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thorfemmes · 1 year

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Now in Technicolor

part i: "Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams"

a/n: I've been thinking about the "seeing in black and white until you meet your soulmate" trope for a while now. I wanted to see if it would work with with two soulmates, giving us this steddie x reader au :). I hope you enjoy, and as always feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated!<333

a/n 2: I'm sobbing because I've uploaded this THREE TIMES NOW and tumblr keeps glitching and fucking up my formatting. Let's see if this one works.

P.S. I did a stupid amount of research on tour dates, locations, and weather in 1990 LMAO please enjoy.

read part ii here

Rated 18+: fem!reader x steddie, eventual smut, an unfortunate usage of Y/N, gross humid Midwestern weather

Word Count: 2,113 words

May 24, 1990 was a grossly humid day. Illinois weather was always a bit spotty, but today especially was unforgiving. Y/N was in line outside of the Rosemont Horizon, waiting in line to see Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour. She had gotten there early, wanting to grab a good spot seeing as her ticket was for the standing room only section, but now that she was standing outside, alone, in the sun, she wished she would have prepared better. She maybe would've brought a book, definitely would have brought some water bottles. But alas, she was sandwiched between other hopeful concert-goers that were suffering the same fate as her.

She tried to subtly dab at the sweat accumulating around her hairline, accidentally making eye contact with the girl in front of her.

The girl raised her eyebrows at her. "Little bit warm today, huh?"

Y/N nodded and smiled, "Just a little bit yeah".

"Do you have any water or anything?" The girl asked.

She shook her head no.

"My girlfriend and I have a few extras if you'd like one?" The light haired girl started. "It's unopened, in case you were worried we did something to it. Not that you should be worried! I just know that some people would be worried -".

"Robin, it's okay," Robin's friend spoke up as she smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay, I appreciate the offer". Y/N took the bottle graciously and all but chugged it down. "I wasn't worried by the way. Not unless you're trying to weed out the competition for a good spot in the pit".

Robin and her partner laughed. "I'm Nancy, this is Robin, nice to meet you". The dark haired girl gestured between herself and Robin.

"I'm Y/N!"

The three of them got to talking, learning that Robin and Nancy had driven up from Hawkins, Indiana. The two were surprised to learn that she was in the process of moving to Hawkins.

"What made you want to move?" Nancy asked.

"I have a lot of family in the surrounding towns, and I'm planning on attending school out there. Hawkins lets me have a bit of independence while still being close to family".

The two girls nodded. "Do you have anyone moving with you?"

"No, unfortunately," She let out a small laugh. "No soulmate or anything yet". The two girls looked at her almost solemnly. "I'm assuming you two have met your soulmates already?"

The two grinned and linked hands. "Yeah," Robin spoke up. "We've been together for a few years now". Nancy cuddled up next to Robin and laid her head on Robin's shoulder.

"Well you're both adorable together".

"Thank you!" The two spoke in unison.

She turned slightly to take another gulp of water. It wasn't that her heart ached for a soulmate, it was that she had lost hope of meeting hers. Long ago had she accepted that black and gray scales would be her permanent point of view. High school, even middle school was filled with her peers' world blooming in color while she continued to see the dull shades around her.

They continued to make small talk until the line started moving.

"Hey in case we get separated, here's my phone number," Robin whipped out a sharpie and grabbed the girl's hand. "Call us when you get settled". And with that they parted ways, the couple heading towards the merch booth as she headed towards the barricade. When she got back to the hotel she quickly reached for the room's notepad and pen and scribbled the now smeared phone number.

Weeks had passed since the concert. Y/N had officially made the move to Hawkins. The few things she owned were shoved into a rented pickup truck and moved from her shared apartment in Chicago to a one bedroom all to herself.

The apartment was cozy; filled with fuzzy blankets and candles and warm art work. She hoped the colors at least complimented each other, but truly she was just thrilled to finally have her own space to decorate and make hers.

Her days were filled with exploring and familiarizing herself with the town. She visited every corner of Hawkins; wandering grocery stores, noting where the different shops were, even seeking out the record shop and video store for her future leisure.

It wasn't until her classes started that she started to feel the loneliness creep in. She glanced at her phone book every once in a while, debating on whether she should reach out to the girls from the concert. Surely it wouldn't be weird, right? Robin had given Y/N her number for a reason. Then on the first Saturday of July, when she was two glasses of wine deep, she used her liquid courage to reach out to Robin.

Double checking that it wasn't terribly late, she quickly pushed Robin's number into the phone and nervously squished the receiver against her ear. She picked up after the first ring.

"Hello?" Robin's raspy voice shouted over loud background music.

"Hey, Robin? It's Y/N from the Madonna concert". She winced, it had been so long ago, what if she didn't remember her?

"Y/N! Hey!" Robin must've covered the phone with her hand because she could hear a faint Would you guys turn the music down?

"Sorry, my friends are animals. How are you, are you in Hawkins?"

"Yeah, I'm finally settled. I was hoping that maybe you and Nancy would want to hang out sometime soon? I haven't really gone out with anyone since I moved".

"Yeah, that would be awesome! Are you free tomorrow morning? Some of my friends and I were planning on getting breakfast if you'd like to join us".

"I'd love to, you're sure I'm not intruding?"

"No intrusion at all! I'm sure everyone would love to meet you," Her voice called out a little bit louder. Voices in the background rang out in agreement.

Y/N giggled and set her plans in stone.

When the morning came, her stomach was in knots. Her nerves were slowly getting the better of her. Arriving at the restaurant 30 minutes early, she sat in her car and tried to hype herself up. You've got this, she thought. Robin and Nancy were friendly enough at the concert. This is you getting out of your comfort zone. And if you hate it, you can always leave!

Y/N watched as the restaurant slowly filled up. When she saw Robin and Nancy walk up hand in hand following a young man with long dark hair into the restaurant, she counted to thirty and took a deep breath before getting out of her car and making her way inside.

She met the girls by the host's stand, the man nowhere to be found. The girls greeted her with smiles and small side hugs.

"Hey! How are you doing?" Nancy said.

"I'm doing well! How have you guys been?"

"We've been okay! We're just waiting for a table to clear up. Steve couldn't make it this morning, but Eddie is here so you'll meet a part of the group! He's just in the bathroom, I think".

Y/N nodded and quickly fell into conversation with the two girls. The three were talking about the upcoming Fleetwood Mac tour when Nancy looked past Y/N's head.

"Eddie! Nice of you to finally join us," She smirked.

Eddie grinned at Nancy, letting her shove him with her shoulder. "Had to sneak out for a quick smoke. What did I miss?"

Y/N looked at the young man, his long curly hair framing the soft features of his face. His large button eyes were so expressive and full of mischief. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt like she knew him, he felt warm (which was crazy because she didn't know this boy from Adam). She was pulled from her staring by Robin's voice.

"So Eddie, this is Y/N. Y/N, Eddie".

Y/N snapped her eyes up and held out her hand, Eddie doing the same. When the two met eyes, Y/N took in a deep breath. The warmth she felt shot through their hands, sending small vibrations through her body. She held that breath as she looked at him, wisps of color blotting throughout her vision. Relief and joy and confusion flooded her system. She had met her soulmate! But why wasn't her vision completely flooding with color? Was he experiencing the same thing?

"Guys?" Robin's voice ripped them from their trance.

Eddie cleared his throat, "Sorry, um, nice to meet you".

She nodded in agreement, retracting her hand and looking at the ground. The tiles on the ground now boasted what could only be described as auras of color. Her vision still looked dull, but blobs of color distorted her normal palette of dark shades.

The four of them were then led to a round booth, Nancy and Robin scooting into the middle with Eddie and Y/N on each of their respective ends. They quickly fell into a comfortable conversation, Y/N looking and picking at her nails in favor of looking back at Eddie.

"So Y/N," Eddie's voice pulled her attention. "Nancy and Robin were telling us that you all met at the Madonna show".

"Yeah, um. It was ridiculously hot and Robin saved the day with a water bottle she swore wasn't poisoned".

Eddie laughed and leaned forward a little. "You've gotta be careful out there, you never know what Robin is trying to roofie you with".

"Oh fuck off, Munson," Robin laughed, throwing her straw wrapper at him.

The four of them stood outside of the diner and gathered around Y/N's car.

"This was so fun, we should do this again soon!" Nancy said.

Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully next time our resident dingus can join us," Robin added.

Eddie rolled his eyes at the name calling. He quickly took his keys out of his pockets. "Here ladies, go and start the a/c, I'll be right behind you".

Robin snatched the keys from him, quickly giving Y/N a hug and dragging Nancy away.

Eddie shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his dirty Reeboks. He cleared his throat before starting: "Um, so -".

"Did you feel it too?" She cut in. "I'm really confused right now, and I just need to make sure I'm not hallucinating or something".

"No sweetheart, you're not hallucinating".

She couldn't tell if her face was warm due to the humid weather or Eddie's pet name.

"Can I ask why you're confused?"

"I... The colors didn't blossom like they were supposed to, I think. They didn't fully come through like I thought they were meant to. I'm only seeing little bits and pieces of color in between normal grays and whites".

Eddie nodded, recognition flooding his face. "I had the same thing happen when I met my partner, Steve".

"Steve, like dingus Steve?"

"Yeah, like dingus Steve," Eddie laughed. "Both of us actually experienced that. We were both really confused, but with a little research we learned that in rare occasions, some people can have multiple soulmates".

Her eyes widened. It makes sense in theory, but it was all overwhelming. Just yesterday she was sure she'd never run into her soulmate and now there's a possibility that she has more than one?

"When we made eye contact, color flooded the rest of my vision. All the black and white disappeared. I have never felt more comfortable meeting someone, not since I met Steve. I don't know what this means for any of us, but I know that you must be my missing soulmate".

She slowly took a step back, Eddie following with a step forward and his hands up, as if approaching a wounded animal.

"I just, please take some time. It's a lot to process. If you have any questions or want to talk, here's my number," He pulled out his breakfast receipt with his number scratched on it. "Steve and I have a lot to talk about too".

She nodded, looking down at the piece of paper in his hand. She plucked it with a shaking hand.

"Just give me a couple days to think everything over. I promise I'll call soon, I just need some time," She turned to unlock her car door.

Eddie nodded and opened the door for her. "Drive safely, and give me a call, yeah?"

She nodded and carefully pulled out of the parking lot. Eddie crossed his hands and cradled the back of his head as he watched her drive away.

Fuck, this changes everything.

Taglist/people who showed interest in this fic: @munsonology @alexxavicry @marvelous-musicals

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the-once-ler-in-superjail · 10 months

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CHAPTER 35: The Asylum - Part 1

Thanks for holding on again, we hope your patience was worth it! Went with a slightly different presentation style this time round (more comic page form) so expect these uploads to not always be the same format- that's part of the fun we're having with it.

Lineart/cleanup, flats & writing- @wiggybe

Layout/roughs, shading/lighting & writing- @self-made-madman

(TW: Mental illness/health/asylums.)

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Once-ler: *Sitting at his desk in his office with his curtains closed, his hands through his hair and he's staring tiredly at a messy desk of papers in front of him. He was once reading them, but he's gotten to the point where he's so tired-out and stressed that he just stares at them without taking in any of the words, his eyes move over the same sentence he's been reading over and over again.*

Warden: *He just bursts through the door without knocking- though this is normal. He never knocks in his own jail, ever.* Good afternoon!~ *He's been... not perkier (it's impossible to be perkier than the Warden already is) but more bulletproof than ever since his breakdown. It's like a big weight off his shoulders.* How's my favourite accountant? Working hard or hardly working? Ha! You know, this place could use some sunshine! *Skips through the room poofing vases of flowers and other decorations around the room, as the curtains magically open.*

Once-ler: *Gasps at the sudden disruption of his silence and looks at the Warden with wide eyes which then squint at the sudden light. He almost hisses like a vampire bat when his perfect darkness disappears. He relaxes and then frowns a little.* It looks fine the way it is. *Leans on his elbow so he doesn't look at the Warden and takes his pen in his hand. He taps it a few times on the desk as he tries to read the papers again.*

Warden: *Pauses, and all the flowers in a vase he's holding wither and die.* Heeeey... *His voice softens down, actually showing some initiative and care for once.* You okay, buddy? *Walks over and rests a surprisingly parental hand on his shoulder. He looks down at Oncie's head with worry.*

Once-ler: *Sighs and drops back in his chair, throwing the pen onto the desk and his chair rolls back a little on the floor. He might have responded more callous if the Warden hadn’t picked up on his mood this time, and then adjusted his own mood to better console him. Instead, he sighs and drops his pen. His shirt is untucked and his braces hanging down by his waist instead of over his shoulders.* No. I'm not okay. *A bit of a whiny teenager voice. Then he frowns more seriously.* And I don’t appreciate you bursting in unannounced when I’m trying to work.

Warden: *Gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze.* What's up? I thought you liked that math-y boring stuff. *Sounds honestly like he cares. He really has grown very attached to his Oncie- enough to actually think of him as a human and not a toy. Which is just why he falter slightly when his sudden burst-in is mentioned.* Oh!-Uh… *Clears his throat then laughs awkwardly.* Sure, buddy! I hate it when Jared bursts in on me too- Not that I’m anything like Jared. *At least when HE suddenly shows up it’s for fun reasons, not boring annoying Jared reasons, and who wouldn’t want that? But he’s starting to learn that Oncie has his own feelings and ways of doing things, and that’s good, because if he was the same as everyone else then he wouldn’t be what makes him so great. He tilts his head.* Anything other than that your all-powerful prison-warden can do to help?

Once-ler: *Shakes his head, but he's really very grateful that he can feel the Warden concerned for him.* Not really. I have work to do for Superjail and then even more important work for my business. *Stands up and points at the Warden.* You've been spending too much over the budget again. *He points his thumb towards himself.* I need to get to Thneedville to sort out my factory. *His hands flick in mid air, flat, vertical and parallel to each other, like he’s showing a box size.* But I cant go to Thneedville, *then points at the floor,* Because I’m stuck here.

Warden: *Brightens up again* Weeeell, why didn't you say so?? *He completely glosses over, or doesn't even hear that he's over-budget. He never does, and probably never will. But, somehow, Superjail always survives.* How about you and I take some time out and go back? You can set up all your... *wiggles his fingers in midair,* factory doowhatsists, and I'll, I dunno, take in a tour! *The thought of Oncie going back alone doesn't even cross his mind. They're a duo.*

Once-ler: *Huffs and strokes his hand through the back of his hair. That’s not a terrible idea. Who’da thought he could just disappear? Maybe he’s becoming somewhat institutionalised here already and is still living with a prisoner mentality. He takes a glance at the papers and then frowns.* Yes! Yes! Okay, just take me out of here.

Warden: Alrighty! *Smiles and pulls Oncie backwards so he's suspended on the back two legs of his chair. He gives him a big kiss before they disappear, then reappear in a hover car on the coast of Superjail’s island. The car shoots off and off they go through the outer world back to mainland and back to Thneedville. There go his powers though- he won't be getting them back until Jailbot comes to get them. He did not think this through very much, but it's a perfectly reasonable plan so far.*

Once-ler: Hmph! *Gasps into the kiss and feels very dizzy once his powers take effect, the dizziness of the powers and the sudden romantic flutter in his stomach at the kiss, make stars appear as his eyes clench shut and they vanish. He snaps forward once they arrive in the car and gives a little shudder, feeling disorientated.* Uurgh…

Warden: *They land outside The Once-ler’s Lerkim and drags them out to the front door, before the car takes off again to leave back for Superjail. He pouts at him good-humouredly.* Enough moping! It's time to take care of your factory! *Wheels around him and moves to push him away from the building.* We'll meet back here in a few hours~

Once-ler: Wh- *Lets himself be walked out.* Where are you going?

Warden: Me? *Juts out his jaw as he thinks.* I guess I'll go exploring. We were so busy the last time we came here that I hardly saw any of the town~ *They were too 'busy'.* Now stop worrying! You're draggin' down the vibe.

Once-ler: You want to go exploring the town alone?- *His initial reaction to that-* No. *- and stops letting the Warden push him.*

Warden: Oof! *Crumples into the back of him, not ready for Oncie to stop moving.* *Pouts, speaking into Oncie's back with his nose and eyes visible over his shoulder.* Meanie.

Once-ler: *Looks over his shoulder.* I just don't want you getting into trouble. You'll probably end up punching a barbaloot or something *Frowns as he just put that image in his head. He might slap the man if he dared to harm any of the animals.*

Warden: *Gasps and straightens up.* The very idea! *Huffs with his hands on his hips.* I'll have you know that I am a grown man! *Shakes his finger in midair in a very old-fashioned way of making a point.* I can walk around town all I want completely unsupervised! *He doesn't sound angry, and he's not. He's just doing that automatically-appalled thing that he does.*

Once-ler: *Turns to face him.* Well, from what happened last time, you can understand why I wouldn't want you to be unsupervised around here. No slapping women! Or getting into trouble! This place is my place, it belongs to me its Thneedville. So I'm not letting you go out alone here.

Warden: Okay! Okay, geez, Mister Territory-Pants *Throws up hands in defeat.* What would you suggest? I'm not following you around all day doing accounts! *Grumpy face, hands on his hips.* If I wanted to do that I'd just leash myself to Jared's big, stupid head.

Once-ler: *Huffs in thought and thinks- that’s a good point. Then chuckles at the little Jared insult* It is big, isn't it?

Warden: Like, enormous, am I right? *Measures it in his hands, momentarily distracted.*

Once-ler: *Keeps laughing at him* Haha-! Totally~

Warden: *Frowns* Ababab! Don't distract me. *Grumpy point. However, throughout all this he's still been perfectly happy and in his usual safe half-sane space. No breakdowns or real arguments seem likely. He folds his arms.* Are you gonna arrange me a babysitter or something? *Sounds like he'll put up with it to humour Oncie's 'insane overprotectiveness'.*

Once-ler: Ppppffffff... *Rubs his neck* I don't know any-...I wonder who I could hire... *He ponders for a looong time, genuinely considering hiring a minder for his own boyfriend, which causes the Warden to almost start spluttering in incredulity, and then gives up with a little smirk.* Alright. *The smile drops and he looks him dead-on and serious.* You can go out alone, if you promise not to get into any trouble. No fights, no tantrums, nothing. *Smiles, softening his voice.* You gotta be good and polite and nice to people. You're not the Warden here, okay? You're Edmund Theremiah, so act normal and mature, okay?

Warden: *Squints in submission.* Fiiiine. *Hates the thought of being 'Edmund Theremiah'. It sounds boring and uninteresting, and he takes GREAT pride in never being boring and uninteresting.* Scouts honour. Best behaviour. *Stuffs his hand in his pockets and kicks a rock poutily.* I'll be good.

Once-ler: *Smiles at him calmly* Good~ Because you’ll be in trouble if you aren't, you hear me?

Warden: *Juts out his jaw in grumpiness again.* Yes Oncie. *Deflates slightly.* Stupid Thneedville. Can I go now? *Sounds so childish.*

Once-ler: Here, take this. Then if anyone questions you, you can just tell them that you know the Once-ler. *Reaches into his pocket and pulls out the pink truffula pin that usually goes on the lapel of his green tailcoat. *Strokes under the Warden's jaw and then pulls him into a little peck on the lips. Then tilts his head to the town.* Okay, off you go then.

Warden: *Blinks innocently when he sees the pin and takes it from his hand* Uuh- *The peck comes as a surprise, he pecks back with pink cheeks and a small eyelash flutter, then jumps up and down on the spot a few times.* Yeah! See you later, Oncie! *Pockets the pin and then leaps off to go and explore.*

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Once-ler: *Stood outside his factory gates in his green suit, all dressed up for opening his factory again. He's holding a pair of scissors, cameras are flashing everywhere and girl are screaming at him.* -And I am very proud to finally re-open the new and eco-friendly Thneed factory!~ *Cuts the red ribbon across the gate. People are cheering and photographers are flashing, journalists go to smuggle him.*

Lorax: *He's sitting on top of a small wall nearby, watching the proceedings. He refuses to go down just yet because he hates publicity- especially after the media circus he was dragged into when Oncie ran the factory before. All that 'Lorax approved' bullshit left a bad taste in his mouth. Still, he looks proud of him now and has already had a peek at all the inner workings of the factory. So far it honestly looks eco-friendly, and so he's very pleased. Cautious, but pleased.*

Once-ler: *After talking to a few reporters, talking to a few fans and signing a few thneeds, shirts, bra's and breasts, he eventually starts to bat a few of the bothersome public away.* That's enough attention for one day I think, thank you all for coming~ Once-ler out. *Enters his factory and shuts the door behind him, letting out a tired sigh as he does, but he straightens and walks to his office. He goes over to his huge balcony and leans over the edge of it, smiling broadly at the very few truffula trees that managed to survive his onslaught and then dropping his smile when his eyes fall on the many stumps he left behind. He chews on his cheek… He should really do something about them.*

Lorax: So! Looks like you managed to turn it all around, huh? *He's above Oncie's head, sitting on the top of the window-frame with his little legs dangling over the edge.* You look tired. You been eating properly?

Once-ler: Hm? *Looks up at him and smiles. He's gotten so used to the Lorax randomly popping up in places that it doesn't make him jump anymore. He can almost predict when it'll happen by now, which isn’t something he can say for the Warden just yet.* Oh, naah, I'm fine. It's just difficult to be in Superjail and have everything else here. *Rubs his face with both hands and yawns out a word-* Tiring. *Sniffs.* All these fans and reporters too. But I can handle them, no problem.

Lorax: *Jumps down and lands in front of Oncie's feet.* Aww, well make sure you get enough Zs, got it? I don't like the thought of you runnin' yourself out. *Turns around to look up at the much nicer factory and gives a low whistle.* You know, much as I hate commerce and capitalism and all that crap, you really have done me proud. This is somethin' good. *After how far they've come together, he knows that those words are ones that will mean the world to him. He looks back over his shoulder at Oncie with a smile.* So where's your guy? He back in that jail of his?

Once-ler: *Smiles broadly at him, feeling very happy with himself that the Lorax feels that way about his hard work. There’s a warm swell in his stomach at hearing those words of pride, and that sort of feeling is so rare to him. He goes quiet for a moment, so happy he's finally been able to please him and hasn't messed up this time.* No, he came with me here. But he's out right now to explore Thneedville. *His voice sounds a little unsure at the end, and his smile has relaxed a little. It's more like a slight mask over his worry.*

Lorax: *Sounds very sympathetic as he groans,* Uh-ooohhh... And Thneedville's still standin'? *Turns around properly to face Oncie as they talk.* Ah, he's probably fine. *Gives him an encouraging smile.* That town is harmless - he's the most dangerous thing in it. You've got nothin' to worry about. *Still sounds more like he's comforting Oncie than actually giving his honest opinion.*

Once-ler: Yeah, exactly! I'm not just worried about him, I'm worried about the town. He doesn't know this place very well and this place doesn't know him at all. *And maybe the fact that the Warden might be the most dangerous thing in Thneedville isn’t actually that reassuring.* But- yeah... I'm sure everything will be fine.

Lorax: And if not, it's nothin' you can't fix. *Gives him a grin and holds out a paw for him to take.* So! You got a kitchen in this place? I'm starved and I'm sure you owe me a meal for somethin' or other.

Once-ler: Haha- sure *Takes his hand but pulls him up onto his shoulder. Then walks back in, removing his hat and placing it on his chair.* So how've you been? I haven't seen you since I got my eyesight back.

Lorax: *Punches the side of his head gently.* And it's damn good to see you... Seein' again! You gave me the shock of my damn life. *Relaxes.* But I've been keepin'. Joints gettin' stiffer every day I swear to God. *Gives a happy hum. As old as he is, he's got a ton of years left in him.* But nothin' much is different. Had to screw with a couple of lumberjacks up in the Arctic National Preserve and then make it down in time to stop an oil drillin' down in the swamps of Tennessee. Whole lotta trekkin'.

Once-ler: *Laughs at his ‘seeing’ joke, and can only laugh more in relief at the fact that whole chapter is over now.* Aaah, man, that sounds like a busy day. *Pulls his gloves off and drops them onto his desk as he walks to the kitchen.* Did you fix it in the end?

Lorax: *Heavy sigh.* Temporarily. They're more thick-headed than you were. *Gives him a friendly hair-ruffle, showing that he didn't really mean it.* Just once I'd like a guy to go "Gee, maybe the little fella is right. Let's all go home and have some hot cocoa." *Pauses, then adds.* "And while we're at it, let's invite the little fella over for that, too." *Frowns* Geez, I really am hungry.

Once-ler: *Laughs.* That's where we're going now. Anyway, it certainly worked on me... eventually. And you can come to mine for cocoa anytime you want~ *Gets to the factory kitchen.* What do you wanna eat?

Lorax: *Jumps onto a countertop.* A cheese sandwich would go down well right about now. *Frowns to add gravity to what he's saying.* A responsibly farmed cheese sandwich. You humans have a way to make everything suspect. *While he still seems very proud and happy for Oncie, he's got the grumpiness of a guy who's just come of a far too-busy day's work.*

Once-ler: Uh- ahaha, sure.*Begins making him a sandwich, sometimes feeling awkward about his race when the Lorax starts complaining about them, but he supposes it’s justified considering what he himself did to his forest. It is the critters job after all.*

Lorax: *Bops up and down on his heels as he waits in excitement for the sandwich.* So how are things with you? Besides being all better? He proposed to you yet or whatever? *Sounds like he's kidding.*

Once-ler: Pfffthbth! *Gets a little embarrassed and shakes his head quickly.* NO! *Gives him the plate with the sandwich on and pouts with a raised eyebrow.* Of course not.

Lorax: *Cackles in a joking meanness before stuffing the sandwich in his mouth.* Well good. You're still far too young! *Points his sandwich at him... or the crust of it, which is already all that's left.*

Once-ler: Thank God! I hope that doesn't cross his mind *Scratches his neck and laughs.* I have a feeling I wouldn't have a choice if he demanded it, if anything because he’s such a romantic and he’d love an excuse to throw a party about us.

Lorax: *Gnaws on the crust of bread.* Would you say no if you had the choice? *Sounds amused and gossipy, but he's always been a little worried about their relationship. Anybody responsible would be.*

Once-ler: *Thinks to himself, tapping his finger on his chin, and then nods slowly.* I know we're like, together and stuff, but just feels weird to get married to a guy, ya know? My mom is really old fashioned in that way, *he sighs,* I doubt she’d ever approve of us, not that she approves of me much anyway. So I guess it's hard to think otherwise. *He shakes his head.* I'm way too young anyway to even think about marriage.

Lorax: *Nods* Smart. Don't tie yourself down to that place. *Still, his expression darkens.* Call me a new-age tree-hugger or whatever you want to call it, but your mom is full of trash. *Finishes sandwich decisively. He's had a long day, and he's not got the energy to put things in a nice way.* You marry a guy if you want to.

Once-ler: *Jolts at hearing the insult to him mom and then panics a little.* Hey! She is not. Don’t say that about my mom. *He’s still in some denial about who his mom really is. He always has been, but at the very least he just thinks it’s rude to say such things about a man’s mother. He’s still finding it difficult to digest what she really is.*

Lorax: Ppft. *Flaps his hand at him but doesn't press the issue. Recently he's been more respectful of Oncie's family- at least when talking about them to Oncie- but he has no patience for it today.* Alright, fair enough. The important thing is that you can marry whoever you want. Whether that be man, woman, or manchild.

Once-ler: *Still tense about that comment, but tries to get back into the conversation.* No- yeah, I know. And it's not that I wouldn’t want to some day... *Gets a little fuzzy feeling.* Like- it'd be totally awesome! I mean- so awesome! *Getting a little excited but relaxes.* And I would, just not now, not this early. I can't get married to someone who won’t say he loves me.

Lorax: *A biiig cat-like grin crosses his face when Oncie gets excited, but it falls immediately when he finishes that sentence.* Wait, what?! After all the crap you've helped him with he's still holdin' out on you?! The jerk! *Dusts his hands clean from crumbs.*

Once-ler: *Looks back at him wide-eyed and quickly realises he said that wrong, and tries to correct his screw up.* N- no, no! I didn't mean it like that. *Trots forward and puts his hands out to the Lorax* He does love me! He just cant say it. But he does. He definitely does! But he can’t admit it.

Lorax: *Squints at him, not sounding very pleased.* Explain.

Once-ler: *Cowers a little. He has no choice but to obey his surrogate parent now. He shrugs.* He- just can’t. He's very complicated. *He sighs.* Right, this is all very new to him, I think he has a real struggle about saying those words, he seems to think that every time he admits to loving something, he gets punished for it. *He frowns* His dad used to tell him it was bad, that it makes things weak and useless to know love. He trusts me more than anyone but its still in there. *That angry frown becomes a sad one.* I think he thinks that whatever he loves will always die, usually by his own hands, whether that’s forced on him or an accident or… I don’t know. *He looks to him with big remorseful eyes.* I think that’s another reason why he doesn’t want to admit it, I've been in more than enough accidents thanks to him. But he does feel it because he's almost been able to say it to me! It’s just that the words get caught in his throat.

Lorax: *Sighs. He's always had his worries, but he does respect that Oncie can handle it.* You'll be the death of me, you know that? *Gestures for Oncie to come over for a hug.* C'mere. Damn, kid, you've got a whole lot baggage wrapped up in this relationship, huh?

Once-ler: *Enters the hug like a normal grip, but half way though he hears that last sentence and his weight falls onto the Lorax in mental exhaustion. It does take a lot to handle the Warden, along with all of his other work, and he does so well to completely hide it that it never crosses his mind. No-one's brought it up before, not even himself, and to hear the Lorax so perfectly know him and know exactly what he thinks, it makes him drop it all out on him accidentally. Like it's okay for him to admit that it's tiring him. He doesn’t even have the strength to respond to that at the moment, he’s too bewildered by that last comment.*

Lorax: Woooaaah, you're okay. *Crumples a little with the sudden weight, but manages okay and gives him a big hug, stroking his hair gently once he's regained his balance.*

Once-ler: *Nods into him but doesn't leave the hug.* I'm fine- I'm fine.

Lorax: Of course you are. *Continues to stroke his hair, one little hand sorting out any stray flicks while the other just holds him.* But if you weren't that'd be okay too.

Once-ler: *Shakes his head.* It wouldn't. *He's not had a breakdown since he's been in Superjail. It's been a long time since he last snapped. He's had the odd cry every now and then, but that’s about it. It was probably when his dad left, or something his mother did, or most likely when the stocks of Thneeds crashed, not that they ever have in reality. There is always so much going on in Superjail, and as much as it all is too much for him sometimes, it’s as if it’s impossible to dwell on anything for too long because you need to be prepared for the next thing. Maybe that’s why it exists in the first place, to keep the Warden’s mind from thinking too much. In a way that’s good, but at the same time it forces a lot of things to become repressed and compressed, until suddenly, someone’s having a breakdown, whether that’s an inmate finally snapping, Jared returning to tears and drinking again, or the Warden literally falling apart at the seams and going on a crying-murder spree. And it was almost him the other day. If the Warden hadn’t been fixed by that rant then there’s a good chance the Once-ler would have given up too. It’s not just that though… How could he ever have the time to have his own breakdown when he’s so busy trying to help the Warden with all of his?*

Lorax: Kid, it'd always be fine. If it's not fine around your fella then it's always fine around me. I can take it. *Takes Oncie's cheeks and makes him look at him. He's frowning, but it's the frown of a kindly father, rather than any form of disappointment.* Bein' around him has turned you into one a' the most amazing people I've ever seen - he's challenged you and forced you to grow and, *he smiles,* now look at you. All grown up and already too good for anybody I can think of. *Rests their foreheads together, glaring at him straight in the eyes.* I can't tell you how proud I am of you. But part of bein' so strong and so capable is knowing when it's okay to stop.

Once-ler: *He hadn’t expected to feel a lump in his throat, and he doesn’t want to, but everything the Lorax says is exactly what he's been waiting to hear. He lets out a quiet, dry sob as he sighs out and then his arms loop around his fluffy friend and cling closely to him. It’s being told that the Lorax is proud of him, the Lorax proud of him after all he did to the forest, that makes a few small tears prick up at the corner of his eyes.* Th- Thank you, *He sniffs a few times, clenching his eyes shut in an attempt to blink away the tears, but a lump still resting in his throat.*

Lorax: *Gives a short chuckle that rumbles through his fur, hugging Oncie tightly.* It's what I'm here for. *Rubs the back of his head, keeping Oncie tightly pressed against his fluffy, warm body. He lets him sniffle all he needs.*

Once-ler: *Sniff against him and squeezes the hug for moments and then pulls away to wipe his eyes. His shoulders hang heavily but he sighs out and feels a little better.*

Lorax: *Smiles at him in a calm and loving way.* You gonna be okay tonight?

Once-ler: *Nods* I… *His chest shudders with an outward breath and he gives him a weak smile.* I should be.

Lorax: *Chuckles at him.* I'm sure your Warden won't mind. He might not even notice if you don't sniff too often. *Plods over to the roll of kitchen paper towels and tears a piece off, then holds it up for him.*

Once-ler: *Chuckles back at his little tease and takes the tissue to finish up mopping his eyes.*

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

Once-ler: *It’s the evening after the Once-ler had finished sorting what he needed to in his factory, he’s been waiting at home for the Warden, but so far he’s heard nothing from him and he hasn’t returned from Thneedville. He’d tried to contact his communicator but no-one answered, he even went to look for him in Thneedville after work and couldn’t find him, he called Jared just in case he might have returned to Superjail for whatever reason and he was told they’ve seen no sign of him. As much as he wants to helicopter around him to make sure nothing bad is happening, he does want to trust him on his own- he doesn’t want to go back out to look for him and turn the whole town upside down, looking like a maniac in the process. It’s just that it’s getting to the point now, as he paces around the lower ground of his Lerkim and checks his pocket watch while the day gets later, that he really thinks he should go and turn the town upside down. He doesn't know what to do, he paces his living room while trying to think of a solution, his fingertips in his mouth to chew on and his eyes tense with concern. He thought he’d be okay, but now he’s disappeared and Once-ler doesn’t know what to do or where to go, and he has no idea why he let him go alone. He looks a bit of a mess, in his half/half outfit with his braces hanging down from his waist. Too worried to make himself look that presentable.*

*There's a brisk knock on the door.*

Once-ler: *Jumps a little at the knock and then goes over to the door, suddenly feeling a wave of relief as he hopes that that’s the Warden returning after his day out, but then he considers that it’s a little strange the Warden would knock when he would usually just stumble in and announce his presence. Unless he really took what he said that morning in his office seriously. He winces, straightens himself up and tries to make his appearance better, but he hopes to heaven that it’ll be his boyfriend. He clears his throat, and then opens the door.*

*Outside is a stern-looking, boring man in a white lab coat. He has thick glasses and looks like an immovable, business-like sort. He waits for the door to be answered before speaking, being too strict and professional to call through the house.*

Once-ler: *Looks the man up and down with a confused, slightly concerned frown.* Uuh... Can I help you?..

Doctor: *He nods, his face expressionless.* I am truly sorry to bother you, Mr. Once-ler, but I'm here on behalf of the Thneedville Psychiatric Institute. *Flaps his hand a little in small gesture.* Merely a formality we have to conduct, but we have a patient with us who insists that he knows you. You'll understand that we have a number of patients who make claims of knowing celebrities and usually we don't follow these accusations up, but he's been very insistent. *Coolly he reaches into his pocket and brings out the lapel pin that Oncie owns, the one with the small truffula tuft.* He also had this on his possession. We simply want to make sure that he's deluded, for the sake of his ongoing treatment. He claims to be... *briefly fishes for the word,* a jailer of some sort. *Seems a little embarrassed by how ridiculous a house call this must seem.*

Once-ler: *Squints and tilts his head at him as he listens, wanting to ask questions but they get answered straight away. His tongue goes numb, but he thinks for a moment that this could be a misunderstanding, but then he reveals the pin. He stares at it with horror and takes it slowly, his eyes having to be forced away from it to look at the man again. His stomach has been getting tighter all through this explanation, still clinging onto hope that this could still not be real,but his stomach plummets at the last thing said, and he stares at the man it utter shock, feeling sick to his stomach* No- he’s in a-? *He gasps, suddenly knowing what that means. He feels like he might be sick. He snaps out of it, trying to act sensible and try not to panic, but he is, and suddenly he grabs his coat and top-hat* Thank you. *Then bolts out of his house, almost knocking the man over and slamming his door shut.*

*This is his town, he funds all of its institutions, he practically runs it and he knows where everything is and the quickest way to get to places. In just a few minutes he’s at the asylum and bursts in, slamming the doors open as if anyone would dare to tell him not to. He’s The Once-ler, he practically owns this town, he built it into what it is today. If he wasn’t there then it wouldn’t be able to run properly without him, let alone have such a great economy, and everyone knows it. He bursts in, his tailcoat fluttering behind him like a demons cape and his hat stretched up to the ceiling as intimidating as one of his factory chimneys, puffing the smoke he burns to keep all these businesses alive.*

Receptionist: *Jolts upright at the sudden entrance and in a small explosion papers addresses him nervously.* Oh! Mr. Once-ler! Can I help you? *A few people are picking up and moving damaged furniture and strewn documents from the reception area- something akin to a hurricane passed through here at some point. Clearly the Warden didn't go down without a fight.* Th-this is very sudden- do you have an appointment? *Everything here is very normal and grey, though it does have the rounded edges and slightly off-kilter angles and asymmetry of any Thneedville building - nothing out of the ordinary as far as Thneedville goes, very professional. There's a small piece of very worrying information, however. Perched on top of the receptionist's outbox are the Warden's glasses- a glint of bright yellow in this otherwise drab place. Of course he wouldn't be allowed to wear them if he were an inpatient. They'll be taken to a small holding area until he's let go... but that could be any time.*

Once-ler: *He stops for a moment to look at the mess, he doesn’t even have to question it, he knows it was the Warden's fighting back that caused such a chaos and it makes him worry even more. Then he snaps his head over to the receptionist and struts over to her dangerously* Do I need a goddamn appointment?! Do you really need to ask me th- *Then his eyes catch the glint of yellow and they notice the Warden's glasses. His mouth goes dry and his eyes look at them in complete horror. Okay- NOW he’s panicking. And he whispers, terrified* Y- you-... took them off him.

Receptionist: *Recoils a little.* Uh, well yes! Of course! They'd be classified as... as contraband... sir. *Pauses and tries to avoid looking at him head on- intimidated by him immensely.* I assume... that this means you're here to see the man who was brought in last night? The, uh, *makes very, very meek quote signs with her fingers,* "prison warden"?

Once-ler: *Scowls at her when she quotes with her hands and places both hands on hers and pushes them down.* He is a prison warden, and everything he says is the truth. He knows me. *Clears his throat and tries to calm down- this isn’t her fault.* He was brought in here last night you say? Why? What for? *He demands an answer quickly.*

Receptionist: *Panics a little and immediately starts typing at the computer to one side, pulling up the Warden's record.* Oh, um. *Reads, readjusting her glasses* He was found at the scene of a fight. Apparently there were, uh, weapons involved. He was brought here instead of to the police station because... well... *She ducks a little, not wanting to be the one to say it.* He was claiming some rather outlandish things. I'm sorry, Mr. Once-ler, sir, but I'm not legally allowed to say any more than that. *Quickly adds, hoping to get rid of him as soon as possible.* Would you want to be taken to him now?

Once-ler: *Is about to snap more demands but stops immediately at the question. That’s definitely what he wants out of this, so it works to get him to go away* Yes please. Right now.

Receptionist: *Immediately snaps her fingers at one of the men in coats walking around.* Excuse me! Could you take Mr. Once-ler to see our newest patient? He's... uh... *She looks to the Once-ler and then immediately lies to make things easier.* Family! Yes.

Doctor: *He squints at the Once-ler, then takes some documents from the receptionist's desk. He cringes.* That patient? I'm afraid he's not approved for visitation right now. *He looks down at the notes and snaps them to a clipboard.* If you are family, we will require some... *Again his eyes rest on the Once-ler, knowing exactly who he is but being as careful as possible in regards to protocol...* Documentation.

Once-ler: *He doesn't like the way he said 'that patient'. His brow tightens and his shoulders stiffen at the resistance shown.* There is no paperwork because the man is no longer in contact with his biological family. I'm his significant other. We have photos together, his things are in my house, and the fact that you picked him up with my lapel pin in his possession and I'm not charging him for being a stalking fan but instead am here trying to represent him, should prove we have a relationship. *He breathes in a sharp breath and huff it out of his nostrils like a steaming bull. He tries to hide the pain in his next statement.* He has no one but me who can care for him. *He points his finger sharply down at the ground.* I demand to see him!

Doctor: *He appears completely dispassionate as the Once-ler talks, even though he believes the man is telling the truth - he is the Once-ler after all, everyone knows that and this is Thneedville - because this isn't a court of law and he isn't looking to be convinced. There is protocol to follow, documents to be inspected, because if they make a mistake by taking a shortcut then they could be sued into the ground.* You can demand all you want, sir, but I'm afraid that until I see documentation proving that your relationship is as you say it is, we can't allow visitation until he's gone through our screening process. He was violent with the nurses as he was brought in, and we have no guarantees that this won't continue to be the case. *When he says 'violent', it's highly likely that he just resisted them as they dragged him in.* He’s a very sick man.

Once-ler: *Takes a step forward assertively but not aggressively, and he cuts in before the man can really finish.* He won't be aggressive to me! *One eye squints and he snarls,* But alright, if you want to play that game, how about this for 'documentation'. When was your last unscheduled routine humanitarian check at this establishment, huh? *Straightens up and folds his arms.* By Thneedville law you're permitted to accept an unscheduled visit by a city representative to check that the treatments, handling and facilities provided to patients are humane and up to human rights standards at all times. *Places his hand on his chest and raises his eyebrow.* As the city's main representative, I've authority to instigate this operation when I see fit, as well as appoint the individual in charge of carrying it out, which can also be myself. So consider it your unscheduled investigation, and I request to see the most recent and most volatile patient checked into the facility within the last twenty-four hours to best review these conditions. *He frowns.* I wouldn't recommend objecting to this kind of operation, it tends to look very bad for an institution of people holding medical licenses.

Doctor: *His eyes widen. Oh crap. He straightens up coldly, his shoulders drawing back defensively and his chin lifting, and for a moment he looks him dead in the eyes, lifting his head slightly as if almost daring to challenge him before remembering who he is. Cold grey eyes unpleasantly squinting. They haven’t had an investigation in a long time. The cultural era that they exist in Thneedville doesn’t pay much attention to the well being of mental patients, but if he doesn’t let the Once-ler in to see just the one patient, then he might put a bigger focus on them overall. He might take it to the press and demand a large-scale investigation as revenge, but maybe if he’s let to see the one man then that’ll be all he wants. Finally he quakes, watching the Once-ler's bright blue glare, as the math clicks and he feels a tiny shudder rattle through him. He is the Once-ler after all, and he’s caught him in a bit of a tough place with all that practical, systematic business talk especially when he tried to just throw the same at him about protocol. He's forced to nod with a slightly unhappy curl to his nose.* Very well. Right this way.

*The receptionist moves to escort him, but the doctor holds up his hand.*

Doctor: No-no, I'll handle this. Right this way, Mr. Once-ler. *He turns on his heel almost like a soldier and glides on sharp feet down the corridors of the facility. He doesn’t seem particularly happy with the way the Once-ler has worked around the rules, but he can’t say anything, the man is too powerful. Never the less, he is hiding an attitude with a bitter sneer, holding his head up and glaring out the corner of his eye at the businessman. The doctors here don’t like it when outsiders try sniffing around their patients and the facilities, they just want to get on with their jobs, with unfeeling. What does the Once-ler anyway? He doesn’t know better than they could about this sick man and what he needs.* You will see that we have everything up to code when it comes to exiling lunacy. Out here are our less volatile inpatients, but I'll take you to our secure wing where the worst are. You’ll see, since you’re here to review our establishment, that the mad man you’re talking about is in the perfect place. *There’s the tiniest hiss sound from his nose that indicates a smirk. To him, the people here are nothing more than animals.*

Once-ler: *His eyes are just as unfeeling to the man’s opinion or reaction, even more so, because he owns this damn town and no-one dares to look at him like this man is daring to. He either doesn't know who he is, which is ridiculous, or he's the most stupid man on the planet to exist in Thneedville and look down his nose at The Once-ler like that. Especially when he's standing in the way of something the man wants and will take. He won't be stopped, nothing can stop him, the only thing this man will succeed in is guaranteeing to make his own life worse by trying to slow the businessman down. He lifts his own head and if he were some sort of demonic creature, his claws and fangs would be unfurling at him right now; he's lucky that they're meant to be existing in a civilised society else the Once-ler would have torn him to shreds as easily as the Warden does to the prisoners in Superjail. ‘The perfect place?’ He picked up on that vile, snarky tone towards himself and his boyfriend- his boyfriend who right now is vulnerable and suffering in his worst nightmare. One thing is for certain, this man is losing his job by the end of today whether or not he's taking him down to the Warden right now. He could write a very convincing report on him and have it approved in seconds. He's not in the mood to stare down a more pathetic predator that apparently doesn't know what lions nest it's poking at.* Good. *He says when the man states where he’s taking him, the word coming out as a stab as he follows him down.*

*Naturally he doesn't really care about the facility's humanitarian standards protocol right now, the Warden is the only thing on his mind and he wants to go there immediately, he doesn't even look around or pay attention to the man as he describes the hallways, but he will write a report like he promised once he has his boyfriend back, and as he makes his way through the corridors, he does start to see just how miserable this place is as well as hear the distressed sounds groaning from the rooms… It reminds him of Superjail on a slow day. Maybe he should investigate here- the thought comes to mind for a moment.

He's a man of doing things by the books most of the time, if he declares an investigation then he'll follow through, if he promises a report then he'll write one, but that's already played them perfectly into his hands now and he knows it. They might call his bluff here, thinking he's just using this reason as an excuse to get into the facility and humouring it to save their reputation, when really he wont write a report in the end. But they would be wrong to do that, because this isn't just a one-off excuse to get into the facility, he knows full well that he's opened up the door to further threats that he'll follow through with. Oh he'll write a report, and it'll drag them all through the mud so violently that they'll forget their names because his own will be etched into their ID cards like branded cattle.* Mh-hm. And Doctor. *That last comment stings. Do they talk about all of their vulnerable patients like that? He nods his head when he's told they're going to the secure wing. Then he looks to the Doctor and scowls at him like a feral mountain wolf ready to claw his eyes out. If he's going to get what he wants, people here need to remember who they're talking to in this city. He seethes with a dark voice.* Don't you ever look down your fucking nose at me again, and don’t you ever say anything like that about one of your patients either, or you can kiss your medical license goodbye. *He's lucky he's only losing his job, maybe then he'll learn the most blatantly obvious lesson of the town named after the Once-ler's very vision.*

*The doctor doesn't mess around, taking him straight to the room with their most volatile and most recent patient, but he nevertheless points out the important things as they make their way through - maintaining the paper-thin pretense of legitimacy. This place, like all of Thneedville, is filled with swirling tubes, old-fashioned copper machinery, big buttons beside each rounded door with chunky plaques declaring the rhyming name of each ward or in-patient. It's a large place, or maybe just seems that way because of its labyrinthine layout, but beyond pointing out the appropriate security measures, the basic facilities and gesturing towards continued areas of the building, the doctor says nothing. Like all of Thneedville, this place was sponsored by the Once-ler himself to some degree if not designed outright by him, so it's all good. It's just, unfortunately, old-fashioned.*

Doctor: *Turns when the Once-ler speaks to him. He doesn't expect the way in which he's spoken to, or the dark tone of the man's voice, and it honestly shocks him. He definitelydoesn’t expect the cursing, because thneedville is almost ‘family-friendly’ in the way it’s inhabitants barely acknowledge curse words to be a part of language. It makes him gulp. He isn't about to fight the man, both because he wouldn’t be that dumband also because he's a professional doctor in his place of work, and drops his steel-grey expression immediately. Suddenly his ego vanishes over realising how seriously the business man is about all this. He can’t even see what’s wrong with speaking about one of these patients like that- Is he actually going to investigate them?* O- of course, Mr. Once-ler.

*They get to the door at the end of the secure wing - another rounded door with a little, wonky, barred window, with a big red button to the side and a plaque that says 'Max Security'.*

Doctor: Here we are, sir. *He thumps his fist on the big red button, and the door swings open.*

*The Warden is lying on the ground of his padded cell, curled up and facing away from the door. It's difficult to judge what state he's in, but it's never a good sign when the Warden is sitting still. Sitting still and wearing a straitjacket. Only that and the hospital patient uniform, which is a grey and shapeless outfit with nothing to cover his feet. It's the last thing he'd ever choose to wear himself.*

Doctor: I have.. aah.. much to do, and he's not dangerous like that. *Likely he just wants to get the hell away from the lions gaze. He passes Oncie a small buzzer.* Let the nurse know when you're ready to leave- visiting hours shut at six. *Gives a small awkward frown* Usually patients in the maximum security area aren't allowed to have visitors in the first place, but since it's you... *He knows Oncie owns their ass. He won't do anything.*

Once-ler: *He gasps, his heart breaking when he sees that curled up, limp figure, and if he had zero social instincts, he’d have sprinted over and curled over him by now just to hug him up and protect him. Instead he takes the buzzer off of the doctor.* Right. Thank you.*He waits for him to leave and then steps into the room. His face drops at the sight, he can’t even see the Warden yet, and yet he can feel how much confused agony he’s in. Hopefully it'll be somewhat less painful once he knows that Oncie came for him. Taking a deep breath he goes over to him, his feet picks up with a desperate need to be with him but also not wanting to startle him with sudden movement, and squats next to him. Then places a very light hand on the wardens shoulder and turns him over to face him.* Warden? It's me, The Once-ler. *Gulps, his mouth is dry and his heart is racing.*

Warden: *He's easily rolled over, and the scary thing is that he doesn't even flinch at the sudden touch. He's limp and docile even though he's conscious. He does, however, immediately wince and let out a small, pathetic moan when he meets Oncie's eyes and their brightness hurts him. Without any usual trappings - no hat, no glasses, not even any fancy clothing - he just looks like a crazy middle-aged man. Not a rich eccentric, or some wacky visionary. Just a very tired and sad old man. Still, he loosely smiles up at his saviour, even if it doesn't look like he believes the other man is really with him, and even if it almost takes him a moment to recognise him. It’d have taken longer though, if it weren’t for those blue eyes. More like he's humouring his own mental images.* Hello Oncie~ *He speaks slow, like he's having to concentrate in order to form words. He then corrects Oncie calling him 'Warden'.* It's Edmund.

Once-ler: *He can’t stand to look at what’s in front of him and just wishes this was an awful nightmare, his heart pounding in his chest, chased by horror so fast that it’s begging his brain to wake him up. How could they do this? He knows he’s unstable, he knows he has problems, but he still can’t imagine something so bad, so depressing, so directly out of the worse pages of the warden’s worst fate, happening to his little bunny of a boyfriend. He has no idea what the Warden is thinking or what’s going on his head but he can see that he’s been completely sedated by them, bound and left in a dark corner- the poor thing. Once he's corrected and been told to call him by his actual name, he gasps and swallows as his heart thumps with grief and worry. He doesn’t know what that means, what state of mind that means he’s in, but he holds himself together and grips the Warden’s shoulder a little tighter.* O- okay. Um- E- Edmund? H-how are you feeling? *He’s not entirely sure what the hell he’s meant to say here, but it’s worth asking the question.*

Warden: *His body can actually be felt untensing when Oncie touches him - as defeated as he is, Oncie is still his safe place. Apparently it's so deeply ingrained now that it's instinct.* It hurts. *Sounds a little pouty, but not in the usual joking, playful way. It's the pout of a real child who can't handle what's happened to him.* This jacket. *Gives a very half-hearted fidget.* And.... everything is very... dull. *Shuts his eyes tight all of a sudden.* And too close. *Curls up a little more, tensing up again.* Right in front of me. *He has no shield in front of his eyes. Those glasses are a barrier that have always kept the world out, and kept him in a nice fantasy world. Now he's clamped up in a ball, eyes scrunched up closed.* I missed you. *Now sounds slightly blaming. He's jumping all over the place because he can't hold a thought in his head for very long.* Where were you?

Once-ler: *Watches him with concerns and horror, but then that blame comes and hits him to his core. He completely blames himself for the position the Warden is in, the guilt is starting to drill a hole through his chest, he hisses at the grief and pain in his stomach, but having it directly pointed at him by the suffering man makes it all the more real. He messed up. He shouldn’t have let him go out alone, he knew he'd get into trouble and now he might have truly scarred him for life. Sure, the Warden might have been erratic, but he knows how his boyfriend was last time, and he knows his townsfolk, and the only reason why he let him go along was because he was too focused on work. Now he’s kicking himself for it. The business isn’t important, the money isn’t important, this is important! He leans forward and presses his face to the Warden's, sliding his arms around him and squeezing him into a close embrace. He feels cold.* I'm sorry. *He gasps and shakes his head* I’m so sorry. I- I'm here now though. I'm here. And I'm gong to get you out, okay? *He plants a slow lingering kiss on the Warden’s head, one protective and promising, as he feels his throat close up.*

Warden: *Another small, sad whimper escapes his throat and he shuffles forward as best as he can into the cuddling and kissing. He's not quite coordinated to kiss back.* I.... *For a moment he sort of drifts off, like he's lost focus, but then he returns with a small shake of his head - like a nervous twitch.* I always do this. *His voice is quavering and almost a whisper. His body is trembling, too, weakened and reacting unfavourably to whatever cocktail of sedatives they've given him. The scary thing is, though, that even if he weren't drugged he'd probably be just as still and broken.* Why... why can't I handle being Edmund? *Presses his face into Oncie's collarbone. He has this low-grade terror running through him for as long as he's without his glasses, but after a whole day of that he's snapped and this has somehow made him okay to talk while internally screaming.* They said there's no War... Warden... but I'm not good at being normal. S- *He has trouble getting the last word out.* Sane.

Once-ler: *Hugs him tightly and lowers his voice, because that’s all he can do to force it to be comforting and kind rather than panicking. It’s what the Warden needs, but his chest is fluttering and there’s a lump in his throat.* I shouldn’t have said- I didn’t mean- *He tries to smile, feeling guilty for asking him to act normal earlier that morning.* You shouldn’t have to be normal because you're special, remember? I told you, people can’t see that yet. All sane people are boring anyway. *He tries to let out a little laugh but he pauses for a moment as his nose becomes tingly and he wells up. He stuffs his face into the Wardens neck and clings tightly onto him.* You are the Warden, he is real, and so is Superjail, and we’re going to go back there the moment I get you out. I’m going to take you home. I promise. *He searches for the buzzer and presses it to call someone in.*

Warden: *He's too drugged to cry, or even feel much beyond the floaty, hazy emotions he's swimming through right now. But he does feel Oncie's tears.* Don't cry... *Sounds like he's attempting to be comforting, even with his voice sounding half-asleep.* You're not in trouble... *He sees Oncie press the button and foggily realises that people are going to come in and interrupt them. He gives a short, futile, struggle.* No... no don't call them... I need to- There's something I meant to say. *Falters, looking scared.* I think... I don't know. *Winces.* It's hard to concentrate... *Slightly begging sound, like he wants Oncie to fix his head.* Oncie...

Once-ler: *He places his hands on the Warden's face and looks at him with worry, feeling a jolt of sickness as the Warden begs him.* What? What is it? *He breathes in and out heavily.* I- Its okay. I'm still staying here with you. I wont move an inch, so then I need them to come to me because I won’t leave you, okay? *He pulls him into his chest again and cuddles him. He’s going to fix this. He swears on his life that he’s going to fix this.*

Warden: *Looks very troubled, but also like he's somewhere else. He's not able to fight the drugs combined with the protective fog his brain is trying to wrap itself up with. It won't let him come to his senses, because if he actually realises what's happened and where he is there's no telling what sort of damage that'll do to him. He's already been utterly destroyed- this is his mind's last-ditch defense effort.* It's just... I...

*At that point two nurses come to the door and hurry in. The door is swung open, and just as the Warden immediately sees them, he pushes his head into Oncie's shoulder, diving as heard as he can into his protectors arms for safety and in a desperate attempt to express how much he needs him. He's so scared of them.*

Warden: I LOVE YOU! PLEASE DON’T GO!

Once-ler: *His breath chokes in his throat. It's as if everything’s suddenly gone silent, like time has stopped. For a moment he really thinks he’s in a dream, some twisted thing that is part nightmare and part everything he’s wanted to hear. But it’s not. The Warden said it, and he said it during the most devastating and horrible situation possible. He said it because he's frightened and confused and desperate, desperate for Oncie, the only thing that he recognises and trusts and loves, to save him from the white-coat monsters coming to hurt him again. His heart skips a beat in that moment of the world pausing, and then suddenly races forward as he comes back to reality. Emotions soar through him, grief and love, guilt and gratitude, horror and hope, and he wells up with large flooding tears as he clutches his soulmate so tightly in his arms that they’d have to kill the Once-ler to pry the Warden from him. Out of his cold, dead, greedy fingers, like all of his riches, except this man is infinitely more valuable to him than any dollar bill or any shining jewel.* I love you too! *He gasps* I love you so much, Edmund! I’m not going, I’m never going! I’m staying right here with you forever and I’m going to fix this, I swear! *He suddenly looks over his shoulder and snaps at the nurses like a feral animal.* GET ME HIS GLASSES! Don’t you dare even think about denying me!! *He’s never sounded so furious and threatening before, but he could make their lives a living misery if he wanted to, and if they do not obey him right now then he will certainly rain hellfire upon them all.*

*The nurses gaze at him wide-eyed - at the whole situation, really- and then scatter like frightened gazelle. The Warden will be getting his damn glasses back. There is no question about that.*

Warden: *Has his eyes tightly shut, not at all scared of the way Oncie is shouting. But he's still overwhelmed by this whole situation and has no energy or lucidity left in him, so he clamps up and burrows himself as close as he can into that hug. His emotions are still dulled by everything, but hearing Oncie talking to him - saying that he loves him and is going to take care of him and that he's never going anywhere - is affecting him so deep down that he starts crying even when he doesn't directly feel the emotions he's supposed to. He doesn't wail or sob, he just wells up and the tears stream freely. The emotions are so deeply there that even when he can't think about what it means, or even consciously feel them, his body reels under the effects of it all. He knows what he’s meant to do here, what his body wants, and what his heart needs to express, even in all the brainfog. He sniffs heavily, and a small pant of crying does make itself heard. It's a single bleat, a shudder of his shoulders, and it's all his damaged mind has left to give. He loves him, that’s all he knows to be real when he has nothing left, that’s what the thing that makes sense and knows to stay, and he’s so relieved Oncie is here.*

Once-ler: *Strokes his hand through the Wardens hair and rocks him back and forth, his chin protectively hooked over his head as the tears stream down his face.* Okay- *Sniffs again and leans down to plant kisses on the Warden's head, talking into his ear and doing his best to deliver as much comfort and love to him as he can.* I love you too. *Kisses him again and repeating the words as a mantra.* Everything's going to be okay, everything's going to be oka- ay.

Warden: *Nods pathetically into his front, trying to believe him that things will be okay, because the only hope he can hold onto now is that he trusts Oncie. His facial expression is blank, even though so much stuff is churning up inside of him. Oncie smells so familiar this close, and that particular sense is a vivid experience in his current state. Fresh grass, butterfly milk, sweet flowers, the forest- with a hint of smoke and copper from his factory, and a faint smell of the signature cologne he wears for business. It’s the most perfect scent in the world because its his, and it’s a lifeline for his muddled synapses to cling onto. He never wants to be let go from from this.*

*The nurses scurry back down the corridor for the glasses, they didn't even ask permission to take them from the front office - they just want to swipe them so that they can hand them back to the frightening man - but run straight into the doctor who brought the Once-ler here. He frowns and shakes his head - no. They're not giving an unknown and dangerously unstable man anything that can be broken into shards. It's policy. One brow raises up from behind his thick glasses, reminding them that this is their job, and they're not just here to placate the guy making the loudest demands in the room.*

*Besides, he thinks. They're just glasses.*

*The nurses twitter amongst themselves, because nobody wants to go back in there and tell him. As they twitter, one sneaks past and dashes for the front office because maybe if she can smuggle them in, the Once-ler won't fire her at least.*

*She gets to the front desk, reaches for the glasses stacked on top of the filing cabinet, but is then stopped by a wiry hand with sharp nails. Jumping a mile, she looks up into the eyes of a very severe-looking woman with horn-rimmed glasses, a grey beehive hairstyle, and a long, pristine white coat.*

Female Doctor: What do you think you're doing?

Nurse: Th-there's a very upset patient who needs them, Dr. Zazzerzump! And... *she hushes her voice* Mr. Once-ler demanded we get them!

Doctor Zazzerzump: Mr. Once-ler 'demanded', did he? *Her birdlike face hardens like thunder.* Is Mr. Once-ler the Medical Chief of this hospital?

Nurse: N-no Doctor. But none of us want to be the ones to go in and tell him-

Doctor Zazzerzump: Oh, for goodness' sake. *She storms past the nurse with clipped, high-heeled strides and heads straight for the secure wing.* And Dr. Snickberry-Shoo? What did he say about all this?

*She walks straight past Dr. Snickberry-Shoo as he continues to berate the nurses for trying to get past him. But when he sees his superior come striding past, he takes a step back away from her.*

*This might be the Once-ler’s city, but this is her hospital, and he can’t just waltz in and take a patient from one of their cells like the man belongs to him. His name is on their paperwork now, he’s in their branded straightjackets, he’s in one of their cell rooms, and he has a long, tiring schedule of tests, medication and treatments already being prescribed and planned that’ll last him years until he’ll be allowed to be released. Once he’s proved to be mentally unfit for the outside world, he’ll be institutionalised here, and then he’ll belong to her and to the system.*

*Although relief floods through The Once-ler to finally have his beloved safe in his arms again, this isn’t the end of the road like he hopes. He doesn’t realise the approaching battle coming on the horizon. He doesn't realise what a terrible ending they might be met with if he doesn’t win it. He doesn’t realise, that in a cruel twist of irony, the Warden might finally become the Prisoner.*

To be continued...

#the-once-ler-in-superjail #superjail #the once-ler #the warden #wardler #the lorax #thneedville #wardenler #comic #chapter 35 #part1 #the asylum #tw mental illness #wiggybe #wiggy #self-made-madman #self made madman #ilpentamerone

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felinecryptid · 4 months

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hoooooooooo boy, tmagp 4 go-

this time its becoming apparent that there are some themes and clues that tmagp wants us to notice, the sections stand out, begging for attention

like the recurring theme of bones, and blood, and gore in general (it might be too soon to tell exactly what themes are leading to, but they are definitely there)

the violin could fit right in grifter's bone with it's affinity to music and violence

(the music feels aligned to circus over spiral or web

tho there are elements of the web what with the mind control, but i fear all fears possess a certain degree of control, as such

the violence feels more of the slaughter variety rather than the hunt, though you could make a valid argument for flesh as the words 'sacrifice', 'payment' and 'creature with needs and purposes of its own' do stick in mind

once again i do not think that tmagp follows the same format as the smirke's fourteen (or 15) , i merely use them as parallels to better explain what aspects of the episode sticks out to me (and for me refer back later on))

as other listeners have noted, another theme that tmagp in general follows, is 'obsession', rather than tma's 'fear'

i feel this is also paralleling (intentionally or not) the audience's own listening habits and motives

we first consumed the magnus archives for its content of horror

and yet we are back for the magnus protocol like we never left, and perhaps

we never did

the statement's first person pov depicts a truly horrific picture of the slaughter, of the violence that the violin demands

and his descriptions of the mania on the audience's faces too

it's eerily reminiscent of the france's dancing plague

enough about the statement, lets talk about my boy sam and his co-workers, and their workplace in general

there's a protocol surrounding the magnus institute? interesting interesting, very similar to the police division daisy and basira were part of, the unofficial supernatural division

is this like the civil servant version of such?

another thing that is interesting; how is freddy getting these statements incidents? like sam asked, how exactly does a letter from the 18th century end up in the system?

i don't think gwen's answer is satisfactory (and we weren't meant to either), sure someone might be updating the archives website for reasons unknown but rarely in magpod is something a dead end, every little thing is a clue, a small part of the larger picture

so how exactly does a letter from the 18th century is in freddy's system?

perhaps an 'avatar' or the equivalent (such people are suggested to exist in tmagp universe, like the tattooist from daria's statement)

or maybe the fears themselves manifest in phenomena that upload relevant content to freddy

colin my guy, still being iconic and not trusting tech, hats off to you, the only real character in the whole show

never trust any piece of technology older than paper

the video of lena that gwen got in the end? weird? yeah, fuck yes, but how did she even get it? is there any sort of personal communication available on the ancient system? why gwen?

i have so many questions and so many more thoughts, but this is already so long, im gonna write a separate post about tmagp so far, in general

#the magnus protocol #the magnus institute #tma #tmagp #magpod #the slaughter #the flesh #the circus #tmagp 4 #samama khalid #gwen bouchard #colin becher #freddy #fr3 d1 #themes #tmagp analysis #tmagp 4 taking notes #tw gore mention #lena kelley

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crowned-aeris · 22 days

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MERMAY IS HERE!!

I will be splitting everything up into chunks for yall, but the full chapters will be uploaded on ao3 with the formatting in tact because tumblr just EATS it, and i cannot, for thr life of me, be bothered to replace every italics.

Here's the bingo i'm filling! It's by @skumhuu :3

Anyways… here’s:

Of Gem-like Scales and Silver Seal Pelts

Chapter 1: Sapphire Eyes; Part 1

Bruce fumed, storming out of the castle as a few maids called after him. The king ignored them, as he was prone to do, and continued down to the nearby beach.

He was the King of Gotham- he could choose to do what he wanted! He doesn't have to listen to anyone.

Anger tore at his chest with its vicious, serrated claws, and the human lashed out and slammed his fist against a lone post, ignoring the burn of pain that seared through his flesh in favor of the rage.

The king heaved, his chest rising and falling as he sucked in breath after breath. Bruce was about to storm into the bordering woods when he heard a faint, wailing sound.

Bruce faltered and twitched. His eyes narrowed in confusion as he whirled around to where the inhuman and hollow wailing was coming from. It clearly originated from a mer-like creature, but it was too high-pitched for an adult, which left the only option being a mer pup… but why would a pup be alone? Mers were notoriously protective parents, after all.

Grass rustled gently beneath his feet as he slowly crept toward the sound. A strange emotion akin to grief drowned out the previous, all-consuming anger as he felt pulled toward the sound. Bruce's intuition was eventually proven correct as the wailing sound grew louder. He frowned, brows furrowing as he hoisted himself over a few stacks of rocks before freezing in shock.

A little mer pup with dull crimson, gold, and emerald scales was crouched over the bodies of, presumably, his parents. The pup’s fins were torn, and his skin was scratched and bloodied.

The parents of the pup had been- for a lack of a better word- eviscerated.

Their tails were… bare. Their scales and fins had been pried or sawn off, the mers had been gutted, their bones harvested, and their eyes plucked. The sand around the bodies and the pup was dark with blood and gore. And from his distance, Bruce could see maggots and crabs picking at the corpses.

Bruce watched the pup continue to cry, wailing and pawing at his parents' corpses, and the king was suddenly hit in the face with the memory of his own parents' death.

Bruce slid down the rocks, a quiet thump sounded as Bruce’s feet met the sand, and the pup jerked to attention. He stared at Bruce with wide, fear-filled sapphire eyes- the most beautiful eyes Bruce has ever seen, and regretfully, the king could understand why the mers’ eyes had been plucked.

"Hey," Bruce said gently, lowering himself onto the sand until he was at eye level with the little pup. He was only a few feet long, most likely a few years old, and he was already experiencing the death of his parents. Stars above, Bruce could relate.

The king fished around his cloak before fishing out a few pieces of stale crackers. He winced. This wasn’t the greatest, but it was the best he had.

Bruce slowly reached forward, brandishing the stale crackers in his hands.

The creature blinked in distrust before his lips peeled back to reveal needle-sharp fangs, and the mer pup lunged forward to snap at Bruce's fingers.

He yanked his hand back before the teeth could close around his fingers, wincing as the pup growled at him.

"You know what? What the hell am I doing?" Bruce sighed, pushing abruptly to his feet but not before placing the crackers where the mer pup could reach, "Mers are dangerous. I can't- I can’t just- shit."

Bruce pushed to his feet and rushed back to the castle, a cloud of frustrated gloom hanging over his head.

What was he thinking? Mers are predators- creatures capable of capsizing ships and ripping apart a human in a matter of seconds before devouring them. Even if that mer was a pup, his hook-like claws and serrated teeth could decimate Bruce's hand apart...

Even then... Bruce couldn't help but- but feel... bad for the pup. Even if he would grow into a monstrous predator- even if that pup was just an animal that would eventually get over his parents' death- Bruce couldn't help but feel terrible… Especially after his passing thought about mer eyes.

"Master Bruce," his head butler, Alfred, called the moment Bruce swept into the castle's main hall, "what have I been hearing about you not heeding the maids' words?"

"Alfred!" Bruce called, slightly out of breath, "There's a- this mer pup out on the beach behind the castle- he's- his parents- they were harvested."

The butler faltered, and Bruce could see him physically shelving the topic for a later date, "A mer pup? Are you certain, sir?"

"Yes, I am," Bruce hissed, frustration beginning to build as he was desperate to return to the pup. Who knows what would happen in the time he was away? The pup's scales were dull and chipped, the membranes between his fins were torn, and the pup's underscales and skin were raw and covered with sores and cuts. "I don't know how long he's been out there, Alfred! He's so thin, I'm pretty sure he's starving, and- and what am I supposed to do?"

"Master Bruce," his butler reached forward to rest a hand on his shoulder, "calm down. We will figure this out. First, we shall check if the kitchen has anything the pup could eat."

Bruce nodded hesitantly and followed the graying man into the halls. With his hand on Bruce's shoulder, the king felt small again. It was as if Alfred was leading him back to his parent's room after he'd woken up after a nightmare.

Bruce had been the Crown Prince of Gotham, and now... he's the king.

The instant they entered the kitchen, the movements halted, and everyone within sight pivoted to bow. A tense energy filled the room, and Bruce could only sigh.

"At ease," Bruce said, flapping his hand before approaching one of the cooks, "excuse me, would you mind fetching me a fish? Raw, preferably."

The cook faltered, blinking in surprise at Bruce's request, "Your Majesty? You… want a..."

"A raw fish. Whole," Bruce nodded, forcing himself to remain nonchalant.

"I'm not doubting you, sir, but- what need do you have for a raw, whole fish?" the cook floundered, hunching in on himself with a timid expression, "If you want to eat fish, I'm sure the chef would be more than willing to cook something for you!"

Bruce narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, "I need it. For… something..."

The cook fidgeted anxiously before sighing in defeat, "Very well, sir. I shall be out shortly... with your... fish."

He nodded before returning to Alfred's side. His butler smiled, patting his shoulder in encouragement as the cooks and chefs rushed around the kitchen to clean and prepare dinner. But then, the elderly man spots something from the corner of his eye and frowns, "DuBois, what do you think you're doing?”

The butler strode over, his brow drawn in appallment as he stared at the straight-edged knife in the young man's hand, "Why are you using this knife?"

"It's a knife?" DuBois blinked in confusion, "I'm cutting a tomato, so I use a knife, right?"

"A tomato should be cut with a serrated knife," the butler said not unkindly, "if you have further inquiries, Anderson will guide you."

"Sir! I've fetched the... raw fish you'd requested," the cook from earlier had returned, and he was holding a largemouth bass in his hand. It was clearly dead, which was what Bruce expected. If the bass had been live… Well, Bruce wasn’t sure what he would’ve done.

"Thank you," Bruce said. He took the fish, thumb wedged firmly under its lip, and retraced his steps. Alfred deigns to remain in the castle, and so the king followed the wailing until he reached the pup.

Sliding past the rocks and nearly falling onto his face, Bruce’s boots thumped against the sand. The pup jerked to attention, spotting Bruce before baring his teeth at the supposed threat.

"Hey, buddy," Bruce called lightly, brandishing the fish in front of him. "I know you're hungry, so I got you some fish."

The mer pup's gaze fixed on the fish, darting between Bruce's face and the food before he slowly shuffled forward.

"That's it,” Bruce said softly, deliberately avoiding the bodies on the beach as the mer pup slowly clawed forward, "you're doing great, buddy."

He relaxed slightly at Bruce's tone, the little pup hesitantly before curling up and nipping at the fish. From his perspective, Bruce could clearly see that the little mer pup was trembling like a leaf.

Bruce reached forward slowly. The pup was too preoccupied with the fish to notice the king's hand approaching his head. As Bruce brushed a hand through his hair, he froze. Bruce stilled too as the pup carefully deliberated whether he should do something in retaliation.

Thankfully, the pup does not decide to rip Bruce's hand apart and instead continues to tear the flesh of the fish into small strips with his serrated teeth.

The king continues to card his hand through the pup's hair, carefully avoiding his cranial fins. The mer whined and chittered, leaning into Bruce's touch, his tail slowly wagging back and forth in the sand.

Brushing his hand through the little mer pup's hair, Bruce couldn’t help but think. He couldn’t have been older than a few years old, yet the little pup has already felt the sting of grief… Bruce knows he shouldn’t humanize an animal, but how can he not? This pup was just like him, "Poor thing..."

Bruce sat with the pup long after the sun had set, silently enjoying the pup’s company. His weight splayed across his lap was a nice feeling, and Bruce took care to block the sight of the corpses from the little mer pup. He’ll find a way to bury them in a bit.

The king leaned back, the little pup chirping at him in confusion before returning to his barely-there fish. Bruce's pants were covered with fish guts and blood, but he couldn't care less. Something in his chest screamed for him to swaddle the pup in linens and steal him away, and he was very tempted to give in.

As the moon climbed higher and higher into the sky, Bruce felt exhaustion pulling at him and decided he'd much rather go to sleep in his bed than have sharp sand digging into his back all night.

He was about to climb to his feet and return to the castle when the pup at his feet started wailing again, the mer's claws hooking into Bruce's pants to try and keep him from leaving.

"Bud," Bruce felt his expression tighten with uncertainty, "I can't- I can't stay here. I'd love to, but I have a whole kingdom I need to take care of. I have a conference tomorrow, too."

The pup, deaf to Bruce's plight, only increased his volume. Right now, his wailing was childlike and chirpy, but one day, his wail would grow into something haunting, hollow, and capable of luring sailors to their deaths.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Bruce tried to explain, but the pup was not hearing it. Instead, when Bruce bent over to pry the pup's claws from his pants, the mer pushed off his tail to hook his claws into Bruce's shirt. The mer pup tossed himself over Bruce's shoulder with a petulant hiss, "Buddy, I can't just-"

He interrupted Bruce with a pitiful whine that pulled at Bruce's heart strings. Bruce has always been weak to children, even those who aren't human, so the king very quickly caved into the pup's demands.

"Alfred!" Bruce called with a sigh, his arm slotted under the whining pup's tail to support his weight, "Alfred- I need help!"

The butler quickly appears, blinking in surprise at the sight of the young mer pup clinging to Bruce's shoulder.

"Alfred," the king gave his butler a hopeless expression, "he won't let go!"

"Perhaps we shall settle him in the lake, sir?" Alfred quickly resumes his unbothered demeanor, and the king of Gotham could feel himself relax slightly. This was the man who helped him through the hardest time of Bruce’s life.

He thought about it before nodding, "Alright, we’ll do that. Do you think he'll cry during the conference?"

"I am unsure of that, Master Bruce, but your newest seems quite attached to you," Alfred comments.

Bruce sighed, "I'll try and settle him into the lake."

"Very well. Good luck, Master Bruce."

He nodded before turning toward the back of the castle.

Bruce will need all the luck he can get.

#batman #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #bruce wayne #fanfic #batfam mermaid au #merman dick grayson #mermay #mermay 2024 #leviathantale #writing #clark kent #alfred pennyworth #superbat #but it’s kinda implied #Crow’s 2024 Mermay: Of gem-like scales and soft seal pelts #Crow's 2024 Mermay

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doshmanziari · 5 months

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Without a doubt, and by far, the most marginalizing development I've seen within media analysis over the past decade is a shift towards the production of long, flashy videos which tend to require the same for a dialogue to occur. Literally nothing which has been written about Elden Ring, for example, since its release has enjoyed even a fraction of the visibility as a one-hour-and-forty-minutes video by Joseph Smith, or another of similar length by NeverKnowsBest. I don't know when exactly the shift started to happen most obviously -- maybe 2016 or 2017 -- but, today, circumstances are such that pretty much the only way to get real discursive traction on your thoughts about a piece of media is to make a colossus of a video.

Although worried and worrying discourse has complemented the unveiling of newer public A.I. technologies, we've already done a perfectly fine job of out-dating other forms of media communication by way of the aforementioned analytic format; just as, of course, earlier methods of industrial production rendered a whole variety of professions or emphases as outmoded. If you don't have the relevant editing tools at your disposal and/or don't want to spend hundreds of hours cropping footage and making it fit with music and your own narration, well -- too bad! And even then, of course, there's no guarantee that your video will reach your desired scale of an audience. I've found dozens of such videos on YT channels with only a few thousand views, if that; and on each channel it's clear that the people finally gave up after the monumental task of assembling these videos had no equivalent payoff.

Personally, I do still believe in the primacy of the text (or the spoken word, with no competing stimuli); in text as the primary form of critical engagement. More than that -- if I'm going to read a non-fiction work, I want the paged book, and not a digital version. Now, this preference is just that: a preference. And it surely is a preference a good number of people share. I find that a paged book lends itself better to my own retention of the material; and I really enjoy making my notes on the book's paper with a pen. But I don't believe that the construction of multimedia behemoths should be a baseline requirement for discourse.

I wonder if we will, in the near future, start to see some resurgence of the valuation of unembellished textual analysis complementing a more general fatigue with Internet-derived overstimulation. I've already run across numerous channels with fairly sizable communities where there is an appreciation for the "simplicity" of the formats: a person in a room just talking to the camera. I think a lot of people like engaging analysis where the only barrier of significance is devising a good script. To be sure, this is a formidable barrier in itself. I find writing long-form pieces to be the most difficult of any of my creative practices (which include drawing, painting, and music composition). But if writing on media were my main passion or goal in life, I'd feel fairly crushed to know that these projects now required me to put in perhaps quadruple the amount of time to make a blip on the radar of engagement.

EDIT: Thinking on this -- I wonder if there's a parallel to be found in the realm of supplementing one's work with excess-entertainment via social media engagement; e.g., daily Instagram videos. "Excess-entertainment" refers to material that's being made not because everyone who's making it wants to make it, but because each person is now beholden to an abstractly instituted algorithm of engagement -- an algorithm reinforced by audiences who, also under algorithmic influence, will wonder what's going on if a week goes by without something from a Content Creator.

Most artists who I've talked to regarding their Instagram videos say they would be only too happy if they never had to do another upload showing them adding paint or linework to a work-in-progress with lo-fi beats. Similarly, I wonder how many people making these mega-videos actually want to make them, and if we're not rather seeing the production of this material under a mutual, and mutually untrue, assumption of necessity, and the demands of a largely imaginary audience; and how long they'll be able to keep the act up, given the certainly enormous time investments they require (while noting that I am sure the more successful people hire others to do most of the editing for them).

#multimedia #media criticism #technology #communications technology

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wonwooridul · 2 years

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HELLO & WELCOME ♡ to an all inclusive giffing guide, which includes: - vapousynth installation on windows / mac - how to source giffable material - resizing / deinterlacing / denoising / sharpening on VS - step by step breakdown of how to use VS - giffing after you've used VS - giffing using only photoshop - simple colouring guide - watermaking and blurring captions

( a better and updated version of the previous one )

GIFFING USING VS + PS

1. VAPOURSYNTH & ITS INSTALLATION

VS is free to download and use. it is truly an amazing tool which allows you to resize, denoise, sharpen your gifs all at once and save the output in gifs, frames , mp4 and mov.

You can install vapoursyth from here. The site has download software and installation guide for both MacOs and Windows. Please watch and read the installation guide thoroughly, it is a very well written one and if you follow along, installation will be done easily.

It is best to use a video with minimum resolution of 1080p but a good 720p would work sometimes. This is how gifs look after sharpening a normal 1080p video:

2. SOURCING GIFABLE MATERIAL

➞ You can start with downloading a 4K Video downloader. It will allow you to download clean and best available resolution videos from youtube. ➞ If you don't want to download a software, you can use screenrecording. - Windows : windows key + alt +R - MacOs: shift + cmnd + 5 ➞ .TS files - for seventeen .ts files, you can go to rosebay

3. TUMBLR SIZING

Tumblr has it own resizing rules so that your gifs aren't blurry after you've uploaded them. Keep this in mind when you're using VS resizing tool.

4. USING VAPORSYTNH

After you've installed the VS properly. You'll have a VS script shortcut on which you'll drop your video file for giffing. Once you drop your video file on the VS shortcut, a window like this will pop up:

After you've put your timestamps and gif duration, a resizer will open up in chrome ( or your default web) along with a VS Script Window (sometimes it’ll take a min to open).

GIF Size: WIDTH (left space) and HEIGHT (right space). Use the bottom left triangle to adjust you clip. Make sure 'Preprocessor' is set to 'None' and "debilinear'.

Use KNLM for denoising and FineSharp for sharpening by selecting them and ticking the small check box beside them. DONOT mess with the denoise and sharpening cursor on the resizer tab, we'll adjust setting on the VS Script.

There are CCs who use BM3D for denoising but it never worked for me. Always gave me an error. KNLM has worked without an error for years for me.

NOW, there are CCs who like to set frame per second ( qtgmc) on the resizer itself but qtgmc is designed to work with interlaced video. Don’t waste your time with fancams, it won’t do shit.

[ Interlaced content: live performances, variety shows. Typical formats: .ts/.tp/.m2ts Progressive content: fancams, vlive/instagram videos, some variety shows (basically 1080p/720p/480p/…, anything with a p. Typical formats: .mp4/.avi ]

Copy whatever code that comes on the top right.

YOUR VS SCRIPT:

First, remove the # on line 9 to increase your cache size so that your VS doesn't slow down or crash. It is already removed in mine, but you'll have to remove the # on the start of line 9.

Remove everything from line 17 till before "video = core.fmtc.bitdepth(video, bits =16)" and paste the code you copied from the resizer on line 17.

After you've pasted the code, we put in our denoise and sharpen settings by changing these things. denoise: 2, 6, 4 , 2 finesharp: 2

Now, Encoding aka Saving the output. Script > Encode Video and another window will pop up which allows you to select in which way you want to save your ouput.

I would highly suggest using the PNG sequence because it is easily editable and is saved in hd from. GIF output can often be dithered.

Ensure that header in in Y4M mode

Click on Start to start your encoding process. Don't close any of the window tabs before the encoding is completed.

Your output will be saved under "D:\VapourSynth64Portable(200722)\gifs\output".

Before you start encoding another batch of frames or a gif, please cut and paste the previous output in another folder because each new batch of output gets saved in the same folder with the same name, thus, automatically replacing the files.

after you’re done with accessing your output PNGs, close all the windows and repeat the same for a new set of PNGs for another gif.

TRIMMING GIFS

If your saving as PNG sequence, you can simply trim your gif by removing the unwanted frames!

If you're saving as a GIF output, after loading your gif and converting it into a smart object, you can cut it using the 'scissors' button on the timeline. Place the cursor thing from where you want to cut the gif from and press the scissors button. It will split the gif in two. Select the unwanted one and press delete.

REMOVING FLASES FROM GIFS

To remove flashes in gifs in a simple and easy way is to save them as a PNG sequence. With that you can clearly see which frame has a flash and simply delete that before loading in photoshop as stack.

5. LOADING THE GIFS IN PHOTOSHOP

Firstly, turn on your timeline mode. WIndow > Timeline

To LOAD GIF FILE IN PS FOR COLOURING File > Open > Select GIF > Enter ( a normal gif output will have a 0.02 FPS delay )

(if you want to sharpen or add any effects to the gif then:) - Click the small button on the left bottom of the timeline to convert into into video timeline.

Select all frames on your right and convert them into a Smart Object (select all > right click > covert to smart object)

Add whatever filters you want.

Add your colouring and save.

TO SAVE AKA EXPORT GIF

File > Export > Save to WEB

6. LOADING PNG SEQUENCE FRAMES FOR GIFFING

File > Scripts > Load into Stack > Browse Browse will open your File Manager. Select the frames you want to be loaded as a stack. Let them load and click OK.

After PS is done loading your frames, Follow these steps:

Click create frame animation. It’s show only one frame so you have to click this ≡ symbol on the top right of the timeline.

Then click Create Frames from layers and it’ll make all frames.

Then click ≡ again and click “reverse frames” because ps loads stacked frames in reverse so you have to un-reverse it.

4. Most importantly, we need to set frames per second because we didn't set anything on the resizer. Frames per second can make a huge difference in how fast or slow you want your gif to be. 0.05 FPS is just my preferred setting.

To input your desired FPS settings, select all frame from the timeline, right click on any frame > Other > Input your desired setting. ( anything above 0.08 will make the gif too slow )

5. Click on 'Create Video Timeline' to turn this into a video timeline. (bottom left of timeline)

i made an action that does all steps from 1 to 5. Download it here <3

6. Then select all your layers from the side panel and convert it into a smart object so that you can sharpen it and add other filters.

7. Add your adjustment layers for colouring and save it!! Saving process as same as before. (File > Export > Save to WEB)

GIFFING USING ONLY PHOTOSHOP

If you don't want to go through hassle of installing and using vapoursynth, you can use this photoshop only method. You can simply cut the video and load them as frames.

File > Import > Video Frames to Layers

A window like this will pop up:

Use the triangle cursors to set the start and end of your clip. Make sure Make frame Animation is check. Press OK.

IMP: After you frames have loaded, you'll see the frames have loaded at a 0.04FPS. You can change it according to your preference but the speed is different (slower) for these gifs even if they're both at 0.05fps, that is because the number of frames is different than number of frames from a VS png sequence for the same clip.

You can adjust the fps the same way mentioned above.

You can see the difference even with the same FPS settings. The frames in the second gif are VS generated whereas the first one is PS generated.

After setting you desired FPS, click on the Make Video frame animation button at the bottom left on the Timeline tab,, Select all frames/ layers on the right and convert them into a SmartObject.

Now comes the main part, Resizing the gif according to tumblr. For this, Image > Canvas Size. Input your desired dimentions and press OK.

Then, Click of CTRL + T (Free Transform) and adjust the gif along the canvas. like this:

Press Enter. You gif is set. all you need to do is, add your sharpening (filters > smart sharpen).

You can also refer to this amazing tutorial by @jeonwonwoo for photoshop giffing.

BLURRING CAPTIONS IN GIFS

For this you only need a gif in a Smart Object, Marquee Tool and Gaussian Blur.

Marquee Tool is the small dotted rectangle tool. Click on it and then make your selection around the caption by clicking and dragging your cursor.

normal selection

Add to selection (to the normal selection) ( best for multiple captions, it lets you select in multiple places at once) Example:

after selection, go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blue > 3.0

IMP: If you want to add Blur using marquee tool on a smart object that already has a smart sharpen filter (or any filter) on then you need to convert that smart object into a smart object again.

after you've added your colouring adjustment layers, save your gif. File > Export > Save for Web

WATERMARK

To make you custom watermark shape, you can follow this wonderful tutorial by @yunaevis

How to set the custom watermark or any watermark, you can follow this tutorial by me. ( bonus: it'll also teach you how to use actions for watermarking)

BASIC COLOURING

Start off Curves. Click and drag the curves from the middle to upwards. This will increase the brightness .

For skin, we begin with Selective colours. Messing with Reds and Yellows, give the skin more even saturation. You can accentuate blacks and increase brightness + contrast too.

BEFORE AND AFTER:

for a detailed basic colouring tutorial, you can follow this tutorial!

DONE AND DUSTED,,,, THANKYOU <333 I hope this was somewhat helpful <3 if anyone has a doubt, they can always contact me!

#photoshop tutorial #vapoursynth tutorial #all in one gif guide #gif tutorial #kpopccc #lee.guide #ps tutorial #watermark #giffing #blurring captions #resources #guides #allresources #vs #vapoursynth #photoshop #gif making #300

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britt-kageryuu · 3 days

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Donnie just ended a stream, and was going over the stats for said stream, when his phone set off the group chat notification sound, it was April. She was asking if she could come to the studio to ask about something, specifically with Donnie. She was given the go ahead, and Donnie asked his drone children to help straighten things up.

April showed up a few minutes later. She greeted the drones who went back to playing their games. They're seated in the inflatable chairs that are just always left on the set.

"So April, what can I help you with in our studio today?" Donnie asks while leaning back with a slight squeak.

April lets out a annoyed sigh, "Okay, so even with my stellar resume and Degrees, those jerks at the News wouldn't even give me an Internship! They said they didn't take degrees of my level without a recommendation from 1 or more these 5 random sounding tabloid-y magazines!" She was slowly raising her voice as she talks, while griping something imaginary probably the neck of the person who told her she couldn't work for them.

Donnie just quirks an eyebrow, but doesn't question it. She did also have a long list of being fired for the most random reasons.

"So, what kinda of help do you want? Blackmail on the staff, hacking the channel, draining the guys investments? I can go on." Donnie lists off with a slightly sinister smile.

"As tempting as that is, no." April shakes her head in amusement, she's sure he's just listing this to make her laugh, maybe. "No, I wanted to see if you had anything you can have me do with your companies. Like maybe as a 'Manager' or something?"

Donnie thinks it over for a second, "Well if we made you a manager, it would just be just a title, you wouldn't really be doing anything, plus you want to go into journalism, and acting as a manager won't look that great on your, probably highly edited, resume." He pauses to look over something on his tablet. "I have two possible options for you, one is media management for Genius Built, and Four Turtles Production, it's basically putting together the news we want to release to the public about them, along with helping with event stuff, and two basically option 1, but you do it as a Newscaster in videos that we will upload onto our social media sites. If you want you could use a model to mask your identity, if you don't want to be called the 'PR Girl'."

April looks a bit confused, before thinking it over for a few seconds, "So I either, just edit posts and videos that will be put on the GB and FTP socials, or I do it in mainly a video format like I'm reporting the news, maybe with one of your custom models?"

"Yes, either way it's up to you. These are just the options that I believe would look better for your resume, if you ever want to look for another job." Donnie stats, he hands April the tablet, "Here will be your benefits, though remember that all medical problems will lead you to Leon, therapy to Angelo, you get a personal trainer with Rafa, and I become your financial advisor."

April looks it over the benefits, and figures that agreeing to work for Donnie will be better than one of the other jerks that she could possibly work for. "Alright, let's see how this works out. Better than trying to find work around top side anyway. Do the Dragons get the same benefits?"

"Why, of course! They were a bit weirded out by needed to go to Leon for medical, and got freaked out at Angelo, but not Rafa. I don't know why." He looks like he's contemplating this, but he probably knows why.

"So, you already have a model for me right?"

"About 20 at least, we didn't want to assume which one you want so we made a variety you can choose from, and we can make changes from there!"

"Can I help with Cass and CJs models, or are they already done?"

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

Masterpost

I don't think I will actually write posts from April, but after watching a Vtuber news reporter, I couldn't stop thinking "this is how they drag April into what is becoming the family business!" and it fits kinda.

Also writing April was a bit weird, but then again writing any of these guys is weird.

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payidaresque · 1 year

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The New Editor tips and tricks (sort of)

So, i got a lot of interesting activity with my recent poll regarding what editor content makers actually use, and i noticed that some people (well, most actually) really struggle while using it. And as i'm using it for some time now, i found some ways or actually making it work better/be less annoying. Please note that this is in no way an attempt to try to force anyne to start using it, this post is desinged to be a help post for those who may not know how some of its functions work, and maybe an informative post for others, and maybe make content maker's life a little bit easier, and that's it!!!

If you're intrested, please read below. And please pass it along so more people can see it! Thank you. Warning: image/gif heavy!!!

Add more images after you already added some This is useful if you want to add a gif to one side only. If your making a comparison gifset, for example. After you added your gifs, click on the space between them until you see a blue line, and then hit enter. This is useful because you don't need to drag your gif all around, and if it's added to one side, it sticks to one side only. The same applies to the other side

Reorder gifs The most handy way would be by dragging them by those 4 squares thingy. The blue lines may be distracting, but think of it as the guides as to where your content will be placed

Double check What I mean by that is this: when i add my gifs, they usually added into text editor itself, so in order to be sure, I take a gif, and drag it one level above, like this:

Obviously, the new editor needs a hell lot of work before getting implemented permanently, but i hope this will be at least of some help for those who strugling. There's a lot of issues with text formatting as well, maybe it's the matter of a habbit that i don't find it very hard as of uploading/rearranging gifs anymore, my main issue with it, personally, is that it makes my content look ugly for others (surprisingly, they look as intended to me, i checked it like several times before). I do understand that staff needs to update the code that was written over a decade ago, and it's important to think of it from the technical side of things too, because it may be that the old code is outdated, so they simply can't use it anymore, even if they wanted to, cause you know, progress is never sleeps, in every aspect of life, especially such a complicated thing as programming and coding

What i'm trying to say is, that as a content maker myself (i've been making content, mainly gifs, for over 7 years on here), i understand the frustration. Trust me, it pisses me off too. What staff can do tho, is fix the existing bugs

Don't just complain. Explain. Angry tags in reblogs won't help the case. Send them feedback/tickets telling what issues you personally have with the new editor, preferably with screenshots/gifs to show off the problem, so they know it's not just words but actually see the problem. And try to be as detailed as possible. The new editor kinda sucks, but it's nothing that can't be fixed And maybe they'll listen to us

#tumblah #userbecca #usermorgan #userburn #userkayjay #userelenagilbert #miatendos #usernat #userlarri #userauds #userauden #usermattz #andremichaux #tuserheidi

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mostlymarvelsstuff · 2 years

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Flufftober Day 8

Shooting stars- WandaNat

Authors note: this was supposed to be up on the 8th but tumblr is being majorly difficult right now. This is my test to see if its any better. If its not, I’m still uploading on ao3 and Wattpad

Word count: 629 WandaNat Masterlist Marvel Masterlist Flufftober

You're laying on your back on a blanket in the middle of a field, on either side of you lay your girlfriends, Wanda and Natasha. This was something you often did with them. It was easy to relax with just the two of them by your side and you knew they felt the same. Plus you've loved the stars and really anything to do with space since you were young and the two women loved to hear you talk about such things, so it was only natural that stargazing became a recurring date night for the three of you.

But tonight was a bit more special, because you'd been paying close attention to NASAs website and tweets, so you knew there'd be shooting stars tonight. And honestly you couldn't wait to see them, or share that experience with the two women you loved. And despite it being fall you knew you couldn't pass this opportunity up.

At first when you had proposed the idea the two women had protested, thinking the night would be too cold to enjoy such a thing but when you reminded them that they both came from rather cold Eastern European countries and that you'd all be fine as long as you wore sweatpants, sweatshirts and brought extra blankets just in case. After that, they had agreed and you'd practically dragged them to get ready.

"Detka(baby), which one is that again?" Natasha asks, pointing at one of the constellations

You smile as you watch her finger trace the shape she remembers you once showing her, "That's Draco, the dragon. He's a circumpolar constellation, which means we can see him year round."

"Are there any new ones we can't see year round?" Wanda asks

You nod, "There are a few we can see the best October. There's Pegasus, right there. And over here is Grus, the crane. Oh, and we can't forget Lacerta the lizard."

Both women smile as they listen to you, watching your hand as you point out and trace each one of the shapes for them to be able to see the creatures the stars make up properly.

"And that ones the giraffe right?"

"Yes, Camelopardalis. Good job sweetie." You reply, causing Wanda to beam in her excitement of having remembered one of the less popular formations

"It's also a circumpolar constellation, right?" Natasha asks

"It is indeed, good job, baby." you praise, causing her to smile at you as well

Suddenly, before you or Nat can say anything more Wanda's hands are clutching at your arm and she nearly shouts in your ear, "Did you guys see that?!"

You do your best to hide your smile as Natasha looks at her with furrowed brows, "See what dorogoy(sweetheart)?"

"I could have sworn I saw- there!" Wanda exclaims while pointing

Natasha quickly looks to where she's pointing, and her eyes grow wide as she sees at least three trails of light trailing across the sky. Once they fade from view both woman turn to look at you.

"Shooting stars" Wanda breathes out, excited to get to see some in person and not on one of her shows or just some scientists pictures online

"You knew, didn't you?" Nat asks, already knowing the answer

"That's why you wanted us to come out here so badly." Wanda adds

You nod, "I knew. I thought the two of you would like to see them"

"Thank you so much detka(baby)" Wanda says, scooting closer to cuddle you, leaning her head on your shoulder

Natasha mimics her, also shifting closer to rest her head on your opposite shoulder, "They're beautiful"

"Yeah, they are." you reply, but you weren't looking at the stars anymore. You were looking at the women that owned your heart, "So incredibly beautiful."

Taglist: @wandaromamoff69 @mmmmokdok @nataliasknife @natashasilverfox @when-wolves-howl @danveration @naomi-m3ndez @sheneonromanoff @sayah13 @likefirenrain @nighttime-dreaming @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @readings-stuff @chaoticevilbakugo @crystalstark02 @wackymcstupid @xchaiix @iaminluvwithnat @lovelyy-moonlight @blackwidow-3 @mistressofinsomnia @that-one-gay-mosquito @yomamagf @yourfavdummy @justarandomreaderxoxo @scoutlp23-blog @whoischanelle15 @lissaaaa145 @wizardofstoriesPost

#natasha romanoff #natasha x y/n #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x y/n #wandanat #wanda x natasha #wanda maximoff x natasha romanoff #wandanat x y/n #marvel fanfiction #fanfic #marvel #flufftober2022

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rhondafromhr · 5 months

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Nerds corruption au chapter 5!!

Thank you so much to everyone who’s been reading so far! This is the first thing I’ve written in literal years and all the likes/reblogs/comments have been super encouraging :) Also, quick update: I have an ao3 account now (same username - rhondafromhr), where I’ll be uploading what I’ve written so far. I’m going to adjust the formatting and fix any mistakes I happen to catch but other than that it’ll be identical. After this, I’ll probably just update there and post the link on here whenever there’s a new chapter. Unless anyone strongly prefers to read it in tumblr post format (I can always do both). Hope y’all enjoy!

Previous chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

“We’re Gonna Become The Bullies” - Chapter 5: No Matter The Cost, Idle The Threat

Hey gang, I have another plan <3 Let’s all meet at Beanies when Max is done with football practice and I’ll give you the rundown

Suddenly, Stephanie’s a lot less excited to have her phone back. How did Grace even get her number? More importantly, why is somebody whose last plan almost ended in manslaughter out here cooking up more plans? Stephanie knows she probably shouldn’t encourage this, but her morbid curiosity is just strong enough that she’s compelled to reply: cool, see you guys there. This better not be about Grace’s campaign to cancel the dance. Stephanie may or may not have an itemized list of cute homecoming proposal ideas for Pete and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t get to use at least one of them. If only Grace could see that she’s totally wrong about co-ed dances. They’re not just an excuse to dry hump in the gym. It’s heavily in the mix, sure, but it’s not the only thing. There’s also underage drinking and dancing awkwardly. It’s an essential high school experience. Now that she thinks about it, Grace has probably missed out on a lot of dumb teenage shenanigans thanks to her sheltered upbringing. Huh, that’s actually kind of sad. Maybe if Grace is open to it, they can help her catch up.

Before she can ponder that too much, she notices Brad Callahan passing by in the hallway, which obviously means she has to stop what she’s doing to raise her fist at him threateningly and call him a weak ass bitch. He flinches and hurries along. God, she’s been doing that every single time she encounters him and it still hasn’t gotten old. She might feel bad if it was anyone else, but Brad sucks. The best part is knowing he can’t do anything about it. She’s beginning to understand why Max does this sort of thing.

She has a couple of hours to kill before they’re meeting up, so she opts to spend them in the library at least trying to get some homework done. Not her idea of a good time, but she figures she should keep her grades high enough that her dad doesn’t get on her case again. Between the better grasp of the material that she now has courtesy of Peter’s tutoring and once again having access to her favorite chill lo-fi study beats playlist on Spotify, it’s not as painful as usual and she manages to finish most of her math worksheet before heading out.

True to form, Grace is already there waiting for everybody when Stephanie arrives. She has two disposable coffee cups in front of her, at least one of which Stephanie assumes contains hot water (seriously, what is her fixation with drinking plain hot water? Even if she’s anti-caffeine, why not just drink herbal tea or something?). Stephanie orders a hot chocolate for Pete along with an iced americano for herself, then joins Grace at the cozy table in the corner. The dainty little bell attached to the door dings to indicate Ruth’s arrival.

“Hi, Ruth,” Grace greets her, sliding Ruth one of the drinks as she sits down “This is for you. It’s tea with honey, the barista said it would be good for your voice. Gotta make sure it’s rested up for the show!”

“Since when are you in the show?” Stephanie asks Ruth “I thought you were doing the lighting board.”

“As of right now, yes,” Grace answers for her “but if you saw her perform, you’d agree she should be the one up on stage, not Trevor.” She says his name with absolute contempt.

“I still don’t know about this,” says Ruth “What if we get in trouble? I don’t want this to affect my chances of getting into college. Everyone knows that’s where all the really spicy sexual experimentation happens, watch some porn!”

“Oh, that won’t be an issue. Haven’t you heard? I’m the hall monitor,” Grace replies.

“Wow, Chasity, no comment on the porn thing? You must be laser focused on whatever this plan is.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for Ruth to reconsider that vow of chastity later,” Grace says as Ruth emphatically shakes her head no “but right now the most important thing is to make sure that lead role goes to the person who actually deserves it.”

Max and Richie arrive next, barely taking notice of the rest of the group as they sit down. Max’s anxious energy is palpable (even if he’s no longer taking his bad moods out on them, he sure can drag down the energy in a room). Richie seems to be trying to talk him down.

“Max, there’s nothing to be worried about! You guys looked great at practice today. There’s no way we’re losing to Clivesdale tomorrow. This is what you’ve been training for,” Richie says.

Max doesn’t seem convinced. “Yeah, but that’s what I thought before the last game and we got destroyed. I don’t want to sleep outside again, it’s been getting really cold out! I could die from hypothermia and become a ghost. You know how I feel about ghosts, Richie!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Richie asks, racking his brain to try and figure out the connection between losing the big game and becoming a hypothermic ghost.

“When we lost to Sycamore, my dad locked me out of the house and made me sleep outside that night,” Max explains “but this is fuckin’ Clivesdale we’re talking about. If we lose to them, it’ll probably be for a week straight.” Richie, Ruth and Grace stare at him in stunned silence. Stephanie just gives him a sympathetic pat on the arm.

“Max,” Richie says, gentle and reassuring “we’re your sworn friends now, which means we’re not letting you sleep outside even if you single-handedly make us lose to Clivesdale. Just stay over at my place.”

“But doesn’t Paul, like, hate me?”

“Oh, he does not hate you. He’s just a little weary of you on account of the years of relentlessly bullying me. He’s going to be out of town, anyway.”

“Ooh, we should all have a sleepover, then!” Ruth says excitedly “That’s where sexy pillow fights happen!”

Stephanie shrugs. “Sure. Beats going home.”

“Oh, that actually does sound fun! My parents would never let me go to a co-ed sleepover, though,” Grace says wistfully.

“Just tell them it’s an overnight bible study and maybe conveniently forget to mention that the boys’ll be there,” Stephanie suggests “if it makes you feel better, I’ll even let you read, like, one passage to me so you’re not technically lying.” This elicits the brightest, most genuine smile she’s ever seen from Grace. Stephanie hopes the passage is at least one of the cool, violent ones and not something basic like “Love is patient, love is kind.” With Grace, it could go either way.

Richie doesn’t comment on everyone essentially inviting themselves over to his house. He simply leaves the table and returns with two mint teas, one of which he hands to Max.

“Here. This always makes me feel a little better when I’m anxious.”

“What? Thanks, bro. That’s so sweet.” Max can’t remember the last time he felt so loved. He never thought he’d have friends who care enough about him to bring him tea when he’s stressed and not let him freeze in the Michigan winter all night just because he loses a game.

All this talk about freezing to death reminds Stephanie that Pete’s hot chocolate is getting cold. Beverages at Beanie’s are best consumed piping hot - the spit is less noticeable that way. Hatchetfield has its fair share of strange, unexplainable phenomena, but why the health department has yet to crack down on this place might be the biggest mystery of all. Why people still come here fully knowing about the spit thing is a close second. Peter finally arrives and gratefully accepts what is now essentially gross, lukewarm chocolate milk.

“Alright, now that everybody’s here we can get started,” Grace begins “As you all know, the theater department cast Trevor in the lead for The Barbecue Monologues. Trevor!” Once again, she utters his name with vitriolic hatred. “Obviously, this is an absolute travesty and it’s our responsibility to fix it. I watched the rest of that rehearsal and he completely phoned in ‘Just For Once’. He can’t even get his lines right, let alone understand the emotional gravity of that song like Ruth does. You can’t tell me it’s God’s will to have Trevor up on that stage instead of her!”

“So, how are we getting Trevor off the stage, then? I need to know how deeply I should regret getting involved in this,” Peter quips. To his surprise, he doesn’t actually feel all that apprehensive. If anything, he’s kind of intrigued, wondering how they’re going to pull this off.

“Well, tomorrow morning I’m going to arrive at school for my usual morning duties and discover a heinous act of vandalism. I guess Trevor and his understudy decided to pull a little senior prank.”

“Wait, we’re framing Rudolph, too? Isn’t it way too convenient that the lead and his understudy both get in trouble this close to opening night? It’s going to look suspicious,” Richie replies.

“Well, those two do everything together! It’d be weirder if they weren’t both in on it. In fact, they’re so close they have these adorable matching friendship bracelets that they never take off. Except during dress rehearsals, that is. You got them, right, Ruth?” Ruth produces two thin, handmade woven bracelets from her backpack. “And at the scene of the crime, apparently, because that’s where they’re going to be found.”

“The scene of the crime?” Peter echoes back.

“The gym. They had the audacity to spray paint…” Grace lowers her voice to a whisper so the rest of the café patrons don’t hear the absolutely vile phrase leave her mouth “…‘Go Clivesdale’ on the wall right before the big game!” The rest of the group audibly gasps. Richie chokes on his tea.

“Go Clivesdale?” he sputters, “isn’t that taking it a little far? Maybe we should just write some swears or something.”

“Or anatomically correct nude drawings!” Ruth chimes in “I have a ton of pictures on my phone we can use for references.”

“Ruth, no. And Richie, the whole point is that it’s too far! We need to do something severe enough for them to actually get in serious trouble. Do you want Ruth to get her moment in the spotlight or not?”

Of course he does. Ruth has been by his side for years and helped him through some of the worst times of his life. He knows how much performing means to her. How she’s been missing out on it for years not for lack of talent or passion, but simply because her anxiety holds her back. If she finally feels confident enough to get up on stage, he decides, he’ll do anything to make that happen. Besides, Grace’s last plan worked out pretty well in the end.

“Okay, I’m in,” Richie says.

“For Ruth,” Pete agrees.

“I still don’t know her super well, but sure, for Ruth,” says Stephanie.

“See, this is why I love you guys! This plan is so smart and sneaky. I’d usually just beat him up and scare him into quitting, but this is way more fun!” Max adds.

“There’s a thought. That might actually be less effort than breaking and entering,” Stephanie muses. She is, of course, purely concerned with efficiency and is not at all thinking about the adrenaline rush she got from beating up Brad and itching to feel it again.

“We’re not breaking and entering. I’ve been a little preoccupied lately and I just might have forgotten to lock the side door to the gym this morning. We’ll just walk right in,” Grace responds with a wicked smile “speaking of which, we should head over. All the staff should be gone for the day. Steph, you’re our getaway driver!” They all follow Grace out of the café, blissfully unaware that they lingered for twenty minutes past closing time.

While her coworkers grumble about entitled customers ignoring their posted hours of operation, Zoe smiles to herself. She caught most of that conversation and can’t help but root for those kids. Committing sabotage to steal the lead role like that? Iconic. They’ve also stolen her heart. She wishes she was half as bold at their age. Their drinks will be on the house next time they come in. Maybe she won’t even spit in them.

The next morning, principal Blim arrives at work feeling less than his best, to say the least. He kicks himself for agreeing to attend “Thirsty Thursday” on a work night - he’s in his forties, who is he kidding? He really needs to stop hanging out with his cousin Barry. That guy was sure “in a hurry” to slam as many consecutive tequila shots as possible last night. He really didn’t care for Barry’s sketchy friend that joined them, either. He got way too drunk and made some comment about locking his kid out of the house whenever his football team loses. The dirtbag seemed completely serious about it, too. He knows Barry’s been going through it with the divorce, but he’s going to have a serious talk with him about how he’s been coping and the company he keeps. He drags himself to the teacher’s lounge for the coffee he desperately needs, trying to ignore the obnoxious fluorescent lights boring into his eyes and making the pounding in his head exponentially worse. As he makes his way to his office, he begs whatever higher power might be listening for a calm, uneventful day. Said higher power must be feeling vindictive, because he’s immediately greeted by a crying, frantic Grace Chasity.

“Principal Blim, thank goodness you’re here! I was doing my morning rounds a-and I stopped in the gym and somebody wrote-“ she sobs “it’s so awful, I can’t even say it!”

“It’ll be okay, Grace. Let’s head over there together and you can show me.”

There’s no need to panic yet. Knowing Grace, this could easily be her reaction to something that’s mildly crude at worst. At least that’s what he thinks until they enter the gymnasium and he realizes she’s absolutely right to be so worked up. See, there’s a beautiful, haunting, hyper-realistic mural of a nighthawk flying over the Hatchetfield Witchwood on the wall opposite the bleachers. It’s been there for about fifteen years now, painted by a former student who was slated to go to a prestigious art school, but sadly went out into that very Witchwood one day and did not make it to the end of her senior year. Now that mural has been desecrated in a manner absolutely unforgivable. As he gazes upon with horror, he drops his mug and the sound of glass shattering on the linoleum floor echoes through the empty gymnasium. This is the foulest, most offensive thing he’s ever seen in his life. He can’t even begin to imagine what type of disgusting human being would do something like this. “Go Clivesdale!” Somebody had the nerve to write “Go Clivesdale!” over the Nighthawk mural! Right before the big game, no less! He’ll catch the perpetrator and make them pay if it’s the last thing he does.

#nerdy prudes must die #npmd #npmd corruption au #max jagerman #peter spankoffski #ruth fleming #stephanie lauter #grace chasity #hatchetfield #richie lipschitz #barry swift #man in a hurry #cw child abuse mention #max jagermans shitty dad #lautski #cw alcohol #corruption arc

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