#and i’ve done my time in the shipping trenches it’s not like i don’t understand the merit of this kind of analysis | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

floating-mid-air · 3 years

Text

The Princess of All Saiyans

Masterlist

Chapter 10 is finally here. Something I noticed while working on this chapter is when I'm writing as the narrator. I use Goku and Kakarot interchangeably. I looked back into the other chapters and noticed I've been doing that the entire time. I honestly just write whichever name feels natural in the context. I think I'll continue writing like that. I think it's more fun switching up Goku's name every once in a while. As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to let me know.

Chapter 10

You and Goku sit on opposite ends of the ditch. The choice to sit as far away from him as possible was strictly for your own sanity. You can feel his scolding gaze on you, burning holes through the entirety of your body, making your skin crawl.

You've been desperately attempting to evade eye contact with the defective Saiyan, which is becoming significantly more strenuous with each second that passes. Goku lets out an exaggerated sigh. "Can we at least sit closer together?"

You turn your head at him, narrowing your eyes. "No, Kakarot."

Goku presses his thumb and index finger together, leaving a tiny hole. He brings the flexed hand up to his eye, looking at you through the minuscule opening. "What about this much closer?"

"No." Your gaze remains locked on him, with a deadpan look on your face.

"But why not?" He wines as you begin to massage your temples. If he keeps this up, the two of you won't survive down here together for much longer. You're ninety-nine percent sure that being stuck with Kakarot will somehow be the greatest adversity of your life. Okay, so maybe you're being just a tad bit overdramatic.

"Because I don't trust myself not to kill you." You snarl at him. Your composure is dangling by a thin thread, and Goku is an extremely sharp pair of scissors.

Your words seem to have shut Goku up, well, at least for a little while. "Hey Y/N?"

You ball your hands into fists, clenching your jaw as your right eye begins to spasm. You're developing an eye twitch. How lovely. "What is it now, Kakarot?"

"How did you do that thing with your eyes?"

You furrow your brows at the younger Saiyan. "What the hell are you talking about?" You're really starting to get fed up with him, and you've only been trapped down here for around fifteen minutes.

"Your eyes turned red when you were fighting that guy." Your eyes widen before you quickly cover up your shock with a scowl. Fuck. You knew you should've kept your temper under control. How could you have been so stupid?

Lucky for you, Kakarot is a moron. He lacks understanding regarding body language and various emotion cues. It shouldn't be difficult for you to get out of this at all. "Your eyes were just playing tricks on you. Your vision was probably strained from traveling for such an extended amount of time. My eyes did not, nor have they ever changed color."

"But, I saw---"

"Well, you saw wrong!" You take several deep breaths, attempting to regain your composure. Spoiler alert, it doesn't work. "I can't take this anymore!" You've finally snapped, but to be fair. You lasted much longer than you expected. "Stop asking me a million questions! No, you know what. Stop speaking to me in general! You are the most infuriating---"

Amidst your screaming, Goku jumps up, pulling you into a far corner of the trench. One of his hands is placed over your lips. And his other arm is tightly wrapped around your waist, his hand ghosting over the base of your tail. Your back is pressed up against the rocky wall, and you feel like his larger body is engulfing your form entirely. You glare at him in irritation as an oddly serious expression crosses Goku's face.

"I'm gonna take my hand away. Be quiet and focus for a minute." He moves his hand, resting it comfortably on your side. It's placed directly on your wound, courtesy of your battle with Burter. You bite your lip, preventing yourself from wincing. Even the smallest amount of pressure is causing you severe pain. Maybe your injury is worse than you presumed.

You shut your eyes partly to distract yourself from the pain, but the main objective is to focus on the energy around you. There's someone out there, and they're powerful too. That has to be Ginyu. Shit, your explosive outburst could have just gotten you both killed. What is wrong with you today?

Where you're standing in the pit. There's still a patch of grass over the top. Providing a shield from anything or anyone from the outside. You hate to admit it, but this was actually a wise decision on Goku's part. Never did you think that Kakarot would be the one to remain collective while you're the one behaving recklessly.

The two of you remain pressed up against each other. Frankly, you're too close for comfort. You can feel every fall and rise of his chest. You can even hear his heartbeat, which is thumping just as rapidly as your own. The sound of Ginyu's faint murmuring invades your ears, though you can't hear anything he says clearly. He must be too far away.

You try to keep your erratic breathing under control, which stems from both pain and nerves. Your surroundings grow quiet, and Ginyu's energy disappears altogether. He must have left. You finally have room to breathe as Goku takes a few steps back, distancing himself from you. His eyes scan your face before quickly darting down to one of his hands. Specifically, the one that's now covered in your blood. His eyes go-round as he moves closer, invading your personal space once again. "Are you hurt?"

His tone lacks his typical cheery nature, causing you to tilt your head upward, your brain desperately attempting to form a contingency plan to get you out of this mess. "I'm fine." Goku makes you uneasy. He's nothing like a Saiyan should be. His behavior is all over the place, and not a single one of his actions adds up in your realm of logic. Out of all the ruthless and sadistic Saiyan's that could've survived, never in a million years did you expect one as pathetic as Kakarot to live.

"But, you're bleeding." This timid side of Goku is somehow worse than his typical cheerful self. You didn't think he could disgust you further, but once again, that defect proves you wrong.

You suppress an eye roll, keeping your piercing gaze locked on him. If you were to look away now, it would appear like you were backing down. And you refuse to let a fool like Kakarot win. "It's not my blood, Kakarot." Hopefully, he'll fall for your lies and drop this pointless conversation here.

"If it's not your blood, then let me see." He moves his hands to your hips, clawing at the bottom of your chest plate.

You grab his wrist, pushing them away. The two of you continue going back and forth, gripping and pushing at each other. It's been a while since someone challenged you like this, one on one. No one back on the Frieza Force would have dared to go against your wishes. Goku's different from them. He's not afraid of you, and it doesn't seem that he'll give up anytime soon. You would've never pegged Kakarot for the stubborn type. Maybe there's still a bit of true Saiyan nature in him, after all. And as infuriating as he is, you can't say you're disappointed. "Knock it off, Kakarot!"

"Stop being such a baby, and let me help you." If you were in a public setting, those passing by might have believed you were a couple. Having one of those sweet but sicking play fights. While in reality, that was far from the truth. This proves just how thin the line between love and hate truly is.

"I don't want your help!" You stop fighting him, crossing your arms over your chest, denying him access to your upper half.

You thought you had outsmarted him, that was until his hands landed on the sides of your top. "Fine. I'll just tear your armor off then."

You stare at him in disbelief. "Do you have no boundaries?" He has to be bluffing, right? No one could be this shameless. However, the look on his face, mixed with his grip on your top tightening, tells you a whole different story. He's serious about this. "Wait---" You place one of your hands on his chest. "If you back off, and shut up. I'll take it off."

He complies with your terms, stepping back, pressing his lips into a thin line. Your hands are violently shaking as you slowly move them to the corners of your chest piece. You've stripped your armor off in front of Raditz, Nappa, and Cado a million times before. So why does this feel so different?

You steadily pull your tunic above your head, slipping your chest piece off your body, leaving you in your nylon blue sports bra. And it really doesn't leave much to the imagination. You turn your head, finally getting to see the wound yourself. It's much deeper than you thought, but due to your Saiyan genetics, it's already healing quite nicely. "Are you pleased? Now, will you finally shut up?"

Feeling self-conscious from his gaze, you cross your arms over your chest again. "No. Why would I be happy about this? It looks, really, bad Y/N." Why does he care about your physical condition? At the end of the day, you're enemies, and your nauseating alliance is only temporary. You just don't understand him. You can't read him either, so you have no clue what he'll do next. And it's driving you mad.

"Wait." He grins. "I brought Senzu Beans with me." A Senzu what now? Those must be those healing beans he gave Krillin and Gohan back on Earth. He searches his pockets, only to come up empty-handed. He grabs his head as a look of realization crosses his features. "I'm so stupid. I left them on the ship."

Well, there's one thing you both agree on, Kakarot does have a moronic nature. "Hey, relax. I'm fine, Kakarot." You wrap your tail around your waist, applying pressure to your wound. "This is all I need to do. I've done this several times before, and look, I'm still standing, aren't I?"

Your assurance doesn't seem to be enough for Goku. "Please--- just let me help you." He's pleading with you. Does he really have no ulterior motives? Does he really just want to help you? You'd typically laugh at someone pleading with you, but when it's from him. It makes you uncharacteristically sad.

Those puppy dog eyes should be illegal. You swear Goku would be able to make you do anything just with that one look. "O-Ok." Did you seriously just agree? How can a simple glance make you so weak? An expression like that would typically make you sick. Maybe the amount of blood you've lost has made you delirious. That's a plausible explanation. You're clearly doing everything under Namek's three suns to evade the possibility that these new strange feelings could be your own mind's fabrication.

He removes the cord holding his gi together, causing the orange fabric to hang loose. You now have a clear view of his torso, revealing the blue undershirt that was once hidden under his gi. He slips the shirt off, ripping the bottom of his shirt into strips. "You know I might not be the smartest guy in the world. But I do know that you have to keep wounds clean to avoid infection." He kneels in front of you, giving himself easier access to your side. You don't mind. Him leaning down to help you would've probably made you even more flustered.

His hand brushes against your tail, causing you to jump. He stares at you in alarm. "Sorry, I forgot that hurts you."

"I-It didn't hurt. I trained myself out of that weakness a long time ago. It's just a sensitive area still." He nods as you uncoil your tail, giving him direct access to your injury. He wraps the strips of cloth around your torso. The fabric is in replacement of a bandage, not bad for a makeshift patch-up at all. You've seen Nappa and Raditz do much worse.

Goku stands back up, tying his gi back together. "See. Good as new." That dopey smile on his face really makes you want to punch him. His facial expression may be causing you mild irritation, and his words had no humor to them, but you can no longer hold back your fit of laughter that is now escaping your lips. "What's so funny?"

"You are."

He pouts, which only makes you laugh more. "I'm not funny."

"Oh, yes you are, Kakarot. Everything about your existence is either. A. amusing or B. irritating." You're about to berate him even further, but you stop yourself. Someone is standing directly above you, and It isn't Ginyu this time. Their power level is far too low. It's not anyone you're currently aligned with either. By now, you know Vegeta's power level by heart, and you were able to memorize the other's energy levels during your previous encounter with them. So it's best to assume that above you is one of Frieza's minions.

You do have a weapon at your disposal. No one knows that Goku is here except for you. And you intend to use that piece of knowledge to your advantage. You grab his wrist, pulling Goku back to the wall, successfully switching positions with him.

You look up, getting a good look at the figure above you. Just your luck, it's Jeice. What's next? Will a scorned, old flame of yours show up in an attempt to win you back? Or will Frieza show up for a tea party?

Sadly, it's too late for you to duck back into the corner. That prick already saw you. You move out into the open, keeping Jeice off Kakarot's scent. A self-satisfied grin appears on Jeice lips as he admires your practically bare torso. "Hello, love. You having fun down there?"

"Oh, it's a real party, Jeice." His gaze makes your skin crawl differently. Kakarot's makes you nervous, but Jeice's makes you want to hurl.

"I have to say, Y/N. I am surprised you'd fall for something so simple-minded."

You turn your head, subtly glaring at Goku. "You're right. That's not like me at all. I must have had a severe lapse in judgment."

"Well, gorgeous. Looks like today's your lucky day. I'll pull you up, but under one condition." You wouldn't accept his aid even if there wasn't a catch. You'd rather spend an eternity in the pit with Kakarot than owe Jeice any favors. "All you have to do is betray Vegeta, re-pledge your allegiance to Lord Frieza, and of course, become my wife."

You scoff, shaking your head. "Ya, no chance in hell I'm doing any of that."

"Oh, come on, Y/N. You'd rather be stuck down there, all alone. Then be with me."

"I wish I was alone right now." You mutter to yourself. Whether this statement was directed at Jeice of Goku is unclear, but it's most likely the latter.

He moves his hand to his scouter. "I didn't quite catch that Y/N. Was that your native tongue? Or were you just whispering?"

"I said I'd rather rot down here! And by the way, the only thing less appealing than death on this shitty planet would be marrying you."

He scowls at you. "I was trying to play nice, but now I see that's not a viable option. So if you insist you'd rather die down there, I won't be the one to stop you. Just know, you lost your only chance of leaving this damn rock alive." He takes off, now in an irritable mood. Maybe you should've played nice and asked him about Vegeta and the others. It probably doesn't matter either way. Who's to say Jeice would've told the truth.

Goku walks over to you, sheepishly handing you your chest piece. You find him much less irritating now. It turns out Kakarot isn't the worst being you could've been trapped with. It could've been much worse. You could be stuck down here with Jeice instead.

The group of four has covered a lot of ground, considering what terrible shape they're in. Recoome really did a number on them, especially Vegeta. He's limping while the others are still able to walk with only mild discomfort. After Vegeta was down for the count, it took Gohan, Krillin, and Raditz all together to finish Recoome off. Raditz is by far in the best shape of the group. Since he jumped in last, getting the KO. The other three would've been executed without the intervention of the largest Saiyan. And lady luck appeared to be on their side because Jeice fled shortly after Recoome fell. A few weeks ago, this group teaming up would've been unimaginable, former allies, enemies, and friends alike, with the lines between each category, quickly blurring together.

The issue with you suppressing your power level is now more prominent than ever. They can't easily locate you, so a search party is sadly the best they can do. Vegeta knew he should've gotten you chipped when he had the chance. He'd be able to locate you anywhere, anytime he wanted. So what if it violated your privacy. If it was up to Vegeta, you'd be one leash by now.

Gohan turns to his uncle. "Do you think Y/N's alright?"

"She's fine. Y/N's incredibly resourceful. If she couldn't surpass him in strength, she'd be able to easily outwit him. Y/N's always done as she's pleased, so it's not surprising if she got a bit carried away." Raditz knows you're alive. He can feel it. A creature as brain-dead as Burter wouldn't be the one to take you out. You'd definitely go out with a bigger bang.

"Stop the chit-chat, and stay focused!" Vegeta snarls at the uncle-nephew duo.

Raditz lowers his voice to a whisper. "Don't mind him. Vegeta's just worried."

"Shut your damn mouth, Raditz! Before I shut it for you, permanently." Raditz's eyes widen in terror as he frantically restarts his search. Pissing off Vegeta right now would not be an intelligent choice.

They explore another good portion of the planet. The only downside is they haven't found any sign of life. The group was about to pause and rest until a strange ship entered their field of vision. Krillin's eyes widen, a grin spreading across his lips. As he reads the words located on the side of the vessel. He begins sprinting toward the machine with Gohan not far behind. "Capsule Corp! We're saved!"

Vegeta and Raditz observe the two in bewilderment. Vegeta never thought that Raditz could ever be the second smartest person in his vicinity. Today is just full of surprises. "Slow down, you neanderthals!" Vegeta shouts. "It could be a trap." The two Saiayn's have obviously seen more of the world. Even a fool like Raditz understands protocol about behavior on a foreign planet.

The pair ignore their Saiyan allies. With Krillin entering the ship first. "Goku?" He shouts.

"Dad?" Gohan enters the ship, only to find no sign of his father. The pair begin searching the aircraft, looking for clues to where Goku's whereabouts may be. The two Saiyan's tread carefully into the ship. Nothing seems dangerous at the moment. And they wouldn't put it past Kakarot to abandon the only source of transportation off this damn planet. Gohan furrows his brows. "Where could he have gone?"

"Do you guys think he could've been captured? Krillin's question was directed toward the Saiyan's. Vegeta and Raditz both know what the Frieza Force can do while he and Gohan are basically fish out of water.

"Relax." Raditz is the one to break the silence. "If Kakarot was captured, we'd all already know."

"There would be signs of a struggle. And extreme damage to the outside terrain. Kakarot left on his own accord, now let's go, we now have two fools to find."

Krillin was about to follow Vegeta's orders until his eyes land on a small bag. "Wait." He grabs the bag from the table. "If this is what I think it is--- it is. Leave it to Goku to forget an entire bag of Senzu beans." He pulls one of the green beans out of the bag, tossing it to Gohan and grabbing another for himself.

He throws the bag at Raditz, who catches it with ease. The Saiyan watches the earthling and half-breed eat them first. Their injuries heal instantly, so it isn't poison. That small fact seems to be enough for Raditz, as he eats one of the beans himself.

After he heals, he hands the bag to Vegeta. "Wait! Raditz!" Krillin shrieks. He's aware that their alliance is quite temporary and will probably end once they successfully disband the Ginyu Force.

Krillin charges at Vegeta, only to be stopped by Raidtz's hand. Which is placed firmly against his forehead, the Saiyan can hold him back with ease. "Stop. You know we can't do this on our own, even with Kakarot's help. Take it from someone who personally knows Frieza and the Ginyu Force. We need him."

Vegeta holds the Senzu bean in his hand, eyeing it skeptically. Before tossing it in his mouth, chewing it slowly. His eyes flash in amazement as his substantial injuries heal instantly. Even though he's seen the bean work wonders before, he still can't believe its capabilities.

"Do you guys think that Goku and Y/N could be together?" Krillin's question makes a lot of sense, and unknowingly to him, very accurate.

Vegeta sighs. "It's a possibility." The idea alone makes Vegeta cringe. Just the possibility of you being alone with Kakarot makes him irritable.

"Well, if they're together, that's a good thing, right?" Gohan's cheerful voice cuts in. "It should be easier to find them, then."

Raditz snickers. "But, will they both be alive? That's the million-dollar question."

Krillin's eyes widen. It wouldn't surprise him if Goku's personality pushed you over the realm of sanity. He sometimes even feels like he's losing his mind when he's with his childhood friend. "Good point. If that's the case, we better step up our game."

The group of four exits the ship, continuing their search. And it doesn't take long for them to discover something else that stops them in their tracks. They located Burter's corpse, more specifically a headless Burter. Decapitation seems to be your go-to method of execution today. It's good to mix things up once in a while.

"Well, it looks like we know what happened here." You jump up in the pit. You'd recognize that voice anywhere. As always, your big brother, Vegeta, comes to your rescue.

"Vegeta! Get me the hell out of here!" Vegeta furrows his brows, desperately looking in all directions. He flys up to get a birds-eye view of the landscape. A higher altitude should be beneficial in tracking you down.

As soon as you hear Vegeta's obnoxious laughter, you know he's found you. He lands on the side of the dip in the ground. "Looks like you're in quite the predicament there, baby sister!" You've never been happier to see that arrogant smirk before in your life.

"Vegeta, come on, get me out of here! I can't take another second of this torture."

"I don't know." Vegeta rubs his chin. "You did leave me alone, with those three idiots. Maybe I should leave you down there with Kakarot so you can learn a lesson."

"Come on, Vegeta. You know we don't have time for this." Raditz places a large branch in the pit. You should easily be able to climb up it. The barrier is only activated for those inside the hole. So it should cause a rift when something is poking out of it.

You place your hands on the wood as you start shimming upwards. You wince in pain, stumbling a bit. Your injury must be affecting you more than you thought. Goku quickly grabs you, placing his hands on your hips holding you in place.

"D- Don't touch me!"

Goku sighs. Your hot and cold behavior is really confusing to him. "I was just trying to help you. You were gonna fall."

"As we discussed before. I don't want your help." You pull yourself up the rest of the way up, rushing to Raditz. You wrap your arms around the giant, desperately clinging to him. "I take back every bad thing I've ever said about you."

Raditz furrows his brows, looking over your head at his brother, who had just climbed back to the surface. "God, Kakarot. What did you do to her?"

"Relax, you drama queen. You were only down there for about an hour or so." Vegeta pulls you off Raditz as your hand quickly lands over the sight of your wound. There's no need to worry Vegeta about this. It's just a minor scratch, that's all. He scans his eyes over your from, checking for any irregularities. "No injuries. All your limbs are intact. I'm surprised."

"Well, actually---" You slap Goku's leg with your tail, causing him to yelp out in pain.

"Yep, I'm all good." You plaster an ingenuine smile on your face.

Gohan, Krillin, and Goku all have a little reunion. The rest of you will not take any part in that conversation. Kakarot's arrival isn't something to celebrate. He won't be your saving grace. "So, what's our next move?" Raditz turns to Vegeta. It's almost like nothing has changed. Like you've stepped into a time machine and went back to a much simpler time. Back when things were much less complicated.

"We go find Ginyu and Jeice too." Vegeta turns to you. "That red menace got away."

"I know. Jeice paid Kakarot and me a visit. Putting it simply, he's not gonna be in very high spirits."

Raditz chuckles. "Well, getting turned down so many times can't be good for his ego. Especially by the ice princess."

"She's far from an ice princess. Saiyan-wise, my sister is actually quite friendly. Out of our entire bloodline, I'd say she has the best people skills. She knows how to work a crowd. That's why our father wanted to put her in charge of foreign affairs."

"Was that a compliment, Vegeta?"

"I wouldn't dare." He pauses, turning to the other three. "Alright, let's get this over with. I don't want to spend any more time with you fools than necessary."

The group is finally reunited. But what does Captain Ginyu have in store for our heroes? And will Jeice ever get Y/N's attention? Find out in the next chapter of The Princess of All Saiyans..

#goku x reader #goku #son goku x reader #dbz x reader #dbz fanfiction #dragon ball x reader #female insert #vegeta #vegeta's sister #the princess of all saiyans #dragon ball z kai #dragon ball fanfiction #saiyan reader

113 notes · View notes

thiswasinevitableid · 3 years

Note

Indruck hunt nsfw!!! I'm so excited you're doing fills again, they're always so good!

Thanks so much, and here you go! Duck’s form is based on a Green Wrasse, and Indrid’s is based on a Flamboyant Cuttlefish.

Go along the trenches they said. It’ll be easy they said.

Duck’s been here for two hours, trawling the spot where the sea bed and reef give way to deeper water in search of black moon oysters. It’s courting season in Kepler, and if he can find a few he’s certain at least one of the two mers he has his eyes on will agree to a date. But at this rate, he’ll be bringing some of his model ships as his gifts for his first year of courting, and that’ll be embarrassing. No one wants to date a mer with such a boring hobby.

So here he is, far from where most reef mers would even think to come, searching for a shellfish notorious for it’s shadowy color. At least there aren’t any deep sea mers around to see him repeatedly get hissed at by the same eel because he keeps losing his bearings and checking crevasses he already searched. He’d rather not have an audience.

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

Indrid cannot believe his luck. Weeks of hunting, of hunger, with barely any food to be found, and now a tantalizing, green tail dangles near his hide away. No mer in these parts has such coloration, so it must be a very big fish indeed.

His foresight is half-obliterated, so he must rely on skill to earn his prey. He camouflages as best he can along the rockface, creeping along beneath the ledge where the tail keeps disappearing and reappearing. If he lunges too soon, he’ll miss and scare off dinner.

Almost...almost…

He pushes up in a burst of speed, grabs the tail, and propels back into his lair, his prey putting up a remarkable fight. He doesn’t notice his error until it punches him in the eye.

“OW!!”

“What the fuck?” The merman spins, lashing out again but missing him in the dark.

“I, I am so very sorry, I thought you were a fish!”

“I look like a damn fish?” His unwilling guest gestures angrily at his upper body.

Because his eyes are adapted to dark water, Indrid can clearly see the muscles in his arms, the round belly and charming face. Now he wants to sink his teeth into him in an entirely new way.

Oh, right, he’s waiting for an answer.

“From down here you did. I assumed all reef mers stayed far away, and thus missed the obvious explanation for the size of your tail. I, ah, am not the sharpest when starving.”

The wary, annoyed expression softens, “Ain’t there food down here?”

“Yes, but it’s fast, poisonous, or fought over, and I’d like to keep all my tentacles attached to me.”

The merman points at the cave ceiling, “The reef is just up there. We got plenty to eat.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t, they’d recognize me as a deep water mer and be frightened.”

“I could vouch for you. Assumin you don’t plan on grabbin anyone else.”

“Of course not” He flicks all his tentacle tips, trying to hide how hurt he is by the suggestion.”

“Then you can be my guest. There’s a festival tonight, so the grub oughta be good.”

“You mean it?”

“Yep.” He nods, black hair swirling around his forehead.

“Thank you so very much! I, is there something I can do to repay you?”

“Well…”

He mentally crosses all fingers and tentacles, hoping for an answer along the lines of “kiss me” or “hold my hand on the way there” and he flickers his lower body an appealing yellow to sweeten the deal.

“...you got any clue where to find black moon oysters?”

“Yes” he cocks his head, “why?”

“Wanna give ‘em as a present to some mers tonight.”

“Ohhhh” Indrid nods, understanding and trying to hide his disappointment, “a courtship gift. Of course, right this way…Duck.”

The mer starts, “How’d you-”

“-Know your name? Foresight, though it’s severely diminished right now. He smiles, holds out his hand, “I’m Indrid. Now, let us find you those oysters.”

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

Duck never expected a deep sea mer to be so chatty, but as they weave their way between rocks in search of their quarry, Indrid talks amicably about all manner of things, often swimming backwards so he can ask Duck questions about his life on the reef. Listens intently as Duck tells him about his time studying coral health, demanding details as they float across a deeper trench.

Still, Duck feels like he’s not carrying his conversational weight, and when Indrid peers into another empty crag he asks, “hey Indrid, what kind of fish only comes out at night?”

The other mer blinks his glowing red eyes, “What kind?”

“A starfish.”

A slower blink, and then Indrid snickers, “I didn’t know we were in the pun timeline.”

“Sorry, know it’s silly-”

“Why was the shark worried after eating a clownfish?” Indrid wiggles his tentacles.

Duck smiles, “no idea.”

“Because it tasted funny!”

He giggles, “that was awful.”

“Precisely!” Indrid beams, then pulls Duck flush against the cliff-face. In the darkness beneath them, he can just make out something immense swimming along the trench. Indrid doesn’t release him until it’s out of sight.

“Apologies, but there was a non-zero chance of that being an aggressive shark.”

“Glad you were here watchin my ba--holy fuck!”

Only Indrid’s eyes are the color they were a moment before. The rest of him, even his hair, is the same speckled grey of the rocks.

“Indrid that’s, that’s incredible! I know mers who can color change a little, but nothin like this.”

“It’s mainly for survival purposes, but I am glad you, ah, you like it” Indrid returns to his usual color, save for his tentacles, which flash pink on their way back to silvery-blue.

“Can you control it?”

“To a degree; some of it is subconscious expression of emotion, but much of the time I can manipulate it as I need. See?” He holds one tentacle out in front of Duck’s tail, matching it perfectly.

“That’s so fuckin cool.”

“I, ah, would be happy to show you some more” the pink flashes are back, “but first…” he pulses up to small ledge, slips three tentacles inside, and retracts them with a flourish a moment later, each hold a pitch black oyster, “let’s get you to your party.”

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

In spite of there being no timelines where Duck reneges on his end of the deal, Indrid remains nervous most of the way into town. Then the other mer stops, reaches into a stand of kelp and produces a scallop, “here, you were hungry when we met and you put off eatin to help me, seems only fair to get you a snack before you get there.”

Indrid grins, rips open the shell, and downs the mollusc in what he hopes isn’t a completely horrifying way. It’s been so long since someone shared a catch with him.

“Do you still want to see more camouflage?”

“Hell yeah.”

They pass the rest of the journey to the town square with Indrid changing color, the two of them laughing as Duck comes up with increasingly ridiculous things for him to match. He adds in extra effects, hoping to dazzle Duck, and he’s having so much fun he’s almost sad to arrive at the party.

Then he sees the buffet, and it’s difficult to be that upset. Better still, Duck doesn’t immediately leave him in search of his potential lovers. Instead he guides Indrid to a cluster of other mers his age. Juno, Aubrey, and Dani all welcome him into conversation and help him navigate some of the unfamiliar foods Duck gathers from the large stone tables.

Deep sea mer courtship is very goal focused, but up here the custom seems to be unhurried, as much a chance to catch up with friends as find a mate. There’s even dancing, which he’s drawn into when Aubrey coaxes Duck onto the dance floor and the merman offers Indrid his hand. They spin and flit about each other, Indrid initially taking care not to brush him with his tentacles. When it happens on accident and Duck responds by thwacking Indrid back with the tip of his tail, Indrid takes to touching him whenever the dance allows.

Since none of the reef mers swim screaming away from him, he and Duck even join in on the group dances. Indrid shows off, changing colors to match his partner because he catches Duck smiling whenever he does.

The first of Duck’s crushes arrives, though Duck stays, dancing, with Indrid.

“Are you supposed to wait until a certain time to offer your gift?”

“No. I, uh, I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never done the whole courtin thing before.”

“Understandable. Though if you ask me, I’d say you have a great deal to offer.” He nudges him with a tentacle. Duck takes a deep breath, then swims away after the other mer. Indrid hasn’t even made it to the table when Duck is once again beside him, saying they weren’t interested and would Indrid like to keep dancing?

He would, and they do, trading jokes and stories as they turn in slow circles around each other. They alternate between the dance and recharging with their friends until Duck’s other crush swims into view, having gotten to the party rather late. Duck’s approach is more confident, and Indrid encourages him along with the others. After ten or so minutes, Duck catches his eye and gives a thumbs up. Indrid returns the gesture and watches that stunning tail swim away.

Indrid stays, continues talking and eating with his new friends. He’s even approached for courtship twice, demurring both times. It’s not long before he regrets this choice, because his foresight keeps showing him flashes of what Duck is getting up to with his new partner and getting his hands and mouth on another mer might be a welcome distraction. He finishes the last of his meal, waves goodbye to his friends with a promise to come see them again, and swims home alone.

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

Duck hums as he swims over the edge of the trench, carved coral box in hand. Indrid left Dani directions for how to visit him, so Duck’s no longer concerned about swimming into the wrong cave and getting eaten.

The front of the cave is empty, and the scant light still filtering in doesn’t show him much beyond it, so he floats further and calls, “Indrid? You home?”

Red eyes appear in the dark, followed by flashes of pink and yellow, “Duck?”

“Didn’t see me comin?” He grins, swimming up to greet the other mer.

“There were only a few futures where you visited so soon after the party. Is something wrong? Does your new partner need more oysters?”

“Nope, came ‘cause I wanted to see you. Is, uh, is that okay?” Nerves creep up his tail; maybe Indrid was only interested in their exchange yesterday and not in him.

“Of course. I, ah, my lair is rather messy but if you come this way I have some lights.” He motions for Duck to follow him. As they swim deeper into the cave, bioluminescent kelp and algae flicker to life, revealing walls covered in elegant, detailed carvings. They turn left, coming to a room filled with yet more carvings, a large, comfy looking hammock, and a floor scattered with shells.

“You did all these?” Duck touches a lovingly rendered carving of a ray.

“Yes. They help me capture visions from time to time, or are simply images I enjoy.” That same light pink is coursing up through his tentacles and occasionally racing through his hair.

“Oh, that reminds me, here” Duck holds out the box, “seemed like these were your favorite last night, so figured you’d like some more.”

Indrid studies the crab rolls in their neat lines, “Oooh!” His tentacles wiggle, “thank you. That was very sweet of you.” He swims over to a small table, sets the box atop it, and then begins searching a rock shelf. “But I insist you share some of them with me, assuming you don’t have anywhere to be.”

“Uh-”

“Where are those blasted plates-”

Duck rubs the back of his neck, “Indrid? Is, uh, is that a yes or a no?”

The other mer turns, flashing bright blue, “To...oh, oh my, really?”

“Future just tell you I’m courtin you?”

“Yes. I, but I thought you made your choice last night?”

“That ain’t really how this works. I mean, I had a great time last night, might see her again, but I ain’t made any kind of choice about bein exclusive. Besides uh, I, uh, if I’m bein honest, mer I thought the most about last night and today was you.”

“Oh.” Indrid says much more softly as Duck swims to him and brushes his tail along a tentacle.

“It’s okay if you ain’t interested, I can back off and we can have dinnerAHfuck” he laughs as Indrid uses all available limbs to pull him closer with a delighted chirp.

“The answer is very much yes, Duck Newton.”

“Thank fuck” Duck leans in, kissing him eagerly as two tentacles tease up and down his tail.

Then he can’t see a fucking thing and Indrid curses, “Of all the time for my kelpalabra to die. One moment, let me find something so you can see.” He pulls back, red eyes and kaleidoscopic lower half the only thing in Duck’s vision, achingly alluring even as he mutters around the room.

“We, uh, we can keep it like this.”

“You’re certain? I thought you couldn’t see in these conditions.”

“Can see what matters.” Duck opens his arms and Indrid chuckles, swimming into them.

“I’m amazed you were not swarmed by admirers last night.”

“Flatterer” Duck kisses his cheek.

“I am being entirely truthful. You are so charming, and so very handsome…” Indrid strokes his face as his tentacles glide up his chest and down his tail, “mmmm, I’ve wanted to do this since the moment I saw you.”

“How, uh, sensitive are these?” Duck lets one tentacle curl around his fingers, brings it to his mouth for a kiss.

“About the same as my hands, but far more flexible.” Two tease just below his hips, his scales beginning to ripple and part at the stimulation. The surrounding darkness heightens each grope and stroke, his body having little to no warning of where the next touch might come from. His world is nothing but Indrid’s hands and tentacles on his body, that little voice and moonlight smile illuminated by the colors of his affection.

“Fuck, ‘Drid, this is so fuckin nice.”

Indrid hums, pulsing a warm yellow as he coaxes Duck open, kissing his neck and nibbling his ears. Duck winds his fingers into his silver hair, gives a testing tug and gets a moan in reply.

“Again.”

He growls, pulls harder as his cock emerges, scrapes his teeth up Indrid’s neck and discovers that makes him practically scream in delight.

“You wanna be in me, or should I fuck you?”

“Ah, beg pardon?”

“Wait, fuck, do you not have-”

“I have this” smaller tendrils emerge from beneath a fold between his front tentacles, “there isn’t really room for anything to go in, and while I can get some shape from it” he demonstrates by twining three into something close to Duck’s dick, “it is unlikely to be the method you’re used to. My kind mate by sort of, hmm, mushing them together? My, that sounds deeply unattractive when I say it that way.”

Duck licks his lips, “They look pretty damn dexterous.”

Indrid’s eyes glow brighter, “The are.”

“Get over here and show me.”

The other mer comes to him so forcefully they’re propelled back into a wall. Duck barely registers the collision, too busy moaning as tendrils curl around his dick, stroking and sucking so elegantly he’s pretty sure he’s never going to be satisfied with a blowjob again.

Okay, except for one form the mouth currently devouring his own with kisses. Indrid moans and squirms in his arms, tentacle and fingertips caressing him from cheek to tail.

“May, may I try something?” Indrid pants in his ear.

“Long as you don’t stop what you’re already doin, ohfuck,” He bucks his hips as more tendrils push into the slit under his dick, Indrid purring as they do.

“Ohhhhhgoodness, you feel wonderful Duck, please, please say we can do this again?”

“Damn, ain’t even made you cum and you’re already beggin for a next time?” Duck teases, kissing the corner of his mouth.

“Yes, pleaseplease” tentacles tighten around him, trapping him against Indrid as the other mer frantically fucks him, “I’ll can make you feel so good, I want to, please”

“Mission fuckin accomplished” Duck yanks on his hair and Indrid yelps with joy, cumming inside him and across his dick. The orgasm makes him lose control of both his colors and his tendrils, meaning he shimmers like the inside of an abalone as tugs and twitches along Duck’s dick. The touches draw his own climax from him with a groan, and he buries his face in Indrid’s neck, mouthing kisses along it as he spills into the water.

Slowly, all tentacles and tendrils relax and withdraw, leaving only Indrid’s arms around him.

“You asleep?” It’s only half a joke, as Indrid is going limp.

‘Mmmhmm. A perfectly wonderful mer just robbed me of all my energy in the best possible way.”

“Heh, funny, most stunnin mer in the ocean did the same to me.” He swims them over to the hammock, guiding them down onto their sides as Indrid looks sleepily up at him.

“In that case, would the wonderful mer like to join me for dinner after we nap?”

Duck kisses his nose, nestles closer as Indrid’s tentacles shift to match his tail, “Yeah, he would.”

#Indruck #indrid cold/duck newton #mermay #mermay fills

20 notes · View notes

only-lonely-stars · 3 years

Text

Cursebreaker, Chapter 2

[Prologue] // [Chapter 1] // [Chapter 2 - you are here!] // [Chapter 3] // [Epilogue] (FFN)

Summary: Once upon a time in the kingdom of Skytarin, a mermaid came to the surface for the first time, and laid her eyes upon a prince in red. Unable to shake the memory, she sought a curse to become human, if only to meet him. Little Mermaid retelling, part of the Fairy Tale AU! (Rated T for safety's sake, not a specific warning.)

Chapter 2: Discovery

Deep in the abyss of the ocean, time passed as it would in any part of the world, and the mer of the trench went about their lives normally each day. Those in the palace served Master Chen and his closest adviser, the wicked sorcerer Clouse. Even Skylor had to pay homage, as little as she liked it. Even as she did so, Skylor found her disobedient mind continuously wandering in the days after her visit to Zenith. The rocky cove, the plants on land, and the colorful city captured her memory, but none as much as the man in red. He was the most lovely memory: the most handsome human she'd seen in all that day, and better than all the mer she'd seen in all her life. Were all men as fascinating as he was?

Unfortunately for the mermaid, Skylor did not seem to have much time to go to the surface in the days that came after her first visit. She went about her days in the palace as normally as usual: doing the tasks her father allocated to her as his daughter. She spent time with her friends in the afternoon, but they stayed in the trench. Then she would return to the palace, where the guards' watchful eyes kept her in place. For days, this repeated, and she could find no exit. Her preoccupation was so strong, before she knew it, her father recognized her wistfulness.

One day, no more than a week after Skylor's visit to the surface, she joined her father for supper in the palace's dining hall. While it would usually be filled with many people, that day it was only populated by her father and Clouse, whose evil presence made Skylor's tail scales crawl. Nevertheless, she came to her father's side and greeted him with a kiss to the cheek.

"Good evening, Father."

"Ah, Skylor! There you are, I'm hungry!" He cheerfully grinned, and together they started their supper. Before they were far into their meal, however, Clouse whispered something in Chen's ear, making him cry out in agreement with it. "Ah, yes! Thank you for reminding me, Clousey Clouse!"

Skylor watched as Clouse sneered at the nickname, but he forced a slimy grin a moment later. "Of course, Master Chen."

Chen turned to Skylor with a prying smile, of the sort that set her on edge. "Tell me, Skylor. How do you entertain yourself these days? With whom do you spend your time?"

She turned her head questioningly, finding the question strange. "I do everything you ask of me, Father, to be the Master of the Waters like you one day."

"Yes, yes, I know that. Who are your friends?"

"Anemone, Mermista and Chamille, with some others," she responded automatically. "Is something the matter about them?"

"No, no, they are fine." He waved his hand dismissively, already changing tack. "You see, Clouse has– I have noticed you are quite distracted recently, Skylor. Despite the palace– it is beautiful, yes?"

"Yes, it is," she agreed slowly. "Father, I've been nothing but diligent, I promise you."

"Yes, I know this, but you have been so... what is the word?" He frowned. "You have been so distracted. Wistful. You're always looking up at the ceiling."

"I am?" She hesitated, glancing up, as if she were looking at the surface, where she wished to be.

"Yes, you are right now!" Chen leaned over, staring at her. "Daughter, are you upset? What is making you act this way?"

She hesitated again, if only to conceal her deception, afraid of him discovering it. "Well… it's not a problem, Father. It is simply… a little lonely in the palace."

"Lonely?" Chen cried. "What do you mean? Clousey Clouse and I are always here!"

"Yes, but… there is no one my age. None of my friends work in the palace. I'm away from them all the time."

Clouse nodded, having been silent and still for most of the conversation. "Would that be why you spend so much time outside of the palace, and return late? It has been… most inconvenient."

She nodded, looking down at her plate. "Yes, it is."

Clouse hummed, more of a sneer than an acquiescence. "We do not see you with them when you are away, Skylor. No one does. Where do you go?"

Chen took a bite of fish with aplomb, speaking through his full mouth to add on to Clouse's words. "Skylor, please, say you are being good. The trench can be dangerous! There are so many mer who would take advantage of you!"

She recoiled. "No, Father, it isn't like that! I don't go down into the deepest parts, or stay around strange mer... I stay with my friends."

"Then what is it? Is it… a special merman?" He grinned.

Skylor shook her head vehemently. "No, no, it's not that! You know I don't spend time with mermen."

"Not even when your friends are there?" Clouse probed. "They can be… negative influences."

"No, not then either." She struggled to find an excuse for her absence. "We… explore the ravine, and play with the fish."

"Explore? Pah!" her father exclaimed. "You have seen it all. Why explore more?"

"There is always more to see." Her mind turned to Zenith, and the man in red, but she did not speak of them. "Chamille recently showed me something secret. Something very special, which I had never heard about."

"Ooh, a secret? Tell me!" Chen all but demanded it, as gleefully as a child, his food forgotten.

Skylor hesitated, taking a bite of her own food while she fabricated her story. "...It was a cave, filled with treasure from the men's surface world. Gold, and silver, reaching all through the space."

"Oh, oh! Tell me more!"

"In the cave was… a lamp. What the men use for making light. It had a special engraving upon it, saying that he who rubbed it would be given wishes three, to use as he saw fit. We could not reach it– the cave was filled with air– but it was so tempting. There were gems, too! More than we have ever had here."

Chen clapped, happy as a clam. "This cave sounds amazing! Skylor, you must show me, tomorrow!"

Immediately, she shook her head, backtracking as much as possible. "Oh, no, I couldn't take you away from your work like that, Father. I'm sure you're busy."

"Nonsense! I would love to see!"

"I– I couldn't."

"Yes, you can!"

She hesitated. "No, really. I couldn't."

His giddiness slowly fell away, changing as quickly as the tides, as his emotions often did. "Why not? Do you not love me, Skylor?"

"No, of course I love you, Father!" She put up her hands, trying to placate him. "It's simply that… that the cave is near the surface. You would not want to go up to see it."

Chen paused, and Clouse cut in instead. "Near the surface, you say? The surface, which you are not to break?"

"I– yes. Not at the surface, but near it," she affirmed.

At her words, Chen's happiness completely collapsed into a dark look of anger. "You went to the surface, Skylor? You disobeyed the one rule which I have set to never be broken?"

"I– no, Father. I did not break the surf," she lied.

Clouse sneered. "You did not break the surf, yet you went to the surface? How can we be sure you are telling the truth, let alone that the cave is real?"

"What if you were seen?!" Chen cried. "What if you were seen by a man?!"

"I was not seen!"

Chen left his chair, lip quivering with rage as he rose up. "If I am to trust you, then prove it. Show us the cave! Now!"

"I can't!" she protested. "I was not seen, but Father, I just can't show you!"

"Then I cannot believe you!" He pointed a finger at her. "Skylor, you may have been seen by men! Because you have put us in danger, I will do what must be done to protect our people. The men must be struck first!"

Skylor's eyes grew wide. "What?"

Clouse sneered at her. "You have endangered all mer, Skylor. We must do all we can to protect our people… unless you can show us this cave? Perhaps then we could use this lamp you spoke of to wish for protection."

"I cannot show you," she protested. "Clouse, please understand! I should not have been there, I see that now."

Chen frowned darkly. "There is no cave, is there?" He neared her, and even as she left her chair, he cornered her in that side of the dining room, where there was no door. "Skylor, this must be punished. You shall see why we do not let you go to the surface, and then… we shall take care of the threat." His frown turned to a smile, too sweet to be on his face. "It is for your good, and for the people's. Now, sit, and finish your supper."

She hesitantly did as she was told, but for the rest of the meal, Skylor protested Chen's plan. However, his jealous rage was not to be dissuaded, for he spouted plan after plan to Clouse. Clouse inflamed his plans, and before long, Skylor was shut up in her room as they prepared to attack the kingdom of men. She pounded on the door to no avail– no, she could do nothing to stop him. All she could do was hope.

------

Days and nights passed while Skylor was imprisoned in her room, until she was finally set free. She was quickly informed that her father was beginning to make up a force of mermen, with which he would attack the men's ships, and according to his logic, protect the mer from them. Of course, it was clear to everyone else that such an action would reveal the mer's presence, but he could not be stopped, such was his rage. In every situation, any action of Skylor's was seen as a betrayal. She found herself constantly being forced into corners, unable to act or do anything, and longed for escape.

When she was finally less closely confined, Skylor began to scour every source for a way to evade her father's desires, and perhaps stop his wager of war on men. She read countless books, but found no help. She asked her friends for guidance, but received no aid. She prayed, but heard no answer. After all these failed attempts, she had to accept that her father would not back down, even as he proclaimed that it was for her safety… she needed something else.

As the situation grew more dire for the mermaid, a thought crossed her mind. If she could leave the Skytaran oceans, anywhere would be possible for protection. Despite the ease of provoking her father, by such actions, if she left the trench, she would be free to do anything. He would be distracted, and would not wage war; it was the perfect plan. As the idea grew and flourished in her mind, Skylor began to seek ways to achieve it. Thus, she began her research.

The first possible location for which to flee was ruled out almost immediately. While she could swim west, into the deep ocean, it was unlikely she would survive the wastes. It was uninhabitable for lone mer, and a mermaid was not strong enough to hold her own against the beasts of the deep. It would be asking for death, which she could not condone, and it would not help her anyway. Thus, one avenue of inquiry was ended.

The second possibility was ruled out just as quickly. Despite the closeness of the coast to the south, swimming toward the land kingdom of Kaiyo would prove foolish. An underwater mass of an unrecognizable barbed plant blocked all passage for one hundred miles, as it had for years beyond living memory, which would force her into the deep ocean as well. Even if she could make it around the obstacle, Kaiyo would be too warm of waters, and she suspected there were no mer living there. It would be a fool's errand to even try.

The third option was ruled out, too, but more slowly. There was a possibility of traveling north, toward the land kingdom of Vanterra. There, in their most northern islands, was another kingdom of mer. She knew not one thing about them, except for a troublesome fact, being that her father had a history with them. A history with her father often meant past war, and that she would not be accepted among them; they would cast her out if they knew her relation to him. She could not afford such a thing.

No, there was one fourth and impossible thing that she wished to do. If only she could go up on land, what would it mean for her? Would she stand, and walk on legs? If she only could, then she could be amongst the men and women. She could even meet the man in red… but how could she ever do such a thing?

In her consideration of her options, Skylor spent much time in the palace's library, avoiding her father and searching for answers. For days she found no answers, sinking into despair. However, at last she came upon a strange book that stirred a newborn hope in her. When plucked off its high shelf, so separated from the rest of the books, it felt heavy in her hands. Its bleached seaweed pages were strangely bound, undecorated... but perhaps it was what she needed?

The book needed no decoration to be fascinating, for every word was scrawled in the most beautiful squid ink calligraphy. The heavy tome made no pretenses, but she did not need them. Whatever this book was, it was not something she was meant to find, or anyone at all. It was similar to Clouse's many spellbooks, but this tome related to transfiguration… it was filled with deep, abyssal knowledge. The knowledge of the underwater sorcerers.

Skylor smiled brightly as she read it, and she closed it quickly. Stowing it under her arm, she made great haste, dashing to her bedroom as quickly as possible. When she reached it, she locked the doors firmly, just barely avoiding trapping her tail in the frame. Then she grinned and swam to her bed, placing the tome upon it.

Skylor sat on the bed and opened the book again. Hastily, she flipped to the proper page. She scanned its contents, taking note of the important details, and then… she smiled.

"Spell of Transformation: mer to man…"

No, the impossible was possible. She could disappear onto land! She could be a woman instead of a mermaid.

#OLST fanfic #ninjago #ninjago fanfic #skylor chen #kai smith #master chen #clouse #ninjago skylor #ninjago kai #ninjago chen #ninjago clouse #kai x skylor #skylor x kai #kailor #ninjago au #ninjago fairy tale au #fairy tale au #cursebreaker #little mermaid au

12 notes · View notes

meowmeowmessi · 3 years

Note

You have so many rights for saying this about bitter sam girls. I am a Sam stan and even though Dean has sometimes hurt him he is still the one who loves him most. And Sam loves him more than anyone or anything. Honestly if 15x18 was about s*stiel, Sam would say "I am sorry, Cass, please don't do this" and feel really guilty about his sacrifice but he would never go to the same lengths he went for Dean to bring Cass back.

sometimes when I'm bored and have nothing to do I idly wonder if any bitter sam stans have cancelled me for my opinions fdjklfdjkl (probably not bc I'm not that popular lmao) so thank you for the ✨validation✨ maybe it's bc I follow blogs run by sam stans (mostly) but lately I'm seeing an influx of dean hate which I don't get at all??? like you said so yourself, yes dean has hurt sam at times but he's never, never had malicious intentions??? imho dean post s10 has improved so SO much. he's always soft with sam and he's willing to listen to him and tries to comfort him when he's upset and they no longer have fights??? just -- think about how bad it could've been after dean found out that sam was working with the bmol behind his back. but there was no big fight? dean was understanding and while he didn't give his own MOM a chance, he decided to listen to sam and work with the bmol. he lit rally only gave in bc SAM asked. when bitter sam stans say dean infantilizes sam and is controlling and overprotective of him in the later seasons idk what to tell them, but dean has always been this way??? once again, sam and dean aren't normal people. sam's hero worship of dean and his belief that dean can kick the literal devil's ass isn't normal. dean being batshit crazy about sam and doing the most morally questionable at best and horribly wrong at worst thing when it comes to him isn't normal (YES I'm talking about s9). dean has said so in canon that protecting sam and watching out for him isn't a "job" to him -- it's who he is. that is NEVER going to change. E V E R. so bitter sam stans getting all indignant whenever dean makes an executive decision on sam's behalf makes me laugh. I'm kind of reaching a point where I want to gatekeep spn from anyone who watches it for only one (1) of the brothers. bc aside from hellers who are from a completely different universe (so I won't even bother with them), these extreme bro stans have the worst takes i've seen so far.

(well, them and the stannies who apparently enjoy the brobond but are like WincEstiEs dNi. those are another subclass of loons lmao.)

aaaaaaand I'm rambling again. smh.

NOW. about s*stiel. does it have more rights than dustyhell? hell yeah. but that's not saying much lol. like I said before -- bitter sam stannies who hate dean but think cass treats sam like a princess make me laugh. that's -- that's fanon s*stiel. the only reason why s*stiel seems like a "soft" ship is bc SAM is one half of the ship. he forgives cass for his every transgression while dean is RIGHTFULLY furious with him. cass is a pretty toxic friend and his relationship with sam, while better than whateverthefuck it is that he has going on with dean, is still pretty wishy washy from his side. sam clearly cares for him, but like you said, sam's love for cass can never compare to what he feels for dean. if dean ever had to kill cass for sam he'd do so in a heartbeat, with zero regrets, while if sam had to do the same for dean he'd just feel awfully guilty about having done it afterwards (and dean would try to comfort him like he did in the rupture). that's pretty much how their relationship is. s*stiel shippers are still nicer than destielies, it's just the hypocrisy I'm seeing from them about how dean aBusEs sAm aNd iS A wAr cRimiNaL aNd tHuS iSnt wOrtHy Of hiM while they ship sam with CASS of all people who put him thru so. much. SHIT. that annoys me. lit rally like hellers who are all jOhN iS SooOooOoO aBusiVe hEs tHe dEviL inCarnAtE while they coddle cass and call him a pUrE ciNnaMon rOLL uwu when in reality he's just as much of a monster as the ones sam and dean hunt on a daily basis. I mean,,,,,,,,, he went all hitler while he was godstiel and killed a bunch of people with no remorse lol. such a baby in a trench coat amirite. (the fact that at least the older cass had the power AND balls to commit war crimes while post s6 cass is just a wimp,,,,,,, i will never not find this amusing lmao)

#asks #anti castiel #lit rally why do bitter sam stans want sam to be validated by CASS of all people 😭😭😭#this is like going to moocher and asking him if HE thinks jared is a good actor skjlsjsksjk #anyway i think the point of my rant was #anti dean hate #anti sastiel #just to be safe #s*stiel still has more rights than deathstiel but if you hate dean then the show ain't for you son #i mostly bitch about bitter sam stans bc I come across them more #I /know/ bitter dean stans are on a whole different level of cray cray kay #i guess i'd expected some common sense from sam stans but nOPE #my fault for putting too much faith in this cursed fandom lol #anyway tldr: I agree with you nonnie!#*more often

31 notes · View notes

singledarkshade · 3 years

Text

Magical Mix Up

Summary: When Constantine uses a spell to locate Rip, it leads them to a hospital and a nurse called Rory Williams. Taking him back to the Waverider they try to get him to remember who he really is. While Rory's wife Amy is searching for him with the Doctor, they come across an unconscious man in a long brown duster. Author’s Note: I had a small idea and shared it with the Discord Ripchat group, which sent it from a small possible one-shot to a larger story. This is a birthday present for @riphuntertimemasterlegend. Happy Birthday, I hope you enjoy. Chapter One

“I have one more patient for you, Rory,” Davy on the desk said, handing him a chart, “Some kind of burn.”

Rory Williams took the chart and scanned it quickly, “Okay. What’s open?”

“Curtain three,” Davy replied giving him a smile.

Nodding to the other man, Rory headed out to the waiting room which wasn’t too bad for a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the summer.

“Mr Constantine,” Rory called. His patient stood and Rory frowned in surprise to see the man wearing a trench coat, white shirt and a red tie, his dyed blond hair was a mess, and he had the look that he had just rolled out of bed, “Please come with me.”

As a blonde woman stood to join them, Rory shook his head, “Sorry, you’ll have to wait here for the moment.”

Rory’s patient turned to the blonde woman, had a quick, annoyed whispered discussion before she sat down and he turned to Rory with a charming smile, “Lead on, mate.”

Walking the man through the security doors, Rory motioned him to take a seat on the bed and pulled up the stool.

“Okay,” Rory told him, “Looking over your information it says that you burned your arm. I’ll do an exam to check the area, and if required I will get one of the doctors to take over, or I will clean it up.”

Constantine shrugged, “Really sorry about this, mate but I lied a little bit.”

Confused Rory heard a strange noise behind him, turning he saw the blonde woman from the waiting room walking through a portal to what looked like a ship or space station. Spinning off his stool, Rory grabbed a scalpel out the kit to defend himself.

“I know you’re confused, Rip,” the blonde woman said, “But we’re your friends and we’re taking you home.”

Gripping the scalpel and letting the Centurion in his head free, Rory replied, “No idea who you are and I’m going nowhere.”

Constantine shrugged, “Sorry, mate,” he pulled a strange looking silver device from his pocket and a flash of light filled Rory’s vision before everything went black.

Sara Lance sighed as she watched Rip fall to the ground, “That could have gone better.”

John frowned at her while crouching down to relieve the unconscious man of the scalpel before pulling him off the ground and onto his back in a fireman’s lift, “You’re not kidding.”

“Let’s get back to the ship before anyone comes looking for him,” Sara motioned John back onto the Waverider.

Carrying the unconscious form of his amnesiac friend, John was relieved when they entered the ship and Sara closed the portal. Resting Rip on the medical couch Sara slid the cuff onto his arm and checked the readouts. They now had to wait until he woke up to see if he remembered anything now that he was onboard the ship once more.

“Well?” John asked.

“As far as I can tell he’s healthy,” Sara noted before frowning at him, “It would be easier with Gideon.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” John defended himself, “I had no idea that the idol would react with the spell in that way.”

Sara rolled her eyes, “Now we have no AI because she’s suddenly human, unconscious and in Star Labs.”

John frowned, “From everything the doc told us, she’ll be fine and she’s sleeping just now. It’s probably a lot to assimilate going from an AI to human. If we give her time, I’m sure she’ll wake up soon just like Dr Snow told us.”

“Until then we can’t really go anywhere,” Sara sighed. She looked down at the man on the bed before her, “He looks different.”

John shrugged, “Well you said this is a camouflage. He’s bound to look different.”

“I mean the last time I saw him without the beard he looked odd, but it seems to suit him now,” Sara mused, shaking herself she turned back to John, “Do you have any ideas how to return his memories to him? Because I only know of one way and, without Gideon, it’s not possible.”

John mused, “There are a few spells and rituals I can try but since this was caused by the time drive and not a spell or curse then it becomes tricky.”

“Well, the last time this happened ‘Phil’ was writing about us,” Sara said, “So it was slightly easier for him to accept his movie was basically real. But this time he’s a nurse? It’s the last thing I expected.”

John shook his head sadly, “Rip is a lot more compassionate than you give him credit for, Sara. He just knows how to hide it because he was raised to believe it was a bad thing.”

She pinned him with a sharp look, “I didn’t know you two were such good friends.”

“Spend some time almost getting eaten alive by a demon,” John noted with a shrug, “You tend to bond.”

Sara checked the screen again, “Let’s leave him to rest. I’ve set the alarm to let us know when he wakes up and put up a forcefield so he can’t leave this room. We don’t want him getting anywhere near the time drive.”

John nodded, “You can say that again.”

Ray, Jax and Zari looked up when Sara and John entered the bridge, Mick was lounging in a chair with a beer in his hand, but the tilt of his head let Sara know he was paying attention. Ava was sitting stiffly on the chair in the parlour, with Nate not far from her both looking annoyed as they had been voted down when Constantine said he could possibly locate Rip.

“How is he?” Ray demanded instantly.

Sara gave a slight wince, “He has no memory of us.”

“So, he’s Phil again?” Jax asked.

Sara stole one of Mick’s beers and took a seat on the stairs, “No.”

“Then who does he think he is?” Ray and Jax demanded in unison.

“Rory Williams,” John spoke up, “A nurse working in London.”

Mick let out a snort of amusement while Jax said, “At least he’s still English this time.”

“Once he wakes up John is going to try to retrieve his memories,” Sara told them, “But as with Phil, we just have to remind him we’re his friends, that his memories are fake, and he belongs here.”

A snort from Nate made Sara turn to him and Ava, “Neither you nor Ava need talk to him at all but if you do remember at the moment, he isn’t Rip.”

Ava shrugged, “We’ll try.”

Rory’s head was killing him. Pressing a hand to his forehead, he slowly opened his eyes before slamming them shut when the light jabbed through them like a knife. Trying to get his bearings, Rory wondered what happened because he was sure he had been at the hospital. If the Doctor had kidnapped him from work, he was going to kill the Time Lord.

“Amy?” he murmured, letting her know he was awake because he knew she would be at his side if he was hurt or sick. Especially if the Doctor had picked them up. He was confused and saddened when his wife wasn’t there sliding her fingers through his hair and telling him to stop being lazy.

Finally, he forced his eyes open and frowned as he looked around a medical bay, realising he was on a ship, a space station or just a good bit in the future. Suddenly Rory remembered the last patient he had.

“Son of a…” he breathed, looking around properly.

He was still in his scrubs which meant whatever they’d done to him had been while at work.

“You’re awake,” a voice came from behind him making Rory turn to find a blonde woman walk in. She was a good bit smaller than him, but Rory could see from her bare arms she was extremely fit, and from her stance, the Centurion part of his brain noted she was a warrior.

“Who are you?” Rory demanded, “Where am I? And what do you want?”

She stepped forward trying to look unthreatening, “My name is Sara Lance and, I know how confusing this will be for you, but I promise it’s the truth.”

Rory folded his arms waiting for the explanation.

“Your name is Rip Hunter,” Sara told him, “You were stopping a Time Demon and used the core of this ship. It sent you through time and changed your memories as a camouflage. I understand you think you’re someone else but you’re not. We’re your friends and we’re going to help you recall who you really are.”

Staring at her, Rory finally managed to say sharply, “I know exactly who I am, Miss Lance. And I’m going home.”

“There,” she smiled, “That was the real you for a moment. Hold onto that and we’ll get you back.”

Shaking his head in bemusement, Rory stared at her, “What is wrong with you?”

“I know this is strange,” Sara said, “But this is for your own good. I made a promise to a friend of ours that if I found you then I wouldn’t let you leave again.”

Rory remained silent trying to work out his next move but began to pace so he could get closer to the door, hopefully without her realising.

“Your room is still here,” Sara said, moving so she was the same distance from him as he walked, “It was locked until recently so all your things are there for you to go through, which will hopefully help you remember who you are.”

Rory reached the door and shook his head, “No, thanks.” Hitting the button to open the door he ran into the corridor and chose a direction at random. Running through the corridor he saw a tall man with dark hair coming towards him.

“Rip?” the man grinned at him, “It’s so good to see you.”

Letting the Centurion take control, Rory ducked and caught the man in his stomach throwing the man over his shoulder and onto the floor. The man let out a loud oomph as he hit the ground, and although the nurse part of his mind wanted to check the other man was alright, thankfully the Centurion part was in control. Turning a corner Rory stalled finding the man, John, who had been his supposed patient standing there.

“I know you’re confused, mate,” John said, “But this is your home, Rip.”

“What is wrong with you people,” Rory snapped, “Why can’t any of you listen to what I’m saying. I am not this Rip guy. My name is Rory Williams, I have never met any of you before today and no matter what you say or do, I’m not going to remember a life that wasn’t mine.”

Just as he finished talking, something thudded across the back of his head and Rory dropped to the ground unconscious again.

“Did you have to hit him?” the annoyed voice of Sara came as Rory swam towards consciousness with yet another headache.

A man grunted, “Seemed quickest way to stop him after what he did to haircut.”

Rory heard Sara let out a sigh before she said, “Let’s not give him any more brain damage, Mick.”

“Whatever,” the man grumbled.

Forcing his eyes open Rory realised he was not in the medical bay this time but, from the looks of things, a cell. Slowing sitting up he found Sara standing on the other side of the glass with concern on her face.

“Are you okay?”

Rory glared at her, “Well I’ve been abducted by a bunch of lunatics who keep knocking me out, while trying to convince me I’m someone I’m not. How do you think I am?”

She gave a slight smile, “There are some painkillers and water just down in the corner, and something to eat if you’re hungry.”

“Or you can let me go and I’ll get something at home,” Rory shot back at her while he found the painkillers.

Sara winced, “I know this seems harsh, Rip but it’s for your own protection. The last time this happened I let Thawne and his Legion of Doom take you, and I can’t let that happen again.”

Rory sat on the bench again, “So your logic for keeping me captive is so someone else doesn’t? That makes complete sense.”

“I left you some books and a few of your diaries to read through,” Sara told him, “We’ll talk a little later once you’ve had some time.”

Rory watched her leave and sighed. He listened to the Doctor every day, but this was true nonsense. Finding the small stack of books, Rory lifted the top one opening to the first page finding it was handwritten and realised this was the diary of the man they thought he was. A part of him wanted to read it a little but he didn’t want to invade the person they thought he was privacy. Closing it and putting it carefully to one side, Rory checked what else was sitting there and found Treasure Island, one of his favourites.

Putting the blanket and pillows they’d given him on the floor to sit on, Rory started to read.

John sat watching the security feed of the cells as Sara spoke with Rip, or Rory as he was calling himself these days. It was odd watching his friend like this, he truly believed he was this Rory Williams and there wasn’t even a hint of recognition of any of them.

If they had Gideon, it was possible she would be able to get through to him, but currently Gideon wasn’t an option.

“Well?” Sara appeared at his side.

“He looked at the diary then put it down,” John told her, “I don’t think he’s going to read it. We need to try something else.”

Sara frowned, “What about your spell?”

“I need some supplies,” John said, “I’ll go pick them up in the morning,” adding before she could argue, “A night-time trip isn’t a good idea.”

Dropping into the seat beside him, Sara stared at the man on the screen, “Rip was always close to Jax, and Ray gets along with basically everyone. Maybe I should get one of them to try get through to him.”

John shrugged, “Why not? Or you could try your girlfriend.”

Sara frowned at him, before ignoring the jibe, “I’ll ask Ray to try first. Jax still has some issues from evil Rip.”

*********************************************

Rory drank the tea he’d been given with his breakfast as he continued to read the book. He’d been fed and managed to get some sleep but was still in a cell. Rory wondered what Amy thought happened to him and hoped that the Doctor would be able to track him down somehow. He smiled slightly imagining Amy walking in, with River at her side, taking out anyone between her and him.

The door to the room outside the glass opening interrupted Rory in the middle of a chapter. He let out an annoyed sigh, marking his place with the handy bookmark that was already inside the novel, placing it to one side before looking up at whoever had come in to annoy him some more.

“You’re the one I hit yesterday,” Rory noted seeing the tall man with perfect coiffed dark hair, looking like he stepped off the page of a magazine, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The other man gave a shrug, “I’m okay. I’m Ray,” he introduced himself, “And you’re using the name Rory just now, right?”

“I’m not using it,” Rory replied sharply, “It’s my name.”

Ray winced for a moment before he pulled a chair over and sat, “It’s not. Your name is Rip Hunter, although that’s not the name you had as a kid. You were originally called Michael but in order to become a Time Master, you had to change it, so you chose Rip.” He paused, for a moment before explaining, “Time Masters were at one point the supposed guardians of time. They raised you and until a few years ago you worked for them.”

Rory rolled his eyes but held his tongue for the moment knowing the more information he had the better.

“You saved a lot of lives making and stopping alterations to the timeline,” Ray continued, “Then your wife Miranda and son Jonas were killed by a man called Vandal Savage who it turned out was working with the Time Masters. You recruited us to stop them, which we managed to do, and we protect the timeline now.”

“My wife’s name is Amy,” Rory said softly, “And my daughter is called Melody. Both are perfectly fine. I have never heard of Time Masters and I have no idea who any of you are.”

Ray sighed annoyed but Rory was beginning to go over and over the idea of Time Masters. If these people had access to time travel, that would allow Rory a possible way to contact the Doctor.

“Rip,” Ray sighed, “I know things were bad between us all for a while, but you sacrificed yourself for us. The fact you survived is incredible and I can understand why you want to hide in this life you created for yourself after everything but it’s time to come home.”

Rory shook his head, “It’s a nice sentiment but no matter what you say, I am not and have never been Rip Hunter.”

Ray grimaced before he stood, for a moment Rory thought he was about to say something else before he simply walked out.

“We can’t keep him locked in the cell,” Zari said as the team gathered in the library, “It’s not fair.”

“Don’t see why not,” Nate muttered.

“Because he isn’t a danger to us,” Zari reminded him sharply.

Ava frowned, “Tell that to Ray.”

“I’m fine,” Ray spoke up, “But he’s insistent he’s not Rip, and I think he’ll try to get off the ship any way he can.”

Sara sighed softly, “John is getting supplies to try the spell for returning Rip’s memories, until then he stays in the cell. I don’t like it either,” she stopped Zari arguing, “But it’s for his own protection and our safety. Rip, no matter what memories he holds, is still very smart and he could cause problems for us.”

“How long till John does the spell?” Jax asked.

Sara shrugged, “He said he had to collect some ingredients. I’m hoping he’ll be back soon.”

“What about Gideon?” Ray changed the subject, “Have we heard from Star Labs?”

With a smile, Sara replied, “Barry called earlier. Gideon is not only awake but is in good health and Dr Snow is just keeping her under observation for a few days.”

“That’s good,” Jax sighed in relief.

“For now,” Sara said, “We’re stuck here in Star City. So, you may as well visit family and friends or pick up some supplies you want. I will stay on the ship and keep an eye on Rip.”

“Are you sure?” Ava asked, “One of…”

“I’m sure,” Sara cut her off, “He’s my responsibility.”

Rory looked round when the door opened again, wondering who was coming to persuade him he was someone else this time. A different blonde woman walked in, taller than Sara, and looked at him with distaste.

“I don’t know what your game is this time, Rip,” she said sharply, “But I know you’re making sure they let their guard down before you do whatever you’re planning.”

Rory stared at her for a minute before laughing, “You are crazier than the rest of them.”

“After what you did to me,” she snarled, “I know how untrustworthy you are.”

Letting out a sigh, Rory stood and moved to face her, “Look, whoever you are.”

“You know who I am,” she snapped.

“Whoever you are,” Rory repeated, “Your people abducted me. You all keep telling me I’m someone I’m not while holding me prisoner. Whatever issues you have with that guy, I know nothing about them and have nothing to do with them. Though I can offer the number of a good therapist for you to talk through whatever you need to.”

Anger flashing in her eyes, the woman leaned in and she stated darkly, “Even when you ‘get your memories back’” she put in the air quotes, “I will make sure you stay in this cell.”

With that said she turned, her hair flipping over her shoulder as she marched out. Just before the door closed, he clearly heard Sara’s voice demanding, “Ava, what are you doing?”

Sighing Rory sat and picked up his book again, he’d been here a day and as they’d used some kind of portal technology then Rory was sure the Doctor would be able to find him.

At least that was what he was telling himself.

#fic #doctor who #rory williams #legends of tomorrow #sara lance #john constantine #ray palmer #jefferson 'jax' jackson #nate heywood #zari tarazi #ava sharpe #crossover

20 notes · View notes

youllallriseintheink · 3 years

Note

Can I have number 49 “I can’t stop thinking about you.” prompt for the ship Joey x Henry, please?

Dear Henry,

I’m sorry we left each other on the wrong foot. I was hoping that I could make amends with you. I’ll be honest- I was, and still am, angry at you to an extent for leaving me so suddenly, and right after it happened, I thought I’d never contact you again. But... I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve come to realize that I want you in my life in whatever capacity I can have you. We can still be creative partners- exchange our dreams and ideas and whatnot.

Henry smiled. It looked like his decision would be less of a sacrifice than he thought.

Actually, no. Just come back. Just name your price! I could make sure you never work overtime again if you want. It’s only been a week- I haven’t even cleared out your old desk yet (although if you come back, I’ll get you a proper office- not just some little desk in a corner). Surely you’re not so settled in to your new life yet that it’s preferable over what we built here.

...And, there it was. Joey trying to pull him back in. Nothing new.

Truthfully, when you left, it felt like you were saying that everything we built together didn’t matter to you. Isn’t there anything about us and about being here that you miss?

Please write soon,

-Your best pal, Joey Drew.

Henry took out a fresh piece of paper.

Dear

Should he still start with “dear”?

Dear Joey,

No.

A part of me does still want to be your friend,

Should he really be showing weakness like that?

Ten minutes later and the letter was still proving hard to write. Henry liked Joey a lot, truly- but it was difficult to find a way to express that that couldn’t be used against him. Linda walked in to the kitchen to find Henry facedown on the table.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“I’m trying to write to Joey.”

Linda nodded in understanding. No other explanation was necessary. “You know, you don’t have to play his games anymore. He can’t hurt you anymore, so I’m not going to tell you not to- but, honestly, is he worth the stress?”

Henry looked to the unfinished letter. “I... I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

---

It was years later when Joey received his next letter from Henry Stein.

Dear Joey,

I’m writing this from a trench. Being drafted has put me in a place where I feel the need to say all my “thank yous” and “I’m sorrys” to all the people in my life who deserve one.

You deserve a big, big, “thank you.” Thank you for taking me under your wing back when I was young and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I’d always wanted to make a living off my art, but I never saw it as a reasonable goal until you came along. You taught me dream. And I feel like just being around someone as brave and encouraging as you were made me into a bolder person, too. If you’d asked little 20-year-old Henry Stein to move halfway across the country for a job, he’d be terrified. He definitely wouldn’t have proposed to his girlfriend on the same day and let that be the deciding factor.

I also owe you an apology for cutting contact with you. I was just worried that you weren’t over me leaving, I guess.

How are you doing? I know that Bendy is doing well. Two of my kids love your cartoons. Any other news you have to share with me? It’s been too long. I’d be open to us contacting regularly again if you want.

As for me, well, up until the draft happened, I was working at Archgate. Hopefully I’ll still have a place there afterwards, assuming I don’t die (haha). Aside from that, Linda and I are still together, we had kids (youngest is five, oldest is thirteen), and yeah, life was pretty great.

Hear from you soon,

-Henry Stein.

---

Dear Henry,

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. Fuck you!

What kind of “thank you” is that?! Oh sure, thank you for the knife to stab you in the back with! Oh, thank you for letting me leech off of your boldness and your innovation until I was strong enough not to be a little parasite. Sorry I crawled off without giving anything in return! Well, guess what

Mid-sentence, Joey’s rage burned itself out. He balled up the angry letter, threw it out, and started anew.

Dear Henry,

It’s all water under the bridge. I’m thrilled that you’re doing well for yourself and I’d love for us to be pen pals again.

The studio couldn’t be doing better. It’s been magical to see our dreams come to life. I wish I could say that I regretted you not being a part of it, but the truth is, Henry? The studio has gotten so big and I’ve met so many inspiring artists that you wouldn’t even crack my top five- no offense. You’re still my #6.

Soon, I’ll be opening a theme park! And, I’m expecting to have a very special attraction at it. Something that the world has never seen before. When it’s ready, maybe I could send you tickets so that you could bring your kids.

Your best pal,

Joey Drew.

As soon as Henry received the message, he started working a special drawing for Joey. It was of the characters he and Joey had created together- including Alice’s older design (Henry had never gotten used to her newer, more... sensual look, and anyhow, he wanted this to be of the character he’d made). Afterwards, he wrote “Congratulations on Your Success” across it.

---

Years passed. Letters were exchanged. Joey felt as though Henry were, on some level, his friend again- a traitorous friend, but a friend nonetheless.

Joey had wanted to wait on opening Bendyland until he had living toons to put in it, but there came a time when that wasn’t an option anymore. The studio was drowning in debt and needed the money to survive. But, while fate forced him to cut the ribbon on what was all and all a pretty tame, unimpressive amusement park, it couldn’t keep him from his vision. Someday soon, he’d have Henry here, and show him that he’d done the impossible. That he’d brought his creations to life. Then, he could be a God in Henry’s eyes again, and it would all be worth it.

Unfortunately, that day never came. Bendyland barely kept the studio afloat another year.

Joey wondered at how to tell this to Henry, until one night, after filling his wastebasket with failed letters, he realized that there was no way he could bring himself to admit to it.

The two exchanged a few more letters before Joey opened up a letter containing the sentence, “I heard that the studio closed down.” After that, Joey stopped writing to Henry entirely. Another decade was spent wishing that Henry would come back and somehow turn his life into what it was meant to be- what it might have been if he’d never left. In clearer-headed moments, Joey realized that he was being ridiculous, but those moments grew fewer and farther between as time wore on.

Finally, in 1964, Joey swallowed his pride, picked up a pen, and wrote Henry a final letter.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #my fanfiction #joey drew #Henry Stein #creatorship #lonelyghostwriter #thanks for the ask

17 notes · View notes

forestwater87 · 4 years

Text

Every episode of Camp Camp ranked: A very (non)objective list

It's well past the time of year when Season 5 of Camp Camp would've dropped. I fully understand and support it not coming out; the crew's health and safety are much more important than a comfort show.

However . . . man, would it be nice to have some comfort right now.

So I'm reliving the entire series! I've been known to share with the world a whole bunch of Spicy Hot Takes, but I've never really sat down and talked about my feelings about the show as a whole.

And what's the best way to do that? Well, just ask Jenny Nicholson: a numbered list! That is, here's the series ranked from worst episode to best, because I want to get the negativity out of the way early and focus on everything I love (and because people enjoy complaining, so let’s frontload all that).

The takes will be hot. The feelings will be intense. The post, I'm assuming, will be largely unread.

Let's do it!

Oh and duh, there are spoilers. I tried to keep it pretty chill, but you’ll want to have watched the whole show or just not care about spoilers before going forward.

Also slashes in the middle of “naughty words” are meant to prevent this from being kept out of the main tags. Who knows if it’ll work? I don’t.

60. Who Peed the Lake? (Season 4, epis/sode 3)

Ah, good ol' Pi/ss Lake (or as @hopefullypessimistic84 calls it because she's funnier than any of us will ever be, “Pis/s Fe/tish Dot Com”). Terrible, one of the few I’d consider nigh unwatchable. I actually kind of love this episode for being such great shorthand for "the absolute worst one."

Who signed off on an entire episode centered around Sherlock Holmes meets a bad om/o joke? Give me names and addresses: I just want to talk.

59. Reigny Day (Season 1, episode 6)

And nobody was surprised.

I'll admit I'm more willing to defend this episode than many people, but it's not . . . like, good. It seemed okay when there were only 11 other episodes to compare it to, but now that there have been so many bangers, this comes across as extremely weak.

And let’s just say the Na/zi jokes hit a lot differently in 2020 than they did in the summer of 2016.

I’m overall happy with the direction the showrunners have moved Dolph’s character in, and I can’t totally blame them for using a kind of humor that was fairly common in the pre-Trump era, but yikes, this has aged like milk. And it wasn’t even very funny at the time, so it aged like milk that was already pretty bad to begin with.

58. Squirrel Camp (Season 4, episode 10)

This is a dumb one.

Not much else to say; it’s just kinda stupid and lame.

57. Fashion Victims (Season 4, episode 13)

I love Sasha, but this is filler. Which isn’t in itself a bad thing -- I have a couple episodes near the top that could reasonably be called filler, and a valid argument could easily be made that “filler episodes” don’t actually exist in a show with no plot -- but as much as I adore the Flower Scouts and enjoy the handful of good moments we get in this episode . . . who cares? Does anyone really give a sh/it about anything that happens here? Does anyone get their life from this one?

I didn’t think so.

56. Foreign Exchange Campers (Season 3, episode 3)

I know, I know, your Russian waifu came from this episode. Why do you think it’s so low on this list?

Okay, for real: this is . . . fine. It’s fine. It’s fine? I’m not mad at it, it just feels tonally incongruous and not very memorable beyond the fact that the fandom got really weird and kinda gross about Vera. But the episode itself? There’s some cute stuff with Neil and Nikki being jealous, but for the most part it’s a big hunk of white bread with some super mild white cheese that’s kinda soggy from sitting in a bag for too long and getting all condensation-y.

That is to say: it’s fine.

ETA: Space Kid does say “fu/ck.” I can’t decide if that’s a point in the episode’s favor or against it.

This is the last of what I’d call the “bad” episodes. Everything after this ranges from mediocre to mind-blowingly amazing. But whatever our failing tier of Camp Camp episodes is, it stops right about here.

Onto the good stuff!

55. Night of the Living Ill (Season 2 Halloween episode)

I keep switching this with “Eggs Benefits,” which probably means they should be tied. But whatever, this is my list and I am in charge and I’ve finally decided, after like 5 changes, that I like this one a little bit less.

It’s a fun Romero parody with nothing I’d call bad. Really this one’s only so low on the list because I think it’s kinda icky, and looking at those green snotty faces makes me queasy. If you think this is a bad reason to put it near the bottom of the list, then make your own post.

54. Cameron Campbell Can't Handle the Truth Serum (Season 4, episode 11)

I . . . don’t remember this at all. I initially had it a bit higher because I tend to love things with Campbell in them, but then I realized that nothing about this episode stuck in my brain even a little bit.

Oh, this is the “Dolph has autism” episode that made everyone either extremely happy or really mad? Okay. I guess that’s the most remarkable thing about it. Neato.

Cam, I love you, but this was just not the best use of your sleazy charm.

53. Eggs Benefits (Season 2, episode 9)

This is one of those episodes with enough cute moments and good ideas to save it from being totally unmemorable, and I mostly enjoy rewatching. Platypus being a mom is a fabulous idea, and pairing the campers the way they did was mostly really interesting and fun.

The Preston-Nurf stuff takes it down several pretty significant notches, though. It’s what the kids would call problematic, and while I normally enjoy how the show doesn’t skew away from darker themes and jokes, it didn’t really fit either of their characters and just . . . isn’t fun to watch. It’s not especially funny, it’s not especially tragic, it’s just uncomfortable.

52. Camp Campbell Wants YOU! (Season 1, episode 0)

Honestly, this would be a lot higher if it was a full-length episode. It’s funny.

The next 5 or so episodes fall under the “cute but not very memorable” umbrella:

51. Nikki's Last Day on Earth (Season 3, episode 4)

I love the ensemble episodes, so this was always going to score higher than any of the single-character “meh” eps. I didn’t see the twist coming, though I know a lot of other fans did. Textbook example of “cute but not very memorable” -- the Platonic ideal of that concept.

50. The Candy Kingpin (Season 3, episode 9)

A clever idea that plays on Max’s worst characteristics and then calls him out for them, while also giving Dolph some much-needed character development. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it really picks up until the last third of the episode, leaving the rest just kind of sitting there.

49. Campfire Tales (Season 4, episode 13)

Who doesn’t love campfire stories?

That’s all I got. They’re campfire stories.

ETA: OH SH/IT THIS ONE HAS THAT REALLY SCARY STORY! Where David’s all like . . . Slenderman’d. Fu/ck, I didn’t remember that until I was writing out my thoughts for #35 or so. That definitely elevates it, but I’m too tired to try and re-decide where this should go, so just tie it with “New Adventure!”

48. New Adventure! (Season 4, episode 4)

New trio! Focusing on these 3 was a definite risk, and I think it really paid off. While the “plot” itself isn’t anything special, there are a handful of really great side gags (hi, Dirty Kevin!!!!) and it’s fun to see these three interact. They all get some nice character beats. It’s a good time.

47. Something Fishy (Season 3, episode 8)

This might’ve hit me harder if I’d actually seen The Shape of Water, but the send-up works fine without having more than the seen-the-trailer level of understanding. Gwen dresses pretty, which I love; Max sucks, which I also love. What drags this one down is mostly feeling like the surreal aspects of the comedy go a bit too far into the “what the fu/ck am I looking at?” territory without really . . . making an actual joke beyond “look! Wacky!"

Why is David at the opera with a bird? Why??

46. City Survival (Season 3, episode 11)

Literally do not remember a single thing about this episode except David getting mugged and being called a “homeless twi/nk.” That should probably rank it lower on the list, but David being a fluttery mother hen saves it for me -- as does the fact that it leads directly into one of my favorite episodes, and the single best story arc of the series.

Next set of episodes is what I’m going to arbitrarily call “okay! but like the good kind of okay, not the bad kind.”

45. Bonjour Bonquisha (Season 2, episode 7)

Max and Sasha masterminding a scheme is really fun; their dynamic is great (though it won’t be fully realized until Season 4), and heartbroken David is so tragically cute it actually makes my heart explode out of my chest.

Also I can’t resist a good “3 kids in a trench coat” gag.

44. Anti-Social Network (Season 2, episode 2)

Neil is very relatable and I don’t have much else to say about this one. It’s fun to see an episode that more heavily focuses on our nerdy science boy, and Max and Neil teaming up to save Nikki was really charming and sweet and set my Makkiel ship out to sea.

43. A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever (Season 2 holiday episode)

Why does this episode have a musical number? It’s not good.

Okay, that was mean. This is fun and cute and Gwen wears a pretty purple sweatshirt and Space Kid gives her a present and it’s really sweet. But that musical number is an instant fast-forward for me, sorry.

42. Preston Goodplay's Good Play (Season 4, episode 7)

We get some Preston character development! Awesome!

It’s done in a really trippy and surreal way that totally fits his character and heightens the drama of the episode! Awesome!

David has an apparently-tragic history of being a French mime! Not a good call!

Next tier: Some good sh/it! (Tbh, these could all be put in just about any order; they might as well be one massive tie.)

41. Cookin' Cookies (Season 2, episode 11)

I love the Flower Scouts. I love Dirty Kevin. I love the idea of accidentally starting a dru/g empire. Another weird, borderline experimental one focusing on side characters, and I think it works better than “New Adventure!” because the scale of the melodrama is just so over-the-top.

The fact that this is in the bottom 20 but I have nothing but good things to say about it illustrates how dang good this show is. It’s only getting better from here, folks!

40. Romeo & Juliet II: Love Resurrected (Season 1, episode 7)

Preston is a terrible playwright. This makes sense, because he’s like 11, but he’s the kind of hilariously bad I wish I’d been as a preteen, because his play is absolutely bonkers. Max fucking with David is great, Tabii vs. Bonquisha is great, Bonquisha in general is a giant amazonian goddess and I want to be swept up into her giant arms. Neil is . . . a robot, for some reason?

So much fun!

39. Camp Cool Kidz (Season 1, episode 4)

I don’t love Ered’s characterization in this one, but there are a lot of wacky hijinks in this episode that I think make it really enjoyable. Max’s wide-eyed revolutionary naïveté is a fun change from his usual dour pessimism, and Nikki’s loyalty to Ered is both very gay and very charming. Plus we get to learn a bit more about how the camp operates (and fails to operate), and it’s a nice way to better establish the campsite as its own setting.

(Definitely think “Cool” should’ve been spelled with a K though. But whatever, I don’t write for the show.)

38. Scout's Dishonor (Season 1, episode 3)

The birth of Neeancy! The introduction of the Flower and Wood Scouts! Neil saying “cu/nt” -- one of the first and only truly shocking uses of profanity in the entire show! ZUKO!

I don’t know if my fondness for this one is rooted mostly in nostalgia or if it was actually really fun, but I enjoyed the he/ll out of it. Not as highly-rated as some other episodes mostly because it doesn’t really do anything, character or story-wise, but not every episode needs to be a massive game-changer that drowns us in feels. Sometimes it’s enough to have a fun romp, and this is very that.

37. Ered Gets Her Cool Back (Season 3, episode 2)

Awww, Ered. I have a soft spot for her, because I love the archetype of a spoiled bit/ch clearly still figuring out how to be a person and have friends. You really get the sense of her as a teenager trying to sort her shi/t out in this episode, which I would love to see more of. Her interactions with Nerris are top-tier, and I like that it’s a continuation of how her character’s been softening since Season 1 into this kind of big-sister figure.

Also, all the female campers in this show are lesbians. I do not make the rules.

36. Attack of the Nurfs (Season 4, episode 2)

I feel like this is a pretty underrated episode. But then again, I feel like Nurf is a pretty underrated character, so maybe that’s just my own personal bias.

I really enjoyed all the different iterations of Nurf, and I think Blaine did a killer job giving each one its own personality and life. It’s a fun episode that plays hard with cartoon physics (a 3D printer printing people! I love it!) and has a surprisingly moving ending.

At least, that’s what I think. Most other people seem to find this one pretty forgettable. Again: make your own da/mn list. I liked it.

35. Mascot (Season 1, episode 2)

This entire episode is memorable for so many things, but a few of my favorites:

David is established as kind of a di/ck.

Platypus arrives and kicks all the as/s.

Quartermaster is the best.

Nerris, Harrison, and Space Kid all get little moments to show off how cute they are.

Neil and Nikki bonding.

This:

34. Quest to Sleepy Peak Peak (Season 2, episode 3)

I love watching Nerris and Harrison bicker, and Neil and Nikki fit really well into their group. It reminds me of being a kid, and of playing Dungeons & Dragons (as an adult, because I’m so cool), and of summer . . . which is a really good thing for this show. There are a lot of funny one-liners, and it’s just a good dang time.

33. Quartermaster Appreciation Day (Season 2, episode 6)

I don’t think this one is all that well-loved, but I thought it was funny. There are literally zero important plot or character moments, but it made me laugh a lot, and that’s all I need a Camp Camp episode to do.

I love QM, and the more we learn about him, the more confused and disturbed we end up being. What a fu/cking champion.

32. Arrival of the Torso Takers (Season 3 Halloween episode)

I lowkey hated this one when it came out, because I knew the Daniel stans were going to be exhausting. And they kind of were? But looking back, it’s a great way to reintroduce this motherfu/cker. He’s a lot scarier than he was the last time around -- but also less competent, which is a great way to kick him in the proverbial ba/lls -- and while I wish it had a lot more Gwen in it, it’s a clever and creative Halloween episode.

31. Operation: Charlie Tango Foxtrot (Season 3, episode 10)

Charlie . . . Tango . . . Foxtrot . . . CTF . . . OH! Capture the Flag! I never got that before. Oh, that’s neat. I love this show.

Listen, every time the writers decide to take a risk and do something bizarre and creative, I’m going to be here for it at least a little bit. An entire episode told from the POV of the Woodscouts, explaining how hard they failed in all directions? A great gag where everyone in Petrol’s story talks in grunts? The return of Jermy Fartz?! Fantastic.

30. Panicked Room (Season 4, episode 16)

Listen. I’m a sucker for my trash grandpa; anything Campbell-centric is probably going to be pretty good (except #54), because he’s just one of the most consistently funny and engaging characters. Good times are had whenever this terrible man is on the screen, and giving him a romantic backstory? A tragic romantic backstory full of mistakes and emotional damage?? One where he waited 17 YEARS for the love of his life???

We have no choice but to stan.

29. Party Pooper (Season 4, episode 15)

I’m so predictable. If you put Gwen in something, I will be happy. If you make an entire episode about how Gwen is under-appreciated and overworked and just trying to do her best despite the circumstances, I will dedicate my firstborn child to you.

Anyway, this episode is really sweet, and I liked the unexpected direction the writers took her relationship with her dad. He seems like a nice guy, they seem like they have a nice relationship, and . . . well, an episode about how hard it is to be an adult millennial hit pretty hard. Plus this was just a really pretty episode -- and not just because Gwen was in so much of it! Seriously, that night sky was a thing of beauty.

Also if you say a fuc/king word about Max and that godda/mn dog I will choke you out with your own intestines. Few things are more hilariously, annoyingly ironic than the fact that the entire fandom ignored and failed to appreciate Gwen . . . in the episode all about how everyone ignores and fails to appreciate Gwen.

28. Culture Day (Season 3 holiday episode)

Now, would it be arrogant to point out that I had the idea for a Culture/Heritage Day back in September 2018? Yes, especially since I don’t think the writers ever read fanfiction and it has literally nothing to do with this episode. Will that stop me? He/ll no it will not! I am a creature of ego! Read my stuff!

Anyway, this is a really fun look at Neil’s background, personality, and relationships. Max looking out for him is just . . . oh my god, I cannot, I’ve written like 30 of these and my brain is starting to melt, but these two are so cute. I love arrogant Neil, and I love protective Max, and I love QM and Gwen fuc/king over the Flower Scouts to save the day. Everything about this episode is lovely.

27. Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper (Season 3, episode 7)

This should not be ranked so high (even if these are all essentially tied). This is a dumb episode based on a really, really dumb premise.

But . . . I don’t know what to tell you. “Samboy Kidwell,” Max realizing he and Campbell are disturbingly similar and not liking what his future could look like, David’s “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” face . . . this episode happens to hit all of my favorite things. It had a really good balance of heavy-handed moralizing and goofs, it was part of the most graceful lead-up into a finale the show has ever had, and I’m just all about it.

Excellent job, Samboy. Count Olaf would be proud of your disguise.

There ends the “some good sh/it” tier. We’re starting to get into the really excellent stuff now!

26. Parents' Day (Season 2, episode 12)

I know. You want this to be higher. I hear you.

Honestly I’m kind of shocked it’s this high; it’s my least favorite of the season finales so far, and I had to push past a lot of prejudice to actually rank this where I think it deserves to be, as opposed to somewhere in the like mid-40s. Mostly because it gave fuel to the raging inferno of “Max has terrible parents and David should adopt him” headcanons, which I’ve detailed my problems with extensively in the past (in a post that, statistically speaking, none of you have read).

But, trying to be objective: is this episode actually any good?

Well . . . yeah, it really is.

So much work was put into giving each of the campers families that make sense with their characters and bounce absurdly well off of them, ranging from wholesome and adorable (Nerris’s family) to quietly tragic (Harrison’s parents), and they’re all designed so well; they’re fun to look at and fun to watch interact with the kids and each other. (The only exception is Dolph’s dad, who is both kinda lame and misattributes the cause of the weird Na/zi thing because it did not come from Germany, I assure you. But things with Dolph are always a little off, and I don’t really know how you would give him a backstory that actually works with the character, so they were caught between a rock and a hard place there.)

The drama of David having to choose between the man he considers his father and the camp he considers his home is really touching, and him and Gwen choosing to take a sad camper out to get pizza instead of covering for their boss’s a/ss is such a beautiful moment for both of them that I can’t really blame the fandom for losing their mind over it. Campbell’s arrest leading into the arcs of the next two seasons was great as well, and the finale left us all with this weird sense of foreboding because we didn’t know what was going to happen next; it was the only finale that actually ended on something close to a cliffhanger, while still being satisfying enough to keep us all from melting down.

Plus, it’s funny. Carl and Candy are really funny and the idea of Neil and Nikki’s parents boning is funny in a horrible way. The joke about Quartersister is funny. It’s a good episode.

Should this be higher? Maybe, but I can’t bring myself to put it above the rest of these episodes. Again: make your own list.

25. Mind Freakers (Season 1, episode 10)

The episode that launched a thousand ships. Assuming those ships are all Harrison/Neil, anyway.

It’s hard to talk about these Season 1 episodes because they feel so classic. Like, what is there to say? You’ve all seen it a couple dozen times; I’ve seen it a couple dozen times. Harrison is a di/ck, Neil is possibly an even bigger di/ck, and magic may or may not be real. (Though spoilers for literally every season: yes, magic is definitely real.) It’s so much fun watching these two smug as/sholes snipe at each other in an almost literal playground hair-pulling way that could very easily be read as flirtation.

And the fandom did most certainly read it that way, at least for a little while.

24. Gwen Gets a Job (Season 2, episode 8)

It’s Gwen. What, was I supposed to not put it this high?

This was the first Gwen-centric episode, and it absolutely slaps. She’s pushed to the breaking point and responds by being a cold-hearted BAMF, and it got her some pretty significant hate from fans but I don’t give a fu/ck, I loved it. We got to see her all dolled up, and then we got to see her all disheveled, and both of those looks were gorgeous. David gives her a tiny fragment of the love and validation she deserves (I don’t know if this is when gwenvid started taking off -- I think it wasn’t really until “Parents’ Day,” or even Season 3 -- but I ate that s/hit up).

Also, again: job hunting post-2008. It’s a bad time, y’all. Camp Camp gets it.

23. Follow the Leader (Season 4, episode 6)

Yeah, I was kind of surprised at how high this landed, too. I guess I’m just a sucker for unlikely companionships, and these three have a great chemistry. The combination of competitiveness, sass, and reluctant admiration make their interactions a lot of fun. Their motivation of doing petty errands for Campbell for the sake of getting at the Box of Illegal Contraband is a great framework too, with high enough stakes to justify all sorts of wacky shenanigans without causing actual anxiety.

I want to see these characters forced to spend more time together. Please, RT, make that happen.

22. Escape from Camp Campbell (Season 1, episode 1)

In terms of numbers, this feels so low, but considering everything from about #45 on is ranked as at least decent, this is actually a pretty high rating. There are 21 episodes I’d call better than this, but these decisions were all pretty painful.

This introduces us to everyone! The main trio, the counselors, Mr. Campbell; we get a snapshot of the major personalities running around the camp, the major points of conflict (Max vs. David, primarily), the major building blocks of future episodes, setting, and relationships . . .

Again, I don’t know how much of my love for this episode is nostalgia -- there’s a lot of squeeing at familiar faces and gags; this is the first time David gets hit by a bus!!! -- but it was a fun and funny introduction to a series that’s ended up being so important to me, and I’m so grateful this wonderful, quirky little show with its wonderful and quirky little premiere.

Of all the episodes, I really can’t look at this one objectively. It’s too important.

21. The Fun-Raiser (Season 3, episode 1)

David and Gwen scheming is my ki/nk. They very rarely scheme together, but every single time their teamwork makes the dream work (or, more frequently, makes the dream fail horribly and have disastrous consequences) my soul flies out of my body and takes to the stars, where I write another 500 first chapters to gwenvid fanfics I’ll probably never finish.

This is a great follow-up to “Parents’ Day,” where we immediately see the consequences of the previous season finale and what happens when the one adult in the camp disappears. Mr. Campbell was a terrible adult, true, but at least he was smart enough not to steal QM’s hook. Like . . . whose plan was this? It was so bad. These two are hilariously incompetent sometimes -- often when their bad ideas are feeding off of each other, actually, a la this and “Space Camp Was a Hoax” -- and watching them frantically try and keep all their balls in the air is so great.

The ending is satisfying, too; a bit graphic, in keeping with a show that tends to keep the violence limited to periodic spurts of bloodshed 1-2 times a season and mostly pretty mild the rest of the time, but between Max stepping up and fixing everything while still being his shi/tty self to our dear dumba/ss counselors getting their dumb as/ses handed to them (deservedly so, if we’re being honest) . . . it’s such a great note to begin a new season on.

20. Journey to Spooky Island (Season 1, episode 5)

A classic.

We get to meet our spooky boy Jasper, we get to watch the comedy trio play off each other and continue to sketch out the general contours of their friendship, and we get to see the Quartermaster with a big purple dil/do for a hand. What’s not to love?

19. The Butterfinger Effect (Season 4, episode 17)

CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES! GET YOUR CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES HERE!

I’ve already gone into some pretty intense detail about why I think this one is actually really good and carries the theme of embracing change that everything about Season 4 was centered around, but none of y’all read that so here it is in short: this episode is super funny, almost all of the campers’ transformations work really well as extensions of their characters while still being strange and surprising, and the fact that Nurf creates all of these problems by trying to solve them is deliciously fun to watch in a karmic sort of way.

Or maybe it’s just because any Nurf-centric episode is going to rank pretty highly for me. That is also possible.

18. Space Camp Was a Hoax (Season 2, episode 10)

Our camp counselors being bad people: it’s my drug of choice.

We get Space Kid tripping balls in what might be one of the funniest sequences in the show, the entire camp coming together to try and pull off the stupidest, most impossible task (and kinda maybe almost nailing it???), and once again the fun of watching Gwen and David scramble to keep from getting caught in their boss’s shit/ty lies is so great. And Lindsay’s voice acting is absolutely killer, even more so than usual.

17. Jermy Fartz (Season 2, episode 4)

I get the sense this might be a somewhat controversial one.

I’ve written before about why I think this episode is a lot of fun, but it mostly boils down to two things: watching the campers try (and fail) to be nice to the most bully-able person on the entire planet, and the essential likeableness of Jermy.

No, really.

I think a lot of people were put off by Jermy’s general grossness, because . . . my god is he disgusting, but he’s also polite and good-natured, and seems totally self aware of how difficult he is to be around, without letting it make him depressed. He’s cheerful in a weirdly downbeat way that’s impossible to understand until you see him in action. He’s so matter-of-fact about his own awfulness in a way that I found entirely endearing. I don’t think I’d want him at my camp, either, but get that kid to a good dermatologist and gastroenterologist, teach him some basic hygiene and social skills, and you’ll have quite a little gentleman there.

I do however find it hilarious that apparently David got the type of tree wrong when making fun of Jermy. Not only is that a great moment for reveling in David being an as/shole, but he didn’t even have the right wood. F/ucking idiot. I love him so much.

These last ones are my favorites! (Well, duh, that’s how this whole ranking thing works.) Maybe not perfect, but just really good and with limitless rewatch value.

16. St. Campbell's Day (Season 4 holiday episode)

They Grinch’d Camp Camp. Those brilliant bast/ards, they really pulled it off.

Ignoring the fact that David is truly frightening-looking for most of the episode, this is a great bookend to Season 4, following up on the theme established in the first episode about how David is a flawed and selfish human being despite trying his best not to be.

This is another one I was surprised to find so high on the list, but the more I thought about it the more I realizes how good it is. David being a jerk is always one of my favorite storylines, and the fact that the trouble comes from him trusting Mr. Campbell too little instead of too much is a nice twist on the usual formula. Gwen coming to help him out despite a blistering hangover gave me aggressive shipping feels, yes, obviously.

Between a lot of really funny little gags like QM’s failed satanic ritual and the genuinely touching moral about the importance of spending time with the people you love, it’s just a really lovely episode that gets just the right amount of maudlin for the holiday season.

15. Jasper Dies at the End (Season 2, episode 5)

I kept switching this and “Dial M for Jasper”; it was a really difficult decision to make, figuring out where these two belonged. I think in the end, while the John Dies at the End reference was very, very good, this one loses me a little bit by being told from David’s perspective. Now, normally the more David is in an episode the more I’ll be likely to love it (see my #1 for proof of that), but his blinders when it comes to the camp and Mr. Campbell result in a really funny story, but one without the same emotional heft as hearing about what happened from Jasper’s point of view.

That doesn’t mean it’s not perfect for what it needs to be: each Jasper episode builds on the previous ones, and having the same intensity of “Dial M for Jasper,” where we learn how he died and how his relationship with David fell apart, would be weird and heavy at this point. In Season 1 we just found out he’s a ghost (and eagle-eyed viewers realized he’d been a camper with David); in Season 2 we find out how David views their friendship and time at camp; and in Season 3 we get Jasper’s perspective. It’s an absolutely wonderful raising of the stakes (for lack of a better term), but the one that packs more of an emotional punch is going to rank a bit higher than the one that’s mostly just for laughs.

That being said: there are plenty of laughs in this one. Everyone -- Griffin, Miles, Travis, the animators -- nailed this one, and it gets funnier every time I watch it.

14. Camporee (Season 1, episode 11)

AKA the episode where Forest realized she was in love with Gwen.

What a great idea for an episode, seriously. Every coming-of-age story has a talent show or a competition or a big game -- something where the kiddos can show off their improved skills and teamwork to beat their bullies or whatever. And this show has both kinds of bullies: the popular girly girls and the violent muscleheads. What a great moment to pull everyone together and show how friendship can help us accomplish anything!

Except . . . of course that’s not what happens. Of course they’re absolute garbage, and of course teamwork isn’t the answer. Gwen is the perfect foil for David here, being the anti-teamwork, anti-Camp-Campbell adult who can perfectly and effortlessly undermine David’s relentless optimism. David wants so badly for his campers to live in the same coming-of-age summer movie he did as a child, and their staunch refusal to do that leads to a really heartbreaking closer to the episode, as well as lead into the next one. Everything about this, from the challenges to the setup to Gwen shouting “we are winning this FUC/KING trophy!” is just gold.

13. David Gets Hard (Season 1, episode 9)

We have David. We have Nurf. We have Gwen. We have Max trying to be helpful in the shi/ttiest way possible.

We have all the makings of a da/mn good episode. And they deliver. Not a very emotionally intense or moving one, but so, so funny.

12. Dial M for Jasper (Season 3, episode 5)

This isn’t the fate any of us expected for Jasper, and it’s not the fate of a lot of people wanted. But godda/mn it, it worked. The constant bait-and-switch the episode keeps playing with, where you keep waiting for something really dramatic and tragic to happen . . . and then the reality is that Jasper died because Mr. Campbell was stupid and careless, and it was all just a horribly sad accident.

It’s anticlimactic, but in a way that suits the series, both as a comedic counterpoint to all the hype throughout the episode and as a way to establish that Cameron Campbell is a bad man first and foremost through selfishness and laziness, not Daniel-esque sinister evil. Jasper’s death was totally avoidable and totally Campbell’s fault, and while that’s sad, it also adds a weird sort of lightness to the episode. David didn’t do something terrible to kill his best friend, Jasper didn’t kill himself, and without having actively chosen to murder a child (well, not this time), the door remains open for fans accepting Campbell’s later pseudo-redemption. It was just an accident, and Jasper was “haunting” David to tell him that he was sorry for how their friendship ended. That’s really sweet, actually.

I think it’s the best way this reveal could’ve gone, and I’m so impressed with how they pulled it all off.

11. Into Town (Season 1, episode 8)

This might actually be the only flawless episode in the entire show. I mean, I call a lot of them flawless, and I mean that on an emotional level -- “I love this so much I cannot see anything wrong with it” -- but this one is a masterpiece of storytelling. All the technical jumbo I’m bad at, like planting and payoff and tension and all of that, is just perfect.

I feel like this is the kind of claim that needs to be backed up with a long-as/s essay full of citations and video clips and references to, like, Joseph Campbell or something, but this is my 49th entry in the list so I am not going to be doing that. Besides, I don’t think my English degree qualifies me to critique film/animation; I don’t even entirely know half the terms I’ve used to compliment this episode. Someone else please explain why this is such a good one.

10. The Quarter-Moon Convergence (Season 4, episode 5)

I’ve mentioned in other entries that the weird, surreal humor sometimes doesn’t work; it feels too much like being odd for its own sake, and sometimes gets so distracted in being surreal that it forgets to include anything funny or meaningful.

This . . . is not one of those.

Putting Harrison and QM together is a stroke of genius; the two of them are literally the most magical beings in the entire show, and using them as the conveyance for this great Lovecraftian horror-comedy was such a good idea. I don’t know if we’ll ever see these two interact in another episode -- honestly, this felt a bit like lightning in a bottle, and I have a hard time imagining what could possibly bring them together again -- but if this is the only episode we get, it is such a fantastic one.

Harrison makes a really good everyman, despite his powers; he’s just the right amount of confident and insecure to pull off that wide-eyed apprentice to QM’s grizzled wise mentor. (The fact that QM is objectively a terrible mentor is beside the point.) I still don’t entirely know what the two of them accomplished, but it feels baffling and momentous, with the perfect amount of gravity to make things extremely tense all the way through to the end.

Also, I guess God is an octopus? That’s kinda cool. I like octopuses.

9. Camp Corp. (Season 3, episode 12)

Another unpopular opinion? Oh ho ho, I am so contrary! I am Not Like Other Fans! I am the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, refusing to have the same opinions of all you prepz.

I know this wasn’t the most well-loved episode, but I think it did a really great job tying together story threads woven throughout Season 3: Max’s selfishness leading to him hurting other people, his growing realization that he cares about his friends and the camp itself, the parallels between him and Mr. Campbell (and the fact that they both get this redemption moment in the finale).

This is the most Max-centric season, focusing on his flaws and character growth, and they pulled it off in a really organic way that felt faithful to his character, touching without being too maudlin. The fact that his feelings about the camp are echoed in Gwen, Neil and Nikki, the other campers, and even Mr. Campbell drives home how important the camp -- and David -- are to this strange little family.

Each season, Max reluctantly becomes a better person, without changing the fundamental core of who he is. That’s a really hard putt for the writers and Michael, and I’m blown away every finale by how they so consistently nail it.

8. Time Crapsules (Season 4, episode 18)

Gwen-centric? Check.

Max learning how to be a better person while still being the bratty kid we know and love? Check.

Looks at one of the most under-appreciated character dynamics in the entire show (i.e., Max and Gwen)? Checkity check-check-check.

I don’t really have much to say about this one, which I should: it was considered a pretty serious letdown to a lot of fans, and I’m not sure how to explain why I loved it so much.

Comparing Max from “The Order of the Sparrow” to Max from this episode is wild. It’s not like 2 different characters: they’re still very obviously the same cynical, self-absorbed 10-year-old trying to survive summer camp. But he’s become a more considerate friend and decent version of that kid, and it’s great to watch. The moment where he and Gwen go too far and immediately regret snapping at each other is still painful (on my god, the VAs in this show, they’re so talented), Nikki and Neil both get nice subplots about how they’re also growing up, and the ending is fuc/king hilarious, perfectly breaking the tension from Campbell’s speech, which is both beautifully done and important to hear, especially if you’re in a period of uncomfortable transition (like, say, in your late 20s, or living through about 5 different national and global catastrophes).

And okay, I found that speech on the wiki for this episode and it made me deeply emotional, so here:

Here's the thing: you've got to take your failures and make something out of them. Take Camp Campbell for instance: a lot of poor decisions went into making this place what it is today. Sure, somewhere along the line it maybe strayed from its path, not living up to the camp it wanted to be. At some point, the camp realized that the camp would never reach the end of its path until it was ready or until it gave up. So, if the camp wanted to keep embezzling money and dealing with foreign powers, so be it! But, at some point, it didn't anymore. I never saw this coming, but I'm starting to think this camp is the best it's ever been.

If this is the last episode of Camp Camp we ever get -- and for at least a little while, it looks like it’s going to be -- I can’t think of a sweeter, funnier, and more lovely bittersweet note for this show to go out on.

7. The Lake Lilac Summer Social (Season 3, episode 6)

And again: No one was surprised.

This is the longest non-finale episode of the show, and it uses that time perfectly. Rather than having some big emotional moments and character arcs -- which are great, don’t get me wrong -- the writers use the extended time to build a series of shenanigans as complicated as Gwen’s matchmaking web, and watching her try to set up a series of dominos (with David, for once, being the responsible, level-headed one) is almost as satisfying as the catastrophic results.

Neil and Snake steal this episode, even from someone as in love with Gwen as I am, and for an episode that’s largely about making fun of shippers, there hasn’t been one that launched nearly as many ships as this. Neil/Snake? Tabii/Erin? Max/Nikki? GWENVID?! It’s all here, and I am here for it.

It was also fun to get a traditional episode setup in a very non-traditional show. I assume this means the beach and/or hot springs episode is forthcoming. (No, Pis/s Lake doesn’t count. Obviously it doesn’t count.)

6. Keep the Change (Season 4, episode 1)

Again, this is an episode I’ve said a lot about in the past -- and I was pretty uncharitable toward Season 3, which in retrospect was very unse/xy of me -- but I stand by a lot of my opinions then: this is a fu/cking great episode.

David is an as/shole, Max is an as/shole, Campbell is an as/shole. No one escapes the as/sholery. David schemes, Max catches him in the scheme, Campbell gets drunk and kind of gay . . . I’m 54 entries into this list and I don’t have much to say anymore: it’s just really good and fun and I love it.

5. Camp Loser Says What? (Season 4, episode 9)

This is another one I kind of hated when it came out, and again for fandom-related and personal-grudge reasons.

Fu/cking Daniel. That motherfu/cker. He shows up for 12 minutes and Tumblr bursts into flames. Every single time.

However, it’s really hard not to love this one. Daniel-as-Trump is a clever but subtle -- I mean, for this show’s definition of subtle -- allegory, and it’s amazing how much this slimy freak and the Woodscouts slot into it. David is a bise/xual disaster with the absolute worst taste in men, Dirty Kevin and Daniel are onscreen together for all of 2.5 seconds and the kevdan shippers lost their minds, and Xemug looks like Megamind for some weird reason.

My only minor complaint is that the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but it plays on Daniel’s stupidity and the value of teamwork, so it’s a very small nitpick in an episode that mostly works like gangbusters.

4. Cult Camp (Season 2, episode 1)

Duh. There’s a really good song and we’re introduced to a charismatic, sinister, and totally dumba/ss villain. What’s not to like?

I don’t think I even need to say anything about this episode. Season 2 started off the summer by throwing a lit firecracker directly at the viewer’s face, and ignoring the fact that we as a fandom proceeded to eat each other, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the episode’s wild energy.

And dude, that song. Fabulous. Fu/ck Daniel, but thank god he’s around to be such a prickly little pri/ck.

Now for the top 3: Literally perfect, wouldn’t change a single solitary thing.

3. After Hours (Season 4, episode 8)

I’m not sure anyone loved this episode as much as me. But this is my list, and I will put this up at the top if I want to and you cannot stop me.

It’s much easier in a lot of ways to talk about the episodes I hated than the ones I love this much. What do I say besides “literally everything about this fills me with joy and my life is better because it exists”? I don’t know. The counselors are my favorite characters, and between Gwen and QM having the weirdest bonding experience, Gwen getting to meet up with people who care about her silly fanfiction, Mr. Campbell being the trash grandpa of my dreams, David getting in way over his head . . . it’s the episode I always wanted, and they made it work so well.

Also, I just discovered that “Gwen Isn’t Your Mother So Stop Asking Her to Rinse Your Dishes” is an actual song and I am overwhelmed with delight. Here, I’m embedding it as well as linking because it’s so good:

youtube

God. This show. What the fu/ck even is up with this amazing, weird-as/s show.

2. The Order of the Sparrow (Season 1, episode 12)

Duh.

The entire first season is a great time (except “Reigny Day”), but it’s a pretty low-stakes kind of great time. There isn’t much in terms of emotional depth until the very end of “Camporee,” despite some hints at darker themes in one-off jokes and quick asides, so this episode comes a bit out of left field, tonally speaking.

But that’s not a bug, it’s a feature; if the show had been this overtly emotional from the outset, this finale wouldn’t hit as hard, and the rest of the season wouldn’t be as funny.

This manages to serve as a capstone to the conflict of the first season, building on episodes like “Into Town” and “Escape from Camp Campbell” in a way that feels totally natural for both David and Max’s characters while revealing new sides of them. It works because it’s so unexpected, but it doesn’t come across as incongruous with their personalities. It’s the first and only time David swears in all 4 seasons, and that line -- I don’t even need to say it, you know exactly what I’m talking about -- still gives me chills.

Also, Gwen sings the camp theme song. Impossible not to cherish.

1. The Forest (Season 4, episode 12)

I’m not sure if this one is a surprise or not. It might be the obvious first place, or it might be a bit of an oddball for some people.

I had a really hard time choosing between this and “The Order of the Sparrow”; I switched their places half a dozen times, and the difference in quality between the two is razor-thin. I think part of that is because it accomplishes a lot of what “Order of the Sparrow” does: puts David in a situation where he’s pushed to his absolute emotional and physical capacity, crushes every shred of hope he has left, and sees what he’s actually made of when you strip everything away. It’s much more dramatic this time around, but it’s the same basic concept.

And just like in the Season 1 finale, what we see is a man who’s determined to do good even when he isn’t rewarded for it, even when he’s actively punished for it. Who wants to love nature, and life, and make the world a better place -- despite his faults, his selfishness and thoughtlessness and anger, David proves that he is fundamentally kind. He’s not nearly as deludedly optimistic as he seems; he just refuses to stop trying.

Because somebody fuc/king has to.

I’ll admit, some of what puts this one in first place is that I’m a sucker for whump, and David really goes through the ringer. However, I also think it’s important to acknowledge the risk Joe Nicolosi took with writing this episode: it’s all centered around a single character, it’s darker and more viscerally bloody than any other episode in the show’s history, the art is focused on these grand sweeping backgrounds that must’ve taken forever to paint, and there’s very little talking in a show that runs 99% on clever dialogue. This could have so easily backfired -- and for some fans it did -- but it was brave and beautiful and breathtaking.

I’ve actually only watched this in full once. It’s really hard to get through; it’s just so intense and even disturbing. But if there’s one episode I'll remember for the rest of my life, even when I’m 80 years old and haven’t seen the show in years, it’ll be “The Forest.”

It’s funny how such a sharp departure from the format and style of the rest of the show somehow manages to perfectly capture the heart of it. Talk about a fuc/king achievement.

So what have we learned?

I don’t entirely know what the purpose of this whole exercise was. I think it was mostly to get myself a nice Camp Camp fix that came from something other than slogging through 20 different fanfic WIPs, and to remind myself of what a strange and fun ride the last 4 summers have been.

I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what Camp Camp means to me. This show has been hugely important to me on a personal level: I met two of my best friends through this fandom, and I’ve never been more connected to a community or readers than I have with CC. I know I bi/tch about this fandom a lot, but it’s a big extended internet family, and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Going through all these episodes, getting the chance to ramble about the things I liked and the things I didn’t, was a great way to reconnect with a series and community that I love.

So . . . what have we learned?

1. Season 4 was all over the place.

Some of this has to be due to the sheer volume of episodes, but when I sat down and organized everything into tiers:

There isn’t a single category Season 4 doesn’t have at least one episode in. I was surprised to see how high a lot of them ended up; it really was the best and worst of the show so far.

For the fun of it, I decided to give a number to each placement -- 60 points for the #1 episode, 59 for #2, etc. -- and see how each season broke down. Because that’s that kind of thing I think is worthwhile, apparently. And . . .

2. Seasons 1 and 4 are really good, actually.

Well, I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see how well Season 1 stacked up; it was amazing. But I was surprised to see how much I ended up enjoying Seasons 3 and 4, when if you’d asked me before this little project, I would’ve said they were the most underwhelming. Maybe I messed up the numbers a bit -- I’m no mathmagician -- but not only are they all really close, but Season 4 was one of my favorites.

3. This entire show is really good, actually.

One thing that really struck me when I put it all together visually is how most of the episodes sit in the “good,” “really good,” or “amazing” categories. The amount of episodes that are memorable, fun, and/or emotionally resonant is crazy. I don’t now how many other tiny cult-hit web series can say the same, honestly, and all of the writers, animators, directors/producers/other people whose jobs I don’t really understand, and voice actors should be commended for their outstanding talent and hard work.

4. Thank you, Camp Camp.

It was a real pleasure to relive all of these episodes again and think about what they meant to me. It won’t be the last time I sit down and watch this show -- and it certainly won’t be the end of my being a shrieking fangirl over it -- but with this break, where we have to get through a blazing, extremely difficult summer without a new season to fawn over, it’s nice to stop and appreciate what a precious gem of a show this is.

I hope everyone involved with Rooster Teeth is taking a much-deserved rest and prioritizing their health and well-being. Thank you for creating something truly special, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

#campcamp #camp camp roosterteeth #thank you RT Animation for giving me my life these past 4 years #cc david #cc max #cc gwen #i'm not tagging all the characters #campcamp masterpost #i really hope this doesn't get hidden from the tags but #guys this was a super intense labor of love please check it out #but also reading it is also a super intense labor so i get it if you don't XD

81 notes · View notes

spooky-z · 4 years

Text

Brother

A one shot without ship. And purely self-indulgent.

The song is Brother by Kodaline (I cry every time I hear).

"Good night, Dupont." NETi says into the microphone. “It's a pleasure to be here with you for a special performance.”

She looks at the sea of students, teachers, family, sitting in their proper places. There were also three cameras filming everything live for an exclusive Nadja Chamack holiday program.

NETi would not lie. There was a crackling nervousness under the skin, the tongue seemed slightly heavier and the blood running high in the ears.

It was not her first performance for an audience, but it was the first since Hawkmoth-aka-Gabriel Agreste being arrested and the death of Mayura-aka-Nathalie Sancoeur.

The first since Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir, had discovered his mother in a coma in the basement of the mansion. Since he had been adopted by another family.

The subject had been a hot topic across the country, the streets of Paris, the Dupont corridors, for months.

When the truth about France's greatest villain came out, many more filths emerged amid accusations of terrorism.

Child abuse, neglect and exploitation. There was no doubt about Gabriel's lack of parental competence. He was the worst. Not even the reason that he became a terrorist was able to stifle that yes, he was a terrible father and he didn't care to change that.

Adrien was devastated. He hasn't appeared in Dupont for weeks. Chloe kept quiet, Nino wouldn't drop his phone, Felix was more grumpy than usual, Kagami had a defeated air around her that was unbelievable to see.

Marinette cried every night for a broken heart. And I don't say that romantically. She was heartbroken for her friend, her partner. Her kitten. So mistreated, unaware of affection, exploited and abused. Alone.

When Adrien returned to Dupont, there was an awkward mood in the air. No one brave enough to look the blonde in the eye.

Or at least, that's what everyone thought before Marinette Dupain-Cheng entered the classroom breathlessly. Frantic eyes, flushed cheeks. As soon as she laid eyes on Adrien, a sweet smile appeared and she didn't think twice, before catching the boy in a tight hug.

It was the first time they had seen Marinette Dupain-Cheng, 150cm (4'11") holding Adrien Agreste, 175cm (5'9"), in her arms as the boy cried like a baby.

She didn't look at all overwhelmed by the boy's weight. In fact, Marinette looked pretty comfortable carrying him back to her seat.

After that day, they were only seen together. Glued together with extra-strong glue. The beginning of one was the end of the other.

And that, of course, didn’t go unnoticed. There were, and still were, many rumors of a love relationship between them. Absurd stories about Marinette keeping an eye on the money and Agreste recognition or Adrien using her as a handkerchief to wipe away the tears and that he would soon dismiss her when he was tired.

These were tough times, but they were getting better. Baby steps, they say (and rightly so).

She blinked at the sound of applause, coming out of the sea of thoughts.

NETi had once again been lost in her own mind in the middle of a concert.

She cleared her throat, a clumsy smile on her face.

“I will open the night with a song that is not mine but fits so well in the present moment of my life that I decided to sing for you.” NETi watches the audience once again until she meets the pair of green eyes and blond hair she liked so much.

He winks at her.

She winks back, making promises.

Kitty Section behind her for a collaboration.

"The name of the song is Brother and I will be singing to one of the most important people for me." The audience applauds again until it is suddenly silent.

The sound of Felix's keyboard begins gently.

When we were young, we were the ones The kings and queens oh yeah, we ruled the world We smoked cigarettes man no regrets Wish I could relive every single word

NETi's voice starts soft, the emotion overflowing with each word.

The blueberry eyes holding the green ones.

We've taken different paths And travelled different roads I know we'll always end up on the same one when we're old And when you're in the trenches And you're under fire I will cover you

She watches the way the eyes are unfocused, the mouth open and the red in the pale cheeks.

She wanted him to understand the meaning of that song.

To believe her.

If I was dying on my knees You would be the one to rescue me And if you were drowned at sea I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe

Because she knew it was true.

Whenever he had thrown himself forward to protect her in battle, or when he had “sold his soul to the devil” so she wouldn't be kicked out of Dupont, even if it meant ending the little freedom he had without the mask.

I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er

And she had him. She made a point of having him.

She would take care, protect. She would give blood.

She wanted him free. Living. Being happy.

And she would do everything to make it come true.

Oh brother, we'll go deeper than the ink Beneath the skin of our tattoos Though we don't share the same blood You're my brother and I love you that's the truth

The scars that magic recovery often did not erase from their skins.

The proof that they fought, wept, won.

True, they might not be brothers. There was no blood correlation between them, but siblings didn't need to share the same blood or DNA.

She loved him, no doubt. And that alone was proof.

We're living different lives Heaven only knows If we'll make it back with all our fingers and our toes 5 years, 20 years, come back It will always be the same

Because Hawkmoth, Gabriel, had taken so much from both of them. From Paris.

It didn't take skin scars to know the damage he'd done in their lives. In his life. How deep was the trauma he wove around him. Around Adrien.

But it was not enough to destroy them. Because they were strong. Heroes.

If I was dying on my knees You would be the one to rescue me And if you were drowned at sea I would give you my lungs so you could breathe

Because she would give her everything. The lungs, the air, the life.

He deserved the good things, deserved to live, to know the world.

Breathe freely, be free.

I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er

Oh God. She asked so much for it.

On the knees, hands clenched, so you could help him.

To get him out of the darkness.

And if we hit on troubled water I'll be the one to keep you warm and safe And we'll be carrying each other Until we say goodbye on our dying day

She felt something warm slide down her cheek, her blurry eyes barely able to see the audience.

The fingers sliding and... Oh.

They were tears. She was crying. Crying while singing. While opening her soul in front of all those people and cameras.

And it was so good. So fucking liberating.

Because I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er

There was no time to compose herself.

She was confessing, exposing herself.

NETi-no, Marinette wanted everyone to see and know.

For Adrien, Chat Noir, to understand.

If I was dying on my knees You would be the one to rescue me And if you were drowned at sea I would give you my lungs so you could breathe

She wiped her face.

The eyes scanned everything.

She watched some people cry; others very emotional.

There were also those who did not understand (like she-devil) and did not care to understand and others who were disinterested.

She didn't care.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh I've got you brother-er-er-er I've got you brother-er-er-er

Because the only person who mattered had understood out loud what she meant.

She was here to stay and would not leave.

He was smiling at her. Crying. The face in an ugly expression. But she wouldn't trade it for anything.

#miraculous ladybug #angst?#marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #salt? maybe idk #platonic adrienette #one shots

404 notes · View notes

ajokeformur-ray · 4 years

Note

So, I was wondering if you could write a piece about either Pat or J (your choice which😉) learning about reader’s comfort items and what they think about that. I think it would be interesting to see their opinion on/what they think about it. Doesn’t have to be a long piece of anything, just wherever the mini-prompt takes you. I was going to write something like this myself, but I was interested to see what you could come up with. Thanks darling💗

I told you about my heart pillow but I also have a big fuzzy blanket that is strawberry patterned (hence Pat’s nickname for me)

Okay, so you said you were okay with an OT3 piece but you deserve the world!!!! So I’ve done something a little... different.😉

You deserve every word and more so don’t feel guilty, my love, I wanted to Give Back To You. Thank you for everything that you have ever done for me, you are such a beautiful soul and I love you so, so much.💜🌷You are so strong and so brave and I’m honestly in awe of you. I love you so much.

If you don’t like any of this, please let me know and I’ll redo it for youuuu ~ 💙 I hope you don’t mind but I stalked your self-ship tag to get it as you as I could!

Total word count: 1, 931.

Peppermintttt ~ // wc: 561.

Almost everything was perfect.

The mattress seemed comfier this night than it usually did and the duvet, already warmed by your body and by Pat’s, shielded your bodies so naturally from the chill of the apartment. The pillow upon which your weary head rested so beautifully cradled you, and you felt more safe and loved in this moment with the familiar and comforting weight of Pat’s arm slung around your waist than you knew what to do with.

The only thing missing was...

“Pattycake?” Your voice was quiet and thick with sleep, so tired were you.

The deep and rich drowsy hum from behind you, the forward shifting of hips and the clumsy kiss placed to the hollow behind your ear made you smile and you knew that Pat was just as exhausted as you were; such busy lives did you both lead.

“Have you seen my fuzzy blanket? You know, the strawberry one?”

Pat hummed thoughtfully. “No, I - wait.” He felt you stiffen in his hold and so intelligent was he that he understood exactly why you wanted to know where your blanket was. There were no questions voiced, no judgements passed, no pause as Pat slid out of bed and your body was left feeling cold, the space against your back empty. You missed him even before he was fully off the mattress, and he smoothed your hair back from your head as he leaned over the mattress to place a kiss to your forehead. “Wait for me, babygirl. I think I know where it is.”

Your heart swelled up with love, so much that you thought your heart would surely explode from such a strong emotion, as you realised that Pat knew you well enough to understand even without being told and it made your beautiful eyes sting with tears you couldn’t help but allow to fall, so sensitive a soul were you that any kind of emotion expressed itself in tears. So often were you embarrassed about it, but Pat only ever adored you for it. Every time you cried did he cup your face in his hands and kiss your tears away; so deep and unconditional was the love he held by you. it was matched only by the love you held for him, soulmates were you even at your young ages.

There were movements and then you heard a loud and triumphant “a-ha!”. Within seconds was Pat back in the bedroom and you felt the sun coming out through the clouds again as soon as the door shut behind him with a quiet but firm click. “Here, strawberry,” He chuckled at his new name for you and passed the blanket over. He had folded it on his way back into the bedroom and you got yourself comfortable with it in your usual way. Pat’s humour died when he saw your tears but then understanding dawned, as always it did, for there was nothing he couldn’t understand when it came to you, his marshmallow, and he got into bed quickly. “Come here, sweetheart.”

Pat kissed your tears away, smoothed your hair back from your face, and tucked you into his body. And finally with your blanket and your koala in your arms, you found rest - mind, body and soul. Pat followed soon after, for there was nowhere you could go where he wouldn’t follow.

Grumpy pandaaaaa ~ // wc: 744.

You were so tired that you didn’t even feel tired and though it was only nine thirty in the evening, to say that you were ready for bed was an understatement. You could hear J moving around in the apartment and you knew that he was carrying out his checks on the windows, doors and corresponding locks; so hyper-vigilant and concerned for your safety was he.

Wearing your pyjamas and tucked up in bed were you, there was only one thing missing, and you couldn’t for the life of you find your heart shaped pillow. It was a very great comfort for you and you just felt wrong without it in your arms, especially when you were going to sleep.

“J?” You called out through the apartment and you started a little when J’s head suddenly popped around the door frame, so stealthy was he that you hadn’t heard him moving around to get to you, the only thing in the world he treated seriously.

“... Yeah?” J’s expectant question was coupled with raised eyebrows and he wiggled his fingers as he came to grip the doorframe. He was already having trouble keeping still, so pent up was he. You knew you would be lucky if he stayed with you even until you fell asleep this night.

“Have you seen my... have you seen a pillow? It’s shaped like a heart, and - “

J cooed mockingly. “Oh, why the search, my prick-ly pear?” J disappeared back around the door frame with a high pitched giggle and you resisted the urge to launch a pillow at the space he had just vacated; you would only have to get up for it.

“You’re such an ass sometimes, J,” The mumbling under your breath was heard by J, only around the corner, and he giggled again as he came back into the room, shedding his royal purple trench. He striped off easily and without any shame or care and pulled on a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt - a rare treat for you. As J flung the covers back and jumped into bed, something which he knew annoyed you, you spotted your heart pillow. Your heart leapt into your throat but J was settled before you could get it. He wanted his cuddles, but you wanted your pillow! “J, get - “ You shoved at him with one hand and the bed began to shake with J’s barely suppressed laughter. You had hardly moved him. “My pillow, it’s right there - J, move!”

J began to laugh with his entire body as he moved his hips up and off the mattress with a somewhat suggestive thrust so that you could grab your pillow, and as soon as it was within your hold did you snuggle your face into it, squeezing it as hard as you could. You were cute, J supposed, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “What, ah - what? Ya’ need a pillow to help ya’ sleep? Why? What’s so special about a pillow, hm?”

"I just... need my comfort items. It’s my pillow.” You trailed off somewhat lamely, not knowing what else to say. What could you say? Only people who had comfort items understood how it felt when they were lost or misplaced, for even a moment.

A finger touched the underside of your chin and your face was lifted up to face J. Brown eyes met your own lighter ones and there was a serious look within J’s own. After some moments in which you felt yourself falling into J, your clown huffed in amusement and shook his head, slightly greasy strands of faded green sticking to his forehead. “Ya’ a collector of hearts, ain’t’cha?”

You frowned, not quite understanding. “What do you mean?”

“Well, ah - “ J pointed to the pillow. “Ya’ got three hearts to. ah - sleep with. Ya’ got your own,” He tapped the space on your chest where your heart would be, “Ya’ got’cha pillow,” an emphatic tug on the pillow, “And ya’ got... “ J trailed off now, his turn was it to not know what to say, and you understood.

You cooed softly and leaned forward to press a kiss to J’s forehead. The man grunted in acknowledgement but you knew that he was deeply touched by your action. “I love you too, Jack.”

You weren’t the only one to fall asleep with a smile on your face that night.

OT3 💖 ~ // wc: 626

Yourself and Pat were both lucky that tonight was a night during which J was just as tired as the both of you were. Life had been the wrong kind of chaotic recently for all three of you and finally, finally, was it time for bedtime. It had been dictated by your yawning, which prompted Pat’s yawning, and this had created some kind of back and forth exchange in which neither of you could stop yawning.

J had found this amusing, up until he had begun to yawn as well, infectious is a yawn to those whom possess even the smallest modicum of empathy, and he called it quits. “All right, kiddos - time to, ah - get some rest, hm?”

His young loves had readily agreed, which was just as well for J didn’t feel like arguing or being firm - he was only just masking his exhaustion as it was. The three of you danced around each other in the bathroom as you each got ready for bed, and as you each carried out your own routines did silence fall. There were no need for words, so well did the three of you work together and so in love were the three of you, all of you soulmates and meant to be, that you didn’t need verbal communication.

As welcome as the sight of the bed was, your eyes couldn’t detect your pillow or your blanket. Even so, you got into bed, hoping that J would just end up lying on your items, but when you shifted and turned and still could you not get comfortable, J chuckled. “Ya’, ah - wrigglin’, little one. What is it, hm?” You looked across the bed and over Pat’s body - the poor man was almost asleep even though he had only just gotten into bed - to find that J was looking at you carefully. Even if you didn’t answer him verbally, he would hear your words through your body language, so intelligent was he but also so completely did he know you.

“My... blanket. And... do you know where my pillow is? I can maybe do without one, but I do need - “

J sighed wearily and eased himself up and out of bed with a dramatic groan. “I got’cha, sweets.” J disappeared out of the room and Pat sighed sleepily and rolled over, effectively crushing you to his chest.

“S’okay, love,” Pat pressed a clumsy kiss to your hair, “Our soldier will find them.”

“I only need one.” A statement you weren’t sure was wholly true, but you were too tired to care if you had both or just one.

“No, you need both,” Pat pressed a sleepy and clumsy kiss to your lips. “Don’t put yourself out for us, okay?”

You nodded sleepily and closed your eyes as Pat tipped his head to press a kiss to your forehead. You hummed and leaned into Pat’s touch, your soul needing him like your lungs needed oxygen, and there was a sudden darkness over you as J plopped the blanket down onto your head. Then, there was another weight which dropped onto you as he put the pillow roughly by your head. A literal leap over yourself and Pat as J somehow vaulted himself over your bodies and J’s young loves groaned at how much force he used to get comfortable, but in the end was your clown with you in bed.

You closed your eyes and sunk into the scents of your loves, which mixed inside your nose, infiltrated your body and set your mind and your heart at rest. As your soul slipped into the love it thrived upon every single day, your conscious too sunk into sleep... and all was well.

#loveletterstoledger #requests closed #J x rosie x patrick #heath ledger #j x patrick x rosie #ledger!joker #patrick verona #tdk #the dark knight #10 things i hate about you

23 notes · View notes

deerfests · 3 years

Note

( 001. the young pope/the new pope || 002. lenny/brannox || 003. sir john brannox ) && ( 001. space force || 002. malloraird || 003. dr adrian mallory ) && ( 004. the new pope/space force )

just for the heck of it, and because i’m greedy ☺️

fandom ask

man wth that's a lot... 😂😂😂

Okay, off we go~

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: + The Young Pope/The New Pope

Favorite character:

Sir John Brannox, because I love the emo pope. He's got so many issues, and he's lovable for it.

Least Favorite character:

Um... I guess I don't know. I don't want to offend anyone.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

I only have 2-- Sofia Dubois/Sir John Brannox and Lenny Belardo/Sir John Brannox. Judge me if you must *shrugs*

Character I find most attractive:

Lenny and Brannox gotta fight over that one. I like how both of them look.

Character I would marry:

My hand in marriage is saved for Trench, exclusively, and he's not even a character in the show. Sorry. 🤠

Character I would be best friends with:

Gutiérrez but that's cuz he's a nice man and stuff. The dude would be swept away by me doing bs and just end up enduring it, not because he likes me. Let's be real. Nobody in the show would like me enough to befriend me! Unless I somehow weasel my way to Brannox, and we bond over being sad bastards but I don't think I have the energy to deal with his moping...

a random thought:

I feel like Adam's grave fucked up the timeline, nothing adds up. I'm sorry, but how old is Brannox supposed to be?? I am confused.

An unpopular opinion:

I don't obsess with some characters the rest of the fandom seems to, so I guess that's my unpopular opinion.

my canon OTP:

Sofia Dubois/Sir John Brannox

Non-canon OTP:

Lenny Belardo/Sir John Brannox, because imagine how fun that'd be!

most badass character:

Fck, I feel it's Lenny in The Young Pope. He's just out there destroying things.

pairing I am not a fan of:

I don't desire to put a bullseye on my back.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Hmm, I feel like Adam is an easy pick cuz for real, they did fuck up the timeline with him.

favourite friendship:

Lenny and Gutiérrez

character I want to adopt or be adopted by:

Nobody!! AH, that would screw me up big time.

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you: + Lenny/Brannox

when of if I started shipping it.

Like love at first sight, I fell for that shit since I saw them doing the world's most awkward prom picture. I mean, look at it:

And then I was pissed off... I watched the whole season and while I enjoyed it, I didn't get nearly enough interactions! But what I got, I treasure... Even if it probably tricks you into thinking this ship's dynamic is different than what I actually headcanon for them.

my thoughts:

Lenny would fuck up Brannox so badly. Then probably feel guilty about it to some extent, and try to do something about his incredibly low self-esteem. :) This is the only sfw thought I have.

What makes me happy about them:

:)) wouldn't you like to know.

I love, love, love the energy they would have, ok!? Imagine, the constant contrast of Lenny and Brannox! Just...imagine.

What makes me sad about them:

Lenny's dead. :((

Also, Brannox has no self-esteem. :(

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

IF there was fanfic of them, which there is none of, I checked-- I would be annoyed if somebody thought Brannox had any power to hold over Lenny. Also, IF there was fanfic, I would not hesitate to read it even if it was garbage, but there's none.

things I look for in fanfic:

Actually existing fanfic. There's none. I gotta write that shit myself, and I'm trying, but it's hard!

My kinks:

:)) I can't. I'll get shadowbanned. Lenny fucks him up, let's just say.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Sofia with Brannox, death with Lenny, I guess?? I'm quite happy how the show ended, but I've never been one to want my ships to be canon, most of the time.

My happily ever after for them:

They quit the clergy, I guess, and Lenny lives with Brannox in the estate and they slip into an awkward but working relationship? Brannox gets over his problems and so does Lenny.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you + Sir John Brannox.

How I feel about this character:

I feel I got into it before, but I love him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Ah, this is a repeat. Sofia and Lenny, both in their own verses, never together at the same time.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

....Happiness/Brannox.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Not in the mood to put a bullseye on myself~

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

We got to see him interact more with ghost!Lenny. Like the scene at Adam's grave, just replay it 100x more.

my het ship:

Sofia and him.

my fem/slash ship:

Lenny and him.

my OTP:

Lenny/Brannox. But that might be cuz I love suffering and pissing people off.

my OT3:

None~

my cross over ship:

None???

my kink:

He has a praise kink.Probably cries during it, too.

a head cannon fact:

*gently puts a hand on Brannox's head* This bastard can fit so many obsessive thoughts in himself!

Also, sorry tumblr user sirjohnbrannox, I am stealing all your headcanons about him.

His parents probably mainly hated him cuz he was a non-straight punk, then started drugs to deal with his problems, and genuinely I feel like he's a little bit...how do I put this, not stable cuz of that. Adam was a perfect son, John meanwhile ended up traumatized and soft and scared. He has no self-esteem cuz his parents fucking sucked and played favorites!! And also probably blamed him for Adam’s death, I guess. Fuck Brannox's parents!! I don't want to see them!!

my gender bend:

I don't have one, cuz I don't like them~

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my: + Space Force

Favorite character:

Dr. Adrian Mallory, duh.

Least Favorite character:

RIP in PEPPERONI, KICK !! I HOPE YOU DIE.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

I literally only have one ship, Adrian/Mark.

Character I find most attractive:

In this episode of Dickie sets up ridiculous fights: Adrian Mallory vs Mark Naird. For whoever of the two, I actually find most attractive. Because I don't know, but boys are good.

Character I would marry:

HHHHH no

Character I would be best friends with:

Adrian, but only because we're both could be judgemental af... together!

a random thought:

Man, I hope they didn't make Malk shave for season 2. I'd hate that.

An unpopular opinion:

I don't care that much for Fuck Tony, I'm sorry. He's fine, I just-- don't really see the appeal of him. Maybe, just maybe, I'm too much into old men.

my canon OTP:

I...no? IDK!? Ali/Chan is cute, I guess and they're canon.

Non-canon OTP:

Adrian/Mark, which probably will never be actually canon and we'll keep getting ship baited.RIP. Good that I don't care about my ships being canon all that much.

most badass character:

???? IN SPACE FORCE????

pairing I am not a fan of:

I do not care for Ch*ntony. RIP. Not a NOTP but I just don't see it.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Erin Naird. I understand where's she's coming from, but my god.... they really wrote it poorly.

favourite friendship:

Mark and Adrian in the canon lense I guess.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by:

Nope.

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you: + Malloraird

when of if I started shipping it.

When tumblr user sirjohnbrannox didn't shut up about it.

my thoughts:

It's cute, but my kinky hands will continue rubbing off on it.

What makes me happy about them:

Adrian being head over heels for a dense fool.

What makes me sad about them:

Nothing, cuz there's nothing sad in the show? Or at least nothing I am emotionally invested into enough to actually be upset about?

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Y'all really think Adrian is vanilla? Y'all really think Adrian is anything but a brat?

things I look for in fanfic:

I am interested in a plot, that has a build-up for these two. So...my fic, In Need, which I am still working on. Cuz I literally stopped after my life fell apart and I couldn't handle the daunting comments. Anyways as I was saying. In Need-- except make it good.

My kinks:

:)) I don't want to get shadowbanned but Adrian is not vanilla, let's just say.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Just keep Mark with his wife, I don't care. Adrian, anyone but Jerome. It was painful to witness Jerome. I'm sorry, but how do you write Adrian-- a fairly not too stereotypical gay man? And then write him to be with somebody like Jerome, which just comes off as "oh shit we need a character for this and we didn't establish anyone!"

Also-- Jerome/Adrian is, unfortunately, canon-- why does the wiki make it creepy and one-sided?!!?

My happily ever after for them:

Maggie gets out of prison, runs off with her guard lover (which I'm actually fairly certain will happen), and Mark slowly enters a relationship with Adrian which actually results in both of them widening their views on things and getting along.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you + Dr Adrian Mallory

How I feel about this character:

He's pretty cool. Fun.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

I literally only ship him with Mark, cuz Jerome gives me the worst vibes that make me actively partake in Jerome erasure.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

404 BrOTP not found.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

The man's a brat.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish he would have sung that song about Mark, and it would have actually been one side and nobody would have figured it out (so no photo kissing at the end) lmao cuz that'd -- now that'd be cursed and fun. >:3c

my het ship:

He's canonically gay so none. Unless season 2 decides to make him bisexual, this will continue.

my fem/slash ship:

Him with Mark.

my OTP:

Him and Mark. God, doing these memes is getting repetitve.

my OT3:

None.

my cross over ship:

Lmao none. I mean, c'mon I don't even like crossovers 99% of the time.

my kink:

:DD are you trying to get me shadowbanned, bud.

a head cannon fact:

I have none that I can share here, or at least none springing to mind... but can we all agree that people saying Adrian is a spy or he has intentions for Space Force's downfall, is so funny, because it's literally not that deep. He's just gay and in love with Mark, how much do the r*dditors gotta overthink the damn show? It's not even that good to overthink!

my gender bend:

NO, I don't like them.

004 | send me 2 fandoms and I will give yo my crossover OTP + The New Pope/Space Force

None of these, I am not answering this, cuz this is the worst crossover ever conceived by man and I don't even like crossovers enough to begin with and my laptop is dying from heat--

....;

no? ok.

Imagine poor ol' Brannox meeting Adrian. Goodbye.

#sirjohnbrannox #ask #aks meme answered #extremely long post under cut #long post cw

1 note · View note

hyperfixationspam · 3 years

Text

jonmartin voice requests transcript

i don’t think anybody’s made a transcript of the requests from the gaming & giving stream yet so here it is. i cut out the first few minutes where they’re just getting ready and a few minutes at the end, but otherwise it’s the full thing

ALEX (out of character): So, we are going to be going through a bunch of reads which are what people have been, basically providing us to say. I’ve not seen these beyond checking that I can open the document, so this is sort of, a bit of a blind read on my end.

JONNY: I’ve read through some of them and they are awful.

ALEX: (laughing) Fabulous. Great. So with that in mind, I’m now opening it up. Um... okay, cool, so for the first one, you- I need to interrupt you. (frustrated) Oh, fine.

JONNY: Okay, so this is from donut_bridgetrose. (spooky voice) The Magnus Archives is a podcast-

ALEX (ooc, very loud and overenthusiastic): FUCK, DUDE! YEAH IT SURE IS!

(Jonny starts laughing out of shock)

ALEX: I thought that was an appropriate level of enthusiasm.

JONNY: (laughing) Sorry, I didn’t expect you to put quite so much pepper on that one!

ALEX: I mean, I don’t know what to say like-

JONNY: No, fair enough, fair enough.

ALEX: I’m just reading with (???) intent. I’m up next, who’s this one from?

JONNY: Uh, reatx.

ALEX: Okay, given the writing of this one, I’m going to assume this is actually intended as a Martin one, not an Alex one, so I’ll do it as such. (clears throat to do Martin voice, disappointed tone) Jon, please j-just stop reheating tea in the microwave!

JONNY: The next one is from sofairycakes. Again, I’m gonna assume it’s a- like, I think these are all pretty much JonMartin ones, to be honest. I don’t think anyone’s actually said- the thing is, Alex, I don’t think anyone actually cares what *we* say.

ALEX: (laughs) That’s true. So I think we need to do this one like-

JONNY: No one’s paying to have, like, Alexander J. Newall say something, you know?

ALEX: It’s fine, I’ll pay me. Okay, I think we have to do this simultaneously.

JONNY: Yeah, because it says “both.” Or... let’s- do you want to go first?

ALEX: I don’t know if it is- no, let’s say it together, let’s say it together. Let’s try and sync up.

JONNY: I don’t- I don’t think they want it simultaneously. I think what this means is they don’t mind which one’s which.

ALEX: Very well, in which case then, I’ll go first.

JONNY: Okay.

ALEX: And I’ll do it as a Martin one, then. (clears throat, Martin voice, soft) I-I’ll take care of you.

JONNY (Archivist): (hoarse, upset voice) It’s rotten work.

ALEX (Martin): Not to me. Not if it’s you. (ooc) There you go.

JONNY: Okay. Ac3yspac3y-

(Alex laughs)

JONNY: Or, ace 3 space 3.

ALEX: Okay, great.

JONNY: (clears throat)

ALEX: Yeah, really get the-

JONNY (ooc, looking straight at the camera): Four rats in a trench coat is the best Peter Lukas, and we love him.

ALEX: (laughs) Direct to camera address, very nice, okay. (as Martin) Jon, why isn’t Lonely Eyes *our* ship name? (ooc) Who was that from, by the way?

JONNY: That was from compostwitch. Next one is from theoceaninmotion, there’s a whole bunch for you.

ALEX: Ooh, yeah. Oh, my formatting’s terrible, I’m gonna do the unspeakable, I’m now just gonna start looking at the text instead of your face. (computer screen shines in his eyes) Ooh, that’s bright, maybe not, maybe not. Okay, gimme a second to just mess with my formatting because I can’t see nothing.

JONNY: There’s very little like streaming to make you realize quite how absurdly pale you are after a year of just being inside.

ALEX: Outside is bad time. Right, okay, I’m gonna give this a go, then. Forgive me if I hesitate here, I’ll do my best. (clears throat) No, don’t-

JONNY: This is from- sorry. This is from theoceaninmotion.

ALEX (Martin): No, don’t click- Peter, just-just give me your phone, I’ll get the emojis set up, but I-I *refuse* to help you understand Elias’s texts any further from here. There are just some things I don’t need to know! (grossed out noise)

JONNY: This is from joeytwoeyes.

ALEX: I’m gonna assume Martin as well. (as Martin) Mm, assassins killing Elias? My favorite!

JONNY: This one is from nagev.

ALEX: Uhh. Alright, I think this one might be for me, like not a Martin one. (deep sigh) Harrison Campbell is my favorite author.

JONNY: This is one for me from riotcontrolcamp. (as the Archivist) Sometimes people will ask me about my life aspirations and I’m like, I don’t know, I thought I’d be in a car with my hand out of the tail light by now.

ALEX: (laughs) I like that one.

JONNY: This one’s from Cassidy.

ALEX (Martin): Forgive and forget? (very quickly shifts into a hysterical voice that’s very much not Martin’s) No! Resent and remember! (cackles evilly)

JONNY: From cucumberkale, this is a two hander.

ALEX: Oh, yeah, I’m first. (as Martin) I have done nothing wrong ever, on my life.

JONNY (Archivist): I know this and I love you. (ooc) Good little Parks and Rec reference there.

ALEX: Oh, yeah!

JONNY: From the bluescapegoat.

ALEX (Martin, mischievous): Jon, uh, did you hear about the explosion at the cheese shop?

JONNY (Archivist): What? What cheese shop?

ALEX: (wiggling eyebrows) Yeah, da brie [debris] was everywhere.

JONNY: (deep sigh) This apocalypse has officially gone on for too long. (ooc) This is from alfcommittingcrimes.

ALEX: (laughs) (as Martin) Hello, Jon. Apologies for the deception, but I would like to remind you I love you. (laughs)

JONNY: Aww.

ALEX: Cute reference.

JONNY: Um, this one’s from Monty. This isn’t actually-

ALEX: This is more of an instruction.

JONNY: They haven’t scripted anything, yeah. Um, okay. (as the Archivist) Martin, I’m very sorry for ever saying that I hated your tea.

ALEX (Martin): It’s okay. Some things are more important than tea. (ooc) There you go. I thought I’d go sincere-

JONNY (ooc): Oh no! Martin’s been replaced! (Alex laughs) Anyways, this one is from tomakeitworse and it’s for you, Alex. Well, as Martin, not as you.

ALEX (ooc): I mean it’s wrong, but okay. (as Martin) Oolong is the best tea.

JONNY: From shikashaman. (statement voice) Statement of Benedict Avalanche regarding clown milk. Statement begins. Honk.

ALEX: (laughing) I think that’s a call back to earlier this stream, so. (makes ok symbol) Very class act.

JONNY (ooc): One from ladymystree for me. (Sasha giggling in the background)

ALEX: I’m hearing giggling on your end, I think someone’s enjoying themself.

JONNY: No, it’s fine. They’re doing a cryptic crossword and I’m sure they’ve just stumbled across a-

ALEX: It’s really cryptic. Really cryptic. Yeah, it’s a cryptic giggle, alright. Carry on, then.

JONNY (Archivist): Ceaseless Watcher, evict this feline, Her Serene Highness The Empress Nyx from out of the *goddamn* Christmas tree.

ALEX: (laughing) I like that one.

JONNY (ooc): This is from myth_ac. (as the Archivist) Martin and I have this connection where we finish each other’s-

ALEX (Martin): Sentences!

JONNY (Archivist): Don’t interrupt me.

ALEX (ooc): (laughs) I quite like that one as well.

JONNY (ooc): Yeah, I don’t know what that one’s from, I recognise it. But it’s, uh, redderie. (as the Archivist) I’ve been asked why I changed my opinion on poetry. I do not know this. This information is unattainable such as it is. Not even my endless resources could solve such a mystery. No, I did not fall in love with a poet on purpose, next question. (Alex laughs) (ooc) This one’s from coinmaster. Uh, and it’s for you, Alex.

ALEX (Martin): Thank you so much for asking, Jon. My ideal date, uh, would be getting home after a long day, curling up next to a roaring fire and listening to Rusty Quill Gaming. It’s-it’s a podcast, it’s distributed by Rusty Quill.

JONNY (Archivist): Oh, yes, I’ve heard of it. It’s not very good. (roasting) Ohhhh!

ALEX: But it does have a Creative Commons attribution non-commercial sharealike 4.0 international license, so that’s quite cool, too. (ooc) (laughs) I may have riffed there, I apologise.

JONNY (ooc): It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ve said what they’ve asked us to say, anything additional is- that’s bonus. (Alex laughs) This one is from mstars, for me to read in statement voice.

ALEX: Oh! (laughs hysterically, tries to compose himself)

JONNY (statement voice): Why are you so far away in Galactonium? Hey, won’t you save me? Hold me, maybe? I just want to be your little clone baby.

ALEX: (laughs) And that’s in my head for the rest of the day.

JONNY (ooc): This is for you. I refuse to listen to it. I’ve- too many people have told me it’s good. Which means that-

ALEX: Automatically, yeah. Understood.

JONNY: Well, no, it’s just, like- I don’t want it stuck in my head. I’m aware, if I listen to it, it’s in my head forever, and I can’t risk that.

ALEX: You don’t want him- you don’t want Tim getting- well, Tim and Ben, you don’t want them living rent free there.

JONNY: They can’t win!

ALEX: Understood. Okay, in that case, then. (as Martin) Sorry, Elias, I can’t hear you, there’s a panopticon in the way! (ooc) Fair.

JONNY: One from b_ees. Another for you.

(TheBrothersMeredith in the chat: Coward)

ALEX: Oh no.

JONNY: Mm-hm.

ALEX (Martin): (grunt) I’m trying to sneak around in the Lonely, but I’m-I’m dummy thicc and the clap of my ass cheeks just- it keeps alerting the Eye!

JONNY: One from thequack04. (as the Archivist) I have had a very long day, I am very small, and I have no money, so you can imagine the stress I’m under. Square brackets this is a John Mulaney quote close square brackets. (Alex laughs) (ooc) One for you. Uh, from misssunflower94.

ALEX (ooc): I’m gonna assume this is for actually me.

JONNY: No, I think it is for Martin, because remember, Martin’s opinions on poetry.

ALEX: Uh, no, fair, actually, no, I take that back. You are correct, you are correct. (as Martin) I don’t know, I just- I’ve always found Oscar Wilde to just be a bit... overrated?

JONNY: One for me, from awildmeerie. (as the Archivist) Hello demons, it’s me, ya boy. (Alex laughs) (ooc) Um, (stumbles over the name) emperiocism. Sorry for that, emperiocism. Can Jonny sing/speak in his most serious Archivist voice? (serious Archivist voice, speaking) Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down, and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.

ALEX: Oh, don’t- (incomprehensible frustrated noises) god.

JONNY (ooc): From marsmagnusandkbouchard, this is for you.

ALEX (Martin): (very angry) Fuck being the bigger person, I’m just- (feral) I’m just gonna start biting people!

JONNY: Excellent. One for both of us from zestymayos92.

ALEX (ooc): (laughing, tries to compose himself) (as Martin) The world ended, and that is super not poggers.

JONNY (Archivist): You’re right, Martin, very not poggers indeed. (ooc) One from catskeleton for you.

ALEX (ooc): That’s just- oh. (as Martin) Roses are red, violets are blue. I’m definitely not a ghost, and Jon, I love you.

JONNY: I have a really difficult one- this anonymous one is difficult because it says “in the style of Sailor Moon” and I’ve not seen many anime, um, animi, sorry, in my life.

ALEX (ooc): The plural is anipodes.

JONNY: And Sailor Moon is not one, so I have no idea what-

ALEX: As far as I am aware, if you want to do it representatively, your clothes need to fly off in a large elaborate explosion and be replaced with some kind of dress-based armor. But that may not be feasible.

JONNY (Archivist): (very awkward) I am the pretty Avatar who fights for the Eye and for knowledge! I am the Archivist, and now, in the name of the Ceaseless Watcher, I’ll punish you! (ooc) I... I don’t know.

ALEX: I think that might have been actually pretty decently close. It’s been a few years since I watched a Sailor Moon, so don’t hold me to that though.

JONNY: I’ve only ever seen silent gifs on... your Tumblrs or your Twitters. Anyways, this is from theraccoonfriend. (as the Archivist) Get out of my swamp. (ooc) Uh, from Kath, for you, Alex.

ALEX (Martin): I’m fine! Stop asking!

JONNY: From sunnyjordie, for you, Alex.

ALEX (Martin): Hey, would you help me out? I’m very gay and a few- and I’d like a few dollars. (ooc) I’m gonna do that again, I think I screwed it up. (as Martin) Hey, would you help me out? I’m very gay and I’d like a few dollars.

JONNY: Square brackets this is a John Mulaney-

ALEX (Martin): Square brackets this is a John Mulaney quote close square brackets.

JONNY: Um, from Linothy, for both.

ALEX (Martin): Please, pleeeease stop drinking tea by just putting the bag in your mouth and just chugging hot water.

JONNY (Archivist): I’m *cultured*, Martin. (ooc) And dang3rgrang3r, or dang 3er grang 3er. Uh, for both.

ALEX (Martin): God, Jon, why don’t you ever wear your own clothes?

JONNY (Archivist): I like your sweater! It makes me feel...

ALEX (Martin): It makes you feel like a thief!

JONNY (Archivist): No, it makes me feel *safe*.

ALEX (Martin): Aww, Jon...

JONNY (ooc): One from voidbean.

ALEX (Martin): I’m sorry, you were STABBED??

JONNY (Archivist): *Lightly* stabbed, I didn’t want to frighten you. (ooc) I think that’s a Brooklyn 99 one.

ALEX (ooc): Yeah, so do I, actually.

JONNY: Sarafifi24.

ALEX (Martin): Press X to pay respects.

JONNY: So from alfcommittingvoicecrimes, they’ve asked “sing chorus of Pump Shanty.” And the thing is, if you want to hear me singing the chorus of Pump Shanty, that is available on Bandcamp, Youtube, and Spotify. So, Alex, why don’t you do it?

ALEX (ooc): Okay, I have no idea so I’m gonna take a random stab in the dark.

JONNY: I’m very excited to hear it.

ALEX: With a tune that doesn’t even scan in terms of meter.

JONNY: No, like just- it’s a folk tune so just sing it like a folk. Sing it to an old folk tune.

ALEX: ...Yes.

JONNY: You know, an old folk tune.

ALEX: (to a tune that’s definitely not Pump Shanty) Pump me boys, let’s a-fly, down to hell and up to the sky. Bend your backs and break your bones, we’re just a million miles from home. (cringing) I have no idea what that should be-

JONNY: (trying not to laugh) Brilliant. No, that was it. You got it.

ALEX: Oh, wicked. I was worried for a moment.

JONNY: No, that was... uncanny, to be honest. We’ve got a few more that are from Nobles donations, so these don’t have specific donor names, so we can just go back and forth.

ALEX: The first one’s as Wilde. (as Wilde) I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I’m saying.

JONNY (Archivist?): Blartin, that is, Paul Blartin Martin Cop is on his segue and eye ass Jon is sitting on the handlebars. He is facing Blartin in a koala-esque embrace which is not quite an embrace but rather for structural support. His ass eyes are out and alert. He knows all. Petty theft perishes under their collaborative iron fist.

ALEX: (laughing incredulously) Okay!

JONNY (ooc): Do you want to do this one? I think- yeah.

ALEX: Okay, okay, sure. (deep breath, as Martin) Hey, you can do this. It’s been really, really rough, but you can do this.

JONNY (Archivist): Working at the Magnus Institute was like a four year game show called “Do my friends hate me or do I just need to go to sleep?” but instead of winning money, you lose your bloody soul. (ooc) Okay. (as the Archivist) You’re a child, an infant. Your mocking is thus infantile. He’s not my boyfriend. This man is more to me than you could dream. He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold, and his kiss still thrills me after a millennia. His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worth of. I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend, he is all and he is more.

ALEX (Martin): You’re an incurable romantic.

JONNY (Archivist): (next request) He thinks I don’t notice, but the bodies in the hallway speak a clear language. Death is all around us, no one is safe. The signs all point in one direction: Martin’s totally sus.

ALEX (Martin): (noises of disbelief) O-okay, come on, I am innocent! How could you even think that??

JONNY: Martin was ejected.

ALEX (ooc): (laughs) I think that’s it.

JONNY: Yeah, I think that’s the list.

3 notes · View notes

johns-prince · 4 years

Text

Music Mix: John Lennon

1st || 2nd

The Hills || The Weeknd

I only fuck you when it's half past five The only time I'd ever call you mine I only love it when you touch me, not feel me When I'm fucked up, that's the real me When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, babe

In The Night || The Weeknd

He sang a song when he did it He was cold and he was so unforgiving Now she dances to the song on the minute Yeah, all the time, all the time It make her weak when she hear it

Uncomfortable || Chase Atlantic

I'm coming down heavy from the Adderall Borderline drowning in these messy thoughts I'll come down once I get some more This substance got a hold on me, I'm insecure

I'm hearing voices, what the fuck's that sound? I'm going through problems I shouldn't talk about I'm thinking it's over but, shit, I'll ride it out

No Friends || Chase Atlantic

I ain’t got no friends in this You should stay away, I fell aggressive I know I asked politely but I’m anxious And I don’t need you preachin’ ‘bout whatever I might lose my shit and leave forever

I ain't got no friends On the guest list, no I ain't got no friends On my mattress, no I ain't got no friends Oh, you an actress? Act this Walk the fuck away and don't look back, bitch

Heartless || The Weeknd

'Cause I'm heartless And I'm back to my ways 'cause I'm heartless All this money and this fame got me heartless Low life for life 'cause I'm heartless Said I'm heartless Tryna be a better man but I'm heartless Never be a wedding plan for the heartless Low life for life 'cause I'm heartless

I lost my heart and my mind I tried to always do right I thought I lost you this time You just came back in my life You never gave up on me (why don't you?) I'll never know what you see (why won't you?) I don't do well when alone (oh, yeah) You hear it clear in my tone

Therapy || All Time Low

My ship went down in a sea of sound When I woke up alone, I had everything A handful of moments, I wished I could change And a tongue like a nightmare that cut like a blade

Give me a therapy, I'm a walking travesty But I'm smiling at everything Therapy, you were never a friend to me And you can keep all your misery

Arrogant boy Love yourself so no one has to They're better off without you (They're better off without you)

Arrogant boy 'Cause a scene like you're supposed to They'll fall asleep without you You're lucky if your memory remains

I’m Still Here || John Rzeznik

I am a question to the world not and answer to be Heard or a moment that's held in your arms and what do you think you'd ever say I won't listen anyway you don't know me and I'll never be what you want me to be and what do you think you'd understand I'm a boy no, I'm a man You can't take me and throw me away And how can you learn what's never shown Yeah you stand here on your own They don't know me Cause I'm not here

And I want a moment to be real Wanna touch things I don't feel Wanna hold on and feel I belong And how can the world want me to change They're the ones that stay the same They don't know me Cause I'm not here

And you see the things they never see All you wanted I could be Now you know me and I'm not afraid And I wanna tell you who I am Can you help me be a man They can't break me As long as I know who I am

They can't see me But I'm still here

Silhouette || Owl City

I'm tired of waking up in tears, 'Cause I can't put to bed these phobias and fears I'm new to this grief I can't explain; But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain The fire I began, is burning me alive But I know better than to leave and let it die I'm a silhouette asking every now and then Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again? I'm a Silhouette chasing rainbows on my own But the more I try to move on the more I feel alone So I watch the summer stars to lead me home I'm sick of the past I can't erase, A jumble of footprints and hasty steps I can't retrace, The mountains of things that I still regret, Is a vile reminder that I would rather just forget (No matter where I go)

Get Off My Back || Bryan Adams

Well you think that you can take me on You must be crazy There ain't a single thing you've done That's gonna phase me Oh, but if you want to have a go I just wanna let you know

Get off my back! And into my game Get out of my way! And out of my brain Get outta my face! Or give it your best shot I think it's time you better face the fact Get off of my back!

I’m Born to Run || American Authors

I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run I'm gonna spend my time like tomorrow won't come Do whatever I want like I'm born to run I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo I wanna be careless even if I break my bones I'm gonna live my life like I'm gonna die young Like it's never enough, like I'm born to run

Mad Hatter Cover || Toogla

I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad The craziest friend that you've ever had You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong Over the bend, entirely bonkers You like me best when I'm off my rocker Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed So what if I'm crazy? The best people are

Déjà Vu || 3oh!3

Mister bartender, you will kick me out And the blond girl in the back, you'll put your tongue down my mouth And the greaser in the jacket's gonna pick a fight And they'll probably kick my ass 'cause I'm drunk every night

Officer, officer, tell me the truth How many times can I get in trouble with you Before they lock me up for all the bad things that I do But you don't and that's why this feels like déjà vu

Everywhere I Go || Hollywood Undead

When I start drinking My dick does all my thinking Hoes want to be scene with me And I like their big fake titties D cup with extra filling Take it out let me lick it quickly Calm down its just a hickie I'll blame it on this whisky sipping gets me tipsy Drink fast and enjoy your buzz Take back street to avoid the fuzz I wanna take you home but your friends won't let ya I gotta 40 in my ford fiesta Buy beer Or pay the rent My signing bonus was quickly spent So I beat my meat like I'm a fucking butcher And I punk the pussy like I'm Ashton Kutcher!

Afraid || The Neighborhood

All my friends always lie to me I know they're thinking You're too mean, I don't like you, fuck you anyway You make me wanna scream at the top of my lungs It hurts but I won't fight you You suck anyway You make me wanna die, right when I

When I wake up I'm afraid, somebody else might take my place

Being me can only mean Feeling scared to breathe If you leave me then I'll be afraid of everything That makes me anxious, gives me patience, calms me down Lets me face this, let me sleep, and when I wake up Let me breathe

Take What You Want || Post Malone ft. Ozzy Osbourne

I feel you crumble in my arms down to your heart of stone You bled me dry just like the tears you never show Why don't you take what you want from me? Take what you need from me Take what you want and go Why don't you take what you want from me? Take what you need from me Take what you want and go

I never needed anything from you ...And all I ever asked was for the truth (all I ever asked was for) You showed your tongue and it was forked in two Your venom was lethal, I almost believed you (almost believed you) Yeah, you preyed on my every mistake Waited on me to break, held me under hopin' I would drown Like a plague, I was wasting away Tryna find my way out, find my way out (find my way out)

Mantra || Bring Me the Horizon

Before the truth will set you free, it'll piss you off Before you find a place to be, you're gonna lose the plot Too late to tell you now, one ear and right out the other one 'Cause all you ever do is chant the same old mantra

Breaking the Habit || Linkin Park

I don't know what's worth fighting for Or why I have to scream I don't know why I instigate And say what I don't mean I don't know how I got this way I’ll never be alright

Bleed it Out || Linkin Park

Filthy mouth, no excuse Find a new place to hang this noose String me up from atop these roofs Knot it tight so I won't get loose

Truth is you can stop and stare Bled myself out and no one cares Dug a trench out, laid down there With a shovel up out of reach somewhere

Mama, help me, I've been cursed Death is rolling in every verse Candy paint on his brand new hearse

Can't contain him; He knows he works Fuck this hurts, I won't lie Doesn't matter how hard I try Half the words don't mean a thing

Figure.09 || Linkin Park

Nothing ever stops all these thoughts and the pain attached to them Sometimes I wonder why this is happenin' It's like nothing I can do would distract me when I think of how I shot myself in the back again 'Cause from the infinite words I can say I Put all pain you gave to me on display But didn't realize instead of setting it free I Took what I hated and made it a part of me

....

Hearing your name the memories come back again I remember when it started happening I see you n' every thought I had and then The thoughts slowly found words attached to them And I knew as they escaped away I was committing myself to em n' everyday I regret saying those things 'cause now I see that I Took what I hated and made it a part of me

Lying From You || Linkin Park

When I pretend Everything is what I want it to be I look exactly like what you had always wanted to see When I pretend I can forget about the criminal I am Stealing second after second just cause I know I can, but I can't pretend this is the way it will stay, I'm just (Trying to bend the truth) I can't pretend I'm who you want me to be

....

I remember what they taught to me Remember condescending talk of who I ought to be Remember listening to all of that and this again So I pretended up a person who was fitting in And now you think this person really is me and I'm (trying to bend the truth) But the more I push The more I'm pulling away

Lithium || Nirvana

I'm so happy because today I've found my friends They're in my head I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you We've broken our mirrors

...

I'm so lonely but that's okay I shaved my head And I'm not sad And just maybe I'm to blame for all I've heard But I'm not sure I'm so excited, I can't wait to meet you there But I don't care I'm so horny but that's okay My will is good

#john lennon #john lennon mix

7 notes · View notes

partyinthemysterymachine · 4 years

Note

as a classic cats fan what did you think of the 2019 movie?

FOREWARD: i have full respect to those who enjoyed CATS 2019 and show their support and engage in that part of the fandom. rock on. very truly, honestly, sincerely, i hope you have a blast and create and share and have the best of times. welcome to the fandom, it’s great to have you here; thank you for joining us and i really, really do mean that from the bottom of my heart and soul. it really makes me happy that CATS has become something good for you like it is, and has been, for so many of us. i’m ecstatic to see the fandom expanding and i’m so very serious about that.

unfortunately this is the time to jump ship if you don’t want to hear any more complaints about it. thank you and ilu all and once again, welcome to the fold, i love that you’re joining us and y’all being here honey butters my toast xoxo

there was a 2019 movie?

runs hands down face

from the very first sneeze of an idea of doing a CATS movie went around being speculated in what.. 2012?? i have been against it because i knew it wouldn’t be done right. what i really wanted, really hoped for, what the fandom very honestly deserves and STILL does to this day and beyond is another honest, no dances cut, full on professionally shot video of the stage production again.

i’m still putting my hand to the cold glass and pulling my thin shawl around my shoulders as i gaze past the rain blurring the dreary world outside and sighing a tremendous, weary sigh because Hamilton is getting a full professionally-shot stage movie...... and CATS likely won’t ever.. and how cruel that is.

(not hatin on Hamilton, btw; im just old and bitter LOL i have zero hard feelings towards Hamilton and honestly good for them for getting that done, they deserve it)

so...... listen. i appreciate the thought and commitment to making a CATS movie. i think the biggest thing that busted my balls about it was the use and execution of the CGI cat people. ofc this is a big thing in a lot of opinions. but i’ve always been sitting here like.......

there are... decades of fanart. decades of productions and photos and costume design. but the fan. art. did anyone go in and look at it? artists have been drawing these characters a wide variety of ways, but when it boils down to the anthropomorphic take on it, i thought it was pretty damn clear how good it could look. i feel like they should have been diggin in the CATS art trenches all this time, all these years, and really taken all these artistic interpretations very seriously to heart.

it felt like a slap in the face when they overhauled nearly everyone’s design/look to the point where i don’t even know who i’m looking at. and listen, i’m here for redesigns, don’t get me wrong. i dug Jason Derulo’s Tugger design. i dug Idris Elba’s Macavity base idea because he was made a shorthair and clearly all source material says otherwise? and where’s the ginger, mate??

(NOTE: in the b’way revival the new Macavity costume is easily 99% black in contrast to the original design in which the costume was 95% red and orange. stark difference. “Macavity’s a ginger cat” contradicts the revival costume a bit since, again, it’s largely black. so in its defense, the costume’s red/orange accents are well placed and the black pays more tribute to the “very tall and thin” aspect he’s supposed to have. (the old costume was wild and hairy, it kinda puffed him out a bit, esp with the much fuller and taller wig.) the revival wig is more on par with main wigs, and it has that coppery color, the makeup is simplistic (as it needs to be added on to Plato) and the color use FOR base Plato brings out the red and etc etc etc. i like the revival costume; it didn’t go overboard on the reds and oranges, it was sleek and powerful, and oh my god you’ve got fingergless gloves with fucking fringe there is a MANE wiht FRINGE who designed that bc i gotta kiss em and offer a piece of my heart and soul)

everything felt muddled, disorganized, foreign, and god why did we do Jennyanydots that why please why are the cockroaches people please are you all ok in production? blink twice if you need help

oh yeah and the fat jokes. i think we were supposed to be getting over that but ok

very interesting thing with Macavity kidnapping the potentials. kinda dug that. fuck it up, Skimbleshanks

and speaking of fuckin Skimbleshanks you have no idea how much of my shit i lost when he started the tap number. i was over the MOON. GOOD shit, FUCK yeah, GO OFF and it was brilliant, absolutely beautiful

ALSO when i heard Judi Dench was gonna be in it i was really hopeful she’d finally play Grizabella. what a fucking treat that would’ve been. she was set to debut the role in the West End, then she tore her Achilles, so Elaine Page replaced her and the rest was history. i’ve really wanted to hear/see her Grizabella. :(

(and briefly on the topic of Grizabella i’m kinda not here for the trend of younger actresses in the role just hhhhhhhh kinda takes away and misplaces her whole vibe and story imo)

i just.. i didn’t understand some of the plot changes like how Macavity was up in everyone’s bs tryna force himself up to the Heavyside Layer, it was silly, and yeah i shouldn’t take CATS so seriously even with the longtime fan background but

gestures helplessly

y’all fr??

there were a lot of super questionable decisions across the board and all that has already been gone over by so many people a dozen billion times. on one hand, i’m glad CATS got some exposure. on the other, :( not like this

however, on a very good note (other than skimbleshanks bless him): let me tell you how EXCITED i was that they used the original Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer arrangement. what a fucking pleasant surprise. HELL yeah. i LOVE that arrangement and i’m tickled to pieces that it was chosen. good shit. good shit.

tbh as Serious and Bruh Calm Down this might all sound, it’s honestly no skin off my teeth. it’s a frustration, sure. i’m so very tired. i’m disappointed. i didn’t have any specific expectations about it, just a lot of hopes. maybe too many hopes.

being a longtime CATS fan i know as well or even better than other people what a fucking dumpster fire the show is LMAO it’s wild and it’s ridiculous and god it doesn’t make any sense, it has a plot and it has no plot and everything about it is so horny and it’s the greatest fucking thing to ever happen to me

i obviously have a lot of feelings and history with CATS, and 2019 did not “ruin” anything for me, it didn’t “taint” anything about it, despite everything i’ve complained about i don’t consider myself a purist. (ok. except about the revival choreography. some things are more sacred than the vatican.)

i don’t dig 2019 as a whole. i don’t want to completely disregard it. there are bits and pieces i did like and that i can appreciate. i wish it wasn’t done that way. i just wish we had gotten a true blue professionally shot, no dances cut, honest portrayal of the stage production.

but hey it is what it is. at the bottom of it all i’m just glad there are new people coming in and taking a look around. it’s nice to see a resurgence of the fandom. it feels really good to see more people here and loving it. i missed CATS and the CATS community. it feels so good to be home.

#ches writes #ches writes stuff #cats musical #cats the musical #anti cats 2019 #is that the tag? god i feel like such a dick tagging that lmfao #if there's another tag i need to add lmk pls #in which i barf words and do mostly complaining but also wholesome #frnkfucker69

17 notes · View notes

chrysalispen · 4 years

Text

lycoris (minor divergence AU, 5.0 spoilers)

in response to the prompt “what if Hythlodaeus had accepted the title of emet-selch, and the WoL instead met Hades?”

I wrote this in three days (mostly while heavily drugged LMAO) so it’s not.... my best work ever but I like it for what it is. Fic is beneath the cut.

=======================

Nestled within a seemingly fathomless expanse amidst the fringes of the western seas, the Tempest is not exactly what one would call a comforting locale. Its depths are rife with sailor's tales: stories of sirens and storms and ships called to their deaths, even in the days before the Flood brought deadlier creatures to Kholusia's shores.

For a creature like Emet-Selch, a man relegated to furthering his god's work within the myriad hidden places of the Source and its reflections for long years, it will do.

Of course, his choice of abode upon the First is not wholly based upon sentimentality. Sometimes he fancies he has all but forgotten what it is like for the touch of light not to sting his skin; he can bear it when he must but sees little point in deliberately exposing himself to discomfort.

Amber eyes track the rippling ribbons of refracted light that shimmer several fulms overhead, fingers of stark white softened into a glow by the water like knives dulled from use. It is just enough that the seafloor wherein he has rebuilt his most abiding memory does not lie completely shrouded in the darkness of the trench. By its dim illumination does Emet-Selch study the skyline he has built with the critical lens of a master sculptor, seeking any perceived flaws and carefully setting any misgivings aside. For better or worse, the die is cast and his choices made. This final act of creation: completed.

It wants now only for a single soul to darken its doorsteps.

~*~

She is glad to have parted ways with the others briefly, even for investigation's sake.

Although not inclined to lie by nature, she is nonetheless quite aware that her condition has deteriorated farther than any of the other Scions are like to have realized. The corona of light that had flickered at the periphery of her vision has all but overtaken her sight. Blinding white and gold accompanies the pain in her stiffening limbs which has been a constant companion since awakening in the Crystarium.

She pushes herself to a sitting position, then with a supreme act of will regains her feet. Her stance wobbles- perilously close to overcorrecting- but with time and care she is able to keep her balance, and in short order, the Warrior of Darkness finds herself once more stumbling down the vast and near-empty paved streets of an alien city: a city populated only with a single man’s memories of the dead. It is a lonely, lonely path. But that loneliness carries, in itself, a sort of bleak comfort.

Wandering up and down the paved streets of Amaurot’s neat, gridlike layout- or at least the bits that fit into the ocean trench with such suspicious seamlessness- she does not realize her feet have carried her off the beaten path until a bone-deep fatigue gives her cause to grip the cool metal of a fancifully wrought archway for support.

There is, to her surprise, still beauty to be found in this place upon further inspection. The public park she has stumbled upon is a welcome sight and a well-appointed affair at that. Mazes of green painstakingly curated and compelled into obeisance, framing the abstraction of metal sculpture. Flowers of every conceivable color, tall and comfortable-looking trees planted for shade as well as aesthetic.

For the first time since they had rounded the continental shelf and glimpsed the tall spires rising like bony fingers from the darkest depths of the ocean trench, the Warrior feels calm. Something about this place imparts a certain measure of serenity. There is a particular sort of love that has gone into its recreation, a love that is very nearly tangible.

And, somehow, also very familiar.

Fingers trailing through hawthorn and salvia- and a good dozen varieties of flowers her eyes have never seen, on the Source or elsewhere- she meanders in an aimless amble, plagued not only by the Light leaking into her vision but also the feeling that she is searching for something indefinable.

The massive tree in the center of the park brings her to a halt.

There is no other of its kind to be seen anywhere nearby. It stands aloof from the other greenery, silent and ancient and proud--its boughs bent, upon closer inspection, with the weight of many years--much like a certain Ascian of her acquaintance. The Warrior of Darkness finds herself drawn to it in a way that defies understanding.

Gently she reaches for the tree and places one palm upon its enormous trunk. Caresses the roughness of its bark with her fingertips--

-----Mortal agony warps its way through her bones and the sound of fracturing glass rings in her ears as the Light surges.

Biting back a cry of agony she convulses around it, crumpling to the ground, head in her twitching hands as the pain becomes her world. Amaurot fades, distant and unimportant, into her periphery, and upon her tongue, she tastes copper and ozone.

No no no no, not here, not now, not like this--

*I beg your pardon? That’s my tree.*

The resonant chime of the ancients’ tongue, edged with just the slightest hint of annoyance, pierces the cacophony of ravenous hunger and the spasms of her limbs so thoroughly that she… is distracted.

The pain fades and her vision, nearly white, is almost clear.

The figure is as indistinct as all the others -- tall, translucent, almost intimidating -- but something about this one is different. The other shades she has encountered acknowledged her only in the broadest of senses, treating her more as an interruption to the tasks they were set, rather like watching worker mammets forced to move aside an obstacle.

No, this shade seems more present than the others somehow. She can feel something more substantial behind the black holes of the mask peering down at her- something, that is, beyond initial surprise and a sort of mild, rather tolerant annoyance.

“It’s a very large tree,” she manages a weak smile and pats a bottom-sized dip in the root system at her side. “I think there should be plenty of room for both of us.”

The shade tilts its chin to one side, almost like a bird. She fancies she can feel the weight of a stare upon her, silently judging her appearance alongside her words-- but at length, it sits, albeit with abrupt movements that lack the artless grace she had observed among the other figures.

For a long time, they do not speak but simply accept each other’s company with varying degrees of amiability. The Warrior looks out upon the streets beyond the hedges and watches the blurred outlines of the city's shades going about what she can only assume would have once been their daily business, although a keen eye would note that there is not much change in their behavior over time. They are in a perpetual loop of the same discussions, the same paths, the same tasks, over and over.

At length, she hears the soft chiming once more, the words unfolding within her mind in the same instant. Terribly polite of Emet-Selch, she thinks with a hysterical sort of good humor, to at least provide a means of translating his people’s speech.

*So, you've come from out of time - apropos, all things considered. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before,* the shade muses. *...Not in this form, at least.*

The statement is as confusing as it is disarming.

“This… form?” she echoes, but her only answer is another question.

*You’ve come to see Emet-Selch, I take it?*

She tenses. That is all the answer that seems to be necessary.

*Ah.* With a noise that seems to translate as a laboring sigh, the shade’s cowled head comes to rest against the tree trunk. *Your timing is unfortunate. The city is deep in preparations to face the Doom. You’ll be lucky to see him before all is said and done.*

“So I’ve heard.” There is no change in what she can see of the giant’s expression, but she can sense that it was the expected response. “...If I may ask, how did you know I was here to see Emet-Selch?”

*Oh, come now, you needn’t worry about me,* the shade shrugs. *I’m not really here, you know. Well, I’m here but I’m not -present,- as it were. Nor are any of these others.*

“Are you... I mean, you’re not a spirit, are you?”

*Am I to assume you mean a wandering soul? Certainly not. We’re all just memories; naught of real substance, I’m afraid.* An amused titter as the shade stretches, catlike, before rolling its head towards her. *This is an Amaurot upon which the Doom has yet to descend- if it ever does.*

She leans forward and wraps her arms about her knees, hugging them to her chest. The only person - so to speak - in the entire city that actually seems capable of a real conversation and she has no real idea what to ask.

Might as well start with the pleasantries. “What’s your name?”

The black sockets of the mask seem to bore through her flesh and straight into her soul, and although it should make no difference she feels strangely exposed. *...Asking the important questions at last, are we? You can call me Hades. Don’t bother asking any of these others; they’d not be able to give an answer at all.*

“None of the others can really talk about anything beyond superficial matters,” she agreed. “Though I’m curious as to what makes you different. You certainly look the same as they do.”

*Knowing Emet-Selch, he likely had me on the mind while he was creating this overwrought simulacrum of his.* One large hand lifts in a lazy, flippant, and startlingly familiar wave before tucking itself behind Hades’ head. *He always was tediously sentimental. Although I suppose I should be flattered.*

“I’m not sure I follow.”

*Doubtless he thought I would see through the illusion--my sight pales in comparison to his, mind you. But he would know that. We were good friends once, he and I.* A familiar, rueful half-smile tilts the shade's lips. *Although I am no less ephemeral than anything else he’s summoned from his memory. I assume he told you what happened?*

“After a fashion, yes.” She plucks at a blade of grass. “He spoke of a calamity, and how the brightest of his number - yours, that is - came together to summon Zodiark.”

*Not the most accurate summary, in truth, but I suppose it will suffice,* Hades sniffs.

The Warrior listens, with all of the patience for which she is so famous upon the Source, as he speaks. The burning pain of the Light is almost nonexistent in this odd man's presence, and that alone is sweet comfort.

Emet-Selch must have thought highly of this Hades. He is wholly unlike the kind and gentle giants seeming content to drift through empty streets, unaware of the fate that awaits them; he recounts the Ascian’s lecture with an air that could be generously termed sardonic: brusque and laden with quipped observations about how ‘tiresome’ the other man could be, yet in a way that makes obvious their long years of acquaintance. Affection lies just beneath his exasperation, and she finds herself warming to Hades quickly, sour as he seems.

He is blunt-tongued and eccentric, but still kind in his way. She cannot help but like him.

*Needless to say, there were those who didn’t take kindly to the suggestion that we ought to continue sacrificing souls to Zodiark’s appetites, and felt that we ought to make our peace with the new lives we’d created. They summoned Hydaelyn to counter Him. So for the first time in anyone’s memory, we were divided on our course of action---*

“And you fought,” she says, sadly. Sorrow burns in her breast for this man and his fellows, a gentle people who had never known strife if Emet-Selch were to be believed. “He told me.”

*Then you know how it ends.* Hades’ smile fades, and though she half-expects another testy remark, there is none forthcoming. The shade's head shakes slowly, side to side. *So he continues to labor in Zodiark’s name, then.*

“Not for any lack of attempts to thwart him, I assure you.”

*Don't apologize. I should hardly expect otherwise. He’s an obstinate ass,* Hades says flatly, *and that’s only one of his many flaws. Though I imagine it serves him well in this regard-- if none other.*

Despite herself, she laughs.

“I would say it doesn’t even begin to describe him. You can’t imagine-- well, no, I guess you can if you knew him well. Although…”

*Although...?*

She stares at her hands, only able to see a blinding white outline, and does not answer. She does not trust herself to answer.

Sometimes I see a glimpse of a kinder, gentler man, beneath it all. And now- now I find myself mourning the loss of a person I never knew.

If he senses her hesitation, he gives no outward indication of it.

*I’m sure he still intends to carry out his plan.* His eyes might be hidden in the depths of that mask, but she doesn’t need to see them. There is a certain degree of sorrow in his words, blunt as they are. *Mind you, he can commit all manner of cruelties when it suits him to do so now, but he was very different once. Friendly. Compassionate. Very willing to admit his mistakes and seek counsel where warranted. He would take the burdens of other souls upon his own shoulders without a second thought if he felt his aid necessary. Occasionally I found him infuriating, but always he had the purest of intentions.* Each word falls upon her ears with a heavier weight. Hades sighs. *This is a terrible burden he has chosen for himself, make no mistake- and it is all the worse for knowing his temperament is so ill-suited to carry it.*

The quality of the filtered light through the water has changed - the color, the angle, albeit only slightly. It is one of the few ways anyone has in Norvrandt of tracking the time. Evening has fallen.

As if realizing it himself, Hades seems to stir from a sort of reverie, as though their chat is a dream and she is the shade.

*It’s starting to get very late, you know,* he says, rather briskly. *Shouldn’t you be off to get your permit? I’m certain he’s waiting on you.*

“I… yes. Yes, of course.”

Slowly and carefully the Warrior stands, bracing her weight against the tree. It is a nigh-herculean effort to regain her footing; she is desperate to lie down somewhere and try to sleep, but sleep despite her exhausted state has brought neither rest nor peace. The Light lurks just beneath her mortal shell, a predator waiting for its prey to falter.

Time is shorter than she had hoped it would be.

Still, she smiles.

“Thank you for speaking with me, Hades.”

That impatient flip of a wave again, and now she is quite certain she has seen Emet-Selch make that precise gesture a time or two. *If answering your questions assures me a peaceful nap, count me happy to oblige.*

She has almost made it on her slow, staggering feet to the hedgerow when Hades’ voice chimes once more at her back.

*Before you go---there is one more thing. One… minor thing.*

The sadness underscoring his words gives her pause. She turns around.

Hades is not lazing beneath the tree with his back propped against its trunk as she had left him. He too is standing. The giant's gait lists to one side beneath the heavy boughs, and he seems to be looking at something beyond her.

*Who... is that standing next to you?*

She blinks. A glance backwards and to her left shows Ardbert, watching but still keeping a discreet and carefully polite distance, waiting for her to finish her rest and catch up with him. “I... that’s...”

*...Never mind. I suppose it hardly matters, does it? ‘Tis a soul, if a faint impression of one--and the same shade as your own.* That birdlike tilt of the chin. *The color of it… I would know it anywhere. And so, I imagine, would he.*

Her gaze sharpens. The note of longing in the shade’s voice is unmistakable.

*Well, don’t let me keep you.*

His arms fold into the sleeves of his robe, and there is something soft there in the slackened bow of his lips, something that makes her breath catch. They curve upwards, in the faintest and most self-deprecating of smiles. It is the expression of a man that has any number of things to say, and no time to say them.

In the end, he says nothing, and the moment passes. She turns away.

She is met with Ardbert’s stare of open confusion upon reaching the elaborate masonry of the park walkway. “Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, I--”

There is nothing and no one under the tree. It stands a lone sentinel in the center of its clearing just as before, quiet and undisturbed.

The Warrior of Darkness exhales.

“Just an old friend,” she says.

#emet-selch #5.0 spoilers #divergence AU #chrysalispen writes #ambiguous wol

20 notes · View notes