#The Acceptance of Adulthood

[allycatcreatethings]

The Acceptance of Adulthood

Chapter 5: Light in The Dark

Please tell me that Emmet is okay; give me any signs, anything, I beg you! Where are you?!

[First - Next - Previous - Chapter Index] [Word Count: 3513]

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Everything happened so quickly; Emmet couldn’t wrap his head around it before he saw the Lego bricks appear right in front of their eyes; before it was too late to warn Finn and Emmet began soaring and descending to the cement ground, hearing Finn screaming his name before everything went dark. His body clattered and slid down the floor, under something unclear and into something soft and fluffy. At least it was a softer impact as Emmet was face-planted into this stuff, spitting them out of his mouth as he rolled out of them. 

“OW, Ptooey! Gross! What is this-” The Lego person paused to process what he heard. “H-hold on, wait! Hello? I talked?! Ha ha, YES, FINALLY!” Emmet exclaimed, but at least he could move naturally for once and not that strange limited movement and could celebrate that his voice was back with no problems. 

It's so weird not being able to hear your voice in the real world for a long time, only to get it back at the worst time. Emmet then realized how small his voice was, seeming to need to yell or raise his voice if Finn could hear him properly. Wait, where is Finn?! He glanced around in the dim, dusty place he found himself in, hoping the boy was alright.

“Finn! Where are you?!” Emmet yelled, at least seeing a faint light at the end of the other side, and started to walk over. The construction worker halted suddenly, noticing a creature that had walked over him once in the Dryar System, now running away from him in fear, but he jumped away from it as well.

“GAH! GET AWAY, GET AWAY!” Emmet tumbled backward, and the eight-legged thing scurried away in fear. He took a few deep breaths and got back up, trying to brush off the thick dust. “What is even that? It’s more scared of me than I’m afraid; sorry, buddy.”

A part of him was curious about what that was, but another one came with a good question: why can he move unlike-... He shook his head that thought away, needing to ask Finn later; If he could find that kid. The area seemed to stretch far more in-depth than the Dryar System, but the light was at the end of the opening, calling him out of danger.

But frustration came in as he began to threaten and ponder. “We shouldn’t have done that idea. Now we are separated, and Finn is probably panicking or has passed out on the floor because I couldn’t warn and help him in time!” Emmet kicked the floor in irritation; he could feel tears in his eyes as he continued. “I’m sorry, Finn, that was my fault-.”

[“You’re playing the blaming game again. Don’t do that to yourself, Hero.”]

“Wait, who just said that?!” Emmet's eyes darted to see where that voice had been coming from, only to realize no one was around to talk. Has Emmet been hearing voices in his head all day long? 

“... I need to find Finn now…” He shook the thought away as he trekked down this mysterious place he had fallen into, searching for Finn. How has he lost the most enormous person he has ever met? Technically, The Man from Upstairs was taller than Finn the last time they met, but that was ten years ago, and times have changed.

Emmet picked up the pace as he wandered past more of that fluffy stuff; he was not sure what they called that he landed in. The fluff caused Emmet to sneeze and cough as the Lego person saw some bricks of his world under whatever he was—a clear wooden ceiling from the looks of it.

They were only some bricks, which Finn or Bianca could have lost during their play. He picked up a 2x4 blue brick and quickly found more on the ground like a trail. One or two would easily pass as lost pieces, but as Emmet spots more, he saunters off his goal to fill his curiosity but still keeps Finn in mind. 

Emmet suddenly accidentally stepped on something as it made a crunching sound under his feet. He glanced down only to see a damaged pin pad still glowing under his boots. His heart sank as he jogged as he knew what that was from, only to see the construction worker soon tumble at a horrible sight. 

Mayhem’s ship crashed and shattered, and it looked like someone or something had broken into the vessel. A battle seemed to take place as Emmet saw some leftover stickers and claw marks. There was a sign of a struggle, and whatever took Mayhem was powerful as he could see some monitors in the ship corrupted, unable to show anything on the screens.

“W-what happened here?! No, no… We aren’t safe… The vision…. Finn! Mayhem?!” Emmet's mind began to panic as he looked unwell and shot his head around for signs, horrid at the implications of Mayhem’s fate, tears going down his face like waterfalls before even processing the information, trembling in his voice as he kept moving towards the outside beam of light, now rushing towards safety. 

Fearing for Mayhem’s life, Bianca disappeared too, and that coincidence was too hard to ignore. The bricks randomly appeared where Finn was running to, the table was not in place, and Mayhem’s ship shattered. Someone is trying to get after them all… [The phony special can see more than most, but I’m the host in this playtime. Stop trying to run.]

Emmet hates the idea of another wrongdoer doing this like a puppet on strings for entertainment. And who is that voice? “What? Who even are you?”

[I’ll let you discover that. Let's play a game.]

Then, eyes emerged from the dark. Red, silted 2-dimensional eyes greeted the walls as our hero trod on, feeling the menace and dread start to swell in him. He quickly ignored the glowing eyes, trying not to freeze in place again. He must locate Finn at any cost, but why can’t Emmet see him? Fleeting with urgency from the unknown danger the sound of a clock in the background started to tick in a sick rhythm, counting the seconds.

[“Why are you running, Hero? Do you want to play a game of Hide and Seek with me?”] The gravel voice asked, sounding louder than before, and Emmet shook his head in response, stressing out what it implied. 

The red eyes follow their stare at the outlier as Emmet races past, his black dot eyes full of tears. He had to flee, or he may end up like Mayhem, whatever the consequences—just focusing on getting out of here. “No! Leave me alone!” Emmet said, his voice quivering and his heart beating to the clock or alarm as two of the red cat eyes stared and somehow approached the Lego construction figure at a rapid pace, but not a single sound of a footstep coming from whatever it was.

[“Too late, Hero, and I’m It!”] The monster cackled with glee and the eyes suddenly in a bright red hue, the other cat eyes on the walls and ceiling following suit.

The bricks from Mayhem’s Ship abruptly start to break apart and rush toward Emmet like a missile, hitting him in the back, which trips him up, hissing at the tumble; hastily in front of Emmet, and he quickly reacts, dodging the bricks flying by or hurdling over them, the goal getting closer to him.

He couldn't Master Build right off the bat because of his little time before the next piece, almost smashing him in the face, ducking right under it as he went into a sliding motion. Emmet vaulted over to gain more speed, attempting not to lose momentum. “Get away from me!!!” 

["You are getting on my nerves here, boy."] The voice hissed as it got louder, pissed at Emmet as the red slit eyes glowed envelope in a deep bright, crimson, attempting to blind Emmet and disorient him.

“Gah!!” Emmet screamed, shielding his black like-dot eyes as he began to trip on the bricks that kept appearing before him, almost stalling as the voice behind Emmet quickly became a black void-like monster as it shots a death glare to Emmet’s soul and plastic body, infuriated as it rushes towards him, commanding the Lego bricks to slow Emmet down.

It felt like alarms were going off as the whole place fell into chaos and confusion, becoming something unrecognizable even for Emmet with the cartoonish look it suddenly came, like he wasn’t in either Finn’s or his world anymore. The screeches of the monster became blaring as Emmet's attention came back to see black shadow-like claws forming after the construction worker, knowing very well the end if he failed.

Emmet kept going, leaping over as some bricks became walls like a maze.  He was so close to freedom and safety as Emmet noticed the light hurt the swirls from moving any further. It would take too long before the creature caught up and he needed a quick exit but Master Building was out because the bricks kept breaking apart-! A lightbulb went off Emmet’s mind with unease, but this ability he had learned from Rex since Armamageddon, Master Breaking. He wines a strong punch and the walls crumble down and continue to the light.

The monster created more walls from desperation to create shadows, and Emmet recognized what it was planning and quickly destroyed each one as they came up so whoever could not take advantage of the chase. Emmet began smashing some of the walls down when they got in his way from losing momentum.

["Get back here, you little toy faux hero!!!"]

The creature screeched as more hands from the shadow and onto the floor as they tried to reach Emmet, only to sizzle in pain from the harsh light.

“Come on, almost there!” Emmet could hear the despair in the monster's voice as he kept sprinting for his life, and Emmet made it out, as he shielded his eyes again at the sudden shift back to reality- well, the Man Upstairs realm. “Ha ha, Yes!” Emmet finally ceased dashing as he had gotten so far away from where he had landed Emmet could see that he had fallen underneath a colossal table. 

The Lego mini figurine saw the red slit eyes of the monster glaring down at him pissed off. Emmet is finally safe as the monster growls in disdain, clearly infuriated at losing that chase. ["We will meet again soon, Emmet Brickowski, but it won't be easy next time..."] It spoke to the little, plastic Lego figure, as it vanished into the darkness, the red eyes disappearing too.

Emmet could finally breathe as he sat on the floor to catch his breath for a moment, "T-That was way too close…” Emmet said himself, breathing hard like he ran a marathon and drained; this whole day was exhausting. "Thank the Man Upstairs. I wasn't rusty with the Master Breaking, or I would have been…. Thank you, Rex, for teaching me that skill."

Emmet began to notice that even after the bricks weren't around to balance the two worlds, he could still speak and move around naturally like he was in his world, showing that his body could fully adapt to Finn's realm. It makes him smile joyfully in a realm so much more powerful than him and wipes his tears away to take a deep breath, sighing in relief.

Then his mind soon rings a bell to remember the goal he had been chasing since Finn crashed onto the cement flooring- Oh No!

"Finn? Where are you? Finn-" Emmet stops as his head whips around as he hears a sniffle, only to see Finn on the floor, gigantic and crying in pain. "Finn!" Emmet yells as he runs towards the giant boy, his body’s fight or flight instincts screaming to run in the opposite direction yet ignoring all of it to check up on him.

Emmet's body shook in fear; he noticed the gash on Finn's leg as a red liquid came out from the wound so slowly; he was not sure what that was, but it was something Finn needed to be alive. "Finn! Can you hear me?!” Emmet yells as he runs towards Finn's Face, seeing his brown, tired eyes, shut and sniffing as tears run down his face and onto the floor.

"F-Finn! I know you're not okay. Can you hear me?" Emmet shouts, trying to stay calm, getting closer to Finn's Face; the sniffing gets louder as Finn tries to do some movement but shakes in pain, indicating he cannot move.

Emmet wandered up to the giant’s face and saw the minimal reaction from Emmet's voice; he had an idea to get Finn's attention and soon got to the bridge of Finn's nose and hugged it, looking up to the closed eyes, speak in a composed, "It's okay, I'm here, Emmet,” Emmet says as he pets the nose slowly to avoid spooking Finn and comforts him as best as possible.

"It's okay Finn; I'm here. It's me, Emmet Brickowski, your hero...” 

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Who knows how long Finn had been lying on that floor, his mind racing all over the place. Where was Emmet? Is he okay? Bianca will be angry at him; his body hurts so much he can't move or even crawl toward anything. The lights were way too bright. Finn shut his eyes and began to cry tears like waterfalls, trying not to make any sound like the sobs. Everything seems overwhelming, as he prefers the darkness at the moment. He needs a break from today from the horrendous consequences of his stupid plan.

Finn wants the whole world to shut up and let him slip into the unconscious of his mind, just let the condition completely take over so he doesn't feel the pain anymore and wake from his dream, hoping it's only a nightmare. But it never was a dream, as the painful reminders of the blood coming out from his knee are the only reminders of it being a reality, and his fast breathing.

Finn wants to avoid the pain of his past mistakes; he would preferably pass out and let the condition take over completely, as everything has become too much for him. He needs Emmet or anyone right now who helps him, but nothing comes out of his mouth as he starts to feel like someone is covering his mouth with a cloth to make him stay silent, knowing that his condition is trying to take over again. Finn recognizes another episode is beginning to form as he is on the floor and cannot escape the horrible circumstances unless someone is there. It's hopeless to fight it.

Finn had tried to fight the condition before, especially in the first few days when he had done it; however, it often made it so much worse that one time, it caused him a whole day lost when he attempted to combat the swallowing darkness. It's hopeless to fight back now. The only thing that kept him from falling into the night was how severe it was or if someone was there to pull him out into the light.

Bianca had been the best person he knew besides Emmet because she had taken care of his condition and was the first to take it seriously. While caring for Finn, the parents first brushed it off as being exhausted from staying up too late until the day when the condition almost caused Finn to drown in the shower. Bianca protected him first before he nearly drowned and told their parents to get Finn into the hospital. Finn was out for three days before waking up in a hospital bed.

That’s why he hides the problems from his parents after that accident, as their trust is gone. Finn knows they didn’t mean to, but it had to be the most life-threatening situation to convince them that it’s a genuine and severe issue. 

Finn does not want to lose Bianca or see her get furious at him for the stupidest things, as she is the only one left that is human and supports him before Emmet shows up alive. 

His subconscious had been harsh on him lately. Still, it often told the truth about his horrible situation: to abandon his parents and hide in his room all day or play his little fun game at the Lego World and forget everything else, to stop growing up for a while. But sometimes, the voice does the opposite, saying he needs his parents and sister and goes out more, to leave the legos behind. It feels like there is more than one voice in his mind, and both utilize the same voice, unable to tell the difference between the positive and negative thoughts that swarm in his head. It’s like a tug of war is in his mind, pulling Finn into pieces right in the middle. He despises it so much, but he can never escape that conflict in his mind like a war battle, as even sleeping causes nightmares, and he can never catch a break.

Ironically, if he lets his condition slip into the unconscious, it's the only break he can get, and he will be gone for a few days or rarely hours. He calls them Complete Episodes when it wins and takes over him, moving him away from reality entirely to protect him, but Finn misses his friends, family, and life.

Finn calls the fainting episodes a mini episode when his body starts to give up but can get back up or stay conscious. Those are the most common, but it can be painful for him to feel the horrible discomfort of his body locking up like a ragdoll or a possum…. Or when a Lego person ends up in his realm…

The only other way to escape into smiles and freedom temporarily from Finn’s misery was the Lego World with him playing as Emmet and his friends living their lives. Finn envies Emmet to live a much happier life without his stupid condition. However, as the years after Armamageddon happened, Emmet started to experience the grief of losing Rex, blaming himself for faults he didn't do, having Imposter Syndrome of being the real hero of his world, plus the pressure of his past mistakes.

Finn never recognizes or has an idea of Emmet having those negative thoughts and wants to explore why that is the case, often causing Finn to have a Mini-Episode afterward. But in his opinion, it is worth it to try and help Emmet get through these thoughts, unlike most of his family, and he does not want to burden Bianca with his turmoil.

Soon after, the thoughts disappear as Finn can feel the darkness grab hold of him, his body becoming relaxed as he starts to slip to the unconscious; no one is coming to save him, and neither Bianca nor Emmet is here to rescue him. Suddenly, Finn heard his name, and it snapped Finn from his relaxing state, and he tried to figure out where it was coming from. Hello? Who’s there?

" Finn-" It paused briefly before yelling, “Finn!” The voice said quietly; Finn couldn’t hear what it was trying to say except his name. 

He could hear something clatter on the floor, like weird tiny footsteps, as it approached him, and tears kept flowing down his closed eyes. Who was there? Who are you? He sniffled; Finn didn’t realize he was crying before the voice took him out of his musings.

"Finn! Can you hear me?" It said again, unsure who it was. It wasn’t Bianca because the voice sounded more like a male person. But it also didn’t sound like his father because of the higher pitch; it sounded more youthful and much smaller, quieter. 

"I know you're not okay. Can you hear me?" the voice asks as it gets even closer and easier to hear for Finn. He tries to move to wherever the voice direction is coming from, but the horrible pain in his body reminds him he can’t move right; he shakes in pain as he tries to move but fails.

Suddenly, he felt someone hugging his nose, and Finn froze in fear. Wait, someone small enough to embrace his nose? No way, could it be?

"It's okay, it's me...” Oh my goodness, it’s him! Emmet! Finn felt like seeing if it was him. Slowly, Finn opens his eyes and sees an orange blob and the extremely bright light from the basement. It was blinding, but as his eyes adjusted to the glare and his eyesight could focus on the orange blob, it cleared to be Emmet himself, petting his nose before repeating, "It's okay Finn; I'm here. It's me, Emmet Brickowski, your hero...” Finn beams at Emmet, glad to see his hero is alright.

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[allycatexplainsthings]

I really like that lego fanfic that's a wip, I actually found it on ao3. :3 I wish it continued, I've been trying so so hard to find fics where finn goes to the lego world and there are literally none 😭Anyway you're a fantastic writer and keep on doing your thing!

Aww, thank you so much! ✨️✨️✨️

It is still being written, don't worry about that; it's not abandoned, I have a mini announcement: I got a Beta Reader with my friend now for the fanfic to help improve the writing!

(The Beta Reader and I even rewrote some of the older chapters to enhance clarity and a shift since I got a better idea of how that story will go! The old and new chapters will come up, so see the improvement as I write the next few chapters with the pivot. ^^✨️)

The Fic started as "What If Finn/Emmet met the creator/creation," and soon the story began to form. Having Finn in the Lego world might take a while, but that makes sense in the story's context. I agree, and I am shocked that there aren't a lot of fanfic stories about Finn as a main character; it's mostly the LEGO people.

(I mean, Finn only had 8 minutes of screen time in the franchise- rough math; I could be wrong, lol. Binaca got about 3-4 minutes, I think)

I apologize for not updating as much as I would like, but I want to give a better product as I improve as a writer and stop having insecurity about my writing with it being perfect. I am thankful people are patient and love the story a lot. So, I hope you guys have a fantastic day/night! ✨

[druidonity2]

inner child

[skrunksthatwunk]

meant to be seen and not heard; meant to be felt, not seen

[utilitycaster]

has someone written a dissertation on the queerness of science fiction/fantasy about Fucked Up Spaces. Like the following books are all books that may or may not have some textual queerness but it's like queer people LOVE the weird liminal place that will kill you:

The West Passage

The Southern Reach Trilogy

Piranesi

I don't think the Phantom Tollbooth is remotely queer and it is for children but also like. I do feel there's something going on but also that might not be The Weird Space so much as portal fantasy, which Emily St. James has written about re: I Saw The TV Glow as trans metaphor made explicit.

there was a post whining about how D&D cannot have a narrative because it's just dungeon crawling and also how D&D isn't inherently queer and the latter is true though also true of many TTRPGs and the former is blindingly stupid but I would like to posit that dungeon crawling is a queer metaphor

space

[thepersonalwords]

If you were to love, love not for the lust that you yearn but the rather the pain that you earn with it. Remember though that the ones who brave the pain are eternally bound in Cupid's chain. It is these chains that many of us fear. The fear of losing the freedom of choosing for self. The fear of placing the needs of our better halves before our own. The fear is understandable for history has taught us to despise and the society has given us the chance to entice. However, if you were to pause and think ever about - love - then do remember that the chain which upon acceptance binds you in amour is the same which upon rejection arrests us to an ague called lonesome depression. Few survive in love, but fewer without it.

Adhish Mazumder

[yarboyandy]

Chosen Ones

[orbitposting]

The concept of "glowing up" could be a wonderful concept about a transformation into your true self but for some reason we've associated it with undoing everything about you that's socially "unacceptable" like losing weight (often by restriction or going as fast as possible), getting into "cooler" interests, wearing the trends, and generally encouraging abandoning yourself in the process. We've made progress in breaking those associations in adults, but in teens these associations continue to become stronger.

[screechingfromthevoid]

Something I find deeply interesting about Percy setting Gwendolyn up as a spy in order to find the gods is that it comes on top of the layer of "I'm getting old".

Percy is constantly staring his mortality in the face and he is still so curious about the world. Which is a wonderful thing. Except. He is passing these curiosities on to his children. Going to the moon would be a fine thing to give them. But tasking one of them to find the gods? That is an obsession.

If this is what Percy wants for Gwendolyn, she is going to do it. She is going to hone her skills. She will get very close to her uncle Vax. She will meet gods and. Who knows what they will do with that information.

What is a human man going to do with the knowledge of the gods first reincarnation? Will he even live long enough to see their first resurgence? Will he funnel money to the gods and their parents. Some sort of Whitestone scholarship? Does he think something like that will matter once they come back to themselves?

[anonymocha]

I WANNA RUIN OUR FRIENDSHIP

[allycatcreatethings]

So, I did make a fanfic for The Lego Movie. :^

I'm unsure when to show it since I'm trying to edit it. The fanfic is my first time making one, and I have been working on it for a while now.

It is called The Acceptance of Adulthood.

Which is Finn dealing with growing up and doesn't want to let go of his childhood and finally being able to meet his hero, Emmet. It takes place after the two movies where Finn is 18 years old.

I don't want to say much, but with the warning tags, uh... It still needs to be done.

And I just found out that it's the 10th anniversary of the movie, so yeah!

[allycatexplainsthings]

AHHHHHHHH!!!

WHY IS FORMATTING HARD?!?!

I got most of it, but I don't know how to tag it, and formatting is a nightmare. It doesn't look right or work. Please send help! T-T

So, Is there a discord for writing fanfic and posting on Ao3?

So, I'm trying to post my Fanfic onto Ao3

I'm trying my best, but I don't want to mislabel the ratings or miss anything important. It's not beta read, wip, and it's my first fic :^

Here is the fic to read right now: The Acceptance of Adulthood Chapter Index

[urloveangel]

[vimbry-moved]

he was 27

[lilacerull0]

I like everyone the way I like Rino... this is the most earnest sentiment she could be sharing with you Pasquale... her brother was her whole world...

[birthdayplant]

it’s very liberating to have a group of people tell you it’s okay to shit yourself sometimes