#children's cartoons have their place but there is little as disheartening as everyone saying

[ladyluscinia]

Oh that reminds me:

Now that all the drama around the shipping poll has died down we probably aren't going to think about it again until it comes back in 2025 (based on what the mods said). This is fine. However. They did say the next poll is going to be a femslash tournament, which means everyone needs to start mentally preparing themselves to not let a children's cartoon sweep. We can do better than that. I'm gonna need people to do better than that 🙏

[dex-xe]

Ghosts OC (William)

Name: William Benjamin Harley (he/him)

Life: 8th February 1865 - 13th September 1874 (died aged 9 1/2)

Death: He was a farm labourer and died in an industrial farming accident in a field that has now been assimilated into the grounds of Button House.

Looks:

- He has blonde, curly hair and wide blue eyes.

- His skin is pale and covered in freckles and little injuries from both his accident and early incidents (he spent all day working outside with heavy machinery which was dangerous work).

- He has a button nose and a kind of shy smile.

- He wears a long sleeved white, buttoned shirt with brown overalls over the top. All of his clothes are a bit grubby as is his skin.

- He doesn’t wear shoes so his feet are dirty. His right ankle is also injured and he walks with a considerable limp.

Personality:

- He’s very, very quiet and tends not to speak up unless it’s absolutely necessary. However, he does giggle quite a bit at the various antics of the other ghosts.

- He’s quire timid and gets very scared of new people being in the house and relies on the other ghosts to tell him what to do or speak for him in situations.

- But when he gets to know people he can be really friendly and follows his friends around like a puppy.

- He never ever gets loud and even when he is incredibly upset he never makes any kind of noise. He sniffles quietly in his room and tries to hide from everyone else.

- He doesn’t like to be a burden on others which is often to his detriment because even when he needs help he never asks.

Relationships:

- Robin: Robin was the first person to find William even though he’d been dead a number of years by the time they first met. William had seen Robin in the gardens many times since his death but hid every time. He’s slightly wary of Robin’s boisterous behaviour but is generally on good terms with him (he finds it very funny when Robin makes people jump).

- Alison: William really loves Alison. He was so wary of her to begin with because he didn’t quite understand how a living person could see him but now he absolutely loves her. He sits quietly beside Alison while she does the gardening and every single time she touches a plant he tells her the name of it (regardless of how many times she’s been told, Alison always appreciates William participating).

- Mike: Mike is a bit freaked out by the idea of a child ghost but is generally friendly towards his.

- Jemima: William and Jemima have quite a good relationship being the only children in the house and, while Jemima much prefers to be on her own, sometimes she allows William to come sit in the pantry with her and they quietly play with her doll.

- Kitty: Kitty really likes William and basically sees him as a brother. She says a lot about how she always wanted a brother so badly and is thrilled that she has one now. She teaches William to play different games including a lot of old Georgian games.

- Humphrey: William really really likes Humphrey. He walks around with Humphrey’s head a lot and can often be found wandering around with Humphrey in search of his body. William is actually the one who most often reunites the two halves of Humphrey, he takes his body by the hand and leads it over to a piece of furniture, then he climbs up and places Humphrey’s head on his neck. Humphrey then always gives him a hug and helps him down of whichever bed, sofa or table William had climbed onto.

- Thomas: Thomas and William don’t particularly get on. Thomas finds children irritating and thinks they get in the way, he doesn’t speak to William much at all.

- Fanny: Fanny also isn’t particularly affectionate towards William either but does give him praise when he does something well etc.

- Mary: Mary is very protective over William and is constantly issuing unwarranted advice on William’s upbringing.

- Julian: William is very intimidated by Julian (who also finds kids quite irritating). He stays away from William in an unwritten agreement that William stays away from him as well. However, after the Christmas with Mike’s family, he tries to make slightly more of an effort with William by teaching him chess (to make up for his lack of parenting to Rachel).

- Plague Ghosts: The Plague Ghosts terrify William. He refuses to go anywhere near the basement and certainly not alone. On the very few occasions the Plague Ghosts venture upstairs, William runs and hides in his bedroom or cowers behind the Captain (who once encouraged William to shake one of their hands but it really didn’t help his fear).

- Pat: Pat tries soooo hard with William, constantly trying to drag him into participating in clubs and talking more and being around the other ghosts more but William doesn’t respond particularly well to it. Pat had been so excited to find out there was a child ghost at Button House so he could continue his scout work but is consistently disheartened that William finds him much too intense. His parenting/child-raising approach really clashes with William’s personality because he just doesn’t want to participate most of the time.

- The Captain: William adores the Captain. So much. The Captain is very standoffish towards him at first because he finds boisterous children infuriating and likes discipline. But once he realises William is a very good kid who is well-behaved and very sweet, he warms to him quite quickly. He can often be found sat cross-legged in a window seat opposite William patiently teaching him to read from an open newspaper or teaching him the Kings and Queens of England. During film nights and stuff, William sits on the floor beside the Captain and often falls asleep with his head resting against the Captain’s knee, whenever the Captain notices William has dropped of he carefully picks him up and carries him to his room. He’s essentially a dad to William who had never really had one in life.

Random headcanons:

- His ghost power is that his footsteps can be heard by the living, especially if he’s on the floor above the listener (he has a limp resulting from his accident which can be heard quite distinctively).

- William has a bit of an obsession with nursery rhymes or just like little songs and often just wanders the halls singing them but thankfully not quite as creepily as Jemima.

- He can’t read or write but the Captain makes Alison buy like toddler picture books. He makes her tear the pages out of them and tack them individually to the wall so he doesn’t have to rely on Alison to turn the pages when he’s teaching.

- William can very shakily write his own name on the back of Thomas’ letter with the biro from Julian’s inside pocket, everyone is very proud when he shows them all.

- He can do a cartwheel, and Kitty is obsessed with this fact. Every single time the ghosts re outside, she tells him to show her and he even tries to teach her (she still can’t do it). This was actually how Kitty and William bonded when he first died.

- Alison sometimes put on kids tv for him, he doesn’t like watching it for long periods of time but he likes to watch a couple of cartoons in the morning.

- He doesn’t talk about his family, ever. If anyone ever asks, he just goes silent. In fact none of the ghosts know anything about his family, they didn’t work on the farmland with him so they have no idea about them.

So yeah, I’m considering making some kind of fic about some ocs (I’m planning to post a few more like this on here) but yeah lmk what you think :)

[realm-sweet-realm]

Defining Memories, chapter 8

This is the final chapter and contains Joey and Henry’s memories.

---

Bertrum fumed for a solid three minutes about how his memory wasn’t any indication of his engineering skills, responsibility, or anything else, before Lacie and Joey could finally get him to calm down.

“Who’s left?” Joey asked, mostly to himself. “Oh, that’s right.” He turned to look at Henry. “Only me and you.”

Henry chuckled awkwardly. This was the first time they’d acknowledged each other on this mystical plane. “Yeah, I guess so. So, um... life treating you well, Joey?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, a bitter tone to his voice. “The studio is just flourishing! Everything is going fantastic!” Henry felt like Joey was trying to bludgeon him with words. He certainly wasn’t doing his normal, cheery facade.

“Oh, I couldn’t have missed that. I mean, I’m still in the industry after all, and, uh...” The light, yellow, appeared by Henry’s shoulder. “Oh, look at this.”

Henry was grateful for an end to the conversation, and he was rather curious about what his best memory would be- his wedding, maybe, or the birth of one of his children? Or, maybe something from his own childhood.

The scene changed. It showed Henry in a University lecture hall. He was sketching in his notebook when a black-haired boy sat beside him. The boy peered over at the nice scene Henry was drawing, with deer and trees and the like.

“Hey,” the stranger said to Henry, “that’s really- oh.” At this point, the stranger realized that Henry was too engrossed to hear him and shook him lightly by the shoulder. Finally, Henry turned to look at him. “Hey. That’s really good. You know, we’re going to need partners for the group project. Wanna be mine?”

“Uh, sure,” Henry replied. He then offered him his hand. “Henry Stein. And you are?”

“You can call me Joey.”

Strange for a grown adult to call himself that, Henry thought. “Joey. Well, okay, if that's what you call yourself. Nice to meet you.”

Joey smiled. “Yeah. I get that a lot. Let me let you onto a little secret: once you reach a certain age, you stop caring if you look childish.” Henry was impressed.

The scene changed to the two sitting across from each other in a library, writing on sheets of paper. Henry was still going strong, but Joey was clearly getting bored with it. “Hey, Henry. Wanna go for coffee?”

“Sure. When?”

“Now.”

“You’re done your part already?”

“I can finish it up later. So can you. Come on. I know a great place.” He all but pulled Henry up. The scene changed to a nice little coffee shop where the two were chatting.

“So, Joey, you know what you’re doing after college?”

Joey grinned. “Do I! Let me ask you something Henry. How old do you think I am?”

“Nineteen,” Henry said without thinking. It seemed like a fair bet- a student in a first-year class would most likely be eighteen, nineteen, or maybe twenty, and Joey didn’t look any older than that.

“Wrong! I’m twenty-seven. Isn’t it just crazy how, when you’re young, all you want to do is just be away from your parents and your responsibilities? But just living to do what you want- that gets old fast. Soon, you want something more. You want to make something of yourself, bring something fantastic into the world. And that’s why I’m here. As soon as I feel ready, I’m going to, well, I don’t know yet. But it’ll be big!” At that point, Joey cleared his throat, having realized that he had gone on long enough (not that Henry seemed to mind any). “Anyhow. What are your plans?”

“Geez, I don’t know. Go to whoever hires me, I guess. I mean, I know there’s more you can do with an art degree than people think, but, well...” Henry has been about to make some comments about how he wasn’t the proudest of his major, but that might not have been the best thing to say to someone intent on doing “big things” with something similar. As was, he was at a loss as to how to sound slightly less lame, especially in comparison to Joey’s grand speech.

“Sounds like you need to learn how to dream,” Joey replied simply.

Henry blushed. Nail on the head. “Seems like you could teach me.”

From that point forward, the memory shifted often, showing a flurry of moments the two had spent together. It showed them going to Henry’s first college party together. It showed them hanging out with Sammy, and Joey, always the ladies’ man, teaching them how to flirt. And all the times that Henry had come to Joey for advice. Henry remembered how he had looked up to Joey’s optimism, energy, and suavity. Their nine-year age gap had felt huge back then, and as such, he’d also found Joey very worldly and wise, even if his ideas did need a little grounding sometimes. Joey had often used Henry as a sounding board for his ideas as well, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to start with something wild and nebulous and end up with a concrete plan to follow. Joey had decided that his big, fantastic goal would be starting an animation studio. Henry had been the one to suggest they start with comics and work up from there, a suggestion that Joey, thankfully, listened to. And so, Bendy and Friends Studio was born. One of the final happy memories was of Henry gathering up some film reel and playing the first animation he’d ever made. “We’re gonna make it,” Henry had said, watching the tape.

“Of course we are. I made sure of it,” Joey answered. The scene shifted to show the same animation, a bit more polished now, playing before a crowd.

After that, however, the memories darkened. Henry saw himself working late into the night, often coming home so late that Linda was already asleep, and at times even pushing himself until he passed out on his desk. He saw Sammy lose all interest in Joey’s friendship and complain about him with Wally. When Henry tried to defend him, Sammy had said, “You don’t understand. He’s easier on you. You’re his favourite.” Henry could remember when they were in college and he’d told Joey that he was sure Linda would get bored with him in a couple weeks. Joey had called that nonsense. That had felt good, and Joey had been right. It didn’t feel good now that Joey was saying the same thing, in the same encouraging tone, when Henry told him that they needed to hire more animators because he was working himself to the bone to meet deadlines. Their age gap should have felt smaller now, but it didn’t. It felt huge. Henry was coming to the painful realization that Joey would never see him as an equal. He saw him almost as a ward.

The image of Henry sending in an application to a studio in Florida flashed by, followed by him receiving the acceptance letter. Henry hadn’t even been sure he wanted this to happen. But, here it was.

The ball of light jerked out of present-day Henry’s hand and flew to the midway point between him and Joey. Henry hadn’t seen it change, but it was blue now. The scene changed to that of Joey’s office. Henry entered.

“So, Henry. I’ve brought you here to talk about that letter you sent me,” the younger Joey said.

Henry shuffled nervously. He knew that Joey had a temper. “Well, there’s not a lot to say. I’m leaving. Two weeks' notice. I’m sorry.” An awkward pause. “Can we still keep touch?”

“Henry, I want to talk about why you want to leave. What always happens when you have your doubts and we talk things over?”

Another silence. Often, what happened was that Henry got praised, then ignored.

“We work something out!” Joey chirped, a big, but somewhat nervous smile on his face. “So, what’s the issue?”

Henry sighed. “It’s not like that, Joey. I already have another job lined up. I can’t just change my mind now.” He really didn’t want to tell Joey everything.

“Can’t we at least try?” Joey's tone was like that of a parent speaking down to a child, and that made Henry furious.

“Fine. You want to know why I’m leaving, Joey? Here’s why. I’ve been telling you for months to hire more animators, but instead of actually listening, you gave me empty encouragement and dismissed me. It seems like you don’t listen to a word I say anymore. Working late all the time is hurting my relationship with Linda and my health. Sammy is giving me the silent treatment because apparently I’m your favourite, and even Wally seems to distancing himself from me. And I really don’t like the implication that you’re treating everyone else even worse than me!” Henry had let his voice rise to a yell. Quiet and calm again, he concluded, “Joey, I don’t know how long I could’ve kept this up, and I don’t like what working here has taught me about you. I’m sorry. So, that’s why.”

Joey stood up and turned to face the window. “Get out of my office, and out of my life,” he ordered, voice perfectly calm.

“Joey, I-"

“Get OUT of my office and out of my LIFE!” he screamed.

Henry left, disheartened but not surprised. At that moment, the blue orb landed in current-day Joey’s hands.

“You're nothing without me. You’ll never get anywhere without me,” Joey grumbled, though he wasn't sure Henry could even hear him. He turned around to reveal tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped them away quickly and sat down at his desk with pen and paper. “Okay, Joey. What are some positives to this situation?”

After a bit of consideration, he began to write.

1. I can finally change the studio’s name. 2. I can change my name and name the studio after myself. 3. I won’t have to share the glory when the studio gets popular. 4. I can find a new confidant that won’t be so damn ungrateful.

The scene changed to show the music department just as everyone was packing up for the day. Joey standing to the side, seemingly for no reason. He grabbed Jack’s shoulder as he walked by, mildly alarming him.

“Huh? Yes, Mr. Drew?” He looked anxious and guilty enough to make Joey wonder if he was actually hiding something.

“Jack! Just the guy I was looking for. Listen, I have some ideas for the company and the cartoons we’re about to release, and I need someone to bounce them off of. You’re a smart guy, why don’t we go get a drink and discuss em’?”

Tension left Jack’s body as he realized that he wasn’t in trouble. They began walking to the exit. “Uh, sure, I guess. Or we could just do it here.”

“No. I want to have a drink with you.”

Jack walked in silence a while. “If I can ask... why?”

Because Jack was quiet, diffident, down to earth, and creative, just like who he was meant to replace. As well, he was about as gentle and approachable a person as you could find, and Joey was still feeling pretty fragile. But of course, Joey couldn’t say that.

The scene changed back to Joey’s office. Sammy came in. “Alright. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve checked with everyone and I think we can make the adjustments you want before the deadline. Also, Jack asked me to tell you something.”

“Yes?”

“He isn't interested in your friendship. He didn’t think he could wrack up the nerve to tell you since you’re his boss, so he asked me to. Now please leave him alone. You've been bothering him for over a week.”

"Fair," Joey said, keeping a smile on his face as the light drained from his eyes. The rejection actually stung this time, since it was coming from Jack, who Joey had sought out because he'd seemed too soft to turn him down. Not that Jack had been a great replacement Henry, anyhow. Far too much of a pushover, far too afraid to have his own thoughts. He'd essentially just agreed with everything Joey had said. Henry might be hard to replace. At that moment, Joey realized that Henry hadn't just been the little friend he'd helped to build up. He was also possibly the closest friend that Joey had ever had. And Joey had driven him away.

The scene faded. This time, there was a door floating in the void. With everyone's memories watched, people could leave now. "I guess that's it," Joey said. He couldn't quite bring himself to meet Henry's eyes. He, along with everyone else, turned to the door. Sammy, Tom, Allison and Susie were making plans to meet after work to talk about how to handle the changes in Sammy and Susie's relationship. Lacie was pushing Bertrum's buttons over his worst memory. Grant asked Norman to meet with him after work. Norman wasn't usually the type to want to talk about his problems, but those cult memories had been a lot, and as Norman's only friend in the studio, Grant wanted to at least give him an opportunity to.

Henry caught Joey's arm before he could go through the door. "Hey. If that door does what we think it'll do, we're going to be back in separate states. Before we go, shouldn't we talk about all that?" Henry looked down to his shoes. "Y'know, unless you still want me out of your life."

For once, Joey had to fight to keep a smile off his face. "No, no. Let's talk."