#I can't remember the last time I went this all out on a ship week!

[zimithrus]

Galolio Week - Day 7 - Injury (Free Day)🩸

I decide to end the final day of the week with some good ol' fashioned angst! 😌 Went with a rough, sketchy style for this one, emphasize the blood some more 💯 But, this week was so much fun, I had an absolute blast with every one of these prompts! Finished them all just in time and I started working on them right when the poll finished! 😅 Already excited for the next one!! 💚💙 And one last time,

📚Read the fic that accompanies this piece on AO3!📚

[oliversrarebooks]

Human Resistance: Inevitable

tw: brainwashing, mind control, drugging, captivity, dehumanization

Masterlist

Jesse was floating, floating for a long time in a state on the edge between sleep and wakefulness, warm and comfortable and safe. It was an agonizingly slow process that drew him back up towards full consciousness, thoughts and feelings returning to him.

He was hungry. That was his first thought. The resistance had been operating on meager rations for a while, constantly in danger of running out of food, and on top of that, he had no idea how long it had been since he'd last eaten. Even if all they had was canned beans and a bit of forage, he'd be happy to take it, just to quiet the constant nagging of his belly for a little while.

He was just about to sleepily roll out of his cot when he realized he wasn't in his cot at all.

Jesse flew the rest of the distance to alertness as he remembered where he was. He was in a comfortable, padded sort of chair, surrounded by smooth walls and a translucent window to the outside, just big enough to hold one person. He'd been captured, along with Zach, and brought aboard one of the colony ships.

No, it couldn't be. It had to be one of his frequent nightmares. But it was all too vivid and real, and as he instinctively brought his hand to his throat, he felt the thin band of metal, the alien collar marking him as one of theirs. Hand trembling, he followed the band around to the back of his neck, and he felt the spot where it fused into his spine briefly before pulling back in horror.

He'd been collared, controlled, never again to be free unless by some miracle he was rescued and underwent the same risky surgery that Zach had.

Maybe… maybe it was better…

No, they were trying to control his mind. They had to resist.

The pod's cover retracted, and to Jesse's surprise and relief, he was greeted by Zach. Zach miraculously wasn't wearing any collar, and he wasn't with any of the enemy, either. He'd gotten free, somehow, just like Jesse always knew he could.

"You came to rescue me," Jesse croaked out, his voice hoarse from deep sleep. "They collared me. I'm sorry, I couldn't stop them."

Zach frowned. "How are you feeling after that? Are you all right?"

"I feel like I've been drugged, like I can't be as terrified as I should be. It's hard to think. But what about you? They didn't collar you. You're free."

Zach held up his wrist, where a thin band of metal shimmered. "The scarring from my collar removal surgery is too severe. They've given me this temporary device. Our Superior had other obligations, so I'm going to take us where we need to go."

"Temporary collar?" Jesse's heart sank. Zach was under their control after all -- he'd been stupid to hope for different. But still… "If it's temporary, it can be removed, right?" Jesse glanced around to make sure none of the aliens were in the immediate vicinity. "And if you can remove it, that means you might be able to escape."

"Jesse." His face was sad and serious as he put a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "It's over."

"What? No, it's not over!" Jesse shrugged off the hand. "We can't just surrender like this. If they haven't given you a real collar yet, you could escape. You could get back and let the others know where we --"

"Get back to where?"

"To the resistance!"

"And do what?" Zach's eyes were hard. "There's hardly any of us left, Jesse, you know that. We have barely any food, much less weapons. We go back to the resistance and drag it out a few more weeks, just barely surviving, only to end up back here a third time?"

"You can't mean that."

"I'm sorry. I really am. But I've realized now that being a leader means knowing when it's over."

The worst part about what Zach was saying was that Jesse could hardly deny it. He'd thought the same. Jesse had heard the whispers growing louder. He'd been in the strategy meetings that went nowhere because they didn't have enough people or weapons or supplies to carry out a meaningful attack on any of the enemies' larger ships. Lately, they'd barely had enough to ambush the tiniest of transport crafts, save a handful of humans. And so many had simply given up and walked out into the enemy territory. Not to mention those who had taken an even more final way out.

"It can't be over." Jesse had never had a plan for his life. The resistance was the first thing that he'd really cared about, the first place where he'd felt like he'd belonged.

"There might be other groups of resistance fighters still out there. Maybe they'll succeed some day and free us all," said Zach. "But it won't be us. I'm sorry. It's over."

"I'm not just going to accept that. Not even from you." Jesse backed away from Zach, looking around to see if any of the enemy were paying attention. "If you won't even try to get out, then I will."

"You can't --"

As Zach began to march away, a shock came over his body, freezing him in place and dazing his mind. It was like being stunned with a taser, except that there was no pain, just disorientation. The drumbeat of comply - comply - comply rang in his head.

"You can't just leave. Not with one of their collars." Zach had his hands on Jesse's shoulders, guiding him back. "They can detect if you're doing something unauthorized."

"Oh, fuck this," said Jesse. He slammed his fist into one of the pods, not even making a dent. None of the aliens seemed to even notice. He hit it again, and again, and again, until his hand stung.

"Feel better?" asked Zach as Jesse stood there nursing his hand.

"No. What now?"

"We're supposed to report to the infirmary for a physical."

"I don't want some alien examining me," said Jesse half-heartedly, knowing that it didn't matter.

"C'mon."

Zach led them to the room's exit, and this time nothing stopped them. That collar had somehow detected the difference between Zach taking them where they were supposed to go and Jesse trying to escape, before he'd even left the room. He really was fucking screwed.

One of the aliens stopped them at the door, ran a tentacle across Jesse's collar and Zach's wristband, and opened the door. They emerged into a circular corridor with a narrow flat walkway at the bottom. Jesse couldn't help but flinch when an alien rounded the corner. It was reflex after so many years of training to avoid them. And now, he was in the heart of a colony ship, surrounded by the enemy for good.

"Infirmary's right next to the training area."

"How do you know that?"

"All of the pet stations are laid out about the same."

Sure enough, the next set of double glass doors opened for Zach, and they entered a sterile, clinical sort of area. There were a few humans in examination chairs being attended to by aliens, and a few others on tables. At least one looked like they were actually getting some kind of surgery, just out in the open in the clinic.

Before Jesse could balk, he and Zach were each picked up by aliens and deposited in chairs side-by-side. A sensor was attached to Jesse's collar, and the alien was looking back and forth between Jesse and a sort of tablet it was holding. Jesse could only assume that some kind of medical information was being sent to the tablet.

Without warning, one of the tentacles jabbed him in the elbow, releasing another dose of the thing's venom. Jesse relaxed as that sedated feel stole over him again, his cares fading. When the alien next picked up his hands to examine them, he didn't resist -- even though he still knew that his docility was induced by the conditioning, the collar, and the drugs, it didn't help him fight against it.

The aliens clearly didn't care about human pets' privacy, because Jesse could see and hear Zach's physical. An alien was carefully examining his knee. This is overdue for maintenance. How is your locomotion?

"A little stiff and painful, but nothing like it was before my knee was replaced," said Zach.

Your Superior will be contacted to arrange for your maintenance.

"All right."

You will also need your spinal cord repaired where your collar was located. There may also be neurological damage from abruptly stopping your medications.

"I'm aware, yeah."

You and the new pet are both suffering from poor nutrition and sleep deprivation. You require nutrients.

Jesse turned his head to see an alien approaching with a syringe that was way too large for comfort, and even through his sedation he felt his fear rise. "Wait, what is that?"

Nutrition. With no further explanation, the needle was plunged into Jesse's arm, and all he could do was turn away. Zach was having the same thing done to him.

You will receive food. You will attend to hygiene. Once these are complete, you will return to your Superior's chamber and sleep in your pod for a minimum of three-quarters of a cycle. The old pet will guide the new.

"Yeah, all right," said Zach easily.

"Are those orders?" Jesse was trying to fight the drugs in his system, trying to get back some of his fire.

Yes. Those are orders.

Once again, the compulsion to comply and be obedient that the conditioning had drilled into his head kicked in, washing out his thoughts of resistance, at least until the alien started to tug his t-shirt over his head.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Uniform.

The tentacles moved much faster than Jesse could dodge while slowed down by sedatives, and in a flash it had undressed him and put him in a soft, dark blue garment that was like a cross between a jumpsuit and pajamas. "What are you doing with my clothes?"

They will be delivered to your Superior's chamber. And with that, Jesse's favorite t-shirt was whisked away out of sight.

Your examination is complete. Your health information will be given to your Superior. Your medications will also be given to your Superior. You will now follow your prescribed orders.

"What, don't I get to see my own health info?"

It will be sent to your Superior.

Of course. He shouldn't be surprised. He didn't protest when Zach took his arm and led him out of the infirmary.

"Are you okay?" asked Zach once they'd exited back out into the corridor. He was wearing a uniform identical to Jesse's except in size.

"Other than feeling like an animal sent to the vet, yeah, I guess I'm okay," he said. "Are you?"

"Yeah, that was pretty routine. They're going to send me for maintenance on my knee," said Zach. "Only the doctors at the resistance base knew about this, but the aliens replaced my knee with one of their artificial joints."

"You let them replace your knee?"

Zach chuckled. "Do you really think they asked me?"

"Guess not."

"It was a big improvement, to be honest, even though it needs maintenance. It was starting to get stiff during my time at the base. I guess… well, whatever," said Zach. "They're making us get food, baths, and sleep, and I'm not in the mood to object, are you?"

Jesse was starving by now, and completely wiped from the dangerous mission earlier in the day and the stress of the capture, so that itinerary sounded just fine to him. Not that it would matter even if he were in the mood to object. Zach himself had driven home how pointless it'd be. "No, I'm not," he said. "What's the food like? Gross alien shit? Didn't you say it was replicated?"

Zach had been leading them through a few snaking corridors as they talked, barely paying attention to where he was going. He looked just as confident and at home as he ever had in the base. He was completely used to this, Jesse realized. At ease. At home. As though he'd never even left.

"Yeah, it's replicated," Zach replied. "They can make basically anything you can think of. The texture's way off, but it tastes right. No, I don't know how it works."

"It's probably drugged up, right? Or poisoned."

"If they want to drug us, they just do it. I don't think they put it in the food, but it wouldn't make much of a difference if they did."

They entered the cafeteria, where a lot of people in multi-colored uniforms were eating and chatting. While many of them were dressed in just a plain uniform, a lot of them had embellishments like sparkling hair decorations and flashy jewelry. They were laughing and talking freely, and Jesse hated that they all looked so happy.

Zach approached a row of purple machines on the far wall, picking up a tray and placing it in a window in one of the machines. "This interfaces with your collar. All you have to do is decide what you want to eat, visualize it in your mind, and it'll replicate that for you."

That sounded too good to be true, but Jesse was starving enough to give it a shot. Food had been tight for a long time in the resistance camp. At first there was lots of food to scavenge from populated areas, and the rural areas didn't have much alien surveillance, so they also had access to farms, hunting, and fishing. But the aliens took more and more territory, installing surveillance and flying drones even in remote areas, shrinking what was available to the resistance. The resources that were easy to access had dwindled, especially since they had to move every time one of the encampments was detected.

Jesse didn't miss his old job, but he did miss food from before the invasion. It'd been so long since he'd been able to do something as simple as share a pizza with friends.

"Pepperoni pizza and a coke," he said, trying to imagine how it looked and tasted. The machine whirred and deposited his meal on the tray. The cup of cola looked normal, but the pizza slices looked more like a plastic model of pizza than the real thing. "You're sure this is edible, Zach?"

"Edible enough." Zach had summoned a huge plate of tacos, which had the same toy-like quality. "Try it and find out."

They sat down at an unoccupied table, and Jesse experimentally lifted the slice of "pizza" to his nose. It was warm, and it did smell right. His stomach growled in protest. Across from him, Zach began wolfing down tacos like there was no tomorrow.

He finally took a bite. Zach had been right, the texture was off, a little too spongy to be pizza. But it tasted good, and soon Jesse was shoveling his food down too. God, he'd missed this. He'd missed having enough food to eat at all. It was almost enough to make him forget the strangeness of eating lunch in a colony ship.

By the time he'd finished, Jesse's misgivings about the food had quieted, and he went back to the machine for more pizza and some wings. When he got back to the table, there was a young woman in an orange uniform sitting next to Zach, her thick ponytail bobbing as she talked. Jesse realized who she was -- Nina, one of the runners for the human resistance, who'd disappeared on a mission around two months ago.

"Jesse, hey! Good to see you!" she said as cheerful as anything.

"Is it good to see me? I've been captured."

She shrugged as though it weren't a big deal. He guessed it wasn't to her. If she'd been here for a couple of months, she'd probably already been fully conditioned and turned to their side.

"We just got here earlier today," said Zach. "It's going to take some time for Jesse to adjust."

Jesse noticed that he didn't include himself in that statement. "I'm in no hurry to adjust."

Nina brushed it off. "I understand it better now, what you were going through, Zach. I can't imagine being pulled out of here. It must've been hard."

He shot a glance at Jesse before answering. "Yeah, it was. But I'm back now."

"So you defected?"

"No," he said tersely.

"Really? I did."

"You defected?" said Jesse.

"Well, yeah. Things were hell, and it's not like we really had a chance."

Jesse stood up, pushing his tray away. "We were doing our fucking best! We all thought you had been caught, not that you'd willingly thrown yourself away! You were one of the last decent runners in the place, and you just -- you just -- " He wobbled, dizzy from the drugs he'd been given earlier, his thoughts scattering. Maybe it was the collar, too, keeping him in line.

Zach stood up and pushed Jesse back down into his seat. "Calm down, Jesse. She's been conditioned, you know that."

"How does that make it better? They're going to do the same thing to us, aren't they? Or I guess they've already done it to you. Am I the only one left who think humanity deserved a better future?"

The cafeteria was silent around him, all eyes on Jesse, He could feel the eyes of the alien supervisors on him, no doubt just waiting to drug him and drag him off if he stepped too far out of line. But none of that really mattered, because the look on Zach's face was heartbreaking.

"C'mon, Zach. Don't you think we all deserved better?"

"I think that we don't always get what we deserve."

Jesse felt like he could cry. "Am I the only one left who believes the resistance has a chance?"

The silence was deafening. Jesse sat down again, defeated.

"Sorry," said Nina. "I know we were doing our best. I didn't mean to say…"

"Whatever. I don't care what you think," said Jesse. "I'm sure the magical brainwashing boxes will convince me that defecting is a-okay, and then we can be the best of friends."

"I think I'm going to go," she said, standing up. "Sorry I upset you. I'm glad I got to see you two again." Nina picked up her tray and practically ran to a different table.

"Are you okay with that?" asked Jesse.

"Okay with what?"

"She just admitted to defecting. She was a traitor."

"What would you like me to do, Jesse, scold her? Get her arrested? I'm not a leader of anything anymore, and the aliens certainly aren't going to punish her for doing what they want."

Jesse knew he was right, but it still stung. If less people had given up and defected, maybe they still would've had a chance. But it wasn't like they could compete with infinite free food.

Or maybe Jesse had just been a shit leader.

Maybe if Zach had never gotten captured, it wouldn't have turned out this way. Sometimes he couldn't help being angry at Zach for that, even if it wasn't his fault.

"We did deserve better," Zach said. "You're not wrong about that. You deserved better, a better leader than me."

"Don't say that. You're a great leader. None of this was your fault."

"It was my fault you got captured."

"I chose to go on the mission with you. It's not like I don't do dangerous missions all the time," said Jesse. "And without you as leader… I didn't know what I was doing. That's when everything started going downhill. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"It's definitely not your fault. Don't even say that." Zach sighed. "Maybe this was all just inevitable. Maybe most of us are better off this way."

"You don't mean that. That's what the aliens are putting in your head."

Zach didn't look especially convinced. "Sure."

Jesse's heart sank, his appetite lost, and for the first time since they'd been captured, he wondered if it really might be the end of the line. He saw what the alien conditioning did to Zach the first time, what it was doing to him even now. They'd do the same to him. He could already feel it starting, the all too tempting urge to just accept life as a pet on a colony ship. It had to be so much stronger for Zach.

Who would be left to rescue them? To rehabilitate them, the way Zach had been? Who would have the time, the resources, the skills? And then what?

"Hey, Jesse," said Zach. "If you're done eating, we're supposed to be hitting the showers. We could both use it."

Jesse's ravenous appetite from earlier was gone. "Yeah, I'm done. Let's go."

They passed a kind of gymnasium on the way to the showers, the big round windows revealing people jogging and playing basketball. It looked bizarrely normal. "How the hell is there a basketball court on the colony ship?" asked Jesse.

"They copied a lot of human things. They were probably studying us before the invasion, too. There's a lot of random things on the ship like the basketball courts that they built to try to keep people happy: swimming pools, parks, theaters, things like that."

Jesse tried not to be happy about that. It wasn't a fair tradeoff for freedom. He had to stay on his guard and not let himself think of this as a home, or think of the aliens as benevolent. They were the enemy.

"Here we are." The double doors to the bathing area opened and Jesse wasn't quite prepared for it. The showers were all out in the open, surrounding a large bathing pool. People of every gender were lounging around stark naked with zero privacy. Jesse didn't think of himself as a prude, but he felt a little self-conscious about it.

"The aliens don't really have a concept of personal privacy," said Zach, noticing his discomfort. "It's something you get used to."

"Right," said Jesse. It wasn't like he hadn't been in locker rooms before. This just felt different somehow.

Zach walked over to a set of cubbies and pulled his uniform off. "Oh, I should warn you that the soap's a little drugged."

Jesse groaned. "Good to know." He tried not to look at Zach or anyone else as he took off his uniform and stood under one of the showers. There were bottles in various bright colors -- probably the soap. He would've loved to properly wash off the day's sweat, but he'd have to do with washing in just water. At least the shower was hot, with good pressure, and as he stood under the spray, he couldn't help but relax.

At least, he could relax until he looked over and saw Zach lathering up with some neon green chemical.

"What the hell, Zach? You just told me the soap was drugged."

Zach shrugged. "We're going to go to bed after this. It doesn't really matter. What's your plan, never use soap the rest of your life?"

Jesse wanted to retort that he wasn't going to be here the rest of his life, but the words stuck in his throat. "Whatever. I guess you're right. It doesn't matter."

The provided towels were enormous and soft, and Zach looked considerably more relaxed as they toweled off -- which made sense considering he'd just voluntarily doused himself in drugged alien goop. Jesse tried to push down the uneasy sense of betrayal, to see Zach treat it so casually after he'd survived all those nightmarish drug withdrawals. All that work was gone in less than a day, and Zach didn't even seem to care.

The uniforms in the cubbies were freshly washed and warm, and Jesse was pretty sure that his wasn't the same one he had been wearing earlier.

"Last stop, home -- I mean, we're going to our Superior's home to sleep," said Zach.

Jesse wasn't sure why Zach thought that correction made it better. He'd certainly noticed Zach becoming more and more comfortable with situation as the day wore on, and now he was leading Jesse through the corridors with an easy gait. Like they weren't prisoners. Like he really did think of this place as home.

Either they'd reactivated all of his old conditioning with terrifying speed, or it had never really left Zach, and neither option was comforting.

"Our Superior lives in a restricted area of the ship. We'll get a fast transport there."

"Do you have to call him 'our Superior'?"

Zach looked startled, as if he hadn't realized he was doing that. "…It's shorter than 'the alien who kept me as a pet.'"

"I guess it is."

The transport station was a bustling area full of aliens, humans, and cargo. Here was a small train filling up with people, there was a platform the size of a semi-truck being loaded with containers, over there was a little round capsule with a single alien in it zipping away.

An alien stopped them before they could approach the platform. "Location?"

Zach rattled off some designation. The alien consulted a device and waved him through. "Wait on platform G for transport 78."

Jesse glanced around half-heartedly. With all of the commotion, there was probably a way for him to escape if he were clever and fast enough. But he was feeling neither clever nor fast. Despite avoiding the drugged soap, he'd felt increasingly slow since the meal in the cafeteria, and the prospect of escape was less appealing. He'd probably been drugged after all, or else it was the collar influencing him.

A little car with just enough room for the two of them approached the platform, and at a loss for what else to do, Jesse followed Zach into it. It pulled away and immediately plunged into a tunnel that was dark except for a strip of dim light along the top. Even though the ride was smooth, Jesse couldn't help the feeling that he was on a roller coaster.

That wasn't the only reason his stomach was churning. It was sinking in that they were headed to the alien who had decided to keep them both as pets, the one who would easily dull their minds and blunt their desire for freedom. They'd be drugged and conditioned until their minds gave in, and Zach would be reduced to the state he was in when he'd been rescued, fighting the medics and calling out for the enemy. And this time, Jesse would be right there with him.

"It'll be nice to get a good night's sleep," said Zach, apparently not sharing Jesse's fears.

"I can't say I'm so keen to sleep among the enemy."

"It's not like we have a choice." Zach wasn't wrong, but his words felt hollow when he'd been so clearly content with going "home." "Our… the aliens' place isn't so bad. There's a big window on the ceiling where you can watch the sky."

"Aren't you worried, Zach? Worried that if we go there, we're never going to get out again?"

The pause before Zach's answer spoke volumes. "Maybe I didn't expect to get out in the first place."

Jesse didn't know what to say after that. The tunnels where they traveled were warm and dark, and despite all of his fear, Jesse felt his eyelids droop with sleep. He was so tired so suddenly, and maybe it was because he'd had such a long day filled with stress and terror. It was hard to believe that just this morning he'd been at the resistance base, preparing for his mission to scavenge food from a mall. As Jesse fought to keep himself awake, Zach let out a huge yawn, and Jesse couldn't keep from imitating it.

"You're tired, too?" said Jesse.

"Collar's kicking in. We're supposed to go to sleep soon, so it signals your brain to produce more melatonin, stuff like that. At least that's how it was explained to me."

"Great." It was great to know that the aliens could just knock him the fuck out whenever they pleased. He wasn't especially surprised -- he half expected the thing could shock him if he stepped out of line. Even that thought couldn't stop his eyes from wanting to shut.

The car came to a stop at a different platform, one which had far more aliens than humans. Before they could even get out, an alien rushed over to them and plucked them up.

"It's an escort," said Zach. "Our Superior is the captain, so he lives near the ship's bridge, which is highly restricted. Humans like us aren't allowed to go around freely without an escort."

"So we're prisoners."

"Well, we were captured."

"We were captured," Jesse echoed, still far too sleepy given the situation he was in. If only he could fight that collar, stop it from worming its way into his brain.

After winding their way down several identical-looking corridors, Zach and Jesse were deposited in front of a large round door. Their escort slid back, but stayed there to watch as Zach pressed his hand to a panel and the door slid open.

With only brief hesitation, Jesse followed Zach into a cabin about the size of a large studio apartment. The walls were all lined with shelves and the shelves were all covered with unidentifiable, colorful objects, a collection of some kind. Netting hung from the ceiling in several places -- the aliens apparently liked to use netting as a sort of hammock, wrapping their tentacles around the ropes. In one corner of the room was a pod similar to the one he'd been forced into for collaring. It was noticeably larger, and there was a rack with a few bins next to it. An alien -- their new owner, presumably, although Jesse couldn't hope to tell any of them apart -- was sitting in a net, screens hovering in front of its face, looking as if it were doing work. Everything was bathed in the orange glow of a setting sun, coming from the big round skylight.

But the thing that caught Jesse's attention most of all was the smile and look of sheer relief on Zach's face.

He had truly missed this. He was happy to be back.

And that meant Jesse was completely doomed.

You are home. The alien picked up Zach in its tentacles and pulled him close, Zach offering no resistance.

"Hey --" said Jesse, wondering if he should do something. He was far too slow to dodge as another tentacle reached out and grabbed him by the waist, more tentacles supporting his weight as he was drawn closer to the alien and Zach.

You have done well to guide your companion.

"Thank you," said Zach.

Now it is time for both of you to sleep. The alien ruffled a tentacle through Jesse's hair with what seemed to be affection. Jesse wanted to flinch away, but drowsiness was stealing over him again. Next to him, Zach was leaning into it, allowing himself to be pet like a prized cat.

There is a larger sleep pod now to accommodate two pets.

Jesse looked over at the pod in the corner and realized that he was meant to sleep there next to Zach. He glanced over at Zach, far too comfortable in the alien's arms, and saw no particular reaction. He'd probably been expecting this. The aliens really didn't have a notion of privacy for humans.

The alien set them both down on their feet and pushed them gently towards the pod. Zach walked over without hesitation, looking in one of the bins next to it. "All of my things are still here."

Your return was inevitable.

Jesse shuddered. Zach's old owner had just been waiting for him. Waiting for the human resistance to further falter, waiting for Zach to be once again captured. He had all of the time and advantages on his side.

Zach climbed into the pod, an expression of sheer contentment washing over him as he flopped backwards onto the cushions. It was if all the cares and worries of being their leader were wiped away and he could finally relax.

That was it, wasn't it? That was why Zach's return here had been inevitable. The fate of the human race in the face of impossible odds was far too much for one man. They'd thrust him into the role, trusting him, asking him to make the hardest decisions, plastering his face on posters and propaganda, and he'd gone along with it all, because how could he possibly refuse to try and save humanity? Zach cared too much, and he hurt too much, and Jesse hadn't really understood until Zach was gone and he was forced to try to fill his shoes. Even then, all he did was wonder what Zach would have done.

"C'mon, Jesse," said Zach. "We need our sleep. It's comfortable."

He didn't want to go in the pod. Some part of him felt that if he went into the pod and experienced the relaxation Zach was experiencing, he'd never come out as himself again, the point of no return. They'd both be mindless, adoring pets of an alien ship captain, lounging around eating replicated food while the last of humanity fell.

One of the alien's eyes bloomed before him, and he didn't look away in time. His mind gave in too eagerly, ready to be rid of all of those anxious thoughts.

You will be an obedient little thing.

"I… I will be obedient…"

It's time to sleep. Rest in the sleep pod next to your companion.

His shoulders slumped, his head pitching forward with exhaustion. "It's time to sleep…"

That is correct. You are docile. You will obey.

"I am docile. I will obey."

The hypnotic eye left his line of sight, leaving Jesse swaying in its trance, sleepwalking towards the pod. Zach's eyes were closed and his breathing even, already asleep in minutes. Jesse climbed in beside him and sank into the cushioning. It was so satisfying, like resting on a cloud.

Go to sleep, little one. The cover sealed over the sleep pod, and they were plunged into darkness for a minute before soft, pulsating lights filled the small chamber. They were mesmerizing to look at as they swirled and twinkled, and Jesse found his eyelids lowering, impossible to stay awake. A sound like soft rains was playing, and he could hear undertones of alien language underneath it.

He wanted to sleep. He wanted to obey.

They were brainwashing him in his sleep.

He just barely managed to muster up some alarm, lifting his heavy arm to nudge Zach. "Zach. Zach, wake up."

"…What…?"

"They're using the sleep pods to condition us. Don't you hear it?"

"Mmm, yeah, our Superior picks the sleep program for us each night. Don't worry about it."

"Don't… worry…" Jesse wanted to do something, to fight against the influence, but not as badly as he wanted to sleep. He was so warm and drowsy and all he wanted to do was close his tired eyes.

He felt himself start to drift, unable to resist, and then he was asleep.

Masterlist

Thank you for reading my whumpy daydreams! I hope you enjoyed reading about Jesse's last day of freedom.

[asherlockstudy]

Some thoughts on the 40 years friendship anniversary Ear Biscuit

Regarding the moment when Rhett makes some fun at the shippers who ship them for moments such as the look they shared when they were kissing their girlfriends... I will say that by saying "As we have proven, we do not mind feeding into your theories", that's a double edged sword. Technically it is neither negation nor confirmation of anything - it is observation of something that can't be overlooked anymore like what they are doing with Wonderhole, while however refusing to take it seriously. It reminds me one of the last ambiguous jokes Rhett had cracked against the shippers, like a year ago or so, when he had said "PERHAPS YOU ARE RIGHT, OKAY" I don't remember it exactly, he had claimed the shipping conviction was so overwhelming that he was almost getting confused what the truth was and perhaps "we were right". Pity he doesn't clarify whether he means only the intentional scripted content or candid stuff that has at times slipped out of his control, like that eye contact. As an oldie, I remember how he has been always telling that story and it was that he opened his eyes to see that Link was already staring at him. He felt uncomfortable so he turned to the other side. He consistently finds it hilarious for years whereas Link always defends himself apologetically and shyly by saying "he was trying to check with Rhett if he was doing it right". So it wasn't exactly the "momentary glance of mutual hetero approval" they went for this time. But, if Rhett really finds it that hilarious, then it might as well have been an accidental eye contact and it taking large dimensions with the shippers may seem particularly amusing to him. However, it is him who brings it back again and again over the years, apparently the momentary glance has left such an impression (of amusement).

Rhett totally deflects when Link claims he had scolded him for how intimate he was getting with his girlfriends.

Marriage bathtub rum episode mentioned again

Link about the first days in college: "For me, going off to college, together, moving into that dorm room, I just remember the feeling of the first week and that we had each other at a point where we were completely on our own. And I remember being scared shitless in a lot of ways after that first week. It's like, wow, this is a different level of freedom. I feel like the net's gone, but we had each other and we had an identity to everyone else of having each other. "

It was sort of bittersweet to see that Link, who comes off as a pretty intense person, seems to have maintained a subdued attitude throughout most of his friendship with Rhett. Based on the things he said, this was sort of a survival mechanism to ensure he would remain Rhett's friend at all costs. He admitted that he wasn't all that crazy about the ministry and he was sort of following along, motivated by the consoling thought that since Rhett was taking him along, then that meant he was appreciating him for his skills, his abilties, his talent and who he was. Same thing with their career actually, Link basically admitted that he is not invested to the degree Rhett is (Rhett lowkey looked like he was given a small slap there) but it's about sticking to this promise of making it work out together. Even one of the first times Rhett confessed he considered giving up on the church during the great roadtrip across America and even though Link had been on a parallel similar journey, Link did not voice his own spiritual concerns and doubts but instead remained a silent "shoulder" for Rhett to “cry on” because he reasoned (maybe it felt safer this way) that surely Rhett was going through a phase and he would return to his traditional, religious self. And if Link was quick to abandon faith too and then Rhett regretted it then they would grew apart. But he was also fearing that if he remained religious and Rhett adhered to his choice to leave the church then they would also grow distant. So he chose to do all the listening, waiting for Rhett to take the final decision. (And then of course we know Link reached his limit with the plexi-glass kiss and suddently decided to turn their world upside down but this is not for this post ok). However, this just shows again and again how almost everything in Link's world revolves around Rhett, it's incredible how dedicated he is in his love for him. Link is a stunning guy, he was a good student, he could have done anything and be with anyone but he made this choice to devote himself to that guy completely and just went with it. It's just amazing. If we take into account what Link had said in his deconstruction, he had always had way more doubts, since an early age, but he was determined to act as pious as Rhett, if not more and even remain pious when Rhett was having his doubts out of his fierce persistence that this was ultimately the way to be accepted by Rhett.

Thank goodness they gave us a rough timeline of Link's "breakup" mail to Rhett and Rhett's delayed apology, because based on the dynamics we were observing in their content we could have been able to tell by ourselves! If the email was sent around the GMM 22 format or a little prior to it, it is not a surprise at all. This was the time a lot of the fans, even shippers, were speculating that something seemed off between them, that they weren’t real friends anymore, that they always seemed angry at each other. It was around that time that Link was being vocal about how Rhett didn’t open up about his emotions to him and at the time Rhett indeed looked very uncomfortable with it.

Let me tell you though, they were not telling the entire story. There was another thing that was happening at the time and they mentioned it once or twice in the Ear Biscuits of that period but then I don't remember if they ever mentioned it again. Along with the insane amount of work they were involved with at the time that would have made just about anyone neglect their personal relationships, it was around that time or a little earlier that they imposed rules on their friendship. They had said in EBs that their work and their friendship was taking up too much space from their families and other aspects of their lives so they freaking came up with rules to regulate their friendship. The examples they mentioned to explain this were VERY interesting: it was forbidden to communicate during vacation and if they both went to NC to their parents during the holidays they should not meet up. Even more insanely specifically, if they happened to cross ways in a supermarket aisle for example, the rule was to not acknowledge each other and just look the other way!!!!!!!!!!!! They also had rules for physical touches, Link characteristically said: "If you helped me with my belt, alarms went immediately off in my mind. Oh, why are you helping me put my belt? You don't usually help me put my belt!". Really, is it my fault to say that none of this shit is indicative of a platonic friendship? They never talked about it again. Perhaps they understood they shared too much. A few months or about a year after this was happening and shortly after the crazy work schedule, they made an EB announcing that they were now doing the exact opposite, meaning they would actively try to find more quality time for their friendship outside work. Now, we can tell that this choice was made probably after Link had sent the email to Rhett because clearly those rules he had initially agreed upon were tormenting him. My point is, their friendship wasn't threatened only as a natural consequence of their hectic work schedule but by their choices too.

I am sorry if I am the broken record but this is compatible with this recurring theme in the One Story, where Link is in trouble, Rhett saves him only to fall in trouble even harder. In the Digging a Hole video, Rhett says how he thought "Link was losing control in his enjoyment of the hole digging" that he had to step up. Rhett started this as a controlled, secret situationship and when Link started getting way too immersed in it, Rhett shat himself, fearing Link was risking their careers, their families, everything they had built. So they came up with rules and filled their time with work, work, work to control what was happening between them. Link tried but in the process he felt that besides everything they were trying to control, they were also losing their foundations, their original pure friendship. So, for such a passionate friend (or a man insanely in love, if you will) to feel that he and his lifelong best friend had turned into strangers, into working robots to strip all the emotions from their relationship, he thought "you know, if we are not even gonna be friends like we always were, I don't want any of this at all". Once again, I am amazed at the genuiness of his sentiment. He has fame, he has a lot of money, we know he is frugal and yet he was willing to give it all up, to start from scratch, to reinvent himself on his own, in order to not suffer through a possible slow alienation with Rhett. (I mean he still was ready to be swayed by Rhett with the bare minimum though lol)

To Rhett's credit, like they said, even if he's not one for words, he was at his door the next day like "what was that shit about alienation you're talking about?!". History has shown after all that no matter how bad he is with words, how emotionally constipated, how work obsessed, how supportive of the idea to keep this a secret situationship, how fearful their relationship will likely destroy their careers and a lot of their bonds with other people, how vulnerable to people's opinions, so far time tells he is choosing Link over everything else, even at the prospect of disaster. And channeling all this anxiety and concern but also the choice he has made to his art has become his new passion, because this is how his mind works, this is how he expresses himself, his feelings, his love.

Rhett reread the email during the quarantine which also makes total sense! We have all discussed Rhett's notorious neediness at the time of the pandemic. I like to say he was climbing the walls at the time because he really did. Even in their zoom GMMs, he was protesting to Link because they were not meeting, he was like "I am healthy, you are healthy, LET'S MEET I BEG YOU I AM LOSING MY MIND PLEASE". This was an average GMM and EB at the time, remember? I believe this sudden unexpected distance was what really sealed the deal for Rhett, he thought things over and over. It's true, he did take Link for granted because Link was always by his side, he never missed him. But this time, Link had devoted himself to Christy who was coping very badly with the Coronavirus panic and he wasn't meeting with him, he had become aloof and Rhett was getting increasingly emotionally and physically frustrated and at this point he probably understood what it feels to not have Link for granted or what it felt for Link to feel emotionally neglected in their relationship.

Link was a little... happy when Rhett admitted their relationships to girls were shallow. He's laughing nervously for almost 20 seconds.. but it is adorable. I love this laugh of his, the heheHEheHEheheHEHEhehe, reminds me of the "I hit you in the funny bone" moment in GMM :)))

I did not intend this to get that long...

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/06/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; New Events calendar; A Safe Space Ship Event; Watch Parties; Reminders; Cast & Crew Sightings; Clowning; OLD SPICE!; Stats!; Market Research?; Articles; Personal Update; Love Notes; Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika

== New Events Calendar from SaveOFMDCrew! ==

More events happening throughout the week! Tumblr Post

Tomorrow is Cosplay Day! Show off your cosplay and OFMD-Inspired outfits with the hashtags: #WearFineThingsWell!

= New Upcoming Event: A Safe Space Ship! =

Sunday, February 11th - Star of India in San Diego, CA! Museum Hrs: 10 am - 5 PM 1/2 Price Tickets!

== Watch Parties ==

Today's WWDITS watch party went great!

Lots of people had fun pointing out our lovely characters from the show (Mads, Taika, Rhys)

It actually went so well the SaveOFMDCrew twitter got banned! It's back though! If you can, please be sure to follow their backup account in case it happens again.

== Reminders! ==

Muppet Treasure Island - Feb 7th 2024 4PM EST, 1PM PST, 9 PM GMT

Watch Party Hashtags:

#MuppetPirates

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

This was technically the 5th, but I don't think the excitement happened mostly today so I'm gonna throw it in! So Chaos Dad popped his head out yesterday just long enough to like Samba's BTS post on twitter and then also Samba and Rhys' little exchange.

And of course that triggered clowning since anytime Chaos Dad pops in we don our clown shoes. Thank you to @merryfinches for catching some of the discourse!

== Old Spice! ==

Well well well, we're back to polite menacing brands until they respond to us!

Looks like another Astroglide is starting up, the Crew is out there matching deodorants to characters. Thanks to @brainfugk for calling it out!

== Stats! Stats! Stats! ==

So close fam! Let's keep pushing that UK viewership if you have the time/spoons!

= Market Research Campaign about OFMD Potentially Going On? =

There's some speculation around the market research company YouGov potentially conducting research on OFMD. There's a big thread. Why is this important? Well this company works with streamers to measure viewership data, and if OFMD is in there...and someone's interested, that could be a good sign.

Some folks signed up, and if you're interested in doing so too, you can here.

== Articles ==

Some fun articles tonight, including Hard Drive again!

Joke Article: HBO Max Unveils Ominous New “Don’t Get Too Attached” Category

Our Flag Means Death and 9 Other Best TV Shows and Movies About Pirates

Our Flags Means Death fans get TV licence just to watch pirate show

== Personal Update ==

Some of you have heard, I got the COVID so I may be in and out over the next several days, I'm still trying to make sure I get to recaps though so don't worry! I'll let you know if I can't. Remember to mask up if you can and stay hydrated out there luvs!

== Love Notes ==

Alright lovelies. We've run out of Rhys videos for a few days so you're back to me being irritatingly loving at you! I saw this today on The Latest Kate's instagram and it reminded me of a few things I wanted to say. My brain is a bit covid-fogged so apologies if it's a bit wibbly wobbly.

We all struggle with so many little and big things in our lives. Whether it's mental health, self esteem, a physical ailment, love, lonliness, self-identity, family, friends, world conflicts, or anything, I could go on and on.

I know sometimes it feels like you are pushing so hard and you start making so much progress-- and then something, big or little stalls everything and you feel like you're having to start from scratch again.

I just want to send you a gentle reminder that progress isn't always linear. Just because you have lost momentum doesn't mean you've lost your progress. Every single situation is a learning opportunity and every time you run into a new hurdle, you learn from the last one.

You are wonderfully intelligent, kind, precious, complex people and no matter what you're dealing with, no matter how small or how big, you are moving forward and making headway bits at a time. Remember to be kind to yourself and don't beat yourself up for bad days.

We are so proud of you lovelies, remember that.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Tonight's gifs are courtesy of the glorious, brilliant, talented, ever-enabling @celluloidbroomcloset from her post over here.

Ok, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight all! <3

[idreamofthemeparks]

I went to both Tokyo Disney parks! Some thoughts/experiences:

People there wave at animatronics! I get laughed at for doing that in Florida!

Go during Halloween if you can. Tons of cosplayers go and the costumes you'll see are insane. And you can easily get a picture with a really good cosplayer instead of waiting in line for an official face character.

The Halloween night show at DisneySea was the worst. 7 minutes of very few fireworks, followed by an extremely weird heartfelt song that was like "🎵it's Halloween night... And we will go out... And get treats🎶". What the hell was that? Also, they run fireworks until 9PM exactly. I'm guessing they have to because there would be massive crowds of people waiting if there was just one show. People there have no qualms about sitting and waiting for 3+ hours for a parade or fireworks show.

Fantasy Springs was really great. The central area, design aesthetic and rockwork tied it all together really well and the transitions between the different areas were about as seamless as they could possibly be.

The Frozen animatronics, because they were like 4ft tall and so skinny and had such huge eyes, looked like weird dolls/aliens up close. That might creep some people out but I really genuinely loved it. Get in the back of the boat and you can see them freeze between scenes. I've said this before but it's very weird that it's a boat ride, since it relies on one specific scene happening at a time, and every other boat ride there had scenes running continuously!

The Magic Lamp Theater is really good! I skipped it on my last trip because there's no real indication anywhere that it's anything more than a 3D show with Genie, but it has a preshow with an animatronic and it has live actors! And it runs continuously all day!

THE GACHA MACHINE IN THE TOWER OF TERROR GIFT SHOP. FUCK THAT ONE MACHINE IN PARTICULAR. I shit you not, I rolled that thing 9 times and didn't get the Henry keychain I wanted.

I saw a really amazing Sinbad cosplayer but they wouldn't let me get a picture :(

At Disneysea, I did 20k 2x, Sinbad 3x, Indiana Jones 3x, Raging Spirits 1x, Nemo 1x, Peter Pan 1x and Frozen 1x, and the carousel 1x. I would've done Aquatopia, but last time it got me very wet and I had to go home on the subway with wet socks, so no thanks.

It's insane how good the single rider lines are especially at night. Wish they would bring those to Disneyland. Beauty could use one; they even had signs up for one but it wasn't in use.

Why is Sinbad always a walk on?? It's one of the best dark rides ever and it has a cute character in it!

Covid absolutely murdered DisneySea's live entertainment and it has NOT recovered. The afternoon lagoon show was a "Halloween greeting" that consisted entirely of some characters riding a barge out onto the water and dancing. Remember when they used to sail pirate ships in that lagoon? Multiple theaters are sitting empty, notably in Lost River Delta and Triton's Kingdom. Very sad.

If you don't know how to use the app or how passes work, you're screwed on lines and you can't even get into certain restaurants, at least at DisneySea! It's heartbreaking! I made friends with an American couple in the morning who had no idea how any of the passes worked, so I told them. It took multiple explanations, which I don't blame them for because it took me a few weeks to understand it myself. Then when we got into the park at rope drop, they tried to get Frozen passes... and couldn't, because their app glitched out at the crucial moment. I understand the Fantasy Springs thing because it's so new, but paid fastpasses being implemented here and everything being dependent on the app... It hurts to watch, man. Especially since last time I went, there were still paper Fastpasses, which are much easier and more accessible. Idk, I just think it should be possible to walk into a theme park and have at least a chance of doing stuff without memorizing the rules of a bunch of different reservation systems (same problem I've had with WDW for years).

When you're on Frozen it's easy to not notice how bad the ride design is, unless you're like me (thinking "wow look at that empty space", "do we need 3 rooms for one song" etc) because it really is a technical marvel. Also I got hit directly in the eye by a water jet right after the Let It Go scene. Rude.

Haunted Mansion is smack dab in the middle of Fantasyland there. I'm not sure what the alternative is but it doesn't fit in there at all.

I do not care for Haunted Mansion Holiday. I hadn't seen it in person before this but damn it's so cheap-looking. Also I'm salty that I didn't get to see the Tokyo bride.

What I like about Beauty and the Beast is that you get a nice long look at every animatronic since the scenes are so long. I felt satisfied after one go-around, which is rare for me.

Were there canoes in Rivers of America at WDW? Regardless, I'm glad that there are some in Tokyo. Rafts, canoes and a boat-- multiple forms of transportation, like Walt wanted!

Davy Jones on Pirates has one of the funniest line deliveries I've seen on a ride. "So says I..... DAVY JONES-UH!"

Monsters Inc was really good. It's basically just Men in Black: Alien Attack-- you enter through a company run by weird creatures, and then shoot at those creatures as you go through a city that looks a lot like New York. They seem to have seasonal changes to the dialogue-- Luz said "happy Halloween" at the end!

In a crowded bathroom, a CM said "hime-sama, dozo!" to indicate which stall I should use. That's honestly the first time I've been called "princess" in a bathroom. This was even in Frontierland, a place you would not expect to be called a princess.

Country Bears Vacation Hoedown was great. Nothing prepares you for a bear singing Achey Breaky Heart in Japanese. They opened with Great Outdoors, which I remember from that one Disneyland sing-along VHS that I watched as a kid!

The Snow White ride is the one where the witch just fucking kills you at the end! The amount of stuff this park keeps that American Disney parks think are super offensive is insane. Yeah, we'll keep Trader Sam. Sure, we'll play Dixie in Critter Country. I do understand why they made those changes in America-- especially on Pirates, I forgot how creepy the bride auction scene was.

Sucks to see Space Mountain gone. I bet something big is coming to Tomorrowland since they got rid of Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain at the same time.

I'm pleasantly surprised that they kept Peter Pan's Flight, with Fantasy Springs and all. Though to be fair, it doesn't have a huge amount of space and barely any room for the queue, so there's probably not too much they could actually do with it.

I didn't get a picture but at the front of the Halloween parade was Dr Facilier doing the fruitiest little dance. And, WHERE IS THE HAUNTED MANSION BRIDE FACE CHARACTER? It's the Halloween parade!!! I did see like 4 women cosplaying as her though.

I got podracing and the Gungan city on Star Tours. Honestly, perfect. wouldn't change a thing.

I can't believe (in a good way) they included the FSU gopher on Splash-- nobody there knows what FSU is.

Someone was telling jokes and doing audience participation stuff over the intercom in the Jungle Cruise queue. Fun!

The Belle animatronics are life sized and not creepy up close. Probably not made by the same design team as Frozen.

Maybe I just haven't been to a Disney park in long enough but I'm pleasantly surprised at how close you get to the animatronics on these rides. Like, close enough to see the stray hairs on their heads. I wonder if someone has to re-style the animatronics' hair at night.

I really genuinely bow down to Japanese Disney fans. These mfs will spend 15-hour days in full cosplay, long sleeves and wigs and all. I saw a good number of people doing it.

People here are also so earnest! No sarcasm or irony, no "dad dragged to Disney" type shit (at least not that I saw). People clap at Country Bears, wave to you from the queue when you're on a ride, etc. For the most part, everyone really wants to be there. Plus Japanese people are so pleasant in general. I was at rope drop trying to get into an extremely popular land that opened 4 months ago. I haven't been in that situation in America but I don't think everyone involved would be quietly, politely filing into the gates. The only comparable situation I've been in was going to Hollywood Studios right after Rise of the Resistance opened, and it was kill or be killed there.

Don't try to do every single ride at Disneyland in one day, holy shit. I went on ALL the dark rides and it was a LOT of exertion. Prioritize the stuff you can't get at home. And you should probably do rope drop regardless of how many rides you do.

By the way, rope drop there consists of getting in line at 6:30 AM or earlier. I got to Disneyland at 6:30 on a Sunday and there were at LEAST a thousand people ahead of me. These people really do not fucking play around.

Million Dollar Bunny always works there! Is this one called 100 Million Yen Bunny?

Maybe I'm just spoiled by Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland, but the Tokyo one would really benefit from an Astro Orbiter or something. The place is largely just one level and that would make it a lot more dynamic.

Overall, yeah, I still think DisneySea is the best theme park in the world. Both parks are absolutely stacked in terms of attractions, the food is fantastic, and the staff, of course, is excellent in every way. It's just an incredibly pleasant experience overall. I can always find something to complain about at any park but my issues here were very minimal. In case you're going anytime soon, here are the rope drop plans that worked well for me (keep in mind that I got to both parks at 6:30AM):

DisneySea: first, grab a pass for Frozen if possible. It's crucial to get in super early for this one to get the standby pass; I've heard that international credit cards can take a little bit to process payments so you may have a hard time getting Premiere Access. If you get a standby pass, you can buy Premiere Access for another Fantasy Springs ride, or for Soaring if you're into that (it'll be 80 min minimum all day, but it's not worth that wait at all if you've been on either US version). Grab a 40th pass for Indiana Jones if you don't want to do single-rider for that one, or for Nemo if you do (Journey to the Center of the Earth was closed when I went, but prioritize that one too). Set an alarm to get another Fantasy Springs standby pass as soon as you can, because they run out fast. Run to Tower of Terror. Then do whatever you want for the rest of the day-- if you single-rider Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits, they are walk-ons all day. 20k Leagues will be a walk-on after 8PM.

Disneyland: grab Premiere Access for Beauty, then get a 40th pass for Monsters Inc. If you're in the park early enough, they should both give you really early return times. Set an alarm for the next time you can get 40th and Premiere passes (the app will tell you both) and when they go off, you can probably get a 40th pass for Big Thunder. You can buy Premiere for Baymax too, if you're into that. Then run to Pooh, and if you have enough time before your 40th/Premiere return times, go to Mansion. All the other dark rides in the park will have very reasonable wait times for the rest of the day, except for Splash, which will probably have Premiere Access available for pretty long into the day. Pooh and Monsters' wait times will go way down after 8PM too. If you want to see the afternoon parade, I recommend getting in the Peter Pan queue about 3PM; it's in a good spot to see the floats and you don't have to deal with the truly massive amount of people who by that point will have secured all the good parade viewing spots 3 hours earlier.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

A letter to John's cousin Leila, dated January 1979

Thank you to @javelinbk's post for bringin my attention to this letter :)

I'm sure I made some mistakes in transcribing this, so if someone can figure out the bits I'm unsure about I'd be happy to edit them in! (EDIT: thank you to @ohblahdo and @the-bluebird-you-need for much needed corrections!) I also tried to keep it as close to his actual writing as possible but sometimes I can't tell if he misspellt things or if it's just hard to read. I bolded what he underlined.

FULL TRANSCRIPTION:

Dear Leila,

it's snowing;– outside the window in Central Park – I can see the Plaza Hotel across the trees – it's beautiful. I'm exhausted (still) after Xmas/New Year – they even have a thing called Thanksgiving a few weeks before Xmas (by the way I'm a Pagan – a zen Pagan to be precise – but that's another story!)

It looks a[s] if we got our wires crossed on the 'newspaper story' – ie. Mimi (who else!) told me you were upset about something I said (supposed to have said) in the newspaper about myself – anyway enough of that – it's obviously nothing – so let's forget that which we can't remember anyway!

I don't know why you were surprised by what I wrote you about your 'Russian Affair' – i thought I'd make it clear to you that the words were from a TAROT CARD READER – ie: I told him your story/birthdate etc – the words came through him – I just wrote down his 'prediction' (whatever) re:your situation! See? – so don't shoot the bearer of news!!

Sean is a beautiful wise 3 yr old (born Oct 9! – in case you didn't know) – what a handfull [sic] one is – I don't know how you manage all yours – well done! The fact that they have all their limbs + faculties is an accomplishment in itself!

Sounds like a good idea about giving yourself some time to 'play'! – 8 days doesn't sound like you're turned Gypsy 'tho'! – by the way –

– You better give us a fair warning if you're seeing [?] about 'popping over' here – ie: make sure I'm here – eg. tomorrow we leave (Yoko + me) for ..... Cairo, Egypt (ring a bell?!) – via Geneva – on a business trip – for about a week – I wish we could dig up some of your fathers relatives – do you know anyone there? an Uncle/Aunt?

– I'll send you a postcard –

I'm 40 next year – I hope life begins – ie. I'd like a little less 'trouble' and more – what? I don't know – I sent Stan [Leila's brother, John's cousin] a Xmas card (up north) – I don't know what it is with him – is he resentfull [sic] of me because I'm not dumb or what?! I guess he was always jealous of you – anyway I still think it's pretty mean of him – I heard a lot from him when he was piss poor – I shouldn't be surprised after all the bastards I've met these last 40 yrs or so

– if your [sic] ever in NRH Wales – look [?] up Julian – he's in Ruthin School – poor sod –

I though of you a lot this Xmas – the cottage – the record player – 'good ship lollipop' – 'I found my love on TREASURE ISLAND' – the OWL(s)? the shadows on the ceiling as the cars went by at night – putting up the paper-chains – even Norman turns into Santa Klaus in my memory! (muttering in the chair by the fire)

enough of that too!

Lots of love, to all of you, I'm sure we'll see each other v. soon – somewhere or other – I'm almost scared to go to England, 'cos I know it would be the last time I saw Mimi – I'm a coward about goodbyes...

Have a good year Keep healthy John 8^) xxx

Love from Sean & Yoko xx

[royalfriday]

Your soul and my body

Boothill x reader

When we first met .... Ya were mad at me for giving up my human body. I didn't understand why... But now I do know...

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

Almost 5 years... 5 years has it been since you two had met.

5 years and you're still protecting your secret with Rappa from Boothill.

You two feel bad for that. But again you two still wondering how he hasn't find out.. since well you know ..he is not a human anymore.

But you two agree to not tell him until you think it's time for this.

Well expect that the day is a week away

You two are close

Even though he wonders one thing

How you haven't changed a little bit in your face or your body in general... You know he can't aged. But you you still the lady he met 15 years ago.

But you two were from different planets and even galaxys. So he didn't ask. I believes that you will age different from others.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

One week later

I AM TELLING THE TRUTH; I CAN CRASH A STAR! I AM NOT A LIAR! WANT ME TO PROOF IT BOOTHILL!

OOOO IF YA THING -

NO!

They stopped to looked at the person that was supposed to not be here until midnight... And well now they were nervous .... and most of all scared... something not soo usual

Miss [yn] you don't have -

No silence Rappa! I left for only a hour and here are two with you bringing the topic about crashing a star ! AND YOU BOOTHILL I THOUGHT WE TALK ABOUT THIS!

... sorry ma'am....but i must say you are the light of the place tonight ~

Yes he tried to flirt again... sometimes you almost forgot that you two are not a confirmed couple.. and that of course make Rappa mad because she ship you two since she was the one to make you two meet

Boothill was the one to make the most steps. You think that he doesn't deserve you and he deserves better than you... why? Well because of that secret of yours.

No! Please!..... let's go in the living room.. boothill i and Rappa have to tell you something serious....

Wait miss yn you don't...

Yes that

....

He didn't know what to say ...but from the face that Rappa had he could tell it was damn serious

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

You three were in the "living" room. There the silent was the ruler until you start.

Soo mister boothill...we know eachother for almost 5 years right?

Yeah!

...and you must have noticed some weird things about me

....

....

Yeah i guess?

Well...I and Rappa have something to tell you.. something very important.... It's that I-

There was a crash. Not a very bad...but you look behind and oh ! There are three people!

Who looks like boothill knows

OH BROTHER! HOW YU DOING?!

Huh? You and Rappa looked at each other. None of you knew who those people were...but it seems like boothill trust them. So why not to trust them too?

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

Well you learn that they were from the Astra express!

Ms. Yang, Den Hang , And last was March 7 ...... Yea you don't know who in the galaxy names there child like that buuuut who are you to judge? I mean in your home planet you named all the streets after your favourite food, snacks and characters from you favourite childhood series and books

The day went on until it was their time to leave saying that the apologies for taking down the wrong wall.... Well tey were after a silly little wallet thief... and they fall ito the wall ....

Yeah they didn't say much

But the point is that you didn't had a chance to tell boothill what you wanted.

Now you were at your balcony when you hear some footsteps you think it's Rappa since it's a habit of her to follow you. Hehe you still remember the day you take her under you wig. She was so small and weak. A little miracle to protect. And now? A young adult with the power to not only protect herself but also others.

You were soo much proud. Like a mother to their child. And boothill had taje notice of the relationship between you too. As you expect her to talk you were taken by suprise

Hey...

Oh?!

You turn around and meet him

Eemm.. Rappa say you wanted to tell me what you didn't say earlier...sooo mind if i join yu?

Oh! No of course not boothill! Your always welcome!....

....

...

...

-well this is awkward if you're going to just stand there! Why don't you join me here the view of the night sky is quite...

You look up to the shy

Nostalgic i could say..

..it is!!!HA!..

He walked beside you

sooo what do you wanted to tell me ma'am?

Remember the day that we met?

Yes ma'am

Do you remember my face when you tell me why you're not a human anymore?

OF COURSE! You were sooo mad.

Well you see...ee. Well you know that I am more than you a Galaxy ranger...i have seen rappa growing and then you come to our lifes... just a random day.

Yea

You would also notice that i haven't age?

Yea?

You probably think because we are from different galaxys i age different.

....Yea?

Well i.. the truth is that i and rappa have been keeping a secret from you since you joined us ... And that secret is a very important detail about me...

Ohh? And what is that?

The fact that ..i am not a ... human anymore too

???

He looked like you say the most stupid thing in the whole galaxy

You look human to me

.......

You take a deep breath and start talking fast

I died 10 years ago in one of my missions but using one of my skills i get to turn my spirit to stay together and to not disappear in the air and to not let Rappa alone in this world...

...

...soo i am ... A ghost you can say but..

You looked at him

But i prefer spirit.

I get it now... Now all started to make sense. The fact when we first met ya were mad at me for giving up my human body. I didn't understand why... But now I do know... I know... And i do not complain about the fact you hide it...

.... really?

Yes... and i thought i would be alone in this livespan ....

He put his hand on your cheek and you fell into it

But now i know that is not going to come true...

He learn closer and put his lips in yours.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I know i am not alone

.

.

.

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

Hello i hope you enjoyed this is my first time doing something like this so let me know you opinion in the comments

[smoshsfavoritepizzaplace]

going back to your post about when you first started shipping shourtney

I can't remember now whether I'd picked up on a vibe yet but I pretty much was getting into smosh videos and i looked at courtney's instagram and saw the bucca de beppo pic from 2023 and honestly before clicking on it just thought "oh they're together that's cool" then I scrolled through the actual post and went oh it was a work event so maybe not? but something about it, set those bells off in my brain enough that i googled whether they were dating and discovered the all the tumblr posts. I wasn't necessarily convinced but the more i watched of them the more it all seemed to fit together.

the change of flirty energy to seeming entirely comfortable around each other over the years. shayne being touchy/suggestive (for content eg. family guy reunion & idiots present) with simply no one else on the cast except courtney.

but honestly it was in the weeks leading up to the hard launch when smosh dropped their trivial pursuit tntl (my mum watched that with me and said "they live together, i feel like i'm intruding on something" without missing a beat), and the regular tntl where they played a couple in every other bit. it just felt like they stopped hiding it and i became actually so certain that there was no part of me that thought the wedding post was an april fools.

anyways love them, deserve the world and each other.

If this is the photo you were talking about, this sent all of us shourtney shippers through a spiral when it was first posted

The amount of people I seen saying it was a soft launch was a lot. Not to be too invasive but I feel like Courtney’s ig was SUCH a tell they were dating. With the amount of photos that she posted that were huge hints, I’m surprised people deny them being together.

Also, it’s funny you mention how “touchy” Shayne got all of a sudden bc that’s how I realized they were dating too. I rewatched the silent library video back in early May/late April of last year and I seen this part ⬇️

In my head I knew they always had play fights, but I never seen Shayne pick her up like that. Same as you, that clip eventually led me to tumblr and that’s how I found out they were dating. After that, every video I watched with them in it made me SO sus of them to where I would’ve been incredibly shocked if they weren’t together.

Don’t even get me started on the family guy reunion, that made me go absolutely insane when it first dropped. I feel like by that time my suspicions became more and more validated.

[hanayanaa]

V ISNT DEAD GUYS!!! : )

ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DENIAL WITH PROOF AND EVIDENCE KIDS

1) well okay, first off, the classic rule that if a character dies off screen, they're probably not dead. classic time tested rule!

2) they made so much merch of her, not to mention she's literally the face of the franchise as one of the first characters liam made for the show. They aren't going to kill off such an iconic and integral character this early on. remember, we still have SEVERAL more seasons to go!

3) the lyrics of eternal dream, which are supposedly about V's inner thoughts and wishes, states that she is tired of this dream (life), which is more of a nightmare for her. I'm going to annotate the entirety of it on genius sometime this week hopefully /srs, but the last line is "I can't end this dream", a desperate cry, for she can't escape her living nightmare, where she is hurt and used and traumatized so much, but also, in our case, potential evidence of her coming back? nola klop, her va, also said that this version isn't the whole song, since she mentions being excited for the full version. and since it's about V, a full version, along with that line, implies she will return. mostly that latter point though, ill admit the single line might be a stretch LOLL but i figured eh might as well include it...

4) J's still off reading about stock prices or whatever in tessa's space ship lol. J's doing J things and she might've gotten bored and went exploring and ended up finding and saving V. we literally have no idea what she's doing besides getting a command to look after tessa's vehicle, which she can probably do from a relative distance. she's stated as a workaholic, but that means she'd also probably get bored quickly if she has nothing to actively do, if there isn't anything for her to be actively guarding, she might wander off while simply occasionally checking the ship. (I also want more J too she's so fucking funny)

5) she had her eyes closed during the final scene where we see her! If she had kept them closed, then she should be fine in regards to getting bootlooped at least. maybe she was scared, or was embarrassed in a way, not wanting herself or anyone else to see her in this raw, vulnerable state she hates and fears so much. and unless the sentinels tear out her heart/core, she'll probably be fine and can regenerate herself. (side note: alice has an id card like nori and yeva, doll's mother. she was one of the patient zero drones who were purposefully infected with solver in order to see it's effects and conduct research, so she'll probably be back as well, considering she's most likely a solver user. beau might be back, i can't say for sure, all depends if she decides to revive him or not. the disassembly drone corpses in cabin fever labs were probably because alice used a combination of sentinels and solver manipulation to take them down and remove their hearts, which we can see she keeps in an old oven, which is why they can't regenerate themselves anymore and are effectively dead. the hearts are the "worm" thing uzi mentioned would come out of V if alice cut her up.)

6) while the show itself has a lot of gags, it's also brimming with genuine love for detail and lore, like they're fucking around, but they're also not fucking around. V has a lot to tell us still, since she's been extremely mysterious and quiet about her own personal past, probably due to trauma and being terrified of being vulnerable, since she was so often hurt when she let her guard down. a lot of things about her aren't really directly mentioned, and are just IMPLIED, the most prominent examples being her genuine inner thoughts, since there are many zoom-ins to her face and expressions, but we are only left to guess on what she's really thinking. so they're not going to let her go just yet; in fact, i think the next episode will be one centered around her (probably more flashbacks? who knows, but i think since she's been important, but not centered on really until now, she'll recieve her own time in the spotlight.)

7) similar to the point above, her character arc is far from over, and if she were to die now, it'd be a crime against her character and the entire story. she was and still is a vital part of the team, but everyone else was so wrapped up in their own plans or infatuations that poor V ended up getting almost completely ignored. even though she loves everyone deep down, and protects them with her life, she never once got a thank you, or asked how she's doing, or anything. all she got was mostly light arguements and insults back-- the last thing uzi said to her was "you, ew! you're mean!", while the last thing V said to uzi was "uzi, I trust you." one could argue that because of her snarky attitude, she's kind of walking into these scuffles, but...really? no one ever stopped for one second to think about that person right next to them and think about who they are beyond that snark? not even N, who's been with her since the beginning, and openly admitted to having a crush on her? or tessa, her superior, who presumably rescued her from the dump, gave her clothes and hair and companionship? she squealed upon seeing N, but didn't give a single glance at V aside from an argument near the end of the episode, and a reflection of V looking solemnly back in her helmet. i genuinely think that because of these mistakes, she'll come back... eventually, at least, so hopefully they can learn from their mistakes and treat her better this time around, for they are getting a second chance, and everyone can slowly start healing together. V has a very broken heart, so for her to fully heal, i unfortunately don't think that will happen for a long time, but she can begin the process slowly, if her teammates start treating her more kindly, as a peer, someone whose thoughts and opinions and feelings matter too, rather than just someone to be snarky and argued with.

to summarize, she has an almost 99.9% chance of coming back because she's the face of the franchise, along with having a bunch of merchandise, it'd be kind like of shooting yourself in the foot to kill off the literal most iconic character, the literal icon. the final lyrics of eternal dream and the mention from her va that this current version isn't even the full length version, implies V will come back, especially since the song is from her point of view. lastly, her character arc is far from over, since while being a vital part of the team, her teammates have been ignoring her for the most part ever since episode 2, even though she's been there with them this entire time. bringing her back gives everyone a chance to make it up to her, and brings both parties to a point of healing. lastly, her character arc aside, she has much to tell us about the lore, since she is implied to know and be hiding a lot, but since she is so mysterious due to her painful past, it is hard for her to open up. the last two points are connected, as if she is more comfortable, she'll open up more, revealing more about the lore and story along with it.

Out of all the characters ive loved throughout the years, i genuinely do think she is the most tragic one. considering the only real decision she was ever allowed to make was sacrificing herself to the sentinels, possibly in an attempted suicide to finally end all of the pain welled up in her heart? yeah.

she's probably one of my favourite characters of all time, even though ive only recently watched it, she has already made a permanent mark on my heart. i really, truly do hope that she comes back, because she deserves it. she deserves to heal and be appreciated for who she is, and she deserves a space where she's comfortable enough to let down her walls and be her honest self again. i think if she comes back, we'll see a much more vulnerable and timid side of her we haven't seen before except for occasional rare moments. she'll still be snarky, but it'll take her a while to recover from the initial shock of all her emotional turmoil surrounding her sacrifice, as well as get used to all the new attention she's getting. after that, however, she'll recover and start healing and come back as a stronger, happier, and still very snarky V. ♡

[kazz-brekker]

hotd episode 8 thoughts

hmmm. i remember reading an interview with the writers of this show before the season dropped where they lowkey threw shade at hbo and very heavily implied that having 8 episodes rather than 10 was not their choice and i can very much feel that with this episode

it felt a lot more like a penultimate episode of a season rather than the season finale. all of that set-up with the marching armies at the end of the episode really felt more like a "and next week, a big battle!" kind of thing rather than a "in 2 years, you'll see a big battle!"

why is this show acting like the war is only just starting…we saw named characters toasting each other 4 episodes ago…

i was otto hightower-baited! i saw the name rhys ifans in the opening credits and went !!!!! only for a single shot him in the last minute of the episode, i feel robbed!

i did find tyland lannister's visit to the triarchy very funny. no bureaucrat in the history of westeroes has ever suffered like this man. also sharako lohar was DEFINITELY hitting on him, you cannot convince me otherwise

as someone perpetually annoyed that in game of thrones daario naharis has brown hair rather than blue i appreciate that the tyroshi sailors had dyed hair

the aegon-larys alliance really become one of the unexpected highlights of the second half of this season. they're going on their little essos vacation together!

god rhaena you deserved so much better this season and so much more screentime. we should have seen more of you and jeyne arryn!

entertained to see that ulf is quickly becoming that coworker that no one likes

rhaenyra. girl. i love you but please stop with this bloodless warfare thing. you have six dragons on your side, stop hesitating about using them!

all of those soldiers standing around in the background clearly eavesdropping on criston and gwayne's argument was very funny

kind of loving all this insecurity about his parentage they're giving jace, it's nice to have some conflict with his character

i liked the little dragon heads on rhaenyra's dress at the dinner with the dragonseeds

alys rivers sitting on the edge of daemon's bed like his own personal sleep paralysis demon made me chuckle a bit

his final weirwood vision was such blatant fanservice but as a fan of daenerys and bloodraven i can't be that mad about it

can someone check on that portion of the fandom that used to ship helaena and aemond, i feel like they're not doing so hot right now after those scenes

i did think it was strange that helaena could so clearly communicate aemond's death to him when she had such a hard time doing so with her other visions in the past? but perhaps nothing clarifies your sinister visions of the future like being mad at your sibling

i was really happy that rhaenyra and daemon reunited! i've missed matt smith and emma d'arcy having scenes together this season a lot. plus, i know their relationship is all kinds of fucked-up but i just loved seeing them speak in high valyrian to each other again. and it's always nice to see daemon kneel before his wife

glad that alyn got to really chew out corlys on his failures as a father, that's been a long time coming

i wasn't expecting rhaenyra and alicent to have another scene together this season but ngl it was kind of fun, emma d'arcy and olivia cooke really just eat up every scene they have with each other

plus the reversal of their dynamic from the episode 3 meeting was interesting, with rhaenyra being very unyielding and alicent being desperate to connect

i enjoyed seeing rhaenyra be mean to alicent, especially the whole "son for a son" thing. yes, rhaenyra! alicent's son killed yours! please be mad about it, you deserve it!

i just feel like the end of this seaon lacked the punch that season 1 had, it felt more like a little showcase of all the fun stuff that was coming rather than definitive cliffhanger. i mean, c'mon, we don't even get to see the fall of king's landing????

[anangelwhodidntfall]

said i'd have more to request and here's another one.

Prince Eric x Fem!Reader, we know Eric's love for the ocean.. so what if while he was a child around four. he saw a mermaid around the same age as him peek her head up from the ocean curiously.. to only quickly duck down when he saw them. the mermaid is y/n..

and a small friendship grew between the two in secret, eric promised to keep it a secret. eventually, y/n stopped appearing all of a sudden.. and eric eventually forgot about them.

until around the time the film takes place when he's 21..something seemed familiar about the girl who suddenly appeared and couldn't speak something about them just seemed so familiar.

A/N: I love your request much, thank you for sending them in, and sorry it took so long <3

His Little Mermaid : Prince Eric

*21 years ago*

The human world had always fascinated you even if your parents forbid you from going up there. You had found a spot semi-below the surface where you could watch the passing ships and see the humans. One night they had been shooting off fireworks which piqued your curiosity so you peeked your head out to watch not realizing someone had seen you.

"Whoa. You do exist." The voice said making you turn and see a boy about your age sitting there looking at you.

Panicked that you had been spotted after your parents told you not to be up here, you ducked your head back down and swam away much to his disappointment. The next few weeks you couldn't get him out of your mind....so the next time you saw a ship you swam to the surface and hopped into one of the lifeboats looking for him. 

"You came back!" He said as he looked through the bars of the ship.

"I did. I'm sorry for running off like that last time, I'm not used to many humans." You said to him.

"It's alright. My name is Eric. What's yours?" He asked you. 

"It's y/n but you can't tell anyone about me, I could get in trouble for being here." You said to him. 

"As your friend, I promise not to tell a soul. Wait right here." He left there confused as he ran off but returned a few seconds later. 

"I want you to have this as a symbol of our friendship and my promise." He said handing you a small mermaid figure. 

"This is beautiful, thank you." You said as you placed it in your bag. 

From that moment on you would always look for his ship and whenever you would see it, you would swim up to it and talk to him as the years went on you started to fall for him. But then one day when you went up to surface level and never went back to it again after what had happened, you had hated to just leave Eric like that but it hurt too much to go back up there. 

Eric searched far and wide for you wondering why you had stopped coming to the surface level until one day he had just accepted that you were gone and weren't coming back and so he went on with his life. 

*PRESENT DAY*

You still thought about Eric all the time wanting to see him again but could never bring yourself to go back to the surface level.

"I can help you my dear. To be with your human boy." She said as you looked at her confused.

"I whip up a little potion that gives you legs in exchange for your voice and then you'll have three days to kiss him to remain human or you'll be mine forever." She said.

"Okay." You said still not believing that you were agreeing to this over a boy you haven't seen in 20 years.

"3 days or you are mine forever!" Ursula said and the last thing you remember was barely making it to shore.

"The prince will be here soon." One of the maids said giving you a smile.

You smiled hoping that he would remember you and when he walked though those doors, he was even more dreamy than you remembered.

"You can't talk?" He asked sadly as you shook your head.

"I'm sorry you just remind me of someone I once knew." He said as you looked at him sadly.

"You're welcomed to stay here as long as you need." He said leaving you as the smile disappeared from your face.

The next day he took you through markets and for a boat ride where you guys laid looking at the stars.

"I still don't know your name." He said looking at you.

"It's begins with first letter of your name?" He asked you asked nodded your head.

"Y/n." He said after going through a few as you nodded your head

"Your name is y/n? I used to know someone with that name." He said sadly as you squeezed his hand.

"You remind me a lot of her." He said with a smile.

"I'm right here." You wanted to say to him.

"Goodnight y/n." He said with a smile.

You and Eric spent the next three days together constantly. He showed you his collection of things from his trips and it made you sad sometimes to realize how much you missed him growing up. You thought that today was gonna be the day you told Eric everything that was until you saw him and her together. You are so stupid to think he could fall in love with you, you were leaning over the balcony when you heard something break making you see the new girl's necklace break and an orb float towards you.

"Y/n." Eric said wrapping his arms around you.

"Eric there is something so much I need to tell you..." you said watching as the sunset.

"Y/n!" He said holding you to him as your legs were turned into a tail.

"You're too late!" Ursula said with a laugh before snatching you out of Eric's arms and diving into the ocean.

You guys fought Ursula, rescued the king and you got Eric back to shore. You laid there with him enjoying this moment with tears in your eyes as you knew this would be the last time you saw him.

"Goodbye Eric." You said sadly as you swam back into the water.

"Y/n! Y/N!" He screamed looking around for you not believing you were gone again.

You sighed as leaned up on the rock looking up at the castle and the fact that once again Eric was gone. You were foolish to even think that you could be a part of his world and hated that you were gonna have to leave and forget about him again.

"She really does love him huh?" King Triton asked Sebastian as they watched you leaning on the rock looking up at the castle. 

"She does sir, I think after everything she's had to endure that maybe she should have a chance at happiness." He said.

King Triton agreed and pointed his staff towards you giving you legs, which made you turn and look at him as he nodded his head before you ran up to the castle hoping Eric would talk to you.

"Y/N?" He asked shocked as you handed him the figure he had given you when you were children.

"It's been me this entire time." You said to him.

"I never saw you again. What happened?" He asked you again.

"I had gone up to shore thinking it was you except it wasn't and I got my parents killed because of it. They hunted mermaids and they were gonna killed me until my parents came, they rescued me and they paid the ultimate price for it. After that I never returned to the surface, feeling guilty for what had happened. I'm sorry." You said to him.

"Oh my...y/n I didn't know. I'm so sorry I honestly thought you got bored of me and didn't want to be my friend anymore." He said.

"No, it's not that. I thought about you constantly but could never come to the surface after it. But then I saw you again and next thing I know I'm trading my voice for legs just to have a chance with the boy I fell in love with all those years ago." You said with a smile.

"He would like to have a chance with you as well especially now that you have a voice. He would like to explore the waters with you." He said looking at you with a smile.

You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, feeling him wrap his arms around you and pull you closer to him as he kissed you.

[laststandx3]

I'll be bitter for a minute and say it: i think the terror for how good it is, is also very partial on crozier on being #1 mister only good colonizer in the arctic, and i sort of hate it because the change happens only because he sobers up. and sure alchool makes people cruel, but sobering up doesnt make them perfect. he went from let silna be left on the ship without protection/kick her out for the tuunbaq if she doesnt help us/ rip the guy that died to get me a bottle of whisky, anywayy to peace and love on planet earth lets us all take this walk together while i share words of wisdom and love with this other colonizer who's also very sorry he didn't do anything good with his life. Crozier started the journey at least as a heavy day-drinker and i understand how that's different from heavy alcholism but at the same time i can't imagine all of crozier's faults being the consequences of whisky alone. and having him overcoming his alcholism and wising up immediately after being clean for a few weeks is FOR ME a terrible writing choice that paints him as being naturally good and his 'bad' behaviors coming ONLY from the alchool. yes he sees blanky getting hurt and that's starts his sobering up path. but that's not enough for me. the people (other characters state aloud for the audience) he loves more than god loves them are dying left and right. and i really dont care if corzier cares about the crew or not but if he cared he should have cared about them even when he was drunk and not remembring about their wellbeing AFTER he got clean. i'm not saying you cant enjoy crozier. i just believe his character development isnt earned and that he got it only because he's the designed good character that canonically survives in the book. i dont think that him shitting himself for a few weeks while sobering up can count as having the emotional development to go from one extreme to the other. especially because everyone else is also there sufferring physically and psychologically even more than him due to the fact that their all stranded in the arctic and dying of scurvy and no one else in the crew could have the time off work, privacy and attentions to heal. crozier being the 2nd on command and then captain used his power to become a drunk and later to clean up. and i just dont believe that a man who abused his position like that from the beginning just becuase he was pissed he couldnt marry the woman he wanted suddently stops abusing his position because he's now clean and pure. TO ME it's a bad writing choice that is also force-fed to the audience with the line 'more than god loves them' so that you get it for sure that he's the good guy who cares about people not like those others evil characters who would do anything to survive like killing innocents and being racist (the good guys could never. except they canonically did- but wait, not in THIS continent so it doesnt matter) and eating people (which is a sign of being naturally evil, no matter the circumstances) or following a religion in a desperate last chance of survival (again no one on the good guys side would put religion above good sense and the safety of fellow human beings. in this continent?? maybe? ugh)

in summary i think the main flaw i find in the terror is how much it still tries to draw a line between good and evil. instead of just trying to portray the human disperation for their mortal condition. how much having to come face to face with tuunbaq must destroy all of those men convinctions on what life/afterlife are (for what i remember it just addresses it for tozer AND in the SCRIPT) nobody else gets a life shuttering experience. it's either the devil, then good christians should be safe, or it's a different religion, then what?? what do you do when your life looses its meaning? and the answer for most of the charactes was 🤷‍♀️guess we'll think about it after this awesome party we're about to throw. i dont want this to be about religion, but these men are wrecked in every way, there's nobody to save them and everyday they're a little more in pain than the one before. there shouldnt be a camp of the good men lead by the strong and wise one who take care of their sick and lets the dying die peacefully with morphin. while in the bad guys camp they eat people and have evil laugh competitions and kill their sick with knifes bc giving them poison might make them unedible. and specifically those evil guys where also the reason why the expedition happened to hurt the locals, the good guys have nothing to do with it.

i dont think there's nothing wrong (narratively) in doing anything to survive. even if it's something cruel, because those men are at the end of the world alone, it's at least realistic that they'll try everything to avoid death. crozier(and jfj even if offscreen) gets to be cruel at the beginning of the story but by middle point they're shown to be sad (about unrelated things) and spend the last few episodes being kind and brave (and forgiven by the narrative) while their chance at character development is uniquelly given by their ranks. in the meantime the consequences of those cruelness (only hickey, because we dont get to see survivors of jfj trip to China, if he left any) dont get the chance to heal and change because hickey's position of subordiante never allows him to be really safe, and because his torture was public, automatically making every witness taking the side of the perpetrator. hickey's never given weeks off work to recover because he got lashed because of his own actions. hickey doesnt get words of wisdom from a companion because in his mind everyone agreed with crozier in him deserving the lashes, (except maybe tozer? but even that isnt that clear cut) hickey, manson and hartnell also magiaclly heal from the lashes after a few weeks (even when ANYOTHER character cant heal because of scurvy) so the narrative can't held crozier accountable for the pain he caused.

the good guys and the bad guys' actions are treated differently by the show. even when the good guys actions should have consequences and the bad guys' shouldnt. the narrative has already decided which sins will be forgiven and which will be punished. and it's a bit annoying to me because for how wonderful the terror is, i cant help but feel like i'm being spoonfed a narrative about morality when at its core the story is about humanity.

[lemotmo]

Hello hello!

I was just curious if you knew if something happened this morning that I missed?

Everything was fine when I went to bed last night and then I woke up today and it seems like there’s so many people on tumblr and Twitter suddenly panicking that Tim is changing his mind and going to develop bt and keep him around and that people love bt more then buddie?

Like what did I miss 😅

Hey Nonny! :)

Ah yes, you got thrown into the frenzy! Well, first of all I want to reassure you nothing terrible happened. So don't worry.

The official 911 instagram account posted the BT kiss scene again in honour of Pride Month, which I was expecting since they made a beautiful Henren edit and they can't very well leave out the newly minted bisexual Buck. An in all honesty? He deserves this post. This is about Buck's journey and it's okay to wish him the happiest of Prides.

Anyway, that Instagram post got quite a bit of interaction from the BT fans, mind you... the interaction is actually minimal if you compare it to the interaction past Buddie posts have received.

I have also seen a lot of Buddie fans' reaction on this post and those reactions always get a lot of likes of like-minded Buddie fans. So our voice is still being heard on this BT post.

But of course some people have decided to panic over this. As is per usual in fandom spaces. People tend to panic quickly.

If we look at the facts though:

That scene they posted? It was unedited. So they left in aaaaall the many Eddie references. They could have easily removed those, but they kept them. They even kept the 'My attention?'. LOL!

The Henren edit they made last week was beautiful. They used different scenes and edited it together. The BT one is just that one scene with a very generic caption that has nothing to do with Tommy or BT.

Buddie has never shared so many scenes as in season 7. Compare that to BT who barely had any scenes together.

The many many many interviews about Buddie and bi Buck (With almost no mention of Tommy. The focus is always on Buck and Buck alone.). The interviews that Ryan has been giving out lately, with references to 'the Buck and Eddie thing', Eddie finding himself for the first time and him referring to his potential future partner in gender neutral terms.

Oliver never speaks about Tommy or BT. He only mentions them when he's talking about Tommy being a friend for him to guide him into his bisexuality. He never engages with the fandom either. Remember he once stopped engaging with the Buddie fandom because he didn't want to queerbait people and lead them on. Then he started spewing Buddie again right before season 7 and he hasn't stopped since. In fact, Ryan has joined him. Now he is doing the same thing when it comes to BT. He doesn't want to lead people on, because he knows that Tommy isn't sticking around.

I could go on with many more points, but I feel like I'm going off on a tangent and most of the things on this list are things I've talked about before in my previous posts about this subject.

In short: No matter how you look at it, all roads lead to Buddie. I know that people will always be sceptical. I mean, there is a part of me that will always have some doubt. I can't shut if off, because I have been burned before with ships in the past. But this time we are so close and everything is pointing in the same direction.

I feel like the stars are finally all aligned this time to give us queer Eddie and Buddie in season 8.

[andrastesgrace]

Mara Jade + tooka cats

There are two Luke Skywalkers.

The farmboy-turned-flyboy in him is a crack shot, can diagnose a problem with her ship faster than any mechanic in the core, and is wickedly funny, when he wants to be. When he remembers he can be.

The Jedi, though - the one who is allergic to colors and smiling, the one who has apparently forgotten that he isn't even thirty years old yet - is a gifted mediator, a skilled warrior, and much to Mara's eternal annoyance, usually right.

He's also a little shit. She'd almost jumped out of her skin last week in her Coruscant docking bay when he just. Appeared. Behind her. Wearing that stupid passive expression and looking at her expectantly, as though she shouldn't have sworn in three languages and nearly sliced him in half with his own father's lightsaber.

"If only someone were willing to train you," he said with a completely straight face. "You might've seen that coming."

Mara called him a bastard, then, and he grinned. She threw a spanner at his head for good measure, but he just stepped aside and asked her if she was hungry.

They ate ribenes from a cart in the lower city, and didn't talk about his thinly veiled request.

He asks less, now, and she's not sure if she's relieved or disappointed. Since the beginning, he's always asked, even back when she wasn't sure if she still wanted to kill him or not. But now, as then, she's wary. Not of him, not really. She's run through every scenario in her head, and she doesn't really think he'd ever truly become a danger. But he also doesn't want to listen to her, either, when she suggests that perhaps, some Jedi teachings of the past should stay in the past.

Deep down, there's something that makes her uncomfortable about the way he can just. Switch off his entire personality like the press of a button. He would never hurt her, but sometimes he isn't him.

So instead of becoming his student, she devotes her time to becoming a pain in his ass. Annoying him is the quickest way to shake him out of it. At first it's just little things - mispronouncing the names of famous podracers, putting pepper in his tea, and once, conspiring with R2-D2 to play nothing but Nemoidian showtunes everywhere he went.

"You're doing this on purpose," he says blithely one afternoon, and she looks at him with an innocent. "Who me?" in her expression. After a while, she needs more ammunition. She means to ask Solo, but when she hunts down the office he never uses in the New Republic's shiny new military complex, Leia is there instead. "Tooka cats," says Leia after she explains her mission.

"Tooka cats?" "He can't even look at them without laughing," The corners of her lips turn up in a half-smile. "Something about the eyes." *** "Are you proud of yourself?" he says when she sees him later, the grin still lingering in his eyes as he lets himself onto the Jade's Fire.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She does. She watched it on the holos, the emergency channel on his datapad pinging as he stood in the background of some very important New Republic something-or-other. The first time, he managed to keep a straight face, but only just. But she didn't just have one. She wasn't an amateur. All in all, she sent him about thirty of the most ridiculous pictures of tooka cats that she could possibly find. They were naturally funny looking creatures - a little too creepy for her taste, with their beady eyes and claws, but something about them made Skywalker take one look at them and forget he was a Jedi at all. The sight of him bursting into giggles on live broadcast while Mon Mothma was trying to give a Very Important Speech is going to keep her going for *years.*

"You're a menace," he says, dropping down next to her where she's examining her ship's tractor beam manifold. Thing's been malfunctioning for months.

"I'm a delight."

Skywalker is quiet for a moment. His bright blue eyes catch on the faulty wiring she's been attempting to finagle into working order since she landed here, and he absently grabs a spanner and begins tinkering.

This close, she doesn't have to reach to feel the shifting current of his emotions. "You are," he says softly. A few twists of his hand and a couple of button presses, and the tractor beam's diagnostics panel is all green. Showoff. "I wish you'd let me train you," he says finally, setting the spanner down beside him. There are no accusation in the words, but she feels the lingering merriment in the Force give way to a dull loneliness. Mara knows why he keeps asking, and it's not because she's any great Jedi talent. She's...fine at it, she supposes, but Skywalker is asking for one thing when he needs another. "I'd be an awful student," she says finally, bumping her shoulder with his, and he gives her his own version of Leia's half-smile . "But I guess I should probably make sure you aren't dead from time to time." He chuckles, and shakes his head. "Yeah, you're my best friend, too."

[goddesspharo]

Ok so this isn’t really a question but I was thinking about possible plots for the third movie that have maximum phoenix and hangman (obviously) and I cannot shake the idea of a reunion of the daggers for some sort of secret mission

Now I know absolutely nothing about the navy but hear me out, the gang is called back in (hangman, rooster, payback, fanboy etc) after a plane went down in enemy territory and at the mission brief, it’s revealed, dun dun da da…. It was phoenix and Bob and there’s reason to believe they’re still out there

I have no idea if you’re open to prompt ideas so feel free to tell me to f all the way off but since they’ll probably never do something like that for the actual third movie, I figure the next best thing is the best fic rider for the ship

I’m sensing major opportunity for some Jake and Bradley begrudging partnership and fun dynamics all around

Thoughts?

Ooh, this kind of sounds like Stealth but not shitty. (Does anyone remember how they recut the trailers for that movie to heavily feature Jamie Foxx as soon as he won the Oscar despite him being in it for like 15 minutes? Lol)

I take all of the "we've got a timeline for Top Gun 3, etc etc" talk with a grain of salt because it took them like 30+ years to make the sequel -- everyone else might be all about franchises but I know Tom Cruise isn't going to churn out a legacy movie just to churn it out without a decent script or someone promising him that he can fly a plane inverted in space. As much as I love TGM, I don't see where they'd realistically go with a third movie (nor do I necessarily need them to? End on a high note I say). In the same way that Ethan Hunt is still very much front and center of the MI franchise much to Jeremy Renner's chagrin when he thought they'd hand it over to him, I don't see them ever shifting the focus off Mav who will be pushing 70 at that point (it's okay for Tom Cruise, but I don't think the navy is letting That Old Man do All That Shit).

Thank you for your faith in my ability to write a backdoor sequel, but to be honest it was tough work to write action scenes when I was writing against the grain of dystopic claims so I might not be the one to write about a rescue mission that doesn't involve everyone just threatening to kill each other because they read the map wrong and are now going around in circles in the jungle. I also harbor a secret belief that if Phoenix and Bob ever went down and they needed to launch a second mission to save them, by the time our himbos got there, Phoenix would already have saved them both and they'd be sipping Mai Tais poolside at the closest Club Med. Extreme "I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this" energy. If anything, she'd have to cut her vacation short to save the daggers who were supposed to be saving her.

But there is a sort of big damn hero moment coming up in can't fake what you can't break up with so hopefully that scratches the itch! (As an aside: to that anon who asked me last week about this fic, you kickstarted me working on that again with that ask. Of course now it's like 17k and I still haven't written that part that was holding me up, but the parts I did write make it flow better so thanks for getting the creative juices flowing! Turns out asking fic writers about their WIPs prompts them to write more stuff, go figure!)

[4rainynite]

Welcome to Dreamworld Predictions

Here are some predictions/headcanons I have for the next episode of 'Welcome to Dreamworld'

Remember when Ribbon Dancer first met Wiatt?

"A new friend!? Hello, hello, hello! Where did you come from? Are you human, or have you fallen from the status like the rest of us?"

Ribbon Dancer knew from the very beginning that Wiatt wasn't human and you can't convince me otherwise!

After the last episode where Wiatt talked to Celio his eyes are black like soulless and numb.

This is hinting towards Wiatt being an animatronic/cyborg.

After, their talk Wiatt's eyes return to their normal brown color.

Also, look at Oddity! He's such a good support Twinblo being there for Wiatt, he's perfect!

Celio tells Damien, Oliver, Millie, Ms. Cabrera, Star, Eric, Rex, Ribbon Dancer, and Glory about Wiatt's eyes turning black during one of their talks. Celio knew it wasn't natural but couldn't explain how it happened. Celio believed it had to do from stress, doubt, and what the two talked about and all the supernatural things going on. Celio made them promise to report to them if Wiatt's eyes ever went black again and to make sure Oddity was with him at all costs in case something happened.

When the time comes, I hope the reveal is similar to Bee's from Bee and Puppycat.

Hazel will finally meet Wiatt, Damien, Oliver, Celio, and the other animatronics to help with the investigation.

We'll get an episode of how Hazel met Lorenzo, Night Light, Gruff, and Millie.

Finding out how she got involved with Dreamworld (I believe it has to do with Masquerade, Melody, Mimic aka John, James, and Jake)

While exploring the facility (mainly employee only areas) she came across Lorenzo, Night Light, and Gruff seconds after Sara possess Millie.

The decommissioned animatronics explain that they're the souls of children who were murdered by the founder Sara when they were children because they bullied her.

 During Hazel's investigation on Dreamworld she came across Ghosteyes and Wiatt's videos. Hazel looks up to Wiatt like a big brother and besides Ribbon Dancer ships Wiatt x Lewis/ Star Light.

Well, Hayden time to put your money where your mouth is.

He's mainly doing it for Andrew, Audrey, and Pen. He'll definitely give Wiatt a hard time, but at this point Wiatt would also be done with Hayden's nonsense by now but still protects him, Astra, and Morris. This will also be a wakeup call for Hayden realizing that his hatred should be focus more on Litho and Sara and how harsh he was on Wiatt.

I think something will happen to Wiatt making Hayden fill in his shoes, but the animatronics don't trust him (mainly Cheer since he was the last human she saw before she died), and we don't know his interactions with the other employees making it difficult for Hayden to get any info.

 Now that Norman knows that Litho has been possessing Sara and Sara killed him, he's gonna help Wiatt and the others stop Litho.

He won't be buddy-buddy with Wiatt and the others at first, he'll just leave clues like Hazel leaving that flash drive in Wiatt's bag.

He instructs Morris and Astra to hangout more with the others to help gain their memories.

When he's around 'Sara' he plays dumb to make sure Litho doesn't know he (Norman) knows that he (Litho) isn't Sara.

I really hope the other employees help with the investigation and find a way to free Rain from Litho's control.

Theories:

Litho is using Hayden to derail the investigations.

We all know that Mike, Alyssa, Hayden, Andrey, Audrey, and Pen have been working at the facility since it opened up and the group may have formed a bond during the past months. Until Lewis, Eric, and Oliver disappeared, only for Mike, Alyssa, and Andrew to disappear leaving Audrey, Hayden, and Pen.

And we all know what happened to them.

Remember when Oddity found Pen's laptop and then froze Wiatt in time for a week while the facility was being repaired. I bet Litho has the laptop now and has been using it since then.

Hayden would have zero interest in Wiatt's videos, but if 'Pen' sent him a message about it he would look into it.

Litho used Pen's laptop to send Ghosteyes' videos of the Dreamworld investigations to Hayden and then killed Pen and Lisa in front of them so Hayden could go off on Wiatt and turn against him.

I remember seeing a post on Tumblr from one of the artists from the show that Pen would return as a bug animatronic (I was rooting on an owl animatronic due to the 'neck' thing). If they get the chance Pen will reveal that he never sent Hayden any videos of Wiatt's investigations and that he's been tricked.

Now, Wiatt won't talk to Hayden due to self-doubt and 'you told me to leave you alone, so now I'm doing what you told me to do' which will make things difficult. 

2. Audrey has been doing her own investigations.

Like I said above Mike, Alyssa, Hayden, and Andrew were there since the beginning and it wasn't until Andrew went missing, she did everything in her power to look for him for example: made missing persons posters, contact his family, and would go to the police regularly.

When the facility reopened, she was the only one to voice Wiatt was missing. Audrey must have noticed that it was mainly the mechanics who went missing the most fueling her need to know what happened to her friends.

Audrey having some knowledge of the animatronic/computers took over Wiatt's duties. Before Winnie attacked her Audrey proclaimed that she knew Dreamworld had something to do with Andrew's disappearance and maybe Wiatt's.

Sadly, Audrey became another victim of Dreamworld Facility, and her soul now inhabits Astra.

I believe a good 50% of the victims were looking for friends/family, co-workers and got killed because of it.

4. Melody may get his memories back due to being around Winnie and remembering he killed him and his brothers.

Okay, that's all I got now.