#((You know things are serious when I pull out the transcripts.))

[ryanguzmansource]

Full Audio Transcript (5.21.24)

Hey guys, welcome to I've Never Said This Before with me, Tommy Didario.

If you are not watching 9-1-1 on ABC, you are seriously missing out. The show is so phenomenal that it has been renewed for an eighth season and, my guest today—well, he is phenomenal as well. In fact, he is on my show because of you. I saw all of the tweets, the DMs, the emails—all of it so, like a genie in a bottle, your wish has been granted.

The talented actor Ryan Guzman stars in the smash hit firefighter drama series 9-1-1 and audiences fell in love with his character, Eddie, the moment he debuted in Episode 1 of Season 2. Man, he has become a staple on the show and fans have been rooting for Eddie throughout the years, and Ryan plays each moment of Eddie's journey with such care and vulnerability and truth.

We have a lot to cover today and I have a feeling you're going to really enjoy this fun but also personal and deep conversation. We do dive into some very serious mental health conversations, so after the interview, I will be providing resources for anyone struggling with their own mental health. This is one of the most powerful interviews I have ever done, and I really thank Ryan for opening up in the ways that he did today because I know that he is going to help so many people out there feel less alone.

So, let's see if we can get Ryan to say something he has never said before.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Ryan, my friend, how are you doing today?

I'm good, brother. How are you?

I'm good. I know you have been working your butt off. You were just saying you were filming all night. Are you exhausted or are you on adrenaline right now?

A little mixture of both. I got a little coffee pumped through my system. But yeah, I think I worked six out of seven days this last week. We've been doing around 14, 15 hour days. And I just got off last night around 1.30 in the morning. So got home around 2.30. But we're here. We're here.

Well, you were putting in the work. Congratulations to you on all of the success with this show. It's of course now on ABC. People are loving it. The numbers are going insane. And you've always been a fan favorite from day one. When you had that first scene of you putting that shirt on in slow motion and your body was glistening and Whatta Man was playing, people just fell in love with your character. But that's not just why they love your character. I mean, over the seasons, people have found you so relatable and and really, really are truly invested in the role that you play. Why do you think that is?

I like to say that, I mean, I try to play as grounded as I can, but I think the story itself is just the way Tim Minear writes the character. And I think he's always had a special connection with this kind of character. So, just indebted to how he writes and the connectivity between Eddie and his son. I mean, it's just like it pulls at the heartstrings, you know, and that's always been a fan favorite as well. So, you know, I'm living in gratitude for everything that's been written for that character and I try to do as much justice as I can.

Well, you're nearing the end of Season 7 and past seasons for you have been a bit heavier, a bit more intense. You've really gone through quite a lot of things that we'll touch on a bit later, which I know is also part of the reason why so many people relate to you. Are you enjoying this journey this season?

Yeah, you know what? I haven't really been able to kind of flex my humorous side and just kind of lightheartedness, kind of a vibe about Eddie, and I love that aspect of him. So while everybody else is kind of going through chaos, while Cap is going through chaos, Eddie is kind of, you know, trying to keep everybody together while, you know, Chimney and Hen be going at it during the tsunami and The Poseidon Adventure, Eddie is just, you know, being there for everybody as much as he can. So not to say that he's always going to be happy because Tim always has this thing about saying, you know, if I just let you guys be happy, then there'd be no story. You got to have some kind of drama. Nobody wants to show up just for people smiling all the time. But yeah, we've got some things in store for the rest of the season. And from what we've already shot, I've been super pleased about, you know, this new way of life for Eddie.

Like I said, the things you've gone through are intense throughout the years. Do you have any fear stepping into this role or any anxiety before you had to film some of those more intense scenes? Because it's a lot.

Yeah, you know what? Prior to 9-1-1, I might have had some fears about the depth of a lot of the things that we shot. I honestly didn't really call myself an actor until like maybe three and a half years ago.

No.

Yeah. I thought I was just fooling everybody, trying to get jobs and land the movies that I was getting. And then I think somewhere around the third season, a co-star of mine kind of, like, metaphorically slapped me in the face and said, you know, let's really get into this, man. You got some really good opportunity here. So that's when I started calling myself an actor. But to be honest, the depth of Eddie in the past three, four seasons has been amazing as just a class. It's been class for me. It's been an opportunity to flex these emotions that I don't get to flex in my day-to-day life and to access certain things and see how far can I push Eddie, how, you know, in the scene where Eddie is just losing his stuff and he's breaking everything in his house. Obviously, I've never done it in my house, but how do I get there? How can I allow the audience to feel what I'm feeling? And that task itself becomes a challenge. And I really [like] that type of challenge. So again, living in gratitude for all the little things that Eddie presents that, you know, I haven't really been presenting my own life.

So with that being said, is there a storyline that's particularly special to you for any given reason?

I kind of lean automatically towards the military/PTSD just because I have a cousin who served six tours and, you know, he shared with me—and I actually, oddly enough, during the episode of Eddie Begins, I brought him on as a military tech and he helped out everybody in the production. His name is Randy Hudson. I, you know, I love that guy to death—but, yeah, he's shared with me a lot of his issues that he's gone through and a lot of the obstacles he's gone through in his day to day life and what it's like to be a military vet coming back and kind of assimilating back into civilian lifestyle. So that storyline always kind of held a special place in my heart just because it was very close connected with me and my own family. And I always hope that, you know, I did it justice enough for everybody that has that story ingrained in them.

I think you definitely did. I saw a lot of comments when I announced you as my guest saying that that was a very meaningful part of your journey on this show. I'm so curious, you know, quite often in television it moves so fast, there's always rewrites or so much going on. Was there ever a story that you wanted to come to fruition that never did?

I hated the fact that we killed off Shannon so quick. I know she wasn't a very likable character for so many different reasons, but I always loved working with Devin. So I would love to explore a little bit more with that. But yeah, there's always beauty and chaos a little bit. So I would have loved the relationship, mother, father, parenting style aspect of Eddie's life to be a more explored, but unfortunately that can't happen anymore.

There's always so many things going on. I'm sure it's hard to fit them into each episode, and I'm sure things do have to get cut because major things keep happening episode after episode, one of them being recently, of course, Buck realized he's Bi and that's a storyline everyone's going crazy over. Did you see that coming? Were you like, I think one day this is going to happen for him?

Well, I mean, it's always kind of been in the ether. Everybody, you know, all the fans, you know, have their speculations about Eddie and Buck and, you know, for the longest time, I think Oliver and I again had lightheartedness to it. We always kind of like saw it as like, oh, at least they're so interested in our characters. Thank God they're interested in our characters. They're not ignoring us, and I don't know if either of us had a pinpoint, you know, idea on which character or if any character would actually lead in that way.

But again, all credit to Tim Minear. He's the one that knows the way. So he chose Buck's character to explore that route. And now seeing it happen in front of our eyes, it makes so much sense. And it just the way him, Buck and Tommy are getting together and the way they're exploring their own individuality and personality. It's beautiful to watch. I was very excited to see, you know, that episode specifically, just for the fact that it was such a moment between, you know, a friend and another friend who had held this huge secret. And how do you come out to your friend?

I had a friend, you know—because I know I've had this actually in my own personal life. I've said this in prior interviews��I had a friend who was deadly scared of coming out to me. And I realized that that moment itself wasn't so much the journey for me, you know, it was this hard journey for himself. And all I had to do was catch. I just had to be there for him, and I was like, that moment itself is so beautiful. I can't wait to do that scene. I can't wait to, you know, show the world like this is how you be there for your brother.

Wow, how cool that you could pull from your real life experience and make that scene even more special, which is why I think it came off so incredibly powerful. It really was so cool to see. And the reception has been absolutely incredible in terms of people feeling like, you know, they're seen through that character and it's on prime-time TV. And you don't see a ton of that, which is still kind of crazy. But, you know, and of course, there were some negative comments, which blows my mind. I mean, I'm sure that blew your mind, too, to see that because who cares, right?

Honestly, I've got this now filter for negative comments. They just kind of seep right through and I don't even hold on to anything. So all I've seen is really, really good comments.

And one of the best parts is actually I've gone to work and Oliver himself has been like telling me these stories of people saying, man, I did not have the strength to come out until way later on in my life. So I'm like, oh man, could you imagine 20, 30 years of holding on to this repressed thing and then it just eating away at you and not being able to say anything, even to the closest people and then seeing something on television to inspire you. That kind of thing is just like, whoa, okay, we're doing something much greater, much bigger than us.

He's not the only one inspiring its characters like you because you're showing, you know, what an ally means, and I think that's really cool to see this like macho, cool guy that's just like, cool, like who cares? And that's also equally as powerful and as important. Before we put a pin on this, you know, part of the conversation, you mentioned you never know what the writers are going to do, and I think there were talks at one point of possibly Eddie being the one to come out in some sort of way. Do you laugh and have fun with all of the fandom's obsession with you as Eddie and Buck getting together? Like, is that something you guys always are seeing and hearing? And I know everyone brings it up to you and it's something that's always looming. Like, how do you react to that? Does it ever get tiring for you?

Again, if the fans are interested, we're doing our job. So I love the love. And I mean, unfortunately, I'm not the one that writes it. So it's all up to Tim. But me and Oliver have a really good time with the fact that, you know, people are so invested into these storylines. And in fact, they're so invested, they're creating their own storylines. They're sending us clips and edits and videos. And, you know, every now and then, Oliver will show me something, I'll show Oliver something. Like, did we actually do this in a scene? Because they cut it so well together.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think at the end of the day, you know, we just love the love. We're here to entertain and tell the truth. If it's true to the character, then yeah.”

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

You can't predict the future. Nobody can on this show. But if the opportunity one day happened to come your way where they were like, this storyline might be explored between Buck and Eddie, would you be open to that storyline in the future? I see you smiling. I see Oliver had the same reaction, a big ass grin on his face when I asked this.

Yeah, you know, like I said, it's got to live in the truth and I think right now we live in a moment—or me, I live moment to moment—so I love the fact that the biggest plot point between these two characters is one happens to be Bi, one happens to be Hetero, and they have this vulnerability towards each other. And that is the truth to me is it's the fact that you have such a safe space and it doesn't matter your sexuality, that you have a safe space to talk to this individual and he can fully accept you. If we can stay with that, then whatever happens, happens.

But I don't necessarily want to push the fact that because you're vulnerable, you have to be one way or the other in your sexuality. Then I would hate to have a lot of other men who are struggling mentally and not sure about, oh, do I even open up? Because will that make me something that I'm not? I would hate to push that narrative. So if we live in the truth, whatever happens, happens. And again, I'm here for it all.

Whatever happens, happens. That's a nice way to put it. And I agree with you. I think there's power in both. I think there's power in showing a strong friendship that you don't always get to see. And then there's power if something eventually does happen. So whatever happens, happens. I like that, man. What can we expect for the rest of the season with your characters? Anything you can tease? The finale is coming up. We have a couple more weeks. What can we expect?

What can we expect? Well, we can expect that Eddie's smiles might turn to frowns.

Oh no.

Or at least confusion, maybe. We'll start to see, you know, has he gotten past certain traumas? Or is he just kind of pushed them to the side and acting like they're not there?

You know, I have to say a lot of people are still holding on to hope that we're going to get that karaoke scene.

I mean, yeah, we had such a good time playing that karaoke scene, and it was kind of a let down a little bit to know that it wasn't going to be in there. But now, again, looking at the episode itself, as fun as it would be, the main story was Chimney. And the way Kenneth Choi played Chimney, and that episode specifically—I mean, I think he got, you know, performance of the week for that—it would have been a disservice to add, you know, a three-minute scene of us laughing and having a great time and being drunks and karaoke and take away from that performance. So I'm glad that Tim made that decision, and I don't know if he has any plans on showing that later on or whatnot or having some extended clip version, but I can tell you this much, everybody from the cast to the crew to the background had a wild and crazy time doing that scene.

And I think what I just heard you say is you might accidentally drop it on your Instagram very soon.

I might get fired if I do that.

All right. Well, we'll see. I'll talk to ABC PR. No problem. What do you want to see for season eight? Like, are you thinking about the future? Is there like, OK, if I can have my way, I absolutely want to explore blank.

To be honest, there's so much going at us so rapid, so fast paced at this moment. The scripts are getting handed in like quick as can be. So we have a moment's notice to kind of know what we're doing and where we're going with our character. From what I know, from what I've shot thus far, I think next season will literally be a refresh button to Eddie. And starting over in so many different ways, so many new ways in which Eddie has never explored and we've never seen Eddie explore. He'll be on his own in a lot of areas.

Speaking of that, I have to bring up season five, the mental health breakdown, man. That was intense. And a lot of people felt very connected to that. How was it stepping into that scene for you and that storyline? Because it's pretty powerful.

Thank you. Man, that was cathartic, to be honest. It was I've gone through my own mental health issues as far as like, you know, my own depression and anxiety, and, you know, I was raised in an age where men aren't vulnerable and aren't allowed to show feelings. So that kind of repression is like a ticking time bomb, you know, especially for a person in Eddie's life, or his lifestyle. So to kind of relinquish this boundary of who Ryan is and step into Eddie and just kind of just full-on dive deep into these this well of emotion, it was, it was almost like therapy. It was crazy because, you know, from the second they started to say rolling, it's like my—I started to, you know, start bawling and crying, and when Buck comes in and, you know, he's trying to check in on me and the whole room is just all scattered around and I'm losing it—it's just like there was no semblance of Ryan anymore. It was just all Eddie and he was just lost, and that's what it is.

It's like if I were to look at my son, you know, five year old son, that's kind of what we revert back to is just this child that is just so scared and not having any sense of direction and—or hope that anybody will ever love him or ever see him. And it's just these like, you know, existential fears that come out within those tears, and that was my goal to portray that whole scene and then the scene following it. So to get there was just let go, just let go.

Well, the work you did was clearly honest and raw and vulnerable. You can't fake the work that you did in that. And it was really a powerful man for many people to kind of go through that with you and for people who have had their own experiences. And you're right, like, I'm from an old school Italian family. And, you know, you grow up thinking men don't go through that and men don't show those emotions. So to have that on prime-time TV is huge.

Yeah, I hope that helped out a lot of people. I hope that people were actually able to see that and at least, you know, go to their best guy friend, and, you know, I think that's what really needs to happen. As far as men, we need to lean on each other. You know, women have their own issues and they have their certain way of connecting with each other, but there's a special connection that you can have with your brother. And I give so much credit to quite a few of my personal brothers—including my actual brother—for allowing me to run to them in my moments of need, in my moments of feeling lost. And them, you know, being men themselves, not having to say one thing to me.

Or they can just, you know, if they see me in a moment of, you know, deep into a problem, they have the ability to say, well, here's a solution. And since I'm, you know, of like mind, I can be like, okay, you know what? Thank you for giving me some kind of direction. So yeah, I implore all men out there to kind of at least have one or two in your corner, you know, because we can't get anywhere without community.

Absolutely. What have you most learned about yourself through playing this character for so many years? You know, you joined in season two. It's been a lot of years now under your belt. Have you thought about that? Have you learned anything through playing, Eddie?

I've learned a lot through Eddie. I've learned patience. He's a—you know, he has a sense of patience that I didn't have in the beginning even prior to being a father, you know, and then kids itself, they teach you how to be patient. So, yeah, I've learned how to be there as a father. Kind of oddly enough, it was just living as one onscreen prior to actually being one in real life, it gave me, say, practice. I get to practice on television what I get to implore with my own children. And, you know, even if it's the worst thing for Eddie, you know, and I see him doing something horrible, at least I come back home, like, well, that can't happen. I can't do that with my kids. So, yeah, and in so many ways, it's helped me grow as a man, let alone a father.

That's pretty awesome when you can take things away from your job like that and become a better person. I love that so much. Can you believe you've been on the show for so long now? Do you ever think like, damn, that's not normal. That's the rarity in the business. So is that a cool feeling for you?

Yeah, I literally just had that moment yesterday. We were filming a scene, all of us, the whole cast, and I'm sitting outside—I can't tell you the location, that's going to blow something—I'm sitting outside one of the sets and I just had that moment to myself. I'm like, oh my God, I'm actually here. How did I get so lucky to be on not only just a television show, the number one television show out there, where we're in our seventh season and we're creating numbers that people don't even get in their first season? So again, if there's a moment to tap into, let's get into that gratitude again and just be super thankful that I was lucky enough to land this.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

That is so cool, and that's why I have no doubt you'll continue having so much success in your career and in your personal life because you keep bringing up gratitude, and it's very evident that's something you lead your life with. And in fact, I saw a recent Instagram post where you give a beautiful tribute to Twitch, and you credit him with being able to form connection with people in your life now and to different things and places, and I thought that was such a beautiful way to show people that you're working on yourself and you're a work in progress and that he helps you kind of open your eyes. So that was a really cool moment for you to also reveal.

Thank you, yeah. Yeah, I believe so much of the world right now is showcasing a polished version of themselves. And to be honest, I did it myself for so long that I've become tired of it, and I would much rather get to the raw—the raw, the unfiltered, the, you know, the mess ups, the, you know—I've stuck my foot in my mouth too many times. I've done, you know, stupid things in my life, and I never want to present myself as a person that does everything great because there's so many things I suck at.

So I think there's an opportunity within that rawness to invite others to become raw themselves, and for us to see that, you know, we're not competing with each other, we're competing with ourself and our own image of ourself and friends like, you know, a brother like, like Twitch, you know, and—not understanding what he was going through and that lack of connectivity that I always, you know, felt but never acted on, which again, I felt imposter syndrome for so long of calling him my brother. It really struck a chord in me and now I can't go backwards. Now I'm propelled forward to be like, is this conversation authentic between us or are we just kind of saying what we have to say just so we can pass on to the next person and create whatever that is? And I'm not here for that. I would much rather have that depth and I'd much rather have that rawness.

Beautifully said and a perfect segue into what I want to finish this conversation with, which is based off the title of the show: I've Never Said This Before. So I'm wondering, is there anything that comes to mind that you want to share today that you've never shared before?

Uh. Huh. Yeah, you know what? I've been thinking about this for so long and there's so many things, you know, that come to mind. One specifically, and I've been hesitant to actually say any of this for so long because, you know, it's been years upon years.

About six and a half, seven years ago—and I've really never said this out loud, especially onto a public platform—I had my own mental health crisis and I tried at one point in time to take my own life. And luckily, it didn't work. Luckily, I got a second chance by the grace of God. And from that moment forward, I've taken each step as an opportunity to erase what got me there and build on what allowed me to live forward. So I would say that that moment itself, in addition to what happened to my brother Twitch, are probably the two biggest fundamental moments of my entire life and have allowed me to have a deeper sense of mercy and empathy towards every individual.

So I would implore that all men renounce this fact of, you know, you're a tough man, you have to hold all this in, but lean on your brother, really lean on your brother. And if your brothers aren't being there in the way they need to be, find some new ones. Because that's another thing, if you don't have the people that are conducive to a healthy lifestyle and you're keeping on to them because of loyalty, let them go. There's plenty of other people. There's people that have been through your situation before that are willing and more than willing, you know, to help. So yeah, that was a big one.

Man, first of all, thank you for sharing something so personal and close to your heart with me today. I feel honored that you did open up and share that. And I'm truly—God, this could be another half hour conversation, so I'll keep it short—but I'm truly grateful that you are spreading that message today for anybody listening because, you know, mental health is a crisis and I think people sometimes look at you, they look at me, they think everything's perfect. We are, you know, in this public space and what can be wrong?

And when you humanize real shit like that, it makes people feel less alone. And you got through it, you realize that wasn't the right way to go about it and your life forever changed for the better, and I'm truly grateful that you put that message out today because you have no idea how many people you're going to be helping with that. And I truly know that that's something that's not easy to get off your chest. And for that, I thank you and I know so many people will be thanking you, and I hope you feel kind of like a little bit of a weight lifted that you share that hopefully.

Yeah, it's kind of hard to understand what I'm feeling at the moment. But I hope in what you said is true. And I hope that, again, I would love to do more for mental health, especially for men, I mean, just in general, to be honest. But yes, I hope that there is a new wave out there that's kind of taking over that we can actually have some cohesiveness and connection, a true understanding of what connection is. Let's revisit that. So this issue isn't a common issue anymore. If we can take that down, then let's do it. I'm here for it.

Beautifully said, and thank you again for sharing that. I could talk to you for hours, especially leaving with that. I think you're such a cool person. And you watch people, I get to talk to people all the time. But this to me was a real conversation, and that's what I value. That's why I have a show called I've Never Said This Before, and I want to talk about the projects that the fans love, but also leave room to talk about things that matter. I don't think there's enough of that. So I truly thank you for hanging out, for coming on, for talking about the fun of 911, which we all love, and it's killing it in every way, but also sharing a little piece of you. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I have.

Thanks for having me, my man. Yeah, I had a great time.

Thank you, and remind everyone where, how, when, all the things about your show.

Yes, please watch Thursdays at 8 on ABC.

All right, and stay tuned for the karaoke scene that you just promised you will be dropping.

Yeah, maybe when I'm fired again.

All right, man, until we meet again, take care.

All right, brother.

[hedonists-den]

POV: We’re roommates and I’ve finally had it with your fatass behaviors after you help yourself to my chocolate. I let a lot of pent-up frustration out on you before realizing that there’s only one fitting consequence for your greed.

⚠️ Heavy fat-shaming ⚠️

TRANSCRIPT:

[distant] You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Did you take my truffles? You did, didn’t you? I can see the wrappers right there! I can’t fucking believe this…I put up with a lot from you, but blatantly stealing my food? Aren’t you fat enough as is? I mean you’ve already broken three office chairs—two of which I carried inside, by the way—but noooo, you’ve got to have my chocolate. 

Those truffles are the only things I allow myself at the end of the week, you know that? You know how hard I work to keep my diet in check? All the calorie tracking, exercising, and meal planning I have to do? No, you couldn’t possibly understand. You don’t try hard at anything. You don’t even know what self-control means. All you do is sit around all day, stuffing your fat fucking face and getting high. 

I’m being mean? That’s all you have to say to me? No apology, no “I’ll pay you back for it,”? Are you serious? Well how’s this for mean: You’re a fucking embarrassment. You’re a shameless fat blimp of a human being that only exists to consume. You’re no better than livestock, grazing on whatever it can because its only value is how fucking fat it is. The only difference is that you have at least a modicum of self-awareness to know how completely helpless and useless you are.

How much effort does it take to heave your fat ass up from that chair? Gotta get some momentum going before you can actually stand up? Go ahead. Try to lug yourself to your feet without grunting and struggling. [...] Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought. I’m shocked that you were able to even make it to the pantry to take my chocolate after such a pathetic attempt. That must be why there’s always piles of dishes stacked up in here, too. You’re too fucking lazy to even take them into the kitchen. I always have to clean up after these goddamn feasts of yours or else I’ll never have any dishes for myself. 

Fucking hell, when I signed up to be your roommate, I absolutely did not sign up for this. You at least had some decency when I moved in, so what the hell happened? Did you lose some fucking bet? Or did you just wake up one morning and decide that you were going to be a lazy, fat pig? What kind of degenerate shit did you—ugh, for fuck’s sake, pull your goddamn shirt down…your fucking gut is spilling out… That’s fucking disgusting… Nothing you’re wearing right now even fits! Your fat is just…oozing out of everything… I can’t believe you look like this and still you justify to yourself that you need my candy on top of everything else you shovel into your mouth. Just… No, you know what? You don’t want to apologize? You want to be a fatass? To live in this offensively obese body that you’ve ruined?

[unwrapping candy] Then eat. Eat, you fucking pig. You wanted my candy? You’re going to have it. Every single piece, and then some. You’ll never be any smaller than you are right now. I’ll make sure of it.

Oh no, no, no, you don’t get to stop now. Open up, fatty. You’re done when I say you’re done.

[periwinkla]

1-4 ending JP -> ENG comparison

Keep in mind: -Notes are in small text -The / is meant to separate paragraphs (I'll use it when it gets too visually messy) Disclaimer : I only studied Japanese for a little while. AA dialogue is pretty simple though. Also English isn't my native language either. Feel free to correct me on anything wrong here. Also note that I'm not trying to make the translations sound natural, I'm mostly trying to explain what the words are saying, sometimes I'll be more literal than others. Translation =/= localization.

Phoenix 終わったな、御剣‥‥。 Owatta na, Mitsurugi... So, it's finally over, Edgeworth.

Edgeworth ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … 成歩堂。 Naruhodou. Wright.

Phoenix ん？ N? Yeah?

Edgeworth: ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … ‥‥その‥‥、 なんと言えばいいのか‥‥。 ...Sono... nan to ieba ii no ka... I… I'm not sure how to say this.

Maya そういうときはね。 “ありがとう”って言うんだよ！ Sou iu toki wa ne. "Arigatou" tte iun da yo! I know! I know! Try "thank you."

Edgeworth そ、そうなのか。 So, Sou na no ka. I… I see.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

あ、ありがとう、成歩堂。 A, Arigatou, Naruhodou. Th-thank you, Wright.

Phoenix ど、どういたしまして。 Do, douitashimashite. Y-you're welcome. They sound fairly stiff here. Phoenix's response isn't exactly formal by Japanese standards... I'd say it's casual/formal, but the stuttering makes it stiffer, I feel. Also compared to how they behave in 3-5, I think it's very different. Will elaborate in a future post when I get to analyze that dialogue.

Maya うーん‥‥イマイチ、 ハリアイがないなあ‥‥。 Uun... imaichi, hariai ga nai naa.. I think you could have done better than that!

Edgeworth ム‥‥スマン。 こういうの、ニガテで‥‥。 Mu... Suman. Kouiu no, nigate de... Oof! S-sorry… I'm not good at this sort of thing.

Maya もう！　ダメだなあ、御剣検事は。 Mou! Dame da naa, Mitsurugi Kenji wa. You got a lot to learn, Edgeworth!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yareyare...) (Dear, dear…) (this is not at all important but I noticed it's an expression Phoenix uses a lot: yare yare...)

Gumshoe うおおおおおおおおおおおおおっ！ Uoooooooooooooh! Whoooooooooooooop!

さすがッス！　自分が見込んだ だけのコトはあったッス！ Sasuga ssu! Jibun ga mikonda dake no koto wa atta ssu! Amazing, pal! You pulled through just like I thought you would!

糸鋸　圭介。この恩は一生、 わすれないッス！ Itonoko Keisuke. Kono on wa isshou, wasurenai ssu! I'll never forget this! I owe you one, pal.

今夜は、パーッとやるッス！ 自分がゴチソウするッス！ Kon'ya wa, paa tto yaru ssu! Jibun ga gochisou suru ssu! And tonight, let's party! Dinner's on me!

今月から給料がちょっぴり 下がったッスが、気にしねッス！ Kongetsu kara kyuuryou ga choppiri sagatta ssu ga, ki ni shine ssu! Yeah, my salary went down a bit this month… But who cares!

Maya ほらほらほら、御剣検事。 イトノコ刑事を見ならうの！ Hora hora hora, Mitsurugi Kenji. Itonoko Keiji wo minarau no! See, Mr. Edgeworth? You should take a lesson from Detective Gumshoe!

あんな感じにやると、カンシャの キモチが伝わるんだよ！ Anna kanji ni yaru to, kansha no kimochi ga tsutawarun da yo! That's how you say "thank you"!

Edgeworth ‥‥ム。 な‥‥なるほど。 ...Mu. Na.... Naruhodo. Mmm. I… I see. Note how he basically says Wright's butchered JP name, which is a pun for the game (it means 'I see' / 'I understand') but it also means that the gap between them is somewhat getting narrower. It could just be for comic relief, but...note that when he attempts to thank him the first time, he calls out to him with 'Naruhodou', but now on his second attempt he says 'Naruhodo' before trying to thank him. Unfortunately the subtletly and ambiguity of this cannot be localized. By the way, he also uses 'Naruhodo' before the final trial in T&T, will elaborate on in at a later date. (I don't know whether there are other times other than these two, I haven't analyzed enough transcripts yet)

コホン。 Gohon. ahem

う、うおおおおおおおおおっ！ U, Uooooooooh! Whooooooooooooop! This is, and I'm completely serious here, one of my most favourite scenes. Note the difference between Edgeworth's and Gumshoe's shouts: in the JP, 4 'O's are missing in Edgeworth's shout, while in ENG, 1 'O' is missing - the localization was careful enough to add that tiny difference, and although I am not sure why they reduced it to one single 'O', it's still interesting they differentiated them all the same.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

ダメだ。‥‥ヤッパリ、 私なんか‥‥。 Dame da. ...Yappari, Watashi nanka... I… I feel foolish. literal translation: No, that's not right. As I thought, / someone like me... *'someone like me...' : the underlying message seems to be: 'As I thought, something like this/acting like this wouldn't fit someone like me'

Maya まあまあ、少しずつ 慣れていきましょうよ。 Maa maa, sukoshi zutsu narete ikimashou yo. Don't worry. Take it a little at a time. You'll get used to it.

more literal translation: Come on, come on, little by little / let's get used to it! It seems to me Maya says it in a way to mean something like they'll do it together, so he shouldn't worry - implying he's not alone (anymore), again Japanese can be subtle so I'm not sure, but considering Maya's empathic character, I'd say that's what she meant. In any case, she's trying to encourage him. Very sweet! Phoenix （こんなスナオな御剣を 　見るの、１５年ぶりだな‥‥） (Konna sunao na Mitsurugi o miru no, juugo-nen buri da na...) (It's been fifteen years since I've seen Edgeworth this… unguarded.)

more literal translation: It's been 15 years... since I've seen Edgeworth (act) this honest (with his feelings)... Phoenix is saying that it's been a long time since he's seen Edgeworth be honest/sincere with his feelings/upfront with his feelings. The localization gets the meaning across very nicely. Lotta おっ、いたいた！ O, ita ita! Hey, y'all!

Maya あ、ナツミさん！ A, Natsumi-san! Lotta!

Lotta いやー、アンタら。 カッコよかったでー。 Iya, antara. Kakkoyokatta de. Y'all were great in there!

Phoenix ありがとうございます。 Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you!

Lotta おッ。ニイちゃん。 無罪、おめでと！ Oo, Niichan. Muzai, omedetou! Yo, Edgeworth! Congrats!

Edgeworth ム‥‥お、おおきに。 Mu... o, ookini. Er… thank y'all very much. ookini = 'thank you a lot' in Kansai dialect (which is the dialect Lotta uses) I find it adorably funny that first he tries to imitate Gumshoe to thank people and now he's trying Lotta's ways...

Lotta ウチには、最初から わかってたんやで！ Uchi ni wa, saisho kara wakattetan ya de! I knew you were innocent from the start, of course.

あんたが無罪だ、ってなあ！ Anta ga muzai da, tte naa! Just look at you! You wouldn't stick your hand in the cookie jar even if no one was there! The ENG adds a lot here which wasn't in the original. in the JP, she basically only says: 'From the start, / I knew! / That you were innocent!!' (I think this is mostly done to convey Lotta's character, since the dialect wouldn't have been enough here to convey that I believe)

Edgeworth ‥‥たしか、初日の 検察側の証人だったような‥‥。 ...Tashika, shonichi no kensatsu-gawa no shounin datta you na... You… were the witness on the first day of the trial, weren't you.

Lotta まま。まあまあ。 細かいこと、気にしなさんな！ Ma ma. Maa maa. Komakai koto, ki ni shinasan na! Yeah, well, let bygones be bygones, eh?

Phoenix そういえば、ナツミさん‥‥、 今は、何を‥‥？ Sou ieba, Natsumi-san..., Ima wa, nani o...? Speaking of which, what are you doing now, Lotta?

Lotta おー、今か？ 大学にもどったで。 Oo, ima ka? Daigaku ni modotta de. Who, me? Aww, I went back to college.

スクープカメラマンになる夢は、 もうオシマイや。 Sukūpu kameraman ni naru yume wa, mō oshimai ya. I gave up trying to be an investigative photographer pretty quick.

Phoenix そうなんですか‥‥。 Sou nan desu ka... Really? That's too bad.

Lotta あれ？ Are? Huh?

Phoenix ？ ?

Lotta あそこにいるの、公園の マンジュウ屋、ちゃうか？ Asoko ni iru no, kōen no manjū-ya, chau ka? Isn't that the hotdog guy from the park?

Phoenix ‥‥え？ ...E? Huh?

Larry ‥‥死ぬんだぁ‥‥。 ...Shinun daa... It's over, Nick! My life is over!

Phoenix な、なんでおまえが そんなカオしてるんだよ！ Na, nande omae ga sonna kao shiteru nda yo! Wh-why the sad face, Larry!? What happened now!?

Larry 成歩堂ぉ‥‥。 オレ、そろそろ死ぬからさぁ。 Naruhodouo... Ore, sorosoro shinu kara saa. Oh, Nick… I'm not long for this world. (Just funny how he drags Naruhodou's name out in a wail here.)

Phoenix い、いやいやいや。 I, iya iya iya. Uh… you don't look sick… literally like 'n, nonono' but meaning something more like 'wa, wait wait wait' - it sounds like he's about done with Larry's histrionics and possibly shaking his head in denial...

Larry カズミがよお‥‥パリ 暮らすって言い出して‥‥、 Kazumi ga yoo...Pari kurasu tte iidashite... It's Kiyance! Sh-she's goin' to live in Paris! Paris, Nick!

置いていかれちまったんだよぉぉ！ Oiteikarechimattan da yooo! She's leaving me behind!!!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yare yare...) (Larry, Larry…) I noticed Phoenix uses this expression a lot. It's quite funny to me, reminds me of an old man that is about done with his youngings' shenanigans.

Larry お。御剣。いたのか。 O. Mitsurugi. Ita no ka. Yo, Edgey! There you are!

Edgeworth ム。そりゃまあ、いる。 Mu. Sorya maa, iru. Um, yes, here I am.

Larry おめでとうな、御剣。 ‥‥コレ、オレからのお祝い！ Omedetou na, Mitsurugi. ...Kore, ore kara no oiwai! Congrats, Edgey! Here… a little gift from me in celebration!

Edgeworth “お祝い”？　‥‥めずらしいな。 "Oiwai"? ...Mezurashii na. Celebration? That's unusual for you.

Gumshoe お。アンタも後で来るッス！ ゴチソウするッス！ O. Anta mo ato de kuru ssu! Gochisou suru ssu! Harry Butz! You come along tonight too! My treat, pal!

Larry は、はあ。 楽しみにしてます。 Ha, haa. Tanoshiminishitemasu. Huh? Uh… thanks! Looking forward to it! （オイ、成歩堂） (Oi, Naruhodou) (Yo, yo, Nick!)

（アイツ、オレを取り調べした 　刑事だぜ‥‥） (Aitsu, ore o toriirabeshita keiji da ze...) (That's the suit that questioned me!)

（ゴチソウって、まさか 　カツ丼じゃねえだろうな‥‥） (Gochisōtte, masaka katsudon ja nee darou na...) (When he says treat… that's not police-talk for prison food, right? Right?)

Phoenix そ、それはないと思うぞ。 So, sore wa nai to omou zo. Uh, I think you'll be fine, Larry.

Edgeworth ‥‥成歩堂。 ...Naruhodou. Wright…

Phoenix ん？　どうした？ N? Doushita? Yeah? What's up?

Edgeworth ‥‥金が入っているぞ。 矢張がくれた封筒。 ...Kane ga haitte iru zo. Yahari ga kureta fūtō. That envelope that Larry gave me. It's got money in it.

Phoenix そりゃそうだろ。 “お祝い”だからな。 Sorya sou daro. "Oiwai" dakara na. Well, yeah. That's not that strange. People give money away to celebrate sometimes.

Edgeworth ３８００円だ。 3800 en da. It's $38.00, Wright.

Phoenix ‥‥また、ずいぶんハンパな 金額だな‥‥。 ...Mata, zuibun hanpa na kingaku da na... Huh. What a weird amount. I mean, it's not a little, but it's not a lot either.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

３８００円？ 3800 en? $38.00 exactly?

Maya ‥‥ななな、なるほどくん！ ...Na na na, Naruhodo-kun! N-N-Nick!

小学校のころ、御剣検事が盗まれた 給食費って、たしか‥‥！ Shōgakkō no koro, Mitsurugi-Kenji ga nusumareta kyūshoku-hi tte, tashika...! Wasn't that exactly the amount of lunch money that was stolen from Mr. Edgeworth in school!?

Phoenix さ‥‥３８００円‥‥？ Sa... 3800 en...? $38…!

ままま、まさか‥‥ Ma ma ma, masaka.... No… (I think the shock-induced stuttering in this line might be meant to parallel Maya's previous one. Cute!)

‥‥‥‥まさかああああッ！ 矢張、お前ェェェェッ！ ...Masakaaaaa! Yahari, omaeeee! No!!! Larry, it was you!!! There is a fun pun lost in translation here. Larry's JP name, Yahari, means 'after all/as expected/as I thought' - so Larry's name can be intended both as a vocative and a figure of speech here. "After all, it was you!" = "Larry, it was you!" The phrases basically overlap in JP, as if he were saying them at the same time.

Edgeworth 何をイロめきたっている？ 成歩堂。 Nani o iromekitatte iru? Naruhodou. What are you so surprised about, Wright?

Phoenix え？ E? Huh?

Edgeworth たしかに矢張は、あの日 カゼで学校を休んでいた。 Tashika ni Yahari wa, ano hi Kaze de gakkou wo yasunde ita. Larry was absent that day from school, right?

だが、だからといって 犯人でないという理由にはならん。 Daga, dakara to itte hannin de nai to iu riyuu ni wa naran. But that doesn't automatically rule him out as a suspect.

Phoenix え！ What?

Edgeworth １５年前の、あの日。 15 nen mae no, ano hi. Think back to that day, fifteen years ago.

休んだはいいが、タイクツだった 矢張は、学校に来てみたのだろう。 Yasunda hai ga, taikutsu datta Yahari wa, gakkou ni kite mita no darou. Larry took the day off, but he was bored, he came in to school anyway.

そして、まあ‥‥、ちょっと 手が伸びてしまったんだろうな。 Soshite, maa..., chotto te ga nobite shimatta ndarou na. Then he saw the money lying there… and the rest is history.

Larry 伸びちまったんだろうねえ、 イヤハヤ、これが‥‥。 Nobichimattan darou nee, iyahaya, kore ga... I never was good at History! Heh… The joke is a bit different here, Edgeworth jokes that Larry's hand must have 'stretched out' , but I suppose 'slipped' is more apt. And Larry is like 'Yeah, guess it must have slipped!' The translation would be something like: Edgeworth: And, well, / his hand must have ended up slipping (must have slipped). Larry: Yeah, guess it must have slipped, / eheh, well...

Phoenix ‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

御剣‥‥まさかお前、 ‥‥知ってたのか？ Mitsurugi... Masaka omae, ...Shitteta no ka? Edgeworth… you didn't know, did you?

Edgeworth ‥‥アヤシイとは思っていた。 ...Ayashii to wa omotteita. I suspected.

literal translation: I thought it was suspicious. (I find it endearing that he suspected but didn't say anything - despite how he acts, Edgeworth is really a softie most times, even towards Larry who he has the rightful urge to murder more often than not) いつもの矢張なら、 お前をかばうのはオカシイ。 Itsumo no Yahari nara, Omae o kabau no wa okashii. I just couldn't picture Larry protecting you like he did that day.

みんなといっしょになって、 ここぞとばかり責めたてただろう。 Minna to issho ni natte, Kokozo to bakari semetate daro. Everyone else was saying you did it. The whole class was against you, remember?

Phoenix ‥‥うむむむむ。 ... Umumumumu. Yeah… too well. Phoenix's blabbering is hilarious here. He's in utter denial. Like he's nodding at what he's saying but he's refusing the knowledge to enter his brain.

Edgeworth 成歩堂。もしかしたら お前は知らないかもしれないが、 Naruhodou. Moshikashitara Omae wa shiranai kamoshirenai ga, Wright, you may not know this, but we used to have a saying back in school.

この男は、こう言われていたんだ。 “事件のカゲにヤッパリ矢張”と。 Kono otoko wa, kou iwarete ita nda. "Jiken no kage ni yappari Yabari" to. "When something smells, it's usually the Butz." The saying actually means : 'In the shadow of an incident/trouble, after all, there is Larry' There is the usual pun 'yappari Yahari' so I think the localization of the saying and his name was done very well to render the original meaning.

Phoenix そのコトバなら、イヤというほど 思い知らされてるよ！ Sono kotoba nara, iya to iu hodo omoishirasa reteru yo! I know, I know. I would translate this more to: 'If you're saying that, why didn't you tell me!'

Edgeworth ‥‥いやあ、成歩堂。まさか、 キミが気づいていなかったとは。 ...Iyaa, Naruhodou. Masaka, Kimi ga kizuite inakatta to wa. Really, Wright. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out! '...Why, Wright. It can't be, / you hadn't realized.' This is so funny to me, in both versions. In JP it sounds a bit more teasing and cocky, but still. It sounds like to Edgeworth, shouting objection and reprimanding his classmates and teacher as a 9 year old was no big deal. So he didn't care to mention, thought Phoenix would figure it out. If not, no big deal. To Phoenix, it was life-changing. Phoenix is having a (mid) life crisis.

Larry 意外だねこりゃあ。 Igai da ne koryaa. Well, this is sure an unexpected turn of events, eh?

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth ん？ N? Hmm?

Phoenix 言えよ！ Ieyo! You should have told me! Here it may look like a whole different thing but it's mostly that there is no other natural way to translate this. 'Ieyo' is just the imperative of the verb 'ieru', 'to tell'. It kinda gives the feeling of 'But (then) tell me, dammit!'

Maya まあまあ、なるほどくん。 もう１５年前のコトでしょ？ Maa maa, Naruhodo-kun. Mou juugo-nen mae no koto desho? Now, now, Nick. It was fifteen years ago!

これって“じこう”ってヤツ だよね？　御剣検事。 Kore tte "jikou" tte yatsu da yo ne? Mitsurugi Kenji. Don't you think the "statute of limitations" has run out, Mr. Edgeworth?

Edgeworth そういうこと、だな。 Souiu koto, da na. I'd say so, yes.

Larry そういうことだよ。 Souiu koto da yo. There you have it! In JP version, I found it funny how Larry parrots Edgeworth's words. 'Souiu koto' means 'it's like that'.

Phoenix ‥‥まったく‥‥。 ...Mattaku,,, Grr…

お前らにカンシャして弁護士に なったぼくの立場はどうなるんだ？ Omaera ni kansha shite bengoshi ni natta boku no tachiba wa dou narun da? Where does that leave me!? I became a defense attorney because of what you two did!

Edgeworth 感動的なまでのお人よし、 といったところだろうか。 Kandō-teki na made no o-hito yoshi, to itta tokoro darou ka. Well, I'd call you a goody-two-shoes to the extreme.

Larry とんだお調子モノ、とも 言えるよナ！ Tonda o-chōshimono, tomo ieru yo na! Yeah! And you get worked up too easily, too!

Phoenix し、死刑だ！ コイツを死刑にしてくれェッ！ Shi, shikei da! Koitsu o shikei ni shite kuree! D-death! The death sentence for both of you!

‥‥こんなことなら、 検事になりゃよかったあ！ ...Konna koto nara, kenji ni narya yokattaa! Man, if I only had known, I'd have become a prosecutor!

Edgeworth ‥‥それは私も同じだ。 ...Sore wa watashi mo onaji da. The same goes for me, only the other way around…

“もしかしたら、自分は父親を 撃ってしまったのかもしれない” "Moshikashitara, jibun wa chichioya o utte shimatta no kamoshirenai" For the longest time, I thought that I might have killed my own father. These are provided as literal phrases he thought: 'Could it be, I myself was the one that ended up shooting my father.'

“自分は罪人かもしれない” "Jibun wa zainin kamoshirenai" I thought I might be a criminal. "What if I'm a criminal, myself.'

‥‥私は、そういう自分を 罰する意味もあって検事になった。 …Watashi wa, sou iu jibun o batsu suru imi mo atte kenji ni natta. I became a prosecutor in part to punish myself.

Basically the same, but instead of saying 'in part' he says that was one of the reasons. He says he became a prosecutor for that reason as well (among others), the reason being that of punishing himself. ‥‥こんなことなら、 弁護士になりたかったよ。 ...Konna koto nara, bengoshi ni naritakatta yo. If I had known the truth, I might have become a defense attorney after all. 'If it were like this (if I had known), I would have wished to become a defense attorney.' The way he says it seems way more heartbreaking in Japanese. Naritakatta = wanted to become, which here becomes 'I would have wanted to become' because of context. I translated it as 'would have wished' because it seems more apt here. Naritakatta expresses a desire for something you had wanted in the past. 'I would have gone for being a defense attorney'... It indicates that someone wanted to become or achieve something at some point in the past, but for some reason, they were not able to fulfill that desire.

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth かわるか、成歩堂。 Kawaru ka, Naruhodou. Want to switch, Wright? Says the same thing... and it sounds so resigned in both versions. It's curt, and their conversation ends just like that. Breaks my heart.

[witchinatree]

magnus protocol episode 29 ramble

we're so back!!! i cannot believe next week will be the last episode of the season this went by so fast

also watch dead boy detectives on netflix please i want another 100 seasons of it and it's also just really really good

anyway here we go!!! episode 29!!!!!!!! it does not feel like january was that long ago but like fuck. it was.

oh sam are you ok oh fuck he is not okay

ok he's alive that's good that's very good

he doesn't want alice to be right also gwen absolutely would care she cares so much (it is the fear)

well no because alice met it and she survived and gwen got attacked by it and she survived but i guess they wouldn't know the gwen part

feed me the institute. woah did it cut off when he thought of the hilltop centre? also celia's right do not go there

oh i'm so excited get alice there too GEORGIE MENTION anyway let's go gang this is a horrible .. ok celia you stole my thing

ohhh gwen and lena banter why does gwen hate lena so much i actually kind of love her she seems like the ideal boss

"don't call me unless it's an emergency" they're calling her later

wait. i need to pause and pull up the transcript. lost track of the numbers

the 2020 mention made me think the magnus archives

viola locke?

oh this sounds so cute like a surprise trip with a travel diary?? adorable. don't ever surprise me with a trip though i would have a heart attack not being able to know any of the plans

these guys sound so adorable what the hell

stan please don't murder her i will stop believing in love

huh. what. what. huh? gonna translate that later

i'm stressed out now can we go back to the cute old people romance

fuck i accidentally went back a few minutes LMAO

yea this is not a museum you should leave now

wait this is on lena's computer right? like gwen was on lena's computer after she left? i wonder why lena would get a statement (unless it was for gwen)

oh no they got locked in (ironic)

ohhhh it means "unlock your heart" thank u for translating for me viola

this is terrible they are too old for this

oh no. oh stan. oh no stan. wtf this is gonna make me cry

this is horrific! thanks!

alright so um. wtf.

alice!!! oh and teddy omg!!!! oh. teddy. i forgot i'm worried about him

something serious? uh oh. NOO TEDDY NOOOO DON'T DIE OH FUCK ALICE DON'T LEAVE HIM HE MIGHT ACTUALLY DIE

NO WAIT ALICE DON'T LEAVE HIM ACTUALLY AND ALSO DON'T GO JUST PLEASE HELP HIM TEDDY I'M WORRIED FOR YOU TEDDY I'M REALLY SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU

ALICE HONEY??? OH MY GOD IT'S ON THE TRAIN OH MY GOD IT'S ON THE TRAIN REST IN PEACE SAM KHALID REST IN PEACE CELIA RIPLEY

oh you. you. youuuuuuuuuu. you. you. you. you. oh . youu. you. you can't end it there. you can't end it there. you are. joking. you are. kidding.

actually tweaking out oh my holy jesus fuck

[cakeofthepan]

Congrats to Will for achieving 2 of the greatest achievements in life, becoming a father and murdering Freddie Wong.

[Audio Transcript:

[Rhythmic clacking music plays]

Will: Hey everyone, I’m Will Campos I play Normal Oak, a mixed-up mascot kid who doesn’t know who he is anymore. Teen fact this week about Normal, this one’s for you Freddie

Freddie: Yay!

Will: That raccoon that Normal found, that he befriended a couple of teen facts ago, it’s actually not a racoon it’s a goingondog.

[music cuts out]

Freddie: What’s a goingondog?

Beth: oohhhhhh

Will: [extremely pleased with himself] Not much dog, what’s a going on with you bitch?

Freddie: [screams in agony]

[crab rave starts playing]

Matt: [laughing] are you serious? Did you seriously fall for that?

Anthony: [overlapping] Did you seriously fall for that? You actually fell for that?

Beth: [overlapping] I can’t- I can’t believe you-

Freddie: [overlapping] you BITCH

Will: [full on cackling]

Matt: Are you serious?

Anthony: Oh my god, Freddie is full on doing the Evangelion Shinji like doubled over in his chair clutching his head.

Beth: Oh No!

Will: [still cackling]

Freddie: [screams in agony again]

Anthony: He literally looks like he has to go pilot the Eva right now

Will: YESSS

Anthony: I can’t believe that

Freddie: Aaaaaa what

Matt: Will- Will, you found his perfect weakness, you found like a moment when his defenses were down

Anthony: Oh my god

Will: I, alright, so here’s the real story, I became a-

Freddie: GODDAMN IT

Will: [laughs]

Anthony: How did you fall for it?

Matt: How did you fall for that?

Freddie: [yelling] I don’t know, I don’t know, it was a moment of weakness, Jesus Christ

Anthony: Oh man

Will: [laughs] so um, here’s the story of that dad fact. Last month, I became a father. My wife and I had our beautiful baby boy Andy. He’s doing well, everyone’s doing great. I have been thinking about what my dad fact was gonna be for a month straight while sleep deprived and pacing around back and forth. And I was like, I feel like I’ve got one chance here to really pull something over on somebody. And I thought of this goingondog thing, I was like wait a sec. Cuz Freddie updogged me

Matt: Mmm Hmmm

Will: two decades ago I swear to god. Ten year- twelve years ago

Matt: Oh my god

Beth: Damn

Will: He got me with just straight up updog and I was like, I will have my revenge one day

Freddie: Wait do you remember that? I don’t remember that

Will: I had never heard updog before, and then you just updogged me and then everyone laughed at me and I’ve been holding a grudge-

Anthony: The day Freddie updogged you was the most important day of your life. To him it was Tuesday

Freddie: [laughing] For me it was a Tuesday

Will: And I was like, I bet my first fact back everyone’s gonna be wondering what it is, he’s gonna say something about having a kid. And then I’m like, oh wait, I’ll call Freddie out specifically, I’ll reel, I’ll reel him in.

Freddie: Oh what, that’s the move. That was the move. That’s what got me dude

Beth: Damn

Will: Yeah, so I don’t know. Anyway, I can die now I’m quitting the podcast. Goodbye

Anthony: Wow

Freddie: Fuck, bro. Just like fucking James Earl Jones used to say dude, the circle is now complete

Matt: I just watched an assassination. You know like, one of those videos that nobody moves. Like, we all just sat here just watched Freddie get murdered.

Will: [laughs] one of those 3 seconds before disaster happened videos. Anyway

Freddie: Holy shit. Do I need to turn back in my podcaster card?

Beth and Matt: I think so

[laughter]

Freddie: Do I need to go back to the podcasters guild and tell them that I’ve been forcibly ejected by an updog joke?

Beth: Hi

Freddie: [screams]

Beth: Hi

Freddie: Fuck you Will

Will: Hi Beth, how are you?

[music fades out]

Anthony: Roll stealth with disadvantage Taylor

Freddie: Taylor’s just so pumped at the idea that there was a ghost

Will: Taylor Swift really wondering if uhh we’re uhh out of the woods yet

Beth: Mmmmmm

Freddie: don’t ugh Will

Will: Did you hear her new song hey what’s up dog?

Freddie: Go fuck yourself

Beth: Freddie says it smells like wrong dog in here

Anthony: Freddie, you wanna roll to bofa?

End Transcript]

[operationslipperypuppet]

First scene // Last goodbye

The first and last times we see Ol’ Cobb. 200 years apart.

(Aka I got an idea about first scene vs last scene and that very common gif set and did it to the best of my ability with an audio-only medium).

transcript under the cut

Murph: This guy is an old, kind of grizzled, Crick hunter, and it’s not that he’s not hospitable, it’s just that he’s a little bit more serious. So, you go to do the handshake, and he’s kinda just a couple steps behind you, like moving real slow.

Cobb (Murph): Uh, hi, how you doin’ Moonshine? It’s been a while since -

Caldwell, overlapping: Oh, dang.

Cobb, continuing: - I’ve seen you.

Moonshine (Emily): Yeah, what’s your name? It escapes me right now. I saw your face, though, that didn’t escape me.

Caldwell chuckles over the words.

Cobb: You know me, I’m Ol’ Cobb.

Caldwell laughs again.

Moonshine: Ol’ Cobb! Well get the heck out! What sort of croc you catch to get here?

Caldwell laughs again.

Cobb: You know, somethin’ ain’t right at the Crick.

Moonshine: Yeah.

Cobb: So I came here to make things right.

Moonshine: What you hunt - Who’s tastin’ the - Who’s tasting the fruits of that blunderbus?

Murph: He pulls out a wanted poster of The Widow, and he says

Cobb: I tracked The Widow to Galaderon. If I find her, that’s 10,000 gold pieces for Ol’ Cobb.

There is a break in the audio for a beat. When the next clip begins, the song “The Kingshammer” is playing under the words.

Cobb: Gruumsh’s guys saw me run up here. I’m gonna take ‘em as far as my old legs can run. But you - you’ve gotta stay here, alright.

Hardwon (Jake), attempting to interrupt: Cobb! Cobb, come on! No!

Murph: Uh, he keeps talking through you.

Cobb: Now, don’t go blamin’ yourself. I know you’re gonna blame yourself. But -

Hardwon, quietly to himself: Oh, fuck.

Cobb: I ain’t doin’ you a favor, alright?

Hardwon, still trying to interrupt: Uh, Cobb.

Cobb: You’re doin’ me one.

Hardwon: Let me die, Cobb.

Cobb: Let this old man leave the world knowin’ that the kids are gonna be alright.

Hardwon, louder: No! The world’s better with you in it than me, Cobb! What’re you doin’?

Cobb: Look after Moonshine and Bev for me, yeah?

Murph: You see he begins to walk, ahead of the other spirits, and turns back.

Cobb: Or, better yet, you tell Moonshine and Bev to look after you, dumbass. [Murph laughs loudly, in character as Cobb].

Jake: Hardwon laughs and sobs.

Cobb: Keep it light.

Murph: You see Cobb charges into battle, a ghostly reflection of his last stand.

[evilscientist3]

Please help me. The Wizard Police are after me. I am a simple man, er wizard. I'm femme coded and delicious and thus break many wizard laws by existing. I have potions that have powers beyond your imagination. Your small small imagination. You should read and draw more so your brain will grow and you can understand my powers. This potion in my hand is purple and swirly. Its smells delicious, doesn't it? You want to drink it don't you? I know you do. Stop staring at my chest. My eyes are up here! *Points at the tip of my hat*. FOCUS! This potion is so important and you must STOP SNIFFING ME. Yes um drink the potion. Oh you don't want to? What if I put a silly straw in the bottle, will you drink it now? WHAT WAS THAT?? *Wizard Sirens in the distance* I have to go. You must hide me. What is your credit card number? Don't say the numbers out loud! You'll summon the interdimensional Identity theifs!!! Write it down! On my hand! Oh that tickles!! Stop it at once. Your hand writing is shit. Whatever youll have to just come with me. *covers you in the potion and you turn into a small creature*. Now I'm going to place you in this bag. Never mind why theres so much broken glass in there!! Stop eating it! Stop eating it! Stop it!! I hate you. *Shakes the bag really hard* stop enjoying this! *Sirens get closer* we have to go now!! *Does a little break dance and disappears into another plane* oh God we're 2d! Stop turning to the side and looking like a flat line! This isn't funny. Now, what is your mother's maiden name. What do you mean you don't have a mom. Everyone in the universe is assigned six mom's when they're created. What is a dad? A boy mom? I don't understand what you're saying. How are you able to make your teeth jiggle around like that? That is ungodly. Your teeth should be placed firmly in your gums! I don't care what Chinese deer can do. *coughs up blood in a gay sexy way* oh I forgot to mention I have tuberculosis. Yes it's serious. No Im not going to the doctor. We have to get out of this plane. Hmm I have one more spell I can cast that will allow one of us to get back into the 3d world. I will send you back and you must get help from my hot wizard girl husband. What do you mean wife? What is that? They're my girl husband! You don't say things that make sense. *Riffles through bag* I need to find My bang energy drink so I can power up before I do my teleportation beam. Why is the can empty. Why do you mean you drank it? Why would you drink someone else's energy drink! It gives me my wizard power! That's it, I've had enough. *pulls out revolver from the bag* this is goodbye to you. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG good gracious they were blanks! I hate you I hate you I hate you!! *Throws you on the ground and you make a loud thud* why do you sound like you're full of milk? Webkinz cat? What does that mean? Who is rainbow dash and why was she in a jar? THEY DID WHAT TO HER? I can't do this anymore. *Loud bang* WIZARD POLICE PUT YOUR ARMS UP!!

NEVER! *Throws you at the police*

*I'm shot four thousand times by a thousand different wizard beams* I die instantly

This reads like a transcript of the most niche ASMR video ever made. Thank you for sharing this experience with us

[sara78]

Family don't end in blood - chapter 7

Summary: Things finally seem to look up for Y/N and she's looking forward to the little break from filming, she's closing in on the first semester and life is just good, but an unexpected appearance threatens to break down everything she's worked on the past months...

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x foster!daughter reader

Word count: very close to 5,000

Warnings: mentions of abuse, protective!Jensen, angst, so much angst, nightmares, Danneel is honestly the only sane person here

Transcription - Y/M/L - your mother language, Y/H/C - your home country

A/N: This is where things start to build up...

You were finally settling into the routine, the filming, school work, life in general. You finally found balance in your everyday life, and you can definitely thank Jensen for helping you with everything that came up along the way.

You were excitedly counting down the days until you get to go back to Austin and be there for the twins' birthday. You haven't been that excited about something in a long time.

But as of now, you, Jensen, Jared, and Misha are walking to get some lunch. Of course, Jared was being Jared and pulled yet another prank on Misha. And of course, taking in the fact how serious y'all are, Richard got sick and tired of y'alls bullshit and sent you to have some lunch and cool off before continuing with filming, for sake of his as much as yours.

"You are a monster!" Misha exclaimed, Jared laughing,

"I can't believe that what, 12 years later, you still fall for his stupid pranks," Jensen said, all three of you giggling as Misha groaned,

"I just might ask craft and supplies to buy me some popcorn for next time, cause you guys are my favorite movie to watch," you laughed, Jensen's phone ringing,

"Oh, it's Dee. Get me some steak and salad, kiddo. I'll catch up with you guys."

"I'm so gonna put something spicy in his meal," Jared giggled evily,

"Jared Tristan Padalecki woke up and chose violence," you said, Misha rolling his eyes,

"That's his default setting, kid," he stated, Jared nudging his arm playfully,

"Oh I love you too," Jared stated, taking his phone out, "I gotta check in with Gen. I'll take my meal when I make it. You keep a seat for me, kid," he said, ruffling your hair and drifting away as well,

"I'll just drop by and give Sarah my trench coat so that she can wash it up since this is not presentable anymore," Misha said, "Keep me a seat too! Preferably as far from Jared as possible," he called out from the distance, making you giggle as you showed him a thumbs-up, leaving to get some food.

While you were walking to the catering, you pulled your phone out to read over all the texts your friend, well, more sister, sent you. The time zones are kind of messing with your friendship but oh well, it's not like she's a night owl anyways, so you get to text very often. You caught up with all the texts from her and swapped to discord, where you had a group of close friends you'd study with whenever you needed company.

As you were walking you bumped into something, or someone. You immediately turned around after bumping into whatever it was, wanting to apologize for being a clumsy idiot if it was a person you bumped into.

But when you lifted your eyes up from the phone, you froze.

"Watch your steps, whore," a voice called you out, making you gulp. You swore you felt all will to live drained from your body and soul right there and now, as you stared at the person you'd never expect to see here. You were speechless, hands shaking as they put the phone back into your pocket. The person smiled at you evily, making your blood run cold, "Awww, what's the matter? Are you scared of your own mom?" you clenched your jaw, all the anger accumulating in you slowly but surely.

If she left from set without a bloody nose she should consider herself lucky. Everything was coming down but you still didn't know what to do. Do you attack, talk back, run away?

"Since when do you speak English? You don't even speak Y/M/L properly."

"I want to show you that everything is possible. Even me learning this filthy language," she began, "To prove you that you could have done exactly the same. You could have studied and become a scientist in Russia and-"

"Did you seriously travel for more than 30 hours just to tell me all of that shit over again?" you asked, huffing a laugh, "I can't believe this. You're still living in the past. I'm done," you pointed out, "I'm done being a puppet you control. I'm done being a punching bag you take all of your anger out on. I'm done being your daughter. I'm done being related to you. For all I know, I shouldn't be talking to a stranger."

"Drop the bullshit, bitch," she spat out,

"No, I'm not gonna drop it. I've had it up to here with you," you said, gesturing, "I'm done being manipulated and controlled, I'm done being beaten and hurt and called out. I don't deserve what you've done to me. You brought me into this world only to blame me for everything that has ever happened and to make me into this robot you control. I'm not supposed to be what you want me to be. I'm supposed to build my own future and make my own choices, whether right or wrong."

"I see you're still blind," she responded, "Me controlling you? How can you stay blind after all these years? I'm giving you a future!"

"A future?" you huffed, "This is my future. For the next few months, this is my future. My future is to finish high school, to make my own choices and be my own person. My future is to heal from everything you've fed me with. But then, you don't know of the term mental health, so you wouldn't know what I'm talking about."

"Stop being a bitch or I make you shut that filthy mouth of yours," she said, taking a step towards you, making you take a step back as you flinched,

"Yeah, that's how you deal with everything. Beat Y/N up. That's the only card you know how to play."

"You little blind bitch. I'm trying to secure your future, to make you successful!"

"And I can't do that by myself, in a branch I choose? I can't be a successful actress, or a video game designer, or a mathematician or a musician? It has to be medicine, biology, whatever the fuck the thing is on your mind? You are not doing anything but wanting to make me into this super famous person so you can show off to others how smart your daughter is. That same daughter you beat behind closed doors. Have you ever bragged about that? How gentle of a mother you are?"

"KIDDO!" Dean Winchester's voice in full swing echoed in the air and you felt a stone rolling off your heart as you saw him run towards you. He immediately grabbed you for your arm and pulled you aside. Though it was rough, it wasn't meant for hurting you, but for quickly moving you back behind him, where you were safe and out of reach for your mother,

"Oh great. The old fuck."

"Who the hell are you?" Jensen asked,

"Oh, you don't know!" your mother exclaimed, taking a step back. You grabbed at Jensen's flannel and pulled him three steps back with you. Jensen looked you in the eye and you must have had such a scared expression that he immediately dropped the attention on your mother and immediately turned to you,

"Kiddo, who is that?"

"My-my mother," you breathed, feeling your chest tighten up, "She's-she's my mother."

It took Jensen one swift motion to pick you up and settle you on his hip, same way Dean did to your character numerous of times before,

"You're safe. As long as my arms are around you, you're safe. I promise," he whispered.

You couldn't do much but lean your head against his shoulder as you tried to take deep breaths and not go into a panic attack,

"I want you to leave," Jensen spoke up, turning to face your mother, "You have no business being here. Go your own way."

"Oh, but she is my business," your mother spoke up. You shook your head and Jensen squeezed you tighter,

"Oh, look how gentle and soft you are with her. That's how you raise a whiny bastard. My methods haven't worked quite well, unfortunately, as she's still a whiny little bitch."

"Yeah, when you beat your daughter up with whatever comes to hand she craves for a soft touch, something that won't hurt her," he responded,

"What I was doing was raising a strong independent woman. Now, only thing I have left is to kick that bitchy attitude out of her and make her into a scientist so she can finally contribute to this family and be useful for once."

"Oh no, you're not coming near her," Jensen shook his head, "You aren't taking her anywhere."

"Oh sweetie, that's not your decision to make. Besides, I have no problem showing you a few moves I've used on her. I'm sure she'll obey after she revises them with me."

"No," you spoke up, Jensen still holding you tightly, "You're not going to hurt him."

"You be a grown-up and talk to your mother!" she exclaimed. You looked at Jensen, nodding. He gulped, letting you down but tightly holding you, your back pressing against his chest, "Now, about the parenting preferences. Don't you have three kids of your own? You should start using some belt on them if you want them to grow up strong and independent."

"Oh you don't tell me how to raise my children," Jensen growled, "I'm never going to hurt my kids. Whatever they do, I'd never hurt them."

"Oh, you're making a big mistake."

"Yeah, whatever makes you sleep better at night," he responded, "Children cannot in any way be responsible for whatever is happening in your life. Yes, they might break a glass, shatter a window, spill milk, crack their head open, but they are never doing things on purpose and when mistakes happen, you talk to them. You don't 'cure it' with a belt."

"Please, as far as I can tell, Y/N's grateful for my parenting preferences. Right?" you gulped,

"What's going on here?" Misha's voice rang, your mom groaning,

"You fuckers don't know what manners are, do you?" she asked, turning around to face Misha, "Don't interrupt a lady when she talks," Misha looked at her and Jensen was fast to drop on his knees and turn you to face him. You heard Misha talk back but all you were focused on was Jensen,

"Kiddo, hey, you're safe," he told you and you nod, "She's not gonna come near you. Did she hit you?" you shook your head, "You sure?" you nod, "Okay, that's good. How did she find you?"

"I-I don't know. I bumped into her when-when I was walking to-to get food," you stammered,

"Okay, we'll take care of it. Do you trust me?" you nod, "Good. Now, I'm here, and so is Mish, Jared will stumble up here as well. You're safe. We won't let her get you. Okay?" you nod again and he stood up, both returning to the pose you had before Misha showed up.

You could now tell Misha was in a heated argument with your mother.

"STOP!" Jensen exclaimed, Misha moving to stand right next to you. It seemed like he realized who she was and he took a protective pose in front of you as well.

"You know what, I should have hit you harder," your mother spoke, Misha gulping as he looked down to you for a second before looking back up,

"Yeah, mother of the year right here people!" he shot back,

"She's a sixteen year old child. She's got all the rights to be loved and to want a hug and to feel safe. Every single person, no matter their age, should be granted as much."

"She can't even do the right thing to save her life! That's where your gentle parenting bullshit leads. Now, I'm sure she's pretty useless here. Might as well hand it back to me."

"She's not an it," Jensen growled,

"Yeah!" Jared's voice rang and you turned around just in time for him to voluntarily pick you up and settle you on his hip, "She's our kid! So you might as well drop whatever plans you have with her because you'll have to walk over our dead bodies to get her."

"Wow," your mother huffed, "So despearate in need of a dad, you found three! But you never once cared about me, did you? I had to be alone for my entire life because of you! You drove your father away and I never got to be loved!"

"I was never responsible for anything that happened between you two," you yelled out, "Why didn't you abort me if he already didn't want me and you knew he was going to kick you out?"

"Well, I figured to make up for it by making you into a successful scientist and then we can go to him and-"

"So that is your brilliant plan? Rub it in? Do you understand that he has a wife and a daughter he loves. He doesn't care about you or me. And I'm sorry you went through that, but you had options and you chose to give birth to me. I had nothing to do with you and him. I was born and instead of being loved, I was all these years used as a puppet in your master plan of rubbing it in to him."

"What is it that you want?" Misha asked, obviously missing some context,

"Well, that idiot there is coming with me or she's going to suffer."

"I ain't letting her go," Jared spoke up, "So you might as well cross that off your to-do list and reschedule it for never."

"You've got a chance to fix all this," your mother warned you, "I won't beat you hard too."

"No," you spoke, "I'm happy where I'm standing right now and I'm not coming with you."

"Well, you had your choice. I can't wait to see you suffer," she responded, "The exact same way you made me suffer."

"She made you suffer? Because she wants to live her own life, make her own decisions? Or is it because she wants to be loved and cared for?"

"Don't you want what's best for your child?" she countered,

"We all do," Jared said, "But your definition of best seems to drift off from ours."

"We want our children to have a good life. But we don't dictate them," Jensen began, "We don't plan it all out for them. We let them be kids, let them play, learn, enjoy life, fuck up and slam against the wall and help them get back up. They are never going to have a plan they so blindly have to follow. What you wanted to do to Y/N, it's not fair. It's inhumane."

"Why won't you shut that ugly mouth of yours or I make you," she threatened, huffing, "No wonder you fit so well. Shit goes with more shit."

"You keep them out of your dirty mouth," you growled, "You wanna trash talk about me? Do it. Make the whole universe hear how bad of a daughter I am. But you don't dare talk about them like that. You don't know them."

"Oh, and you do? They'll just use you to get popular and then throw you out. That's when it'll hit you and you'll beg to come back," her mother began, "But I won't take you in then. You have one chance, and it's now."

"No."

Your mother gasped, fully not expecting the answer even though she's been given the same answer multiple times,

"W-What?"

"I said no," you repeated, "I told you I'm done. I'm not coming with you. This is where I stand, and I like it here. I'm done with you and your plans for me, for revenge on my father. It's over," you said, "We were getting lunch, guys," you spoke, the three nodding and walking away, brushing past your mother, but not without resistance. She jumped at you, presumably, but Jensen was in the way and had no problem grabbing her and pulling her away while Jared moved quickly, still holding you in his arms and Misha bolted, probably for security.

"You are not," he began, locking arms around her, her long nails scratching his skin, "Going to," he picked her up, "Come near my kid," he took a step back, "Ever again." he growled in her ear, dragging the two of them away, "You wanna make her suffer?" Jensen asked, letting her mother go and she immediately maintained a safe distance from him, "Huh? You wanna make a little kid suffer?" he repeated, your mother bolting to attack him again, long nails managing to get to his face before he grabbed her wrists, "Bad idea. Cause if you touch her, you have a lot of people breathing on your neck. And I am the first one," he said, going into her face. Only thing your mother could do is hysterically scream into Jensen's face until the security showed up and they dragged her away.

As soon as she's being dragged away, Jensen is running to you and Jared and you caught Misha with the corner of your eye. You couldn't be fooled, as all three had terrified expressions on their face,

"She's okay," Jared spoke up as soon as Jensen was within arms length. He took you from Jared's arms and hugged you tightly. You couldn't do much but return the hug and let both of you calm down from your high.

"How did she get through the security?" Misha spoke up,

"She-She probably paid her way in," you responded, going to hug Misha and then Jared, "I'm sorry for causing a scene."

"There's nothing to apologize for, munckhin," Jared shook his head as he squeezed you tightly, giving you one of his famous moose hugs,

"I scared you. All three of you," you responded, looking back at Jensen, "And she hurt you too."

"What's important is that she didn't hurt you," Jensen responded, smiling weakly for you, "Don't apologize. You didn't pick your mother."

"But still-"

"Don't," Misha shook his head, "We're all okay. And Jensen's right. What matters is that you're not hurt."

"What in the ever-loving fuck happened?!" Richard exclaimed as he walked up to you,

"My mother somehow managed to break through the security."

"She's fucking mental!" he exclaimed, "Are you guys okay?"

"More or less," Jensen responded,

"Oh man, get someone to clean that up," Rich frowned, "Listen, if she broke through the security that means we have a rat somewhere around."

"I'll fire the current security and ask Cliff to make me a list of most trusted ones," Jensen said, "I'll set it all up."

"But until that's set up, we're taking a break," Richard said, "I gotta look around people here too. I don't know who she might be working with. I'll need time."

"Guys, really, you don't have to-"

"All of our safety is compromised with that mental bitch loose. Yes, she'll be held for 72 hours or something, and yes we'll press charges, but whatever is the outcome, I have to go through all these people. I have to work with people I know are safe. I don't want insane parents breaking into the set and murders happening, and neither do Jensen and Danneel."

"But we'll fall back with filming," you pointed out,

"We'll be fine. Filming is postponed until February 1st. We have a few episode waiting for production. I order y'all to go home and take a break. You heard me kiddie?" you nod, looking down, not expecting Richard to come up and hug you, "Hey, I'm not mad at you. I can't be mad at you. She's the mental idiot, not you. I'm just glad you're safe."

"Thanks," you whispered, returning the hug,

"Don't thank me. Now go home, all of you."

The first thing Jensen did as he opened the door to his trailer was lead you to the couch and grab a bottle of water sitting on the counter, handing it to you. You took it quietly, your head bowing down.

"Kiddo," he whispered, crouching in front of you, "Kiddo, look at me," he tried but you shook your head.

How can I look at you? I put you in danger. I shouldn't be here.

"Kiddo, this isn't on you."

You gulped.

Of course he knew what's going on in your head. Of course he knew you'd be blaming yourself. And you still couldn't wrap your head around the fact that nobody is blaming you.

But then, they might be as well lying to you.

"We're going back to Austin," he stated and you shook your head,

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not," you began, finally looking up, "She's going to be out in 72 hours. She's coming after me. Save yourself and go. I'll find a place here and keep quiet until we return to film."

"No," Jensen shook his head, "You're coming with me. You're way safer in Austin than here. Either we both go or we both stay."

"Jensen-"

"No," he said sternly, "I'm not leaving you here."

"Jensen, you heard her. Are you seriously willing to sacrifice the safety of your family just for one person?"

"Yes," he responded, taking you back with it, "Cliff is in Austin. I'll ask him to watch over our place."

"Jensen you don't know her and the lengths she's ready to go. Just let her have her way with me and she'll be gone when she's done."

"Not knowing how far she can go is the exact thing I'm scared of," he pointed out, "You're coming. We're gonna keep you safe, and we'll have fun and think of how to get rid of her, besides suing her."

"I don't want to sue her," you spoke up, Jensen now confused, "I just want her to go back to Y/H/C as soon as possible. Besides, she's most likely not going to show up at the court anyways."

"Okay, but Chaos Machine is suing her, so she'll have some problems up her ass," Jensen said, "Now, we'll go home and pack. We need time to figure things out and if nothing, I'll feel better if all my kids are within arms reach."

"And that's exactly what I meant when I said I don't want to come. I want you to be safe. I want them to be safe. Jensen, I can't afford to be close to you now."

"She can be the queen of England and I still wouldn't give a flying fuck. She's not going to hurt me, nor you nor anyone."

"Y-You can't promise me that, Jense."

"You're scared of her," Jensen sighed, "Which is completely okay. But you're forgetting something. That is, you have me. You have Jared, Misha, you have Dee and little ones back in Austin. We're not going to let her win, kiddo."

"She will win. I know she will. Jense, she has ways and mind twisted like no one else. How far she's ready to go to make someone suffer..."

"Well she isn't counting on you having us and she sure as hell doesn't know I'd go even further to protect you, so she can stick it up where the Sun shines," Jensen said, kissing your temple, "Let's just pack up and go home."

12 hours later

When you step out of the car you are greeted by Danneel's arms wrapping around you to give you a hug. Your brain is such a wreck that you don't even flinch. You just return the hug numbly, everything in your head just too much to handle. Jensen gets a hug as well and you follow the two to the living room where they sit you down.

"Honey, you're safe here. She's not going to come near you again," Danneel tried to assure you,

"I shouldn't be here," you whispered, "I should go to a motel or something. I'm putting you in danger. How can you not see?" you asked, looking up with tears in your eyes, "I don't want to put you in danger. I don't want to put the kids in danger. Why aren't you getting rid of me?"

"Because you're family," Danneel responded, "No matter what she does, we'll go through it together."

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Jensen murmured, totally out of the current conversation,

"No," you spoke up, standing up to go after him after he began walking up and down the room, grabbing his hand and stopping him to look at you, "You don't do that. You don't blame yourself. It's not your fault she's insane."

"It's neither of yours fault," Danneel corrected you as she approached you, "So stop blaming yourselves. She's her own person, she has her own brain with questionable thoughts in it and you cannot in any way make her do anything because she's calling the shots. Now you," she turned to Jensen, grabbing his other hand, "I know you'd probably wipe Y/N from her mother's memories if you'd had the chance to, but you can't. So don't blame yourself for something that you didn't see coming. You can't see into the future. And you," she turned to you, "You're just a child and you're not at fault for having a crazy mother. So don't eat yourself over what happened and don't think about what's to come either. Whatever happens has its own reasons why and we'll go through it together, like a family. Now, I think a nice, warm bath will help you relax. What do you think?" you nod,

"Thanks," you whispered, looking at Jensen who wore the famous 'Dean feels guilty for something he had no control over' face. You shook his hand and he looked down at you, "It's okay."

When you're done with your bath, Danneel was waiting for you with a cup of hot cocoa,

"Here's something to warm up a little before going to sleep."

"I can't sleep."

"I know. I think Jensen's right there with you," she responded, opening the door to their bedroom where Jensen was seated against the headboard, playing with the blanket over him, "How about you two have some alone time and in the morning you'll fill me up?" she said and Jensen nod, taking your hand in his and sitting you down next to him,

"Thanks honey," he whispered, Danneel smiling as she leaned down to kiss his lips,

"Don't thank me," she smiled, planting a kiss to your temple as well before walking away and closing the door behind her.

The two of you sat in pure silence. You didn't know what to say, what could you possibly say to make this whole situation better. You knew Jensen wasn't going to get rid of you, and as much as you appreciated it, part of you really wanted to go and keep him and his family safe.

And Jensen obviously had problems forming sentences since all he did was hug you tightly. And you'd lie if you said you didn't need it. Everything he did the past 24 hours, he and Jared and Misha. You didn't think a loving touch could make all the worst things hurt a little less.

You didn't even realize you were crying until Jensen shushed you gently, assuring you that it's okay to cry. You were so unaware of your own body, surroundings, everything. This all put you back to square one, at the bottom of the hill again. You didn't know how were you going to climb up to the top this time. You didn't think you had energy in you.

"That's what that feeling was," he murmured, "Like you felt her coming, but you didn't know it was her."

"I wish I knew," you responded, sniffling, "I-I wish I knew so I could have avoided her. I'm scared."

"I know, and that's completely okay. We'll keep you safe. She won't get you."

The very next thing you know is you're jumping awake from a nightmare, panting and sweating.

"Kiddo, you're safe," Jensen spoke up, making you whip your head around and gasp at the scars on his face, "You're safe."

"She-she hurt you," you breathed, "No."

"Kiddo, you gotta breathe," Jensen tried, getting ahold of your shoulders, "Look me in the eye and follow my breathing. In. Out."

After a few minutes you came down from your high, still staring at Jensen,

"What was it about?"

"She... She hurt you," you breathed, tears welling up in your eyes, "She-she hit you. Same way she hit me. And-and I was there but I-I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything."

"Shit kiddo," Jensen breathed, "I'm safe. I'm okay. She didn't hurt me. It was just a bad dream. I promise I'm fine. Okay?" you nod, looking down, "Here, drink some water," he handed you the bottle and you gladly took it, downing the content in record time, "You need to take it easy these next few days, okay? No school or anything. You have to put yourself first."

"How do I do that?" you breathed,

"We'll do it together. We still have a few days before the twins birthday. We'll help Dee set it all up and we'll do a lot of movie nights and play and talk. Okay?" you nod, "I think the kids are up. Wanna go say hi to your favorite Ackles?" you smiled,

"Sure."

[oxpogues4lifexo]

Keeping up with the Camerons

TumblrTV

Keeping up with the Camerons

Episode 2 - A Helping Hand - Part 3

Episode transcript (/ means cut scene, bold italics means narrator, bold means host)

Word Count: 3.7K

Part 2 Here

“Yeah I’d say Wards like a dad to me! I mean I barely knew mine so he’s the closest I’ll get to one. So yeah I’d say so! He helps out a lot with literally anything and everything. It’s why I offer to do jobs and stuff with him when I can because it’s like payback in a way you know.” She giggles, her smile warm and eyes soft.

/

It was now around 4:30. It had been a long, hot, stressful day and the two of them were ready to go back home and just relax. The sun had already begun to drop, as the wind had picked back up; cooling the once humid air.

The two of them reach the estate, getting out the car and heading inside.

Walking back into the house, Ward stops Bella at the entrance, turning her body so she'd face him. He rested his hands on her shoulders, "I want to apologise for earlier.. I wasn't mad at you. Rafe was getting me worried about the show.."

She shakes her head, taking Wards hands from her shoulders and holding them tightly, "It's okay I know.. it's just.. he didn't do anything wrong?"

"It might not seem like it honey, but when it's constant disobedience it just gets too much and slightly upsetting. I gave him specific rules before starting the show, and so far? He's broken two of them!"

"Rules? What rules?" Bella frowns, tilting her head as she lets go of his hands, placing them by her side.

"There's three! 'Don't start pointless arguments, 'Behave and save the attitude for his room, and three, 'Don't say things that aren't about himself.' The shows about everyone yes, but talking bad about the other people on the show isn't what I wanted it for. I'm glad he hasn't broken it yet but I'm not counting on the thought that he won't."

"But telling the truth is better for the show is it not? You want the show to be a real depiction of your life! Telling Rafe to behave and not be rude is like telling him to not be himself!" Her tone was serious but her words only caused a chuckle from Wards lips.

"I don't think you want him hearing that."

She snorts realising what she said before shrugging it off, "I mean I said to tell the truth!" She giggles.

Ward smirks, taking her hand again, "Come on, he's not following them anyways so l guess you don't have much to worry about."

Hand in hand, Ward pulls Bella through to his office. "Take a seat sweetheart." He gestures his hand to the seat opposite his desk as he places himself in his chair.

Bella sits, crossing her legs on the chair but making sure to pull at the hem of her skirt to cover everything necessary. Ward pulls out some documents from a drawer in his desk, tapping them against the table.

He looks up at the camera beside them that was placed by the window in the corner of the office, "Basically, every month me and Bella add up every dollar she's made over the four weeks, take off anything that 'goes missing' aka Callum has taken for God knows what, work out the average time she's spent actually in the house, and thats how we work out how much she pays for her half of the rent money. It seems confusing-"

"It is confusing! It's why I let you do it and I just sit here." Bella laughs awkwardly, a small wobble in her words causing Ward to chuckle lightly.

"Right yes. I do all of that and her job is to send the money over." They both laugh, Bella's cheeks reddening; Ward fiddles with the paper in his hand. "Because she stays here most of the time but also takes all the responsibilities for her and Callum, I don't feel as though it’s very fair for her to pay the whole chunk, so we work it out to down to the time"

Bella nods, a half smile pulling at her lip, "See, confusing!" She looks into the camera, her complexion blank at the effort of processing Wards explanation.

Knock Knock

The sound made Bella’s body jolt as they both turn to the door to the office, their faces lifting again once they see the familiar face walk in, "Wheezie!" Bella exclaims joyfully, swinging her arms out to gesture a hug. Wheezie skips over with a quiet 'hi" to Ward, falling effortlessy into Bella's arms, slowly making her way onto her lap.

"Everything okay? We sort of have a thing Wheezie." Wards tone stiffened, more forced now. She seemed to shrug it off, not as bothered as Bella clearly was, a sign that Wheezie was most likely used to this behaviour.

/

"She doesnt seem to care but everyone sees it! He's sooo different with everyone. It's actually crazy and it makes me feel really bad. He's so nice with me but when he starts randomly bursting out on Rafe or getting irritated by Wheezie that's when it really bothers me. Its either be nice to everyone or don't bother because thats horrible you know! its mostly when Rafe's trying to talk to me about something Wards said or done to him but then brings up how id never understand because hes so different with me. It physically hurts because ive seen it, i know it happens, yet everyone holds this grudge against me because i get it easy: its not my fault, its not like i want him to be this nice with me i never asked him to be. I dont get why i get the hate?"

/

"Just, Sarah seems upset and Rose is in a mood again, and I'm just concerned about Rafe because he's not here right now and-"

"Hey hey shh." Ward stands up, crouching down infront of the girls and taking Wheezie's hands in his own. "Slow down, what's going on with Sarah?"

She shrugs, a sniffle escaping her nose as she pushes at the bridge of her glasses, "I don't know! I mean I think it might be to do with Topper? Because he seemed mad earlier and Rafe was on about some Pogue she was with or something? And Rose is just mad because of the cameras and also all of us were apparently annoying her and she was getting really stressed I think? I don't know! But I can't deal with it on my own, what do I do?"

Ward looks up at Bella who gives him a reassuring nod, accompanied by a soft smile. He looks back at Wheezie as he stands up, tugging at her hand to pull her from Bella's lap,

"Come on, you go upstairs I'll deal with them okay? Where are they?" He tilts his head down to her level.

Her eyes wander as she tries to think under pressure, "Uhm.. I think.. I know Sarah's on the boat! Rose is in the kitchen I think but I don't think Rafe's in the house?"

"What do you mean you don't think he's in the house where did he go?"

Her face contorts, her shoulders shrugging as she throws her hands up in the air, "I have no idea! Last I was told, he went to go see Bella. But he's not with her so l'm not sure. Sorry." Her eyes fall, Wards hand finds her chin as he guides her face to look at him.

"I’ll find him okay! You go relax, I'll talk to them."

She nods and mutters a quiet 'thank you' before skipping out the office and up the stairs.

Ward lets out a deep breath, his hand running over his face as his brows knit together. He sits himself back down on the black leather seat.

"I thought-?" Bella points to the door, confusion clearly masking her face.

"I'll sort it later. Let's just get this done please!" He sounded irritated, pissed off even. Nothing had happened yet he seemed to switch like that.

/

"How'd it go bro?" Kelce passes Rafe a beer as they walk over the grass to Tanny Hill.

"Don't ask.." Rafe spits, rolling his eyes as he takes a big mouthful, finishing the drink in one.

"Woah slow down man!" Callum catches up, snatching the can from his grasp but it was too late. "Whats up? John B talking up my sister too?"

He groans, running a hand through his strands as he opens the door, "What do you think?"

"She still at the dock? Forgot she was working today."

"No idea. Don't really care." He shrugs, helping himself to another beer from the refrigerator on the way through the kitchen.

"Dude watch your mouth that's my sister you're talking about! Thought you were all obsessed with her or some shit?" Callum grimaces at his own words but also very serious about his question.

"Gross man. I ain't obsessed with her bro!" Rafe spits as if Callum's words were absurd. "I gotta take care of her a'ight? What my old man told me to do."

"So you're using her?"

"Just shut up Cal!! You know that's not what I meant. Why do you care anyways? You hate her!"

Callum's head swings round, gripping Rafes collar in an instant, "Say that shit again and your dead you understand me??"

"Get the fuck off me Callum.." He stares at him, holding his ground whilst also slowly trying to wriggle out of Callum's grasp.

His grip loosens when he hears Bella's voice through the door behind them; he turns around, forgetting about his hold on Rafe.

"Guess she's in there!" Rafe shrugs, brushing himself off; earning him a glare from Callum.

/

"Where were we?" He searches through the papers on the desk. Bella watches intently, her eyes full of concern as her eyebrows form a v shape. She doesn't say anything however, just watches him.

"Okay so you've earned a total of-" A loud bang and a mass of voices erupts through the halls, made out through the crack in the door. Wards face meets his palms as he groans. The noises in the other room only growing louder causing Wards expressions to deepen.

He lifts his head, looking back down at the papers, "A total of-" He's cut off once again by the door creaking open slowly, the sounds coming to a halt. He bites the inside of his cheek as he chuckles away the clear pain this situation is causing him.

Despite opening the door, a small knock is still made out before three figures walk into the room. "May we help you?" Ward spat, his eyes piercing into each of their own.

"There you are Bells!" Her eyes widen at the familiar voice, her back raising as a shiver takes over her body; hesitating before turning to become face to face with her brother. "You been with Ward all day?"

"Yeah!" She frowns, confused about his calm tone.

Callum nods a second, biting his lip as his eyes squint. He gives Bella his hand, squeezing his fingers to his palm and letting go again to gesture for her to take it. "Come!"

"Cal l'm-" She points at Ward and the papers, Callum's face dropping with pure uninterest.

"We're in the middle of something Callum she can speak with you soon!"

He frowns at Ward, quickly turning back to Bella, trying again with his hand. "Well we're going out. Your coming. I haven't seen you all day!"

"Callum!" Wards hand meets the desk with a hard smack, he takes a deep breath, "Callum, just let us finish and she'll-"

"I wasn't talking to you was I? Old man." He heaves, rolling his eyes; not even fazed by the raise in his voice, unlike Bella who looks too terrified to move.

"Cal..??" She whisper-shouts, her brows furrowing at his antics, shaking her head as if to get him to stop.

He ignores her, nodding his head to the door, "Bella let's go." His eyebrows raise, face more serious now as his tone had hardened. His jaw clenched.

The two remaining boys at the door, Rafe and Kelce, both give each other a look of concern, a small word passed between them followed by a shake of Kelce's head before looking back at the event.

Bella looks up at Ward, her eyes full of plea. He merely watches her, his face blank as if he'd switched off part way into the conversation. Her focus follows back to the camera before blinking and nodding lightly, lifting herself from the chair and placing her hand into Callum's.

He guides her to the exit, following the others outside; she pulls herself back into the doorway, giving Ward a small smile, “I’ll send you half!”

“No no don’t worry, we’ll sort it tomorrow!” His eyes widen as he pushes himself up. She nods but didn’t quite catch what he said as Callum had dragged her away from the room.

/

“Would you say you like the Camerons? We haven’t had the chance to speak yet!”

Callum’s face drops, his brows tighten as his expression tenses; scoffing at Ryan’s words, “No why would I?? They think they can control me like I’m their kid or something. But I’m not! And neither is Bella so I don’t know why he’s treating her like she is. She’s MY sister. Not Rafes, not Wheezie’s. Mine!! He doesn’t need to get involved in all her shit, that’s my job now! And it has been for 16 years!” He spits aggressively, shoving past Ryan almost pushing him to the floor.

/

Ward finds himself in the living room, “Rafe? Let me speak to you!” He calls him over from the couch, leading him into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” He frowns, “We’re leaving in like ten minutes!”

“Watch your attitude I just want to talk.”

Rafe roles his eyes, sitting himself on one of the stools beside the island.

“Wheezie mentioned you and Topper were involved in something earlier. To do with Sarah and a Pogue?”

“Of course she did..” He curses under his breath, his hand finding his hair, “Yeah what about it?” He slams his hand on the marble.

“I want to know what happened. I mean you stormed our boat earlier.”

“Yeah OUR boat? I was checking on Bella what’s the problem?”

“The problem is you were arguing with her. I was trying to film for the show and you come and start something. Do you not want to act normal for two seconds when the cameras are on you? Are you incapable of that or something Rafe?” He waits for a response but Rafe simply just stares at him, speechless at his sudden switch in attitude since this morning. “Hello? Rafe I’m speaking to you! What is wrong with you?”

The words hit Rafe like a brick, causing a sudden tense in his muscles as he stands up, the force throwing the stool to the ground. “I was making sure she’s okay?? And your-“

“Why wouldn’t she be??”

“And you’re making it out like it’s a bad thing!! Im sorry I give a fuck about someone for once! I’m sorry I’m ACTUALLY doing something you asked for once! But you know MY bad for actually doing what I’m told. Jesus yeah what the hell’s wrong with me??” He smacks Wards water bottle out his hand, covering the counter and his lap in liquid as he leaves.

“We’re not done Rafe!!!” Ward yells through the room, Rafe flipping him off on his way out.

He cleans himself up before going upstairs to find Sarah.

/

“Hello honey..” Ward slowly opens the door to Sarah’s room, keeping his tone calm because Wheezie mentioned her feeling upset.

“Hi daddy.” She smiles, placing her colouring book on her bed as she gives him her full attention.

He sits himself infront of her on the edge of her bed, placing his hand against her leg; stroking his thumb against her skin ever so slightly. “Are you okay sweetheart?”

She frowns, tilting her head slightly, “Yeah of course. Why?”

He nods lightly, “Just because Wheezie was worried about you! Said something about Topper?”

Her eyes widen and fall as her fingers find a pencil to fiddle with, “Um.. yeah no everything’s fine. He just seemed mad earlier and left me while we were out.”

“What do you mean he left you? Alone?”

She nods, not looking back up at him as his tone shifts only slightly, “Was he mad at you?” He emphasises the ‘you’ as his face tenses.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what I did! I just went to the bathroom then when I came back he shouted at me and left? So I went to see Layla.” She looks back up at him, her eyes glassing over.

Wards brows furrow; he pulls Sarah into his chest, his hand stroking the back of her head as he places a kiss to the top of it. “I’m so sorry Sare Bear.. I’ll speak to him okay..” He rests his head against hers.

She shakes her head ‘no’ as she lifts herself from his hold, “No it’s okay.” She wipes her nose with her sleeve before tucking her hands into them, “He’ll be fine tomorrow!” She reassures.

“Okay honey..” He strokes the side of her head, his thumb rubbing against her cheek, pulling her head closer to give her another kiss to her forehead. “I love you..”

“Love you too dad..” She smiles softly, picking up her colouring book again. He nods as he leaves to the door, turning back once more to blow a kiss before shutting it behind him.

“That boy is pissing me off..” He mutters to himself as he walks past one of the cameras to go back downstairs; head in his hands.

/

"Hey Rafe?" Bella runs over, catching up outside the gate, her hand slipping into his.

He doesn't fight it but also doesnt reciprocate, not turning his head to look at her, "Mhm?"

She hesitates at his lack of touch, "Hey look I'm sorry about earlier!" The other boys turn back to watch as they kept walking, looking at one another with a slight snicker.

He looks up at the boys, looking back down at his and Bella’s hands before pulling away, "Yeah look it's fine a'ight? You already said sorry."

Again, he didn't look at her once, meaning he didn't notice the way she very obviously noticed his intent behind his hand pulling away as her eyes began to tear up. Holding back a whimper she takes a deep breath, "I mean.. You could've stayed? W- we weren't doing anything." She looks up at him with her forced doe eyes, hoping for atleast a small reaction.

He shrugs, "Yeah well you looked busy with that Pogue so.. didn't wanna bother you." His eyes squint as he scratches the back of his head; a small 'tut' falling from his lips.

Her eyes widen, a frown forcing onto her brows as a tear falls down her flustered cheeks, "I.. I told you that it didn't m- mean anything?" She choked through her tears, causing a slight eye twitch from Rafe as he fights back from looking at her.

"Look Bells I-“

Callum interrupts, turning back and grabbing Bella's arm, "What he means, Bella, is that us Kooks don't hang around those Pogues a'ight? Don't listen to Rafe, he's being a prick." He spits at Rafe, giving him a dirty glare as he wraps an arm round Bella and pulls her infront to walk with him instead.

Turning back, Callum's brows furrow at Rafe, a small 'what's your fucking problem' falling from his lips silently. Rafe feels himself tense; his fist scrunching as his face contorts into a mix of anger and upset. He hits himself in the head, "Stop it.. Stop it." He scolds himself, blinking back the evident tears that glassed his eyes.

We did end up asking Rafe about the situation but it didn't end the way we wanted so for his sake we can't show the footage, we’re truly sorry but it’s confidential.

/

The lights were out, the room lit by only the few yellow flames surrounding the couple. The moonlight through the glass doors, filled the room with a slight warm glow. The small table was covered in plates of salmon and glasses of red wine ontop a white tablecloth.

The two enjoyed the meal, watching the stars whilst midway in a deep conversation about one another. Eyes never left the others, hand in hand, admiring every little detail they had missed about each other in the time they had away.

They join eachother on the couch afterwards, putting on a romantic movie about a pianist and an actress. Bodies glued to the other, heads rested together.

"It's been a long day Rose.. those kids are way too much sometimes.." Ward mumbles as he rests his head against Rose's shoulder.

She lifts her hand to gently caress his cheek, placing a light kiss to the top of his head, "I know baby.. thats why I mentioned finding somewhere else for Rafe to stay.. It's one less person to have to worry about after a busy day.." She leans her head against his as he pulls her hand into his own, his fingers tangling between hers.

"We can't kick him out Rose.. not because im tired sometimes.. Its just difficult with so many things and so many people. I almost snapped at Wheezie earlier.."

"Is it getting bad again..?"

He nods a 'yes' against her chest, causing her to tut as she takes a long breath, placing yet another kiss to his head, "Just take it easy the next few days okay.. The cameras are probably making everything worse than it is.. You have a few days without them so just make the most of it okay baby.."

Ward sighs, digging himself deeper into her body, her warmth radiating onto him causing his eyes to fall shut, "Mhm.. Okay honey.. take it.. take it easy.. got it.." He yawns, resting himself fully as she hushes him to sleep. One last kiss to his head before she turned down the tv volume and pulled a blanket over the two of them.

"Sleep well honey.." She smiles softly, watching his eyes flutter as a quiet snore begins to release from his throat. "We'll figure it all out at some point.."

Thank you for watching yet another episode of Keeping Up With The Camerons! Today was a hard one, but maybe tomorrow we'll have some more answers surrounding this supposed 'Pogue' drama as we join Sarah for her day in the sun. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for the next one!

Next Episode Here

Short Episodes are Blue

Full Episodes are Pink

Short Masterlist

Full Masterlist

[terraliensvent]

Transcript of the new ownership announcement since i forgot to post it (announcement was made apr 14 at 7 PM EST from tycho)

Regarding Ownership

Hello everyone, To start, I believe that it is important to first and foremost issue an apology for the state of the server and species from last night up until now. Things got significantly out of hand- and they should have been handled differently. We have a lot of cleanup to do in the server and on the website, so please know that things will not be back to normal for a good while. I and everyone on the Terraliens Staff- whether they have departed or not, want to formally apologize for all of those affected by the chaos. If you have had any issues that need further resolution regarding last night, please create a ticket & ping me immediately (emergencies only, please).

On that note, I and a few other staff members have had a discussion with Coy regarding the statements made by us as of last night. We have reached a term of agreement that the species and server will be handed over to me, Tycho, and to Temul. This change has already been made, and I fully own the server/species minus the Lorekeeper which is due to technical issues with coding stuff out of my knowledge. Regardless, I still own the species itself and have full permissions on the Lorekeeper.

Regarding Coy, PLEASE READ.

The situation with Coy regarding their dog has been resolved, there was no harm done. The choice of wording on their behalf was poor & conveyed a serious situation when there really was none. We have since reached out to Coy and have received clarification on the matter, it is entirely our fault for not having done so to begin with. We want to formally apologize for the misinformation regarding this situation, and have apologized to Coy privately, who has accepted. Please do not harass or message them, nor spread this information around any longer. It has been cleared up.

Coy has apologized privately to the staff team regarding the statements made last night. We accept their apology, and ask that NO HARASSMENT is sent towards them or anyone else involved in this situation. We have met with Coy & have created a new agreement regarding the ownership of the species, which is pulled directly from the one sent by Temul earlier this week. In this agreement, we agree that the server & species will go to Temul and I. We will get free will over the species, & Coy will retain a limited adopt posting rights and custom rights- lining up with our schedule and approval system. They will no longer be involved with our species outside of this. Additionally, regarding Civet- they will be following the same rules & guidelines as Coy whilst being recognized as our species Creator. They are not involved in the ownership of this species, all decisions will made are finalized by Temul and I. They were not involved in this situation.

Final Notes

We want to thank you all for the support during this time, and we want to make things right from this point onwards. We harbor no ill will towards Coy, & we ask that those of you in the server do the same. It will take us a while to get through to fixing everything, please be patient during this time, but we hope to be back soon. Additional announcements will be sent out as time goes on- including one addressing the sudden influx of MYOs/Terraliens on our website soon, as well as ones regarding rule changes for both staff and members, as well as further clarification on where the species will be going after this. Thank you.

Please do not post anymore unnapproved concepts or advertisements from here on out. For anyone who has voided a Terralien, there will be free unvoidings for 48 hours after this message goes out. Please make a ticket to claim- thank you.

[void-kissed]

the changes darkness brings (Clio/Aria)

Shortly after the Keyblade War has taken place, and the Dandelions have successfully resumed life in their new world, Clio receives a special mission from the Foretellers to clear out Heartless in the Corridor of Darkness. In the process of carrying it out, she finally finds Aria again, whom she had not seen since becoming unchained - but something seems to have happened to her.. (4359 words) Set during KHUX Quest 491; note that much of Chirithy's dialogue is taken directly from the game. Sequel to my previous piece of writing for this selfship. Content warning for a monstrously-transformed character (or, rather, my self-insert). This is a Darkling AU.

This piece officially sets the new record for "longest piece of selfship writing I've written" at over four thousand words, ahahaha. This is what happens when I'm able to write fun descriptions, so I hope that it's alright to show this off, because I'm proud of how it turned out!

(Anyone is welcome to comment on and reblog my work if desired, as long as my DNI is respected! Tag list and document transcript are under the readmore.)

Tag list: @sol-rbs | @dragonsmooch | @bugsband | @sunlight-ships | @friezaforce | @hallowed-nebulae | @stargazer-sims | @pvssinboots | @detective-with-one-arm | @deepsea-loves | @sunshimm | @artificervaldi | @thatslikesometaldude (To be tagged in my work in the future, please see this post!)

Document transcript:

It looked like a sunny early morning in Daybreak Town, and the tall Keyblade wielder was ready bright and early to start off her mission for the day, much like she would be on most other days. A mint-green Foxstar was happily keeping pace behind her, eagerly looking around at the familiar buildings the two passed on their way to where today's mission briefing would be given.

The only thing that could be called "out of place" was the fact that, instead of just sticking to her usual comfortable clothing, Clio was instead wearing a suit of shining spiked armour over her clothes, its light blue and dark purple details complementing her eye colour perfectly. Only her head was uncovered, but the crown of clovers that normally adorned her hair was left safely back in her room. She did not normally need - or want - to wear such serious attire, but her companion Chirithy had informed her to make sure that she was prepared for today's mission, so she thought it might come in handy to don the regalia she and the rest of the Sapphires had won for being one of the top one hundred parties in the Anguis Union.

As she made her way out onto the streets and through to one of the town's many open plazas, Chirithy popped into view in front of her, bouncing ahead to perch on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square.

"Alright then, Chirithy - what are we up to today?" she asked, following it forwards to the fountain. Despite knowing that what was coming was important, her voice kept its usual cheerful tone.

"You've been doing a fantastic job lately." it said in response. "So, I have a present for you!"

It stuck a grey paw into its signature pink purse and rustled around in there for a moment, giving Clio time to sit down next to it on the fountain's edge and watch with curiosity. Tea Leaf, her Foxstar, hopped up next to her as well, as if wondering whether he would get a present too. Finally, Chirithy found what it was looking for, and pulled out a glittering bangle that caught the rays of the rising sun spectacularly.

"Dun dada duun! The Bracelet of Light!" it exclaimed, perhaps slightly too loudly and dramatically for what felt like so early in the morning. It hopped up and pushed the bracelet over Clio's wrist, at which she grinned and leapt up again to twirl it around on her outstretched hand with a laugh.

"I'm glad you're excited, but gee, calm down." it said playfully, the light-hearted tone in its voice showing it wasn't being serious. "Why don't you put it somewhere for safekeeping?"

"Hey, a bracelet's meant for wearing!" Clio countered. She did consider dispelling the armour for a moment to put it away in her pocket underneath, but decided to keep the bracelet on her wrist instead; with how she had to hold her gauntleted hand to get it on in the first place, she was fairly confident it wouldn't fall off of its own accord.

"Thanks for this, by the way!" she told it with another smile. "It means a lot that you think I'm doing well."

"You are!" it said confidently. "But, you also need it for this upcoming mission."

"Oh yeah?"

"With that bracelet, you can protect yourself against darkness." Chirithy explained, regaining a more serious tone of voice. "You'll need it for the special mission we got from the foretellers."

"Huh? Special mission?" Clio's eyes widened slightly at this announcement. "This must be why you wanted me to come in my regalia too, I'm guessing, but- what's this mission all about, then?"

It nodded to show she had guessed correctly. "You'll be doing the same thing - you know, dealing with monsters.. Just in a different, darker place.."

As it spoke, something started to materialise in the plaza, a short distance from the fountain, and it turned to face it. The air seemed to shimmer for a moment, before a ring of dark energy suddenly appeared and transformed into an oval shape. Clio let out a "Whoa!" of surprise, and instinctively stood up from the fountain to try and get a better look at what had just appeared.

"..Wait, you mean I have to go in *there?!*" she exclaimed after a pause. Chirithy's own lack of shock, and subsequent nod in response to her question, had let her figure out that this was intentional, but she still seemed uncertain - and surprised.

"Your mission is to defeat the Heartless in the Corridor of Darkness." it continued matter-of-factly. "But be careful. That bracelet can only protect you for so long."

"Right.." Clio trailed off as she continued looking at the portal, trying to gain some idea of what would lie beyond it but only seeing flowing darkness cloud the doorway. Tea Leaf was now standing on the ground next to her, and trying to look determined, but his tail was slightly bristled due to his fur sticking up, which showed he was also uncertain.

"The fact you're wearing the Anguis Regalia will help you in there too, but there's quite a lot of targets for you to take down, so this isn't going to be easy." said Chirithy, who had really never been too good at sugarcoating things. "I'd recommend you bring your Starlight for this. Or, no, your Sleeping Lion's upgraded all the way, right? Some of your targets are magic-attribute, so having strong speed attacks will be good.."

"Thanks for your insight, Chirithy." Clio replied. Then, she walked away from the fountain, and as she did so, a winged helmet appeared on her head, matching her armour perfectly. A blue cobra, the insignia of Anguis, was emblazoned above her forehead, and her face was now protected by a sheet of purple-tinted glass. Tea Leaf let out a bark at this change, but she crouched down and ruffled his forehead gently with a smile, which was more than enough to reassure him of her presence.

The dark corridor's entrance loomed ominously before her, standing out like a sore thumb in the peaceful fountain square. Tea Leaf raced up to stand next to her, poised and ready to help as always. Chirithy's eyes narrowed as she went against its prior suggestion, choosing to summon Missing Ache again instead of her stronger Sleeping Lion, but any concerns it may have had were allayed when it spotted her determined expression through her visor.

"I'm all set!" she declared, turning to look over her shoulder with a smile.

"I knew I could count on you, kiddo." Chirithy replied. "Now go and get 'em! I'm rootin' for you!"

"I will!"

With the bracelet's light shining, her armour glinting strongly, and her Keyblade's darker colour scheme giving them both space to glow, she stepped into the corridor of darkness.

==========

The process of going through the portal was noticeably uncomfortable - it was nothing like anything that Clio had previously experienced, and the darkness felt heavy and constricting even through the armour she was wearing. Thankfully, that sense of heavy closeness opened up somewhat once she had made it into the corridor itself, but there was still a foreboding sense of discomfort that hung in the air. Red and blue threads seemed to weave their way through the floor like wires, and misty clouds of darkness obscured the details of her surroundings; everything had a sense of flowing movement to it that would almost make her feel like she was floating underwater if not for how solid the ground felt at her feet.

It only took a few moments before the first signs of trouble made themselves known to her; a Violet Waltz and a Shadow both rushed towards her quite suddenly, as if they had appeared out of nowhere from the darkness itself. Thankfully, such relatively weak Heartless were of no threat to a seasoned Keyblade wielder like Clio - she was a Sapphire for a reason, after all - and two uses of Nature's Gift were more than enough to let the rest of her Medals defeat them. Tea Leaf helped her out as well, using his tricks as a Spirit Pet to help dispel status conditions the Heartless tried to inflict on her. Even still, despite all of these advantages, she could tell that these enemies were noticeably stronger than normal as she fought them, and they also seemed to be appearing more frequently than she was used to as well.

As she tentatively made her way through the corridor, she remained aware of the bracelet on her wrist, which was giving off enough light for her to always be able to see her surroundings and not feel pressured by the darkness despite how much of it there was around her. While its presence was undoubtedly essential, especially as Chirithy had stressed its importance before starting the mission, she couldn't help but wonder whether its powerful light was somehow interfering with the Reversed Medals that she had equipped on her Keyblade. They were by no means her strongest, but she could still hold her own with the powers she had to hand - and the fact she had wielded Missing Ache since arriving in the new world with her fellow Dandelions was a sentimental gesture more than a strength-based one anyway.

It was as she found the first target that things started to take a turn.

Chirithy had told her to be on the lookout for a Darkball before moving to the next part of the corridor, and sure enough, one was now hovering idly some distance away from her. Despite its lazily-floating appearance, Clio knew that this type of Heartless was not to be underestimated, because of how they could sap an opponent's strength before raising their own. She decided not to take any chances once she had spotted it, and made a strong first strike using Ultimate Sword - the Medal's power let her summon a ring of shining swords around herself before soaring forwards to attack the Heartless three times in rapid succession. It was clearly not expecting such a powerful move, and one of Tea Leaf's tricks gave her an opportunity to strike an extra time with her attack, giving the Darkball no time to react before being soundly defeated in a burst of light and Lux.

"Alright, that's the first main target down!" she said aloud, reaching down to give Tea Leaf another well-earned head ruffle for its hard work in helping her. Her Keyblade was still in her other hand, but she felt confident in her pace, even despite how harsh the environment around her was.

It was then that she heard an unrecognisable sound, this time from behind her. And when she turned around, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

The figure looked a bit like it was crouching, touching the ground with all four limbs - its claws were a deep red, fading down into a dark blue-black that covered much of the arms and legs. However, most of the arms and legs were obscured by admittedly-tattered pieces of clothing - torn brown trousers that were ragged at the ends, a fluffy black fleece that had tears in the sleeves, the remains of a white T-shirt still draped over the body like a shroud, and what could have once been a red scarf sitting wrapped around the neck. Its messy hair was a strange mix of golden and black, and fell wildly over most of its face; two horn-like structures appeared to rise up from the top of its head, and a pair of black wings with dark red feathers jutted out from its back, looking decidedly too thin for their length.

Despite everything about what was in front of her - the powerful darkness it was emanating, the many monstrous features it possessed - it only took Clio a moment to fully recognise what could have been facing her, which happened as soon as she spotted the loops of empty red ribbon on the left side of its head.

"No.. There's- there's no way.."

Her words held denial, but she had already realised the truth. Now, she faced the awful decision of what to do next as her body shook with apprehension. In that moment, the tension paralysed her so strongly and she had gripped her Keyblade so tightly that it sputtered out and disappeared, causing her to freeze further with rising panic. The figure had seemed poised to leap when she first saw it, as if ready to attack at any moment; it held itself tensely on its claws, and a growling sound could be heard coming out of its mouth. However, at the dissipating of Clio's Keyblade, it almost seemed to settle very slightly, all of a sudden appearing like at least slightly less of a threat. Clio could see this change happen, and was filled with even more emotion at the sight of it - her relief at not being immediately attacked was quickly swallowed whole by the implications of what that meant.

When she spoke again, Clio's voice was shaking almost as much as she was.

"Aria, what *happened* to you..?"

Tears started welling up and running down her cheeks as she made the admission and said the name aloud - as she admitted that what she was looking at was painfully suspected to be the partner she had been separated from at the flight of the Dandelions, her girlfriend whom she had been forced to leave behind for the sake of escaping the war. The figure seemed to become more alert in response to her words, but gave no indication of replying, still staring up at her silently with what could possibly have been mistaken for apprehension.

It was then that Clio remembered she was wearing her regalia - a full-body suit of armour that obscured most of her features and was said to provide protection and defence against darkness. She did not normally choose to wear it for most missions - in fact, as Aria had joined the Sapphires some time after the regalia was awarded, she had actually never seen Clio wearing the whole thing herself. Taking any part of it off seemed like a death sentence, not only in such a dangerous place as a corridor of darkness, but also with such a monstrous entity present directly in front of her.. but it was the only thing Clio could think to do in her desperation and hope that she could somehow be recognised, and the idea had settled in her mind with soul-crushing finality.

"Please.. *Please* still be in there somewhere, Ari.. I- I'm trusting you..!"

With her eyes tightly shut, Clio reached up to grab her winged helmet with trembling hands. In one motion, she lifted it off of her head, only to freeze as it tumbled from her grasp, holding her breath and tensing up all over again as it landed on the floor.

And then the figure lunged forwards.

Clio had braced herself as much as she could in the state she was in, but she was still thrown down to the ground herself from the force. The impact was not as hard as she had feared, and it took her a moment to realise that this was because her head and her back had been cushioned by a pair of arms that hit the ground ahead of her. She became aware of a very slight weight on top of her as she opened her eyes - a blood-red claw was curled around the left side of her face, but no part of it dug in whatsoever, and it was even splayed as if to avoid hurting her eye by accident. Something was pressing itself into the base of her neck, but then lifted. The weight shifted, though its movement could scarcely be felt for how light it was, and Clio was met with a face - and she could finally make out the details that distance and darkness (and the purple tint of her visor) had previously clouded.

What she had briefly mistaken for horns were in fact still a pair of ears, lynx-like and lined with thick, darkness-covered fur. They poked upwards from the head of identically-coloured hair, once a dark golden blonde that had since been mostly stained with inky black, and from this lack of distance, she could finally see the figure's face clearly from beneath the messy hair. A scar ran down the left side of her face, but it hadn't healed like a normal injury would - instead, it looked like melting darkness had covered or perhaps created the wound, staining her sclera pitch-black. In fact, both eyes were now set in that same darkness, which was spreading out to form a leopard-like pattern around them. Her eyes themselves *blazed* with glowing amber, predator's pupils carving through them like slits cut by a knife - and were those tears welling up at the corners? When her mouth opened, it did so to reveal fangs that were even sharper than they had been before; they looked as though they could pierce through skin just as easily as water.

More incredibly, when her mouth opened, what came out was a warped and scratched - but still unmistakeable - voice.

"Clio.. *My* Clio.. You're here.. you're- really here.."

"*Aria-*"

"I found you.. I *found you..* I finally.. finally found you..!"

As she spoke, emotion rose up in her voice until it was shaking, and her eyes were fully filled with the same tears that Clio’s had held before. This was enough to set both of them crying into each other, hugging so tightly that it looked like they would never let go. A whirlwind of feelings - joy, exhaustion, happiness, disbelief, desperation, hope, elation, and a thousand other things - overwhelmed the pair so strongly that it was almost as if their feelings could be physically seen in the air. All that could be heard ringing out through the darkness were both of their sobs as they lay on the floor of the corridor, holding each other as much as they could out of such all-encompassing relief to have found each other again.

It was Aria’s tears that finally slowed first, but she was content to stay where she was once they had come under control, emitting a sound that almost made Clio nervous again before realising it was more of a purr than a growl this time. Finally, the Keyblade wielder caught her breath and was able to speak up herself.

“Ari, we- we should probably go. I need to get you out of here.”

“We can leave..? You can still leave?” she replied tentatively. Her voice was slightly less hoarse now considering how much she had just been crying, and would sound almost fully familiar if not for the fearful quality some of it still held. Her eyes still glowed strongly like before, and Clio could see that they kept darting about, looking at every part of her face except her own eyes directly. The familiarity of that movement was enough to make her smile, and it brought her yet another sense of relief.

"Yeah, don't worry. I know how to get out of here, and I'm not leaving without you."

She shifted to start to get off the ground, which prompted Aria to quickly move off to the side in order to let her stand. Once she was up, Clio held out her hand to help Aria stand up as well- but she flinched away upon touching the bracelet of light that still hung from Clio's wrist.

"*Ah!*"

Both of them made the same sort of sound at the same time, but Aria was holding the side of her claw as if it had caught on something sharp as Clio took a step backwards. A shock of worry shot through her system, but she was able to settle down once confident that her girlfriend had not been seriously hurt.

"Uh.. Hmm.. I don't want to keep this on if it hurts you, but I kind of need to keep it close before we get out, just in case.." Clio mumbled.

Aria stared up at her for a moment, before giving a nod. "That's.. I understand. It's- This is-"

She started shaking her hand up and down in the air, just like she sometimes used to when the right words would not come to mind for a moment.

"..This place is not safe for you." she finally settled on. "Even so- I won't let anything here hurt you."

A gentle smile appeared on Clio's face. "Thank you, Ari - that really means a lot.."

She trailed off in thought again, trying to decide what to do about the bracelet, before looking down towards the ground and catching sight of her Spirit Pet, who had dutifully been standing guard for the pair. A burst of inspiration came to mind, and she crouched low to the floor in front of him.

"Hey, Tea Leaf, could you maybe hold this for me?" she asked. As she did so, she took hold of the bracelet and managed to twist it off of her wrist. Tea Leaf let out a happy-sounding bark, and took hold of the bracelet in his mouth once Clio had shown it to him. With a few wags of his tail, he took a step back to look at Aria and Clio in succession. The bracelet still shone with the same light as before.

"You.. would really do that for my sake?" Aria asked quietly, still sitting half-upright on the floor of the corridor.

"In a heartbeat." Clio replied, once again smiling brightly. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe."

For the first time in what felt like far too long, Aria smiled back, and she took Clio's hand with as much softness as her claws could muster. It was easy for Clio to help her stand up, and she used the momentum to embrace her love once more, before quickly letting go to let her lead the way out.

In a flash of green-tinged darkness, Clio summoned Missing Ache once again, and reached around with her other hand as soon as she sensed Aria flinch behind her at its materialising. A part of her was sad that even Keyblades with such a strong Reversed focus, and the Keyblade she had been wielding ever since having to leave Aria behind because of that focus, triggered such a strong instinctive response in her now; but any concerns that were building dissipated just as easily when she felt her girlfriend's hand - now clawed, and now stained, but still *hers* - hold on gently to her own.

Light flooded into the corridor as an entryway was made within it with the Keyblade, the way out shining blindingly with the might of the breaking day. Aria lowered her head behind Clio's shoulder to hide from its brightness, so she gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, always reminding her that she was there for her again now. The pair stepped through the portal together, keeping close to one another as Tea Leaf brought up the rear.

"Your mission is to defeat the Heartless in the Corridor of Darkness."

That was what Chirithy had said to her, what felt altogether like so recently and so long ago back at the fountain.

Instead, she had abandoned her mission entirely just after starting it, and while what was left of Aria's clothing made it unclear whether she now bore an Emblem on her chest, Clio knew in her heart that a Heartless was who was now following her back into the world that was supposed to be light-filled.

Even so, she was firm in her decision, and knew that she was doing the right thing - love and care for the people she cared about had always been more dear to her than mindlessly following rules, after all.

There could be time for tricky questions after everything had settled - after she had held her arm out over Aria's eyes upon stepping back out into Daybreak Town, after she had breathed a sigh of relief to see the plaza still empty, after she had successfully made it back to her room and closed the curtains to make the space as dark as possible for Aria to relax and remain in.

For now, all that mattered was that the two had finally fulfilled their earlier promise, and come back to each other once more.

[audiio]

Warning! Major spoilers for The Homebrew Campaign One: Absurdism and a Millennium Abroad ahead.

I've been thinking about making this since listening to episode 117, so here we go. Transcript under the cut.

Episode 6:

Grant: And she looks at you, eye contact, Karl. She says,

Kellen: If you need to do spice now and then, I understand, you’re a kid. But that Wake, that will literally kill you.

Cody: I kinda look concerned at that and I,

Karl: Are you serious? That could ki— Kellen: It will literally ki-ki-kill you. One hit of that stuff can kill you. It doesn’t take a bunch. And it’s highly addictive.

Tyrell: [laughing] You’ve seen Oliver shoot like fuckin’ four hits of that at once!

Grant: She gives you a little pill. And she says,

Kellen: Now I’m not condoning this type of behavior, but this is something that my daddy worked on, and if you ever get in serious trouble with that stuff, you pop this, okay? Karl: Sure… I appreciate it. Thank you.

Episode 37:

Grant: I'm pretty sure Kellen made something that can help you sleep. Right?

Tyrell: I... think you are correct.

Grant: She made you something, she said you only get one, so keep that in mind. She said she's not gonna make you any more, but she did give you something that will help you sleep through it. So just remember that you have that.

Cody: Right, I have that in my inventory, this 'Addiction Pill' that you were referring to.

Grant: Will you remind me what that does?

Cody: I just have written in my inventory, "Cures all drug effects."

Grant: Wow. Okay.

Episode 38:

Grant: Karl, I imagine you stay with him, through this. And Xalduin, you said you were staying with him through this. When the TCX wears off, Oliver looks like he's dying. He is at five levels of exhaustion. He is unable to move; his speed is zero. Like, you have to check to make sure he's breathing.

Cody: Oh god, I freak out and I start running out.

Karl: Kellen! Mr. Goui! Someone! Get in here!

Austin: Yeah, do we actually know about the thing that Kellen made?

Oliver: [Starts coughing and wheezing throughout the rest of the clip]

Austin: Like, I don't know if Xalduin actually knows about that.

Grant, Cody & Tyrell: Karl has it.

Cody: Don't actually know how it works. Like an epi-pen, I think.

Grant: Yeah, so everyone that hears that—

Cody: Running with that in my hand, I'm like,

Karl: [stammering] Xalduin! I think this is— this is the thing! It's— they're taking forever. I—

Pippin: Goui races over when he hears.

Karl: Mr. Goui, help us.

Pippin: Mr. Goui's gonna check over Oliver. So he can see he's just, like, completely exhausted, obviously.

Cody: I hand you the syringe.

Karl: Where does it go? In his heart? In his... eye? Goui: Part of me thinks we should've used this from the beginning if we were gonna use it. Karl: Well, I thought he might be able to muscle through it. We only get one. Oliver: [weakly] I'll be fine. I'm fine. Karl: I don't think he's fine!

Pippin: Now Mr. Goui's gonna try helping alleviate Oliver's exhaustion, by casting Greater Restoration. At least one.

Grant: Yeah.

Episode 117:

Cody: Karl is panicking, seeing that that spell is not working.

Karl: Fuck! That was supposed to... Shit!

Cody: And he starts digging around. Digging through everything he's got. Ahh... Eventually he reaches into his pocket, in his cargo shorts. And he pulls out this pill bottle. That says 'Kellen' on the side of it. And he reaches in, and runs up to Oliver, and he says,

Karl: Oliver, take this pill right now. Oliver: What's the point? I'm already gone. Karl: Oliver, take this fucking pill right now.

Tyrell: Oliver will... open his hand.

Cody: I will give you the pill.

Karl: Take it! Quick!

Tyrell: And he, like, struggles. And tries to get his arm up to his mouth, and swallows the pill. Tears are just pouring down his face now.

Grant: Oliver's form resumes its normal size. The veins stop popping out of everywhere. His arms go back to their normal size. And he is looking around at each of you, but you can tell he's looking past you. And then, he goes limp. And then you, for a moment, think he might be gone. And then he opens his eyes again.

As the first person you ever helped together, Grandma Kellen comes through. The pill she gave Oliver so long ago. Stronger than anything Medicore or Xorus could have ever brewed.

You open your eyes.

[paramorearchived]

March 22, 2011

Transcript:

The babe with the power.

HI!

we're back inside the studio. literally, inside of it. and so far, it couldn't be any better! day #2 and we're nearly finished tracking the whole 1st song musically... tonight it'll be my turn to crank out some SICK VOXXXXX. i'm just a little excited. like clockwork, my allergies are ridiculous right now and my vocal cords are being total jerks. it's alright though cause i fed them some watermelon juice and kale earlier. i could tell that made 'em smile. ew, look at me talking about my insides like they're people. it's like when guys name their weiners. just no.

well, i just figured i'd give you guys an update on where we're at with the songs, life in general, and also tell you how amazing the movie Paul is. (it's amazing). (kristen wiig is so funny). that's really all i have to say about Paul. as far as music goes, we're hoping to record 3 songs while we're out here in California. the original plan was to record just 2 but seeing as though we're moving pretty quickly, we may get luckier than that. i guess we'll let you know when we figure it out! being out here is totally inspiring though. i remember when we showed up for the first time 2 years ago. within the first hour of actually pulling up to Rob's we were already working on "Careful". this place just has an electricity for us. and honestly, all it is is a studio inside of a garage. i mean, it's a nice garage but... hey. 

i guess the only thing we can say that won't have you completely stoked out of your skull is that we are rethinking the idea of releasing these songs in EP form. for a few reasons which, of course, will be explained. we've obviously been through a hell of a lot in the past however many months it's been... so it probably won't come as any surprise to you when i say that i've written a lot of lyrics having to do with the whole situation. one you've already heard, ("in the mourning") and quite a few others, some of which would never be paramore songs but were more just my way of venting and getting over everything. the 2nd song we're recording and the 3rd one that we're hoping to get done also have the same subject matter. and really, we just don't want to put out a full product that sounds like a concept record about yet another difficult period in our bands life. it really is time to move on. with that being said, we want to give you all some new music. honestly, we want to give ourselves some new music too. geeeezzzz. so we're working out how exactly to release everything... but so far it just seems like we spoke a little too soon about the whole EP thing. sorry :/ we were kind of excited. you will still be getting new songs though! and we think you guys are gonna really like them. 

hopefully the whole thing makes sense. if not, i guess i could try to explain it in non-hayley-rambling-forever form, which would probably go like this: shit happens. if we put out another full product about our band woes then this will just keep going on forever and ever. after we put out the few songs that we're recording, we never want to talk about it again. not in interviews, not in songs, nothing. 

phew. that felt good! 

now that we're past the serious business can i just say that i'm SO freaking proud of the dudes. taylor has clearly had a lot on his plate getting ready for this little series of songs we're recording. killing the drums, writing great guitar parts; etc. jeremy has this insane bass tone that he and riley (bass tech to the stars, also of Conditions fame) have been working on. working together has been good, you know? i feel inspired and motivated by all the changes we've gone through. and the friendships between the 3 of us feel like they've  been dusted off, new again. i'm proud of what i've written lyrically - even though it's not something i want to harp on forever. i feel like it's the stepping stone, though, to wherever it is that we're going next. that in itself is so exciting it literally hurts. the year ahead of us couldn't possibly be anything less than incredible. 

and lastly, i think i just need to brace myself. from here and now until whatever really happens next for us... i can feel that we're on the brink of so much growth. for myself, personally, i just know i'm gonna look back a year from now and realize all that i've learned. but that's enough about me, do you feel it too?

think it's time to eat. i can hear the guys getting excited about something, so it's either food, girls, or someone farted. 

L O L

love you guys so much, hayley

ps, didn't proofread this so i'm sorry if there's a ton of mistakes. (besides the usual non-capitalization thing)

[amberjazmyn]

bloopers

𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮 - bloopers

𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 - you're a part of the supernatural cast and, sometimes, filming an episode just doesn't always go the way it's supposed to go when misha, alex, jensen, jared and evangeline are all in an episode together. 

𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 - your name is evangeline and you are jensen's wife as you can see and this will be kinda made up but i do have some transcripts pulled up as i write this so you may see some familiar lines and stuff! the scenes and them in character will be in italics and the normal font is the cast talking off-camera.

masterlist

- - - 

𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

today was the day  that we were going to be filming cece, my character's, fake death scene for season fourteen because, surprise shawty, cece isn't dead just yet! due to the death scene being fake and cece getting revived later on in the epsiode, eric kripke and bob singer were going to make today's episode as lighthearted as possible during filming. especially when its considered that my actual last episode on supernatural wasn't going to come until the season finale of season fourteen, we wanted to have as much fun as we could filming my "death" then making it sad for no reason when cece is going to be coming back. 

strolling into hair and makeup, my makeup ladies, jodi and tara smile at me before i hopped into my seat. i smile back at them in the mirror as i place my coffee down in front of me. 

"hey girly, how are you this morning?" jodi questioned as she started straight away on my makeup even though it was basic with some blood and dirt added in later on

"hey jodi! i'm doing good, i'm excited to film the death scene as i feel as though we'll mess up a lot!" i chuckle softly as jodi and tara smile as well, tara playing with my hair

"you think?" tara perks up as she continues to brush my hair as i giggle, trying to stay as still as i could so jodi wouldn't mess up my makeup 

"oh for sure! eric and bobby did say they were going make the filming for todays episode as lighthearted as possible because there isn't any use to make today's filming depressing when i'm here until the season finale, you know?" i explain as jodi and tara nod their heads as i chuckle softly

"ahh, that makes sense!" tara smiled as she finished my hair, leaving it brushed but still messy enough that when i "died" it would still look like i was killed 

i giggled and talked a little bit more with jodi and tara before it was time for me to head to the set. the first thing we were filming was the death so it would be out of the way and could then focus on everything else. 

"you ready?" i hear a gruff voice from behind me and i smile, knowing straight away that it was my husband, jensen

"yeah, i'm ready. are you ready, jensen?" i respond back as he chuckles softly, resting his chin on my shoulder as i grunt due to heaviness

"yes i am ready...but, i don't think jared's ready though..." jensen trailed off as all of a sudden, an exhausted jared shuffles onto the set and i pout softly at our little big moose

"...aw, moose, what's wrong?" i pout, standing up and pulling moose in for a hug

"i couldn't fall asleep until three in the morning..." he sounded really grumpy and upset as i pouted again, hugging me tighter 

"...how come? is everything okay at home?" i question, sounding rather serious as he pulls out of the hug and nods his head yes immediately, giving me confidence but, why could he not fall asleep until three? 

"yeah...yeah, oh my gosh yes, everything's fine at home! i...for some reason just couldn't fall asleep!" jared clarified straight away, rubbing at his tired eyes as jensen spoke up 

"yeah, that is weird jare because that happened to me last week, remember e? it took me until at least close to two in the morning to get me to fall asleep?" jensen spoke up as i nod my head, suddenly remembering last week when jensen was struggling to fall asleep

"very weird but, maybe it's nothing we have to worry about as it could just be due to the weather changing," i shrugged, so i didn't worry myself and j2 as they nod their heads  

"maybe but, still, very weird," jared mumbled quietly as i nodded my head and handed jared his coffee 

"anyway you two, you need to be in hair and makeup as i've already had mine done and we need to have our brief with bobby and eric before we start since we're starting with cece's fake death!" i call out as j2 nod their heads, jared instantly drinking his lukewarm coffee as a smile appeared on his face the moment the coffe entered his mouth and i smiled at the simple joy that feeling gave to the exhausted moose 

jensen and jared had suddenly come back from their hair and makeup, now donned in their iconic flannels, jackets and jeans as we made our way to our two directors so we could start filming the scene. 

"you ready?" jensen smirked, lookin at me as tara from hair and makeup stayed behind the camera so she could add in the extra blood and muck in between pauses of takes  

"as i'll ever be!" i smirked as bobby called "action!"  

"...cece?" dean called out, hoping to god that he was going to find her before it was too late

"dean...dean?" cece's tried and scratchy voice rang out as sam and dean perked up, the two brothers looking at each other with some form of hope that cece was still alive

"cece! are you okay?" dean called out again as cece groaned and managed to stand herself up from the wall, turning the corner and seeing sam and dean, a relieved smile covering her face

"dean! sammy!" cece called out, relief in her voice but before the girl could start running, she gets stabbed in the back

"CECE!" sam shouts, running forward as the girl topples down the second the knife is retracted as she bleeds from her mouth and falls to the ground 

just out of reach of reacing sam's arms as dean starts to panic, moving close to the girl, "no, no, no! don't you dare!" dean panicked as he tried his hardest to stop the bleeding but to no avail

everything was going so well, our scene was perfect...that was until i started to giggle due to the fact i was struggling hide stagger my breathing to make it look as though i was dying. jensen groaned as he was doing so well and jared just started to giggle as well. 

"i'm sorry! i couldn't do the breathing thing properly!" i giggled as jensen groaned, wiping his eyes so we could re-do the scene

"rolling, go back from 'cece, are you okay?' and go!" eric called out as we were back in character once again

"cece, are you okay?" dean called out, cece groaning as she managed to find the strength to stand up from the wall that the demon had thrown her against as she turned the corner, a smile of relief covering her face as she saw the two brothers 

"dean! sammy!" cece called out, the relief in her voice pure as she went to start running to the boys when suddenly, it seemed as if the demon had come back to finish her, stabbing her in the back

"EVANGELINE! i said evangeline!" jared retracts as he realises he yelled out my actual name instead of "cece" 

"goddamnit jared!" i groan as he chuckled as he was back at his mark as i went back to mine before i fall to the ground

however, we just kept on messing up. jared kept on screaming my actual name for the next three takes, jensen kept on swearing because he was getting his own mark correct and the cast and crew on the set with j2, misha, alex and i just couldn't stop laughing. hopefully, this take of this scene was the one! yet, i don't think i should be so confident. 

"cece?" dean called out, hoping to god that he was going to find her before it was too late

"dean...dean?" cece's tired and scratchy voice rang out as sam and dean perked up, the two brothers looking at each other with some form of hope that cece was still alive

"cece! are you okay?" dean called out once again as cece groaned and managed to stand herself up from the wall, turning the corner and seeing dean and sam, a smile of relief covering her face

"dean! sammy!" cece called out, the relief in her  voice pure as she went to start running to the boys when suddenly, it seemed as though the demon had come back to finish her, stabbing her in the back

"CECE!" sam shouts, running forward as the girl topples down the second the knife is retracted as she bleeds from her mouth and falls to the ground

just out of reach of getting caught in sam's arms as dean started to panic, moving closer to the girl, "no, no, no! don't you dare!" dean panicked as he tried his hardest to stop the bleeding but to no avail

however, just like the first time, something went wrong. instead of me messing up or jared and jensen messing up, misha had accidentally come into the scene when he wasn't supposed to, flicking my nose as i retract in shock. squeaking out a 'geh' noise which got the entire cast and crew dying of laughter. 

"...i...am so sorry!" misha chuckled out breathlessly as i giggled, calming myself down

"oh my gosh, it's totally fine, mish! however, this entire scene will be in the gag reel, that's for sure!" i chuckle out as the mintue we went to redo the take, another two things went wrong

and those two things you might ask? jared tripped over me and then jensen fell directly on top of me. 

"...ow...jense, get off of me!" i breathe out, struggling to push my husband off of me as we both die of laughter 

"i'm trying!" he was hysterically laughing as he tried to pull himself off of me but it took another two minutes worth of strength for him to push himself off as i took in a heavy breath

"my god, fucking jesus christ! remind me to never give you a piggyback in the future!" i chuckle out as he gives me a look of offense as i giggle again 

"that is offensive! i'm not that heavy!" jensen pouted, looking down at his tummy as i smile at him, letting him know i was totally joking 

he then lets out a small chuckle as we go back to our marks to see if this is next take will be our final take that we so desperately at this point, need. 

"okay! back from the top, come on guys we need to get it together! all of us do, let's go and misha, do you have your mark? jared, jensen and evangeline, action!" eric calls out as he wipes a tear of laughter away and clears his throat as we go back to our marks and do the scene

"cece?" dean called out, hoping to god that he was going to find her before it was too late

"dean...dean?" cece's tired and scratchy voice rang out as sam and dean perked up, the two brothers looking at each other with some form of hope that cece was still alive

"cece? are you okay?" dean called out once again as cece groaned and managed to stand herself up from the wall, turning the corner and seeing dean and sam, a smile of relief covering her face

"dean! sammy!" cece called out, the relief in her voice pure as she went to start running to her boys when suddenly, it seemed as though the demon had come back to finish her, stabbing her in the back

"CECE!" sam shouts, running forward as the girl topples down the second the knife is retracted as the girl bleeds from her mouth, falling to the ground 

just out of reach of getting caught in sam's arms as dean started to panic, moving closer to the girl, "no, no, no! don't you dare!" dean panicked as he tried his hardest to stop the bleeding but to no avail - the blood was everywhere

"c'mon cece, don't you dare do this to me!" dean whimpers as sam gulps before he felt a rush of air behind him - it was cas and jack

at the sudden arrival of air and light, dean and i look up to see castiel and jack, mustering smiles, dean and i looked up towards the angel and nephilim. in the hopes that maybe they could save me?

"cas...jack..what...what can we do? can...can we save cece? can you guys do that?" dean rushes out in panic as he is suddenly covered in blood as he breathes heavily whilst i lay limp in his arms

"i can try my very hardest with jack's help but, it may take a day or two," castiel's deep voice spoke as he looked at the brothers with empathy for the situation they were in, jack nodding his head

"so...so you can save cece?" sam perks up as the younger brother looks over at their angel and nephilim friends with hope in his face 

jack nods his head with a small smile, "i mean, that's what we do, sam. what good of an angel or a nephilim would we be if our healing powers didn't heal?" cas smiled softly as sam relaxed, however dean...dean was the complete opposite, he was in utter panic 

"what will i have to do to make sure she stays alive?" dean whispered, finally looking up from my body to the angel and nephilim who smiled sadly at the distraught older winchester 

"you won't have to do anything. you won't have to make any deals with crowley or anyone, due to her injury being a stab wound to her back, i'm sure it's a quick fix. just some stitches and a bandage and with some bed rest for a week or two, she'll be right as rain again," cas smiled softly, bending down to dean and my body as dean hesitated slightly 

"what...what are you doing cas?" dean spoke with fear in his voice, not knowing why cas had bent down to me and dean

"i need to take her with me jack so we can heal her! she can't stay here with you!" cas spoke softly, trying a second time to reach his arms out to grab my limp body

dean gave another unsure look to cas and jack before sam, the younger winchester, spoke up. 

"c'mon dean, let cas and jack take cece, they're not going to hurt her. they have to heal her but to do that, you have to give cece to cas. c'mon, let her go!" sam spoke softly as dean took a big breath in and reluctantly transferred my limp body over into cas' arms

and, within a flash of light, cas and jack had taken me away to patch me up and heal me... 

"...and cut!" eric calls out as the scene of the start of my fake death had finished as we instantly began laughing again 

"that was fanastic guys! misha's mark was perfect, jared and jensen delivered their liens perfectly, alex the way you told such a story without saying anything was amazing and evangeline, you also captured the emotion perfectly! well done guys, j2, you guys are on in fifteen and misha, alex and evangeline, you guys are on in ten! be ready!" bobby calls out after as we all thank bobby and eric as we go to get cleaned up 

walking back to the makeup trailer with my boys, jared, jensen, misha and alex and i couldn't help but giggle to myself. that took way longer than it should have but, that's the beauty of supernatural. sometimes, the best scenes occur after the tenth or so blooper. 

- - - 

this was so much fun to write! i mention the outline of this blooper in my first spn chapter about the burning questions imagine so yeah! this was so much fun to write! 

ily xx

word count; 2735

[reddeadreference]

Horseshoe Overlook: Polite Society, Valentine Style

Full Transcript below ([...] placed where a gap of silence is for the same person speaking or when there’s a long period of silence and distance traveled.)   

Arthur: Hey!

[Uncle startles awake from where he was sleeping against the back of a wagon]

Arthur: Careful not to work yourself to death there, Uncle.

Uncle: I was thinking.

Arthur: Yeah. Does it pay well?

Uncle: Eventually.

Arthur: So, while the rest of us are busy stealing, killing, lying, fighting to try to survive… you get to think all day.

Uncle: It’s a strange world we live in, Arthur Morgan.

Arthur: Do you wanna head into town see if we can find anything out?

Uncle: Sure, I got some errands to run.

Arthur: Great. Go check the horses are ready.

[Having overheard Karen, Tilly, and Mary-Beth walk over.]

Karen: If you’re gonna take the old man into town…. could you take us too?

Arthur: Why what you got planned?

Karen: Nothing… we’ll find something for y’all to do, we always do.

Mary-Beth: We’re bored out of our minds. Been cooped up here for two weeks now. Karen’s about ready to murder Grimshaw.

Arthur: Well, can Miss Grimshaw spare you?

Karen: "Can Miss Grimshaw spare you?" What’s happened to you, Arthur? Three young healthy women want you to take ‘em robbing you’re worried about house chores. Let’s go!

Arthur: Fair enough, you got me. Come on then.

[They happily get into the back of the wagon.]

Tilly: I can’t believe we’re going to see civilization, feels like weeks since we did.

Uncle: (with a chuckle) Yeah, Valentine… the very embodiment of civilization. You ladies are gonna love it.

Arthur: Okay then. Let’s go.

=After “Americans At Rest”=

Uncle: Alright, do you know the way?

Arthur: Yeah… me and the boys got into a bit of a fight at the saloon there.

Karen: (laughs) Already?

Uncle: Oh, so all that talk about how hard you been working… you mean drinking. 

=Before “Americans At Rest”=

Uncle: Alright, out through the trees here, then take a left.

|

Uncle: Ladies, sing us a song.

Ladies: (laughing and singing) I got a girl in Berryville, can’t be screwed ’cause she’s too damn ill. So I don’t go down there no more. There’s a blue horse lays outside her door. I had a girl in Valentine likes to drink that fancy wine. Plumes in her hat was two feet tall the crack in her pants paid for it all. 

Uncle: Go right here, it’s quicker.

Ladies: I got a girl in Berryville. Can’t get it in her cause she won’t stay still. She kicks and squeals and farts and hollers. She kicks and squeals and farts and hollers. Won’t take less than seven dollars.

Ladies: I got a girl across the lane

Karen:  I got a girl in Berryville- (laughs) I messed it up!

Ladies: I got a girl across the lane, hair down there like a horses mane. I got a gal and she’s got a thing, fits my peter like a diamond ring. I had a girl in Valentine likes to drink that fancy wine. Plumes in her hat was two feet tall the crack in her pants paid for it all. 

(That’s all they’ll sing. Then they just sit in silence.)

[As they near a dirt road another wagon drives by.]

Uncle: Look at that coach, he… he’s all over the place.

[ The horse pulling the cart breaks out and runs away but stops on the other side of the road]

Driver: Oh, goddamn it! Oh shit, the horses! This is all I need.

Tilly: Is one of you gonna get that feller’s horse?

Uncle: Oh, I got lumbago, it’s very serious!

=Help=

Arthur: Alright, I’ll see what’s going on…(to himself) Lumbago. Really… (to the driver) You alright there, friend? 

Driver: Oh hey, you couldn’t help me get my other horse back from over there, could you? I’d really appreciate the help. I’m worried this one here will bolt on me too, if I leave him.

(Not in the video but apparently this is said if you wait closer to the driver)

Arthur: Sure, no problem.

Driver: Thanks mister. It’s the white one over there.

|

Mary-Beth: Go on, Arthur.

[Arthur slowly walks over to and calms the horse]

Tilly: See, Uncle? That is a gentleman.

[Arthur brings the horse back]

Mary-Beth: There, you got it!

Tilly: Well done, Arthur!

[Arthur brings the horse back]

Arthur: Here… here you go.

Driver: You’re a gentleman, sir, a gentleman!

Arthur: No, not really… I was just… trying to impress the women.

Driver: Well, anyway, thank you.

[Arthur climbs back onto the wagon]

Uncle: C’mon, let’s go!

Karen: To Valentine!

Uncle: You’re turning into a regular old fairy godmother there, Arthur.

Arthur: What’s that supposed to mean?

Mary-Beth: It means you’ve got a heart. A small one perhaps, hidden deep inside, but a real one. And you haven’t, you repulsive old lizard.

Uncle: Lizards have hearts!

Tilly: Well, Arthur, I’m proud of you.

Arthur: To be honest, if you lot hadn’t been here… I probably woulda robbed him.

Mary-Beth: Well, you didn’t!

=Don’t Help=

Arthur: I’m sure he can handle it.

[Karen stands and smacks Uncle on the arm]

Karen: Why didn’t you help that poor man?

Uncle: L-lumbago! It’s really serious, it can be deadly.

Karen: What about you, Arthur?

Arthur: Do I look like I got the energy to waste on charity?That fool can get his own horse.

Mary-Beth: I don’t believe you’re quite that cold, Mr. Morgan.

Arthur: Oh, I’m colder than you realize. I feel bad I didn’t rob and kill the bastard.

Mary-Beth: Very inspiring, Arthur.

|

[They enter Valentine.]

Tilly: Smell those sheep.

Karen: Or is that Uncle?

Uncle: Very funny.

Mary-Beth: This looks like a decent little town.

Tilly: Other people… finally.

Mary-Beth: Look at all that snow on the mountains. Sure don’t want to be back up there.

Tilly: You think we should’ve asked Molly to come with us?

Karen: Oh no, Miss O’Shea is far too high and mighty now for the likes of us… or to do any real work. She’s a society lady, now. Okay, take a good look around, ladies. Let’s see what we got here.

Uncle: Go left here, down the main street. Sheriff’s office on the right. Sure you can pick up some, bounties there, Arthur.

Arthur: Heaven forbid you put your head on the line.

Uncle: That’s a young man’s game.

Karen: Oh yes, we can get up to some mischief here alright…

Arthur: Just remember, keep a low profile.

Karen: Will you remember that, though, Arthur?

Arthur: Probably not.

Uncle: Let’s park up down the end there, near the stables.

[Once the wagon stops]

Uncle: Alright! Here we are, just like I said. The cultural center of civilization. Man at his finest.

Arthur: Uncle, what’re we doing?

Uncle: Well, we’re gonna do what any self respecting maniac does… put the women to work.

Karen: With pleasure… we’ll start at the saloon.

Arthur: Okay, just stay outta trouble and don’t get yourselves noticed.

Uncle: Right, I-I need to get something from the stores.

Arthur: Okay, (to the girls) well we’ll see you at the general store when you’re done.

Karen: Come on ladies… imagine we’re in Paris.

Tilly: I imagine Paris and Valentine are easily confused.

Uncle: Come on.

Arthur: So that’s how you see yourself, is it? A maniac?

Uncle: Well, in my youth, I used to be known as the "one-shot kid".

Arthur: Okay… I’m not gonna ask why.

Uncle: You’re a sad man, Arthur Morgan. But I know you love me.

Arthur: Desperately… you’re my favorite parasite. No… ringworm’s my favorite parasite, you’re my second favorite parasite.

Uncle: Very funny.

Arthur: I lied… ringworm, then rats with the plague, then you.

Uncle: Shut up… this is the place, now. Come on. (to a shopkeeper as they enter) [Uncle will say either “Morning” or “Afternoon” depending on what time it is.]

Arthur: So what do you need?

Uncle: A drop of whiskey for a start. Something to pass the time while we’re waiting on the women.

= After “Americans At Rest”=

Arthur: Yeah, reckon I should probably steer clear of the saloon this time.

Uncle: You’re looking a bit tired there, Arthur. Why you don’t pick up some coffee while we’re here?

Shopkeeper: Lemme know if you have any questions, fellers. Whiskey’s on the top shell, nearest the door. Wait, ain’t you the feller who had the fight with Tommy outside the saloon?

Arthur: Yeah, that all got a little out of hand, but… I didn’t swing first.

Shopkeeper: Sure, well, these things happen. And that was some good viewing. Don’t reckon folk ever seen Tommy lose a fight before.

Arthur: Well, it’s all done now.

[Arthur buys coffee]

Uncle: Okay, if you’re done, I'll meet you outside. I won’t be too long.

=Before “Americans At Rest”=

Arthur: So what do you need?

Uncle: A drop of whiskey for a start. Something to pass the time while we’re waiting on the women.

Arthur: Always thinking ahead, ain’t you

Uncle: You’re looking a bit tired there, Arthur. Why you don’t pick up some coffee while we’re here?

Shopkeeper: Plenty out on the shelves, but I got more out back. Whiskey’s on the top shell, nearest the door.

[Arthur buys coffee]

Uncle: Okay, if you’re done, I'll meet you outside. I won’t be too long.

[At anypoint after buying the coffee, you can leave the store to wait for Uncle. Arthur sits on a bench and shortly after Uncle comes out to join him OR:]

=Wait inside for Uncle to finish shopping=

Uncle: (To the shopkeeper) What do you reckon, a lamb or a sausage?

Shopkeeper: Well, this here’s a sheep town, the lamb’s the best in the state.

Uncle: (after seeing the cheese) Now I know what the smell is.

Shopkeeper: That’s a ripe cheese alright.

Arthur: So, you’re actually buying for once? Are you feeling alright?

Uncle: See this? Young folk got no respect for their elders no more. [...] Well look at this, a jaw harp.

Arthur: What is this list of yours?

Uncle: I got a lot to replenish after that godawful time in the mountains.

Shopkeeper: All done.

Uncle: Thank you kindly. (after placing money on the counter) This should do the trick.

Shopkeeper: Yep… that’s fine whisky.

Uncle: That should do us, let’s go wait for them outside.

Shopkeeper: All the best, fellers. Try to stay out of trouble now.

|

=Waited inside/ last out of store=

[Arthur walks out to where Uncle is sitting on the bench drinking from the bottle. He holds it out to Arthur who sits down beside him.]

Uncle: Oh, here’s to your good health, sir… and to being down here, off that mountain.

Arthur: Absolutely.

[In the background Karen can be seen bringing a man to the hotel]

Uncle: It’s a funny world. This time in my career… I pictured myself being married to an heiress.

=Wait outside/first out of store=

[Uncle walks out to where Arthur is sitting on the bench. He takes a swig of the bottle before holding it out to Arthur.]

Uncle: Here’s to your good health, my sir.

Uncle: It’s a funny world. This time in my career… I pictured myself being married to an heiress.

[The scene fades to black and Arthur seems to fall asleep. A little while later, Mary-Beth wakes him up as she walks up to them.]

Mary-Beth: Gentlemen. I think I’ve got something good. I snuck into this fancy house and acted like a servant girl, usually works. Someone was saying her sister was taking a trip from New York or someplace. Train full of rich tourists, heading to Saint Denis and then cruising off to Brazil.

Arthur: Okay.

Mary-Beth: A train laden with baggage and passing through a bit of deserted country at night as to get to the docks in time for the tides in some place called Scarlett Meadows.

Uncle: Yeah, I know it… yeah, yeah, it’s right out near New Hanover. Right, it’s real quiet out there.

Arthur: Sounds good. Where’s Tilly and Karen?

Mary-Beth: I think at the hotel… they were picking up some drunken fellers that they was going to rob.

Arthur: Why?

Mary-Beth: It seemed easy. They have been gone for quite a while.

Arthur: I guess I’ll go see if there’s any trouble.

[Mary-Beth sees Tilly and a man who is pulling her into the small alleyway between the bank and the hotel]

Mary-Beth: Oh, there’s Tilly over there… that does not look ideal.

Arthur: Excuse me.

[Arthur goes to confront the man and save Tilly]

Tilly: Get your hands off me!

Stranger: You thought I wouldn’t find you, Tilly?

Tilly: You can go kiss a damn snake for all I care… get off me! Get off of me!

=Defuse=

Arthur: Get your hands off her, friend.

Stranger: Who are you?

Tilly: A friend of mine…

Arthur: Get off her.

Stranger: Or what, exactly.

Arthur: You wanna find out?

Stranger: You’re making a big mistake, Tilly Jackson.

Tilly: Just get lost.

Stranger: (as he’s walking away) I ain’t doing this with you right now.

Arthur: Go wait with Uncle and Mary Beth, they’re across the street.

Tilly: Okay, thanks Arthur.

=Interviece=

(It’s a personal choice of mine to point the gun at him for this)

Arthur: (threatening) Get your hands off of her.

Stranger: Who are you?

Tilly: A friend of mine…

Arthur: (threatening) Get the hell off of her, you son of a bitch.

Stranger: Hey… hey take it easy. There’s no problem here.

Arthur: There will be if you don’t get outta here right now.

Stranger: You’re making a big mistake, Tilly Jackson.

Tilly: Just get lost.

Stranger: I ain’t doing this with you right now.

Arthur: Go wait with Uncle and Mary Beth, they’re across the street.

Tilly: Okay, thanks Arthur.

=Question=

Arthur: What was that all about?

Tilly: Just someone I used to know.

|

[Arthur calls across the street]

Arthur: Uncle! Look after her. I’mma go see about Karen in the hotel.

[Arthur enters the hotel.]

Hotel owner: Can I help you, sir?

=Question=

Arthur: I’m looking for a girl who came in here earlier with a drunk feller? Mid twenties, blonde, you’d remember her.

Hotel owner: Yeah, they’re in 2B, upstairs. Are you, uh, a friend of his?

Arthur: A friend of hers…

Hotel Owner: (as Arthur goes upstairs) No trouble now, please!

=Just go upstairs=

[Soon Arthur hears Karen’s voice from the next room.]

Karen: Get off of me!

Stranger 2: I’m getting what I paid for!

Arthur: (kicking the door in) Hey!

Stranger 2: Who are you?

Arthur: A friend of hers.

Stranger 2: Get outta here, buddy, I paid.

Arthur: Ain’t paid to hit her, you goddamn animal! Come here!

[He knocks out the stranger with several punches.]

Arthur: What the hell were you doing here?

Karen: Trying to play him. Not very well.

Arthur: You okay?

Karen: Fine…

Arthur: You sure?

[The two start to leave]

Karen: Yeah. Nothing… nothing to worry about, just… men, but… stupid bastard… stupid bastard was boasting about the bank.

Arthur: The bank?

Karen: Sure, I know small town banks are usually a waste of time, (Hotel owner: I hope uh, everything’s okay up there?) but… this is a livestock town, there’s lots of cash sometimes.

Arthur: Okay… keep investigating.

Karen: I will. After you. 

[The two leave and it switches to a cutscene- note during this Downes can be heard and is labeled as Stranger 3 by the game but I did not include his dialogue.]

Karen: ]Thank you, Arthur. I don’t much like being saved, but… when I have to be.

Arthur: I understand.

[They go outside and across the street to where the others are waiting.]

Tilly: You okay?

Karen: Sure, he only punched me. Arthur punched him a lot harder.

Arthur: Yeah. Alright then.

Mary-Beth: Hey, who’s that guy over there looking at us?

[A man on horseback is watching them]

Stranger 3: Weren’t you in Blackwater a few weeks back?

Arthur: Me? No, sir. Ain’t from there.

Stranger 3: Oh, you were. Well, I definitely saw you. With a bunch of fellers.

Arthur: Me? No, impossible. Listen, buddy. Come here for a minute.

Stranger 3: I saw you…

Arthur: Come here.

Stranger 3: (to his horse) Come on, get!

[He rides away on his horse.]

Uncle: I don’t like this.

Arthur: Me neither. Go get the girls home. I’m gonna go have a word with our friend.

Tilly: Be careful, Arthur.

Arthur: Just a word.

[Arthur borrows a horse to chase after the man]

Civilian: Hey! That’s my horse!

Arthur: Just borrowing it…

Stranger 3: You stay away from me!

Arthur: Get back here right now! [...] You stop right here!

Stranger 3: I don’t want no trouble!

Arthur: We need to talk, pal!

Stranger 3: Come on, hyah! Hyah!

[the man rides too close to the cliff and falls off his horse]

Stranger 3: Help! Someone!

=Question=

Arthur: Why are you telling lies about me?

Stranger: No, no! I-I-I got it wrong, partner… I got it very wrong, now please, help me up!

Arthur: I ain’t never been in Blackwater…

Stranger: Then why are you chasing me?

Arthur: I’ve got an unfortunate face.

Stranger: Yes, yes… me too… now please, pull me up, please! Please! 

=Help=

Arthur: Alright… come on… 

[Arthur helps the man up]

Arthur: You okay, partner?

Stranger 3: No… no, I am not. I’m a mess.

Arthur: Well, you ain’t dead.

Stranger 3: There is that. Jimmy Brooks.

[He stretches out his hand, but Arthur does not shake it.]

Arthur: I think it’s best for both of us… if we pretend this never happened.

Jimmy: Oh, I agree. You saved my life. You’re a good man and I, err…Here. you want a pen? It’s one of them steel ones.

Arthur: Oh… that’s very kind of you. But I’m not a good man, Jimmy Brooks… not usually. You see… I was in Blackwater. I kill people… and maybe I shoulda killed you. Should I have killed you, Jimmy Brooks?

Jimmy: Me…? I n-never saw you… not-not now, not-not never. I think we have an understanding?

Arthur: Of course we do. Jimmy Brooks… I will remember that. I’ve got a good memory.

Jimmy: I haven’t… I haven’t! Not-not one lick! Not… one sense in this here old mind! (to himself as he’s getting on his horse) C’mon, c’mon… (to Arthur) You have a nice day now, sir.

[Jimmy leaves in a hurry and the mission ends but there’s an optional task of bringing back the horse you borrowed.]

=Kill=

Stranger 3: Please! My hands are slipping.

[Arthur steps on his fingers, the man falls to his death, and Arthur loses honor]

|

=Return the horse=

Civilian: Hey! My horse! Am I glad to see you!

Arthur: Here’s your horse back, friend.

Civilian: Oh, you really were just borrowing it!

Arthur: Appreciate it.

[mi6011emiliamcgee]

Idea development

Transcript: Social justice as a concept - I’ve done my research on this - it goes back to the 19th century. Because that’s a time when in this part of the world, in the West, you had industrialization kicking off; you had countries forming empires, so suddenly there was a need for social inequality because that’s how countries get on - you know, you exploit people, you take from places, you colonize, you have workers at different levels, so the concept of needing justice in society became really sharp in the West. So, your curriculum has to have a position that factors that in, because there is social injustice built into society. Individual people need to shape their own arguments, but I can tell you what I believe to be true about social justice. A lot of people can’t because they haven’t been invited to interrogate it. So, I feel as though the curriculum needs to be a place that fosters a spirit of interrogating the accepted truths and norms and the status quo, seeking to discover what actually happened, with a view to putting your best foot forward in a deliberate and benevolent direction of ‘can we make things better and fairer?’

Inspiration: Mr. Men & Little Miss I want my hat back Kurzgesagt (YouTube) Cas van de Pol (YouTube) Dumb ways to die Vector art

Reasons for my inspiration: Mr Men & Little Miss When I look at the characters in this series I always note how different each character is almost in the same way that no person is the same so when I looked at the themes found throughout the transcript the Mr. Men came into my head. The characters in the series are quite simple but recognisable which is what I would like to aim for.

I want my hat back The paint-like texture on the characters help to give them more depth and detail without needing to do much. I feel this would work well with my simple character designs.

Kurzgesagt (YouTube) A good example of a group that makes animated educational videos and my first thought when I thought of my idea. They do a very good job at keeping the attention of their audience with the interesting visuals even if the subject is rather complicated.

Cas van de Pol (YouTube) Uses a simple style that contrasts the more graphic content that they typically show. The style and shapes of the characters is mainly what I am looking at as it makes the designs seem more fun and interesting.

Dumb ways to die This animated video is able to pull off a very cute and simple style while also showing horrible things happening to them while relating to telling people about train safety. Since I will be covering a rather serious and horrifying subject I feel it would be a good idea to show how bad it was but not in a way that would turn people away from watching.

Parts: Next I split the transcript into parts so that I could describe what would be happening while the audio is playing out. This step will make storyboards easier when I do them. Part 1: “Social justice as a concept - I’ve done my research on this - it goes back to the 19th century.”

Character taking a book called “Social Justice” and opening to a page saying “19th century”.

Or the book is called “Social Justice - 19th Century” and the character just opens on a blank page.

The background changes to match the paper colour to show the transition into the book.

Part 2: “Because that’s a time when in this part of the world, in the West, you had industrialization kicking off; you had countries forming empires,”

Zoom in on a circle representing Earth till it is just a flat piece of ground.

A building begins rising from the ground to represent the forming of empires.

Part 3: “so suddenly there was a need for social inequality because that’s how countries get on -”

The building rises further, becoming a pyramid shape with a crown at its top.

The rising motion helps to show how it is a rising up of civilization.

Part 4: “you know, you exploit people, you take from places, you colonize, you have workers at different levels,”

A crown character takes money from someone. (exploit)

Removes the roofs off another town. (taking)

A hand grabs the town and pulls it up to match the previous town with a crown also at the top as they take over. (colonise)

There are people at the bottom of the town holding it up these are the workers considered at the bottom. (workers at different levels)

Part 5: “so the concept of needing justice in society became really sharp in the West.”

Goes up to one of the faces of the workers looking sad before looking up determined.

Slightly fades into the page colours to set up for the perspective switch.

Part 6: “So, your curriculum has to have a position that factors that in, because there is social injustice built into society.”

Focuses back on the character reading the book in the beginning.

We now see that this main character is the same colour as the workers at the bottom of society in the book.

Scene expands and we can see a ghost-like image of the pyramid where our character is at the bottom. Showing that social injustice is still there.

Part 7: “Individual people need to shape their own arguments, but I can tell you what I believe to be true about social justice.”

The “Social Justice” book is placed onto a bookshelf with the spine facing towards the camera splitting the screen.

The text on the spine begins to slide up to help transition into the next scene.

Part 8: “A lot of people can’t because they haven’t been invited to interrogate it.”

Continuing from the last scene as the text goes away we see that there are two groups of characters blocked off from one another. One group the same colour as the previous character and the others a group of other colours.

The group of other colours are all talking while the group of one colour stood there sadly.

This helps to further push that these characters are meant to represent a different race from the other.

Part 9: “So, I feel as though the curriculum needs to be a place that fosters a spirit of interrogating the accepted truths and norms and the status quo, seeking to discover what actually happened,”

One of the other colours notices the sad ones and walks over opening the barrier so they can join in.

1 character pulls out a piece of paper labelled “status quo” and another pulls out a magnifying glass inspecting it.

The scene fades out to a single colour.

Part 10: “with a view to putting your best foot forward in a deliberate and benevolent direction of ‘can we make things better and fairer?’”

Characters of all different colours and shapes begin to fill the screen.

All the characters are smiling while looking towards the camera, looking towards the better future.