallows lever.”

But they went ignored.

“He collapsed. A cave. On me,” Dagger seethed, “Leave him, Phoenix.”

“Okay—look—we can at least take him to a hospital—”

“Don’t want to,” Petro grumbled, “Want to be left here to die.”

Phoenix would have shaken him if he wasn’t so injured. “We’re not leaving you to die. You didn’t want Belos to use you up and leave you for dead—I know you don’t want to die now.”

“Hey, if it’s what he wants…” Sam muttered.

“Come on,” Phoenix tried one more time, “We all had a safe place to figure out how we felt and who we wanted to be. All of us were betrayed by Belos in little ways from the second we dug out of the mud, and we let it go for a long time. And all of us carried out Belos’ horrors up until the end—so did Petro, but we were on the receiving end this time. His finish line just happened after he met us, not before. Look. I get it—he tried to kill me when I was thirteen, just for existing. He killed the closest thing I had to a friend, he attacked and nearly killed me. And he’s tried again several times since. If anyone has the right to be angry with him, if anyone has the right to leave him behind, it’s me.”

Phoenix took a deep breath. “But it doesn’t matter if I’ve forgiven him or not. What matters is that he needs help. What matters is that when it really counted, he stood up to Belos. And what matters is that I’m not going to be the kind of person who leaves him behind just because I don’t like him. He’s coming with us, even if I have to drag him all the way back myself.”

“You won’t have to.”

Jason slipped around to Petro’s other side, supporting him and taking some of the weight off Phoenix’s shoulders. “He saved Mom. That’s good enough for me. Even if he is incorrigible.”

Jason stared pointedly at the others, and Cherry caved. “Alright. We can at least take him to a healer, I suppose. But Phoenix… watch your back around him, okay?”

“I will.”

They turned and looked at Sam expectantly, and finally, he threw up his hands with a disgusted sigh. “Fine! Yes! Fine! We’re a bunch of bleeding hearts! Titan. Fine. We’ll take him with us. Geeze. Joseph, I hope you have more griffins, because we are walking out of this with twice as many injured people than we walked in with.”

Joseph shrugged and whistled. One of his other griffins stalked out of the trees, lifting Dagger and Venari onto her back. Jason and Mole pushed Petro up on Lucy behind Caleb and Evelyn. The griffin eyed him for a moment, the same way she’d eyed Jason before sitting on him, but left him alone.

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing.”

Phoenix jumped. He hadn’t noticed Hunter creep up at his elbow, still holding Ghost. The toddler made grabby hands at Phoenix, but Hunter didn’t move to hand the baby over, eying Phoenix’s injured foot.

“Oh. Thanks.”

Hunter shrugged. “I wouldn’t be here if people hadn’t given me a lot of second chances, even after I hurt them.” He scratched Flapjack’s chin. Blue scars ran up the bird’s chest from the repairs, but he was alive and looked like he’d never let go of Hunter again. “Maybe he’ll turn out alright if he meets the right people.”

“Maybe.”

The second griffin lifted Phoenix, depositing him neatly on her back. Cherry looked up at him. “Where to? Back to Hexside?”

Phoenix shook his head. “I’ve… actually got somewhere else in mind. Hunter? Could you lead the way?”

Hunter’s face split into a grin. “I’d love to.”

Xxx

Phoenix took a deep breath. This was it. No more barriers, no more incidents to keep him from explaining. Just he and Darius.

And the assortment of twenty plus griffins, grimwalkers, witches, and humans behind him.

He knocked on the perfectly polished purple door.

It swung open almost immediately, and Darius’s jaw dropped, staring at the mob behind Phoenix.

“Um. Hi. Do you… maybe know where we could find a healer right around now?”

Darius nodded faintly, still staring at the crowd.

“And… is your offer of a place to stay still open? Sorry, I know there’s a lot of us.”

“Ah. Yes.” Darius bobbed his head up and down a few times. “I think… I think I may need to find some more blankets.”

[stevetonyzine]

🌟 LEFTOVER SALES ARE OPEN 🌟

It's the moment you've been waiting for!

🛒Store @ https://stonyzine.bigcartel.com 🛒

You Gave Me a Home is a collective love letter Tony Stark & Steve Rogers. Within these pages, you’ll find a plethora of fanmade content exploring their relationship through the lens of multiple universes, where, against all odds, they always seem to find each other. 

Originally a Kickstarter project from February 2021, we achieved our goal of raising enough funds to produce the book and its accompanying goods.

With our remaining stock of items, we hope to raise a substantial amount for our chosen charity, A Chance In Life.

❤️ Please note we have limited stock. Once we sell out of an item, that's it! ❤️

🔶 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL 🔶

The first 15 physical orders receive a free bookmark! These are the last bookmarks we have in stock, so don't miss out.

Continue Reading for contributor information and our store's offerings!

🔷 [$55] Together - Full Bundle 🔷 [1] Physical Copy of You Gave Me a Home: Steve & Tony Across the Multiverse [2] 2″ Avengers Academy Die-Cut Stickers [2] 1.5″ Steve & Tony Acrylic Charm Set [1] 2" Double-Sided Acrylic Charm [1] 4″ x 6″ Multiverse Sticker Sheet [3] Prints- MCU, 616 comic, and Avengers Academy [1] Charity Print (Exclusive to our leftover sale) [1] Linked Enamel Pin

[$5 Add-On] 20 x 12 cm Canvas Pouch

🔷 [$40] Winghead & Shellhead - Flat Bundle🔷 [1] Physical Copy of You Gave Me a Home: Steve & Tony Across the Multiverse [2] 2″ Avengers Academy Die-Cut Stickers [1] 4″ x 6″ Multiverse Sticker Sheet [3] Prints- MCU, 616 comic, and Avengers Academy [1] Charity Print

🔷 [$30] The Futurist & Man Out of Time - Zine Only🔷 [1] Physical Copy of You Gave Me a Home: Steve & Tony Across the Multiverse [1] Charity Print

🔷 [$12] Good Morning Beloved - NSFW Booklet Only🔷 [1] Physical Copy of Good Morning Beloved

🔷 [$15] Superhusbands - Digital Zine Only🔷 [1] PDF Edition of You Gave Me a Home: Steve & Tony Across the Multiverse

[$5 Add-On] PDF Edition of Good Morning Beloved - the NSFW booklet

🔷 [$10] Any Universe - Mystery Merch Bundle 🔷 [2] 2″ Avengers Academy Die-Cut Stickers [1] 4″ x 6″ Multiverse Sticker Sheet [1] Random Print (616 Comic or Avengers Academy) [1] Random Charm/Pin (Linked Enamel Pins, Steve/Tony Keychain Set, or the double-sided Stretch Goal Charm)

🔷 [$3+] The Workshop - Individual & Set Merch Options 🔷 [$8] Sticker Set: (2) 2" Die-Cut Stickers + 4 x 6" Sticker Sheet [$10] (2) 1.5 Double-Sided Keychain Set [$6] 2" Double-Sided Charm [$12] 1" Chain-Linked Enamel Pins (A-Grade) [$8] 1" Chain-Linked Enamel Pins (B-Grade) [$3 ] Print: Avengers Academy (Polaroid) [$3] Print: 616 (Halloween Party) [$5] Charity Print [$10] Canvas Pouch

Thank you to all the wonderful contributors for creating amazing content without which the zine would never have been a reality. Check them out below and shower them with all your love!

☆Writers☆

Allyssa | @phony-stony | ao3 Ash | @starkrogerrs | ao3 Citsiurtlanu | @citsiurtlanu | ao3 Crow | twitter | ao3 Delirious Dove | @delirious-dove | ao3 Dirigibleplumbing | @dirigibleplumbing | ao3 FateReplay | twitter FestiveFerret | @festiveferret | ao3 Fluffypanda | @ayapandagirl | ao3 Isozyme | tumblr | ao3 KiwiBerry | @daydreamjamesdean | ao3 Kiyaar | twitter Magicasen | twitter | ao3 Mamichigo | ao3  Marahuyo | ao3 nanasekei | @elcorhamletlive | ao3 Nativemossy | ao3 Onlymorelove | @onlymorelove | ao3 Pip Graham | ao3 Sadieb798 | @sadieb798 | ao3 Sadistic Sparkle | @sadisticsparkle | ao3 Sineala | @sineala | ao3 WhenasInSilks | @whenas-in-silks | ao3 Winterstar | @winterstar95 | ao3

☆Artists☆

Aetherlogic | @aetherlogic | insta Armellin | @armellin | insta Cachette | @acachette Eriot | twitter FletcherY-Png | @fletchery-png | twitter Gensyz | @gen-syz-art | twitter Hundredthousands | @hundredthousands-art | ao3 ireallyshouldbedrawing | @ireallyshouldbedrawing | insta JarvisUandDUMEtoo | @jarvisuanddumetoo | ao3 Jayjayverse | @jayjayverse | ao3 Juizyya | @juizyya | twitter Machi-kun | @machi-kun | twitter Mad1492 | insta MassiveSpaceWren | @massivespacewren | ao3 | insta RilenHale | twitter | insta Sardina | @godless-sardina-commissions Tishawish | @tishawish | twitter Velvetcat09 | twitter | carrd

☆Merch Artists☆

AJ Reed | twitter Inky_Wings | @inky-wings | instaKriss | twitter | insta NeitiKesäheinä | tumblr | ao3  Sourwoif | @sourwoif | insta SungMunHei | twitter | insta

Thank you for your support!

[firstprince-ao3feed]

Prying open my third eye

by onthewaytosomewhere (mae) a liam/pez (southern philanthropy, bucktommy, and some firstprince & gen ficlets for ficlet friday on tumblr from may 24, 2024 prompt is the chapter title :) Words: 4648, Chapters: 7/7, Language: English Series: Part 3 of Ficlets of the Friday Variety Fandoms: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston, Red White & Royal Blue (2023), 9-1-1 (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Alex Claremont-Diaz, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Liam (Red White & Royal Blue), Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley, Tommy Kinard Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Liam/Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Tommy Kinard Additional Tags: Arthur Fox Feels, Mentioned Arthur Fox, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Misses Arthur Fox, Boys In Love, boys in luv, ficlet Friday, Ficlet Collection, Originally Posted on Tumblr, things i wrote, Tumblr Prompt, less of a jerk Pip via https://ift.tt/cLUKvQE

[nerdasaurus1200]

For the Fall Drabble Challenge:

Arcane for Prompt #1: Pumpkin Carving

LOTR for Prompt #9: Corn Maze

Tangled for Prompt #6: Boo!

(Thought I'd give you some variety 😁)

Oooh this is gonna be so much fun!!

#1: Pumpkin Carving

“DIE GOURD SCUM AHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“Jinx, no! Put down the gu-…Put down Pow Pow.” Caitlyn instructed, yelling to be heard over the gunfire. As soon as she started, Jinx stopped shooting and glared over at Caitlyn.

“Well, what else am I supposed to do with it??” She asked pointedly.

“I told you, you carve it.” Caitlyn explained for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Ahh gotcha. Where’s the knife?” Jinx asked, and Caitlyn could feel her blood run cold for a moment.

“No, absolutely not. No knives.” Caitlyn quickly said, and Jinx let out a loud exaggerated groan of annoyance.

“Oh wait! I got it!” She suddenly cried, “I’ll be right back!”

“Where are you going?” Caitlyn asked wearily.

“Don’t worry about it!” Jinx called back as she ran out of the room. Caitlyn willed herself not to jump at the streaks of shimmer trailing behind the young Zaunite. A few minutes later Jinx came rushing back in with….a giant laser?!

“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT?!” Caitlyn shouted over the roar of the laser.

“Don’t worry about it!”

“HOW ARE YOU EVEN CARRYING THAT?!”

“Shinmer!” Jinx chirped happily. When she was done, Jinx stared proudly at the monstrous looking Enforcer etched neatly into the pumpkin along with a wild monkey face.

9- Corn Maze

“So Pippin is..lost..in this thing somewhere?” Aragorn asked.

“In the corn maze, yes.” Frodo explained, “He gets lost every year.” Aragorn nodded in thought, then made his way into the maze. Plenty of hobbit children had been through the mud of the maze today, so this would prove to be a bit more difficult than hunting for a stag in the woods. Luckily, he knew Pippin’s footprints quite well by now.

“You think he’ll find him, Frodo?” Merry asked.

“It’s difficult to say. Pip is quite good at hiding in there.” Frodo replied, “Remember last year, when he jumped over the stocks? We couldn’t find him for hours.”

“I found him.” Aragorn suddenly appeared, holding Pippin like a ragdoll.

6- Boo! (For context this one includes some of my next gen ocs. In this Ronnie’s around a year old, Atlas and Orion are 3, and Jericho is 13)

Varian fought the urge to growl as he heard the door of his lab in the royal palace open.

“Hugo, I don’t have time for another project.” He snapped, “As soon as I finish this I have to get home to help decorate the house.”

However to his surprise he didn’t hear Hugo clear his throat or speak in that annoying know-it-all voice of his. Instead he heard the soft shuffling of feet, as if someone was trying to sneak up on him. Varian turned confused and saw…

“A-A SNEEZEWEASEL!!” He cried, scrambling out of his chair. But then the Sneezeweasel began to giggle. With a flash of bright blue light the Sneezeweasel disappeared to reveal his boys huddled in a cloak. Jericho snorted, while young Atlas and Orion giggled in glee, and little Oberon (or Ronnie as they called him) was squealing in Jericho’s arms.

“Boo!” Ronnie cried out happily, “Boo! Boo boo boo!”

“Looks like you learned a new word today little buddy.”

“Sorry, Daddy.” Orion giggled, “It was-“

“Jerry’s idea!” Atlas finished proudly.

“The old Cloak of Retudnus, eh? Not bad.” Varian praised, “Were you looking for this in the vault, Jer?”

“No.” Jericho said, although his tone gave him away, “I did find it though.” Varian simply nodded but smiled at his son nonetheless. Jericho was hardly interested in magic, but did use it for a prank or two sometimes.

“You boys just about ready to head home?” Varian asked as he gently took baby Ronnie in his arms. The boys all nodded in unison.

“I can’t wait to murder those fiddlesticking pumpkins.” Jericho said, grinning with almost wicked glee.

“Yay, murder!” Atlas cheered, bouncing excitedly.

“Atlas…no.” Varian barely stopped himself from laughing.

[pixelddump]

[baddieladdie]

In my Sanctuary, Valentine

Chapter 1 Rating: G

Part II Link

Nick Valentine sat upright on a red crushed velvet chaise. The brim of his hat disguised his eyes as he looked down at the hands that hung in his lap. Waiting.

"Hey, Valentine" I gave a half hearted wave as I walked towards the gen-1 synth I was fortunate enough to call friend. His somber glowing eyes slowly met mine as I stopped still before him.

"Hope you got what you were looking for inside my head. Heh. I was right. Should've killed you when you were on ice." The usual milk of human kindness Nick’s voice possessed was gone. Only the familiar voice of the murderous bastard who took my son. Kellogg. 

"You… feeling alright Nick?" Panic crept up my spine as my mouth went dry. He knew the risks. He was so insistent…and without him-

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?” Nick responded in his usual gruff, but tender tone.

"You sounded like Kellogg just then."

"Did I?” Nick blinked. “Amari said there might be some "mnemonic impressions" left over…Anyway, I feel fine, so let's get going.” He paused, noticing Preston across the room chatting with Irma. “Or I could head back to Diamond City, since you've got company already."

"Thanks for offering, but I want you with me on this, Nick.” I waved over to Preston, motioning for him to approach. 

“Preston, could you head back to the Castle? There's more than anyone’s fair share of work needed there to restore the Caste to its former glory. I can meet you there after I take Nick to sanctuary. I’m not sure how long I will be gone, but there’s more than enough to keep you busy. If you run into any trouble, broadcast it on Radio Freedom. I’ll have my pip boy tuned in as we travel to Sanctuary.”

"Good plan, General. I know I'm leaving her in good hands, Nick." Preston smiled, tipping his hat slightly in respect. "Be careful out there"

"I'll keep out of trouble if she does" Nick chuckled in response.

I extended my open hand, ready to finally hit the road. "Let's get going, Nick"

"Been one heck of a ride so far." Nick took my hand and I pulled him to his feet. "Let's see where it takes us next."

----------------------------------------------------

"So why make a detour to Sanctuary? Need something?" Nick asked, his stride parallel to mine. I looked up at the towering Red Rocket sign that blocked the sun, casting a cool shadow on us - an already chilly autumn day. "Yeah, you could say that." I shrugged.

"Well, alright. What are we looking for?" 

"Remember when I mentioned I had served in the military before I had Shaun?" Nick gave a slow, apprehensive nod. "I didn't mention which division. I worked in R&D as an electrical engineer. Some of my research may very well have ended up in the wrong hands. Perhaps the hands of the institute. We closely worked with C.I.T.. I had a workshop in my basement, stocked with supplies for my engineering hobbies. Some of it undamaged by the nuclear fallout."

"Sure, sure. But why send Preston to the Castle? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be back on the road with you, but you two seemed like you were in the middle of something."

I swallowed my concern as we passed the signature welcome sign, now barely legible after 200 years of neglect. Kellogg was frightening. But the thought of losing my first and most trusted friend in this hellscape of a wasteland was worse. I killed Kellogg. He died like any man, if you could still call that cyborg a man. To lose Nicky - it wasn’t a tangible fear or mortal foe. Just a reminder that the loss of my pre-war life couldn’t stop my ability to love. Frightening but exhilarating all the same.

"You sounded like Kellogg, Nick. His voice...it's unmistakable. His cold voice coming from your body.” My fingers dragged along the rusty tip of the empty mailbox leaving orange dust on my finger tips. “I need to know you’re okay."

"Amari mentioned side effects-" Nick started before I interrupted him, pausing to face him at the doorway of what remained of my home.

"And I want to make sure that's all they are. I can't have my best friend turning into my worst enemy - or worse -  because he wanted to help me find my son."

“I certainly hope that never happens. If you think you can help, then I’m all for it. Lead the way.” He paused for a moment, following me inside. “And - Thanks”

-------------------------------------------------------

"Please, have a seat," I motioned to the cushioned, armless chair I had dragged into the center of my workspace. It had survived the blast relatively well. I thanked my lucky stars I moved my equipment out of Shaun’s room and into our cement basement. 

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Nick seated himself comfortably, watching me sort through my equipment. Electrical lubricating oil. Magnifier. Circuit tool set. Soldering iron. Few more things...I piled my things onto a surgical tray I placed next to the cushioned chair. “Alright, that should be everything. Shall we take a closer look at those circuits?”

“No time like the present. Where did you have in mind?” 

My eyes darted from the exposed steel on his face to the skeletal aluminum hand that drummed on his thigh. The exposed circuitry by his ear there…If the institute created synths based on human design, then the motherboard should be accessible from there…But Nick’s sitting in my one good chair…

"Mind if I sit on you? I need to get a good angle to check you out."

"I-um…sure." Nick raised his arms slightly to make room for my waist as I lowered myself down on him, our faces inches apart. His arms found a resting spot just behind my ass.

“Comfortable enough for you?” Valentine chuckled. “‘Suppose I can add ‘chair’ to the list of services I provide.” I stifled a smile, acutely aware that this is the closest we have been together. It was only from here I noticed the distinct smell of burnt copper. A circuit must have shorted out. Easy fix, just need to redirect from the damaged part. A seared circuit should be easy enough to see… I clicked my flashlight on and gestured to the right. “Look over here, Nicky. I'm gonna take a look through this crevice in your neck here."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick Valentine : POV

He couldn't find a place for his hands. Nick Valentine-the-synth hadn’t been this close to a human woman yet, there never was a reason to. Between the anti-synth rhetorique and his own complicated existence, it wasn’t something he had sought out - despite the institute being ‘generous’ enough to ensure he could pass as human - parts ‘n’ all. Nick Valentine-the-human, however, remembered exactly what it was like. Jennifer Lands had been his girl long, long ago. 

Nora's soft breast pressed tightly against the well worn fabric of his dress shirt. Her bosom tenderly brushed between his suspenders as she observed the inside of his metal mind. She mumbled frustratedly under her breath, searching for any damage.

Her weight suddenly shifted down on his member, sending an electrical shock of pleasure and surprise up his spine. A groan broke through his lips from the sensation, guttural and primal. Nora’s warm finger guided his face directly to her worried gaze. Those eyes…Nick hadn’t noticed she had brown in those emerald green eyes of hers.

“Am I hurting you?” She asked, her voice was soft and caring. So unlike the wasteland her vault had protected her from.

“Not at all, far from it. Please continue.” He smiled in return. 

“Good, I’m almost finished here. Turns out Kellogg’s memory chip wasn’t completely disconnected. Now, hold still please, this requires precision.”

Nora pivoted Nick’s head to the side and reached for the magnifying glass and tweezers kept on the surgical tray. She pressed herself tightly against him, pinning him to the chair. He could feel each subtle motion of her breasts, hips, and ass as she adjusted to work in the narrow exposed face. Pressure began building against trousers as her hips jerked forward into his. Trying to get a closer view, most likely. But damn…did it feel like something else…something the old Nick remembered and his subroutines understood. 

“I - Nick please, I’m trying to focus,” Nora teased, her delicate thumb stroking Nick’s cheek, the other holding the tweezers. 

“I can’t help it,” The words stumbling out of his mouth awkwardly.

“I - Oh, Really? I didn’t know you had feelings for me.”

“With your son…your husband…I figured it was in bad taste”

“Believe me, Nick, there is nothing I want more. The last thing I want is to be alone right now”

“Well then…what would that make us? Are we still partners or something more?”

“Anything you want to be, Valentine,” She flirted back. 

Nick took a moment to process, feeling out the gravity of the conversation. She was human, after all. A woman out of time, unsoiled by 200 years of mayhem. He could hardly say the same for himself. He’d say his body had seen better days, but he wasn’t even the institute's best work. Nick rested his skeletal hand on her exposed thigh, it was cool to the touch. The ratty skirt he had bought for her from Fallon’s had quickly become her favorite. Nick wouldn’t admit it directly, but he admired how lovely she looked too. 

“But..a body in tatters and a head full of memories belonging to another man…might make things though sometimes. So…knowing that…are you in?” He asked hesitantly, begging her to say yes but willing to let her go at a simple no.

“Of course I am. I’m not a simple case either. And, Nick, I can’t help the way that I feel…I’m in love with you”

“I, uh…uh well, I love you too. Maybe that's all that matters.

Soft lips pressed against his in the dusty basement. Hands, delicate and whole, held his face tenderly against hers. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, completing the embrace.

Accompanying music, if you'd like: The Nearness of You

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

^ This is also published on my ao3.

Geeze, time just flies by when you're writing. I didn't get to the spicy content yet, but I'm at least at that point now. Ready to continue next weekend!

[work-the-wasteland]

Working The Wasteland (FO4)

*FEEDBACK* Uh... is this thing on? Ahem. People of the commonwealth. Do not be afraid. I come in peace. I am... Sam! It's me again, back with more tips and tricks to make the commonwealth your bi-*FEEDBACK, FOLLOWED BY STATIC*

-een at that point where we need something done for us, right? Whether we don't have the skills or the scrap to do it, we've all had to ask for help, y'know. Don't be ashamed, it's perfectly normal to underperform your first time. Well, now I've got the perfect solution for all of your problems...

*Sounds of sawing can be heard in the background* *Door opening and closing* A new, state of the art... SYNTH! With my new product called DO-IT-MYSELF (patent pending) a Gen 3 synth will be sent to your settlement to do work for you! This synth's personality will be that of a construction worker, and thus will be able to do any building that you can't do all on it's own! Each synth has it's very own unique shutdown code and module, so if you've got a terminal or a pip-boy, you can shut it down remotely in case things go haywire. Each of these bad boys start at the low low price of 12000 caps for the full package! I know, quite the investment, but with all of the added safety features, it's a bargain!

The full package includes:

1 Gen 3 synth (6000 Caps)

1 extra right arm, left arm, left leg, and right leg (1000 caps)

1 remote disable code (500 Caps)

1 synth shut-down holotape (Free!)

Software that automatically keeps the synth calm (1000 caps)

2 replaceable eyes (1000 caps)

3 different sets of clothing (500 caps)

1 Shovel, 1 Hammer, and 1 Screwdriver (Free!)

and 12 months of Anti-Liberation warranty! (2000)

However, if you just want the basic package:

1 Gen 3 synth (6000 caps)

1 synth shut-down holotape (Free!)

1 set of clothing (Free!)

1 shovel, 1 hammer, and 1 screwdriver (Free!)

1 month Anti-Liberation warranty (Free!)

So, if you're interested, please head to the dark alleyway behind the Cambridge Police Departmen- *whispering*

What? *whispering* ALL OF THEM?

GOD DAMNIT! DO PEOPLE KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND THESE DAMN SYNTHS? IT DOESN'T HELP THAT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY THERE'S SOME DAMN BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL FU- *STATIC*

"Is it working now...? Frank here. I think our radio just shut down. Whatever. Back to our regularly scheduled music. Here's You're Driving Me Crazy by... Guy... Lumbago? What?"

[zponds]

A week ago, I released a post showing my OCs from the Baltimore and Ohio. Now it’s finally time to reveal my OCs from the only surviving ancient railroad in America; the…

And these engines are all in Union Pacific’s heritage fleet and can be found on Union Pacific’s massive network (as shown below). ⬇️

And these engines are…

Forty-Niner, the streamlined 4-6-2 class P-13 #2906

Duke, the streamlined 4-8-2 class MT-1 #7002

Union, the 4-8-4 class FEF-3 #844

Peabody, the 4-12-2 9000 class #9032

Challenger, the 4-6-6-4 challenger #3985

Wasatch, the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4014

Mabel, the 2-10-2 class TTT-6 #5511

Pip (EMD E9 #949) and Emma (EMD E9 #951)

Emily, the EMD E8 #928

Sir Handel, the EMC E2a and first COSF engine

Peter Sam, the EMD E6 and second COSF engine

Jennings, the EMC E2a and first SOLA engine

Daisy, the EMD E6 and second SOLA engine

Marius, the 1st M-10005 and first COD engine

Dot, the 2nd M-10005 and second COD engine

Centennial, the EMD DDA40x “Centennial” #6936

Bunker C. Charles, the (3rd gen) GTEL #28

P.S.: as a little side note, “COSF” stands for City of San Francisco, “COLA” stands for City of Los Angeles and “COD” stands for City of Denver.