Feb 26, 2025
Warrior x Susannah fluff
Dating can be tricky when your girlfriend's dad is one of your work rivals, but Warrior decided Susannah was worth the risk - particularly when Susannah's mother was in town (and likes him)
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Warrior x Susannah fluff
Dating can be tricky when your girlfriend's dad is one of your work rivals, but Warrior decided Susannah was worth the risk - particularly when Susannah's mother was in town (and likes him)
Zebedee and the Daughter's New Boyfriend
Or,
Warrior and the New Girlfriend's Father
A drawing I messed up and will not finish, but the idea was fun enough to share.
Secretly, Zebedee thinks his daughter couldn't have made a better choice, as Warrior would never judge her for being half engine. But he's not going to let Warrior know that - a father has standards to maintain, after all.
The Seagull's Daughter
I was in a mood to draw Susannah - and try to make it clear how much she looks like Edward - again and share some facts about her. Given that her mother's (Edward's) engine type were commonly known as Seagulls, I drew her eating chips (fries), which are the favourite food of all coastal seagulls. Despite being in the US, Bigg City has a thriving British community and therefore has one or two proper Fish n Chip shops along the port.
Some facts about Susannah Moran:
Daddy's Girl
A little picture I drew of Zebedee and his eldest daughter, Susannah. I would have posted this for Father's Day, but this isn't a happy day for me.
Warrior's Missing Eagle Crest -A TUGS Fanfiction
I haven't written anything in an embarrassing amount of time, so this is probably a big pile of doo-doo, but I'm just so proud that this feels like a release of sorts so I had to share!
Fandom:Tugs
Rating: General
Genre: General, Family.
Characters (active): Hercules, Warrior, Susannah (OC)
Charcters (mentioned): Top Hat, Big Mac, Ten Cents, Sunshine, Captain Starr, Sea Rogue, Lillie, Zebedee, Aurora (OC), Silver Penny (OC), Grandma Starr (OC), Bright Dawn (OC), Andrew (OC)
Pairings: Warrior x Susannah, Hercules x Lillie, Big Mac x Top Hat, Bright Dawn x Sea Rogue.
Warnings: Humanised characters, Headcanon that Warrior is the brother of Hercules and Ten Cents, M/M pairing and references to Mpreg, CanonxOC ships, references to abandonment, depression, and angst.
Summary: Hercules accidentally comes across Warrior and Susannah deep in conversation on an evening walk, and hears Susannah ask why Warrior does not have an eagle crest like his brothers. Warrior's response is not what Hercules expected, forcing him to reflect on how his behaviour could have shaped Warrior's thoughts.
This route to Lowtown brought back a lot of memories as Hercules strolled along the path. It felt like another time – another world, even – when he had trotted along at the heels of his beloved aunt, Bright Dawn Starr, and her beau Patrick Teach – known to most as Sea Rogue. In a way, it had been both. His aunt and Sea Rogue had been in their late teens, barely into adulthood, while he had been little more than a toddler and still figuring out coherent speech. But he could still remember how much he had enjoyed the walks, clutching his auntie's hand and thinking up new ways to stop 'Uncle Patch' from holding the other one. Looking around, very little had changed along the riverbank path itself, but he couldn't remember enough about the area to consider how the environment had changed. It had been around twenty-five years since he'd last taken a walk this way.
He'd been twelve when they'd returned to the city, and Hercules had been far too busy in the past decade with supporting his grandfather to rebuild the Starr fleet and their reputation, and helping his mother to recover with the divorce from his father after he ran off with Auntie Dawn, with her raising his new baby brother, Ten Cents, and with...
“Warrior, can I ask you something?”
Hercules stopped in his tracks at the sound of the voice. He immediately recognised it as Susannah Moran – her Liverpudlian accent so like her father, Zebedee's, that it was fairly unique. To the surprise of many, she and Warrior had entered into a courtship that her father had not opposed. It seemed that he had stumbled across one of their dates.
They were sat by the river's edge, with their backs to him, deep in conversation. Part of him was screaming that he shouldn't be eavesdropping on them in this way, and he was about to make his presence known, when Warrior spoke.
“Course you can, Suse. What is it?”
Susannah seemed to be looking at something in front of her.
“How come yous don't have an eagle crest on your hat like your brothers? Don't yous have one?”
Hercules froze. That question had never been asked of him, nor of his brothers to his knowledge, but he knew that it had been whispered throughout the port ever since Ten Cents had received his crest two years before.
“Why is Warrior the 'odd one out' to his brothers..?”
He had an idea what the answer was, but to his shame realised that he'd never heard it from Warrior himself. Though he felt guilty, almost dirty, he kept quiet and listened for Warrior's response.
Warrior sighed, moving to take what Hercules assumed was his hat from Susannah.
“Oh, sure I got one.” He sighed. “Grandma gave us all one on our fifteenth birthday, like a coming of age thingy. She gave one to Aurora and Sunshine the first Christmas after we found out who they were.”
Susannah nodded with no hint of surprise. Hercules wasn't sure how he felt about that, given that it meant she knew more about their family history than he'd like, but was distracted as Warrior continued.
“I've got mine in the box it came in, on my bedside table.”
“Why don't you wear it?”
There was a pause before Warrior replied.
“I...I daren't, Suse. I don't wanna break it or lose it if I 'ave one of me accidents. It...it means too much to me.”
Hercules pulled a face and fought down an urge to scoff. The eagle crests Grandma Starr had given them were heavy, solid things that practically fused to his and Ten Cents' hats, so he wasn't entirely convinced by his brother's reasoning. Hell, Ten Cents had taken a fuel tanker explosion to the face, and his crest had suffered nothing worse than a bit of soot and smoke staining. Warrior's habit of bumping into and tripping over things was unlikely to cause it much harm, if any.
Susannah seemed to be following a similar line of thought.
“Doesn't it mean as much to Hercules and Ten Cents too?” Warrior looked away as he gave a bitter chuckle.
“I'm not sayin it don't...doesn't mean anythin to them. But...I don't think either of them ever saw it as I did when they got theirs.”
Susannah didn't reply, and she sat quietly until Warrior turned back to look at her.
“Yknow 'ow I told you about being fostered by Big Mac and Top 'At when we first moved back here?”
Susannah gave a nod, which Hercules wasn't entirely shocked by. Strangers to the port would frequently make the assumption that Warrior was the son of Big Mac and Top Hat, which annoyed him almost as much as the looks of surprise when they learned who his real family was. Hercules wished his younger brother wouldn't be so cheerful whenever he corrected someone, and in quiet moments he suspected that Big Mac and Top Hat secretly delighted in the mistake. He couldn't let go of the thought that the couple would like nothing more than to claim Warrior as their own child, as they probably would have done if his mother hadn't claimed Warrior back.
“Oh yeah?” Susannah continued. “Because your Mum needed the break while she was getting back on her feet?”
“Yeah. With my Dad runnin out on us, movin from London, and finding out she were pregnant again. It was a lot to 'andle...an I think I was making it a lot worse with the way I was acting.”
Hercules felt his brows raise at this last remark. He would have sworn that Warrior didn't remember that time.
“My Dad...I don't really remember 'im that well. I were only three when he left, but I do remember 'im lettin me get away with a lot. Then 'e was gone, and suddenly I wasn't allowed to do anythin' any more and kept gettin' into trouble. I do remember not taking it well and I was a little shit to everyone, especially my Mum...”
“You were three years old, Warrior. Three year olds don't behave at the best of times, and your whole world changed overnight.”
“I know, but...I was too much for Mum to 'andle at the time. Hercules tried to help with me, but he was...eleven or twelve? I reckon we both looked and sounded like screaming kids.”
Hercules found himself nodding in agreement as he looked away. No matter how much they wanted to, a pre-teen was no substitute for a parent, even if they weren't hurting from their own trauma as he had been. It was just one of many things he struggled with guilt over, regardless, unable to shake the feeling that he'd failed both his mother and Warrior.
“Mum ended up breaking down. Lucky that Top 'At were with her when she did, an 'e offered to 'ave me for a little while, until she were better. Hercules ended up stayin with our grandparents.”
“Why didn't they take yous too?”
“They offered, more than once. Thing is, Andrew was me best mate even then, an I reckon everyone thought it would do me good if I were close to someone my age instead of with Hercules. Mum kept comin to see me, anyway, tellin me about the new baby an 'ow I was gonna be a big brother an all. At first, it felt like a big sleepover – it was great. Not to mention, Big Mac and Top 'At were doin a lot to undo the behaviours Dad had taught me, though I didn't know at the time. I don't like to think about what I'd have turned out like if they'd not sorted me.
But when the weeks turned into months, and I spent most of Christmas with them instead of my own family...I remember starting to worry. I knew by then that I'd been...naughty while I was at home, and I wondered if I'd been sent away to live with my godparents because of it, like a punishment. I asked them when I was going home again, and they told me it was just until Mum 'ad the new baby.
It were enough for me for a while, even though I knew Hercules was back home, but he was older. I was happy to start – I got to spend every day with Andrew and I loved that. Mum was still coming to visit, and I went to see her and my grandparents, just came back with Big Mac and Top 'At. I reckon it were bothering me, deep down, but I could still treat it like a long sleepover, or an 'oliday and forget about it.”
He paused to give another heavy sigh.
“Then Ten Cents was born. Top 'At took me to see Mum and I got to hold 'im. I remembered being so excited an tellin Mum he could sleep in my room with me, which Mum smiled at and said he was too little to share my room. I went back thinking Mum would come and get me a few days later, but she didn't.
I still went to visit like I 'ad before, but there was no talk of me comin back.”
“Why didn't you ask to come home?”
For a second, Hercules thought that he'd spoken – the question had been echoing through his skull loud enough and he'd been getting more frustrated each time Warrior mentioned wanting to go home. He'd been asking the same questions while Warrior was away – if Warrior had just asked once, maybe their mother would have brought him back where he belonged sooner than she had. He half expected Warrior to hear and turn to see him, which would almost certainly result in another fight between them.
But Warrior's attention remained fixed on Susannah, the one who had actually asked the question. His response was so quiet that Hercules barely made out what he said.
“I was scared to, Suse. I didn't even want to go into my bedroom in case I saw it had been turned into Ten Cents' nursery and all my stuff was gone. I'd been getting' nightmares for weeks about Mum and Hercules tellin me that they didn't love me any more...”
He could hear the tears behind Warrior's voice as he ended the last sentence – as sure as he felt his own stinging his eyes. The frustration of a few seconds ago withered in the face of this new shame. Why was this a revelation to him? Warrior was talking about something that happened seventeen years ago – he should have known long before today that Warrior had felt like this and soothed said fears away.
But Warrior had never told him about them!
He looked up to see Susannah comforting Warrior, her head leaning on his shoulder. He saw his brother wipe his eyes.
“I'm alright.” He said softly, turning his head to kiss the top of her head. “Sorry about dat.”
“It's okay.” She replied. “You got back to your family though, and they didn't send yous away.”
“Yeah...that's a story in itself. When Ten Cents was born and I still didn't get to go home, staying with Big Mac and Top 'At wasn't so fun any more. They'd got me out of the tantrums and bratty stuff, and I knew dat if my real family didn't want me they were all I 'ad left, so I just cried myself to sleep a lot. I wasn't as quiet as I thought, as either they'd hear me or Drew would go down an tell em I was crying and they'd come up and comfort me. They tried their best, but I was sure I was staying with them forever. Then...”
Warrior paused for a second, as if trying to choose his words. Hercules was partly relieved for the respite – every word had felt like an accusing jab to the stomach – but he was fairly confident about where Warrior was going next.
“It turned out that I weren't the only one thinkin' I was stayin' with my foster parents forever. Top 'At an Big Mac have two kids older than Andrew – Joeseph an Heather. I dunno why, an if I'm bein really honest I think I'm best not knowin, but they decided I was stayin with them forever too. Heather decided to start bragging to Hercules about I was her brother now. Hercules got really angry and mouthed off at her. She got upset and Joe stood up for her, which might 'ave gone really badly if he wasn't an ocean-going tug as well.”
Hercules felt his teeth clench in anger, but not at his brother. Since that day, he and Joeseph had been unable to stay in the same room, let alone talk to one another, without it escalating to a fight. Joeseph had only been defending his little sister, but he didn't know why until Heather confessed to her teasing a year later. Her parents had been furious, but the damage had already been done...
“When we managed to break them apart, Mum an Top 'At went away an 'ad a very long talk. I was miserable, an sure dat was it for me. Mum an Hercules would never want me back after the fightin and Mum 'ad fell out with her best friend. But, later dat night Mum came over and said I was comin home the next day. I wanted to be 'appy, but I was frightened dat it was a punishment because of the fight.” He paused to sigh. “My room was still the same with all the stuff I'd left, an Mum helped me put my other things away. She gave me lots of hugs and said she was sorry she adn't brought me back sooner. My grandparents came over an made a fuss of me bein back – especially Grandma – an even Ten Cents seemed to like avin someone to play with. Hercules made a big show of bein glad I was back, but...”
'Made a “big show?!”' I was happy you were back home! Hercules wanted to scream at him, but forced himself to calm down when he heard Warrior speak in response to something Susannah had said.
“Well, it was the way he was with me later...it were like 'e thought I was only actin less spoiled and he was just waitin' for me to drop the act. Every little thing, he'd be there, either fixing what I was already doing or tellin me what to do. To start with, I thought he was tryin to 'elp an I wanted him to see how much better behaved I was now an make 'im proud. But...nothin' I did, nothin I said, were ever good enough for Hercules to stop watchin' me like I was gonna just go back to before. Everyone else seemed so happy with me, but the way Hercules kept treatin me made me worry dat he was the only one who wasn't hidin' the feelins they all 'ad. I felt like they were all waitin for me to make a mistake...so....so they could send me away for good...”
Hercules could barely think as he heard Warrior – his own brother – confess to feeling unwanted because of his behaviour. He wanted to deny it, insist it was just Warrior's imagination that made him believe those things. He even wanted to blame Big Mac and Top Hat, somehow poisoning Warrior's mind against them. It had been their son who Hercules had gotten into the fight with, and their daughter who had caused the fight with her tall tales, so maybe it was revenge against him to create a rift?
But for all his wants, he knew they would be lies. Not the wanting his brother back home, that had been true enough, but what Warrior had said about him watching for a return to form? To his shame, that was completely true.
He had resented his younger brother for automatically getting all his father's attention and favour, to the point that he'd been shocked that he'd not been taken by their father and Auntie Dawn when they left. In the weeks that followed, he'd seen their father's actions in everything Warrior had done, with every tantrum feeling like just another act of mockery from the man. He shouldn't have held his brother, who was barely more than a toddler, accountable, but he'd been twelve years old and full of pain. When Warrior had been sent to Big Mac and Top Hat, a tiny part of him had been relieved to be getting a break and having his grandparents' full attention. Maybe in some darker moments, in those early days of sorting his feelings, he'd entertained some private thoughts about how it might be better for Warrior to stay away. He'd caught them and buried them away, horrified by them. When Warrior had stayed away they had often danced back into his memories like an accusation. Once again, they were trying to resurface...
Because it had been so much easier if he treated Warrior like he needed to be constantly watched, to ignore his guilt by transferring it to his brother. It had been noticed too – his mother, grandparents, O.J, even Ten Cents had tried speaking to him about the way he treated Warrior. They'd never approached him, but Big Mac and Top Hat had often flashed disappointed glances in his direction when Warrior had fled to them after yet another argument. If they really did want to steal Warrior away, Hercules was doing them a huge favour.
“Yeah, I spent a lot of time with Big Mac an' Top At. Dey never made me feel like I 'ad to walk on eggshells, so I went over just for the peace. Even after they adoped Maggie, I was welcome any time. Mum and my grandparents would try an get me to stay 'ome more, an I'd try to, but it just got too much sometimes. Some days, I'd barely get through the door before it started...dat's one of the reasons I did the Fire Tug training, to get away from the fleet an do somethin different. The Fire Chief 'ad nothin but good things to say 'bout me, so Hercules couldn't pick at me about it.”
Hercules had been impressed with Warrior's dedication to becoming a certified Fire Tug – he'd been stupidly proud of how much the Fire Chief had praised Warrior.
But like many things, he'd never expressed these feelings out loud...
“When I were seven, Hercules turned fifteen and Grandma came in with this little box. She called 'im away for a minute, an' when they came back, 'e was holding the eagle crest. I remember thinkin it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and Ten Cents – 'e was three – was asking Grandma if 'e could have one like it. Grandma said we would both be getting' our own on our fifteenth birthdays, because it were a tradition. She specifically said I'd be getting mine first, because I were older and it was fair, but I became convinced dat she'd only said it to calm Ten Cents down and thought I'd forget. I was so sure as I got older that my fifteenth birthday would come an' dere wouldn't be a crest for me...right up until I opened the box and saw it.”
“What happened? Your gran must have seen you were surprised when she gave it to you.”
“I...burst into tears right in front of her – she was horrified!” Warrior chuckled. “She even looked in the box to make sure it was in dere before she gave me a hug. She's the only one in the family I ever told about 'ow I was feelin because I just blurted everythin out right in front of her. We spent so long away from everyone Mum came lookin for us. I'd calmed down by dat time an we were just getting ready to come back, so Mum didn't see me upset. I think Grandma must have said somethin afterwards, because suddenly Mum was giving me a lot of hugs – I think she might 'ave been hurt I didn't tell her myself. “
“What about Hercules?”
Nobody had said anything to Hercules, but after Warrior's fifteenth birthday, his grandparents had pulled him up about being so hard on Warrior a couple of times. He'd listened to them – or he'd thought he had – but it had never occurred to him to wonder why.
“I mean, things aren't as bad as they were between him an me, but...I still feel like Ten Cents is the only thing keepin us from arguing a lot of the time. I know he gets confused about it all, but I think he's decided it's better not to know. Besides, I reckon he's 'had a bit more to worry about after what nearly 'appened with Sunshine.”
Sunshine, and his twin sister Aurora, had both been given their own crests the previous Christmas. Their sister had fashioned hers into a pendant, and wore it out as a necklace more than as a crest, and Sunshine only wore his on special occsions, claiming the weight gave him a headache after a few hours. That had never bothered Hercules anywhere near as much as Warrrior not wearing his had, and he realised with a sudden shame that he knew how his other three siblings - two of whom he had only known about for little over a year – felt about their crests before now, but not Warrior.
“Warrior...” Hercules took a step back to hide behind a bush as Susannah turned to look at Warrior straight on. The last thing he needed was for her to spot him now, after he had eavesdropped on this conversation.
“I know it's not my place, but I think yous need to tell Hercules these things. I'd be horrified if any of my brothers or my sister felt this way about me, and...I think he would too, if he'd heard us talking.”
Warrior sighed, and hung his head.
“I reckon 'e would too, Suse. Things 'ave gotten a bit better since everything went down last year, cos I think Hercules realised 'e could actually talk to me a bit. We talked a lot about our father, but...I don't know if I can bring the conversation up without starting another argument and goin back to square one...”
Hercules backed away slowly, relieved to see that neither of them were making a move to get up, and turned to leave.
He had a lot to think about...
Edward and Zebedee's Mothers - Sketch
Today is Mother's Day in the UK, and I wanted to share my designs for Edward and Zebedee's mothers to mark it. Unfortunately, I only managed to finish the lineart today, but I think it's enough to share.
Edward's Mother: "The Countess of Cumbria" Daphne Stewart. Percy takes after his grandmother very strongly! XD
Zebedee's Mother: Lai-Ling Moran.
Warrior's Test
(By Bill & Ben)
When Warrior met Susannah, he believed that the approval of Zebedee, her father, was going to present the biggest hurdle when it came to winning her over...
Of course, he could never have imagined that Susannah's youngest brothers - chaotic tank engine twins - would try and take it upon themselves to test his worthiness as well.
Luckily, Susannah was on hand to rescue him!
This was my first time trying to draw an actual tug! One day, I will be motivated to draw a proper background. Not today, obviously, but one day!
A Childhood Dream Realised.
Since childhood, both Warrior and Hercules had always hoped for two things: a baby sister, and a pet cat. While they would eventually find the first in their sixteen year old half-sister, Aurora, being raised by a single mother meant that they were never able to get a cat, and had to make do with fussing over Zak's cat, Sadie (who had realised that the Starr residence was almost guaranteed to result in extra food) when she visited.
Eventually, the Starr brothers grew up and married: Hercules to Lillie and Warrior to the eldest daughter to Zebedee and Edward: Susannah.
One evening, Susannah called Warrior into the kitchen, where she had a surprise waiting for him...