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#i am slightly worried that me saying the others think of etho as just a fish will come across like im saying he fr is
kojitheopossum · 1 month
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I just needed to come say that I appreciate your siren au soooo much, especially the difference in how Bdubs views Etho vs how everyone else sees him. I just love that kind of silly taboo, oh the horrors and joys of monster/human romance. Especially a human like Bdubs who is the way that he is, no elaboration needed.
Your art is amazing, the writing is amazing, I'm excited to see where you go with it! And I love reading your really long posts about the nitty-gritty of the au! The devil's in the details, eh? Kudos to you!
- much love, birdie ^v^
tysm :DDD You're way too kind <3
It wasn't my initial intention with the au, but I've always found upbringings and experiences affecting people's perspectives to the extent it can affect literal perception fascinating, so it was bound to come up lmao. The next chapter will definitely establish where the view bdubs holds of etho being essentially just half a human comes from. From there the au more or less explores the good outcomes of this view (bestiess) and the not so good outcomes 👎👎
Again-- ur way too nice 😭 I'm not a writer so that means a lot, also yesssssss it makes me so happy to hear people actually read all my mad ramblings the devil is definitely in the details . or in that damn tank
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katkat030 · 2 months
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YOU HAVE A FANFIC????
GIMME GIMME GIMME
(a man after midnight--)
You are in for the ramble of all rambles >:D
Okay I am smiling from ear to ear right now prepare for me to talk (type?) your ears off
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it’s. yeah it's Ethubs. (ding ding! you got it *finger guns*)
I'm writing a fic based on the DBHC au (Detroit Become Hermitcraft au) story/comics by Shepscapades here on Tumblr! If you're not familiar with it, I highly recommend you check it out! I have SUCH brainrot and the storyline and art are so compelling.
Here's the masterpost if you wanna check it out once I'm done rambling!
I also want to stress this isn't my au - only the explanation and snippets of my little story is my own work. :) All credit goes to Shepscapades for all that and the brainrot
- DBHC spans Hermitcraft (seasons 8 and onwards) and the Life Series (note that all androids were absent from Third Life due to not being created yet)
- It makes use of the android mechanics from the video game Detroit Become Human <- don't worry about that part just yet though :)
- Most major post-Season 7 events seem to still be canon here, and there's a lot of other things going on in each of the androids' - and hermits' - lives (and trauma. </3. yeah. Etho and so many others are Going Through It), often as a consequence of those events.
Anyone new to the au should probably have a look at this illustrated guide post You don't have to read all of it, but I strongly suggest at least checking out the "Guide to Androids", "Deviancy" and even the "Interfacing" sections for proper context!
rambles under the cut >:) I promise I'm keeping it to a minimum. and then some snippets!!
(edit: the cut isn’t cutting, I think)
BASICALLY At some point around Season 8, Xisuma designs androids (like Mumbo, Etho, Impulse and Doc) to assign to some of the hermits (Grian, Bdubs, Pearl and Ren to name a few) for help with everything from building to terraforming. Everything goes relatively smoothly, up until... the androids begin to deviate. <- hence why I linked this post earlier!
This isn't entirely necessary for anything other than understanding the characters and the overarching narrative a bit more, but if you do want further context + cool art + a small break from my rambles, here (1), here (2) and here (3) are really good comics that sorta explain how DBHC Ethubs' relationship starts, and here (4) is the first part of Etho's first deviancy! uh. So like things happened here. Don’t worry about that being labelled first. Or it not being at all normal for an android to deviate twice. Or what situation caused it. Uh. Yeah. :’)
Otherwise you're welcome to just read on!
I'm writing an incredibly fluffy (and there's angst now too hehe) oneshot on the two of them.
They've been planting saplings for Bdubs’ Season 10 forest (Etho was originally designed to help with terraforming and that, after all) and it's late afternoon, so, Bdubs being Bdubs, he's tired.
And tired people are clingy, they let their guard down a bit, they start giving in slightly to things they don't have enough energy to fight.
Like the urge to reach out and go hey, come back, I actually want you to play with my hair, I want you to lie with me in the sunshine, I want to listen to the sound of your android heart (thirium pump) because it's a reassurance that even though my eyes are closed you're still nearby, I want you here, and I'm going to hang on to you because I don't ever want you to leave again.
I half-wrote that little summary of my fic a little while back as a proof of concept but. Yeah.
This is Bdubs talking, if it isn’t clear:
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>:) Not sure if you're familiar with how Bdubs' Last Life ended, and how it could have been avoided. Or how much I'm allowed to say on what happened afterwards until we cross over into spoilers territory. But uh. Yeah. Normal and fine and not at all insane over this. <- that's a blatant lie
Don't worry though!! I said fluff for a reason; I don't think this quite crosses over into "crack treated seriously" territory (only saying that because I'm sorta working on something Ethubs-related that 100% DOES hehe) but the second half is panning out to be incredibly silly. I just think they deserve it after everything they've been through (this post makes me all levels of insane.)
Aaaaaanyway, snippets :D
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Something I want to add: he isn’t entirely human. Like as much as he acts and feels and functions like one… yeah.
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Tired 👏people👏give👏into👏things👏they👏don’t👏have👏the👏energy👏to👏fight
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Bonus: a friend tried grabbing my phone from my hand while typing a little while ago and… this happened
OH I nearly forgot! It has a title :)
“home, home again (i like to be here when i can)”
song lyrics from Time by Pink Floyd (beware loud bells until about 40 seconds in)
I’ll publish it on ao3 under katkit03 when it’s done! May cross post it to tumblr for convenience :)
please lmk what you think, this is my first time writing a fanfic!!!
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e-to-the-v · 12 days
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So I was… kinda right? but mostly wrong lmao. You were probably laughing your head off at the last fluffy theory before taking a nosedive into angst. Yah. So have fun with this one!
My next wild guess string? We know Gem is trying to set them up. I’m thinking Joel ends up telling her about Lizzie. He’s super worried she won’t believe him, but even though she is confused, ends up comparing it to a widow. And how she would want him to be happy, and just because he fell in love again didn’t mean he stopped loving her.
Meanwhile Pearl starts noticing Etho putting on the whole ‘perfect fiancé’ act again, doing everything the kingdom wants and not what he does. “I learned the hard way, it’s pointless to go after what I want, it will only hurt me again” kinda thing. It’s definitely not healthy, and he’s suffering a lot. He’s also snapping when Joel is mentioned. She mentions this to Gem, who comes up with a plan to get them together again. Said plan may or may not involve them getting other couples (including themselves on accident) together.
Also the bad girls definitely know Etho’s in love with Joel by now, just saying. How better to get them to realize the way they feel about each other than fighting side by side, even when they’re deeply hurt by each other?
Also as a fellow scavenger of smalletho crumbs, Joel posted a new episode today and OH BOY were there crumbs (sort of, no interaction, but crumbs galore).
Crumbs galore is correct. I was literally so excited that Joel mentioned and then played ethos frogger game. What do you mean that’s the only breaking news you have. Also Joel being almost instantly good at it has gotta pave some way for a fic please.
But I realize I am grasping at straws at this point lol. I’m just going to have to consume compilations to get my boat boys fill. (And reread my two favorite fan fics. ‘burning flames or paradise’ and ‘somehow, I always end up back in Mariana’s trench’)
I was giggling when you were giving me fluff and I was writing angst lol. I promise next chapter will be slightly more fluffy (I say as I haven’t started writing it)
I’m thinking about taking a short pause on the boys and doing a one shot that’s scar dealing with his new found ‘I’m dating Mumbo’ realization. But idk
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College has stopped kicking my butt enough for me to post another chapter of the the Scattered au fic. this one is meant to be a parallel to last chapter, so you might want to reread that one.
scattered au is by @hermitcraftheadcanons and their community
reading tag list: still just @helleborusangel right now. Send an ask if you want to be added on.
Xisuma pulled himself out of the water, coughing a bit from what had gotten past his filter. He tried to look around only to squint at the light from the surface. He didn’t think he had swum that far up, but for all he knew, he was able to push himself that far to finally escape the warden. So when something suddenly attacked him and didn’t immediately kill him, Xisuma quickly fought back.
While initially swimming, he thought he had felt something though wasn’t sure, but this was much more clear. And slimelike, it seemed, since that’s what it felt like when he attacked it. But the following grunt of pain from the attacker sounded much more human like.
Xisuma did his best to focus on whatever was there, but he was seeing double. He looked back and forth, trying to tell if it was just from the intense lighting change or from there actually being two… things there. And it seemed it was the latter when the things looked at each other.
“Well, that’s probably not good.” The two things spoke in unison, which didn’t help the headache that Xisuma could feel coming on. Still, he was able to focus enough to get a good look at whatever was there and was a slime hybrid of sorts similar to Jevin, though instead of his very clearly blue slime, these two - one? They were more of a sea green. Plus from what Xisuma could guess, they were able to split like a regular slime, something Jevin couldn’t.
“Sorry.” Xisuma spoke up, it finally clicking in his mind that he had likely damaged them enough to make them split. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought you were attacking- I mean, maybe you were, but this does seem to be where you’re staying, so I guess I invaded your home a bit.”
“I guess. So, are you from around here?” The slime pair asked, making Xisuma shake his head. “Huh, neither am I… are we… This is the first time I’ve split so-”
Xisuma tilted his head a little. “I guess it is pretty safe here. Have you had any deaths so far?”
“I thought that was going to be my first.”
“So that would explain the lack of death messages as opposed to Gemini or Pearlescent. Do you know either of them?”
“No, sorry, not really.” The slime people answered. “Well, uh, there’s just enough here if you need basic tools, but not much else. I’ve got a pickaxe- crafting table.”
Xisuma looked between the two. “I think both would be nice. I spawned underground and had trouble with getting anything at all.” And before he could say more, the slime people were handing him those two items and a few more.
“You’re on your own for food though. Berries aren’t the most filling, so I’ve been eating them all up. They taste nice though.” And to prove their point, each of the slime people went after a berry, though they went after the same one and ended up fighting over it.
Xisuma nodded and went up to one of the walls. This would be much easier than getting the warden to do all his mining, seeing as how he would now be in control. He started to staircase out of the cave, placing what few torches he had until he found more coal. Technically he didn’t need to, but then something could spawn and head down and attack the slime pair. And Xisuma didn’t want to never return and just leave them there alone forever. So when he finally did get up to the surface, Xisuma went straight back down. “Are you sure you want to- er, what are you doing?”
The slime people looked back over to Xisuma and shrugged. “Trying to fuse back together or something. Why did you come back?”
Xisuma wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but the next thing he really knew, he was going back up towards the surface, his arms full from holding the slime pair, one cradled in each arm. Sure, they said they would be safe alone in the cave, but X couldn’t help the feeling that they wouldn’t be safe so far away. He was pretty sure it was just from his worry about everyone else, and this was just one person he could protect, but Xisuma couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on.
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Hypno leaned against Etho, who was doing surprisingly well considering their current situation. Both of them were low on hunger, only managing to stay alive from what little they could get from the flowers and grass they picked and ate. Etho somehow managed to find a pig wandering around and killed it for some raw pork, handing it to Hypno to eat. They couldn’t cook it, but Etho was less worried about the hunger the meat would satiate and more about the fact that Hypno wasn’t fully himself.
After the initial shock of finding horns on Hypno’s head, the pair looked him over. Hypno made mention of an ache at the base of his spine, and Etho found a few concerning bumps on Hypno’s upper back. Until they actively looked into it, Hypno hadn’t noticed anything wrong, which led to them checking Etho, and also giving the ninja something to plan for on his next respawns.
Etho was glad they didn’t notice much with him, but with little to do, he explained to Hypno his encounters with Ren, Impulse and Grian. Out of the three, Impulse had seemed the most normal, only having red eyes instead of the golden brown he usually sported. Ren had seemed fine at first, but then in the attack from the creeper, the shifter had killed Etho, acting like an attacked wolf. And then Grian for the most part had been acting like a bird, though near the end…
A moobloom trotted over, pulling Etho out of his thoughts. It nuzzled against Hypno, who happily reciprocated. Still worried about the other hermit and the effects the environment was having on him, Etho forcefully separated the two, needing to attack the animal to make it flee.
“What was that for Etho? It was just being friendly.”
“Right now, we need to be cautious of everything. Especially those cows and all the flowers around here. Because in case you forgot, growing horns like that is not normal. Plus, we could use the food right now.”
Hypno huffed. “We’ll use up more energy trying to kill it than we would get from anything it drops. It’s better to let us willingly help us than-”
Etho suddenly held up a finger to shush Hypno, letting them listen to the breeze. “Do you hear that?”
Hypno listened, only hearing a few moos from the nearby moobloom. “The cows?”
“Well, okay yeah. But it’s more what I’m not hearing.” And then Etho pulled out his communicator. Hypno watched as Etho stared at the screen, mask moving ever so slightly as he mouthed counting up. But nothing was happening. At first, Hypno didn’t get what was so important until he pulled out his own communicator. No death messages were coming in. Specifically none from Impulse.
“Impulse got out.” Hypno said, whispering in disbelief. “Someone must have found him.”
Etho nodded. “Yeah, but the question is who.” And then almost immediately, it was answered.
Zedaph was slain by impulseSV
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If there was one thing that was a benefit to respawning in the same place every time, it was the fact that no matter how many times Impulse died, the guardians wouldn’t disappear. Meaning that after a few attempts, he finally killed one of the monsters giving him grief. Just being able to slay one of them felt freeing with all the torment he was currently being put through, but that wasn’t the only benefit.
When the guardian died, it dropped two things, a prismarine shard and some cod. Impulse greedily grabbed at the items, stuffing the shard in his inventory and then stuffing the fish in his mouth. After not eating in so long, the fish seemed like the most heavenly food in the world, though Impulse had other ideas on why that was the case.
Here and there, guardians had completely ignored him. Sometimes he felt like he was getting a full breath of air even though he was still stuck in the water. He hadn’t missed the webbing between his fingers and toes growing each respawn nor the scales that appeared and itched like crazy. Half of Impulse would have preferred drowning forever instead of whatever this was, but his other half realized that it was likely his only way out.
Another respawn left him fumbling for his prismarine shard, using it to dig into the nearby blocks. Along with the claw-like nails he had gained, Impulse was able to break another block, making him smile at first, but then his expression dropped. With the way the temples were constructed, the walls weren’t that thick. Instead of gaining an air pocket, he had just broken into another chamber.
“Impulse.”
In anger, Impulse took the prismarine shard and used it against the next guardian he saw.
“Impulse.”
He started by using it like a knife and jamming it into the eye of the beast, making it flail and spread its spikes.
“Impulse.”
As the world around him seemed to fade into blues and golds, Impulse kept attacking, needing to get his anger out somehow.
“Impulse. Impulse. Impulse.” And then Impulse felt like he was falling, but he still thrashed around, trying to stop whatever it was. Then the next thing he knew, it was like gravity had increased drastically, leaving him pressed against the floor. Something moved and he attacked it, surprised to find it feeling much fluffier than the guardians had been. There was a sound, like someone talking, but why would anyone be talking with him stuck all alone. Etho maybe? Was he back?
As the creature died in his hands, Impulse looked towards the sound. The first thing he noticed was that Etho’s eyes were now both red. Even the sclera were red. He had also dyed his hair blond, and gotten rid of his mask, and well that wasn’t Etho at all. Impulse kicked his legs to try and swim closer, only to finally realize he wasn’t underwater anymore.
The moment Impulse realized he was out of the sea temple, he started taking gulps of air. His lungs had already started breathing it all, but now he was trying to get as much oxygen as he could before he drowned again. A part in the back of his mind told him he couldn’t drown right now, but his mental state wasn’t the best right now.
“Hey Impulse. Calming down now?” Tango was asking, and Impulse looked over, glad to see his friend. He nodded, which got Tango to smile before looking off towards the horizon. Impulse briefly followed Tango’s eyes before his hand moved and he felt the soft wool of the carpets beneath him. It almost felt overwhelming how different it was compared to the past week plus that he had been stuck in the temple. But it was also good, so he wrapped himself up before following Tango’s eyes once more.
“What’s that way?” Impulse spoke, voice feeling unfamiliar from disuse and possibly alterations that matched everything else going on with him.
“Zed. I’m hoping he’ll be able to find us again since I have made a bit of a path.”
Impulse tilted his head before noticing his inventory had many more items. “Did he get killed or something?”
“Yeah, you sort of killed him when we first summoned you in.” Tango explained, and Impulse felt horrified. Him? Kill Zedaph? For a prank or something, sure, that was believable, But this had been from pure bloodlust at the time.
“I killed him? Oh no! I didn’t know! It had been a guardian at first, and then I was falling, and then I was-”
“Hey, calm down.” Tango replied. He took a step toward Impulse, obviously to comfort him, but then Impulse was surprised to see his friend change their mind and step back again. “Zed and I figured something like this might happen. We would have made beds to set our spawn, but we haven’t been collecting wool that much, so at most we would have had just one piece.”
Impulse chucked a little after realizing there were no sheep around. “What? Did Zedaph finally grow his hair out enough?” And he expected Tango to laugh in return, but the frown that appeared didn’t bode well.
“Impulse, do you… realize what you look like?” Tango asked, and then Impulse looked down at his hand and flexed it.
“What’s happened with Zedaph?”
Tango took a few steps to the side and a moment later the nearby leaves of a tree caught fire. “Zed and I have had both of our more animal-esque traits acting up. I’m burning just about any flammable thing that gets close to me and his wool is growing out of control. There’s other stuff too but…”
“But even if you’re not ending up like me, you’re still dealing with your own things.”
“Hey! I’m back! And it looks like Impulse has not killed you!”
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Hels cut down a hoglin that was in the way of he and Wels as they travelled the nether. Wels was reluctantly following, his copy being the only reason he was doing so well right now. Well that, and the fact that he was promising some sort of shelter. They went a bit further, and then Wels spotted something that was clearly man made, making him try to run forward for shelter before he was grabbed by Hels. “Don’t run ahead idiot. I just know that you’ll manage to die if you try that and we’ll have to start all over.”
“Well I’m sure I could find a way to survive fine on my own.”
“Sure you could.” Hels said, obviously sarcastic. “And your death messages make that so very believable. Tell me, have you noticed anything odd about your situation, other than being stuck in the nether.”
“Well, chat hasn’t been working right and I can’t regenerate my health.”
“Right… Well, what have you been eating?” Hels asked as they finally reached the door to the helsmit’s base, opening it to let Wels inside.
“Mainly crimson fungi or the rare pork if I can chip enough health away from a hoglin.” Wels answered, linking himself to the respawn anchor sitting inside.
“That fungi is only edible to hoglins you know.” Hels said, closing the door and then crossing his arms.
“Well obviously that’s not the case here.” And then Wels made his point by munching down on a mushroom he still had in his inventory.
Hels pursed his lips before yanking the fungi out of Wels’ hand and then smashing the knight’s head against a nearby wall. “Spit that out right now or I’ll go again until I break your tusks.”
“My what?” Wels asked, reluctantly spitting out the half chewed fungus.
“You’re an idiot. How did you not notice you were growing tusks?”
And Wels didn’t have an answer, just letting his hand go to his mouth and feel what were definitely tusks. “When did-”
“Who knows. My guess is it's something with this world. It’s not like any of us want to be here.”
Wels looked back over to Hels at that comment, a questioning look on his face. “Evil Xisuma approached me a few weeks ago. He was planning to get into the new season before the rest of you so he could keep from getting banned and put some action into play with his brother and a number of the other hermits. I wasn’t as interested in his plan, but having fun on the server on my own seemed like a good idea to me. A few others were planning to join us, but I’m sure they haven’t followed along. So as far as I’m aware, it is only Evil Xisuma and I trapped here with all of you.”
“Well, at the very least neither of us are stuck here alone.” Wels spoke, trying to give a positive spin on things.
“I would have preferred to be alone.” Hels replied. “You’ll use up more of my resources. That being said, my guess is you’re necessary for whatever is going on around here to stop. So until that’s fixed or I learn otherwise, I am reluctantly helping you.”
“Alright, that sounds fine for now. And you said Evil Xisuma is here too, correct? Any clue where he could be?”
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Bdubs stared down at the void below his feet, glad to have stopped moving, though his gut was still getting used to that change. The guy in pink armor next to him was reluctantly patting his back as another wave of nausea hit and he started to dry heave. “Th-Thanks.”
“Whatever. I just know what being stuck in the void is like so I have a little sympathy.”
“Well glad to know I’m not the only one stuck in this situation. Not that that’s a good thing.”
“Right.” The armored person deadpanned, looking down at the void as well.
Bdubs was quiet for a little before looking over to his savior. “So then, I don’t really think I caught your name in all our yelling to heave both of us up here.”
The other person raised an eyebrow at Bdubs, as if to ask if he was serious, then being a little surprised when he was. The person hesitated, looking down, not to the void but more at their lap, then a hand fiddled with their hair before they finally looked back at Bdubs. “Name’s Xannes.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Bdubs!” And he held out a hand, pausing as he noticed the state it was in.
Xannes took the hand carefully and shook it, before helping it back to Bdubs’ side. “Side effect of the void. I’m more protected because of my armor, but you don’t have that.”
“Well now I’m actually upset about not having armor, even if it were pink.”
Xannes looked incredulous at that before putting his hands on his hips. “Hey, this is simply a… lightish red.”
“You mean pink.”
“Lightish. Red.”
“Lightish red is red mixed with white. And what does that give you? Pink. You’ve got pink armor.”
“Alright, so maybe it’s supposed to be pink.” Xannes conceded. “But my color is red, and this isn’t my armor, I’m simply borrowing it. So for anyone else, it would be pink, but as long as I wear it, it’s a lightish red.”
“Whatever you say.”
Xannes sighed and then carefully took Bdubs’ hand again. “Alright, so looking again, this doesn’t quite look as natural as being stuck in the voice can make it. Obviously that’s because none of this is natural. Even though it wouldn’t help me in the long run if it were working, I have tested plenty with my communicator and learned a number of things. First, we are not the only ones in a situation like this.”
“Yeah.” Bdubs agreed. “I already met Scar stuck on one of the islands below.”
“Noted.” Xannes nodded. “Well, others have similar odd spawns. I- Someone named Impulse had been stuck in a guardian temple, a Docm77 has been sent to his death by goats. X-Xisuma has been dealing with a warden.” Xannes started to explain, voice getting quieter at the last example, though Bdubs didn’t notice.
“And the void stuff?”
“If I knew more about what was going on, I could tell you. But as it stands, I can just tell your limbs seem to have a form of void-bite and your eyes are as dark as the void itself.”
Bdubs leaned back a little in shock at the comment. “Wait, really?” And then he was fishing into his shirt before pulling out a knife, Xannes’ eyes widening at the weapon. Bdubs held the blade up, briefly putting it back down to shine it against his shirt before using it as a mirror and then staring into it. Sure enough, his eyes seemed to go on forever into their sockets, pure darkness filling them.
“How many knives do you have?” Xannes asked, tearing Bdubs’ gaze from the weapon.
“Huh? Oh, I’ve got plenty. Want one?” And he pulled out another, only the tiniest bit worried about being stabbed by the unfamiliar person. But instead of stabbing him, Xannes simply threw the knife off the edge, watching it fall down. “What was that for?”
Xannes didn’t really reply, just holding a finger up for Bdubs to wait. Reluctantly, he did, but then got restless as time seemed to drag on. Any time he attempted to talk, he would just get shushed, making it feel even worse. Finally, out of nowhere, the knife suddenly fell past them, making Bdubs jump back enough that he nearly fell off their gateway and into the void, but Xannes grabbed him before that could happen and pulled him back in.
“Well then, it seems like a loop around the void lasts around two and a half minutes.” Xannes stated, shifting to turn his body and move to a different part of the gateway. “I guess it would be less on a second loop after already reaching terminal velocity, but it's good to know. I know something has been flying past here ever so often but I was still sort of stuck on the side of this thing for most of it, then I was dealing with you, so… you get the idea.”
“You telling me everything’s looping up and down like us?” Bdubs asked, looking around the sky, or what passed for it in the end.
“Us and anything non-living. I’ve already seen that there have been three void related deaths by Scar, Etho and TinFoilChef.”
“Well so far I’ve only seen Scar and you.” Bdubs replied. “I guess those other two are stuck around here too.”
“The chef, yes, but I’m not so sure about the other.” And Xannes handed his comm to Bdubs, showing a list of death messages, all belonging to Etho. “I have a function that lets me sort these messages. It’s very handy.” And then he reached off to the side, catching a comm as it fell from the air. “And this would be yours. I’ve seen it here and there… To be honest, it seems like it takes more than two or so minutes. We might need to test more.”
Bdubs swapped their communicators before looking down at the abyss below. “Well, Scar’s somewhere down there, I already found him once. I’m gonna see if I can get to him again and you can do whatever while I’m falling.”
Xannes rubbed his chin and then nodded. “Alright, go ahead. I’ll look out for you. If you respawn, wait a loop for me to catch you because I don’t have omniscient reaction time.”
“Sounds good to me.” Bdubs replied with a smile, then jumped into the void once more, ignoring the fear that came with it.
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Scar rolled around on the end stone, trying to get to sleep. Sure, beds didn’t work in the end, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t sleep. It just wasn’t restful enough to keep phantoms away or set a spawn. Not like he needed to set a spawn three blocks away from his current one.
But right now, there was too much noise. The endermen were slowly losing their cool with Scar and he was also hearing the whispering of the vex. To be honest, that was probably why huge endermen were acting as they were. Void magic didn’t like to work with other magic.
But even with all of that, Scar really wanted to sleep for another reason. The whispers of the vex weren’t the only new thing with him. He had polished the pillar near him as just something to do other than wait around. The end rod in particular he shined until it was just mirror-like enough that he saw his green eyes were now vex blue. From that, he checked himself over a bit more and found that his eyes weren’t the only change. He seemed to be an inch or three shorter and his skin was definitely paler than before. He didn’t have wings again, but he knew it would only be a matter of time.
Scar really didn’t want to use any more help from the vex yet, knowing it would speed things up. He wanted to keep hope out for seeing Bdubs again before doing anything since it could be his last chance before a deal was needed once more. If he could just-
“Convex.” A much clearer whisper spoke, making Scar jump a little. “Are you sure a deal is such a bad thing at this stage in time?”
“Oh no no no no no.” Scar insisted, standing up and waving his hands in refusal. “I’m sure I’ll be better use to my friends if I’m not mostly stuck working with you guys.”
“What if you were not working for us?” The whisper asked, making Scar pause.
“Wait? I’m Convex because I can’t become true vex because of Xisuma and him tainting me and Cub with the void or something. I would think now being stuck in the end would make it worse, not better!”
“You still cannot, that is true. But a new evoker is being trained, one also tainted by the void. And I believe you would want to work with them.”
Scar inhaled sharply at the implication, knowing that it must be a hermit they were referring to. He fumbled in pulling his communicator out and then scrolled through all the death messages before finally seeing what he wanted. Death messages to vindicators and evokers, both about Mumbo. “So clarification on this deal?”
“You will still be considered Convex, but on a higher level than before. Not quite at the level of standard vex however. But during this, you will be linked to the new evoker, and cannot be released unless they themselves will it. And you should not will your release either.”
“Yeah, yeah, if that’s all, sure!” Scar agreed quickly, so excited he didn’t really take the time to think it over. Then suddenly he could feel more magic flowing into him. So much it felt like a red hot iron pressed all over his body, especially at his scars. And then it was gone, and he was left panting on the ground.
He didn’t know how long he had been there, but suddenly his name was shouted and Scar managed to lift his head up. He saw Bdubs rocking down towards him again and suddenly felt stronger again, getting a burst of energy and moving towards the builder. New wings spread from his back and let him fly, keeping him above the void as he grabbed his friend and then slowed them before reaching the abyss below, then slowly dragging them back up.
“Bdubs! Are you okay?!” Scar asked the moment they were both on the endstone, only staying on his feet for a second before his knees buckled beneath him.
“Am I okay? Am I okay?! I’m on the sweet sweet ground again!” And then he kissed the stone beneath him. “What about you? You look… not Scar but sound normal.”
“I can explain more in a bit. There’s an end city just over that way and I want to get something so we can start towards the main island. I’ll see if there’s elytra for you.”
“Oh no. I don’t think I ever want to fly again. If anyone, give it to Xannes.”
“Who?”
“Okay, guess my story first.”
.
.
.
On the main island, TFC dodged another attack from the dragon. She had been attacking less frequently, which was good and bad in his eyes. No attacking meant less dying, but TFC needed her attacks to even attempt destroying all the crystals. Because there was no way she was dying to fists alone with them still around.
That all being said, TFC had a sneaking suspicion on why exactly that was happening. His prosthetics were built to match his remaining limbs in function, but gradually over the past few respawns, they were becoming off balance. In trying to fix them, TFC realized he was less human than before, claws on his hands and feet, and tenderness at his tailbone and shoulder blades.
TFC was old, that much was true. And because of that, he had seen all sorts of situations. While for the most part the problems of this world were new to TFC, adaptations were not. A number of present day hybrids were a result of that. Heck, mob variants were also sourced from suce and occurrence. So yeah, TFC was not too surprised about seemingly becoming a dragon hybrid.
Thinking it over, in the long run it would likely give him just enough of an upper hand to defeat the dragon, but there was also the concern of how long it would take to get to that point and how far these alterations would go. If this went too far, the world itself could mistake him for a new ender dragon, and even after killing the real one, no portal would form due to his existence.
Well, if that was the case, he would need to figure out what it was that made the existence of the dragon close the portal and see if he could reverse it. Especially since he recalled at least one or two hermits were supposed to be stuck in the end with him. Though that did give him another idea. Maybe he didn’t have to keep fighting if the dragon opened the portal herself.
The next time TFC respawned, he waited, giving her time to rest. When he was sure the dragon was fully healed again, the miner made his way to the podium and waited. The dragon swooped a few times, giving some warning shots, but she didn’t attack TFC directly, and he made no move to attack the crystals. She didn’t look happy, but TFC had plenty of time to wait.
.
.
.
In a bout of frustration, ink was spilled over the floor, making Mumbo even more frustrated than before. He didn’t understand the need for learning another language just for spells. He was sure that knowing the characters that appeared with enchanting would be enough, but apparently the illagers had their own writing system. At the very least, Mumbo recognized a character or two that Scar or Cub must have had written down, but it still felt like he was learning a new language from scratch.
With ink all over the place, Mumbo paused to work on cleaning everything up. He had ruined nearly all his materials, so now he would have to attempt to get more or find an illager who would assist him in such a task. Paper was easy enough to get, a farm already set up in the mansion, but Mumbo hadn’t automated it yet, so there wasn’t going to be much to reap. And squid ink wasn’t something they just had on hand.
Mumbo reached the farming room and grabbed what sugarcane had grown, taking the reeds over to a crafting table then cutting and pressing them into paper. He only managed to make six pages from all of that and didn’t have the material to bind them into a book.Instead of leaving the room, Mumbo put the paper into a nearby chest and then pulled out his redstone materials.
As Mumbo built, he decided to multitask by using redstone dust to practice some of the characters he needed to learn. He couldn’t remember the normal order of the characters, so he just wrote them at random. He never really focused on the characters, so he didn’t notice when a few in a line started to glow a bit. In fact, he was just pausing his writing to work on fixing a bit of redstone, his head stuck in the contraption.
His hand blindly reached for some string to add as a tripwire, but he was about half a foot to the wrong side of his pile of materials. When Mumbo’s hand started to go further, it was stopped by some thread being placed in his hand. The redstoner said his thanks and then strung it up before pausing and pulling his head out.
Standing nearby was someone Mumbo immediately recognized, not knowing anyone else with a bright red sweater like that. Not caring that he was currently covered in redstone dust, Mumbo jumped at the newcomer and hugged them tightly, so glad to see a familiar face. “Grian! You’re okay! How did you get here? Where are the bots? Are you alright?”
But pulling away again, Mumbo watched as Grian just blinked at him, seeming a little confused. “I think you may be mistaken and confused, my mustachioed friend. I mean, I am okay and I got here because of you, but I’m not sure what you mean by bots and well, you were trying to take to someone named Grian.”
Mumbo furrowed his brows. Looking them over again, he could tell this had to be Grian. His clothes and hair and everything were the same. He couldn’t quite tell about their eyes because they were wearing a mask, but it matched the one he had seen Grian with in the past, a black mark on its face instead of the purple Eflyn expected. The only thing unfamiliar were the wings. Shape and pattern wise, they matched the wings Grian had, but the colors of the feathers were no longer red yellow and blue, but purple grey and black.
“Well then. If you’re not Grian, then who are you?” Mumbo asked, and the person giggled slightly.
“I could have swore you already knew, but I guess not. The name is Xelqua, but don’t go throwing it around to just anyone.” And just hearing it reminded Mumbo. It had been a name Grian had told him before.
“Well, if you don’t want me throwing it around, I’m going to have to call you something.” Mumbo spoke up, Xelqua seeming to agree. “Since I already mistook you for him and he’s not around, how about I call you Grian.”
“Hmm.” Grian thought about it before shaking his head. “Just you and me, you can call me Xelqua. Otherwise just Watcher is fine, okay?”
“But I-” Mumbo started to say, and then there was a clatter, making Mumbo and Grian look over at the door where Eflyn was standing.
“Well. It seems we have another guest then…”
.
.
.
Joe had paused in his material gathering. It was just going to be for a little bit, but he needed to clear his head. And the best idea he had for that was climbing the tower at spawn the correct way. Sure, he could try climbing from the outside or something, finding a window, but at this point these were definitely Watchers, and Joe was very much aware that they were not to be messed with.
Joe needed to pause on a platform to hold his head, a headache forming. It had been coming and going for a while, but it didn’t feel so bad now, the tower already lit up pretty well. As he waited, his other hand clutched at the wall as best it could, just feeling the texture of the wall, as if to check that it was real. “Guess you really couldn’t have been swayed, now could you?” Joe asked, speaking into the empty air around him. “Well maybe after this mess we can try it again.”
Joe climbed a few more parts of the parkour that acted as steps before nearly falling to a sudden splitting headache. He half considered letting go and trying again, there being enough hay lining the floor below to break his fall, but he had already gotten so far. And maybe if he could get to the top of the tower…
It had been ages ago when Joe had first met a Watcher. From what he could tell, it was even the first Watcher to exist. One that eventually disappeared to time that not even the other Watchers knew what happened. He wasn’t an expert of whatever the Watchers exactly were, but it had been enough that he recognized Grian as one pretty quickly when they first met in season six. Though that was partially from that not being their first meeting.
Yes, Joe had been along for a very long time. Which is why he was not happy with everything going on. But he had a bargaining chip in the form of knowledge, so getting to the top might be the one place to try and use it.
His headache passed and the glow from his eyes faded. Joe pulled himself back onto the platform and then adjusted his glasses. Just a bit more to go until he was at the top.
.
.
.
Doc woke up in a wood hut, lying in a bed. His back and head hurt, getting worse when he attempted to move to get up. He tried to remember what happened last, but suddenly being knocked unconscious wasn’t the best thing to try and remember. Looking around in a way that didn’t hurt as much, he was able to see a chest as well as something lying on the ground to his right.
Some crackling implied there was also a furnace running nearby. Mixed with that was some slight banging of metal from crafting and the hum of a tune that was familiar to Doc, but he couldn’t quite place it.
Another attempt to sit up left Doc yelp slightly in pain, stopping the humming and crafting sounds, getting replaced with footsteps that came towards him. “Are you awake this time?”
“Grumbot?” Doc asked, vaguely recognizing the robot that appeared in front of him. He only really distinctly knew his larger form, only seeing him and his brother at this size when they were just about to leave their previous world.
“Yeah. looks like you are. We have some bread if you’re hungry.” Grum spoke in a quiet voice that felt so odd compared to how energetic the hermits usually were. That being said, it had been a while since he had seen anyone else, so it might have just been from what others were dealing with. “I also left some of the wheat as wheat if you prefer that.”
“What? Why would I want that? Bread sounds fine.”
“Okay, I wasn’t sure if you were like dad or not.” Grum said before he went over to the chest, giving Doc a moment to think things over.
“Dad as in Grian or Mumbo?”
“Grian.” Grum answered, pulling out some food. “He was with us on the mountain. Everything was getting to him, so he started eating seeds instead of other stuff.”
“Okay. Is he out getting supplies or something?” Doc asked and then Grum’s face shifted to something sadder. “What happened to Grian?”
“I don’t know.” Grum spoke, managing to be quieter than before. “He just disappeared and Jrum and I were stuck alone on the mountain. And then I messed up.” And it took all of Doc’s willpower to not sit up and possibly hurt himself in the process with how sad Grum sounded in that moment.
“Why? What happened?”
“Someone figured out how to send messages in chat by accident. Jrum and I noticed, and we were going to try it out for ourselves, but it didn’t go right. And now Jrum… Jrum didn’t respawn right.”
And with that comment, Doc realized what was on the ground nearby. Jrum’s body was laid out, screen dark and body unmoving. “How long has he been like that?”
“A few days I think. It got really snowy so I couldn’t quite tell. Then I got busy digging through the snow until I found some ice to break.”
“And that must have been the waterfall I took down off the mountain.” Doc said, making Grum look a little sheepish.
“Sorry about hitting you when I fell. I freaked out a bit and then you were there and I couldn’t react in time. I’m sure if it was anyone else, they would have been in worse shape.”
“Why’s that?” Doc asked, though he had an idea based on which side of him ached more.
“Well, your metal parts helped protect you plus I think your thicker skull helped from a concussion.”
“My what?”
“Oh, I thought you…” Grum said, trailing off. “Um, so I think more weird stuff is happening than just being stuck wherever.”
“Yeah, I knew that.” Doc said. “Creeper instincts have been kicking in like crazy.”
“Well, your death messages mentioned goats a lot. It looks like because of that, you’ve started turning into a goat hybrid as well.”
“I’ve what?” Doc asked, incredulously. He ignored the pain from moving when he started feeling himself over, finally finding horns coming from his head. “Oh… huh…”
Grum forced Doc back down to a resting position before feeding him some bread. Here, how about I tell you what I know about, then you can tell me what you know.
“Sounds good to me.”
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If you have any idea, any existing ideas whatsoever that you want an excuse to write to continue the Tango glitch fic storyline, PLEASE -
(however if the horror of a forever uncertain fate is what you were aiming for in the first place I VIBE WITH THAT SO HARD feel no pressure to continue if the story is done)
thanks Shade for the idea! i saw your other ask and i like the general idea of it :)
(also as much as i like uncertain endings the anxiety in me needs arcs like this to have a proper ending. how happy that ending is is up to my creativity :3)
first part
second part
Tango steps through the doorway.
And vanishes.
Impulse lets out a choked sob and buries his face in his hands. Brody numbly puts his arm around his friend’s shoulder. Alone on the other side of the door, Etho slowly sinks to his knees.
Tango is gone. Forever.
“No!” Impulse wails into his hands. “Nooooo!”
Even Brody can’t hold the tears back.
All three of them blame themselves. Maybe if Impulse hadn’t killed him during the game… Maybe if Brody had done better with the doorway… Maybe if Etho had tried harder to dissuade him from going first…
...maybe Tango would still be here.
This doesn’t feel real. How can Tango, a friend they’ve had for years, more years than they can count, just be GONE? So quickly? So abruptly? So… So FINALLY? He was here just seconds ago, talking and moving, eyes full of life and emotion. And now…
Gone.
Etho stares through the doorway with hollow eyes. Not only is his close friend gone but now… now it’s proven that he’s stuck in here. Alone. Forever. He can’t follow Tango without meeting the same fate.
“What do we do now…?” asks Brody quietly.
It takes Etho a moment to realise that Brody is looking to him for guidance.
“I… I don’t… know…” Etho forces himself to breathe. “I-I guess I can’t come through the door. But I can’t stay here forever either. I guess it’s a case of picking death or a fate worse than death.”
His eyes flicker to Impulse, who is still crying into his hands. He has to blink back tears of his own as his heart aches, not just for his lost friend but for Impulse, who has lost his BEST friend. Can he in good conscience force his own death on Impulse as well? To lose one close friend in one day is bad, but two could break him.
But is a fate worse than death really preferable?
“Impulse,” Etho says softly. “Look at me.”
After a moment, Impulse raises his head and looks at him with red, puffy eyes. “Please don’t leave me,” he croaks. “I can’t… I can’t lose you too.”
Etho reaches out with his hand, palm towards Impulse, almost but not quite touching the doorway. Impulse mimics the movement with his own hand. It’s almost like they’re simply on either side of a window: able to see each other but not to touch.
Fresh tears spring to Impulse’s eyes.
They both know this is goodbye, one way or another.
“Am I closing the doorway, Etho?” Brody asks quietly.
He’s asking Etho what he wants to do.
“Yes."
“Are you sure? You know that once it’s closed, I might never be able to open it again?”
“Yes,” Etho says again. “I know it’ll be hard, but I-.”
“WAIT! STOP!”
Impulse jerks sharply and spins around at the familiar yell.
There’s no way it’s him, there’s no way he’s here, there’s no way it’s him, there’s no way he’s alive, there’s no way-
“Tango!” Brody gasps.
In the doorway to the lobby stands Tango, with someone Brody has never met before behind him: Xisumavoid.
Mouth open and tears still dripping uncontrollably from his eyes, Impulse scrambles to his feet and tackles Tango in a tight hug, unable to believe Tango is here.
“You’re okay…!” he cries. “I can’t believe you’re okay…!”
“I’m sorry,” Tango whispers back. “I’m so sorry for doing that to you. But I’m okay.”
“H-How…?”
“Later,” says Xisuma firmly, approaching the door. “Etho, come through the door.”
Etho’s eyes widen. “What?!”
“Trust me, it’s safe. It’ll take you back to Hermitcraft.”
“A-Are you sure?”
“That’s what happened to me,” says Tango, still hugging Impulse. “It sent me straight back to my last respawn point on Hermitcraft. I don’t know how and I don’t know why. But it should do the same to you.”
It’s the ultimate trust test. Does Etho trust the word of his friends?
Yes, he decides. He does.
Seeing the look in Etho’s eyes change, Xisuma nods. “See you back on Hermitcraft.”
Etho nods back and, after taking a deep breath, steps through the doorway.
He vanishes, just like Tango did.
“Everyone back to Hermitcraft,” Xisuma orders.
Tango releases Impulse and is immediately enveloped in a hug from Brody. “Don’t you dare make me grieve for you ever again, you asshole,” he mutters.
“Wasn’t my intention, trust me.” Tango can feel Brody trembling slightly. “But I won’t.”
After saying goodbye to Brody, the three Hermits head back to their server. Impulse’s head is spinning and his legs feel weak. He may faint at any moment.
“Are you okay?” Tango asks him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I never imagined I’d be sent straight back here. I thought I was either gonna just walk straight through or immediately get my face obliterated. I-.”
He breaks off as Impulse again pulls him into a hug. “Impy? Buddy?”
“I never wanna lose you again,” Impulse whispers. “Ever.”
Tango wordlessly hugs him back.
After a few minutes of the two just holding each other and recovering from the fact that they were almost separated forever, someone else joins the hug, wrapping their arms around both of them.
“Etho!” Tango beams and pulls him in. “You got back! Are you okay?”
Etho nods. “I’m okay, I’m okay. A little mentally scarred, but I’ll live.”
“Me too.”
“I’m so glad you guys are okay,” Impulse breathes. “For a horrible, horrible moment back there, I thought I’d lost both of you forever. That was so, so scary. Why did the doorway do that?”
“The game likely freaked out at having a dead player try to cross into the lobby without going through the normal resurrection protocols,” Etho responds, “and ejected us completely back to our normal world.”
“Thank god it did,” says Tango, shivering.
Impulse nods and holds his friends tighter to him, almost afraid that they would be ripped away from him at any moment.
“Yeah, thank god.”
“-then Etho turned up and everything was okay,” Tango finishes. “Well, KINDA okay.”
“What do you mean?” asks Zedaph, munching on the cookie Tango gave him.
“We’re physically fine, but I’m pretty sure at the very least, Impulse and I are scarred for life. I don’t even wanna think about what that might’ve done to Brody and Etho too. It’s got to the point where every time I even think about Among Us, I get a chill down my spine.”
Zedaph gives him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. That sounds horrible.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE the game. It’s a lot of fun. I just… I don’t know if I can go back there after what happened. I don’t know if I can trust it anymore.”
After a moment, Zedaph says, “What if I went with you?”
Tango glances at him in surprise. “Really? I thought you said you never wanted to play.”
“I said I had no interest in playing but that was a while ago. Honestly, I’ve kinda wanted to play with you guys for a while and this is just the excuse I need.” Zedaph squeezes his best friend’s hand. “I know how much you love that game, Tango. If I can do anything to help you feel comfortable with it again, I’ll do it.”
“Oh, Zed…” Tango smiles gratefully and hugs his best friend. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Zedaph continues to hold his best friend, his mind already on the game he’s avoided playing for so long.
He likes glitches. They make life fun. Unpredictable. But not this time, not for his best friends. There may be some more glitches when Zedaph joins the Among Us crew, but he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure these glitches are only for fun.
He won’t let the game hurt Tango or Impulse ever again.
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melon-wing · 4 years
Text
My Captain [Pirate AU]
[PIRATE AU MASTERLIST] This is part two of @gridoc ‘s birthday present, also based on a wonderful commission she did for me! This is set way after the other stories, when Grian just left the navy and joined Doc’s crew
~*~
Grian stood at the railing of the ship, looking at the first rays of the sun peaking out at the horizon, searching for any sign of a navy ship. He was now part of Doc’s crew… And wasn’t this a weird thing to even think about, let alone say out loud? Sure, he had wanted to do it. He never did anything this rash without thinking about it… It was still weird. Especially in situations like these, everyone asleep but him, the safety of a whole pirate crew in his hands.
He had been the last one to take the night shift and it was always a challenge for him, standing out here all alone with nothing but his thoughts keeping him company. He was only glad the others trusted him enough to put him on the night shift at all. It really spoke louder than a thousand words.
He heard the creak of a door and steps, making him tense a bit. He took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to relax again, before turning around.
Ren stood a few steps towards him, a bright smile on his face. Ren was always the first one to get up on deck and he was the only one who was always bright and cheery right after getting up. Ren walked up to him, but stopped about a metre away, leaving him his space, just like he always did. And Grian was thankful for that.
“Did anything happen? Any ships? Any scary magical feelings?”
Grian shook his head. “I would have called you if that was the case.”
Ren nodded and stretched a bit. “Good, good. Doc should be out and about in a few along with the rest of the crew.” Ren looked at him for a while, as if he wanted to say something but held back. Grian was pretty sure it was something concerning Doc and he was really glad that Ren never actually went through with asking. Because he might have joined the crew to get away from the navy, but he still got confused everytime he thought about his relationship with the crew’s captain. And they all must have noticed.
“Not now, Ren.”
“That’s what you say every time. One day you’ll need to talk about it… Or at least think about it.”
“There’s not a day I don’t think about it.” Grian smiled and looked at the sea, his loose hair flying in the wind. “I owe your Captain my life after all. He came when no one else did. He’s… He’s important to me. I just don’t know if I really...”
Grian stopped himself when the door to the deck opened again and Doc stepped out. His smile widened a bit, a warm feeling entering his chest as he looked at his… the Captain. Doc was rubbing his eye, his hair was a mess, his clothes dishevelled and a deep frown showed that he had probably once more been kicked out of bed by either Etho or False. Going by the size of that frown it had probably been Etho and Doc had most likely already heard more than one bad joke this early in the morning.
When Grian turned his gaze back, he realised that Ren was looking at him knowingly, a wide smirk on his face, arms crossed in front of his chest, one eyebrow raised. And Grian immediately knew what that look meant. “Oh, shut up.”
“I’m not saying anything”, Ren replied in a sing-song voice.
“You were thinking about it! Stop that!” Grian grumbled and when Ren started laughing he threw his hands up in frustration and walked to the door leading below deck. It was his turn to get some sleep while the rest of the crew started working.
This also meant he had to walk past Doc. Grian realised with annoyance that his heart started beating a bit faster the closer he got.
“Doc”, he said shortly when he was a few steps away from Doc.
He would never get used to this, the way Doc’s head snapped up to look at him, the way just uttering one word made Doc smile so brightly, his eyes sparkling with uncontainable joy.
Doc behaved so differently around him than around any other member of his crew, keeping him at the back at each and every battle. And Grian hated that. He was one of the best fighters on this ship. He had proven that, when he had defeated Doc a few years back. But Doc treated him like he was made out of glass and unable to protect himself.
“Grian, are you...”
“Going to bed. See you when we hit land”, Grian just replied shortly.
Grian didn’t look back when he went below deck, the route already so familiar. He walked past the Captain’s cabin and then stopped at the next door. This room totally wasn’t the place a newcomer like him deserved or would have gotten if it had been anyone but him. It was a miracle the rest of the crew didn’t hate him for this blatant favouritism.
Grian sighed and stepped into the room, taking off his belt and weapons, putting them all aside, except for a small knife that he laid down right next to his pillow. He took off his shirt next, keeping his eyes on the wooden wall straight ahead. He didn’t want to see the faint marks that were still covering his body. One day they’d fade or become just another scar on his body, but that day wasn’t today; that day was still far away.
~*~
There was loud knocking on his door and Grian awoke with a start, hand instantly flying to the knife, eyes searching the room.
“Grian? We put down the anchor. Doc wants you to get ready.”
Grian took a deep breath at the sound of Etho’s voice from outside and slowly put his knife down. The disorientation from having just woken up disappeared again.
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
When Grian stepped on the deck, the others were already busy unloading some wares to sell off and he immediately went over to help, when Doc stepped into his path.
“Not today. They can handle that, Grian. I really need someone to… accompany me into town and I’d like for you to come along.”
Grian knew what Doc was doing. He rarely let Grian go anywhere on his own, let alone have him somewhere out of his sight when they were off the Golden Goat. And it annoyed Grian that he went along with it every time. He never once went against Doc’s orders, no matter how stupid they sometimes were. But he felt safest when he was with Doc. No one else made him feel this way. That still didn’t stop him from arguing.
“You know that you don’t really need me. I won’t be in any danger here. My Captain let me go to town alone all the time.”
Grian noticed the way Doc flinched a bit and then he realised that he had slipped up… Again. 
“I am your Captain, Grian.” Doc’s voice was so gentle, but Grian still felt a tremble running through his body as if he had been reprimanded. He had been part of the crew for a while now. He still referred to his old Captain as his Captain far too often. He still referred to himself as a navy officer sometimes… And he had never once called Doc his Captain. He knew Doc had noticed… He had even once overheard Doc talking to Ren about it. He knew Doc blamed himself when Grian slipped up like that, thinking he wasn’t making Grian feel as a part of the crew.
“Sorry”, he muttered quietly and as an apology – and maybe as a way to change the topic - added on, “I’ll accompany you. We can leave right now, if you want to.“
Doc‘s face lit up a bit, but Grian could see the way his smile was strained just a little. They were both trying their best, but everything was still too new to work flawlessly. Grian really hoped he‘d get used to this sooner rather than later. It had been his decision after all. He had wanted this… Well, at least he thought that way. Doc always pretended that Grian hadn’t had any other choice. Maybe that was the reason he thought Grian didn‘t feel like he belonged. And maybe sometimes… Maybe sometimes he really didn’t.
“Let‘s go then”, Doc said and started walking, Grian right behind him as they moved down to the port. “This is a pretty neutral area, so They didn’t have to worry much. The navy doesn‘t drop by often and when they do, they never really get into fights. They are too scared to lose business here if they anger the traders. The traders got good wares and money and pirates are among their best customers.”
They walked past a lot of people hurrying around. The port was buzzing with activity, ships leaving and arriving, wares being loaded, repairs being made. It was chaos, but it was a chaos Grian was used to. Seeing everyone run around, busy with their own life made him feel calmer. Nobody was paying any attention to him and Doc. They weren’t a feared pirate Captain and a traitorous navy officer here. They were just two more people walking through the streets 
“So…”, Grian started when they left the port, moving on to the streets of the town, passing by some vendors trying to sell their wares. “What exactly are we doing here?”
“Oh, just some old acquaintance of mine I need to visit. She sells information, for a certain price, you know? I think she likes me enough. I never have to pay too much to get what I want.”
“So… You hussle her.”
Doc smirked slightly, taking the accusation almost like a compliment. “Well not exactly. I‘m just really good at bargaining, you know? I can be pretty convincing if I want to be. I also always try to get some nice jewelry for her. She likes that.”
Grian rolled his eyes a bit and turned his gaze back to the street. They were getting further away from the main road. The shops were becoming more run down, the wares in the window getting more and more illegal and Grian was pretty sure they had entered a blackmarket area.
He had been in those areas a lot back in the navy, but wearing his uniform, people had always been scared by him, trying to hide their more exotic and expensive items, seeing him as a threat to their business. Now everyone was looking at them with a calculating expression, some even trying to approach them with their wares. Doc made them all back away with one glance.
They turned another corner, the house fronts becoming even more broken, some of the vendors only using small blankets on the floor to show their wares. Finally, right in the middle of the street, in front of a black wooden door, Doc came to a halt. 
Grian looked at the building. It was small, the windows were covered with fabric on the inside. The glass had countless cracks and he wondered how it was still holding together. The black paint of the door must have been newer than the house and window, since it was the only thing not completely run down, only chipping off in a few places.
“This looks really welcoming. I‘m glad you took me along after all. Wouldn‘t want you here all by yourself.”
Doc glanced at Grian and shrugged. “I‘ve been alone here a lot before, don‘t worry. It‘s safe. She wants me to stay her customer after all.” Doc stopped, smiling sheepishly, probably remembering how he‘d told Grian that he needed him here. “It‘s still a good idea not to wander around here alone in case something does happen. You never know. And you’re one of my best fighters after all.”
Grian chuckled quietly and motioned Doc to go on, not even commenting on the rambling. Doc sighed and turned back to the door, knocking a few times in what might have been a pattern or a code… Or maybe just Doc being extra again.
There were steps on the other side and then a small window inside the door slid open. Gray eyes stared at Doc, then at Grian and back to Doc, squinting slightly, showing the deep wrinkles around them even more clearly. 
“Doc. Didn‘t I tell you not to show your ass around here again?” A voice croaked at them, sounding really pissed off. 
“Well nice to see you too! It‘s been so long! I brought you a present.”
The eyes snapped to Grian and seemed to take him in from head to toes. He shuddered below the almost invasive stare. “Didn’t take you as that kind of guy, Captain Doc. You know he‘s too old to sell. Although, given the right customer I might…”
Grian could practically feel the air around them getting darker as Doc growled in annoyance or maybe anger.
“You won‘t put your grimy hands on him. He‘s part of my crew. If you so much as touch him our business here is over.”
“As if I have ever wanted to do business with you, Doc.”, she grumbled and the small window slammed shut. Grian thought that would be it. Doc had managed to piss her off enough for her to cut ties, but a second later the door opened and the old lady stood in front of them. She was wearing a dusty worn out dress that had probably seen better days once upon a time.
She was still glaring at Doc, but then stepped aside to let them pass. When Doc had walked by her, she turned her eyes to Grian and her mouth twisted into a smile that sent shivers down his spine. He hurriedly went after Doc and inside the room. It was dark in here and the air reeked of dust and mold. There was barely any light, except for a few torches lining the walls. 
The walls were covered in dark dusty fabric. The room was lined with shelves containing a missmatch of items. There were books and maps, things floating in glasses. Grian really didn‘t want to look too close at them. He was pretty sure he’d seen some body parts.
In the middle of the room stood a desk and the lady wobbled past them again to sit on the other side of it. 
“So, Captain. What can I do for you? Treasure Maps? Love potion for your Navy toy?”
Doc flinched at the last part and Grian‘s eyes widened.
“How did you know?”, Doc‘s voice seemed calm, but Grian could tell how tense he was from the way he sounded. 
“Word gets around my boy. Some say you seduced a Navy soldier to join you, others say you fell for him and kidnapped him to have your wicked way with him. Poor boy in the claws of a horrible pirate, who doesn‘t care for anything but his own pleasure and not the well being of-“
“I‘m perfectly fine!”, Grian interrupted her, hands balled into fists. He‘d seen the shadow crossing Doc‘s face. He knew Doc still blamed himself for everything that had happened. He wouldn‘t have some old lady berating him. “I joined his crew because I wanted to, because he was there for me when the navy wasn‘t, because the navy is a bunch of arseholes. So stop your stupid gossiping. He hasn’t kidnapped anyone.“
The old lady‘s eyes stayed on Grian for a while and then she smiled softly, her eyes becoming more gentle.
“Oh. So it‘s you after all. I thought so. You don‘t look like you belong here. You look far too proper to mingle among pirates and us low lifes.“ She clapped twice and out of one of the dark corners stepped a young girl. 
Doc squinted his eyes at her, looking uncomfortable at the presence of a mere child. “I thought you worked alone.”
“I‘m not getting any younger, my boy. I took on an assistant. But don‘t worry. I‘ll send her away while we do business”, she said, scribbling something on a piece of paper with an old worn quill before handing it to the small girl. She couldn‘t have been more than 10 years old. „Go fetch this for me, dearie. Hurry along. You don‘t have all day. I want you back by the time these two gentlemen leave.”
The child nodded, not ever speaking up and just hurried out of the room. Grian looked after her and then sighed, turning back to the old woman.
“So, Captain Doc, I heard you came bearing gifts? If it‘s nice enough I might consider listening to your questions. Not promising any answers though.”
Doc didn‘t look too happy, but he took out a small bag out of his pocket, throwing it onto the desk. With a sudden burst of speed the old lady grabbed the bag, tearing it open and turning it around, a few necklaces and bejewled rings fell out. She looked at them for a while and from the sparkle in her eyes Grian could tell that she was very happy with her present, even when she tried to keep an emotionless face.
“Well. At least these don‘t look as pitiful as the last ones you brought me. They are almost halfway decent. I will listen to you, but I can‘t promise you any help. For a gift this cheap I‘ll only do it if I want to and if it‘s not too much trouble.”
“I need information. I need to know about a pirate raid. 10 years ago on Gedwyld
Island. Pirates attacked a small seemingly unimportant village. They were ordered by someone else to attack. It was no accident that those pirates were on the island that day. I need to know who was behind the attack. And I want to know why they attacked. Who was ordering them to do it?”
Grian‘s head snapped towards Doc, eyes going wide. He had thought that Doc would just ask for some maps or some inside information for the navy, not this. Why was Doc interested in his childhood home? Was Doc doing this for him? What would having this information even achieve?
“That is quite a lot of questions, my boy.”
The old lady looked at Doc in deep thought. Her eyes darted to one of the clocks hanging on the wall. Grian followed her gaze, the time on that one seemed off. According to the clock it was just a few minutes after noon, when it was already late noon. When he kept staring at it for a while he realized that the hand was going backwards. Huh… Weird.
“It is. If you have answers, I will reward you of course. If you don‘t have the information I‘ll pay you a small fee to gather them and we will return in a month to collect them.”
The old lady looked thoughtful, nodding slowly before turning around in her chair and grabbing a heavy old looking book from the shelf behind her. Her eyes darted to the clock once more. The hand had moved back another minute. She started to slowly flip through the pages, taking her time to trace the lines with her finger before flipping to the next. 
Grian could tell Doc was getting impatient next to him. He kept tapping his foot on the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists. And Grian could relate to this restless feeling.
“Well it looks like you will need a while, old hag. So how about we leave now and-”
“No! Stay!” The urgency in her voice startled Grian. Doc next to him raised an eyebrow.
“If you‘re so worried about losing business you should hurry up. I‘m a busy man. My ship doesn‘t run itself.”
The clock ticked backwards another minute and when the old lady looked at it again, she smiled in satisfaction.
“Ah, well. Looks like it‘s too late now anyways. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Captain, but the navy just pays so much better. You really shouldn‘t have pissed them off, taking one of their little stars into your greedy hands. They apparently had big plans for him. Plans that are worth a fortune.“
Doc‘s hand immediately flew to his sword, Grian had his in hand already, when the door burst open. Grian's heart immediately sank. Two navy officers stood in the door, the little girl right behind them, pointing a shaky finger in their direction.
"Surrender, Captain Doc!", the first navy officer shouted, glaring at Doc, before his gaze turned to Grian and he sneered. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, haven't they, Lieutenant?"
Grian tightened his grip on the sword, casting a short glance in Doc's direction. Those two soldiers would be no problem for them, but Grian really didn't want to hurt them too badly. He knew he shouldn't think of them any different than all his other enemies, but it was still so hard. Seeing the uniforms sure triggered something inside him, but it also held him back. Fighting alongside people wearing those outfits had been too ingrained into his head.
"Well. I won't. I don't see the need to surrender to some poor weaklings like you", Doc replied, talking down to those navy officers with a smirk, but Grian could tell that he was worried from the way his fingers twitched a little. He got why Doc felt tense like that. They were still far away from the ship and didn't know how many navy officers were rushing over to their location right now. They were in danger and couldn’t tell how much would be thrown their way.
"Oh, there is some incentive for surrendering, you know. If you two surrender we won't hurt the traitor. The higher ups still have some use for the cursed child. But if you decide to fight I really can't guarantee for his safety. You know things happen in the heat of the battle. I never liked Lieutenant Grian that much. My blade could accidentally run through him and-"
The officer stopped, when Grian snorted loudly and turned to glare at him.
"Oh please, Henry. You couldn't hit a pirate dummy if it stood right in front of you back in our academy days. It's a wonder they let someone like you graduate." 
Just as Grian had expected of his hot headed opponent, he let out an enraged scream and charged forward without putting any thought into his action, blade outstretched to pierce Grian. 
“Idiot”, Grian just whispered with a smirk and ducked under the blade, grabbing the arm of the soldier and throwing him over his shoulder onto the old lady‘s desk. „Let‘s leave, Doc. We need to get back to the crew!“
Doc looked at the fallen soldier and then at him and nodded, before charging the remaining officer. Doc‘s blade pierced right through him and Grian winced as a cold shiver ran down his back, seeing blood pour over the white shirt of the navy uniform. Every fiber inside of him wanted to help the officer falling down. This was his comrade. This was a law abiding citizen. He should help. He could help. He needed to save him. But when Doc grabbed his arm, Grian averted his gaze from the body, looking into Doc‘s worried eyes.
“You good?”
Doc knew. Doc always knew. That was the reason he never let Grian fight alongside them when it came to going against the navy even though he‘d been with them for a month now.
“Yes. Just…” Grian motioned around them to the fallen officers, though the one Grian had attacked was mostly uninjured and just unconscious. “It‘s… Those are people I went to the academy with. Takes time getting used to. I’m just glad they aren‘t part of my crew and I don‘t have to fight my capt-“
Grian stopped himself, but he could still see the look of hurt flashing over Doc‘s face, before Doc turned away, dropping his hand from Grian‘s arm. “Let‘s hurry along.”
They pushed past the little girl and stepped outside the shop. Grian could hear shouts in the distance that were pretty unmistakably navy soldiers screaming out orders. A lot of the vendors along the streets were suddenly in a hurry, trying to hide parts of their wares.
The shouts were coming from the direction they had arrived from - the direction leading back to the port. Grian just prayed that the navy hadn‘t gotten to the Golden Goat yet. Not that he didn‘t trust Ren to take command and defend the ship, but it would just complicate things.
Before Grian could decide what to do, Doc had grabbed his wrist, pulling him along into one of the side alleys. Grian rushed along, but his eyes kept darting to the hand touching him. These last weeks, Doc had done his best to avoid any form of prolonged touch to give Grian space. Almost all of the contact they‘ve had, had been initiated by Grian. And not once since the rescue from… not once had Doc pulled him along by his hand.
They turned another corner. Doc cast a glance back at him and noticed the way Grian looked at the hand, letting go immediately.
“Sorry. We needed to hurry. I didn’t think… I shouldn‘t have done that.“
“It‘s fine. Let‘s keep going. Take the lead and I‘ll follow you.”
Doc nodded and started running again, Grian hot on his trail. Doc made his way swiftly through the tiny alleys, jumping over more than one wall and Grian went after him, trusting him blindly. Doc knew these streets far better than him after all. The port was getting closer. Grian could see the mast of the Golden Goat in the distance, recognizing it among all the other ships even from this far away.
“We have to turn onto the main road next. Be prepared for an attack once we do“, Doc called back and Grian adjusted the grip on his sword. He was ready for anything the world would throw at him. 
Well… Everything but a navy officer jumping down from a roof of one of the houses framing the alley, landing right between them, making Grian stop in his tracks. Doc kept running into the main road a few metres before he finally realised that Grian wasn‘t behind him anymore. It was too late. A few soldiers stepped in between the two of them. Grian tried to search for a way around his opponent, but two others stepped up to him and he needed to back away a few steps, to get out of their weapons‘ reach.
“Grian! Fuck! Don‘t you assholes dare touch him. If you so much as lay a finger on him, I‘m gonna rip you apart, limb by limb!”, Doc shouted from down the street, but going from how far away his voice sounded he had also been pushed back a bit. There was no way they could help each other like this.
Those soldiers must have planned to seperate them. He just hoped that Doc would do the smart thing and rush back to the ship, even if that meant leaving Grian alone here. The crew‘s support would be so important now.
Grian had been in a lot of battles before. Alot of those battles had not been in his favour and he’d still come out victorious. He’d seen more than his fair share of fights, for someone his age. But this? This felt different. He wasn’t wearing his uniform anymore. He wasn’t fighting with the law behind him anymore.
This wasn’t even their first fight against a navy crew, but Doc had always kept him on the back line when things like that happened. Grian was pretty sure he would have put him below deck if he thought Grian would go along with it. In the short fight earlier he had been able to knock his opponent out, but if he held back here, he‘d lose.
Grian‘s eyes  kept darting between his opponents, holding his sword protectively in front of himself, waiting for an attack or maybe an opening for him to get rid of one already. A fight against all of them at once would be impossible.
“You really have fallen far. Look at yourself…“, one of the officers said. Grian thought he recognized him from somewhere, but couldn‘t really pinpoint it, until… “Captain Sam was really sad to see you leave. You were such an entertaining guest.”
Grian froze for a second, hearing that name and realizing that the man in front of him was part of Sam‘s crew. That guy had been there when Sam had sold him out. Was Sam here as well? Grian felt his heart rate increase at the thought alone, his eyes darting around. 
The officer smirked at Grian‘s reaction and jumped forward. Grian raised his own sword just in time to block the attack, eyes wide, arm shaking a bit from the impact he hadn‘t been prepared to take.
“It was a good look on you, Grian, tied up, beaten and bleeding. It made me want to do bad things to you. You‘ve always been so high and mighty. Watching Sam break you… It was like a work of art. Such a pity someone managed to put the pieces back together. I liked you more when you were a little puppet”, his opponent whispered, voice too quiet for the others to hear. Grian tried to tune it all out. He knew those words were meant to distract him from the fight and he shouldn‘t let it get to him. It had been so long. He was better now. He was with Doc now. He was safe. Doc had promised to protect him, no matter what. He needed Doc. He needed to get to Doc.
The muscles in Grian‘s arm tensed and he let his sword strike, pushing his attacker stumbling back, right into one of the other guys. Grian turned his attention to the third soldier. He looked younger than the other two and his uniform was less decorated as well. Grian almost felt bad, but he knew he couldn‘t hold back… He really really shouldn‘t hold back.
His sword flew through the air, past the other blade and cutting deep into the soldier‘s shoulder. The young man screamed and dropped his sword and Grian jumped back again, before the others could attack. He was holding back. He could have - no - he should have gone for the neck. He could have killed him with one attack. But he had hesitated, repositioning his blade just a bit before it could hit.
Why was he risking his own life for someone who was ready to kill him without a second thought? He shouldn’t be hesitating. “I won’t die here today.”
The two soldiers glared at him, one rushing to their fallen comrade, pulling him back, away from Grian. That left only him and the guy from Sam’s ship.
“No you won’t die. The order is to take you alive. Operation Cursed Child will begin once you’re returned to the headquarters.”
Grian looked at his opponent in confusion, but didn’t get the time to ponder on what he had said for too long. A blade came flying his way. Their swords kept clashing together and Grian had to admit that his opponent was a skilled fighter, but he also knew that he was better. He would win. He could end this. He didn’t even need to kill. He wouldn’t have to harm a navy soldier. He could just disarm him. He had the upper hand. He only needed a little more time to- 
There was a loud scream. A loud and pain filled scream. Grian knew that voice, but he had never heard it like that. And when his eyes searched the entrance to their alley, he saw Doc fall to the floor, lying on the ground face first, a foot on his back, a blade at his neck.
Something snapped.
“Oh, looks like your little pirate is-”
His opponent never got to finish his sentence as Grian’s blade pierced right through his eyeball into his brain. Blood sprayed as he pulled it back out, but Grian didn’t care, rushing forward. The second soldier tried to block his way, but Grian stabbed him right through the abdomen, before kicking him off his sword to the ground.
Someone bent down to Doc, handcuffs ready and Grian screamed.
“Get your dirty hands off of my Captain!”
His shout made the soldier above Doc snap up again, scrambling for his sword, but he was too late. Grian’s blade was already cutting deep into his chest. Now Grian stood above Doc, sword raised, turning around slowly, surrounded by soldiers. He let out a low growl, glaring at each and every one of them.
“You hurt my Captain and I will kill you.”
Grian knew they were heavily outnumbered, even when Doc slowly got to his feet again, standing back to back with Grian. Still the soldiers didn‘t attack, watching them with wary eyes. Grian felt dread rise inside of him. They wouldn‘t make it out alive… No. He would. For whatever reason they still needed him. But Doc wouldn‘t. They‘d kill Doc. 
Images flashed in front of Grian‘s mind. Doc‘s head on a block, an axe raised above him, flying down and-
A warm touch on his hand snapped Grian out of his thoughts and he just now realised that he had been shaking. He didn‘t need to look down to know that the hand gently holding his was Doc‘s. It was funny how one small touch calmed Grian down so much and helped him focus again. One simple touch made him feel so safe and warm. Ever since Doc had saved him that first time, holding that hand made him feel like no harm would come to him. 
„Let‘s go out with a bang, love“, Doc said and his voice was so soft despite their current situation.
Grian just nodded and pressed Doc‘s hand with his own to show him the same support. Someone shouted an order from the back row. Grian let his hand slip out of Doc‘s grasp, but the feeling of safety stayed as he faced the fight.
They would lose. They would fall, but they would give those guys one hell of a fight. They wouldn‘t go down without taking some of their opponents along with them.
Everyone was waiting, all muscles tensed. People around them were looking at them curiously. Suddenly one of the soldiers surged forward and the spell seemed to be broken. Grian barely had time to move, blocking one attack after the other, sword always making it just in time. He didn‘t pay attention to the things happening behind him. He knew his back was as safe as it could be and it filled him with determination. If he could at least hold them long enough for Doc to get away. They didn‘t want to kill him and the way they fought showed just that. There was just a slight bit of hesitance in the attacks. He could use that to his advantage.
Grian pressed on further, giving even more, fighting harder, deflecting attacks and starting counter attacks. He managed to hit one of them across the face, drawing a loud almost inhuman yell as the soldier stepped back, but his place was already taken by another one.
He growled and kept fighting. He stopped attack after attack, but  then he heard a pained sound behind him. He shouldn’t turn around. He needed to stay focused. He heard a blade clattering to the floor, far too close for it to be one of the enemies. Grian turned his head just slightly, to see Doc go down to his knees, to the floor, holding one hand to his bleeding shoulder, a sword at his throat.
Grian screamed, a shout tearing from his throat that didn’t even sound human to his own ears. He hit the blade on Doc’s neck so hard, he sent it flying into the head of another soldier.
“Don’t. Ever. Touch. Him.”
Grian glared at them, looming over Doc. They seemed to hesitate for a second, but the attacks kept coming again. Grian was able to deflect them, but as more kept coming from the front, he left his back open and suddenly he was grabbed by the shoulders, sword slipping from his grasp, as he was pulled back. Grian struggled, digging his heels into the ground, as he was pulled away from Doc. 
Doc stared at him, trying to jump up, but suddenly there were hands on him as well, digging into his wound. Doc froze and it didn’t take long to chain his hands behind his back. Grian suddenly felt the anger leave him and fear settle in. He couldn’t lose Doc. He couldn’t. Not now when he had finally decided to stay by his side.
And then something else started to rise inside of Grian. Suddenly he felt a primal rage inside. He looked at Doc and ground his teeth. Those soldiers were taking what was his. He closed his eyes and felt it. The same feeling he had felt under the sea when the siren had dragged Doc down below. The same energy was running through him. And he knew when he would open his mouth now he’d hurt everyone who was able to hear him, soldier and civilian alike. He didn’t even know why he knew, he just did. Everyone would fall. Just not Doc. Never Doc. He had to save his mate.
He took a breath, opening his eyes. He could hear Doc gasp in shock. He must have noticed some change in Grian.
“Grian… Don’t!”
Grian opened his mouth.
A loud shot rang through the street, before one sound left him, startling Grian out of his trance like state. He blinked a few times, every trace of the energy gone again. He looked around in confusion, searching for the source of that sound. The shot had been far too loud to be a simple gun. And that‘s when he saw it. The sails of the Golden Goat behind the crowd of navy soldiers. There was a smoking hole in the ground a couple of metres from them, navy soldiers rushing away to pull injured people to safety.
“Back off or we will kill you all! No hesitation.“
Ren‘s voice was booming loud. People around them started panicking. There were screams and chaos. 
And then Grian could hear steps rushing towards them and when he looked over he saw Doc‘s crew charging in, False right there at the front of them, her eyes filled with fury and a promise of pain.
Someone was pulling at him, trying to take him away. Grian dug his heels into the ground, but soon another pair of arms grabbed him and he stumbled backwards. His eyes searched for Doc in the chaos. He felt a heavy weight lift off his chest, when he realised that False was already by his side, her bloody sword raised as some other crew member was taking the chains off of their captain.
He kept getting further and further away. They were trying to pull him to one of the alleys and out of sight.
Grian opened his mouth to scream, but as soon as he did that someone shoved a dirty rag in between his lips. Grian only renewed his struggles, managing to land a few kicks on the two people holding him, but they didn‘t ease their hold on him.
He looked at Doc in desperation, trying to alert him that Grian was taken away in the chaos and panic. And as if Doc had sensed his terror, his gaze snapped up, searching and finally landing on Grian. His eyes widened for a second and then he smiled relieved. With just that one smile Grian immediately felt safe again. He didn‘t even have to wonder what would happen next. Doc smiling like that meant there was no danger for Grian.
There was a loud thud and one of the bodies holding him crumbled to the floor. Grian looked over his shoulder, only to see Etho, smiling softly at him, before he put a knife through the other soldier’s back. The hands holding Grian disappeared along with the enemy falling to the ground.
“You alright, new guy?“
Grian nodded and raised his shaking hands to take the cloth from his mouth, throwing it to the ground in disgust. “Yeah. All good. Thanks. You can go and give your medical expertise to our captain now.“
Etho's eyes widened a bit and then he smiled even brighter. “I see, it‘s no longer just ‘your captain‘ now. Welcome to the crew, Grian.“
Grian rolled his eyes, following Etho over to Doc who was already unchained and arguing with False who had thrown him over her shoulder.
“I can walk on my own!”
“You are wounded.“
“On my fucking shoulder! My legs work perfectly fine!”
“Struggle and I will change that.”
Grian laughed a bit at False‘s deadpan voice, until her gaze turned to him. “Don‘t think I have forgotten that both of you idiots got yourself into that situation. If you so much as smirk, I will carry you as well, boy. I‘ve got two shoulders after all.”
Grian felt the urge to salute, but just nodded and tried his best not to smile. No one ever dared to argue with False when she took that tone, and Grian sure as hell wouldn‘t change that tradition.
They hurried to the ship and boarded, sails lowered the moment Etho in the back stepped aboard. None of them wanted to battle a navy ship, especially not now when their Captain was already injured.
“False. Carry Doc below deck“, Etho shouted over the busy deck and False nodded, leaving through the door already. Grian wanted to follow, but was stopped by Etho.
“Not you. I won’t let you get away without a check up this time. Do you have any injuries? Anything that needs my attention now?”
„Just sore. Maybe a few bruises“, Grian replied, „Worst thing happening to me is that I can‘t get rid of the taste of that darn dirty rag.“ 
Etho laughed, and after some fumbling around in his bag, pressed a flask into Grian‘s hand. “Here. That should help.“
Grian looked at Etho‘s retreating form, before taking one swig of the bottle. His throat burned and he scrunched up his face at the taste, deciding against taking even one more drop. But oh well… It had indeed replaced the rotten taste the rag had left in his mouth and any reminder of being almost kidnapped again.
~*~
Grian stood at the railing, watching the moon rise and the stars come out. He was alone at deck once more, having insisted on still doing his shift of the night watch. He wasn‘t really wounded. And he could use the peace and quiet to calm down.
A light wind was blowing, whipping around his hair. When had it gotten so long again? He pulled out one of the strings on his shirt and pulled his hair back, tying them together. It felt weird after all this time. Weird and freeing at the same time. As if a chapter of his life had ended.
There were steps behind him. Grian didn‘t have to turn around. The sound was all too familiar to him, even before he had joined this crew. All the other nights, he had stepped away. All of the previous nights, he had stopped things from progressing. He hadn‘t even waited for what had been to come. He had always walked away, the message pretty clear.
He waited.
The steps stopped behind him.
Grian turned around.
“Doc…”
Doc looked at him, hand raised, seemingly hesitating, clearly intending to put it on Grian‘s shoulder, but not daring to overstep any boundaries. So Grian took the step over that line. He moved forward and the hand  was on his shoulder. 
Doc‘s eyes widened for a second, but then he smiled softly.
“I was scared I‘d lose you again, Grian.”
“You were the one lying on the floor about to be taken to prison, you know.“
Doc chuckled softly. The hand moved from Grian‘s shoulder, giving him a small pat and then moving away again. Grian felt dissappointed at the sudden loss of contact.
“I know. You saved me, Grian.“
“I‘d do anything to keep you safe, Captain.“
“Say it again...”, Doc whispered, his eyes so close, Grian could see the way they sparkled, his gaze so soft.
“Captain”, Grian repeated just as quietly, feeling happiness at just uttering this single word. “My Captain.”
Doc breathed in shakily, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. And he was so close. So close. The moon was high up in the sky, illuminating Doc's face. Doc's arms were moving, but he stopped and Grian could see how he resisted the urge to hug him. Always treating him like glass... Even now.
Grian took a hold of Doc's arm before he could lower it again and put it on his waist.
Grian moved forward, a sudden need to touch - to feel Doc - rising inside him. When their chests touched a second hand wound around him, joining the first on his back.
Grian smiled. He did feel some underlying nervousness. He felt his heart racing. He felt a slight urge to step back out of the embrace again. But above all of it - overshadowing all the other emotions - he felt safe.
"Grian. You don't have to..."
"I'm not doing this because I have to. I'm doing this because I want to. I... I should have done it way sooner. We live a dangerous life. Any day could be our last. Today could have been your last day. We both survived too much to let our worries stop us." Grian felt his heart beating in his throat as Doc finally tightened the embrace, and in return Grian put his arms around the other.
"Grian..." Doc smiled so brightly that it made Grian's heart only beat faster. He really should have done this sooner. He should have let Doc close again. Doc who had saved him, who had always been there for him and never expecting anything in return.
"I love you."
Doc's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open, before he closed it again, smiling even brighter than Grian had ever seen him smile.
„I love you too, Grian.“
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QTVW Chapter 21
Showbiz* Sexy Queen (VIII)
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After this incident, Bai Jieying's gaze on Mei Mu Lan took on a vague disdain and condescending arrogance, and she was smart enough not to confront the crew with this attitude, but to specifically target Mei Mu Lan.
And after recalling the memories of the original owner, Mei Mu Lan found that this kind of contentious situation was actually the form of daily life between the original owner and Bai Jieying. After analyzing the Bai Jieying in her memories and the eyes of Bai Jieying now, she compared them and came to the conclusion that the eyes and expressions of Bai Jieying's original owner and the Bai Jieying after crossing over were exactly the same when she looked at Mei Mu Lan.
In this way, it seems likely that the traveler in front of her has obtained all the memories of the original Bai Jieying. Now, Mei Mu Lan and her situation are completely similar, both have lived in real life and both know the plot, and most importantly, they both have memories of the original owner who crossed over.
And the only difference is that the informed part of the plot is different.
Mei Mu Lan is right here in the plot, in a dominant position, but in other areas, the two are actually evenly matched.
Thinking of this, Mei Mu Lan would glare back with the same glare when she encountered Bai Jieying glaring at her again, and this behaviour of hers completely reassured Bai Jieying, dispelling the idea that this Mei Mu Lan in front of her was also a traveler.
And when Bai Jieying went to the director's side for her second audition, Mei Mu Lan secretly made a plan in her mind: next she had to spend a long time to observe this traveler's behavior, and the current image of Bai Jieying in the cast was all finely crafted and acted out, not real.
Then in order to see what she was really like, she had to get into Bai Jieying's daily life in order to do so.
When Mei Mu Lan thought of this, she decided to move out of Aunt Wen's house and go back to the Mei family for a while to see how she acted in her daily life and how she behaved in private, and once she was familiar with Bai Jieying's style and behaviour, she could plan for her subsequent task of "solving the travelers".
So, Mei Mu Lan waited until the day's filming was finished, then she immediately said goodbye to Ling Yi Yao and ''made out'', then drove back to Aunt Wen's villa. By the time she got home, Aunt Wen was not at home because she had a design job and had gone abroad to get some experience, so after thinking about it, Mei Mu Lan left a note which said,
“Aunt Wen, I've been out for so many years and I understand somewhat what my father did, so I'm going to move back in with the Mei family for a while and thank you for taking care of me, all these years!”
After writing it, she read it out a few times and found it to be quite fluent, so she left the note on the dining room table, turned to her room, packed her few bags and left the Wen family home.
Mei Mu Lan followed the route she remembered and drove back to the Mei family mansion in the wealthy residential area of the Second Ring Road.
Because the Mei family is a family of scholars that has been passed down for hundreds of years, the Mei family's mansion, which maintains the style of hundreds of years ago, is the modern well-known courtyard, in the modern world, such a set of courtyard, in the outside world can be sold for hundreds of millions of dollars, but this is really nothing for the Mei family.
The Mei family's family ethos pushes the boundaries of money and dirt, and the Mei family's family wealth ranks among the best in the world.
Mei Mu Lan drove back outside the Mei family home, she walked inside the old mansion and as far as the eye could see there were flower pots, water tanks, recliners…… and other furniture, all of which are relics of hundreds of years old, is an expression of the cultural heritage of the Mei family.
Mei Mu Lan casually swept a glance, and then saw that a middle-aged man wearing a Republican tunic greeted her, with a warm and kind smile on his face, the whole person gave people a feeling of a gentleman as gentle as jade.
He took the luggage from Mei Mu Lan and handed it to the maid who was waiting with his head down, then called out affectionately,
“Missy, you're back at last.”
Mei Mu Lan knew from memory that this man was the butler of the Mei family, the child of a friend of Grandpa Tai, and had been given the surname Mei after being brought back to the Mei family by Grandpa Tai when he was three years old.
He grew up in the house of Mei and was always brought up by the great lord of the Mei family. Although he was called a butler, his status was not that of a servant, but that of one of the rulers of the Mei family, managing the internal affairs of the house as well as some of the external affairs, a man of great means, loyal and intelligent.
He has a high status in the Mei family and most of the Mei family are close to him. Even Mei Mu Lan's father, who was the current head of the Mei family, would adopt a slightly friendly attitude when facing him.
When Mei Mu Lan thought of this, she lowered her eyebrows and smiled slightly poutingly,
“Butler Mei, it's been a long time, you're still as handsome as ever.”
The smile on Butler Mei's face deepened a little as he said,
“Miss, I am relieved to see you in such good spirits. No matter what happens at the Master's place, you will always be the Mei family's Miss in my heart, and as for that one and her daughter, you need not bother at all.”
Mei Mu Lan heard his concern for herself in his words, and she was moved to say,
“Thank you butler, I understand, I just want to go home for a while, no matter what, I am my father's own daughter, before I did not know what to do, and made my father and butler worry about me.”
With a relieved smile, Butler Mei said,
“It's good that you've figured it out. There's nothing in life that you can't get through. All external things are false, only blood is real. Now, I have ordered your room to be taken care of, you are tired today, go and rest, I will order someone to call you at dinner time.”
“Thank you, butler. I'll go to my room.”
After bidding farewell to the butler, Mei Mu Lan went back to the original owner's room.
When she opened the door, she saw a literary and elegant room, which was decorated with a combination of Chinese and foreign elements, which matched her imagination of a woman's bedroom from a scholarly family, whereas the original owner's room at Aunt Wen's house was filled with Ling Yi Yao's photos and dolls, which made Mei Mu Lan's heart feel creepy, but for the sake of the mission, she had to maintain this style, which was really depressing.
And this time, finally, she could stay in a normal room, whatever the purpose of going home this time, at least she slept much better and was sure that she could sleep well for the next while.
When she thinks of the original owner, she can't help but think of Ling Yi Yao. She is now numb to her "obsessed" state and as soon as she sees Ling Yi Yao, her whole being will automatically switch to another channel.
Fortunately, the villain this time, Ling Yi Yao, although ruthless and with blood on her hands, is a very nice person to be around when she is in normal society.
In the face of her own obsessions in and out of the film, she has not even expressed her displeasure verbally, which makes Mei Mu Lan often exclaim that the villain is really well brought up. If it were up to me, I would have taken such a character to the ends of the earth.
And Ling Yi Yao now, apart from a vague, emotionally unstable expression on her face as soon as she saw her, there was nothing else on her face, which reassured Mei Mu Lan and made her even more aggressive at the same time.
I feel like I've suddenly gone feckless, and it's definitely the fault of the cannon fodder girl!
When Bai Jieying returned to the house in the evening at the time the Mei family had set for dinner, she saw Mei Mu Lan sitting on the sofa, sipping tea in a dignified manner, and then gave her usual snide remarks, it was only when her mother made a glib remark to stop her that she skipped away and walked over to her mother and sat down affectionately.
Mei Mu Lan watched coldly, this Bai Jieying was gentle and kind on the set, pouting and half-angry at home, and in front of her stepmother, she was like a real child, chattering about what had happened on the set today.
Her mother learned from her that she and Mei Mu Lan were filming in the same production, so she glanced at Mei Mu Lan from top to bottom.
In a lighter tone, she said,
“Mu Lan, you are from a scholarly family, the family style of your Mei family is to despise the lowest class such as opera singers, if your father finds out about your acting, he will definitely be angry, so think again, change your job, I remember that you sang Peking Opera very well before, you can continue to go into that profession, it is after all something your mother taught you, it is always bad to leave it behind.”
Mui Mu Lan, with her long, narrow eyes, said with the aura of a Peking opera, singing and chanting in a long, short voice,
“You know, I don't know what this lady is to me. What does the affairs of our Mei family have to do with you, a second-married woman? You claim to be a member of the Mei family, but in the olden days, you would not have been worthy to carry the shoes of a Mei family servant.
You think that just because you have my father's help, you can really do whatever you want. The Mei family has been passed down for a hundred years, and although my father is the patriarch, he has less resources at his disposal. And who are you to talk to me like that? I have a good temper, otherwise I would have asked someone to slap your mouth!”
Her stepmother's brain ached with anger at her sharp, eloquent tongue, and she trembled, raising her hand and pointing, unable to say a word.
And Bai Jieying, at this moment, had a weird smile on her face, looking straight at Mei Mu Lan without saying a word.
Mei Mu Lan put down her cup of tea in bemusement, then said to Mei's butler who was beside her, watching the show as an invisible person,
“I'm also the recognized next head of the Mei family, so if I don't show them what I'm made of, they'll think I'm a paperweight.”
With that, she stood up, glanced scornfully at the two women with different faces, tilted her head proudly, and turned to leave.
In the days that followed, Mei Mu Lan went to the film set during the day and flirted with Ling Yi Yao; at night, she returned to the Mei family to anger her stepmother, and lived a very happy life.
Although she and Bai Jieying live under the same roof and work on the same set, they are never together, always staggering their time and appearing one after the other in full view of others. This also made the crew aware of the fact that the two sisters were not on good terms.
Even so, Mei Mu Lan's concern for Bai Jieying did not diminish by half.
She was following the movements of Bai Jieying every moment, and she found that Bai Jieying was now a queen of all changes, her acting skills were perfect, in life, in acting, in and out of film, and she was showing her superb acting skills all the time.
While watching Bai Jieying act, Mei Mu Lan secretly instructed the detective to continue filming and tracking Bai Jieying's whereabouts.
She put it all together and waited for the day when it would come in handy.
Three months later, the crew of 《The Burial Man》had completed all the indoor filming and it was time to shoot outdoors.
After much deliberation, the director decided to head immediately to the Kunlun Mountains for a real outdoor shooting.
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poppytea333 · 4 years
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Academy AU notes (Mostly Grian notes)
Grian
~ A nice senior college student.
~ Used to go Evo Academy before he had to change schools because of a certain event.
~ Has burn scars all over his body.
~ Doesn't talk that much but he will sing sometimes (but lately he hasn't been singing a lot and the hermits are admittedly worried about him).
~ Is rivals with Doc.
~ Is best friends with Mumbo, Iskall, Ren, Impulse, Stress, Joe, Xisuma, and Scar.
~ Is currently dating a girl that he loves very much.
~ Likes to cook, in fact, besides Joe and TFC, he is the third cooker/baker in the dorm.
~ Is studying architecture and building.
~ Is new to redstone but is understanding it slightly.
~ Has two pet cats named Maui and Pearl but also has a pet parrot named Professor Beak.
~ Doesn't like to be near fire that much.
~ Misses his old friends dearly.
~ Seems shy and nervous when you first speak to him but once you get to know him you can see how an absolute gremlin he is.
~ Has a locket that has a picture of his old friends inside it.
~ Have nightmares and panic attacks about the event at Evo.
~ Likes to write music and sing.
~ If you say your hungry around him, he would somehow throw you (or hand you) a random snack he gets from his satchel that he wears most of the time.
~ You think Joe being the dad of the group is bad? Try Grian, even though he doesn't talk that much (only talks to Mumbo, Iskall, Ren, Impulse, Stress, Joe, Xisuma, and Scar) he would go full on dad mood if something bad happens to one of the students at the dorm.
~ He gets bullied for his scars.
~ He keeps to himself.
~ Likes to draw a lot, he says it helps him get things off his mind. (He's really good at drawing!).
~ His dorm is surprisingly clean and he has a lot of money for some reason.
~ Has a job outside of the academy, it pays well.
~ He is abnormally strong, he could lift you up at any given time (seriously when Doc was sick that one time, Grian lifted him up on his shoulders and took Doc to his room which was with Beef, Etho, and Bdubs. Scare the shit out of the three when he busted in and threw Doc onto his bed and just left only to say "Take care of him, he's sick).
~ Is a gremlin, once he gets to know you, run, as you are his next person to prank.
~ Doesn't like to take breaks during a project.
~ Likes tea and coffee a bit too much.
~ Doesn't usually get sick and he doesn't usually overslept but when he does it can be worrying.
~ Gets sleep deprived a lot.
Relationships with the other hermits.
Doc:
Him and Grian are rivals, the other hermits would often have bets on who would snap at each other. Though the two do worry about each other from time to time. He would say "Even though he and I are rivals, we do care for each other."
Mumbo:
The first hermit (along with Iskall and Xisuma) to welcome Grian to the dorms when he first arrived. Helped Grian with his nightmares and panic attacks. "He's like my little brother! Which is strange because I am younger than him."
Iskall:
The second hermit (along with Mumbo and Xisuma) to welcome Grian to the dorms when he first arrived. Thinks of Grian as a little brother and helps him with his panic attacks and nightmares. "I will kill everyone in this dorm and than myself if anything happens to Grian."
Xisumavoid (X or Xisuma):
The third hermit (along with Mumbo and Iskall) to welcome Grian to the dorms when he first arrived. Helped Grian get out of his shell more and also let Grian keeps his pets. "He's cool, though he is an absolute bastard when it comes to pranks but again he's fun to be around."
Joe:
When he heard that their was going to be a new student living at the firm's he was excited. Though what he didn't bargain for was the student having lots of nightmares and panic attacks but he didn't mind it. "I would personally adopted him."
Stress:
When she first met Grian she instantly felt protective over him, and whenever Grian gets sick (which rarely happens but when he does it's worrying) she takes care of him along with Joe. "I will protect Grian at all costs, even though he would most likely protect me most of the time."
Cleo:
She doesn't know much about Grian only the fact that he came from another school after an horrible event happened at that school. "I want to talk to him more but due to my classes I really can't which is such a same."
False:
Spoke to Grian a couple of times but if she told you her thoughts on him it would be "A precious small bean that needs to be protected."
TFC:
He is the only adult supervisor in the Hermit Dorms but he welcomed Grian with opened arms, he is usually the one to help Grian when needed. "He doesn't cause that much trouble like the other kids, though he needs to work on his relationship with Doc more."
Wels:
Hasn't spoken to Grian lately but he had heard stories/rumors about him going about, but their good rumors not the bad ones. "I wish I could meet him, but from what I could see, he's a shy kid which I don't blame him."
Beef:
Doesn't know Grian personality but he does know that both he and Doc are rivals. "I guess he's cool, when he heard that I was sick one time he cooked me some mushroom stew."
Etho:
Haven't even spoken to the guy, though they did had a staring contest when Grian caught him by accident while going to the kitchen. "We just sorta.... Stared at each other before going back to what we were doing. Not the best impression of myself to be honest with ya."
Bdubs:
Talked to Grian a couple of times but not as much as the other hermits. "Scare the living shit out of me when he came inside out room with Doc over his shoulders and he just threw Doc on his bed and was like "Take care of him, he's sick" and then he just left without a word."
Tango:
Likes Grian as a friend and helps Grian out sometimes. "He's seem nice! Though I hope that he could come out of his shell more."
Impulse:
Is best friends with Grian and he would say "The little gremlin is a lot of fun and he is a prankster."
Ren:
Is best friends with Grian and have small talks before going to bed "He's really friendly once you get to know him! I just wish there was a way to help the kid with his panic attacks and nightmares."
Scar:
Is best friends with him and would help him with anything he needs "He's an amazin guy, we both like cats and have cats so we often hang out."
That's about it! I am not doing any of the other hermits as I do not know them well like I do with the ones up top. Hope you like this AU!
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saltyace-defunct · 7 years
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A (Somewhat) In Depth Analysis On Why (And How) Danny Phantom Should Go Ghost Again
Part One - Three Possibilities
There are three possibilities as to what is going on with all the hype surrounding the return of Danny Phantom, and these can be simplified as the “good,” the “bad,” and the “ugly.”
The good option, which I personally believe is the least likely, is that Nickelodeon HAS greenlit a fourth season, and we just don't know about it yet because it's so early in production. If this is the case then we probably won't see any news or promos until at least 2018, seeing as how the hype train really got its start around August 24, 2016, when Butch uploaded a video called “Danny Phantom 10 Years Later” and the green light would have happened not long after that. Again, this seems extremely unlikely, but if it's true, then Butch has been doing a good job building up hype while keeping it a secret.
The bad option, which will be the main focus of this post (and also isn’t so bad), is that as much as Butch wants to bring the show back, Nickelodeon isn’t so keen on the idea, and that's why he’s turned to the fandom to build up hype, and THEN maybe Nick will listen.
The ugly option is… Well, it’s ugly. I hate that this is even a possibility, but as I’ve stated before, the good option is the least likely, making this one a decent possibility. Maybe there are no plans to #goghostagain at all, and the hype is all just a ploy to rake in the views and attention. Maybe it's all just one big promotion for Bunsen Is A Beast (which by the way I think is a sub-par show, but I'll get to that later). It’s disappointing to think about, but if it is the case, then here's what I have to say: Butch, you are better than this. If you aren't serious about this, then don't go around trying to get people excited for something that doesn't exist. Please and thank you.
Part Two - Forget The Hype
I wouldn't be surprised or upset if nothing ever came out of all this hype, but since we’ve come this far we might as well take the extra step to convince Nickelodeon this is a good idea. Of course, there's not a whole lot the fans can do to sway the opinions of the executives, and at this rate we’re DEFINITELY not going anywhere. Most of what I've seen has been “I love this show so you should bring it back” with no other reasoning. It's all based on pathos with little to no logos or ethos, and that's what I'm hoping to make up for with this analysis. There are plenty of reasons for Danny Phantom to get a fourth season, it's just a matter of letting them be heard through the multitude of YouTube videos saying “Look, Butch said this one thing this one time!! Season 4 confirmed!!!! I am so HYYYPE!!!1!!!!1!”
Part Three - The Passage Of Time
Like many good shows, it ended too early. Apparently the ratings were a bit too low for Nick’s liking, so they told Butch to find a way to end it. (I don't have a very good source, so if you can find one with real numbers and add it in, that would be great.) This is a common trend. Good shows don't get the advertising and promotion they deserve because the network wants to spend more time on their cash cows like SpongeBob and Teen Titans Go, and then the good shows get cancelled because, “Well no one was watching it, so it's not worth keeping, right?” Then, as the years go by, more and more people find the show and say “Why was it cancelled? It’s so good!” The good news here is that if an old show comes back with a much larger and stronger fanbase, it will do really well! Unfortunately there is one problem with the way the fans will probably watch it, and that is the internet. After watching the original episodes online, that's the way they’re probably going to expect to continue watching them. This was a HUGE problem with The Legend Of Korra! (Again, source needed) So I guess this is more of a message to the fans than the executives: Watch the show on the TV, or AT LEAST set it to record!
Another problem that The Legend Of Korra had (it's really only a problem in the eyes of the execs) is that the audience was mostly adults and older teens. You know, the people who either 1) Where the same people who originally watched The Last Airbender and are now a bit older, 2) Were old enough to use the internet in a way that allowed them to find ATLA in the first place, or 3) Are the type of people who enjoy more in-depth, plot-driven, mature-themed shows. I think that the third option is what networks like Nick, CN, and Disney are most afraid of when it comes to choosing which shows to pick up and air. These channels are supposed to be for kids, right? Well, first of all, these networks are wrong to think that kids can't enjoy more complex shows than SpongeBob or that the most important thing in determining a show's worth is how much money it brings in, but I digress. Instead, I’d like to talk about how Nickelodeon SHOULDN'T worry about having a repeat of TLOK if they were to continue Danny Phantom.
Part Four - Plot And Audience
Unlike the Avatar series, which were extremely plot-driven and weren’t afraid to get a bit dark, Danny Phantom is a lot more episodic in nature. Now, if it were too episodic, then I probably wouldn't be arguing for it to come back. I mean, I love My Life As A Teenage Robot, but there’s no real reason for it to come back other than the usual “This is one of my favorite childhood shows! Why did it have to end?” You see, Danny Phantom had a nice balance of episodic plot vs overall plot that made for a great show for kids and teens alike. If it were to come back using the original formula, it would probably do really well with the “intended” audience of preteens. Hardcore fans (the ones who have been begging for a fourth season ever since it ended) might have mixed reactions, though. It all depends on the direction the show goes.
Again, the original formula will work, but what exactly should the plot be? Should there be a time skip or not? These are all questions that I’ll talk a little bit more about later, but ultimately can not answer. The biggest question that I CAN answer, though, is should it cater more towards the new preteens audience or the older, hardcore fans? The answer is a resounding “HARDCORE FANS!!!” We KNOW there are plenty of things that were planned that didn't make it in, and we want to see them happen in a way that satisfies our nostalgia and our (slightly) older tastes. I personally think that even though the episodic nature works from a business standpoint, this continuation should have just a little bit more of an overarching plot. Just a little bit.
Part Five - Butch’s Other Shows
I don't want to dwell on this topic too long, but it's important enough that it's worth mentioning.
Fairly Odd Parents: To put it bluntly, it's dying. We could talk about how Sparky and Chloe are terrible characters, but there's no point because the whole show has been moved to NickToons. It's the channel where Nickelodeon shows go to die, and as unfortunate as it is that FOP has been drawn out to the point that the original fans don't like it anymore, soon enough it will get low enough ratings that it will finally be cancelled. Rip
TUFF Puppy: I didn't really watch this show, but from what I've seen and heard, it's not that great. I mean, it's not horrible, but it just doesn't have a whole lot going for it that makes it worthwhile to talk about. It ended in 2015, so whatever.
Bunsen Is A Beast: This is another show that I haven't seen a whole lot of, and I don't really want to. I feel that even though it has a good message of being inclusive and stuff, it doesn't really go about it in a unique way. You know what show has a similar setup of a character from another dimension going to a human school but is actually good? Star vs the Forces of Evil. I know I'm not the intended audience for Bunsen, so I'm not really in a position to complain, but between it's obnoxious loudness, ugly characters, and seemingly random-for-the-sake-of-random humor, it isn't as good as it could be. Don't get me wrong, I respect Butch for trying new character styles and whatnot, but it just isn't working.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that there IS room for Danny Phantom to return. FOP is dying and it wouldn't hurt for Bunsen to die off as well. Good programing is what we should be after, not money makers.
Part Six - Questions And Suggestions
This is the part where I re-introduce the hype and fangirling. It’s not part of the main message that the show should come back, but it is important for the follow up question of how. So here are some important questions for Butch. *Takes a deep breath*
How will season 4 go? What’s the plot? Is it gonna pick up where it left off or will there be a time skip? How big of a time skip will it be? Will the intro be the same or will it be something new? What, if anything, will be retconned? What new characters will be introduced? When and how will Vlad return from space? Did Vlad meet Wheatley? Will Dark Danny make a return? Is Danielle gonna be adopted by the Fentons like you said? How are you gonna make up for the fact that the technology is so outdated? What about the Unworld and the Elsewhereness? What is the meaning of the universe??? *Incoherent screaming*
…I might have gotten a bit carried away just then.
Well, time to answer some of my own questions. I think that a decent sized time skip would be a great way to have the characters age with the show’s original audience, and it would also avoid any weirdness with the outdated technology. I’m not sure how big it should be, but 10 years does seem like a good benchmark number. If there is a time skip, this could also be a convenient excuse to brush over a lot of nothingness and say “It took Vlad [this long] to find a way to return, and now, after a long time of peace and quiet, the main antagonist is back to wreak some havoc.” Maybe the first episode of the new season could be a recap and summary of everything that happened between seasons 3 and 4, including an introduction to the new plot. There should be little to no retconning because this is a continuation, not a reboot. If something small needs to be changed to help the overall flow of the story, then so be it, but don’t go erasing the entire last episode just so Danny’s powers are still a secret or something like that. There should definitely be a new intro and theme song that are more related to the new story, even if there isn’t a time skip. The overarching plot should heavily focus on that Elsewhereness stuff mentioned in the video “Secrets of the Ghost Zone Revealed” and somehow include the conflict of ending up in the Unworld. As far as new characters go, I would much prefer to see older characters more in depth, but a few new villains couldn’t hurt. Dark Danny NEEDS to return because he’s my favorite character of all the one-off villains, he’s the only one with an entire two-part episode dedicated to him that basically ended with the promise of his return that never got the chance to happen. I only mention this guy above all the other villains because he’s my fave he is literally an alternate version of the main character. And if there is a 10 year time skip, then that would make Danny the same age as his evil counterpart and--
You know what? I could go on about this hours, but this post is already long enough as is, and I don’t want to turn it into a fanfiction. I think I’m going to leave this here for now and allow all of you to add on to it as you wish.
Part Seven - Sources???
    I’m really bad at including sources, so if any of you can find good and relevant ones for me, that’d be great. Just reblog this post and add them along with any other comments or theories you have related to the return of Danny Phantom. Let’s make this one big cluster of ideas, and hopefully we will one day see that our efforts have paid off.
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salvia-plathitudes · 6 years
Text
Not season 12 finale divergent.
"You, me, and Sam. We're just better together." Dean said it with such confidence, a surety like no other. When Dean believed something was settled he followed that ethos until it's illusion was shattered, and then he usually found it again some time later when he forgot to learn his lesson.
If a man doesn't have principles to live by and fall back to, he is aimless and can't define himself. Long term evolution has nothing on a hard head or beating heart that abides to strict decision.
Dean believed this. He also believed pop culture was that or this, and he delivered this say-so on what was cool and what was lame and what was an absurdly stupid action or phrase if anyone were doing it, but when Cas was doing it there was slightly less derision for the fact that Dean loved him. Doubtless Sam, Dean, and Castiel would exist until the end of time if that's what they wanted to do, because Dean believed them infinite to Sam's reluctant worry that they would end up dead or worse some day, overdue on cosmic repercussions as they were. No one had asked Castiel's opinion on the matter. He had one, of course. Not a single being mulled over in his head as much as Cas ran himself in circles, a creature of limited sleep and excellent coffee making abilities.
Cas thought he was going to die. He wanted to live, generally.
But on a regular basis Cas prepared to die. He made peace with it. He forgave himself for having any regrets in life and accepted that was just how it was going to be. He loved, and it was good, and he helped sme people where he was able, and let his rigidity and explosions of anger ruin or justify plans and he forgave himself for that, too. Unlike Sam who dreamed of a life worth living by dying a martyr sacrifice, Castiel imagined his own sacrifice would be purely selfish. In the end no one would have him to thank. The people of the earth would wake up, run late to work, and interact with people they'd rather run from or fall into and make coffee that might be better than Castiel ever made in his life.
Castiel has never had a caramel macchiato.
If there was anything that Cas wanted to die for most of all, it was to ensure Dean or Sam kept going. They'd given him a lot, and were hard not to love. It was an abstract, unimaginable event the night Cas spent the night alone. He could have been anywhere. If they'd been in another town... caught wind of a happening in a town nearby to somewhere else... maybe they would have stayed there for two weeks. Gone to a local coffee shop that served the best cinnamon rolls Dean had ever tasted. And so it goes, where depending on the news that filters in and catches the eye, consequently a month away from home until the day it is finally returned to. Then the closets are supplied and Sam turns two chairs into a makeshift couch for his long body to rest comfortably while he uses his tablet while he waits for Dean to shower or sleep.
They were in Ames, Iowa. They were heading back home and didn't find anything else to run to on the way. Sam bought cinnamon cocoa for himself and his family to celebrate the Equinox in a small building that had only four tables. Leaves were browning on the outside pavement, immobile until the winds would pick up the next morning, drifting lazily with the promise of crisp-tasting atmosphere. It wasn't serene inside. There had been bumping elbows and nervous grinning at the proximity and lack of conversation. Sam's face pores were impeccably detailed, perfect to the last oily stretch, a creation his Father should be proud of, and Cas took the time to drink in the details of the shop and his companion and the lacking outdoor scene with rigorous wonder just as Dean brushed his shoulder insistently against Cas' and held it there. After they paid they walked out, separately aware of the cooling weather. Two men holding hands passed them to enter the building. Not one of the three men bothered to track their movement, but Sam took two larger steps to get ahead of Dean and Cas to lead the way to the meter.
When they eventually found the underground bunker, unpacked the little they carried, and followed the ritual, a lot of time had passed since the cocoa. Dean was done showering. Cas loitered outside of Dean's bedroom. He knocked and waited for a response. Dean didn't answer, but he looked up with a grin as Cas brushed the door open some.
The man Castiel loved was soft sometimes. Hence the abstract and unimaginable.
He was lying restless-- in his own bed-- the inner machinations working so hard that when he turned his head he heard the audible creak in his forehead that usually happened when he was trying too hard to not get turned on. Too much focus. And the truth was, he'd much rather be turned on. He'd much rather Dean be kissing him than the traitorous thoughts he was compiling against the man sleeping two doors down. He didn't get to kiss him at all tonight or during the duration of the trip. Sam didn't know. Dean didn't even know. And if Dean didn't know, how the hell was Cas supposed to know? He measured everything against what Dean wanted, so how the hell was Castiel supposed to presume? He remembered the still concrete world outside of the little building and the two men holding hands who walked up to inhabit it.
Castiel remembered every single slight he'd felt in the past couple of days, whenever they'd been out of the car. He remembered old slights. He remembered pieces of pop culture he'd been made aware of. Of the promises he'd made Meg. Of the existence he'd led Before, when he was just like an impenetrable marble carving in the Galleria dell'Accademia museum to anyone who mattered. When Hell was the worst culmination of wretchedness in all of the time since its first fiercely blinding droplet was forged. When he wasn't anyone at all, to the people he mattered to, before he walked into their lives. When he wasn't anyone at all to his Host or maybe even God, who had been churning out celestial dominions as a broker shuffling cards, which is to say He gave attention to the results of the game rather than the impressively performed, but random riffle he broke to start it all. A game He abandoned rather than face up to accidentally including a Joker. Everyone he encountered insisted Castiel was the Joker. "Whenever you have to pick between us or them... you pick the Winchesters."
Castiel turned on the light and spoke into his tablet. Voice control recorded his morning vocal chord words into typed text on imitation yellow legal pad. He spoke softly.
"I'm in love with a memory. Of another time, another place."
"I have changed so much since the angel I was. I could have changed more. Differently. But I have become a man I think I am proud of. I consider myself a man now.
"Once Sam and Dean thought I would lose my vessel. I don't know what I would do without it. I could enter into a vessel whose soul is leaving it. The Winchesters would have to accept this, as would I. Or I could accept this as a signal to move on from earthly existence. I could resume the role of a guardian, for another thousand years. It would be better to return to heaven than be tempted by this. Would that be running away from my problems? Ignoring the plight of my family?" Cas chuckled. "No. My place will always be by--"
The tablet screen went dark without a voice to pen any more.
Castiel turned it on again and started voice recording. "I have changed. Perhaps my personal growth is delayed... perhaps..." Cas remembered Dean yelling at him to not do anything stupid, dammit! "Dean and Sam have led me through life. It can be hard. There are choices... consequence. I haven't known any men like the Winchesters. I... haven't...
"... known any others at all." Gabriel, Balthazar, Anna. They knew how to interact with the world. They could weave in and out of the bulk of humanity with practiced ease, gluttonous pleasure, simple life building, love for parents and pets. Before the supernatural and hunters came and crashed the reverie. Before they were killed fighting a war that is over.
Castiel stared at the room door. Quiet surrounded him, filled him with unease. He crept up to it, and watched the handle, daring himself to open it. His hand struck forward and he turned it swiftly.
The vents usually blew gentle cool air into the hallway, a comforting sound, but the turn of the season left the underground bunker at a temperature it could indulge in.
With socks on his feet, because Dean insisted he not wear shoes to bed, he stepped out and started the trek along the floor plan. He entered the war room, paced a circle around the enormous telescope, ignored the kitchen-- too many pots and pans, the image of clanking sounds was enough to turn him away from entering in the middle of the night no matter how silly the thought of accidentally disturbing something was-- the rational part of his mind did wonder, if he made noise here in front of the book shelf, if he entered Dean's room, would he be greeted with a gun in his face? Yes to the latter.
That night, in a dawning enormity of how much growth there was left to do, Castiel made his decision. It was time to stop trying to please, to become another Winchester. Hunters had given him a good start. But Dean would never hold his hand. He would never return to the man who asked questions first and tortured only with the greatest stake on the line. Oh, how ironic that it was Castiel himself who convinced him to take his technique to Azazel's rack. Where Cas had taken slow steps to gain the advantage of humanity, Dean had let his slip away behind an exterior he wouldn't let anyone into. The last person he cared for with all of the softness he had inside had been Charlie, murdered, and before that Lisa, and Cas took her away from him, too.
Maybe Castiel was the one who broke Dean.
Maybe Dean didn't even want him. Not all the way. It is not enough to love someone, Castiel surmised while sitting at the top of the stairs mere feet from the bunker entrance in his white dress shirt and black socks. It's not enough if you can't love them right. You have to let them in. You have to be capable of being soft at any moment, not abrasive.
He returned to his bed and ignored the memory what it felt like to occasionally feel the presence of Dean's former longing from this very spot. It was a homing beacon for every instance when Cas was too far away.
Castiel slept resolute.
In the morning, he told the brothers he was leaving. For a long time. Both sensed that his stressing "for a long time" was significant, and Dean always had trouble saying goodbye at the same time he feigned nonchalance. Sam, forehead creased in concern but still grinning, said, "Careful out there, Cas." He tapped his fist on Cas' arm.
Dean stood back with his coffee. "Come back in one piece. We'll call you if we need anything."
A month later, when Castiel speaks to him on the phone, Dean says, "You, me, and Sam. We're just better together." Castiel disagrees.
He is careful to speak in these phone conversations these days, his reflection in the mirror running a hand through his hair, getting it right. "If you ever want to retire... I think civilian life would suit you."
Dean is obviously panicked about the separation. "Nah. It's Halloween. Lots of stuff to do out there. You find anything?"
"Nothing has come across my path," Castiel responds plainly. "For a long time, the town has been perfectly natural."
"Well... keep an eye out."
"I will."
They both wait for the other to speak, and when neither does, Dean continues. "Some day... when Sam trains other hunters.. and Jody's got her girls.. if the nasties are under control, some days I feel like I could retire."
Cas thinks that would be a good idea. His phone pops up with an incoming call, either a telemarketer or Reina. "I have to go. Goodbye, Dean."
"Seeya 'round, Cas."
0 notes
jesusvasser · 7 years
Text
Catching Up With: Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks and Vorsteiner
Autonomous cars are coming. It may not be in the next few months, or even years, but the human connection between a car and the road is coming to a close. Many see this event as a boost in safety, as taking the human element out of the car has the potential to lead to fewer mistakes and accidents; a valid argument for autonomy. However, there are those that will lament the death of that quintessential human connection between driver and machine. Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks, is one of those individuals and aimed to keep that connection alive with the 400R.
Built off Porsche’s 993-generation 911 architecture, the Guntherwerks 400R imagines what Porsche would have built if Stuttgart had developed a 993 GT3 RS (the variant was introduced for the 996 generation). The base car has been thoroughly modernized using 2017 manufacturing techniques to build a car Porsche never built. A naturally aspirated flat-six sourced from Rothsport Racing supplies the 400R with 400 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, while carbon fiber fender flares, its hood, the rear spoiler, and a set of seats all do their part to decrease the 400R’s weight to become a punchy maniac’s machine.
We sat down with Peter at the headquarters of his other company, Vorsteiner, which is a purveyor of high-quality custom body and aerodynamic kits for exotics, and talked about his passion for all things Porsche, the death of the car/driver connection, and what made him decide to build a half-a-million-dollar custom 993.
Automobile: What was the impetus for the Guntherwerks 400R?
Peter Nam: I’m a GT3 fan. I’ve had all the modern GT3s, but the GT3 didn’t start until the 996-chassis. There was always this missing-link in the air-cooled world for me because of this. I wanted a car with the analog driving feel and that emotional connection to the driver, as opposed to modern-day cars. When you get to water-cooled cars, you start to lose that connection. You start to feel the computer between you and the car, and you don’t feel as connected. Of course Porsche’s modern GT3s have been able to maintain that steering feel and connection with the driver to a degree, but the 993 was the ultimate driver’s car. You talk to any Porsche enthusiast and they’ll say that the 993 was the best Porsche 911 ever built. It’s the halo of Porsches, but Porsche never built the ultimate 993. We wanted to finally build that car.
AM: What made you say, “we can build a half-million-dollar 911.”
PN: It started purely a passion project. Everyone in the office, and all of my friends, thought I was crazy. At least up until the point that the car made its debut at The Quail. Everyone then understood. We’d been doing body kits for high-end exotics for 14 years very successfully and Guntherwerks started with the realization that we had the capability to manufacture 80-percent of the car in-house.
AM: You’re using Rothsport Racing as your engine supplier, how did you get together with them?
PN: Before we even started the project, we wanted to make sure that we could source the power plant. We wanted to go with whoever was the absolutely best-of-the-best, and when we saw Rothsport’s facility—they even had an engine dyno room, which a lot of people don’t have—we knew it was the right fit. Rothsport’s operation is one of the most famous air-cooled Porsche engine builders. They have amazing racing background and they know these air-cooled engines inside and out.
AM: Have you talked with other Porsche builders? Emory, Singer, Magnus?
PN: We haven’t. We have our own philosophy on this. The car was originally built as an homage to the 993 GT3 RS that Porsche never built. That was our stated goal. We didn’t care what other people were doing. Singer and Emory make great cars, they do their thing, make vintage backdate cars. We wanted to build a 993 GT3 RS regardless of what else what out there in the market. Rather than take examples from everyone else, we said, this is what our vision is and this is what we’re going to build.
AM: Have you talked to Porsche since the launch?
PN: [Laughs] No, so far they haven’t communicated with us. We were worried about getting a Cease and Desist, but I’ve heard through the grapevine from people associated with Porsche, and some that work at Porsche, that because it’s a very period-correct modified car, they’re okay with it so long as we don’t call it a Porsche 911. It’s the 400R, very similar to the 911 Reimagined by Singer.
AM: Where did the name Guntherwerks come from?
PN: It was inspired by a German-American mechanical engineer at NASA in the 1960s named Gunther Wendt. He was known for his meticulous mechanical, reliability, and engineering prowess. He’s actually portrayed in the movie Apollo 13, and Tom Hank’s character, Jim Lovell, trusted him and knew he could rely on his technical capability. That was the same ethos that we wanted for this project and that’s where we drew the idea for the name from.
AM: What does the typical customer look like?
PN: Our typical customer is Porsche people. They own a number of different Porsches and some own many Porsches. Some are slightly older in the sense that they used to run 993s and 964s when they were younger. Our latest customer to sign up, however, had a 993 GT2 Evo as a poster car on his bedroom wall when he was growing up, so what he loved about the car was that the looks aren’t a million miles away from the GT2 Evo, but an evolution of those looks, so it still has that feel. He always wanted an air-cooled 911 and this was just a perfect fit for him.
AM: To the point that most of your clients are Porsche people, and own multiple Porsches, are you sourcing the 993s or are they coming from the client’s own collection?
PN: Some of the customers are supplying their own cars and some have asked us to source a car. One customer has a minty 4,000-mile 993, absolutely perfect, and he’s not touching it, but asked us to find one in similar spec to his. It’s pretty 50/50 right now.
AM: What do you say to people that think you’re bastardizing the best 911?
PN: One of the most important aspects of the 400R project was that we didn’t want to change the car just to change the car and make it different. We wanted to improve on what was already there. In terms of design, we had made every piece like Porsche would’ve made out of its factory in 1995. So, the design language of the car, the fender lines, the bumpers, everything is done in very much the Porsche design language and it looks completely factory. If anything, we’ve been getting compliments from the purists that say, “Wow, this looks like something directly out of the factory. It doesn’t look aftermarket.” We haven’t lost the soul and essence of the car. We’ve maintained it and improved it. There’s a very fine line between changing and modifying a car and ruining the car. We wanted a very OEM design style and driving perspective.
AM: We heard that you moved and changed the power steering pump.
PN: So the 993 is famous for its steering feel because of the hydraulic system. The design of the car is that the engine is at the back of the car and the power steering pump is hanging off the engine and runs hydraulic lines to the front to the steering rack. It’s very, very inefficient. But if you look at what Porsche was doing when it was racing 993 RSRs, Porsche moved the power steering pump to the front and powered it off a supplemental electric battery. It’s still hydraulic, but electrically powered, and there are two benefits to that. First, the pump isn’t sapping power from the engine any longer. Even with a Rothsport engine, that pump could still sap about 5-6 horsepower. And second, it improves the car’s overall weight distribution. We just copied Porsche’s racing notes and applied them here. It was an easy choice to make.
To add to that racing history and heritage, there’s also a centerlock option coming.
AM: Whoa.
PN: Yeah, that will be fun to reveal to the public. It’s definitely something that’s unique to us and this build. It’s cool.
AM: Are all 25 cars already sold?
PN: Well, there are very few slots left. Actually, those may be gone. We’ve just had a frantic call from the manager of a certain musician to high-tail my ass up to Los Angeles to get their deposit. It’s getting pretty manic. It was very surprising, especially since it’s really only been three weeks since its debut. Part of the appeal, at least we think so, is that there will only be 25 cars built.
AM: Now that they’ve all essentially been sold, is there something else in the works that will satisfy what is apparently a ravenous market?
PN: We have the next car planned for The Quail next year. We can’t really reveal any details just yet, but it is in the German category. It will be a groundbreaking car.
0 notes
eddiejpoplar · 7 years
Text
Catching Up With: Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks and Vorsteiner
Autonomous cars are coming. It may not be in the next few months, or even years, but the human connection between a car and the road is coming to a close. Many see this event as a boost in safety, as taking the human element out of the car has the potential to lead to fewer mistakes and accidents; a valid argument for autonomy. However, there are those that will lament the death of that quintessential human connection between driver and machine. Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks, is one of those individuals and aimed to keep that connection alive with the 400R.
Built off Porsche’s 993-generation 911 architecture, the Guntherwerks 400R imagines what Porsche would have built if Stuttgart had developed a 993 GT3 RS (the variant was introduced for the 996 generation). The base car has been thoroughly modernized using 2017 manufacturing techniques to build a car Porsche never built. A naturally aspirated flat-six sourced from Rothsport Racing supplies the 400R with 400 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, while carbon fiber fender flares, its hood, the rear spoiler, and a set of seats all do their part to decrease the 400R’s weight to become a punchy maniac’s machine.
We sat down with Peter at the headquarters of his other company, Vorsteiner, which is a purveyor of high-quality custom body and aerodynamic kits for exotics, and talked about his passion for all things Porsche, the death of the car/driver connection, and what made him decide to build a half-a-million-dollar custom 993.
Automobile: What was the impetus for the Guntherwerks 400R?
Peter Nam: I’m a GT3 fan. I’ve had all the modern GT3s, but the GT3 didn’t start until the 996-chassis. There was always this missing-link in the air-cooled world for me because of this. I wanted a car with the analog driving feel and that emotional connection to the driver, as opposed to modern-day cars. When you get to water-cooled cars, you start to lose that connection. You start to feel the computer between you and the car, and you don’t feel as connected. Of course Porsche’s modern GT3s have been able to maintain that steering feel and connection with the driver to a degree, but the 993 was the ultimate driver’s car. You talk to any Porsche enthusiast and they’ll say that the 993 was the best Porsche 911 ever built. It’s the halo of Porsches, but Porsche never built the ultimate 993. We wanted to finally build that car.
AM: What made you say, “we can build a half-million-dollar 911.”
PN: It started purely a passion project. Everyone in the office, and all of my friends, thought I was crazy. At least up until the point that the car made its debut at The Quail. Everyone then understood. We’d been doing body kits for high-end exotics for 14 years very successfully and Guntherwerks started with the realization that we had the capability to manufacture 80-percent of the car in-house.
AM: You’re using Rothsport Racing as your engine supplier, how did you get together with them?
PN: Before we even started the project, we wanted to make sure that we could source the power plant. We wanted to go with whoever was the absolutely best-of-the-best, and when we saw Rothsport’s facility—they even had an engine dyno room, which a lot of people don’t have—we knew it was the right fit. Rothsport’s operation is one of the most famous air-cooled Porsche engine builders. They have amazing racing background and they know these air-cooled engines inside and out.
AM: Have you talked with other Porsche builders? Emory, Singer, Magnus?
PN: We haven’t. We have our own philosophy on this. The car was originally built as an homage to the 993 GT3 RS that Porsche never built. That was our stated goal. We didn’t care what other people were doing. Singer and Emory make great cars, they do their thing, make vintage backdate cars. We wanted to build a 993 GT3 RS regardless of what else what out there in the market. Rather than take examples from everyone else, we said, this is what our vision is and this is what we’re going to build.
AM: Have you talked to Porsche since the launch?
PN: [Laughs] No, so far they haven’t communicated with us. We were worried about getting a Cease and Desist, but I’ve heard through the grapevine from people associated with Porsche, and some that work at Porsche, that because it’s a very period-correct modified car, they’re okay with it so long as we don’t call it a Porsche 911. It’s the 400R, very similar to the 911 Reimagined by Singer.
AM: Where did the name Guntherwerks come from?
PN: It was inspired by a German-American mechanical engineer at NASA in the 1960s named Gunther Wendt. He was known for his meticulous mechanical, reliability, and engineering prowess. He’s actually portrayed in the movie Apollo 13, and Tom Hank’s character, Jim Lovell, trusted him and knew he could rely on his technical capability. That was the same ethos that we wanted for this project and that’s where we drew the idea for the name from.
AM: What does the typical customer look like?
PN: Our typical customer is Porsche people. They own a number of different Porsches and some own many Porsches. Some are slightly older in the sense that they used to run 993s and 964s when they were younger. Our latest customer to sign up, however, had a 993 GT2 Evo as a poster car on his bedroom wall when he was growing up, so what he loved about the car was that the looks aren’t a million miles away from the GT2 Evo, but an evolution of those looks, so it still has that feel. He always wanted an air-cooled 911 and this was just a perfect fit for him.
AM: To the point that most of your clients are Porsche people, and own multiple Porsches, are you sourcing the 993s or are they coming from the client’s own collection?
PN: Some of the customers are supplying their own cars and some have asked us to source a car. One customer has a minty 4,000-mile 993, absolutely perfect, and he’s not touching it, but asked us to find one in similar spec to his. It’s pretty 50/50 right now.
AM: What do you say to people that think you’re bastardizing the best 911?
PN: One of the most important aspects of the 400R project was that we didn’t want to change the car just to change the car and make it different. We wanted to improve on what was already there. In terms of design, we had made every piece like Porsche would’ve made out of its factory in 1995. So, the design language of the car, the fender lines, the bumpers, everything is done in very much the Porsche design language and it looks completely factory. If anything, we’ve been getting compliments from the purists that say, “Wow, this looks like something directly out of the factory. It doesn’t look aftermarket.” We haven’t lost the soul and essence of the car. We’ve maintained it and improved it. There’s a very fine line between changing and modifying a car and ruining the car. We wanted a very OEM design style and driving perspective.
AM: We heard that you moved and changed the power steering pump.
PN: So the 993 is famous for its steering feel because of the hydraulic system. The design of the car is that the engine is at the back of the car and the power steering pump is hanging off the engine and runs hydraulic lines to the front to the steering rack. It’s very, very inefficient. But if you look at what Porsche was doing when it was racing 993 RSRs, Porsche moved the power steering pump to the front and powered it off a supplemental electric battery. It’s still hydraulic, but electrically powered, and there are two benefits to that. First, the pump isn’t sapping power from the engine any longer. Even with a Rothsport engine, that pump could still sap about 5-6 horsepower. And second, it improves the car’s overall weight distribution. We just copied Porsche’s racing notes and applied them here. It was an easy choice to make.
To add to that racing history and heritage, there’s also a centerlock option coming.
AM: Whoa.
PN: Yeah, that will be fun to reveal to the public. It’s definitely something that’s unique to us and this build. It’s cool.
AM: Are all 25 cars already sold?
PN: Well, there are very few slots left. Actually, those may be gone. We’ve just had a frantic call from the manager of a certain musician to high-tail my ass up to Los Angeles to get their deposit. It’s getting pretty manic. It was very surprising, especially since it’s really only been three weeks since its debut. Part of the appeal, at least we think so, is that there will only be 25 cars built.
AM: Now that they’ve all essentially been sold, is there something else in the works that will satisfy what is apparently a ravenous market?
PN: We have the next car planned for The Quail next year. We can’t really reveal any details just yet, but it is in the German category. It will be a groundbreaking car.
0 notes
robertkstone · 7 years
Text
Catching Up With: Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks and Vorsteiner
Autonomous cars are coming. It may not be in the next few months, or even years, but the human connection between a car and the road is coming to a close. Many see this event as a boost in safety, as taking the human element out of the car has the potential to lead to fewer mistakes and accidents; a valid argument for autonomy. However, there are those that will lament the death of that quintessential human connection between driver and machine. Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks, is one of those individuals and aimed to keep that connection alive with the 400R.
Built off Porsche’s 993-generation 911 architecture, the Guntherwerks 400R imagines what Porsche would have built if Stuttgart had developed a 993 GT3 RS (the variant was introduced for the 996 generation). The base car has been thoroughly modernized using 2017 manufacturing techniques to build a car Porsche never built. A naturally aspirated flat-six sourced from Rothsport Racing supplies the 400R with 400 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, while carbon fiber fender flares, its hood, the rear spoiler, and a set of seats all do their part to decrease the 400R’s weight to become a punchy maniac’s machine.
We sat down with Peter at the headquarters of his other company, Vorsteiner, which is a purveyor of high-quality custom body and aerodynamic kits for exotics, and talked about his passion for all things Porsche, the death of the car/driver connection, and what made him decide to build a half-a-million-dollar custom 993.
Automobile: What was the impetus for the Guntherwerks 400R?
Peter Nam: I’m a GT3 fan. I’ve had all the modern GT3s, but the GT3 didn’t start until the 996-chassis. There was always this missing-link in the air-cooled world for me because of this. I wanted a car with the analog driving feel and that emotional connection to the driver, as opposed to modern-day cars. When you get to water-cooled cars, you start to lose that connection. You start to feel the computer between you and the car, and you don’t feel as connected. Of course Porsche’s modern GT3s have been able to maintain that steering feel and connection with the driver to a degree, but the 993 was the ultimate driver’s car. You talk to any Porsche enthusiast and they’ll say that the 993 was the best Porsche 911 ever built. It’s the halo of Porsches, but Porsche never built the ultimate 993. We wanted to finally build that car.
AM: What made you say, “we can build a half-million-dollar 911.”
PN: It started purely a passion project. Everyone in the office, and all of my friends, thought I was crazy. At least up until the point that the car made its debut at The Quail. Everyone then understood. We’d been doing body kits for high-end exotics for 14 years very successfully and Guntherwerks started with the realization that we had the capability to manufacture 80-percent of the car in-house.
AM: You’re using Rothsport Racing as your engine supplier, how did you get together with them?
PN: Before we even started the project, we wanted to make sure that we could source the power plant. We wanted to go with whoever was the absolutely best-of-the-best, and when we saw Rothsport’s facility—they even had an engine dyno room, which a lot of people don’t have—we knew it was the right fit. Rothsport’s operation is one of the most famous air-cooled Porsche engine builders. They have amazing racing background and they know these air-cooled engines inside and out.
AM: Have you talked with other Porsche builders? Emory, Singer, Magnus?
PN: We haven’t. We have our own philosophy on this. The car was originally built as an homage to the 993 GT3 RS that Porsche never built. That was our stated goal. We didn’t care what other people were doing. Singer and Emory make great cars, they do their thing, make vintage backdate cars. We wanted to build a 993 GT3 RS regardless of what else what out there in the market. Rather than take examples from everyone else, we said, this is what our vision is and this is what we’re going to build.
AM: Have you talked to Porsche since the launch?
PN: [Laughs] No, so far they haven’t communicated with us. We were worried about getting a Cease and Desist, but I’ve heard through the grapevine from people associated with Porsche, and some that work at Porsche, that because it’s a very period-correct modified car, they’re okay with it so long as we don’t call it a Porsche 911. It’s the 400R, very similar to the 911 Reimagined by Singer.
AM: Where did the name Guntherwerks come from?
PN: It was inspired by a German-American mechanical engineer at NASA in the 1960s named Gunther Wendt. He was known for his meticulous mechanical, reliability, and engineering prowess. He’s actually portrayed in the movie Apollo 13, and Tom Hank’s character, Jim Lovell, trusted him and knew he could rely on his technical capability. That was the same ethos that we wanted for this project and that’s where we drew the idea for the name from.
AM: What does the typical customer look like?
PN: Our typical customer is Porsche people. They own a number of different Porsches and some own many Porsches. Some are slightly older in the sense that they used to run 993s and 964s when they were younger. Our latest customer to sign up, however, had a 993 GT2 Evo as a poster car on his bedroom wall when he was growing up, so what he loved about the car was that the looks aren’t a million miles away from the GT2 Evo, but an evolution of those looks, so it still has that feel. He always wanted an air-cooled 911 and this was just a perfect fit for him.
AM: To the point that most of your clients are Porsche people, and own multiple Porsches, are you sourcing the 993s or are they coming from the client’s own collection?
PN: Some of the customers are supplying their own cars and some have asked us to source a car. One customer has a minty 4,000-mile 993, absolutely perfect, and he’s not touching it, but asked us to find one in similar spec to his. It’s pretty 50/50 right now.
AM: What do you say to people that think you’re bastardizing the best 911?
PN: One of the most important aspects of the 400R project was that we didn’t want to change the car just to change the car and make it different. We wanted to improve on what was already there. In terms of design, we had made every piece like Porsche would’ve made out of its factory in 1995. So, the design language of the car, the fender lines, the bumpers, everything is done in very much the Porsche design language and it looks completely factory. If anything, we’ve been getting compliments from the purists that say, “Wow, this looks like something directly out of the factory. It doesn’t look aftermarket.” We haven’t lost the soul and essence of the car. We’ve maintained it and improved it. There’s a very fine line between changing and modifying a car and ruining the car. We wanted a very OEM design style and driving perspective.
AM: We heard that you moved and changed the power steering pump.
PN: So the 993 is famous for its steering feel because of the hydraulic system. The design of the car is that the engine is at the back of the car and the power steering pump is hanging off the engine and runs hydraulic lines to the front to the steering rack. It’s very, very inefficient. But if you look at what Porsche was doing when it was racing 993 RSRs, Porsche moved the power steering pump to the front and powered it off a supplemental electric battery. It’s still hydraulic, but electrically powered, and there are two benefits to that. First, the pump isn’t sapping power from the engine any longer. Even with a Rothsport engine, that pump could still sap about 5-6 horsepower. And second, it improves the car’s overall weight distribution. We just copied Porsche’s racing notes and applied them here. It was an easy choice to make.
To add to that racing history and heritage, there’s also a centerlock option coming.
AM: Whoa.
PN: Yeah, that will be fun to reveal to the public. It’s definitely something that’s unique to us and this build. It’s cool.
AM: Are all 25 cars already sold?
PN: Well, there are very few slots left. Actually, those may be gone. We’ve just had a frantic call from the manager of a certain musician to high-tail my ass up to Los Angeles to get their deposit. It’s getting pretty manic. It was very surprising, especially since it’s really only been three weeks since its debut. Part of the appeal, at least we think so, is that there will only be 25 cars built.
AM: Now that they’ve all essentially been sold, is there something else in the works that will satisfy what is apparently a ravenous market?
PN: We have the next car planned for The Quail next year. We can’t really reveal any details just yet, but it is in the German category. It will be a groundbreaking car.
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If your still doing requests, Etho, beef & doc with the word 'trust'
an nho-based request that’s NOT S5 jungle angst?? who have i become /j
Requests are still open! Please read pinned post before requesting. 
  Etho and Beef stand on the end island, both with their arms crossed, watching their friend shuffle slowly over the thin bridge connecting the end portal to the main island. 
  “Let’s go, grandma,” Beef calls. “At this rate, it’s gonna take us a week to get ONE shulker box.” 
  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” Doc calls back. “I just have to be extra careful I don’t die. I have a bet with Rendog that I can go longer than him without getting my first death.”
  “Well then, I suggest you hurry up,” responds Beef sardonically. “There’s only a chance of you dying if you go a bit quicker but if you don’t, then I’ll murder you myself.” 
  Doc mutters something to himself in German as he visibly picks up his pace, though not by much. 
  Finally, he reaches his friends and the three are able to get going. Etho and Beef go ahead of him, creating a single-block-wide bridge made of end stone over the void. Doc is walking so slowly that even Etho and Beef, who are crouching and not going very quickly at all, soon pull away from him and get further and further away.
  Absorbed in his carefulness, Doc finally notices this after ten minutes. “Hey, wait!” he shouts. “Wait for me!”
  “Go a BIT faster!” Beef calls back, he and Etho now at least a hundred blocks ahead of him. 
  Doc sighs and reluctantly picks up his pace a little more. He’s always nervous on one block wide bridges, but being out over the void isn’t helping. Luckily, he’s able to push his worries to the back of his mind and concentrate on catching up with his friends. 
  However, it doesn’t take long for disaster to strike.
  Just as Doc steps forward, an enderman appears out of nowhere and steals the block he’s just about to step on. 
  Yelping, Doc flails and tips forward, unable to stop his momentum. He slips through the one block wide gap but he manages to grab hold of the edge of the end stone bridge on the other side, dangling over the void. His mind immediately races with a dozen things he should do to avoid death but his body is paralysed with fear. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to calm himself down. 
  “Doc!” yells Beef’s voice from somewhere in front of him. “Doc, hang on!” 
  He feels the end stone bridge tremble slightly under thundering footsteps. Within seconds, the footsteps stop. 
  “Doc, look at me,” comes Beef’s voice.
  Doc’s eyes slowly open and he registers Beef kneeling in front of him. A quick glance over his shoulder tells him that Etho is on the other side of the bridge, opposite Beef.
  “Listen, neither of us are strong enough to hold you on our own,” Beef explains shakily. “You’re gonna have to let go with both hands at the same time and we’ll catch you.”
  “What?!” Doc screeches. “I’ll fall to my death!”
  “Doc, we’ll catch you,” Etho says reassuringly. “I promise, we’ll catch you.”
  “You can’t promise that! Any number of things could go wrong!”
  “Doc.” Beef kneels down and places his hand on Doc’s non-robotic arm, making reassuring eye contact with him. “Trust us. We won’t let you fall.”
  Doc glances desperately from him to Etho, who has a similar determined expression on his face. Breathing heavily, he gives a pained nod. “O-Okay. Let me know when.”
  Etho and Beef lower into position, their hands out, ready to catch him. 
  “Okay, ready?” Beef says. 
  Doc takes a shaky breath. “Y-Yeah.” 
  “Ready, Etho?”
  Etho nods firmly. “Ready.”
  “Okay. Three. Two. One. LET GO!”
  Before he can stop himself, Doc lets go of the end stone.
  With lightning fast reflexes, Etho grabs Doc’s closest hand. Beef is a little slower but not enough to make a serious difference. He seizes Doc’s other hand, and the two immediately yank him upwards, just enough for him to pull himself up onto the end stone platform. 
  Etho lets go of Doc’s hand and quickly blocks up the hole, while Beef makes sure his friend is okay. Doc is shaking, but he’s unhurt. “Oh boy…” he breathes. “A-Am I safe?”
  Beef nods, rubbing his friend’s shoulder. “You’re safe, buddy. Thank you for trusting us.”
  Doc manages a smile. “I will always trust you two. But can I make a request?”
  “Sure thing. What is it?”
  “Can we make the bridge two blocks wide this time?”
  The three of them laugh. 
  “I think that’s a good idea,” says Etho amusedly. “Don’t want Granny Doc having another fall.”
  “Hey!” Doc swats Etho’s arm, pretending to be annoyed. “I’ll have you know that back in my day, we didn’t disrespect our elders like this.”
  Beef dissolves into laughter again. 
  Grinning, Etho offers an arm to Doc. “C’mon Granny Doc, let’s get you up.”
  Doc accepts the arm and lets Etho help him to his feet. “Thank you. Such a good boy.”
  Etho scoffs. “Okay, I think this metaphor’s gone a bit too far.” 
  “What, you don’t like being called a good boy?” Beef teases. “Granny Doc’s good boy?”
  “OKAY.” Etho holds up his hands and moves off. “I’m gonna extend the bridge.”
  Doc and Beef exchange a grin, before following. 
  And this time, there’s more of a spring in Doc’s step. The end is scary at the best of times, let alone when you have to be extra careful not to die, but he’s not worried anymore. He knows his friends will always be there for him.
  He trusts them.
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jonathanbelloblog · 7 years
Text
Catching Up With: Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks and Vorsteiner
Autonomous cars are coming. It may not be in the next few months, or even years, but the human connection between a car and the road is coming to a close. Many see this event as a boost in safety, as taking the human element out of the car has the potential to lead to fewer mistakes and accidents; a valid argument for autonomy. However, there are those that will lament the death of that quintessential human connection between driver and machine. Peter Nam, CEO of Guntherwerks, is one of those individuals and aimed to keep that connection alive with the 400R.
Built off Porsche’s 993-generation 911 architecture, the Guntherwerks 400R imagines what Porsche would have built if Stuttgart had developed a 993 GT3 RS (the variant was introduced for the 996 generation). The base car has been thoroughly modernized using 2017 manufacturing techniques to build a car Porsche never built. A naturally aspirated flat-six sourced from Rothsport Racing supplies the 400R with 400 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, while carbon fiber fender flares, its hood, the rear spoiler, and a set of seats all do their part to decrease the 400R’s weight to become a punchy maniac’s machine.
We sat down with Peter at the headquarters of his other company, Vorsteiner, which is a purveyor of high-quality custom body and aerodynamic kits for exotics, and talked about his passion for all things Porsche, the death of the car/driver connection, and what made him decide to build a half-a-million-dollar custom 993.
Automobile: What was the impetus for the Guntherwerks 400R?
Peter Nam: I’m a GT3 fan. I’ve had all the modern GT3s, but the GT3 didn’t start until the 996-chassis. There was always this missing-link in the air-cooled world for me because of this. I wanted a car with the analog driving feel and that emotional connection to the driver, as opposed to modern-day cars. When you get to water-cooled cars, you start to lose that connection. You start to feel the computer between you and the car, and you don’t feel as connected. Of course Porsche’s modern GT3s have been able to maintain that steering feel and connection with the driver to a degree, but the 993 was the ultimate driver’s car. You talk to any Porsche enthusiast and they’ll say that the 993 was the best Porsche 911 ever built. It’s the halo of Porsches, but Porsche never built the ultimate 993. We wanted to finally build that car.
AM: What made you say, “we can build a half-million-dollar 911.”
PN: It started purely a passion project. Everyone in the office, and all of my friends, thought I was crazy. At least up until the point that the car made its debut at The Quail. Everyone then understood. We’d been doing body kits for high-end exotics for 14 years very successfully and Guntherwerks started with the realization that we had the capability to manufacture 80-percent of the car in-house.
AM: You’re using Rothsport Racing as your engine supplier, how did you get together with them?
PN: Before we even started the project, we wanted to make sure that we could source the power plant. We wanted to go with whoever was the absolutely best-of-the-best, and when we saw Rothsport’s facility—they even had an engine dyno room, which a lot of people don’t have—we knew it was the right fit. Rothsport’s operation is one of the most famous air-cooled Porsche engine builders. They have amazing racing background and they know these air-cooled engines inside and out.
AM: Have you talked with other Porsche builders? Emory, Singer, Magnus?
PN: We haven’t. We have our own philosophy on this. The car was originally built as an homage to the 993 GT3 RS that Porsche never built. That was our stated goal. We didn’t care what other people were doing. Singer and Emory make great cars, they do their thing, make vintage backdate cars. We wanted to build a 993 GT3 RS regardless of what else what out there in the market. Rather than take examples from everyone else, we said, this is what our vision is and this is what we’re going to build.
AM: Have you talked to Porsche since the launch?
PN: [Laughs] No, so far they haven’t communicated with us. We were worried about getting a Cease and Desist, but I’ve heard through the grapevine from people associated with Porsche, and some that work at Porsche, that because it’s a very period-correct modified car, they’re okay with it so long as we don’t call it a Porsche 911. It’s the 400R, very similar to the 911 Reimagined by Singer.
AM: Where did the name Guntherwerks come from?
PN: It was inspired by a German-American mechanical engineer at NASA in the 1960s named Gunther Wendt. He was known for his meticulous mechanical, reliability, and engineering prowess. He’s actually portrayed in the movie Apollo 13, and Tom Hank’s character, Jim Lovell, trusted him and knew he could rely on his technical capability. That was the same ethos that we wanted for this project and that’s where we drew the idea for the name from.
AM: What does the typical customer look like?
PN: Our typical customer is Porsche people. They own a number of different Porsches and some own many Porsches. Some are slightly older in the sense that they used to run 993s and 964s when they were younger. Our latest customer to sign up, however, had a 993 GT2 Evo as a poster car on his bedroom wall when he was growing up, so what he loved about the car was that the looks aren’t a million miles away from the GT2 Evo, but an evolution of those looks, so it still has that feel. He always wanted an air-cooled 911 and this was just a perfect fit for him.
AM: To the point that most of your clients are Porsche people, and own multiple Porsches, are you sourcing the 993s or are they coming from the client’s own collection?
PN: Some of the customers are supplying their own cars and some have asked us to source a car. One customer has a minty 4,000-mile 993, absolutely perfect, and he’s not touching it, but asked us to find one in similar spec to his. It’s pretty 50/50 right now.
AM: What do you say to people that think you’re bastardizing the best 911?
PN: One of the most important aspects of the 400R project was that we didn’t want to change the car just to change the car and make it different. We wanted to improve on what was already there. In terms of design, we had made every piece like Porsche would’ve made out of its factory in 1995. So, the design language of the car, the fender lines, the bumpers, everything is done in very much the Porsche design language and it looks completely factory. If anything, we’ve been getting compliments from the purists that say, “Wow, this looks like something directly out of the factory. It doesn’t look aftermarket.” We haven’t lost the soul and essence of the car. We’ve maintained it and improved it. There’s a very fine line between changing and modifying a car and ruining the car. We wanted a very OEM design style and driving perspective.
AM: We heard that you moved and changed the power steering pump.
PN: So the 993 is famous for its steering feel because of the hydraulic system. The design of the car is that the engine is at the back of the car and the power steering pump is hanging off the engine and runs hydraulic lines to the front to the steering rack. It’s very, very inefficient. But if you look at what Porsche was doing when it was racing 993 RSRs, Porsche moved the power steering pump to the front and powered it off a supplemental electric battery. It’s still hydraulic, but electrically powered, and there are two benefits to that. First, the pump isn’t sapping power from the engine any longer. Even with a Rothsport engine, that pump could still sap about 5-6 horsepower. And second, it improves the car’s overall weight distribution. We just copied Porsche’s racing notes and applied them here. It was an easy choice to make.
To add to that racing history and heritage, there’s also a centerlock option coming.
AM: Whoa.
PN: Yeah, that will be fun to reveal to the public. It’s definitely something that’s unique to us and this build. It’s cool.
AM: Are all 25 cars already sold?
PN: Well, there are very few slots left. Actually, those may be gone. We’ve just had a frantic call from the manager of a certain musician to high-tail my ass up to Los Angeles to get their deposit. It’s getting pretty manic. It was very surprising, especially since it’s really only been three weeks since its debut. Part of the appeal, at least we think so, is that there will only be 25 cars built.
AM: Now that they’ve all essentially been sold, is there something else in the works that will satisfy what is apparently a ravenous market?
PN: We have the next car planned for The Quail next year. We can’t really reveal any details just yet, but it is in the German category. It will be a groundbreaking car.
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Lauren Kane, M.A.R. ‘17
How have you experienced community in your community of origin? 
I grew up in a very small, suburban, New England town, where everyone seems to know everyone and everyone's family. Everyone is also very interested in everyone else's business, as it were. When thinking about my hometown, I often think of a line from George Eliot's Middlemarch: “Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.” It's typical that those who are born in my hometown, and who went to my high school, eventually settle down there to buy a house and start a family. My mother was born and raised there, my parents have lived there for almost 30 years, and both my grandmother and my aunt live in houses just minutes down the road from ours. I’ve never considered myself to be sheltered - my parents took us on countless trips to Manhattan, to different states, and to foreign countries. Nevertheless, there is the expected claustrophobia of experience and perspective that is inherent in such a place. But there is also a very beautiful flip-side, a familiarity of home that I wouldn't trade for anything. My grandmother comes over often for Sunday dinner and we have deep family roots in the town that makes it feel like a place to which I truly belong. My summers growing up were spent at a beach house on the Connecticut shore, where my family has gone for generations. I have these perfect memories of a cottage with cabinets and clapboards worn by sand and salty air, and of hopping across hot asphalt with my cousins as we ran to catch the ice-cream truck. On a larger scale, beyond my family, it has been my experience that everyone who hails from Shelton understands what it means to be from my hometown: the traditions, the events, the institutions, the rhythms of the year. As I prepare to move to New York City, I find that a large part of my support network there is comprised of people with whom I went to high school, who now work and live in the city. So my experience of community is absolutely rooted in the identity of the town in which I was raised.
How have you experienced community at YDS? 
I should preface this by saying that I am, and always have been, an introverted, shy person. When I think about where I was able to comfortably find a community here, the first thing that comes to mind is the classroom. Peter Hawkins' course, “Dante's Journey to God,” is a perfect example; I am so grateful to have been a part of that class. Spending an entire year reading the Commedia is a project that creates a bond between people, a bond formed by a heady mixture of academic rigor and personal vulnerability. To move through Inferno is to see one's own flaws reflected and magnified, to climb the mountain of Purgatorio is to struggle to reconcile with those flaws, and to reach the heavenly rose of Paradiso is to sit down together as a class and ask, "What on earth do we make of this?" I won’t list all of the other fantastic classes in which I felt a similar feeling of solidarity in study, but there were many.
I also cannot speak highly enough of Alexander D'Alisera and N'Kosi Oates for founding the Yale Divinity School Colloquium, and doing a really outstanding job in heading that project this past year. The meetings were held about once a month or so, and it offered a space where Divinity students could come together and connect about our scholarship in an informal setting. One thing about YDS is that there is such a range of students focused on their own niche interests that it sometimes seems that if you aren't careful to be intentional with your peers, you could miss the exciting work they are doing, simply because it isn't related closely enough to your own. Through the colloquium, we were able to support one another's projects (even if they fell outside our areas of interest) and learn about the awesome work that our colleagues were doing! It fostered a sense of collegiality that is crucial to graduate study. Of course, downtown departments have colloquiums and lunches, and those are great to attend, but to have our own space as Yale Divinity students was necessary. The YDS colloquium is something that, as an alum, I really hope to see continue and flourish in the coming years.
How do you hope to enact/engage community in life beyond YDS? 
This is such a good question, and one that really preoccupied me as I approached graduation, and continues to be on my mind. I am leaving academia altogether, so the collegiality of things such as the YDS colloquium - organized academic study - will be gone from my life. I worry about losing the kind of conversations that happen in a classroom! (I've been all but throwing myself at anyone showing the slightest interest in forming a book club with me.) However, I am moving to New York City to pursue a career in publishing, so common intellectual experiences, such as exhibitions or readings, will never be too far away. I think that something truly unique to the Yale Divinity School community is that it is a space where one can find so much genuine selflessness. Sometimes it comes across in small ways, but even little gestures are a rare thing. Just as often as I saw people reading and writing essays in the common room, I saw people taking time away from those tasks to check in on one another and to listen actively to the worries and stressors that their peers were undergoing. Hopefully I can say this without coming off as too fatalistic, but I do believe that the only reason that we are here on this earth is to make things easier for each other. Effort in the human project of selfless empathy is something that I really want to bring to any community that I am in - a sense of taking the time to listen to others, to give my time entirely over to another, even if it is just a few minutes. I’m not perfect, and I fail at it often, but if I can try and harness even slightly the ethos of Yale Divinity School, then I think I have a chance of bringing it with me as I move on.
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