#the lost lake sailors

[clove-pinks]

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie

The best version by Lee Murdock (on The Lost Lake Sailors album) of "Perry's Victory On Lake Erie" is also on YouTube, if you don't have Spotify.

I've searched in vain for the lyrics and finally ended up transcribing them myself! Feat. USAmericans consistently called "Columbians" and some potent nationalism.

--

You tars of Columbia give ears to my story

Who fought with brave Perry, whose cannon did roar:

Your valor has gained you an immortal glory, and fame that will last until time is no more.

On the tenth of September let us all remember, as long as the globe on its axis reels round,

Our tars and marines on Lake Erie were seen

To make the red flag of proud Britain come down.

Columbian tars are the true sons of Mars, who rake fore and aft when they fight on the deep.

On the bed of Lake Erie, commanded by Perry, they caused many Britons to take their last sleep.

The van of our fleet was brought up complete,

Commanded by Perry the Lawrence bore down.

Our guns they did roar such terrific power, that savages trembled at that dreadful sound.

The Lawrence sustained the most dreadful of fire, she fought three to one for two glasses or more,

whilst Perry undaunted did firmly stand by her, and on the proud foe heavy broadsides did pour.

Her masts being shattered, her rigging all tattered, her sails all in ribbons her wheel shot away—

With few left on deck to manage the wreck, our heroes on board her no longer would stay.

There was one gallant act of our noble commander, whilst writing my song I shall notice with pride:

When launching the smack that carried his standard, the ball whistled through her quite close by his side.

Said Perry, "Those villains intend sure to drownded us, but push on my brave boys you need never fear."

And then with his coat he plugged up the boat, and through sulfur and fire away he did steer.

The famed Niagara, now proud of her Perry, displayed all her banners in gallant array,

While twenty-five guns on board she did carry, which soon put an end to this sad bloody fray. 

The fire of the Britons grew shorter and shorter, the signal was given to break through their line.

While starboard to larboard and from every quarter, 

The guns of Columbia gloriously shine.

In the heat of the battle, whose cannon did rattle, on the Lawrence, a wreck, with her men near all slain, 

Brave Elliott did steer as they brought up the rear, and by this grand manoeuvre the victory was gained.

Oh had you been there, I vow and declare, that such a grand sight you had ne'er saw before! 

When six bloody flags that no longer would wave, were laid at the feet of our brave Commodore. 

The whole British fleet was captured complete, not one single vessel from us got away.

And prisoners, some hundreds, Columbians wondered, to see them all anchored and moored on the bay.

Great Britain may boast of her conquering heroes, 

her Rodneys her Nelsons and all the old crew,

But Rome in her glory ne'er told such a story

Nor boasted such feats as Columbians can do.

So Columbians sing, and make the woods ring,

And toast those brave heroes, by sea and by land.

Whilst Britons drink sherry, let us drink to Perry,

And toss it about with a full glass in hand.

Columbians sing and make the woods ring, and toast those brave heroes by sea and by land,

Whilst Britons drink sherry, let us drink to Perry!

And toss it about with a full glass in hand.

[hanzajesthanza]

crossbow bolts & goodbyes

i love it when ciri steps into geralt's role in the endings to the story :')

from the lesser evil, one of the original short stories and before ciri had even been concieved of as a character:

to the very end on the stairs in lady of the lake:

asides from "geralt quickly covered ciri with his body" and "very good, but if you ever do that again, i'll tan your hide"—that ciri successfully pulls off the same move, deflects the crossbow bolt with her sword, like geralt has :') oh, witcher and witcher girl...

and in this same vein, it should also be mentioned, geralt and nenneke's parting at the end of the voice of reason:

to ciri and geralt's parting in something ends, something begins:

[unboundprompts]

Different Ways to Describe Blue Eyes

-> feel free to edit and adjust pronouns as you see fit.

She had eyes like the sky on a warm, sunny day.

His eyes were of the darkest blue, like the ocean that threatened to drown sailors on a stormy night.

Their eyes glowed with anger, resembling the blue flames of an unforgiving fire.

His eyes were like ice: cold and relentless.

She had bright blue eyes that seized all the sadness in his heart when she looked at him.

His eyes were fire in the water.

Their eyes were the exact same shade of blue as the bucket he used to take with him down to the pond as a kid.

Her eyes reminded him of watercolors, blues and greens and purple mixing together like paint on a canvas.

He had eyes like sapphires: big beautiful gems that watched her every move.

She had never seen eyes like theirs— the lightest blue color that they were nearly silver— and she couldn’t help but to stare.

Their eyes were like deep blue pools, and he felt that he would get lost in them if given the chance.

His eyes were the same as the blue-green mountain lakes, reflecting the hue of evergreen trees and the sparkling sun.

With just a glance at her blue eyes, he could see a lifetime a struggle that she had never spoken aloud before.

In their blue eyes, she saw rings of gold like a new sun.

He had eyes like the midwinter sky.

Her blue eyes fixed him in the best ways.

They had never realized that blue eyes could look like such hot fire until now.

His eyes were the blue of the dark sky, lit with dancing northern lights and bright stars.

Her blue eyes had the sweetest traces of caramel.

If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee! I also offer editing services and other writing advice on my Ko-fi! Become a member to receive exclusive content, early access, and prioritized writing prompt requests.

[ratsonastick]

Love me like a sailor

Clarisse La Rue x Shy!Reader

~Who would’ve thought a necklace would make such an impact on an Area kid.

˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆

Inspired by the “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez

- these lyrics!

~Oh won’t you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor?

~And when you get a taste, can you tell me what’s my flavor?

~I don’t believe in God, but I believe that you’re my savior.

You had always had a sense of connection to the water, growing up you lived in a small state near the ocean. So when you arrived at camp, it was no shock that you spent most days by the murky lake

Your parent grew up as a fishermen/women constantly out at sea, leaving you with their new lover. When the day came for them to return, their lover always found their way back into your parent's arms, being loved and held.

These days were always your favorite.

When you arrived at camp, you no longer were able to see those moments anymore, it became too dangerous living in your hometown. So you came here, with a small bag in hand, and a St.Christopher necklace that your parent gave you, to always find your way back home.

It was ironic that you wore this necklace, I mean … you were at a camp for the gods and goddesses. But your parent chose to not trust them after your godly parent left them behind.

It grew easy to hide in Camp Halfblood, everyone was always busy being themselves, so you did what you had to do to get by, and then found yourself back at the lake for the evening.

Chiron was the first to notice your unhappiness in the camp, I mean how couldn’t he? You smiled at those who walked by but quickly went back to frowning. You had made one friend Nicole, she was sweet and made you laugh, but once she left, you looked lost. Like you hadn’t found the one person to keep you grounded like an anchor.

Chiron knew that if you wanted to leave you would at least need to learn to fight, so that’s when he asked Luke Castellan to help you.

Luke approached you one afternoon with a friendly smile on his face, one that made you concerned. “Y/n, Right?” he asked, a smirk planted on his lips as he pointed slightly at you. You smiled and nodded your hair “Yep … I’m sorry, and you are?”

He chuckled with a smile still on his face, clearly taking no offense. “Luke … uh Chiron wants me to teach you how to fight, with a sword, I mean.”

“I’m better with an arrow” You spoke, trying to get him to leave you alone, but he didn’t budge “Well, we’ll have time to do that later, let's go.” He spoke tilting his head in the direction his body started to turn.

On the arena field, you felt the sun beating down on you, causing small glands of sweat to drip down your neck.

He taught you the basics, and once you caught on he started to push you more.

This happened almost every afternoon for the next few weeks, and without realizing it you started to become happier at camp.

One evening as you sat on the grass catching your breath, Luke slightly taunting you causing you to smile, a girl's voice cut through the peaceful air.

“Training this girl for death?”

You opened your eyes, leaning onto your elbows as you looked up to see a curly-haired girl standing there with a scowl.

“Clarisse … met Y/n yet?” Luke spoke, twisting his sword in his hand, “Why would I” she scrunched her face in disgust. She glanced down at you and rolled her eyes “Your tea party is cutting into the hours I reserved for this area.”

Luke scrunched his face up as he looked around, and you quickly got off the ground “Sorry, we’ll get going” You spoke with a smile on your face trying to calm the storm that was brewing but Luke shook his head.

“No this is a great opportunity Y/n … Clarisse will spar you.” Luke spoke taking a step back “What” the both of you said at the same time “I’m not fighting her.” Clarisse spoke and Luke rolled his eyes.

“Come on, we both know you are great at fighting, she needs practice.” He spoke taking a spot on the grass “Ermm Luke … I just started and she's practically advanced,” but Luke shook his head a smile forming “It’ll be fine”

But it was not fine.

Clarisse had you on the ground in seconds, her staff tugging on your necklace, the sharp end digging into your skin.

Clarisse couldn’t help the smirk grow on her face, “Cute necklace, won't mind me having it would ya?” She spoke as her sharp arrowed staff pulled harder breaking the chain, causing you to gasp as your eyes shot open.

Clarisse admired the small pendant as you got off the grass “Give it” you demanded but she shook her head a mocking laugh escaping her lips as she hid her arm behind her back.

Luke was quick to act pulling you away “Alright that's it for today”

“Bu-” he cut you off by dragging you away, leaving you feeling gutted and empty from the lost contact around your necklace.

You told Luke every day, a constant reminder of the wrong choice he made, that it was his fault Clarisse had your necklace.

Luke felt bad, so the next day he went to Clarisse, and after making a huge trade (5 Coke cans for the necklace) Clarisse agreed and made her way to the lake where she figured you’d be.

It was a foggy day, archery was canceled in fear one of the Ares kids would purposely try to shoot another kid in the butt.

So there you were, sitting on a small dock, swaying your feet over the edge.

Clarisse took in a small sigh as she walked over to you, “Can I sit?” She asked even though she didn’t care what you responded to.

She sat down, rolling her eyes at the silence you formed. “Okay quit pissing yourself, here's your dumb necklace.” She groaned, taking it out of her pocket and handing it to you.

She wanted to drag it out, wanting to see if she could make you plead, but she didn't have the patience.

She let the pendant drop into your palm, causing the chain to quickly fall after it. You said nothing just looking at it, “You’re welcome” She muttered looking out into the water.

She didn’t know why she stayed next to you, but she did. “You’re going on a quest next week, aren't you?” You asked softly, turning your gaze upwards to look at the side of her face.

She nodded, “Yeah, thank gods.”

“Why do you want to go out there so much?” you asked quietly, turning to look into the distance. “Why wouldn’t I? It makes my father proud,” she spoke, an annoyed expression written on her face.

“But does it?” This casued her to smack her thighs in annoyance as she looked at you “Excuse me?”

“I mean does he tell you it himself? Why put yourself in danger for a man who doesn't care about anything but the danger that comes with everything.”

Clarisse went silent, insults burning but sizzling out once they hit the tip of her tongue. You looked over at her, inhaling softly the lake scent before looking down at the necklace in your hand. “Here … take this for a safe trip,” you stuck your hand out nudging her arm slightly.

“I Don’t need a catholic saint to save me.” She muttered, which made you shrug your shoulders “Then add an Ares pendant to it as well, I know you got one, you carry it in your pocket.” you spoke softly, causing a confused look to spread on her face as she watched you stand up and leave the necklace on the dock.

Clarisse avoided you for the next week, the day before she left she put the necklace on, a sigh escaping her lips as she felt embarrassed. But in all honesty, she was nervous, and maybe she needed the extra luck.

As she traveled and fought, her hands would travel to the necklace and gently tug on the pendant in her spare time. When one of her cabin mates asked her about it she shoved them away feeling a slight burn in her face as she didn't want to explain her attachment to it.

She wanted to thank you, but she didn’t know how, and she didn’t want you to get the wrong idea, or at least she thought.

˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆

It was about a month later she returned.

You had no idea, too busy and engrossed with your own life to keep track of what was going on with her. You hoped she took the necklace with her, not wanting to feel embarrassed.

The day she returned everyone celebrated, another great victory for the great Clarisse. But you didn’t care, it wasn't like you were friends, you couldn’t just go up and hug her.

So instead you returned to the one place where you found peace, the dock. Gently swaying your feet and locking at the small ripples in the water as your reflection darkened with the setting sun.

“Can I keep this?” A voice asked as they sat down aggressively next to you. As you looked up you noticed that smiling face you grew desperate to see.

“No, you can not.” You responded, causing her to groan and look away. You nudged her shoulder gently, so gently she almost didn’t feel it like all the harsh ones she was used to.

“So you're back.”

She hummed softly, nodding her head “Indeed I am” You turned to look at the water “I prayed to Ares you know.”

“For me?” She playfully gasped, causing you to let out a chuckle “Yeah, I’m a pretty persuasive girl, so I asked if he would let you come home safely… thought it was worth a shot … I still need your help training and all so ~”

Clarisse stayed silent for a moment “I think it was this little man on your necklace that got me home.” You turned to look at her and giggled softly “St. Christopher?”

Clarisse hummed nodding her head, but after a moment she smiled and looked up at you “Hey is that the same Christopher tha-” you cut her off quickly “Nuh uh and never compare them.”

She lifted her hands in defense, smiling softly, this conversation felt different for some reason and you couldn’t grasp why.

Clarisse wasn’t even a friend, and she would never go for you if she was even into girls, I mean look at her and then you.

Clarisse took the necklace off and placed it back into the palm of your hand, to which you quickly transferred it to your neck, the warmth from her skin still on it.

“Suppose I should go to my party.” She spoke while standing from the dock leaving you behind.

She was halfway down the dock when you decided to get up as well, taking your time as you waited for her to disappear before following after her.

“Thought you would give me a better welcome home than just watching me leave.” She joked from a distance which made you laugh “Well, you don't seem like the hugging type” you pointed out. “Well … you aren't wrong, but maybe I’ll make an exception for you.”

“Maybe? I don't want to get over there and then be pushed into the water.” you giggled, but you couldn't help but move closer to her.

You walked faster until you were able to wrap her in your arms and duck your face into the crook of her neck.

Clarisse wrapped her arms around you and let out a small sigh. She had a feeling that she felt something good towards you. You were the first to recognize that not everyone is always brave on quests, even when they act like it, the bravery they show is fake half of the time.

She realized you cared for her without you even realizing it at all.

“You smell like the ocean” Clarisse mumbled which made you giggle, “like a sailor of something.”

“Well I did go canoeing earlier with my friend,” you responded quietly which caused Clarisse to snort.

In that short moment, you understand why your parent's lover always hugged them for so long upon their return, because they never knew if they would return.

“So you gonna kiss me or something?” Clarisse asked, “Are you always this blunt?” you spoke, a shy blush burning your face as you pulled back from her neck.

“Well, would you prefer me to be shy like you? If that's the case we might be pining for a long time” She pointed out which made you giggle before gently bringing your lips to hers.

She brought her hand up to the back of your head and pushed you further into the kiss. She pulled away for a moment taking in a deep breath “You taste like the water as well”

“Sorry, fell in while canoeing.”

˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆𖦹˖°𓇼⋆

~ Sorry, not well edited and a bit rushed …

~ Requests are open! Give me some idea!

[warriyorcat]

This is a day late but it's Edmund Fitzgerald Day! (Nov 10). For those unaware, the Edmund Fitzgerald was a Great Lakes Freighter that sank in a sudden and fierce November gale on November 10, 1975, with the loss of all 29 crew members. The Fitz remains the last freighter to have sank in Great Lakes waters. Gordon Lightfoot penned a song about the tragedy after newspapers misspelled the name of the ship. Lightfoot viewed that as an offense to the memories of the sailors and wanted to do something to raise public awareness of the tragedy. His song did so much for the sailors that when he passed away, the Mariners Church rang the bell 30 times - once for each sailor lost and once for Lightfoot.

Today is the day we remember the Fitz and the thousands of ships and sailors who have died on the Great Lakes so that we can live comfortably. I encourage you to look into the lesser-known ships that have gone down into the depths of the Lakes, and to honor the memories of those who have lost their lives.

[pupsmailbox]

MARINE ID PACK

NAMES︰aalto. adrian. adriana. adrina. aegir. aerwyna. akua. alda. aleksy. alon. amphitrite. andrienne. anemone. anenome. angler. aqua. aquaette. aquata. aquatique. ariel. arielle. ashera. aurelia. azolla. banks. barbeau. bay. beachette. beachie. beachy. beryl. blu. blue. bluette. bonnie. brooke. bubble. bubbles. calamari. calder. calypso. calyspo. captain. cari. caspian. cassius. cattail. cean. cecelia. celesea. cerulean. cerumae. ceto. clover. coastalle. coastelle. coral. coralette. coralie. coraline. cordelia. corel. corelle. coron. coronis. cove. cubit. current. cyx. dari. daria. darya. davy. delja. delmar. delphin. delphine. derya. destiny. doria. dorian. doris. dory. dylan. echo. elles. eyre. fern. fin. finley. finn. fish. fishe. fisher. fishette. fishy. flipper. float. foam. fwish. goldie. guinevere. guppy. hudson. hurley. hyacinth. hydropha. ink. inky. isla. jack. jelli. jelly. jewel. jordan. jordyn. kai. kaia. kairy. kelpie. kelsey. lagoona. lagoonette. lagoonne. lake. lana. levi. leviathan. lorelei. lotus. maelyn. malik. maren. marie. marin. marina. marine. marinette. marion. marissa. maritren. marlin. marne. marnie. marvin. mary. maxwell. meena. mer. merissa. merlin. meryl. mira. mirabel. miranda. miriam. moby. molly. moray. morgan. moss. naiad. nancy. nauticalette. nauticalle. nelum. nemo. neptune. nessie. nina. nixie. nori. nova. nymph. nymphaea. ocean. oceanette. oceania. oceanne. oceanus. octo. oscar. oss. osseo. pacifica. patience. pearl. pearline. percy. pike. pine. pippy. pond. poseidon. puff. rain. raine. ray. reef. reefette. river. ronan. rosemary. sachiel. sailor. sandy. scylla. seaette. seamus. searya. seaseaette. seashelle. seaton. sebastian. selkie. serena. shark. sharky. shell. shelle. shelley. shelly. shorette. siren. sirena. sirenette. sirenne. skip. skipper. snapper. sporty. squid. star. summer. sushi. tail. tallulah. teal. tide. tidette. timin. titus. treasure. trout. twilight. undine. valdrian. vert. verulean. waterette. wave. wavette. wavy. willow. windsor. wisteria. world. wyvern.

PRONOUNS︰ab/abyssal. algae/algae. an/anemone. ang/angelfish. aq/aqua. aqu/aqua. aqua/aqua. aqua/aquatic. aquatic/aquatic. bay/bay. be/beach. bea/beach. beach/beach. bite/bite. bleu/bleu. bloop/bloop. blu/blue. blub/blub. blue/blue. bo/boat. brea/breathe. breeze/breeze. brine/brine. bubble/bubble. ca/catch. cae/caer. carp/carpal. cat/cattail. cattail/cattail. chomp/chomp. clam/clam. claw/claw. cliff/cliff. coast/coast. cor/coral. coral/coral. cra/crab. crab/crab. cur/rent. dae/daem. de/deep. dee/deep. deep/deep. di/dive. dive/dive. dol/dolphine. drift/drift. drip/drop. drop/droplet. drow/drown. eel/eel. enj/emjoy. exci/excite. fi/fish. fin/fin. fish/fish. fish/fishe. fish/fishie. fish/fishy. flo/float. flo/flood. float/float. flow/flow. foam/foam. fwi/fwish. fy/fish. gill/gill. glass/glass. glub/glup. gre/green. gull/gull. hi/hide. hunt/hunt. hy/hydro. ink/ink. jaw/jaw. jel/jelly. jell/jellyfish. jelly/jelly. jelly/jellyfish. kelp/kelp. krill/krill. lagoon/lagoon. lake/lake. li/light. lob/lob. lost/lost. lu/lung. luu/luu. ma/marine. mako/mako. mar/marine. marine/marine. mer/maid. mer/mer. mer/mermaid. natu/nature. nautical/nautical. nep/neptune. oce/ocean. ocea/ocean. ocean/ocean. octo/octopu. oyster/oyster. peace/peaceful. pearl/pearl. pinch/pinch. puddle/puddle. ray/ray. re/reef. reef/reef. riv/river. river/river. sa/sand. sail/sail. salt/salt. sand/sand. scale/scale. scuttle/scuttle. se/sea. sea/sea. sea/seaweed. sea/shell. seal/seal. search/search. sh/ship. sha/shark. shark/shark. she/shell. shell/shell. shimmer/shimmer. shine/shine. shiney/shiney. shoal/shoal. shore/shore. shri/shrimp. sink/sink. skul/skel. soul/soul. splash/splash. spon/sponge. squ/squid. squid/squid. star/fish. star/star. stare/stare. sting/sting. su/sun. sun/sun. sun/sunbathe. swi/swim. swim/swim. swish/swish. tail/tail. tear/tearself. ten/tentacle. ti/tide. tide/tide. tooth/tooth. tre/trench. treasure/treasure. tro/tropical. tropi/tropical. tuna/tuna. um/umbrella. urchin/urchin. void/void. wa/water. wa/wave. wash/wash. wat/water. water/water. water/wave. wave/wave. wet/wet. wha/whale. whale/whale. wy/wave. ☀. ⛱. 🌅. 🌊. 🌞. 🌴. 🍥. 🎣. 🏖. 🐋. 🐙. 🐚. 🐚.🦐. 🐟. 🐠. 🐡. 🐬. 🐳. 👙. 💧. 🚢. 🛥. 🦀. 🦈. 🦐. 🦑. 🦞. 🧽. 🧿. 🩱.

[thewisaaaaad]

AAAAAND here's a bit more from Narinders Locker AU!

this time its about spooky cat himself, along with the failed vessel!

Narinder is very much the same, but instead wears a white coat with a red stripe down the middle. They are still a half skeletal cat, but his chains do not strictly keep him in place; the other captains just chained him to four anchors and threw him into the sea, after all. So he just drags himself across the seabed, looking through wreckages and searching for adventure with his two adopted demigods.

The lamb always knows where to find him, though. The crown makes a very handy compass.

Narinder loves fighting, more than everything else. Everything except his morals. When he was mortal, he loved to start bar fights, especially in defense of people who could not protect themselves. When he ascended to godhood with his family, it was his and Shamuras idea to include an oath to protect the mortals of the sea, to watch over them and not use them as tools, so as not to become the very gods they had set out to slay.

Narinder knows that one day he will no longer be a god. As per the oath, a Captain is chosen by their crew, not the other way around. And the lamb has a naturally magnetic personality, and a drive that pulls faithful crew to their side. One day, when the Captains have fallen, he will challenge them to a duel. He will naturally give up his godhood, but wants to go out on his terms: a blaze of glory, a legendary fight that the crew will talk of forever more. That will be his immortality, as his soul gets to rejoin his family in the deep.

But that isn't what happens, of course; the Thing in the Moon has other plans for their lost champion.

Ratau is an old bartender at this point, running a lonely tavern on an island far from the Captains strongholds. He holds on to the old Iron Veil, beached deep in the forest of the island he retired on, hidden within a lake at the center.

He has a sailors tongue, and passes the time playing nucklebones with his trader friends, when they come to visit.

When the small sloop loaded with woolly refugees docked at the lonely island, Ratau welcomed them with open arms, inviting them to stay the night at no cost. The sheep, exhausted from running, gladly took shelter with the unaligned tavern master.

While there, a young sheep took interest in his craft, and Ratau taught them many things, including a couple knife tricks to help defend their family.

Imagine their surprise when they see that same sheep show up at his bar in an empty ship once belonging to the green Captain, drenched and dripping seawater on his floor, bearing the red crown.

Both of them took time to mourn that day, and the Lamb has returned many times since.

[anchor-ice]

ok since the overall response was positive i'm gonna tell you a bit about this project!

this is a series of jokey mini-comics detailing the (after) lives of a band of ghosts who are stuck in an abandoned summer camp near omsk location pending in 2005. this is basically bbc ghosts but russian and with more gore.

katya is the only one who's alive! she's 15 and started seing ghosts after her shitty boyfriend crashed his bike with her in the back seat. she's trying to help the ghosts mediate their relationships with eachother and the world, and they're helping her with homework (sometimes) or being general nuisances (more often).

the pilot died in 1944 when his plane crashed while he was test-flying it. he was wounded in the frontlines and sent home to recover, but decided to help out in the poiloting school in the meantime. the guy on whose watch the plane crashed was shot for sabotage afterwards, and his ghost in turn is pretty resentful about that, because it was just the lack of funds and old equipment going out. plot: katya helping them meet and make peace with eachothers deaths. the pilot had a daughter himself and thus is feeling very paternal towards katya. most organised and helpful of the ghosts. died with one broken cigarette whick they all now share and an officers notepad with his papers and maps, where he sketches from time to time (it all disappears after he stops concentrating 😔) has ideological beef with the suit and ex-beef with the sailor (they are besties now).

the sailor died in 1921 during the kronstadt rebellion and was very surprised when he woke up near omsk. he had a precious cigar case that was lost a year before his death, and in the chaos of th civil war found itself in a magpie's nest in the woods near omsk. his soul is tied to this case, and he spends a lot of time trying to get to the case and taunting the magpie family (unsuccessfully). has a tin of cocaine, 4 machine gun belts, no machine gun and an attitude. loves asking katya to marry him and run away to saint-petersburg together. plot: katya finally getting him his cig case back. obsessed with space and in love with yuri gagarin, wants to find and meet his ghost

the suit died in 1997 during a buisness deal gone wrong, shot and buried on the abandoned camp territory, is still a bit pissed about that. is disgusted by the starry-eyed belief in the happines of all mankind the pilot and the sailor exibit and in general is tormented by the fact tht he will have to spend his afterlife in a summer camp surrounded by these people. loves to come harass the monk living in the lake nearby to get some sort of ideological closure and figure out how afterlife works. plot: getting katya the money to move to another sity when she goes to uni

the bomber died in 1896. tried to sicide bomb a govt official but was discovered and sentenced to death, later pardoned bc of Nicholas 2 acending to the throne, sentence switched to siberian exile for 25 years with no rights to return. killed herself out of boredom and despair. gets along well with the sailor (he is slightly intimidated by her), would really like to talk to the monk but he doesn't answer to anyone. plot: idk so far 😔

the bear victims - a lego of bear victim parts. that's it. a comedic side character.

the monk died alone on an island in the lake in ????, the island was later blown up to increase the water capacity flowing from the lake to a water reservoir. doesn't talk to any of the other characters bc of his seraphimic schema and vow of silence & solitude. slowly warming to the idea of breaking his vow and trying to help the other ghosts move on, because if god's not letting him go, that must be for a reason, right? plot: speaking to katya

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober Day 9: Polaroid (“you’re a liar”)

I purposely got off of tumblr and didn’t get sucked into lu update stuff too much because I knew that if I did I would never finish this XD But here’s today’s fic! I love writing Malon :)

Read on ao3

Warnings: kidnapping, some violence, and a broken bone

————————————————————

“I can’t find my pictobox!”

Time looked up at the complaint, and saw Wind digging through his bag and emptying it into a steadily increasing pile next to him. The others were packing up their gear to in preparation to move, and more than one exasperated face was thrown towards Wind’s mess.

“I wanted a picture of that cool island in the lake, but it’s gone!” Wind huffed as he leaned back, bag now empty. “Who took it?”

“Don’t look at me,” Wild said with his hands up, packing away his cooking supplies. “I don’t need it, I have my own camera.��

“I didn’t either!” Legend defended at Wind’s accusing finger, and the rest of them replied in the negative when Wind looked around at them all.

“We’ll help you look for it sailor,” Warriors said as he joined his side, and they began scouring the campsite.

Time glanced around where he was sitting, but there was no sign of the distinctive red and yellow device, and he shook his head, watching the others search. The camera had to be around here somewhere, Wind had been using it just the night before.

Hopefully it hadn’t been broken.

Time sighed, and prepared to get down on his knees to help search when the sound of footsteps made him look up. He wasn’t the only one who tensed towards his weapon, but it was merely the mailman, stepping through the reeds near their campsite, and they all relaxed.

“I have a letter, for a... Link,” he said with smile, holding it out. Time took it, as he was one of the only Links not crawling around in the rushes, and he smiled at the script.

He recognized Malon’s handwriting instantly, and felt something warm in his chest at the familiar loops. It hadn’t been too long since she’d sent him a letter, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

“I also found this, does it belong to you?” the mailman asked, and Wind cheered as he saw the red and yellow device.

“My pictobox!” he yelled excitedly, and ran over and took it, studying it for any damage. “All right!”

“Thank you,” Time said politely, and the mailman gave him a surprisingly big grin.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

And then he was gone as unnaturally fast as always, Sky and Twilight both frozen in the act of getting up. They both sit back down with a grumble at their quarry lost (they both had questions about the mail service using unstable dark magic portals), and Time chuckled, grabbing a small knife to tease open the letter.

He had plenty of time to read it after all. Wind still needed to pack everything he owned back into his bag.

The sailor began cajoling Warriors to help him pack all his stuff together again, voice pleading, and Time finally got the seal off the letter, unfolding the paper with a smile.

Then felt his heart stop.

Surrender, and no further harm will come to her.

That was it. Nothing else.

Nine little words in scrawling, angry handwriting that was nothing like Malon’s, and they were enough to make Time feel like he’d been stabbed in the chest.

His heart finally started beating again, but it was going so fast it was like a panicked animal trapped in his chest, and his breathing began to pick up.

No further harm? What had her kidnapper already done to her? How had they known? Was she even—

“Old man? Are you okay?”

Twilight was looking at him in concern, and Time merely stared at him, still frozen in shock.

“Time, you’re as pale as a ghost, what did Malon say? Is she okay?” he repeated, and the rest of the Links looked at him in concern.

Time couldn’t get his mouth to work, and Legend sighed and moved around behind him so he could read the letter as well. He immediately paled, and looked between Time and the paper without saying anything for a moment.

“It’s not from Malon. Someone’s done something to her,” he said finally, and the clearing went dead silent. “It says to surrender, and... she won’t suffer any further harm.”

“Further?” Sky asked in a horrified voice, and they all looked at Time again.

He felt as if he was going to be sick.

“No, no way, it’s a trick. It has to be a trick,” Wild spoke up, voice fierce as he stood. “They’re lying Time, whoever it is has got to be lying, there’s no way Malon could...”

He trailed off, hands clenched into fists, and Twilight approached Time, his face white. He held out a hand, and Time handed him the letter with a grip that was definitely not shaking.

But another paper fluttered out between them as he handed it over, tucked into the envelope. Time snatched it up mere seconds before it touched the ground, and turned it over, staring at the picture in silence.

The mystery of where Wind’s pictobox had gone last night was immediately solved.

The photograph showed Malon in disarray, a look equally angry and frightened in her eyes where she was bound to a chair. Dark Link stood in the foreground, obviously holding the pictobox with one hand while he gestured to Malon with the other, a grin splitting his shadowed face.

There was a dark line of blood on Malon’s cheek.

Time’s numb shock snapped into a wave of pure fury, crashing over him as he stood up. He looked around at the other heroes, clenching the photograph so tightly it nearly ripped in his hands.

“We’re going. Now.”

(...)

Malon’s cheek hurt.

She let out a quiet sigh, the sound muffled by the cloth over her mouth. It was tied tight over her face, and it dug in painfully to the scratch the dark copy of her husband had given her. It stung rather badly, and was still bleeding a bit, and the blood soaking into the gag only made the whole situation that much more unpleasant.

Malon was proud of the reason she’d received the cut though, along with the sting in her knuckles and the handful of bruises she was sporting.

The Shadow of her husband had caught her by surprise, breaking into her house in the dead of night looking nearly identical to Link. Malon had only been fooled for a moment, and she’d done her best to fight him off and escape, managing a few solid punches before he’d overpowered her, and making his nose bleed all over her floor.

Then he’d tied her up, and gagged her when she kept demanding answers from him, bringing her through a shadowy portal like the ones her husband and the other boys had been traveling through.

She’d squirmed and fought and yelled at him the entire time, but he’d either ignored her, or given her a smile that made a shiver run down her spine. And then he’d taken her picture with a strange little device, and stalked away, leaving more then one monster stationed around the perimeter of the room, all watching her closely.

Their gazes made her skin prickle, and she dearly wished she could have a little privacy, or at least not be in the center of the room. She felt like some sort of garish display for people to gawk at, and the looks the monsters were giving her only made the feeling worse.

And truth be told, she was a bit frightened of what exactly Dark Link was planning on doing with her.

She breathed out, calming the panic that had been licking at her heels all night. She didn’t need to worry. Link would be along shortly, and nine heroes were nothing against a second-rate copy.

I hope.

A distant screech caught her attention, and she looked over at the doorway, the shadow of her husband also glancing in its direction. He waved some of the monsters through it, then moved around behind her somewhere where she couldn’t easily see him.

Having him so close but out of sight made her stomach twist.

A much closer shout rang through the doorway, and Malon felt her heart leap as a monster fell dead across the threshold, disappearing into dust. She knew that shout well.

Link entered the room seconds later with his sword already bloodied, the rest of the boys behind him looking equally tense and battle worn.

His gaze immediately sought her own, and a look equally relieved and furious shone in his eye. Malon would’ve tried to give him a reassuring smile, but her mouth was still gagged, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to dredge up a look that was truly comforting.

“That’s far enough.”

Something cold settled against her neck, and Malon breathed in sharply, a blood-red sword pressed to her skin.

The heroes all froze, staring at her with differing mixtures of fear and outrage on their faces. Dark Link stared at them all, watching to make sure none of them approached, then nodded, looking satisfied.

“Good. Now we can all have a nice, civil chat.”

“Not while you still threaten her,” Link said sharply, and Malon could hear how desperately he was holding back the emotion in his voice.

Oh fairy boy.

The other boys loudly agreed with him, and Dark Link looked around at them all, appearing entirely unbothered.

“I am dictating the terms here,” he replied smoothly, and looked at Malon with a smile that normally made her heart soar. “After all, I do seem to hold all of the cards.”

Malon fixed her husband’s shadow with the most intense glare she could manage, wishing her mouth was free to tell him just what she thought of him. He had the audacity to laugh at her though, and something almost possessive shone in his eyes as she glared. The sword at her neck eased just a little, and he leaned closer to her, practically nose-to-nose.

His breath even smelled like Link’s, and Malon froze, suddenly terrified of what he was going to do.

“I see why you married her, she’s got spirit, this one,” Dark Link purred, holding her chin in an almost terrifyingly gentle grip. His fingers felt like ice. “She’s quite the catch.”

“Release her,” Link nearly snarled, and surprisingly enough the Shadow obeyed, his fingers slipping off her face. The sword never left her neck though, and Malon forced herself not to shake as it teased her skin again.

“I made my demands abundantly clear, Hero of Time, and I think they’re quite reasonable,” Dark Link said, sliding his blade just enough to make pain trickle across Malon’s neck. “Surrender, and no further harm will come to her.”

“What proof do we have that you’ll stick with it?” Twilight interjected, his face just as dark as her Link’s.

“Yeah, we have no guarantee!” Wind shouted, and the others joined in, “why should we do anything you say?!”

Dark Link smiled.

“Because you have no choice.”

He abruptly twisted around and grabbed Malon’s arm, the ropes at her wrists cut off with his sword. Before she could even register what was happening, he twisted to the side, and a horrible crack echoed through the room.

Malon couldn’t hold back her scream.

Pain burst up her arm and shoulder, white sparking in her vision, and there was a sudden rush of noise from where the Heroes were standing, shouts and cries of outrage, and questions of if she was okay.

But Malon couldn’t focus on anything at the moment, just the pain blazing up her arm. She knew immediately something was broken, possibly in more then one place, but before she could even try to ease the pain or calm herself down, something twisted her arm around and it got even worse.

She couldn’t stop herself from crying out again as Dark Link replaced the ropes around her wrists, roughly pulling her arms behind her back. Tears trickled out of her eyes and dampened the gag, and every breath was more painful then the last.

The sound of a weapon clattering to the ground pulled her out of the worst of the pain clouding her mind, and she looked up, meeting Link’s eyes through her tears.

“I surrender!” he shouted, staring at her in horror. His sword was on the ground, and he raised his hands up, turning a glare on Dark Link that was filled with such hatred Malon was surprised he didn’t burn up on the spot.

“I surrender. Let her go.”

“I’m glad we came to an understanding,” Dark Link smiled, ignoring the glare, “very noble of you. But I didn’t mean just you, Hero of Time. I want all of your complete surrenders in exchange for her safety.”

Link’s eyes flashed, but he looked behind him at where the others stood, watching him hesitantly. A few moments of silence went by, and Malon felt a hand curl its fingers around her unbroken arm.

“Do I need to make myself more clear?”

“No,” Sky replied quickly, and the other heroes dropped their weapons, looking just as angry and worried as Malon’s own Link did.

Dark Link removed his hand from her shoulder, and Malon couldn’t stifle a shudder, her heart sinking as she watched the last of the heroes place their weapons on the floor. Boys no, don’t let him use me against you!

“Good... now we’re getting somewhere,” Dark Link grinned, looking pleased as pudding. “I want your bags on the floor too, and any magical items you might be wearing. All nine of you will soon—”

He stopped suddenly, red eyes narrowing as they trailed along the heroes.

“We seem to be missing someone,” Dark Link said in a low voice, and the heroes went still. “Where is the First of the Downfall? The one you call Hero of Legend?”

The room went silent, apart from an unsteady breath from Malon.

Then there was a quiet swish of a cape, and the Hero of Legend suddenly appeared out of nothing, charging at Dark Link with his sword high and eyes blazing with torchlight.

He threw himself at the shadow, and Dark Link was forced to hold his sword up to defend himself, removing it from Malon’s neck. The room erupted into chaos as their blades clashed, and the heroes quickly grabbed their weapons. They leapt forward, the monsters around the perimeter running to stop them, and screeches and yelling echoed all over the room.

And Malon couldn’t do anything but watch it happen, her arm still burning white hot with pain.

She watched Legend narrowly dodge a strike that would have killed him, and looked down at herself, shoulder aching as she tilted her head. Wriggling loose of her ropes wasn’t even a possibility now that she had an opportunity to, her arm entirely uncooperative, and frustration broke through her pain.

Malon looked down at her arm, nausea twisting in her stomach at the angle it was at.

I have to try.

She experimentally wiggled her good arm, trying to see if she could at least loosen the ropes. But pain ripped through the broken one with even that tiny movement, and she gasped, closing her eyes as she fought back more tears of pain.

Okay. Okay, wait a bit, then try again.

You have to get out of here.

As if summoned by her thoughts, something suddenly pulled at the ropes on her feet, and Malon dizzily looked down, trying to focus on who was helping her. All she could make out was blond hair though, bent over her ankles. A different set of hands was at her back, pulling off her gag and ever-so-gently removing the ropes at her wrists.

Her breath hitched with pain when the hands accidentally nudged her arm, and there was an apology in her ear, then a rustle as the ropes fell to the ground.

A hand very carefully shifted her arm to a better position, and Malon squeezed her eyes shut, trying not shout at the pain. But once it was let go, Malon could actually focus a little better now that the ropes weren’t twisting it around. It still hurt, rather badly, but not quite to the extent it had.

She looked up at who had freed her, and saw Twilight standing next to Four and Sky, the two keeping a sharp eye on the fight around them while Twilight looked her over with no small alarm.

“Malon, are you okay?” he asked, the worry on his face only growing as he studied her arm. “...never mind, that’s a stupid question. How bad is your arm?”

“It’ll be okay,” she replied, voice mostly not shaking, and squeezed Twilight’s hand with her good one. “Thank you, hon.”

Twilight helped her up, ears pricked for any monsters that might approach, and Malon rubbed at her cheeks, sore from how tight the gag had been. Her stomach twisted when she felt something move in her arm, and she held a little tighter to Twilight’s arm as the pain spiked.

“I’m sorry, I’d offer you a potion, but we’ll have to set your arm first,” Twilight apologized, looking a little frantic as she forced herself to keep her breathing steady through the pain. Easy does it Malon. “And that’ll have to wait until we’re somewhere safe.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice, and Twilight began to lead her away from the worst of the fighting.

Four stayed nearby, giving her an encouraging look before returning his gaze to the fight around them. Sky stayed a bit further away, but he didn’t go far, and they both acted as a sort of guard as Twilight led her across the room. Her world narrowed to mostly Twilight’s arm supporting her as they walked, and the pain that only seemed to get worse in her arm.

She couldn’t entirely bite back a gasp when it abruptly spiked, and swallowed back her nausea as Twilight gently squeezed her hand.

They’d stopped walking at some point, she wasn’t sure when. She was afraid to raise her head and check if they’d left the room or not, worried the nausea she felt in the back of her throat would win and she’d end up making even more of a mess of herself. Talking was going on around her, possibly directed at her, but she couldn’t focus on any of it, just the pain that wouldn’t go away in her arm.

Then a voice cut through the fog she’d been drifting through, sharp and frantic.

“Malon!”

She raised her head, and suddenly Link was holding her, pressing her into his arms, murmuring frantic apologies and assurances as she buried her head in his shoulder and allowed herself a couple more tears.

Relief swept through Malon as Link held her, carefully not touching her arm, running trembling fingers through her hair. She could hear his heart thumping rapidly where her ear was pressed to his neck, and she merely listened to it for a moment as he held her, warm and safe.

Link finally pulled back enough to properly look at her face, and his thumb gently caressed her cheek, right next to the cut Dark Link had given her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes still shining with fear.

“I think I should be asking you that,” she said with a teasing smile, but her voice shook, and Link’s face creased further. He carefully ran a hand over her arm and shoulder, Malon flinching at the pain that shot up her arm at his touch, and he winced and apologized.

Someone said something over his shoulder, and Link looked back and replied, though Malon didn’t catch everything that was said.

“...Is Legend okay?” she asked suddenly, remembering how he’d leapt at the Shadow.

“He’s fine. Dark Link got away, but he’ll think twice before coming after you again,” Twilight said with a smile, and Malon blinked. She hadn’t realized he was still nearby.

“I gave him something to remember me by, that’s for sure,” Legend’s voice said from somewhere nearby. His tone was satisfied, but it held something dangerous in it.

Link’s arms went around her more tightly again, and Malon looked up at him, a storm of all sorts of emotions on his face. He caught her looking, and gave her a slightly brittle smile.

“I’m okay,” she reassured gently, and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I’ve done that to you enough to know you’re absolutely not telling the truth,” he replied, but his smile was a little more genuine then before. “We’ll get you healed as soon as we’re able, Malon.”

Malon nodded, and ignored how her arm still hurt like it was being trampled on, and how her stomach still twisted with nausea, merely setting her chin on Link’s shoulder again.

“Thank you fairy boy,” she said softly, and Link held her as tight as he could without hurting her arm. “I wish I could have stopped him.”

Link let out a trembling sigh.

“I’m just relieved you’re okay.”

[meowmeowmeowmeow4x]

Dark Blue Moon and the Suffering Sun Chapter 28

>:D

mastapost

The Panama Canal was one of the greatest feats of 20th Century engineering. Originally, ships that wished to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, or vice versa, were forced to make the long and arduous journey around South America, a trip that would take 20,000 kilometres, which would also mean our story would be much, much longer (or at least require more time skips).

It was not as simple as digging a ditch. Panama is a beautiful, but very rugged country, with hilly and mountainous terrain that halted the French in their tracks. That, and the copious mosquitoes. Landslides and rain beat back attempts to dig the canal in the 19th Century. But the dream did not end.

How did the Americans do it? All they needed was a bit of lateral thinking. Instead of digging the entire canal and attempting to conquer the mountains and hills, engineers built a dam to flood an artificial lake, leaving a 15km stretch of unflooded land. This is where they built the remaining canal. In order to raise ships into the canal’s lever, they build a system of locks. Each lock would funnel water into the one behind it, raising the ship until the water level was even on both sides, and so on.

The Canal was vital in the war effort in World War 2, and it was a target of the Japanese I-400 programme, until Okinawa fell, and it was decided that destroying the locks would have had no effect on the war.

This is where the story takes Danny and Damian.

“Land ho!” Danny cried out at the first patch of land. At last, after however many thousands of miles travelling (Danny had lost count) they were here.

“We are not sailors.” Damian grumbled. Maybe he was getting excited too. Danny could feel the way the kid’s fin’s thumped on Danny’s scales, like a puppy wagging its tail.

“Right, we’re just borrowing one of man kind’s most impressive engineering accomplishments for sailing.”

Damian huffed. “As sea creatures infamous for attacking sailors. Be glad we are not in the olden days, or our presence would have caused national, or international panic.”

Danny felt the urge to riff on the kid’s comment, but he remembered the stinging silence from yesterday. He decided not to push boundaries this early back into their kind-of make-up. “As it is I’m sure the authorities don’t mind that much. Probably don’t even believe in sirens. I think they’d just be angry that we didn’t pay the fee.”

With the canal in sight, Danny zoomed into the bay in minutes. The bay narrowed into a waterway leading inland underneath a huge bridge. Danny gasped at the size and scale of the thing. The boys continued up the bay. They dodged ship propellers, dove underneath hulking hulls. The water tinged with the smell of barnacles and metal. Nobody was out on the shoreline looking for sirens, which was a big plus, but Danny still kept a tight handle on his invisibility whenever they got close to the surface.

Soon, they reached the first lock.

“We gonna jump over or what?”

Damian trilled. “That would be an easy way to get spotted.”

“I can make us invisible, duh.”

“They would notice the splashes. We have not seen the GiW in some time, but I would prefer not to give them any ideas. We do not know who could be watching.”

With that, Danny found himself icing his body to the hull of some random cargo freighter. The ship approached the locks. They waited for painstaking minutes, watching the water level rise inch by inch. Once it reached the midway point up the next lock, the gates opened. Then the ship slowly inched forward. Then the water level inched upward again.

“This is gonna take for-freaking-ever.”

“Swimming around South America would have taken forever.”

“Uuggghhh.”

It would’ve been nice if there were some pretty landscapes to stare at for the next however many hours this would take. Sadly, their surroundings were all smooth concrete underwater, void of life and energy. Above water, it was the same, save for some small patches of grass and dirt lined the edges of the locks. Workers and vehicles milled about with their tasks on barren grey roads. The shipyard buzzed like persistent mosquitoes. Whirring machinery, shouted orders and gasping engines filled the air. He even felt a literal mosquito land on his nose when he surfaced to check. He was invisible! What the fuck!

So Danny dipped back underwater, hopefully drowning the little blood sucker. He didn’t want to know what a mosquito could do with his blood.

“What is the situation?” Damian asked.

“Boring. And normal, I guess. The stench is killing me though. God damn.”

Damian’s ear fins quirked. “Do sirens worship Christ?”.

“Uhh, not sure. I’m totally atheist though. Must be why the Fentons call me godless sometimes.”

The next lock finally finished opening. The ship continued inching painfully forward. The hum of its engine echoed back and forth in the ditch.

“Gahhh! Please. Move. Faster!” He banged the hull.

“Please stop complaining. You are contributing to the noise.”

Danny went to make another complaint, only for Damian to nip him in the ear.

“Yowch! What was that for!”

Damian went for the other ear.

That was when Danny sniffed a familiar scent. He slapped his hand over Damian’s mouth. “Wait. Something’s up.”

Damian froze. “What?”

The boys scanned the lock. They were alone in there, without a doubt. Danny’s lateral line only sensed Damian with him, and the scent of another sea creature would have been a beacon in the stale water.

Danny broke off from the ship. He melted his ice, just to be safe. The boy carried Damian above the surface invisibly.

“You see anything?”

“Just employees. And equipment.”

“Let’s look behind us.”

The water level had just about filled the up to the top of the gate behind them. There was little risk of being left behind by the next, seeing as Danny’s swimming speed would let them catch up with the boat in seconds. It took little effort for the boy to scale up the walls and peek overhead.

He was treated to a vast overhead view of the waterway. Danny hummed. All he could see was more machines dotting the side of the canal underneath tree cover, and beyond, the vast blue sea.

Damian squeezed his arm like a vice. “We have potential trouble.”

The older boy scrambled. “What? Where?”

“Down there.” Damian pushed the back of his head down.

Danny’s heartrate spiked. Just approaching the lock system was a familiar white boat. Nerves buzzed underneath his skin, like insects crawling into his scales. “I don’t understand. They have no reason to think we’d be here.”

“Perhaps they are just passing by. It could be a coincidence. Will they detect us?”

“Probably not. Radars to detect are expensive as hell, and only the Fentons know how to make them. They’d have to use sonar, and that can only happen if they’re in the same water as us.”

The boys dipped back into the water. Damian clenched his white shoulder. “We will be past these locks by the time they open for that boat.”

Danny nodded quickly. “Yeah. We’ll be fine.”

They returned to waiting.

His fins flipped back and forth in place. Back and forth. He counted the inches. He cheered every new inch the water level took. Why did it take so long just to move some freaking water?! His fins sped up, becoming a blur. They stirred up eddy currents and swirls. At some point he even felt eddies from Damian’s fins too.

Danny took a deep breath. Fear was the mind killer, or whatever they said. Even if his back scales felt like knives were raking over them, the rational part of his mind tried to insist it was all fine. They were probably just moving some assets to the Atlantic. A million and one different ships used this passage.

But it wasn’t right. His nose was good in this form, but not that good. That boat was over fifty meters away in a completely different body of water.

“Damian. There’s more to this. There’s gotta be.”

“Your nerves are contagious. Keep a handle on them.” Damian grumbled.

“I’m serious. I couldn’t have smelled that boat. It’s like a football field away on a different lock. It’s impossible.”

The swirls of water from the small siren’s fins ceased. Danny couldn’t see him, but he felt the weight distribution change a little, like Damian had just lifted his head. “This warrants further investigation.”

The boys resurfaced again. Danny climbed his way up the walls of the lock on the side. They peered over the edge, keeping their noses open. “I don’t see anything.”

Maybe he was overthinking it from stress…

Just then, Damian tugged his sail. “The other side!” He hissed.

Danny turned around. At the edge of the shipyard, his vision clipped onto two distinct white suits talking to some important look guy in a black suit and hard hat. The black suit guy pulled out a walkie talkie. Suddenly, Danny realised the water level had been still for some time.

His voice lowered to a whisper. “Damian, I don’t think they’re just passing by.”

“It cannot be. What reason would they have to suspect we would be here?”

“I don’t know.” Danny clenched his fists around the concrete wall they had been sticking to. “But this is getting bad.”

More men appeared on both sides now, carrying harpoons, hydroplasm guns, and water testing equipment. Quiet adrenaline fired into his fins. A warbling growl rumbled in his throat.

“What if we can swim ahead? You have the speed to outrun them.” Damian’s voice trembled unevenly. His hands shook.

“Damian, the water’s stopped raising. They’ve locked down the lock. If I jump, they’ll be on me in a second.”

“We cannot sit here and wait for them.”

“I know.”

Danny wasn’t doing much better. If he were in human form, his hands would be soaked in sweat by now. His head whirled. The agents seemed to be in every direction. The water still wasn’t moving. The gate was still shut tight. Danny could probably squeeze his body through some kind of gap, but Damian? He didn’t want to grind the kid’s bones into pulp.

“What if we fight them?”

“You don’t have any of your weapons, and I’ve barely had anything to eat.” No food meant no healing, and little energy to toss ice beams willy-nilly.

“Do we have no other option?”

He cursed the stupid freaking GiW. At least his parents had their moments. Nothing good ever happened when the goons in wetsuits showed up. The last time he and Damian saw them was in freaking Amity Bay! His head spun trying to figure out what had given them away. What could get them out of this situation?

There was one other option. The option Danny had desperately hoped would never have to be considered. But it wasn’t just Danny’s safety now. At least his parents had the decency not to dissect Damian (at least during their stay on the SAV). The GiW would be much less merciful.

Danny’s heart rate spiked. Do or die, then. Sink or swim. He gathered up every ounce of courage that still survived his parents.

“We do.”

“Do it now.”

Danny squared up his shoulders, acutely aware of how the scales on his arms touched those on his armpits. How the water touched his back with no clothes in the way. “Do you trust me?”

Damian hesitated. He could smell the kid’s reservation in the water. He counted the steps the GiW agents took, as if in slow motion. “I have no other person to rely on.”

“We won’t be able to cross Panama. We’ll have to go back the direction we came.” Guilt jumped into the party of stressors stomping on his nervous system.

Damian warbled, like a wounded animal. “I know.”

They were so fucking close. They’d just barely gotten into Panama, and it’s all been ruined and he didn’t even know why.

“Hang on to me. And whatever you do, be quiet.”

Danny placed one arm on the top surface of the lock. He used it to pull himself up and over the edge, pushing with his second arm. Slowly he pulled his entire body over the edge of the wall. Danny began wiping drops of water off his body. He could do it while still being completely wet, but it hurt like a bitch and took ages.

Slowly, invisibly, his scales receded into skin. His tail split open. Its bones reshaped into legs. His tailfin hardened into feet. Danny stood up, still clutching Damian to his chest. The boy gasped at the sudden increase in elevation. And despite being invisible, he could practically feel the boy’s judgement baring down on him.

The GiW agents were closing in.

Danny stuck to the dirt and grass. The asphalt would have fried his bare feet off. Not a pleasant sensation. A pair of agents approached the canal, guns in hand. Danny crept along the side, tiptoeing carefully so as to avoid making a sound and drawing attention.

As Danny slipped away, the pair of agents came up to where he’d just been standing. Thank god.

There was an issue though. The locks were obviously built uphill. That meant going along the canal would bring him through the treacherously steep terrain. Not a good look for a scrawny boy with no shoes who needed to be silent. One slip and the entire force would come down upon him.

Damian squeezed his hand. There had to be a way somehow.

Danny swallowed a thick lump. He formed a layer of ice. Despite it only being a few millimetres, it felt clunky and horrible to walk in, and would definitely make a sound, but it would have to do.

Just carefully. One foot over the other. Let the foot come down gently, like a bee��s landing. Danny walked out into the asphalt, just within earshot of the agents at the edge of the canal.

“Got anything?” The one crouching over it said. He was so tempted to shoot an ice beam and knock him into the water.

“Not yet. It could be hiding from the sensor. We’ll give it another five minutes.”

“It better be close. Sun’s killing me out here.”

One of the nice things about sirens is that they were quite sensitive to heat. Thanks to some nifty evolution, it meant that Danny’s invisibility extended into the infrared and ultraviolet range. That was the only reason he wasn’t getting sunburned out the wazoo, and the only reason Damian hadn’t dried out yet. The air was still very, very warm, but he didn’t need to worry about the radiation from the sun itself.

Danny managed to get out of earshot of those agents. His concentration was split between keeping this ice on his feet solid, and on keeping Damian from dying of heatstroke. The boy remained silent, as requested. Danny’s eyes snapped from one side of his vision to the other, hyper aware of his space, and of the dozen or so agents scattered around the perimeter.

Let it be known that he was no ninja. Probably the only saving grace he had was the fact that they were expecting an invisible fish in the water, and not a kid walking on land. One of the agents barked an order. The agents split into groups of two. The pairs scattered, probably making for the other parts of the canal. That meant two of them were coming his way. Danny’s breath hitched. Sweat dripped down his brow. He iced it over.

Damian’s fins hung low too. Their sharp tips brushed against his belly. He couldn’t stay out here long. He needed water and quick. The boy chirped quietly underneath Danny’s hand.

He ambled to the right of the matching pair. Best to get out of their way. For a bunch of guys in fancy suits, they walked quickly. But Danny couldn’t. His makeshift shoes would be too loud.

He was barely able to get out of their way, barely able to avoid brushing shoulders with the men who wanted him a lab rat. Relief cooled his system like his ice.

Then one of them stopped.

“Wait, G.” He turned around. Turned toward Danny. Hairs stood on end. Knees rattled. “Agent H!”

Danny was seconds away from bolting. Only Damian’s tight grip was able to ground him from doing something stupid.

The man pulled a bottle of sunscreen from his suit. “Agent H! You forgot your mandated sunblock!”

With the GiW agent breaking into a light jog, Danny had seconds to react. He threw his body to the side just as the agent rushed through. The motion pushed his upper body just an inch too far off base. Danny’s eyes widened. He flung his arms wildly, but he could not stop the descent.

He shifted gears. The boy twisted his body so it faced the ground. Damian clung tighter, his claws digging into Danny’s chest. He shoved his hands forward. No time to ice them over. Danny planted his fingers on the ground. Sunbaked pebbles seared his fingers. His tongue bled as he bit down the urge to cry out.

His scream was only muffled into a groan. The footsteps of the agent stopped.

“What?” The man whispered.

Danny became a statue. The man’s gaze crawled over his back like an ant colony. Danny’s pulse stomped around in his ears. In his burning fingers. Each millisecond a war between the urge to cry out, the emergency signals of heat and pain, and the adrenaline that he could not let out. Just hunched over, still.

“Agent F! I’m turning into sun-dried tomatoes here!”

At last, at long last, the aforementioned Agent F took off. “Sorry! Just got distracted by some mosquito buzzing.”

Fuck. That was close. Too close.

Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink.

Panama Canal.

What was that menace doing, heading for Panama Canal?

Maddie Fenton’s phone lay off to the side of the console. The new stream chattered. She paused from her work (really just staring at the radar) to refresh the news sites in English. Then whatever Spanish sites, translated by her browser. Nothing. A week ago she would have gone in guns blazing, ready to take out the pelagic punks and stop them from carrying out their dastardly plot.

With their engines busted, that plan wasn’t looking very good. After six hours of repairs, she and Jack had only managed to achieve a fraction of their original top speed. Enough to get them to Panama eventually, but not any time soon. They still had more repairs scheduled. It was only due to Jazz’s intervention that they sat down and took a break.

She wanted to work. She wanted to throw herself into metal and nuts and bolts. Anything to keep her mind from that face.

For years she had made it her mission to bring the sirens to justice for all they had done to her family and others. The few times she got up close to a siren they were vicious, snarling predators. She expected the same stubborn defiance from Phantom.

His resistance was token, at best. She could tell how scared he was even as he put up a tough face. Then he broke down, sobbing and incoherent. It was fake. It was all an act. It had to be. Phantom was stalling for time. He was manipulating her from the start. It had to be. It had to be.

How could it be?

She pulled off her gloves. She stared at the quivering hands, the hands that were a moment away from pulling the trigger. She was so sure she would have done it. He had to have known. He was an awful liar. Tried to misdirect and feign ignorance, and gave himself away every time. Who did he think he was fooling? And yet she could not steady her hands.

Maybe that was his con all along. Not even try to be convincing. Just babble whatever nonsense to lead them along like a string of helpless ducklings until help arrived.

Phantom had never worked with anyone else before. Not from his own kind, at least.

Maddie sipped a cold cup of tea. Maybe he had been migrating, and these were his original pod? If he were with his original pod, then there would be a lot more noise in Panama. The canals were narrow. Phantom was on the smaller side, but even two adults would have been noticed, right?

Did they even exist at all?! She had rebooted and reconfigured the radar, spending hours only for it to fail to detect any of Phantom’s pod. It was like they showed up for one moment, then vanished into thin water the next.

It wasn’t enough. The scientist in her demanded more evidence. Her hypotheses felt flimsy even to her, like there was something that was glaringly missing.

It all went back to that expression. That haunted anguish. Those streaming tears. The face that tore her vision away and replaced it with years of comfort. Years of holding Danny close. To that day when Danny showed up back home six months ago, the day a miracle came to her.

His face was the same back then. Maddie had rushed to hug the son she’d thought she’d lost. However, her baby boy flinched back, like she was going to strike him.

It broke her heart then.

“Mom?” Her daughter leaned into the door way.

“Jazz, I told you to take it easy.”

Jazz came inside, and sat down on the chair beside her. “I am taking it easy. Just getting some fresh air.”

She leaned to the side, her eyes discerning like they’d always been.

“Mom, are you ok?”

Dammit. Was it that obvious? Maddie shook her head. “You know me too well, Jazz.”

She pulled her daughter in. She held her and let herself be grateful that at least she was still here. That there was still hope, somehow. But that hope now clouded over with uncertainty.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

It shouldn’t be that way. Maddie was the mother here. It was her who was supposed to be comforting Jazz, but it was the other way around again.

“I just don’t know. Jazz. I thought I knew everything I needed to get the job done, but…”

But now she didn’t. Jazz nodded silently, letting her continue.

Maddie held her tighter. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Sweetie, I’m not sure anymore. Jazz, I can’t get it of my head. The way he looked at us. The way he didn’t. And I’ve been thinking about it for hours and I can’t make heads or tails on it. None of my theories can make up any kind of framework that could explain what happened.”

“Maybe it’s time to find a new framework?”

Maddie pulled back in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“Find new evidence. If the current evidence contradicts established theories, then hunt for new evidence that could explain the discrepancies. And then establish a new more comprehensive theory.”

That… made a lot of sense. It was at times like these she marvelled at the brilliance of her daughter. But there was just one issue.

“But your father and I still haven’t finished repairs yet.”

“That’s ok, Mads!”

Her husband and Bruce leaned in to the bridge as well. Bruce Wayne’s head still sported a large bandage around it, but the man was looking much better for wear.

Jack continued. “It was obvious we weren’t as prepared as we could be. Otherwise the fishie little fiend wouldn’t have given us the slip. With the SAV busted, I say we take Jazzie’s advice and go on recon mode.”

Determination shined from Bruce’s squared shoulders. “Jack’s right. We can take the jet skis and catch up to Phantom easily. Then we can observe him ourselves or deploy a drone or two.”

That was surprisingly sensible. They needed more information. Then they could cross out the possibilities and the what ifs, and narrow down the truth.

More than anything, Maddie needed the truth.

Damian was beginning to get uncomfortable. The mucus coating his scales meant that they remained moist. However, he still lost water due to respiration. Not to mention the sweltering heat. Although he did not suffer the burning sunlight due to Danny’s invisibility, the humid air also contributed to his discomfort. As a fish out of water, Damian could tell he could not last much longer.

But his physical discomfort could only distract from the real questions in his mind for so long. Why did Danny hide this ability from him for so long? What was he so scared of? In hindsight it was logical that a siren with the ability to turn humans into their species could also turn themselves into humans. Damian felt the soft, human skin of Danny’s chest against his own scales. His cheeks just so happened to be laying where the teenager’s gills used to be. Now they were smooth. Damian numbly counted Danny’s ribs, which jutted out.

Why did he expect Damian to trust him when he still continued to hide things from him?

Danny walked into a clearing. He carried Damian far past the shipping yard that they had crawled out of, and into a building. It appeared to be some kind of administrative building. Damian nudged him with his chin. Where was he taking them? He walked through the glass sliding doors behind a member of staff. Cool air conditioning chilled Damian’s scales. Danny bee lined for the bathroom, finding it empty. He iced the door shut.

Damian found himself placed into the (thankfully clean) sink. Cool running water washed over his body, bringing much needed relief. Damian purred quietly underneath the cool tap. For a moment, the room contained only the sound of running water, and Danny’s heavy breathing.

Danny’s invisibility deactivated. Damian watched pallid skin appear out of thin air. Stickly legs shivering. The newly human teenager leaned against the war, panting. His chest had no gills, as he’d expected, and his skin was completely opaque. Black hair appeared where there was white. Eerie aquamarine was replaced with dull blue. A familiar face rendered bare of scales or fins was revealed. A very, very familiar face.

And instantly, everything clicked into place for Damian.

[bestanimatedmovie]

Welcome to Revenge of the Underrated!

Some of you asked me to put a "haven't watched both" to be more fair to the more unknown movies, but I've seen other tournaments doing this and I think it limits too much who can participate in the polls. So what I decided to do is a double elimination!

What does that mean? That means a movie has to lose twice to be eliminated. In other words, there will be a sorts of losers bracket that'll be part of main bracket. I'm undecided on whether to do this for only one round or the whole bracket, as it would make the tournament very long. Do let me know if you have any opinion about it.

Anyway, Revenge of the Underrated, Round 1:

Miss Hokusai vs Happily N'Ever After

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children vs Tiger and Bunny: The Rising

Ballerina vs Book Girl

On-Gaku: Our Sound vs Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie Part 1

Cats don't Dance vs The Flight of Dragons

Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge vs The Girl Without Hands

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix vs Flatland: The Film

Felidae vs Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West vs Unico in the Island of Magic

Rock and Rule vs Rock-A-Doodle

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning vs Freddie as F.R.0.7

The Plague Dogs vs The Magic Riddle

Pokemon Heroes vs The Pebble and the Penguin

Strange Magic vs Sea Prince and the Fire Child

Help! I'm a Fish vs Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

16.Azur and Asmar: The Prince's Quest vs Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

17.Titan A.E. vs Ico, the Brave Horse

18.The Adventures of Mark Twain vs A Troll in Central Park

19.The Case of Hana and Alice vs Once Upon a Forest

20.Underdogs vs Long Way North

21.Mars Needs Moms vs The Twelve Months

22.Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Candace Against the Universe vs Blinky Bill

23.Robot Carnival vs Revue Starlight: The Movie

24.One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island vs Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom

25.Ruben Brandt, Collector vs Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie

26.Lupin III: The First vs Pippi Longstocking

27.The Three Caballeros vs The Legend of Manxmouse

28.Princes and Princesses vs The Snow Queen

29.A Letter to Momo vs Seven Days War

30.The Wild Thornberrys Movie vs The Rabbi's Cat

31.Night on the Galactic Railroad vs The Boy who Wanted to be a Bear

32.The Swan Princess vs Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

33.Patema Inverted vs Bartok the Magnificent

34.Next Gen vs Padak

35.Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods vs Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

36.Thumbelina vs Catnapped!

37.Early Man vs Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island

38.Junk Head vs Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

39.Charlotte's Web (1973) vs The Princess and the Goblin

40.Shaun the Sheep Movie vs Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

41. Redline vs Balto

42. The Addams Family vs Inu-Oh

43. Epic vs Mary and the Witch's Flower

44.The Girl Who Leapt Through Time vs Vivo

45.Barbie: Princess Charm School vs Kronk''s New Groove

46.Waking Life vs The Transformers: The Movie

47.Barbie in the Nutcracker vs Barbie as Rapunzel

48.Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back vs Cool World

49.The Land Before Time vs When the Wind Blows

50.The Secret of NIMH vs Summer Wars

51.The Black Cauldron vs All Dogs go to Heaven

52.The Red Turtle vs FernGully: The Last Rainforest

53.Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas vs Ron's Gone Wrong

54.The Boxtrolls vs Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

55.Arthur Christmas vs One Piece Film Red

56.Barbie of Swan Lake vs The Rescuers Down Under

57.Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole vs Secret of the Wings

58.The Castle of Cagliostro vs Pokemon: The Movie 2000

59.Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust vs Arthur and the Invisibles

60.Tinker Bell vs Barbie as the Island Princess

61.Mind Game vs Tekkonkinkreet

62.The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh vs Dragon Ball Super: Broly

63.Mirai vs Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

64.The Lion King II: Simba's Pride vs Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase

[perpetualexistence]

Sea Monster AU: Chrefxposition

So, on the one hand, this part is a few days later than originally promised. On the other hand, it's twice as long. I could have arguably made this into two parts, but I've got no energy left to figure out where exactly it should be split. Turns out decent exposition can take a while!

In the eventual fanfic proper I'll be sure to spread/foreshadow some of this exposition earlier. With me writing as I'm going it with only an outline for certain events, the foreshadowing is going to be a bit splotchy, but I'll try my best.

Without further ado, time to watch Noah go darker yet darker still!

Content warnings: Mentions of eating people, death, blood, Alejandro being a manipulative bastard

<- Prev | First | Next ->

For the rest of spring break, Alejandro insists on hunting more than usual to build up an underwater cache for later. Noah has to work on overdrive to find enough ships to keep Alejandro happy. He goes to different parts of the lake in order to spread out the location of where the disappearances are happening. Also to keep them as far away from his hometown as possible. He knows this many disappearances so close to one another are going to draw attention from other humans. He doesn't comment on it for two reasons. One, because he'd rather not test Alejandro again even if the concern is practical and legitimate. And two, he wants the disappearances to get attention. He's got to figure out who's smart enough to notice, and vocal enough to try to do something about it.

Noah starts intentionally hanging out by the docks more. He knows it's safe because Alejandro never dares to get that close to civilization. Sailors will sometimes have odd jobs when they need an extra hand on deck or someone to help with loading/unloading. Since everyone knows everyone to some extent in his town, the Mudaliars have a reputation for picking up odd jobs in order to help pay off their debts. Noah's never done it before since he's had his poetry to provide income. But at the very least, it means he can have an excuse for why he's there. It also gives him an excuse for talking with sailors to see what their thoughts are on sea monsters. He doesn't bring up the disappearances himself, because that's inviting trouble. Instead, he lets sailors do what they like to do best: talk.

That's how he finds Chef, a loud ex-marine who found himself kicked from the marines and now works as a sailor taking odd jobs transporting things across the lake. Chef shares that the real reason he got booted out is because he started noticing a bunch of disappearances with other marines. He started hearing tales of beasts and went to go investigate it himself. Sure enough, it was a giant monster making easy pickings of his brothers in arms. His husband knew more about taking those slimy bastards down, so he went to him for help. Eventually they did win, but he lost men doing it, and the beast sunk to the bottom of the ocean, getting rid of their proof. He was tossed out for 'recklessly endangering lives'. (He sacrificed far more men than he truly needed to as a distraction, and didn't even let them know that was going to happen.)Now he's seeing all these disappearances happening and his gut is telling him this is happening again. He doesn't have the same firepower as before, but he and his husband are still preparing.

Noah's now very curious about this husband of his if he's the one who knew more about sea monsters. Chef immediately gets suspicious and wants to know why he cares so much about this. Noah hates having to give up information, but he knows if he's to get anywhere, he's going to have to. He says that he knows for a fact he saw something like a sea monster in the distance. He's just been keeping quiet because he doesn't know who would believe him. Which isn't technically a lie. It just doesn't reveal how much else he knows. It also won't really give Chef any new information since by the sound of it he was already going to prepare regardless of if he got any confirmation from someone else. It's enough to get Chef decide to take him in on his and Chris' monster hunting crusade.

Chris's family are among the humans that believe/know sea beasts exist and make it their job to hunt them, his most notable one being his cousin Jerd.

Chris though? Nah, he doesn't give a shit about hunting. He just cares about fame and fortune. He stole a random ass book that was supposed to have rituals to give him just that and booked it. The pouch around his neck is a result of that in that it's supposed to give him good luck. Someone else in the family made it for him as a rite of passage in being ready to join the family business.

He's pretty shitty at magic because he doesn't want to put in the time and effort to learn, he just wants the results. And this is why he'll forever be shitty at magic. Magic is about intertwining sentience with nature. For that, you need two things: Desire and Effort. The desire has to be focused, and it has to be what a person actually desires. If a person thinks they want one thing, but deep down they really want something else? The magic's either going to act based on the true desire or be fucked up as a result. That's the sentience part.

The nature part is effort. You can't get something for nothing. If you try, someone or something still ends up suffering along the line. There's balance in the ecosystem of the sea, even for those who are at the top of the food chain. It might not be fair to those on the bottom, but it is what it is. Whether you take time and effort in learning runes, or gathering ingredients, the point is that it's your work in a way that you truly know is giving it your all.

Chris has definitely got the desire, and it's why he was able to become famous thanks to his magic pouch. However, he wasn't willing to put any work into actually maintaining the pouch's components so his luck ran out. He keeps it mostly for sentimental reasons at this point. He can't really go back to his family because he stole the book, aka a family heirloom that he knows damn well is dangerous when it's in the wrong hands. (Little does he know his family would have been okay with him leaving the family business. Their problem was with how he did it, which is no one's fault but his own.) He doesn't even know how to read the damn thing because he never paid too much attention to his parents trying to teach him how. All he does know is that it's very powerful, has a mind of its own, and hates Chris because it loves to try to snap closed on him.

So now he's a washed up TV host stuck in this dingy little town. The only person who's still standing beside him is Chef. He runs a stupid little pawn shop in this tourist trap of a town to try to sell fake crap, plus some of his tv host memorabilia. He's trying to find a way out of this mess until what does he see? Evidence that there's a sea monster lurking about.

Chris realizes he could just expose sea monsters to get fame that way. Completely ignoring everything that his parents ever told him that it'd be a terrible idea. Sea monsters would have no reason to hide if they were public knowledge, so their fatality rate would grow exponentially. Still, that's not his problem, and his good luck will ensure that he and his husband will turn out alright.

Chris doesn't quite care for including this walking twig into this situation at first when Chef introduces the two. As far as he's concerned, Noah provides nothing and is a walking liability. Up until Noah reveals that he's able to hack.

His family has a whole library worth of information about sea monsters. In order to try to expand their reach in where they can defend against sea monsters, they've taken to digitizing the library. Thanks to Chris's less than stellar exit, he's been locked out of that information. But he knows how to find it, and Noah seems like he'll be perfect for actually getting in. And hey, the kid's volunteering to do all the boring research? All the better! Chris will focus on strategizing and seeing what this dumb book will do for him. Not that he tells or shows Noah the book. He's lazy, but he's not that dumb to let someone else touch that thing.

This is how Noah starts learning things about merfolk. Turns out they've been around for quite a long time. It turns out merfolk aren't naturally as big as Alejandro. They use magic to make themselves that big. Due to the amount of effort and food to maintain their size, they can't use any other kind of magic when large. Thanks to generations of not using any other kind of magic, they lost the ability to use magic to do anything except change their size over time. That's how they gained their own separate classification as sea monsters. The only exception to size magic they have is using lake/ocean currents to travel. It takes a lot of magic depending on the distance traveled.

Their first meeting is making a lot more sense to Noah.

It also presents an interesting idea. Maybe he doesn't have to kill Alejandro. Maybe he could just stop him from ever growing again.

He knows he should kill Alejandro. He'd never settle for being kept vulnerable for the rest of his life. Noah would have to become his keeper. He'd never get rid of him. And yet. Despite all the murder he's witnessed, helped with, and at least slightly enjoyed, he still hasn't taken a life himself. He really wants to believe he has standards. Killing Alejandro would cross one of those.

It doesn't help that despite how dangerous Alejandro is, and how clearly he's pushing the limits of their deal, Alejandro actually does listen to Noah. He hasn't knowingly gone after innocents. He hasn't physically hurt Noah.

If anything, Alejandro has been gentle. He'll snatch him up when faking his death for a crowd, but he never squeezed and always checked to make sure he was okay afterwards, even when he was trying not to make it too obvious. Alejandro had a horrible habit of messing with his hair yet despite his claws Noah never had a scratch on him. He'd put Noah on his shoulder to go for a swim without getting him wet.

To let him look down at the destruction he helped caused against people who spit and cursed at Noah. To help him feel above others and his actions. To somehow spoil him rotten with attention to practically beg for a reaction. Noah's dark humor as he watched bastards die was to cope, the smirk that grew on his face a coincidence. He felt nothing to hear Alejandro laugh as if they were just sharing a regular meal.

Alejandro had also caressed his throat with a claw the first chance he had power. He had felt a vice like grip when he dared to argue back. So long as Alejandro is huge, Noah is going to be relying on Alejandro's mercy. As recent events have shown, that can be a finite resource.

He'll just do more research to see if his idea is even a workable one. He'll figure what to do next after that.

Researching more about magic led to him learning about a new faction: sea witches. They were merfolk who were able to use magic for means aside from simply changing sizes. They made potions, used rituals, spoke chants. Their powers came primarily from the deals they made with others. There were rumors that deals like these could make magic accessible even to humans. Other rumors said that humans could learn to use magic independently.

Sea witches and sea monsters are naturally at odds with one another. One needs people to make deals, the other needs people to eat. Or at least, to stay as big as they do for as long as they do. Turns out sea monsters can in fact survive without eating humans. It's just that humans keep them bigger for longer. Figures that Alejandro would lie about having to eat people out of necessity.

As a result, sea witches did create defenses against sea monsters. Including spells that would strip them of their magic and force them into their smallest form. Bingo.

Unfortunately, while there are mentions of magic in the database, there don't seem to be any actual spells/rituals there. Something about sea magic not mixing well with technology. He's going to have to ask Chris directly to see if he'll be interested in shrinking Alejandro rather than killing him.

Chris is alright with this because hey, a small merfolk you can put in a tank sounds perfect for exposing and becoming famous! (Not that Noah will actually let Chris take Alejandro away, but he doesn't need to know that.) He'll just have to lie a little to his husband about plans to kill Alejandro, no big deal. And...ugh. He's going to have to actually try to read that magic book to find something about shrinking things. Noah's immediately interested in seeing that book for himself, but Chris shuts him down immediately. Chris will look at the magic shit, Noah will just be the one getting them whatever they need. A coffee would be a great start.

So Noah ends up becoming more like Chris's assistant. He gets used to getting Chris coffee or do the more boring research a lot. Chris uses Chef to get the more out there ingredients for this new ritual he's managed to find. And he starts sending Noah to carve out runes around town. Something about 'using the town's natural magic to siphon that of the sea beast'. Noah would prefer to know exactly what he's doing, but Chris keeps being cagey about Noah having to know things.

During all of this, Noah still has to meet with Alejandro to keep him happy. Thanks to overindulging during spring break, Alejandro's in a much better mood. However, he's being rather clingy with Noah. If Noah didn't know any better, he'd think Alejandro was trying to keep him from being able to have time for anyone else. It makes finding time to work with Chris and Chef a lot more difficult. He can't juggle stroking Alejandro's ego, Chris's ego, and going to classes all at the same time. So he decides to sacrifice going to classes. He'll help Chris and Chef during that time and Alejandro won't question him being away since he knows Noah needs to 'keep up appearances'.

It sucks because after the spring break party, he had actually been considering trying to know some of the others more. If only to take a break from Alejandro. There is one person who won't leave him alone though: Owen. Owen finds out through the grapevine about Noah not showing up to classes and immediately gets to texting to check on him. Noah makes up a lie about not feeling too well/needing to step back, and Owen buys it. Still, now that Noah's responded to one text, Owen takes to texting him throughout the day. Because he was pretty serious about trying to get to know Noah. And Noah would never admit it, but it's nice that someone else cares to check up on him. Plus, Owen is terrible with secrets, so he ends up blurting so much gossip about the others. Noah gets to make sarcastic remarks about them, and Owen just rolls with it. It's nice.

Eventually, Noah's suspicions about Chris outweigh his need to be cautious. So much so that he decides it would be better to try to break in to Chris's and Chef's place to see what exactly this spell book is saying to do rather than just take Chris's word for it.

It's written in a language he doesn't understand. He doesn't have the time to decipher it since he doesn't want Chris or Chef to know that he's in their house looking at it. He does manage to find the pages that Chris has been frequently using, though. They're the only ones that seem to be in English. He's not surprised to learn that Chris has been lying to him about the spell. He's horrified to discover to what extent.

Chris gives absolutely zero shits about this town. He wanted something that would help him take care of this sea monster problem, and he didn't really care how it was done. He practically had to fight the book to show him anything that wasn't in nonsense gibberish. But then, for once in his life, the decided to be book is on the same page as him. It showed him a ritual for mind controlling a sea monster that involves a rather brutal sacrifice of a whole town's worth of people. That sounds like a WAY better deal than regular fame and fortune!

Noah was already not happy when he found out about the mind control. As much as he's worried about his Alejandro, he doesn't know if Alejandro deserves that. Knowing him, he'd probably prefer death rather than being forced to obey someone else. Then Noah reads to the end and discovers the whole 'sacrifice a town' thing. That's what the runes around towns were for.

He'd been putting so much focus into trying to take down the literal monster, he'd forgotten all about how humans could be metaphorical monsters.

Noah knows how to take care of that. It's what he always does when he finds people that deserve to die.

He tells Alejandro about them.

He doesn't reveal the whole plot against Alejandro, of course. He just reveals that some sailors had been getting suspicious with the whole spring break binge eating. He infiltrated them to learn what they knew, and now they're getting too close. He's not sure how much of that Alejandro truly believes, but he does agree that if humans want to hunt him down, then they need to go first.

Noah first makes sure to screw up the ritual by fucking up his own carvings and scratching them out with the knife Chris let him use to do this in the first place. At this point he'd been using it so much it just became a force of habit to keep having it.

Then he goes on a ship with Chris and Chef who thinks that everything is going according to plan. Well, Chris's plan of mind controlling a sea monster, Chef's plan of killing one. What Noah had never told them was that Alejandro was an electric eel. He made sure to encourage Chef to use as much technology as he saw fit in order to leave them completely vulnerable.

Things would have been easier of course if Alejandro didn't decide to gloat about Noah being his loyal little pet when he shows up. Which bothers him both because it ruins the surprise and because it's condescending. This doesn't help things as Chris and Chef are quick to try to spring into action. Chef is trying to solo Alejandro, and Chris is coming at Noah pretty pissed because he's also just now realized that the ritual that should have automatically started taking action hasn't done that at all. Alejandro's occupied because Chef did still come with firepower, and Noah can recognize murder in Chris's eyes.

He's standing over Chris's body now. He knows it's a body because of the blood and the stab wounds. He knows he did it because he's gripping a knife in his hand he doesn't remember pulling out. Chef must be in Alejandro's stomach by now or else Noah would be dead. He can piece together what's happened, but he honestly can't remember the act itself. He knows he had to do it because Chris would have come to kill him first. He hadn't planned on crossing this line but seems like he did anyways.

He loves hates the pride in Alejandro's eyes. The promise that the first can be the hardest. But he's very grateful that Noah had chosen to live.

This isn't living. Rather than process, Noah points out that he's got to go back to Chris and Chef's house to get rid of any evidence that he knew them. After Alejandro takes care of Chris's body, he lets Noah go back to shore.

Noah dashes for the house, goes for the book, and hugs it like his new lifeline. Chris's book is now in Noah's possession. The book is rather content with its new owner. Because it felt Noah's desire to defend himself and his town, and willingness to put effort into doing it. It translated that ritual for Chris specifically to have something like this happen. It won't translate itself again, but if Noah's truly like the book thinks he is, that shouldn't be a problem.

Noah now has an unfiltered shot at evening the playing field with the book of a sea witch. Time to fight fire with fire.

[lucindaspartnerrealandtrue]

okokok i NEED to know abt ur oc!!! im lowkey already obsessed w her whoops

We can be obsseseded with her togehter <3

I ended up properly RANTING, so I'll put it all under the cut so people won't have to scroll down a bunch of paragraphs about someone's random oc's lore

Mermaid lore

Me and a friend of mine decided that there are two types of mermaids in their universe, ignoring that there are other types of fish people. Ones that live in big lakes, these ones being bigger due to most lakes kinda being somewhat enchanted and for simplicity this is what we call sirens(even if they're basically kinda the same thing, but also sirens i don't think are even half fish but shh), and ones that live in seas/oceans, these being slightly smaller and we're just gonna refer to them as mermaids. Why's that? Good question! Fantasy reasoning I suppose, but to give an even more exact reasoning, i'd say that all waters are enchanted due to a reason or two but lakes don't have as much movement and in the ones that sirens are mostly found, the water also has a hard time reaching the sea so the magic gets to concentrate more? Anyway, even if they're cousin species, they do not fancy each other. Sirens need a big quantity of food as they're bigger(thinking something 7ft), while mermaids are smaller. Both species are somewhat hostile towards anything that comes from the surface.

Backstory

Manya was born in a group of sirens originally, residing in a lake, but she got lost when she was still very small and ended up in the sea(The Gal'ruk Sea, to be more specific). Now, she gets adopted by another shoal of mers that think she's one of their own, but as she grows up, they start realising that she's different, and by different I mean that she's a siren. So she ends up exiled from the only home she ever knew, as a teenager basically. That, of course leaves her bitter. She was kicked out even though she did nothing. Just because she's different. No one wants her around, and no other group would accept her. The thought of trying and find her way back to a lake does cross her mind, but, even if she does, then what? Will she really be truly accepted? So she doesn't do anything. Basically just decides that she'll remain on her own. Regardless, as any respectable mermaid, she spends her time by tricking sailors to their death. Easy lunch. (Not that food helps too much).

'Present' times

Now, she'd be appearing in season 3. Picking up from where it last left us, Aphmau, Lucinda and Lo are in the The Gal'ruk Region, and the girls went to search through Enki's library(if i remember correctly). Well, at this point I decided that SOMEONE from the main cast is coming for them to warn them about some big danger(probably Shad, or the Shadow Knights in general, i do not have this part entirely decided). And that someone i decided would be Katelyn(and Travis). Manya ends up stalking this exact boat, awaiting a new meal. She takes Aphmau's form. And now, well, I have a very specific imagine in my head; Katelyn leaning over the boat's fence, probably slightly sea sick, a rock gets thrown towards her, and she looks downwards and just sees this...head peaking out of the water, familiar orange eyes looking at her. Black hair framing them. And she's just like '????'. Manya gets out of the water, they talk. Things feel off but for SOME reason Kate can't put her finger on what exactly it is(she's in a trance that's why). 'Aphmau' gets on board(on suspiciously shaky legs)...Kate does realise that this Aphmau...doesn't have her markings/tattoos. She's starting to think it's just a weird dream. But before things can get worse, Travis interrupts.

From this point onwards, I do not have any SPECIFIC ideas for her YET except concepts...I know they take her with them and for a while she resides in a huge aquarium on the Phoenix Alliance island(she does not appreciate that, for multiple reasons). And she keeps stealing people's forms to mess with them. She does befriend them. Eventually. She becomes friends with Vylad first tho, somehow(they eat together in comfortable silence)...I have some imagines in my head of her and Zoey ahem.. And she does get freed later in the season after all the disaster happening around them starts getting easier to handle. But she hangs around because she will finally find her crowd. She's not that important to the lore as much as she is a plot B, but she does help with coordination. After they start getting on her good side.

Anyway, this is the story summarised as much as I could! Thank you for actually going through my rambling if you read this and I tried to keep it as organised as I could ^^

[writtenonreceipts]

MerMay Writing Prompts

Find other prompts I’ve done here!

These are probably terrible…lol.  Mostly for my own benefit and I was kinda bored...maybe they’ll inspire you?

Feel free to alter gender/pronouns as you see fit.

Disclaimer: Please do not repost. Reblogs are welcome.

A girl is thrown overboard from a ship after stowing away, only to be rescued by a strange creature beneath the water.

Siren’s are the violent counterpart to mermaids' gentler nature, Person A thinks they are speaking to a mermaid only to realize too late they’re being enticed by a siren.

A shipwrecked sailor makes a deal with a mer creature trapped in a pool of water--only to realize too late not to make bargains with creatures they don’t know.

You steal a pearl from the beach, turns out it belongs to a mermaid who will do anything to get it back.

A siren’s rite of passage is to kill a human.  Person A is about to complete their own rite only to realize they know the human they’re assigned to kill.

A fisherman captures a mermaid in his nets and can either release it, or take it back to land and be crowned a hero.

A mermaid is captured by humans, their friend (mer or human) will do anything to get them back where they belong.

You grew up on stories of mermaids and sirens and creatures beneath the water--now that you find yourself on the beach you go searching for a little hint of those stories.  Only to get stranded in a cave with the rising tide.  Turns out…you’re not alone.

A mermaid finds their true love in the person that can hear their real voice.

There are legends about a creature out in the depths of the sea, one that holds power over the weather of an island.  Person A chooses to sacrifice themself for the safety of their home.

Person A goes swimming early in the morning and gets stranded on a buoy/floating dock in the middle of the lake.  Their rescuer?  A mermaid.

 Turns out you have the ability to shift into a mermaid, the catch? Any bit of water that touches your skin sparks the transformation.

Walking along the beach you find a creature washed up on the shore.  Grateful for help, they offer you a favor in return.  

For a simple kiss a mermaid will grant you one wish.

You thought you were a strong swimmer, but after you get caught in a riptide you find yourself struggling to the surface when you hear something in the waves: come to me.

A witch curses you to never stray from the water until you find your true love.

The sea is never supposed to be silent.  While sailing one day, everything goes still and then you see the eyes looking up through the water at you.

Mermaids are slight kleptomaniacs.  After losing your favorite piece of jewelry/item, you go diving in the ocean to steal it back.

You press a conch shell to your ear and hear a voice calling out to you.

 You collect trash from the beach hoping to help clean up--a sea creature decides to thank you.  By kidnapping you.

You’re the mermaid keeper of an underwater library, when an item goes missing you vow to bring it back safely.

Mermaids are known to be good astronomers, a sailor is tasked with steering a ship at night with no idea what he’s doing.  He relies on the help of the mermaid but has to give up his voice for a day for every night he gets help.

Death on the ocean is common, as it turns out mermaids are simply the souls of those who have passed.  A sailor, lost at sea, soon becomes haunted by a mermaid looking to say good-bye to a former lover.

“Do not go out onto the water at night.” // “Why?” // “That’s when they come to the surface.”

“The last time I saw you, you were drowning.”

Using a mermaid as an alarm clock is quite useful actually--they’re very in tune with times of day and they are quite skilled at screaming.

“I don’t want to be a lady.  I want to lure men and women to their deaths.”

After leaving the water to explore the world, a mermaid discovers the miracles of ice cream.

There’s a monster in the river that sinks passing ships that sail by unless they offer a sacrifice: a perfect pearl found only in a specific part of the sea.

Turns out the princess to the kingdom by the sea isn’t actually human.  The merfolk have chosen to take back what is theirs.

“The song doesn’t affect me.”

[starpearlz]

Spooky story at the camp fire scares the reader so much they can't sleep and Xaxier spends all night looking after them (lots of fluff with a bunch if teasing)

Lake Erie legend -> Xavier Thorpe

Nevermore summer camp Masterlist

A/n - sorry this took forever been a busy bee 1.5k

“These are not scary at all.” You said bluntly, staring in front of you too look at Kent rolling his eyes. “I told you I’m not creative enough for this!” The siren said as he tossed the flashlight to Ajax who was right next to him. “But really, the most known horror character in history!” You argued back, “but I thought it was the best one! We are at a summer camp you know, by a lake!” He said throwing his hands up in defense. Making Xavier chuckle who sat on his right.

“But we could totally survive Jason! Ajax could just stone him or something!” You yelled back making Wednesday rolled her eyes “I’m going to sleep.” She said getting up from the right side of the log and started walking to the cabin. You turned to Enid who had marshmallows stuffed in her mouth, they were for making s’mores, the perfect opportunity to make them with the warm fire in front of us, but Enid started eating them all. She quickly got up with two marshmallows in her mouth, “wait for me-“ she muffled before turning back to take the marshmallow bag with her.

“Well, we lost our marshmallows now..” you mumbled, Xavier pursed his lips together moving next to you where Enid was siting. You turned to look at him thinking he was looking at you, but he had his head straight staring at the fire you noticed his leg bouncing up and down. You turned to Ajax who had the flashlight in his face, “let me tell you about Lake Erie legend.” You sighed turning to face him to listen.

“A group of sailors were taking a boat ride on a lake, when a black Newfoundland dog fell overboard and the crew ignored him as he drowned. After the incident, people near the lake reported hearing howls throughout the night.” He paused turning to you, seeing that your actually listening and not groaning. You heard a howl throughout the forest making you turn around to see nothing.

“This dog currently haunts this lake” you turned back to see him point to to the lake next to us, “the legends said, that if anyone goes near this lake; the dog will think it’s one of the men that Ignored him. And will take revenge to those sailors who let him drown.” You rolled your eyes. “I’ve been here a million times no dog has killed me yet-“ you stopped as you felt claws pick you up and threw you into the lake. You picked your head back up to see wolf ears in the water, your eyes widen scared you dunk your head back in the water to see a rainbow haired wolf.

You piped your head back up splashing her getting out of the water, as you heard everyone laugh. “Oh you were scared!” Ajax said laughing holding his stomach as Xavier threw a towel over your shoulder. “So not funny” you said putting the towel closer to you. “It really is” Kent said in the middle of laughing with him. You heard a little giggle next to, you turned your head to him and hit him in stomach as you turned away back to your cabin. “You guys are assholes!” You yelled at them.

You opened your cabin door to see Wednesday reading a black book on her bed with thing on her shoulder. “You two should’ve worn me.” You said getting dry clothes out. “I would’ve but then I remembered when you forced me to do arts and crafts.” You sighed going to the bathroom to take a shower.

—

‘Damn Ajax and Enid’, you thought tossing and turning in your bed. You couldn’t stop thinking about that damn dog, you were just out there with Xavier a couple of nights ago. He’s not real, yet you can’t stop thinking about you. Groaning as you got up quickly getting your jacket again leaving the cabin. You only tried to sleep for an hour but you knew if you stayed in bed you wouldn’t sleep all night.

You didn’t go to the dock this time because you didn’t want to fall in or to the campfire in the forest, it’s way too dark to be in the forest. You sat on the bench in the middle of all the cabins and watched the lake. You wish you brought a flashlight not being able to see nothing but pitch black. You heard rustling next to you making you gasp and turn to the sound. “Don’t panic it’s just me.” With a click a flashlight was on and you Xavier with a flashlight pointed to his face.

You sighed, “do you have a tracking device on me where you can see when I leave the cabin or what?” He chuckled taking a seat next to you, he put the flashlight in between the two of you facing the water. “No I don’t, but I knew you weren’t gonna be able to sleep tonight, especially bc of how ‘scared’ you got.” He chuckled emphasizing the scared part making your mouth drop open. “I was not scared ok.”

“Mhm, sure you weren’t.” He said giving a smirk and crossing his arms. “I wasn’t!” “You so we’re!” You shook your head as he chuckled, “why are you awake?” You asked changing the subject. As he shrugged, “I don’t know, couldn’t sleep..” he said leaning more on the bench. “Why, you didn’t get scared.” “Couldn’t stop thinking about your face when you got thrown in the lake.” He said facing the lake as you turned to him. “Ohh, you were thinking about me, that’s why you couldn’t sleep.”

“No, no I was not thinking about you.” “But, you kinda were thinking about my face.” You argued back turning to him as he sat up more shaking his head. “I only thought about your scared face-“ “ha! So you admit it you were thinking about me.” You said as you both started laughing. “Alright fine, I was thinking about your scared face.” You groaned as he laughed.

“Why didn’t you warn me about them?” You said turning your body to him “they didn’t tell me.” He said bluntly. “Be fucking for real right now, Ajax your best friend and he’s your roommate you had to have known.” He shook his head “I swear on Nevermore I didn’t know. And plus if I did know I would’ve told you.” Making you confused “why?” Your question made him confused “why what?” “Why would you have told me?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know.. I just think that if this happened to me and you didn’t tell me I would’ve been.. I don’t know, upset?” Back to you now being confused “why would you be upset?” He thought for a second pursing his lips. “I consider you a close friend.. and stuff..” he trailed of staring at the ground. “But we just started talking again recently, you already consider me a close friend?” You said confused.

“Of course I do I’ve known you for like ever,” “then why did you stop talking to me when you and Bianca started dating?” He got tense for a second, “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice..” that statement made you make a face. “Of course I noticed, we we’re friends and you just stopped sitting next to me.”

“Last year, Bianca had asked me to stop talking to you.. because I kinda, had a crush on you..” you thought back, now it all makes so much sense when he would give you little flowers that ‘he found on thornhill gave him’ or when he would give you all the answers without a second thought, and he saved your seat everyday.

“Um.. I had no idea..” you said crossing your arms as he made a face, “I think it was actually pretty obvious.. or maybe your just oblivious.” You scoffed “I am not oblivious!” You argued back making him chuckle. You yawned “at these moments I really wish I had my phone, I would kill to listen to music again.” You sighed rubbing your eyes leaning on the bench as Xavier got up. “I have an idea, but you cannot laugh at me.” He said getting up and he walked to his cabin as you sighed snuggling closer to your jacket.

Xavier came back with a blanket and something else that you can’t see. “Here..” he said throwing the blanket on you. “Oh.. thank you.” You mumbled “why would I make fun of you?” He chuckled “well, this was my moms, she would take it to Nevermore when she was younger.” He pulled out a cassette player.

“Wait that’s actually sick.” You said tired as he pulled out earbuds. He plugged them in and handed on to you and put on the other one. He pressed play and put it next to the flashlight. He got closer as a song played that you didn’t now. “I like this song..” you mumbled as your eyes closed, your head got heavy and decided to put your head on Xavier shoulder falling asleep.

[thewidowsghost]

hiii can I request an enemies to lovers with Maddox x reader? thank you!

Sure!

A/n: I went with a Season 3 Maddox on the Yellow team vs. R on the blue team :) 

Thanks for the request <3

“Rise and shine, Shallow Lake!” Corbin Bleu yells in the boys’ bunk. 

“Intruder!” Ricky screams. “Get him!” Ricky stumbles out of his bed, and charges towards Corbin. 

“Ricky, stop!” EJ grabs Ricky’s arms. “It’s Mr. Bleu.”

“What if I didn’t have a shirt on?” Carlos exclaims. 

“Looks like you have three shirts on,” Channing, the cameraman, replies.

“You. You filmed me behind the bush,” Ricky says angrily, pointing at Channing. 

“Hey, you,” Corbin blares his airhorn, looking at Jett. “Up.” A stuffed duck tumbles from Jett’s bunk. “Cute duck.” Corbin comments, and Jett jumps down, grabbing the duck off the floor.

“I’m calling it,” Kourtney comments, stepping into the boys’ bunk and looking at Corbin with disdain. “Corbin Bleu has officially lost his mind.” Then she catches sight of the duck in Jett’s arms. “Cute duck.”

“Folks, we’re two hours away from Camp Shallow Lake’s most exciting tradition. Tune in to see a bunch of theater kids get their heads out of the clouds and into the game.”

“I’m praying the game is chess,” Carlos deadpans.

“Report to the amphitheater at 8AM sharp for a day of sports. It’s Color War!” 

. . . 

“And then turn the paddle up near the ceiling near the end,” Maddox tells Gina. “Over and over again.”

“Like that?” Gina asks, mimicking the motion. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maddox says. 

“Okay,” Gina keeps making the rowing motion. 

“Yeah, got it,” Maddox says. “Natural.”

Gina laughs. 

“You just gotta commit to one side,” Maddox says, and Gina looks over, seemingly bewildered. “Of the canoe. Or else you’ll fall out. You’ll be fine. (Y/n) always is, and she’s so bad at canoe racing.”

“I heard that,” two figures walking through the barn door. Gina and Maddox look at the door, and both girls’ expressions brighten. 

“She isn’t wrong,” EJ says, nudging his sister with a shoulder. 

“Yeah, I hate both of you,” (Y/n) deadpans, but she winks at Maddox. 

“Good morning,” EJ’s gaze falls on Gina. “And ahoy?”

“Oh, brother,” (Y/n) grumbles. 

“Yes?” EJ asks, and (Y/n) lets out a groan. “Come on, Maddie,” (Y/n) says. 

“Good luck, sailors,” Maddox says, and she and (Y/n) head out the back door. 

. . . 

“When I heard that the camp that’s putting on Frozen for Disney Plus has a day that’s emotionally similar to the 2006 to 2008 Disney Channel Games, I and the folks at the Mouse HQ jumped at the chance to include this in our docu-series. Dewey, you wanna explain the rules?” Corbin asks the camp director. 

“Uh, sure,” Dewey steps forward. “Yeah. Every camper is required to participate in a few challenges. There’s two teams . . .”

“And within each team are teammates,” Corbin interrupts. “Okay, I got this. Okay. You know her. You love her. The captain of the Yellow Team, Maddox!” 

The campers cheer, and (Y/n) nudges her friend. 

“Not sure everybody loves me, but thank you,” Maddox says, and (Y/n) cracks a grin. 

“Didn’t say they all did,” Corbin replies, and Maddox takes a spot at the front. “And the captain of the blue team, we’ve got the youngest Caswell, (Y/n).”

“Let’s go,” (Y/n) says, and everyone cheers. (Y/n) steps up beside Maddox. “You know my team is gonna win.” She says. “My team wins every year.”

“And every year, we’re on the same team,” Maddox says, her lips twitching. “Maybe it’s me, and not you.”

“Ha, you wish,” (Y/n) replies. 

“No, with a big smile,” Corbin says, handing (Y/n) the clipboard, “tell the camera which of your Frozen friends are on each team.”

“What about the other campers?” (Y/n) asks. 

“We had to blur their faces out for the doc, so, legally, we aren’t naming any other names unless they’ve signed the release. Yeah,” Corbin replies.

“Okay,” (Y/n) says. She clears her throat and reads. “On my team is Ricky, Ashlyn, Gina, and EJ.” The blue team cheers, and they gather around (Y/n) up front. “And on Maddox’s team, has Kourtney, Carlos, Jett, and Emmy.” When (Y/n) says Jett’s name, Maddox freezes slightly, and (Y/n) notices it out of the corner of her eye. 

“Just so y’all know,” (Y/n) hears Kourtney say, “I’m scrappy. I fight dirty, and I will cheat.”

“Hmm!” Maddox says. “So it’s in the bag.”

“I’m also incredibly afraid of heights,” Kourtney continues. 

Maddox’s smile falters. “Okay, so plus, minus.”

“Guys, if you were on a deserted island and could text one person, who would it be? Your mom? Your ex? Your life coach?” Corbin steps off the stage and up to Channing, who is still holding the camera. Tomorrow, the winning team can text whoever they want when they get their phones back.”

The campers cheer loudly, talking loudly with their fellow campers. 

“Get your team colors from the bins,” Corbin continues. “I’m Corbin Bleu, and you’re watching Disney Plus.”

. . . 

(Y/n), now clad in all blue, runs over to find Jett lying on the ground picking at the glass.

“Hey, man,” (Y/n) sits down beside him. “Gettin’ in the zone?”

“Not exactly,” Jett replies, picking up a yellow and black soccer ball and throwing it between his hands.

“I guess it was pretty intense last night,” (Y/n) says. 

“Do you think I’m the worst? For the stuff that Maddie yelled at me about?” Jett sits up, looking at (Y/n). 

“I’ve done more than a few things I’m ashamed of, dude,” (Y/n) replies. “I’m not one to judge.”

“I thought those texts came from a guy, and I was like, why does she get to date and I can’t. I didn’t even know what I was looking at,” Jett says. 

“Does Mads know this?” (Y/n) questions. 

“Not sure she’d even hear me,” Jett replies. “We used to sing together all the time as kids. Now we barely talk.”

(Y/n) crosses her legs underneath her. “So, I once knew this girl who was pretty mad at me, and I’ll tell you, I deserved it. Um, but the one thing that really helped is that I threw myself into something she cared about. Like, I joined the crew, and I worked really hard.”

“Is being a theater kid the answer to, like, everything in your world?” Jett asks.

“It doesn’t always have to be theater, but . . .” (Y/n) takes a moment, knowing that what she was about to say might make her team lose. “Look, Maddie loves camp. It’s Color War. Maybe help her win?” (Y/n) leans back. “I mean, it’s a fifty-fifty shot, dude. One team wins, or the other does.”

“Or there’s the third option, where they toss the results in a pizza oven,” Ashlyn walks over. 

“I get it, that’s good,” (Y/n) laughs.

. . . 

“How you feelin’, Maddie?” (Y/n) asks, nudging her friend. 

“Oh, you know I’m gonna win,” Maddox replies, turning to face (Y/n). 

(Y/n) looks over and watches both Gina and Ricky miss their practice shots, “Yeah, you’re probably gonna win this one.”

Maddox looks over at her friend, studying her face. She looks away quickly before (Y/n) turns her attention back to Maddox. 

. . . 

“Gina,” (Y/n) shakes her friend’s shoulder. “Gina!”

Gina sits up, her forehead slamming into (Y/n)’s nose. 

“Oh my god,” Gina says apologetically, as (Y/n) clutches at her nose.

“I’m fine,” (Y/n) replies, her eyes watering. “Are you? You collapsed?”

“I’m, uh, fine,” Gina replies and Ricky and (Y/n) help her to her feet.

“You still have a chance to be our hero,” (Y/n) says. “We’re tied. If you make the shot, we win.”

“You got this,” Ricky says. “Probably.” He hands her the basketball. 

“Back up,” Gina says, and everyone takes a few steps back. 

She spins a few times, throws the ball and it swishes into the net.

“Blue Team wins!” Corbin yells and the Blue Team cheers. 

“Nice, G,” (Y/n) offers her hand for a fist-bump. Gina accepts. 

“That was crazy!” Ricky says. 

(Y/n) turns to Maddox. “Nevermind,” she jokes. “Blue Team might just win after all.”

. . . 

“Hey, Dewey?” (Y/n) hops on one foot. “Is Simon gonna sue you for stealing his game?” (Y/n) asks. 

“I don’t know Simon personally,” Dewey replies. 

“Breaking news,” (Y/n) jokes still hopping on one foot. “Dewey Wood locks Simon of Simon Says in his basement.” 

Maddox laughs. 

“Dewey says stop!” Dewey says and the campers stop hopping. “Dewey says dance like you’re at the camp prom.”

The campers begin dancing, except for Ricky and Ashlyn. 

“What he say?” Ashlyn asks. 

“There’s a camp prom?” Ricky asks. 

Peep, says Dewey’s whistle. “You two, out,” he says. “Stop.” Gina stops spinning. Peep, “Out,” he gestures to Gina. “Dewey says spin in a circle,” Dewey says. “Simon says stop.” (Y/n) stops spinning. “Oh! I’m Dewey, not Simon! You’re out.” (Y/n) hops over the line. “Dewey says that is a great victory for the Yellow Team. Congrats, you two.” Jett and Maddox are the only two left. 

“Whoa, hello, new person who’s trying really hard today,” Maddox turns to her brother. 

“Yeah? Let’s keep it going!” Jett says, lifting his hand for a high-five, and Maddox accepts.

Jett passes by (Y/n), breathing a thank you, before he goes to stand by Carlos and Kourtney. 

. . .

“Okay. Hi,” Val steps onto the stage, all the campers having gathered back in the amphitheater, now sitting sorted to color. “Um, it’s a tie game,” Val says, “so the outcome of this cheer-off determines the fate of Color War.

“Wooo!” Ricky cheers. 

“Let’s go Blue!” (Y/n) adds, and the Blue Team cheers louder.

“Okay. So, this year, I have picked It’s On from Camp Rock 2,” Val continues. “And I’ve printed off lyric sheets, but if you don’t know the words, that means something went deeply wrong in your childhood, and you didn’t watch this iconic sequel. Oh, and as a reminder, when I stop singing, somebody has to take over. Here we go.”

“Drums,” Jett starts.

“A little guitar, please,” Val takes over. “One, two, three, four,” Val continues.

“I hope you're ready for the time of your life Just look at me, I put a gleam in your eye Buckle-up, we're gonna take you for a ride”

“Let's go, we gotcha goin' good in a vibe Everybody put your hands to the sky Buckle-up, we're gonna take you, take you high” (Y/n) takes over, passing in front of Maddox and winking. 

“Show me, show me, show me, show me, show what you got Come on, come on, come on, come on, ready or not La-la, la-la, la-la, let me see how you vibe It's on, it's on, it's on” All the campers join in.

“Get crazy, crazy, crazy, take it over the top 'Cause we, 'cause we, 'cause when we rock we let it rock Rock it, rock it, rock it, rock it, dance 'til we drop" It's on, it's on, it's on” All of the campers again.

“Okay now, are you ready? One, two, one, two, three, four” Jett takes over.

“Show stoppin' when I step in the place Before it's done, you're gonna beg me to stay Get on board, come on, let's ride the wave” Jett continues.

“Let's go, let's go, we just do what we do Watch me break and pop, I'll pass it to you You wanna rock like us 'cause we're never second place” Maddox takes over, passing by (Y/n) and doing a similar wink. 

“Show me, show me, show me, show me, show what you got Come on, come on, come on, come on, ready or not La-la, la-la, la-la, let me see how you vibe It's on, it's on, it's on” All the campers chime in once more.

“Get crazy, crazy, crazy, take it over the top 'Cause we, 'cause we, 'cause when we rock we let it rock Rock it, rock it, rock it, rock it, dance 'til we drop It's on, it's on, it's on”

“Okay now, are you ready? One, two, one, two, three” (Y/n) takes the mic. 

“Th-th-there is no competition That's why we in the number one position Your crew can't hang with us, man, we're too dangerous” Jett takes another mic.

“Ain't got the style or the stamina” Maddox takes Jett’s mic. “Just doin' my thing, get hooked on my swing” Ricky and Ashlyn take (Y/n)’s mic. 

Rockin' the place, droppin' the bass, makin' all the girls sing” Carlos and Kourtney chime in. “Yeah, we make the bell ring

It's on, it's on” Jett and Maddox sing together.

“Show me, show me, show me, show me, show what you got Come on, come on, come on, come on, ready or not La-la, la-la, la-la, let me see how you vibe It's on, it's on, it's on Get crazy, crazy, crazy, take it over the top 'Cause we, 'cause we, 'cause when we rock we let it rock Rock it, rock it, rock it, rock it, dance 'til we drop It's on, it's on, it's on Show me, show me, show me, show me, show what you got Come on, come on, come on, come on, ready or not La-la, la-la, la-la, let me see how you vibe It's on, it's on, it's on Get crazy, crazy, crazy, take it over the top 'Cause we, 'cause we, 'cause when we rock we let it rock Rock it, rock it, rock it, rock it, dance 'til we drop It's on, it's on, it's on” All of the campers finish. 

“It's on,” Jett finishes, and the Yellow Team lifts him on their shoulders. 

“America, I am so glad that the missing camper got rescued, because he just won for the Yellow Team!” Corbin announces in his mic. 

Val walks over and hands Jett the trophy-oar, and he shakes it in the air happily. 

“Whooo!” Jett says, as yellow and blue confetti explode from the confetti cannons. He steps over to his sister. “Hey. Don’t tell anyone, but today wasn’t the worst,” he hands Maddox the oar. 

Maddox looks at her brother for a moment. “Quite the turnaround, Jett.”

“We did it together, Maddie,” Jett says as (Y/n) watches the two. “We got the win,” Jett adds.

“Yeah,” Maddox’s tone softens. “Yeah, we did.”

Jett steps off to talk to Ricky and Gina, and (Y/n) steps over to her friend. 

“He’s a very committed young man, huh?” (Y/n) nudges her friend. 

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m not sure exactly what changed,” Maddox says. 

“Maybe he just wants to show you he cares?” (Y/n) asks. 

Maddox looks up into her friend’s face. “(Y/n), I think I see what you’re trying to do, and I appreciate it so much. But we’ve had good days before and . . . I just don’t wanna let my guard down and get hurt again, you know?”

(Y/n) nods thoughtfully, and Maddox wraps her in a hug. 

“I meant it when I said I appreciated it,” Maddox says. (Y/n)’s expression softens, and she returns the hug. 

. . .

(Y/n) heads down to the amphitheater and begins helping pick up some of the blue and yellow streamers off the ground. 

“You know you don’t have to do that,” Maddox says, though her tone is teasing. (Y/n) rolls her eyes playfully. 

“You say that every year, Madds,” (Y/n) walks up to her friend. “And every year I still help.”

Maddox grins, amused, at her friend. 

(Y/n) studies Maddox’s face closely, taking in her friend dirty blonde hair, and splash of freckles. 

Suddenly, both girls surge towards each other. 

Maddox cups her friend’s face, and presses their lips together. She suddenly pulls back, “I-i’m sor–”

(Y/n) snorts, and pulls Maddox back in, cupping her face this time. 

The fireworks go off overhead, and Maddox pulls away, looking at the beautiful colors in the sky. 

“Fireworks,” Maddox murmurs. 

(Y/n) laughs delightly. “Makes total sense to me,” (Y/n) looks back down, looking into Maddox’s face once more. 

Word Count: 2718 words