Link To New Story

(Here is a link to my new story, Soif de Sang:)

http://soifdesangsds.blogspot.com/2013/08/prologue.html

(So far, I only have a few posts up. Still, I can only hope it is as good as Rötterdämmerung was.)

(Read it so far, and I hope you like it as much as you liked this story! -rednenemon)

 

Leftover pictures (and why I didn't use them)

(These are some pictures that I intended to use in the story, but ultimately never did. All screenshots are unedited (not run through a photo editor), and in no particular order: )

(Another picture of Shark when he was going through his 'nerd phase'. I didn't use this one because, if I remember correctly, this was taken in the Racket Mansion.)

(i.e. It was a continuity error. Shark would have been living with his Uncle Dudley by this point, and would not really have any business in his old house.)

(Sinbad actually told Shark about his infidelity earlier than the story states. I figured it would be more believable if I placed it later in the story.)

(Which is why I didn't use this screenshot. Why would Shark be getting upset over something he doesn't even know about yet?)

(I intended to use this one for the whole 'resurrecting the Rackets' situation.)

(I didn't use it, because of the fact that Shark sneezing made it look, at least to me, less dramatic.)

How This Story Came To Be

(Sometime before I started actually writing this story, I actually had two important events already planned:)

(The deaths of Shark's family,)

(and Sinbad eventually performing what some might call a Heel Face Turn.)

(The first event, Shark's family drowning, I actually started doing that waaaaaay back in January.)

Trivia, Headcanons, and What Could Have Been

(These were some general ideas and whatnot that I had while writing.)

(Masaru and Yukiko were actually both at Elder stage when Sinbad and Shark adopted them. In fact, they only had a few days left before dying of old age. However, since aging had been turned off at this point, they didn't age, and were able to get enough points for their ghosts to be blue.)

(The same goes for Tomoaki and Akira. They, too, were elders when they were adopted.)

 (Jeri (Echo's wife) was a time machine child. I had just aged her parents up to Young Adult, and I had them test out a time machine I got from the Consignment Store. Lo and behold, out came Jeri.)

(This explains how she and Echo were the same age range, despite aging still being off.)

Chapter 7, Part 3: Happy Golden Years (FINAL)

(Continued from Part 2.)

Aging gracefully... if anyone was capable of doing it, and actually pulling it off, it was Shark.

He always got worried about how he would look when he got old. In turn, I told him not to worry about it.

He couldn't have looked any worse than I did. When his birthday came, I promised him that however he looked, I wouldn't freak out.

He still had me stand a few feet away, in case he freaked out and accidentally decked me in the face.

When I asked him to make a wish, he wasn't sure what to wish for. His exact words were: "how can I wish for something, when I already have everything I could ever want?"

Ch. 7, Part 2: The Racket Ceases Fourfold

(Continued from Part 1.)

 Death is always a sad thing, no matter how many times you experience it in your lifetime.

When I played a role in resurrecting the Rackets many years ago, I knew that they would die again at some point. I knew it was going to affect me, given I helped bring them back.

There was something else I knew, as well: It was going to hit Shark hard.

He knew that the time had almost come for four of his relatives. Two of them hadn't even died before. The fact that they all lived this long, could only be considered a miracle.

Shark made it his goal to visit his relatives before their time came. It still didn't make the process any easier, and he sure as hell wasn't ready to say goodbye. Though, I suppose no one ever is.

Ch. 7, Part 1: Gettin' the Willies

(I typed this up in a hurry, during an unusually good thinking session, hence the updates so close to each other.)

There honestly isn't much to say about my youngest daughter.

That's not to say Cortana wasn't a good kid. She was. She just didn't really talk much. Not to mention she was painfully shy.

She never said what was on her mind. Whenever we asked her how school was, she'd give a one-word answer and then hide in her room.

Usually, she only came out to use the bathroom or when it was dinnertime. Other than that, she'd always hide away.

It was almost like I was living with some kind of ghost. But then, her siblings had all left home, and her parents were aging quickly.

Maybe it could've been she didn't have anyone to talk to. Her main confidante had moved out just a little while ago, and she probably missed him.

There was only one other thing she came out of her room for, besides school or family time.

Ch. 6, Part 3: Voice of an Angelo

(Continued from Part 2.)

Angelo was actually at a bit of a loss when his older brother moved out. The two of them had spent a lot of time together, and now that Kaidan had moved out, he wasn't sure what to do.

He didn't know how to be the "big brother" in the house, given three of his siblings were older than him.

But believe me when I say he tried.  He did his best to be a good brother to Cortana, even if their games of playing tag left him at least a little winded. 

At least once, he admitted to me he wished he didn't have asthma. I told him that it's a part of his life. It was a sucky one, but he had to work with it. And it wasn't like he was alone in all of it. 

He had me and Shark, and his siblings. Sometimes, he visited his older brother after school. 

Ch. 6, Part 2: Power of the Son

(Continued from Part 1.)

I just had that feeling that as soon as Kaidan and Lynnette graduated, we'd be hearing about his wedding plans, and he'd be asking us for advice.

And of course, Shark and I wouldn't know what to tell him. We didn't have a fancy wedding ceremony, like our kids thought we had.

I remember one time, Kaidan asked me where my tuxedo was, since he never saw it and wanted to wear it for his wedding.

Kind of obvious why I couldn't let him wear it.

No matter what they wanted, Kaidan opted for something quiet.

Of course, I reminded him that if he wanted to marry her, he had to get permission from Goodwin.

Ch. 6, Part 1: Outlook not so Goode

You know those cultures that put a ton of importance on the firstborn son, claiming they're destined for great things, carry on the family name, and all that?

Well...I suppose I thought of that for Kaidan. The great things concept, that is.

I thought of it for all my kids, and when his two older sisters left, he was technically the eldest child in the house.

But we didn't need to worry about him. Whenever Shark and I were at work, he gladly watched his younger brother and sister.

We didn't need a babysitter. Kaidan was perfectly capable of keeping an eye on them.

(Why didn't I take more pictures of Toddler Cortana?)

I had a feeling he'd become a "family man". He just had that way about him, I guess.

At some point, he started taking on most of the household chores and responsibilities. He was even the one who got Angelo's birthday cake set up for his birthday.

It was a load off our minds, that was for sure.

In fact, Kaidan was spending so much time with his siblings at home, Shark and I were worried that he'd never go out and find a significant other of his own.

Of course, he proved us wrong. As a matter of fact, he did have a girlfriend. He just never brought her over to meet us.

I thought maybe he just didn't want a situation like Amaranth did. But it was weird. He never brought her home, but he was perfectly willing to spend time at her place.

It almost seemed as though he was hiding something from us.