Random 4 AM prediction: At some point there will be a character (if there isn't one already) whose civilian name is Rose. It seems like most works I'm actively in the fandom of has one at this point.

seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Malaysia
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seen from Malaysia

seen from Germany
seen from Argentina

seen from Germany
seen from Canada
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Malaysia

seen from Malaysia

seen from United States

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seen from Singapore
seen from Canada
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seen from United States
seen from China
Random 4 AM prediction: At some point there will be a character (if there isn't one already) whose civilian name is Rose. It seems like most works I'm actively in the fandom of has one at this point.

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Taylor is decent at understanding people, but she tends to ignore the potential for there to be sides to them that she doesnāt see, and sheās had a history of a very black and white view of people that still hasnāt quite left her. Sheās just stopped equating that divide with the hero/villain divide.
āCan I ask what they are?ā
I looked around, and it was Grue I looked at while I spoke. Ā āHaving everyone in the Docks spread out like this, over this wide an area? Ā Itās a problem. Ā Weāve got single families living in warehouses and factories that could comfortably house three to five families, and theyāre dealing with problems that we could handle far more easily as a group. Ā And thereās the logistics of it, getting supplies to everyone when thereās only three to six groups of people on a given city block. Ā I want to bring people from the fringes in, so weāre not so spread out. Ā Get everyone working for the collective good. Ā Build a community and tie everything to a smaller area.ā
That makes a lot of sense. If this plan extends far enough, it would also put a lot more people within the range of Skitterās bugs.
āThereās going to be resistance,ā Grue spoke. Ā āPeople arenāt going to want to move, and theyāre too spooked about run-ins with Chosen and Merchants to trust one another.ā
Of course. Thereās always going to be stubbornness and fear. I doubt the patriarch is going to like this.
āIf-ā Sierra started, but she stopped when Grue snapped his head around to face her, intimidated. Ā She tried again, āIf sheās going to try it, now would be a good time. Ā Wordās getting out.ā
About the Mannequin fight, like what brought these former ABBs to Skitterās doorstep? Or?
āAbout what, specifically?ā I asked.
āYou fought Mannequin, you said youād make him pay, and then you did. Ā And you did it to save people, people from the docks. Ā I think people are realizing youāre for real.ā
Yep. Sheās proven herself, proven that sheās willing and capable of really protecting them.
And with the Slaughterhouse Nine in town, theyāll be well aware that thereās something to protect them from, and since Taylor beat Mannequin, theyāll know sheās not going to back off when faced with such a foe.
āSeems like you started something,ā Grue said, when the last of them were out of earshot.
I shook my head. Ā āI donāt even understand how.ā
Sierra seems to get it, at least.
āStill think youāre moving too fast. Ā Like I said earlier, thereās no good reason for it.ā
āDinahās a good enough reason for me.ā
Iām mostly with Grue, thinking Taylor is focusing too hard on Dinah, but I get where sheās coming from. She feels responsible for the whole thing, so she feels she has to correct it at any cost to her own well-being.
āMaybe. Ā But youāve got to find time to relax, get some sleep, maybe have some fun. Ā Or youāre going to make mistakes, and youāll set yourself back days or weeks in your plan. Ā Slow and steady wins this race.ā
Yes.
He didnāt look like he had much muscle, but I wasnāt about to comment on that. Ā If nothing else, I was a little too stunned at what he was offering to say anything witty. Ā āPretty much.ā
It makes a load of sense. Skitterās a villain who lacks muscle willing to work for a supervillain. Theyāre muscle who lack a villain to work for. The pieces fit together beautifully.
I wonder what Lung would think if he learned that parts of his gang had gone to the annoying bug kid for work.
āWe heard you took on Mannequin,ā the girl said. Ā āThatās ballsy.ā
It really was.
āThanks,ā I said, in my driest tone. Ā Stupid as it was, that statement meant something to me. Ā Nobody had really congratulated me since my fight with Mannequin. Ā I hadnāt congratulated myself.
Yeah, see? It was a victory.
It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that they respected me for what had happened with Mannequin. Ā A victory was a victory, but people had gotten hurt, Iād gotten hurt.
Yes, and thanks to you, way fewer people got hurt than if you hadnāt stepped in.

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It was torture to actually get my limbs into the legs and sleeves and zip up, and to contort myself to attach my armor. Ā Especially doing it quickly. Ā I ended up enlisting Brianās help with the armor at my shoulders and back.
This is more relatable than it has any right to be.
I could feel Sierraās steady but insistent tapping on the cube all the while.
āCome on, come on, come on...ā
Seems like whatever the people around her want, theyāre pressuring her.
They were a short distance down the beach, but they started walking towards us a little bit after we entered the storm drain, and met us halfway.
How did they know to start walking?
Sierra was in the company of a pair of Japanese boys and a petite Chinese girl with a pierced nose and a thousand-yard stare. Ā There was a degree of attitude coming from them that was all too familiar. Ā Gang members. Ā Of course.
I shouldāve known the ABB wouldnāt stay entirely irrelevant.
Just because Lung and Bakuda were no longer around didnāt mean there wouldnāt be scraps of the ABB in the area. Ā They wouldnāt be liked, but they were there, they were equipped for trouble and criminal activity was all they knew.
Yeeah. And if they find another leader, they might come back in force.
Once I finished the bathroom, I tidied my room and opened the shutters on the windows. Ā Glass that had fallen against the shutter sloughed off to the second floor balcony, with stray shards falling onto the hardwood. Ā My bugs obligingly fetched them up for me.
AU where the Slaughterhouse Nine have a member whose power is to control window shutters. Her name would be Shutterbird.
Reams of glass shards fell as I opened the heavy shutters that stood just behind the pedestals with the mannequins I was using to design the costumes. Ā I stepped out onto the balcony and set about sweeping up the glass and dumping it into the trash can, using my bugs to collect what the dustpan wasnāt catching. Ā I wasnāt in costume, and I was in plain sight on the balcony, but I doubted the concentration of bugs was enough to draw attention.
O Taylor, Taylor! Wherefore art thou Taylor? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Wilbourn, Kiley, Laborn, Dallon or... whatever my surname may be depending on the readerās preference!
Ten minutes passed before I heard from Sierra. Ā I assumed it would be about the food, but it wasnāt.
...oh?
āCanāt afford slow and steady,ā I said.
āWhy? Ā You were telling me earlier, but we got interrupted.ā
Iād been glad for the interruption, and I was profoundly disappointed the subject had come up again.
Why, though. Is it that you donāt want to tell Grue your answer, or that you donāt haveĀ an answer?
I folded my arms and looked away, down the road to where it gradually sloped to the shattered Boardwalk and the ocean beyond.
Here was the leap of faith. Ā The test of my trust in him. Ā āBecause if I donāt amaze Coil, if I donāt force his hand and give him absolutely no reason to say I failed⦠heās going to keep Dinah. Ā If he does, the only way to free her is going to be if Tattletale and I take Coil down. Ā And I donāt think weād succeed.ā
Taylor.
Itās not going to work. Heāll find a way, and if he doesnāt, well... heās an āhonorableā man whoās been true to his word so far, but I still think heād go back on the deal if he had to.