#short: goldfish

[neil-gaiman]

Hello!!

First of all, THANK YOU!!! The world has been feeling harder and more hopeless to me in recent years, and individuals like yourself help more than I will ever be able to express to bring light and hope back into my world. Loving and obsessing over gems like Good Omens, and American Gods (the novel at least, I must admit I never saw the show 🙈) have always given me motivation, sparked my creativity, and made me feel so much love for this, often unfortunately cruel, world. I can't express the solace it brings to me when the creators of the things I love are thoughtful and decent human beings. So, again, THANK YOU 🫀🫀🫀

I just finished my second viewing of Season 2 and have a question for you (my apologies if it has already been asked and/or answered and I missed it)!! 

How did you select the song "Everyday" by Buddy Holly? It is absolutely perfect on so many different levels, and for so many different threads and characters, all while still encompassing the perfect feelings of this show. I always include playlists with the stories I write, and often agonize over which song is the best choice for certain moments. You had to pick one song to encompass the entirety of it, and it truly blew me away! 

Thank you this Season and for everything you do; it really does mean the world to so many of us 🫀🫀🫀

In February of 1991 (I think) Terry Pratchett and I were staying in the Chateau Marmont hotel in LA. These days it is a very fancy hotel but back then it was pretty manky and run down. We were being put up by a film company and each morning we would fax over an outline for a new version of Good Omens the Movie and each afternoon we'd go to the studio for a meeting and we would realise that nobody had actually read what we had sent over that morning. Then we would go back to the hotel and work on trying to incorporate the studio notes on the outline they hadn't actually read into what we were doing.

We worked up in Terry's room because it had heating, and it was incredibly cold in LA that February, especially cold because I was in a chalet out in the grounds and there weren't heaters or extra blankets or anything in the chalet.

And at some point in there we were talking about music, and I suggested a few scary and ominous songs that might work to signal the end times. And Terry said "What about Buddy Holly's song Everyday? It sounds so upbeat and cheerful. But what if it was about the end of the world?" And I got all excited at the idea of Everyday being the Good Omens theme song.

So it's really just there to make Terry happy.

[mamawasatesttube]

alright it's time! without further ado i present to you, the premise of the timkon and clois mermay fic i probably won't write.

in a world where mers are known to exist but are extremely rare - hunted to near-extinction in the past, perhaps, and mostly very reclusive - cadmus labs manage to get a tissue sample from a mer sighted in the sea nearby, although he evades capture and is never observed in the area again. it's enough for them to make a few attempts at cloning - the first twelve are unsuccessful, but the thirteenth... the thirteenth grows beautifully.

tim drake is an intern working directly under lois lane at the daily planet. he's only recently started his job, but he's great at it and he's thriving, and he really likes lois. her husband is nice, too, even if he privately thinks the man kind of lacks personality - he's just not as much of a go-getter as lois. his columns are great reads, though. tim just thinks lois's are better.

as usual, clark kent has a secret. a sea-cret, in this case - he came from the ocean. he was a little baby mer, tacky with the blood of his dead parents, who washed up ashore by the lighthouse the kent family has kept for ages. of course they took him in and raised him as their own, as best they could. he disappeared to sea again for a while when he met lori lemaris. though their romance didn't pan out in the end, they parted as friends, and she gave him a gift: a magic spell to let him transform into a human while on land, to have legs, but to always return to his true form in the water.

lois lane, of course, knows her husband's secret. lois lane would do anything to protect her husband and his secret. she nearly lost him once, a few years ago, when he tried to go for a swim to meet his old friend lori but was nearly caught by hunters. he escaped, but was injured; his tail still bears the scar. she still has the occasional nightmare about finding him on the docks, bleeding, mourning.

the thirteenth experiment - the cloned mer - escapes.

he doesn't know where to go - he doesn't have anywhere else to go - but he's never been in the open ocean before, with no tanks or barriers or nets to hold him back, and he revels in it. he's free! he has so much space to swim, he can leap from the water and twirl in the air! there are so many stars in the night sky, and the sun on the rocks is so warm and nice, and there are so many new kinds of fish he's never eaten...

...but mers are social creatures, and he's lonely. so he starts sneaking back towards the shore of the city he escaped from. he knows it's dangerous, but he just wants to see people. he's never met another mer. he hides near the docks, he swims by the beaches, he explores the marinas. he observes. he sneaks a little closer and closer day by day, growing braver with every venture that doesn't get him caught.

tim drake is eating a leisurely lunch by the waterside one day when he notices a creature in the water, staring at him.

"uuhhhh," he says. "hi?"

the creature ducks back into the water with barely a ripple and vanishes. but he's back, a minute or two later, and staring at tim's lunch. "...what's that?" he asks.

"this?" tim looks down. "this is some sliced mango. do you want some?"

he tosses a piece into the water. the thirteenth experiment takes a tentative bite. tim witnesses a being experience true bliss for the first time in its life, in real time. the next thing he knows, he's promised to come back tomorrow with more land fruits for the mer to try - and he's promised not to tell anyone. and there's a little thought in the back of his mind telling him that he really needs to look into any facilities in the area that might have the capacity to house a secret captive mer.

clark kent hears rumors that some people are claiming to have seen a young mer in the area recently. of course he has to investigate. of course he finds the thirteenth clone, swimming around the mouth of the river and playing in the currents. of course he looks into his face - his own face, years younger - and knows, deep in his bones, what has happened. of course he calls him family. gives him a name. offers him his home, as well, but kon-el declines; he's too in love with the ocean to want to abandon it to hide on land just yet.

clark is a master of keeping secrets. never from lois, but from the rest of the world? always. he tells lois about the boy in the water, about the facility that created him, about the scientists who kept him from the sea. lois swears that she'll stand by him no matter what, and that they'll do whatever they can to make sure this kid is safe.

what follows is a series of more and more ridiculous scenarios as tim and lois both attempt to keep the mer secret from each other, unaware that the other knows about kon because they both believe they can't tell anyone about kon for kon's own safety. kon, unaware that tim and kal-el's wife know each other either, is just having the time of his life swimming around and stealing bits and pieces of tim's lunch.

of course, the peace can't last. cadmus hears the rumors, too, and they want their prize back. early one morning, tim and lois see reports of a flotilla of strange, private fishing boats with unusual equipment and no markings, and they both know what that means.

kon is being hunted.

tim scrambles to get to their usual meeting spot, to tell kon to get away, to hide, but kon never comes. hours pass. the sun sinks below the horizon; the moon glimmers on the water. sick with worry, tim finally has to retreat. they must have found him already, he thinks. he has to find a way to get him back. he has some leads, about facilities that could actually hold a mer, and about those boats. he'll follow up on them. he will find kon.

(what tim doesn't know is that clark moves fast. clark knows all about being hunted. kon is safe, luxuriating in a bath bomb in clark and lois's apartment. he's got clark's laptop on a plank across the tub, and he's watching wendy the werewolf stalker with rapt attention. clark has gotten him some sushi. he's having a great time.)

lois, however, isn't home. lois followed one of those suspicious boats back to its dock, and lois is going to get some answers.

what follows: tim and lois both break into cadmus marine research labs and proceed to do a spiderman pointing meme at each other over a computer full of records about the mer-cloning experiments.

what follows: lois is so proud of tim. he's breaking and entering and getting to the truth without her lead at all! he's doing so good! good job tim!

what follows: lois puts tim in her purse and brings him home with her like a little dog.

clark, upon seeing tim with lois, is initially like ?!?!!?! why did you bring him here when you know kon is here?!?!? but then kon sticks his head out of the bathroom and goes "tim!!!!!" and clark is like. wait. you... the human friend you mentioned is tim???? and kon is like. you know him???? my mango dealer????

and then the falling action. lois spearheads cadmus getting shut down, and kon gets to splash around without fear. he gets clark to come splash around with him too. and he kisses tim :)

[colourofthekites]

I'm gonna need someone to call me a good boy for putting up with my job

[enclarice]

"Pour my life into a paper cup"

Oh my, I forgot how short February was, this me did NOT have anything planned

Here's my dream fish, ide-ette

This one ,like the last ,is to the song otherside by red hot chili peppers

[rainisdey]

The actually still banned players.

Derap has four goals:

Revive everyone.

Find Zam.

"Force him to have a conversation with me".

Stay alive at the end.

And he's currently explaining his full side of the "betrayal plot". Apparently, it was Minute who reached out first with an offer that was completely pointless to Derap. Derap also recognizes that what he did, all of his actions, were wrong, that he went the completely wrong way about, he shouldn't have done it, and he's done it poorly. He regrets lying during the confrontation. In his plan, Derap's way of helping the Chungpire was supposed to be the same as how Zam helped Bacon - via hearts and materials, not info.

Derap is wearing complete different armour trims and is staying invis the entire time. He's calling the Chungpire v Atlas war an "ego war", a completely pointless endeavor when they all should've been focusing on Spoke.

HE BROKE RP TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS TO NOT ATTACK MAPICC LMFAOOOO

The first one to be unbanned is Woogie. And Derap now is saying that he "isn't actually that different from Zam" and that he "regrets talking with Minute". With the hearts he got from other people he's saying that he was helping people that aren't his teammates all season the same way Zam did.

Overall, lots of reflecting. He doesn't want Zam's forgiveness.

[fayeandknight]

Even more find the keys practice.

I don't know what it says about me that his first thought was to check the dumpster, but it's probably accurate lol

[hiyaluronic]

I just—I just need a minute because Letters just learned he was a real boy in time to have his big damn hero moment and it’s…😭

It’s not fucking fair.

[theradicalace]

yeah man my spoon was cold and soggy and not tasty at all. major thumbs down

[neims-skeleton-obsession]

hitting Anton with the aromantic beam too actually. why not.

[miupow]

all moas do is complain smh sanctuary is an easy 10/10

[oneechanblogsblog]

The Goldfish Team's classic underwater soccer match | Oneechanblog Short

[thebitterbeanjuice]

YOU HAVE AN ART TAG?? THIS WHOLE TIME?? I SHALL RETURN

if my memory serves me correctly you already went through that but since then i haven’t posted anything on there 😔 ima try cause im going to art camp this weekkkkk ayyayayayyaa!!!!!

[bewildered-galaxy]

Reading Tomihiko Morimi's short stories has been a lot of fun but his short story, Child Peering into Goldfish Bowl really touched me the most.

The fear of being out of sync and uncomfortable after reconnecting with an old friend is written and described so bittersweetly in this short story.

Got me thinking of the friends I've lost touch with over the years from primary school and across my time spent away from home.

Morimi wrote Tatami Galaxy, Penguin Highway, Eccentric Family etc but his unadapted works are just as awesome!

[ophelia0624]

Goldfish Tears

⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆ 🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆

Rupert was wonderfully kind, and unusually big for a goldfish. His shimmering, coppery scales caught the harsh aquarium light, flickering like tiny sunbursts across the water.

And every day, Rupert wept. His tears, delicate and clear as crystal, were nearly the size of Ann’s head.

Each one fell like a tiny star, sinking to the bottom of his tank where they gathered in a glittering mound, each tear was made of glass, her mother called them “Prince Rupert’s Drops.”

That’s why he was named Rupert.

Visitors passed by their footsteps soft on the polished floors. Ann often caught their quiet murmurs. “Such a beautiful fish…” “Why is he always so still?” “…looks almost sad.”

She would stand there, pressed close to the glass, her breath fogging it up slightly. Sometimes she imagined she could hear Rupert’s sighs—tiny trails of bubbles escaping his mouth, spiraling slowly to the surface like secret messages.

She tapped gently on the glass, a little louder than usual. “Rupert? Rupert, over here!” she called, her small hand knocking twice.

His huge eye moved, slow and deliberate, turning toward her.

“Yes?” Rupert’s voice was deep and soft, echoing faintly through the tank. The glass vibrated with it, and Ann stumbled back, blinking.

He seemed tired, very old—and yet… curious.

“Let’s play a game!” she grinned, pressing close again.

Rupert’s eye gleamed faintly, curious despite his weariness. “What game?”

“Peek-a-boo!” she cried, clasping her hands together.

There was a long pause. Rupert blinked once, then said quietly, “Peek-a-boo?”

“Yes! It’s fun!”

Rupert floated in place for a moment, then gave a tiny sigh. “I’m afraid that’ll be… rather difficult. I have no hands, you see.”

“Oh.” Ann frowned, thinking hard. “Hide and seek, then?”

Rupert swam a slow, heavy circle around his empty tank, then returned to hover before her. “You want me to hide?”

“Well, I’m better at seeking,” Ann said proudly.

Rupert’s fin twitched. “Are you… teasing me? Where in the world would I hide?”

Ann pointed eagerly to the corner. “Behind that big pile of tears!”

Rupert blinked in surprise, as though noticing the glittering mound for the first time. He swam quickly toward it, circling, staring. “Who cried all this?” he exclaimed.

“You did!” Ann laughed, her eyes wide.

Rupert looked at her, his voice suddenly sharp: “What? Impossible. You must have left this mess, strange little girl.”

Ann’s smile faltered. Her eyes filled with tears—and before Rupert could say more, her mother appeared, gently guiding her away.

Rupert watched them leave, the glass tank quiet once more.

Days passed.

And though no one could explain why, Rupert’s glittering tears never fell again. This is a bit of a short story I wrote a very long time ago, I think I was 12? Maybe I'll start writing again, I don't know!! It's a bit embarrassing but it really brings back fond memories.

[sun-undone]

perusing my goodreads and realizing how many god tier life altering series i’ve read this year like ????? what the fuck how did i even survive going from the cruel prince to shades of magic to the locked tomb to jujutsu kaisen to the raven cycle to the fucking poppy war

this means i should definitely just take it easy and for the love of god do NOT start another series before the year is up……we’ll see how that ages

[a-sassy-bench]

the puppy just attempted to eat her nametag, but was distracted by the existence of a blanket and instead attempted to eat that, but then was distracted by the existence of her arm and instead attempted to eat that, but then was distracted by the existence of her ear and instead attempted to eat that. this all occurred within the span of 20 seconds.

.