Humans sending out signal after signal, message after message, space probes, emails, photos, light shows, intergalactic fireworks, all in the hope that they're not alone: Please reply, please reply, please reply, ple–
Aliens, screeching across the universe in a brand new FTL ship: CAN YOU SHUT UP? WE GOT YOUR FIRST ONE THOUSAND MESSAGES, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW BIG SPACE IS?
Humans: oh my goooooosh, hi
Humans: Did you invent faster than light travel just for us? 🥺
Aliens: NO!!!
SETI: Radio message received.
Radio message: We are receiving you. We have decided to answer you in your own language, and–
SETI: New radio message received.
Aliens: Oh no.
Radio message: We have received your previous messages pertaining to life on Earth, and have included our own data packet about life on Big Tree in return. We named our planet before we learned it was only 30% arboreal. Thank you for the golden disc, it was extremely tasty. Haha. Just kidding.
SETI: Data packet downloaded. Decrypting...
SETI: New radio message received.
Radio message: As previously stated, we are receiving your messages and your gifts. We took a photo of our planet with our own photo-capture device, as we were unhappy with the one you provided.
SETI: Data packet update: Warning: Several terrabytes of information may be corrupted.
SETI: New radio message received.
Radio message: This is the Generation Ship Tree Hollow. My designation is Captain Root-Skygazer. Our people have instructed us to fly ahead and communicate with you when we reached the thirty-year marker, as these messages are likely to reach you faster. They request that you stop broadcasting messages with the subject line: 'Oh, how woeful it is to be alone in an uncaring universe (and other similar poems)' because it frightens the children and makes our scientists deeply existential. I, personally, am partial to episodes of M star A star S star H. It has been of great interest to learn historical facts about the longest Earth conflict of your common era. I miss my home, and I am saddened that I will never see yours. This ship has a self-sustaining ecosystem of plants native to our planet, and a crew manifest of one hundred and fifty-seven. The replacement generation currently numbers one hundred and seventeen.
Radio message: Hey, Ball Of Dirt, it's Big Tree again. Lose our number, would you? There must be some other semi-evolved space aemoba you can bother. (Several words untranslateable)
Aliens: Yeah, so your answering machine is going to be like that for a while–
Humans: What was that part about a Generation Ship?
Aliens: We were hoping you could tell us that, actually. We lost contact with them after the 200 year marker.
Radio message: This is the generation ship Tree Hollow. My designation is Captain Cradleroot. Captain Root-Skygazer was my grandfather. Inspired by the speeches of your contemporary leader, Ronald Reagan, I decided to restructure the existing system here which allowed crewmembers to eat as they required. Under this new system, we award tokens to whom we feel has done the most valuable work, and they can redistribute those to the hungry if they wish. But they do not. However, I believe that [...]
Humans:
Aliens:
Humans:
Aliens: This is all your fault, by the way.
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I come from the depths of chapter 15 with a humble comment to offer! \o/
Goooooosh, so many things are happening and I've just been staring at the ask window wondering how to even start kfjdhgkjh
Ok, ok, so the start! Oooh the start of the chapter was all the tension I was expecting and then some! There of course wouldn't have been time to talk immediately after, when the hunters still wanted to see if they could catch up with the escaped demon. I guess it's a good thing it was postponed until nighttime, because Lambert was every kind of done with them XD Caught between, "I got a feeling this is a demon actually" and "if it's not, then coworker melodrama is not something I signed up for when hunting a demon dinosaur" pffft. Good thing he was asleep for that discussion!
But oh that discussion though!!!
The hunter throwing their hypocrisy in their face, of wanting to know the important details but not being provided with them; the fact that they just keep twisting the dagger deeper in trying to keep y/n safe and realizing it too late; and oh gosh especially the part where they tell them they can't hunt this cryptid and that they could make them leave.
Like, for most of the fic y/n has only gotten more and more desperate to prove to them (and themselves) that they CAN deal with the cryptids and protect other people, and yet for so many of them it feels like even through victory, their conclusion is always "they saw me stumble, but maybe they believe in me still". But now it feels that they have been clinging to something that wasn't there and if they already struggled with self doubt, the fact that someone that has lived with them and seen them so closely seems to be confirming that they have never truly been worthy or proved themselves is eating them from the inside out.
And ooooh, when Moon said "we can", oh my gosh I had to stop reading for a few minutes because my brain could not stop throwing possibilities of what could happen if they did do it. (but I see this is already gonna be long so I'll try to leave the scenario that popped in my head for another ask XD Just, all the implications of them knowing Sun and Moon didn't trust them and then losing the trust they had granted to the boys ahhhhh).
But the firmness with which the hunter refused caught my attention. Because it's unthinkable to them. They have explained why they do what they do. How much it means to them. It's a hard boundary right there, telling them to never ask them to leave a hunt again. It's not something they're willing to walk away from. It's what they are, and what they feel gives them purpose. They clutch to the journal like a lifeline because in a way it sort of is. It's all their efforts written down, the only way they know how to live, and the thing they use to assign worth to themselves. Right now it probably feels like the only way to believe in themselves when the ones they want the most to trust them apparently do not.
And aaaah, those last lines after they drifted off! Sun and Moon's resolution to never lie isn't worth much when the secrets make y/n doubt them like this.
Then we get to the boy's perspective!
Not gonna lie, last chapter I was just dying to get a section in which we got to see what they were thinking (though I do think it's fitting we didn't as it really put emphasis on the distance that was growing between them and y/n) so when I saw the one in this one I got so excited! XD Gosh the mention of how they already consumed the hearts of the earlier dead humans and how they placed the flowers back on them after had my heart aching. They love y/n in big part for their kind heart, so they respect this act of kindness even when to them the corpses aren't significant at all. It matters to y/n so it matters to them too! ;o;
And oooh the confrontation with the other demon! They tried to warn it to leave, to not draw so much attention, which is what called y/n to the area in the first place, but that went about expected. So sorry to the boys, but no option but a future confrontation between the hunters and the demon (Oh, I found a neat detail from this conversation that Shoh is able to know the words that people have spoken! There is a lot of power in words after all! A lot of experiences, and emotions!)
God and then they go back and the hurt just continues on. The hunter frantically looking for them in the night, and the boys knowing they are worried, but still unable to tell them anything that won't cause any more hurt just agggghhh!
And then the next day! When they get that moment to talk and the liquid is dripping from them! It's not only the hunter who is crying! (even if they are unable to cry in the same way)
(sidenote: I love all the descriptions of Sun and Moon reacting as if they were receiving physical damage when y/n is cold to them. They're up to this point the strongest being we have seen in the fic, and it's only y/n who can actually hurt them so easily. That's the thing they are discovering about having a heart, huh? It hurts sometimes. Very badly. And yet it's always worth keeping).
But ahhhh, y/n is finally getting some doubts! They shoot them down immediately, again because of their belief that a demon would never do the things Sun and Moon have done for them, but I imagine the fight between them has made place for some wondering to take root. Lucky for the boys, (but not for Lambert), that the demon appeared!
(sidenote 2: when you described the temperature dropping when Shoh appeared, it occurred to me that in the heat of the desert, having them along would probably be very appreciated fdkjsgñkj)
Oh, the fight with Shoh was so cool! Lots happening and I was legitimately wondering if there would come the moment in which the boys would be forced out of the vessel! Oh man, when the detector was crushed and y/n felt it, it made me think of how long it must have accompanied them. Perhaps a silly thought when the cryptid is right in front of them, but once again, y/n puts a lot of them into their work. And that detector probably saved them in more than one occassion. So rip detector, you won't live to see them realize you never lied about the animatronic.
And I also want to say rip Lambert, but uh... that might lend itself for an unfortunate pun given his death fdkjghdkjhñgf Seriously, though, he did hold his ground, managing a couple hits, and I felt the camaraderie when he was encouraging y/n! I feel so bad that his death was so brutal. No wonder y/n was thrown into a nervous breakdown after seeing it happen. Who wouldn't, right?
And then we go back to the issue with how they only see worth in themselves as long as they are brave. As long as they reject the effects of fear and push through them. To me it seems like their job started as a way to fight back against those nightmares. A way to see themselves as more than that terror that wouldn't leave them be after the day in which a demon attacked them. And it was! It probably helped them in a very big way, to feel strong and that they could keep going after such a horrific experience. But now they have sort of let it be only that. Their perspective has shifted and now they seem to have taken it to the extreme in which if they think they aren't capable of ignoring the fear (instead of deal with it) to do what they need to do, even if all circumstances would make it ok for them to fear (the primary function of fear is to keep you alive after all), then they are worthless. (Damaged, they think, and isn't that the whole root of the problem huh?) They think it would be better to prove that not even certain death would deter them from at least trying to do good. To defy the real "nightmare". Dying if it means taking the opponent down because then it would mean they beat the fear. Theirs and all the other people's.
Of course Sun and Moon would want to snap them out of that! Because they are not seeing all that they already are. All the worth they already have just by being themselves. That they ARE brave and it has nothing to do with the desperation to drive fear away. They already are so strong, but they can't throw that away because of their desire to self-punish out of thinking they aren't enough due to the gargantuan expectations they have put on themselves.
And perhaps it's precisely reminding them that that inspires the boys to finally come clean? Of course, there's also the factor of their secrets affecting y/n so badly, that they are hurting them. But also they have witnessed thanks to the hunter what true bravery is. They themselves have never truly had much to lose. They have been around from ancient times, and that might have made them secure in what they know and have experienced, sure of the outcome of most future events. They've protected children, of course, but it certainly wasn't the same. This is new to them. They've probably never been this afraid. Now it's their turn to push against the fear, even if the outcome is uncertain. They are all drowning and it's time to do something about it.
But ahh, that plot twist at the end! I have a feeling... with Vanessa coming, that reveal will not be on their terms. There might be an encounter of three demons now, and I just have no idea how it all is gonna go. I'm. Vibrating. In my seat. From excitement kjlhfskdjg
And there's still a whole episode left after this one! Naff I'm so excited for what you have in store!!! Excellent chapter as always!
"Humble comment" *proceeds to give me the most glorious comment* hehehe ♥ Thank you so much for reading, babe!
Chaotik, I am grabbing my screen right now, very curious about this scenario of yours where the boys take Y/N away. Ahhh, I would love to hear it!!!
Yes, that is a very hard boundary for Y/N! This is their work and they will not abandon it.
"It matters to y/n so it matters to them too!" <<< YES! YES, IT DOES! AH!
"That's the thing they are discovering about having a heart, huh? It hurts sometimes. Very badly. And yet it's always worth keeping." I am kissing you on the forehead for this *smooch*
Oh my gosh, I love that you talk about Y/N's focus on facing what terrorized them so long ago! It did start out as a way to handle their fears, but in recent times with the boys seemingly doubting their abilities as well as other stressful factors, it's begun to take a toll on their thinking and warped their idea from "it's okay to be scared so long as you don't let it stop you," to "you can't be scared anymore because you have to do more and prove that you can take care of everything or else what is the point if you can't stop other nightmares?" It's not healthy, and thankfully, the boys are there to show just that.
The boys are unsure how to navigate a romantic relationship and realize that wow, okay, this is actually not the right way to go about it with our partner. Not to mention, it was a wake-up call to have Y/N call them out for not 'believing' in their bravery, which wasn't correct, but it did reveal their own fears of rejection. So, taking after their heart, they decided it was time to be brave, too.
"There might be an encounter of three demons now" LAJSFDLASFD
POV: You're a cryptid hunter facing three demon cryptids
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hi steph! idk if this has been recommended for the playlist yet but liar by paramore is such a good johnlock song
[Verse 1]
What was the moment? It's hard to say
I’m sure I don't remember anyway
Before I only knew to hesitate
Pin back in the grenade
[Pre-Chorus]
And all the ways I'd keep you safe
I keep you safe from me
[Chorus]
And, oh, my love, I lied to you
But I never needed to
Oh, my love, I lied to you
But you always knew the truth
[Verse 2]
I got too good at fighting chemicals
And dodgin’ arrows I was asking for
Wading through the fog and then it disappeared
Naked when I'm here
[Pre-Chorus]
And why (And why) should I (Should I) deny what's all
At once so crystal clear?
[Chorus]
And, oh, my love, I lied to you
But I nevеr needed to
Oh, my love, I lied to you
But you always knеw the truth
[Bridge]
Love is not an easy thing to admit
But I'm not ashamed of it
Love is not a weakening if you feel it rushin' in
Don't be ashamed of it
Mm, love is not an easy thing to admit
But I'm not ashamed of it
Mm, love is not a weakening if you feel it rushin' in
Don’t be ashamed of it
[Chorus]
And, oh, my love, I lied to you
But I never needed to
Oh, my love, I lied to you
But you always knew the truth
And, oh, my love, I lied to you
But I never needed to
Oh, my love, I lied to you
But you always knew the truth
(Lyrics from Genius.com)
======
Hey Lovely!
Oh GOOOOOOSH this is SO painfully beautiful, and a great addition to the playlist. Thank you SO much for adding it!!
🎶 LISTEN TO THE JOHNLOCK PLAYLIST ON [SPOTIFY] & [YOUTUBE] 🎶
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