#in which coral reads short fiction (and other things) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

maybeimamuppet · 4 years ago

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dream a better dream

hello my little muppets!! happy wednesday!

this is a request fill for @erikascadys who requested sharkboy and lavagirl au! janis is lavagirl and damian is shark boy. and cady is just cady :))

i don't think i need any trigger warnings, but as always if I've missed one please let me know so I can add it!

anyway, please enjoy!

---

Cady has always been a dreamer.

Growing up in Kenya, it was nearly the only thing she could do to entertain herself. Sure, she had a few toys, or books to read, or lions to chase. But in terms of other humans, all she had were her parents and her dreams.

Her personal favorite dream first appeared one night when she was ten. Cady’s family had just gotten the news that her older brother, Rhys, had been killed in the line of combat. The only place Cady has as an escape from her grief is in her dreams.

She dreams of two people. Friends. A boy and a girl. The boy is part human, part shark. He has legs, but also fins. A human face, but shark teeth. And human hands, but sharp claws. In spite of everything, he seems kind. He cares for his shark friends and all the fish, carefully tends to the corals and feeds the seaweed and anemones. Cady cleverly dubs him Sharkboy.

The girl is very different. She’s made of lava and fire, with bright pink hair and the ability to shoot lava from her hands. Cady doesn’t know much else about her. She names her Lavagirl and leaves it at that.

Cady frantically writes her dream in her dream journal when she wakes up the next morning. She’s kept one since she learned how to write, detailing all her most precious dreams. She has a feeling this one is extra special.

“I’m going to the watering hole to take a bath!” She yells to her parents as she runs out of their tent. Her dad grabs her by the back of her shirt and scoops her up before she can make it out. “Hey!”

“Why are you suddenly so eager to take a bath?” Her dad asks, setting her down again.

“I’m not! I’m just excited for the day! I had a super special dream!” Cady says, bouncing up and down a few times. Her dad gives her a sad smile and ruffles her hair.

“Okay. Watch for crocs and hurry back for breakfast, binti.”

“I will!” Cady says, dashing out again.

After a quick but expert assessment, Cady dubs the small pool to be free of crocodiles and any other predators. The zebras wouldn’t be drinking here for so long, otherwise. Cady leaps in with a small splash and opens her eyes under the water. She’s been trying to learn how to do that recently.

But someone else is there. She screams and pops her head back above the surface. The figure follows. “Sharkboy?”

“Yeah!” Sharkboy says. “Hi!”

“You’re real?” Cady asks in awe.

“Yeah, duh! I’m right here,” Sharkboy says.

“Whoa,” Cady whispers. “Um… can I finish my bath, please? Then we can get to know each other!”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry!” Sharkboy says, turning around and covering his eyes. Cady swims back down and finishes cleaning herself, then dries herself off and gets dressed. Sharkboy swims up and rests on the shore.

“I thought you were a dream,” Cady murmurs, tilting her head. Sharkboy shakes his head.

“Nope! Well, kinda. But everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream.”

“Huh,” Cady says, tilting her head. “Okay, do you wanna go play? I’ve never… I’ve never had a human friend before.”

“I’m not human,” Sharkboy says, smiling so she can see his teeth.

“Oh, right,” Cady giggles. “I’ve never had a shark friend before either.”

Sharkboy smiles wider. “Yeah, come on. I bet you’re pretty fast growing up out here.”

“Tag! You’re it!”

Cady shares her breakfast with Sharkboy, and they play together in between Cady’s chores. She learns his real name is Damian, and that he was a marine biologist with his mother. Their research base was destroyed in a storm, and he was practically adopted by the sharks. And now he searches the universe for his mother.

“I hope you find her,” Cady says genuinely. “We lost my brother a while ago. But he’s not coming back.”

“I heard. I’m sorry,” Sharkboy says. Cady shrugs.

“It’s okay. I miss him a lot, but my parents say he’s still with me. Anyway, you wanna come see the lions? They’re my favorite.”

Sharkboy nods and runs after her to help feed the lions their dinner. The sun is setting, painting the sky gold and orange and pink as it makes its way down for the day. Once the first stars are just beginning to twinkle for the night, a bright flash of pink light suddenly glows from behind them.

“Lavagirl,” Cady breathes when she turns around. Lavagirl smiles slightly and nods. Maybe that really is her name. “You’re real too!”

“Sharkboy, I need your help,” Lavagirl says. “You have to come with me. A great crisis is developing on the Planet Drool.”

Sharkboy nods and heads to her side. They begin to run off together, before freezing and turning back to Cady.

“Can you come as well, Cady?”

“Er… I would,” Cady stutters. “I’d really like to, but… I have homeschool tomorrow.”

Lavagirl nods in understanding, and they both turn back and continue running off. Cady doesn’t see them again.

—-

Until six years later. Cady’s parents have lost their funding and are forced to move back to America. Cady is both upset and excited. She’s sad to be leaving the only home she’s known, but eager to experience life in the west. And go to real school for the first time.

She starts at North Shore High three days after they move to Chicago. Her wishes for a happy American life are quickly dashed.

The building is massive and meandering, built of a labyrinth of hallways and classrooms that all look the same and packed wall to wall with other kids all shoving and pushing and yelling. Like sardines.

Sharkboy would like that, she thinks with a little smile. And he could use his navigation instincts to help me get around this place.

By some miracle she makes it to homeroom on time and plops herself in an empty seat near the front of the room. She looks up when it suddenly goes quiet and the teacher begins speaking.

“Hello class, I’m Ms. Norbury, I teach AP Calculus,” she begins. Cady looks up in relief and checks her schedule. This is her math teacher. “And we have a new student this year, I see. Caddy Heron?”

“Uh-it’s Cady,” Cady stutters quietly, raising her hand. “I used to be homeschooled.”

That gets a few snickers from people in the back of the room, and Ms. Norbury’s demeanor seems to change slightly. “That’s a fun way to steal from my union.”

“Oh! No, no,” Cady says immediately. “I grew up in Kenya, my parents are zoologists. Not many unions there.”

Much to her relief, Ms. Norbury relaxes slightly and gives her a kind smile. “In that case, welcome to North Shore. I saw you on my roster for the afternoon, I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

Cady gives her an eager smile back and nods as she gathers her things once the bell goes off.

—-

In her English class, she gets an assignment to write a short story about her favorite childhood memory. Cady thinks long and hard about which moment to choose. The time a lion broke into her tent and cuddled her all night? Or the time she got to see the city of Nairobi for the first time? Her first airplane trip?

Suddenly, it hits her. She had never had more fun as a kid than when she spent the day with Sharkboy. So Cady writes about that. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, reading the essay aloud in front of the whole class is what can go wrong. Cady eagerly volunteers to go first. Mistake one.

She looks up when she finishes reading, to the sneers and smirks of her classmates. And that’s before they start laughing out loud. One of them even throws a ball of paper at her.

“Sit down, Cady,” her teacher says gently. Cady sits down quietly back at her spot, trying to ignore the jeers of the other students. “Cady appears to have merely misunderstood the assignment. I asked for true stories. But that was a very well done work of fiction.”

“It is true!” Cady says, much louder than she’s spoken all day. Another paper ball hits her. Cady pulls her dream journal out of her backpack, where she also wrote about the day she got to spend with Sharkboy. “He said everything that is, or was, started with a dream. It’s true.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly and gives a slight head shake as the next kid gets up to read their essay. Cady doesn’t speak up again until the bell rings.

“Cady, a moment please,” her teacher asks quietly. Cady sheepishly heads over to her desk. “You have a real way with words. But you’re sixteen, in the eleventh grade. It’s time to stop dreaming, okay?”

Cady takes the pencil she had tucked behind her ear and scratches that down in her journal. “No dreaming. Got it. I-I’ll try harder.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly but nods, sending her off to her next class. Cady is pulling her schedule out of her backpack to check the room number when she’s suddenly knocked to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, jungle freak,” the girl she’s bumped into spits.

“I’m sorry,” Cady says desperately. “I didn’t see you, I didn’t mean it-“

“I’m sure you didn’t. As payback… what is that?”

“My-my dream journal,” Cady says, clutching it to her chest.

“Can I see it?” The girl asks. Cady naively hands it over. The girl flips through it and laughs. “You’ll get an edited version tomorrow.”

“Wait, give it back!” Cady yells, trying to run after her. The girl’s two cronies block her path.

“Trust us, don’t mess with Regina. We’ll try to keep her from doing too much to it. But she can do a lot worse,” the blonde one murmurs.

Cady hollowly stops fighting them and steps back. The girls give her an apologetic look before they run after their friend.

————-

Cady cries herself to sleep that night. America is nothing like she thought it would be. She wishes she could be back in Kenya, where the only things around for miles to laugh at her were the hyenas. Or, at the very least, that she wouldn’t have to go to school tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be a bad storm. With tornados.

In her dreams, Sharkboy and Lavagirl make an appearance for the first time since she was eleven. She’d gotten little glimpses of their work on planet Drool, as they helped make it into the awesome planet of Cady’s dreams. They seemed happy.

But something is wrong, now. Cady can’t quite piece it together, but the scenes she can see clearly aren’t right. She wakes up with a gasp and runs to the window. A bright, clear day greets her mockingly.

“Guess I didn’t dream hard enough.”

—————

Cady trudges through the morning. Her parents are arguing over something or other, probably trying to get her father a job again. Cady’s mom asks her to come right home after school so they can all talk. Cady suddenly starts wishing something will happen at school so she doesn’t have to go home.

By lunch, the sky about matches her mood. Dark clouds block out any hint of blue that wanted to shine through, and loom ominously over the building. Her science teacher takes the opportunity to teach about tornados and their origins.

Regina strolls in casually about ten minutes after the bell, holding a bag that must be too small to carry all her books. Not that she cares.

Cady stands and goes to her desk, holding out a hand. “Give it back.”

“Ladies, is there an issue?” the teacher asks.

“Regina took my dream journal yesterday.”

“Ooh, a liar, too, how fun,” Regina titters.

“Regina, give Cady her book. It hasn’t even been a week and you’re already picking up the bullying again,” the teacher huffs. Something tells Cady that Regina had never set the bullying down in the first place.

Begrudgingly, Regina picks up her designer bag and roots through it. Cady thankfully takes her precious book back. But as she opens it to check that all her dreams are where they were before, she gasps in horror.

Every single page has been scratched out one way or another. Lipstick, black marker in swirly handwriting, even a few pages covered in letter stickers that spell out particularly cruel taunts.

“She ruined it!”

“Where’s your proof, you little freak?” Regina retaliates.

“That’s enough! Both of you will be reporting with me to the principal’s office after school. With your parents,” the teacher yells, trying to get her class back under control. It turns out to be a futile effort when the windows suddenly blow open with the force of the winds outside. “I do not get paid enough for this.”

Everyone ducks underneath their desks as papers start flying around the room, covering their heads and faces for protection. In her haste to get back to her desk, Cady accidentally drops the journal by Regina’s feet, who bends down to pick it up with a coy smirk.

Cady has curled up in a ball beneath her desk when there’s suddenly a thunderous crash accompanied by the sounds of breaking glass. Carefully, Cady peeks up above to see…

Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Evidently having entered through a new hole in the wall.

“I’m looking for Cady,” Lavagirl says, staring down Cady’s classmates. Everyone points to Cady’s desk in the far corner. Cady squeaks and ducks back down. Lavagirl makes her way over regardless, setting homework alight on her way. When she reaches her, Lavagirl lifts Cady’s desk off the ground with just one hand, revealing Cady curled in a frightened ball. “We need your help, Cady. Come with us.”

“Wh-what do I have to do?” Cady stutters, following after the girl made of fire.

“Just come with us, we’ll explain on the way.”

“Hi Cady!” Sharkboy says, waving eagerly. Lavagirl whacks him gently.

“I can’t go with you.” Cady says.

“Why not?”

“Be-because you’re not real! Both of you! You’re just a dream,” Cady says, trying to admit it to herself as well. “And-and you’ll be gone when I open my eyes.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut for a moment.

When she opens them again, Sharkboy and Lavagirl are gone. Or so she thinks.

“We’re still here, Cady,” Sharkboy says from behind her. Cady screams and whirls around.

“If you want to stop The Darkness from destroying our worlds,” Lavagirl growls slightly. “You’ll come with us.”

“You should probably go with them,” Cady’s teacher squeaks, poking her head up from behind her desk. Cady nods.

“Okay. I-I’ll go with you.”

——————

“Where are we going?” Cady yells, trying to keep up with her friends. Creations? No, friends is much better.

“Planet Drool!” Sharkboy yells over his shoulder.

“It’s real?!”

“Yeah! We just punched a hole in your school, is it so hard to believe?”

“How are we getting there?”

“Enough with the questions!” Lavagirl demands. Cady suddenly notices the shark shaped rocket ship in front of them.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Put on the goggles,” Lavagirl says, handing Cady a pair of electric blue ones. Hers are purple, and Sharkboy’s are pink. Cady doesn’t judge.

“So how do you fly this thing?” Sharkboy asks. Cady looks at him.

“You don’t know?”

“That’s our whole problem!” Lavagirl says angrily. Cady blinks at her a few times sheepishly before she slams her foot on a pedal. It reveals a green ‘GO’ button. Cady presses it, and they’re off.

Cady looks out the window at the tornados, before they’re suddenly in the atmosphere.

“How do you control it?!” Lavagirl yells at her over the roaring of the engines.

“It has an auto-pilot!” Cady yells back. Lavagirl smacks the button in front of her.

“Wow, you really thought of everything!” Sharkboy says happily.

“Er… not exactly,” Cady says.

“How the fuck do we land?!” Lavagirl says when she realizes.

“That’s the bit I forgot!”

“Well, there’s Neptune,” Lavagirl spits. “Hold on to your asses!”

Cady braces and shuts her eyes, clinging to her harness for safety. Luckily they don’t seem to crash too hard. The ground is almost… squishy.

The mouth of the shark-rocket opens for them to step out onto the surface of the planet. Cady looks out in awe at the world she’s created.

“Do you recognize it, Cady?” Sharkboy asks quietly.

“Not really,” Cady admits shyly. “I feel like I should, but I just… don’t.”

“It’s affecting you too, then,” Sharkboy says sadly. Lavagirl glares at him. “I thought she’d remember!”

“Remember what?”

“Your dreams,” Lavagirl says. “The whole fucking planet? Us? Your powers?”

“I’ve got powers?”

“More than any of us,” Sharkboy says. “Remember what I told you when we met? Everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream. And you dreamt us, and this whole place!”

“Every dream you ever had landed here,” Lavagirl says.

“Oh. Why-why is it so dark? I don’t have that many nightmares,” Cady says.

“It began yesterday. What’s the calculation, Sharkboy?” Lavagirl asks. Sharkboy pulls out a shark-shaped device. It’s beeping quietly and seems to be scanning the environment for something.

“About forty-five minutes,” he replies.

“Forty-five minutes until what?” Cady asks.

“Until the planet… is… destroyed,” Sharkboy says sheepishly.

“We didn’t pick you up to save you,” Lavagirl says, looking out over the darkening horizon. “We need you to save us.”

“Oh. How-how do I do that?” Cady asks anxiously. This is way more responsibility than she asked for when she started keeping a dream journal.

“The dream lair over there. That’s where your dreams are going bad,” Sharkboy says sadly. “We have to get you there and find out what’s happening to them. And hopefully reverse it.”

Sounds simple enough.

“We’ll have to travel through the Passage of Time, catch the Train of Thought, swim down the Stream of Consciousness, and skate across the Sea of Confusion. Because it’s frozen now. Nice going, Cady,” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Lava, don’t be mean! It’s not her fault,” Sharkboy admonishes. “We brought Cady here to put things back in order. We just have to stay positive! It’s not the end of the world.”

“It literally is, though!” Lavagirl yells from a ways away. She turns around and walks backwards away from them for a moment. “The planet is dying, come on!”

“What’s her deal?” Cady asks anxiously as she and Sharkboy run after Lavagirl. Suddenly, a groaning creak is heard, and they both turn around to find the shark rocket being swallowed by the Darkness. “Run!”

Everyone picks up the pace, until they’re suddenly on a platform moving rapidly towards a sort of carnival.

“How is this here if you’ve never been to a carnival?” Lavagirl asks.

“I read about them in books and stuff. I always wanted to go to one,” Cady says sheepishly. “I was, like, ten, give me a break!” Lavagirl shrugs and turns away from her with a huff. “Where is everyone? My dream planet shouldn’t be so lonely.”

“They’re stuck,” Sharkboy says, pointing to a roller coaster weaving around a tall mountain that looks remarkably like Kilimanjaro. “Trapped. Ms. Neverbury has everyone kind of held hostage.”

“How awful,” Cady says sadly. “My world was supposed to be fun.”

“Oh, it’s fun, alright,” Lavagirl chuckles sardonically. “Endless fun. Once you get on, you can’t get off.”

“Kids aren’t allowed to rest here, because if they rest, they sleep, if they sleep, they dream, and if they dream…”

“It takes power away from Neverbury. But we have a secret weapon to stop her,” Lavagirl says mischievously.

“Oh, good,” Cady says in relief.

“It’s you, dipshit,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Oh. You know, you’re a lot more rude than I remember!” Cady yells as Lavagirl rushes up to the coaster. “You’re very dismissive!”

“Get used to it!” Lavagirl yells back, reaching up a fist and floating up to the carts rushing around.

“Don’t mind her, she’s having a sort of… identity crisis,” Sharkboy says apologetically. “She’s usually pretty nice, but she’s scared, and she gets angry when she’s afraid.”

“Would you two shut up? We’re on a time crunch here!” Lavagirl reminds them, dangling upside down from the coaster.

“Oh, oops,” Sharkboy says. He does the same motion and joins Lavagirl above their heads, moving to stop the coaster. Cady tries it too, but she can only jump about a foot.

“Man, why can’t I do that?”

Luckily for her, there’s a ladder a few feet away. She’ll have to use that until she figures out how to jump the way her new friends do.

“Whoa,” she breathes as Lavagirl suddenly lands on the cart of the coaster, somehow perfectly steady even as it hurtles around the winding track. Everyone on the cart cheers in relief. Lavagirl hops down in front of it, causing sparks to fly as she attempts to stop it with one hand and shoots lava to weaken the tracks with the other. Sharkboy grabs onto the back and pulls, and their combined strength makes the coaster grind to a halt.

“Who knows where Neverbury is hiding?” Lavagirl demands. She tilts her head in confusion as everyone appears to have both hands raised. “All of you?”

“You’re all upside down,” Cady giggles from her position on the ladder.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, a booming voice echos around them. “Who is stopping my unstoppable fun?!”

Lavagirl gasps and shoots small jets from both hands to release the bars on all the kids, allowing them to fall gently to the ground and run to safety.

“Who is Neverbury?” Cady asks, hopping into the coaster herself and bringing the bar down for protection as it begins to move again. Sharkboy sits next to her, and Lavagirl stands on the front to coast along.

“She’s supposed to be the sort of protector here,” Sharkboy says. “Keep everyone safe. Be a light. But all she brings now is darkness.”

Cady is about to respond when she’s suddenly slammed backwards into her seat. She screams as the coaster suddenly rockets off, hurtling down the track at impossible speeds. Nothing is impossible here, she reminds herself.

“She’s taking us up!” Sharkboy yells. Cady clings to his arm in fright. She decides she’s not quite so interested in riding roller coasters anymore.

Cady peeks up from Sharkboy when they finally come to a blessed stop, letting out a little squeak of fright. Sharkboy gently pats her head to let her know it’s alright before he hops out of the cart. Lavagirl follows him, and Cady scrambles out once she can feel her extremities again.

A large robot has its back to them, fiddling with various buttons and levers to bring images up on the large screens in front of it. It yells something at whatever she sees before it turns to see them. Cady screams quietly. It looks a lot like Ms. Norbury. What I wouldn’t give to be in calculus class right now.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” the robot says. “What do you want? Why have you halted my endless fun and infiltrated my lair?”

“We don’t need permission from you, you circular bitch,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Man. Fiery today,” Neverbury huffs. She appears to notice Cady then. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Ms. Neverbury.”

“Um-hi,” Cady says anxiously.

“Why are you doing this to our planet? You’re supposed to be running it,” Sharkboy demands.

“You’re supposed to be running it,” Neverbury mocks. “I am running it, I do run it. Right into the ground. Er, those are my orders.”

Maybe Cady has less control here than Sharkboy and Lavagirl thought. Everything here is supposed to be under her command, but she would’ve never ordered something like this. “Who ordered that?”

“No school, no discipline, no rules,” Neverbury continues. Cady loves school. She loves rules. This is clearly the work of someone else. Not even childhood Cady would’ve done something like this. “And no dreaming.”

“Dreams can destroy you, can’t they?” Lavagirl asks coyly. “That’s why we have to stop you.”

“You and what army?” Neverbury scoffs.

“Guys,” Cady says quietly, pointing behind them. A series of electrical plugs appear to have come to life behind them, sparking ominously. That’s probably not good.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl snap to attention, doing a series of very sophisticated moves and fighting the plugs back. Lavagirl looks very eager to be demonstrating some rather violent tendencies.

“Hey Sparky,” she calls loudly, getting Neverbury’s attention. “Catch me if you can.”

Cady and Sharkboy watch as she sets her hands and feet alight and rockets herself upwards, to another metal platform higher up. Neverbury follows and winces as Lavagirl shoots jets of magma out of her hands.

Cady doesn’t quite know what to do. She was never much good at fighting. Sharkboy snaps back into his fights, punching out several of the plugs and grinding their circuits with his sharp teeth. Wanting to be helpful, Cady grabs a cord and tugs as hard as she can. Eventually, it gives, and Cady winds up on her behind looking up at a plug. It rattles rather ominously and gives chase, so Cady bolts. So to speak.

She runs as fast as she can, and being Kenyan, she’s still pretty fast. She turns to check that she’s lost her pursuer at one point, and finds the plug straining at the confines of its cord.

“Aww, are you a bit short?” She teases. “We’ve all been there. Come get me, loser!”

“Cady, stop trash talking, it doesn’t suit you,” Lavagirl yells, still fighting off Neverbury above them.

“Fine,” Cady huffs. She tips her head and coos quietly as the plug continues straining. Suddenly it appears to ‘look’ to its left and spies another plug. Cady watches in horror as it plugs itself in and gives itself more reach. “Ah, shuck!”

She runs again, but pauses when she hears crunching behind her. Sharkboy is jumping up

and down on the plug, smashing it to bits and stomping out any hint of current still running through it. He smiles at Cady when the last spark flies and fizzles out.

“You’re amazing,” Cady beams.

“You had to be scared of electricity?!” Lavagirl yells.

“I grew up in a tent, I don’t like it!” Cady yells back.

“Both of you shut up!” Neverbury yells. Lavagirl shoots a stronger jet at her face. Neverbury closes her eyes and drifts down slightly. Lavagirl relaxes, but Neverbury quickly pops back up. “Haha, pranked.”

“Good one,” Lavagirl huffs, grinding her heels in an attempt to get a good stance to continue fighting.

“Did you really believe you could stop me? Aww,” Neverbury coos.

Lavagirl kites her back down to Cady and Sharkboy. Sharkboy runs up to aid in the fight.

“I know we can’t,” he says threateningly. “But she can!”

They both point to Cady, who stands there uselessly. Neverbury laughs. Cady holds up her fists.

“Show ‘em what you’re made of, Cades,” Lavagirl huffs.

“What am I supposed to do?” Cady asks urgently. Lavagirl takes a moment to smack Sharkboy upside the head.

“I told you this would happen!”

“I thought she would remember!” Sharkboy defends, rubbing his sore spot.

“Remember what?!” Cady demands from the both of them.

Lavagirl is about to answer when she’s suddenly snatched up by one of Neverbury’s metal claws. Cady shrieks as the other claw grabs her by the foot and dangles her upside down.

“Your dream! Remember the dream,” Sharkboy yells at her.

“I don’t remember half my dreams!” Cady yells back. “That’s why I write them in my journal!”

“What part of your dream do you remember?” Lavagirl yells, trying to get free from Neverbury’s grasp.

“I remember this,” Cady says, feeling like she’s about to hurl. Keep it together. Sharkboy is grabbed by a third claw and brought up to their level.

“Where are you taking us?!” He demands.

“Oh, where all useless dreams go. The dream dump,” Neverbury shrugs. The three of them are suddenly dangled over the chasm below, and dropped.

“This is not what I signed up for!” Cady yells on her way down.

—-

They fall for who knows how long before thudding down onto a metal platform. It spits them back out, onto a sort of conveyor belt. At least they all made it.

“Cuckoo!” Sharkboy warns. Everyone ducks down to avoid being decapitated by a large bird. “At least we’re on the passage of time! Maybe it’ll take us to the dream lair!”

Cady looks around at the various clocks they’re surrounded by. Something isn’t right with them. They’re going backwards.

“It’s going the wrong way,” Lavagirl huffs. “Dream lair is that way, genius.”

“What is the dream lair?” Cady asks quietly.

“It’s where all the dreams that fuel the planet are stored,” Sharkboy replies. “But they’re being destroyed.”

“How?”

“That’s what we have to find out. Soon, even the two of us will cease to exist,” Sharkboy sighs, gesturing to himself and Lavagirl.

“Duck!” Lavagirl yells, pointing. Everyone hits the deck again to avoid a duck-shaped cuckoo. “Heh.”

“Cady, just out of curiosity,” Sharkboy asks as they warily stand once again. “Where is this dream journal?”

“Oh, good idea,” Lavagirl says, the first positive thing she’s said all day. “We can read it out loud and set everything back the way it was!” She adds in a whisper, “And maybe find out my true identity.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Where is it?”

“I… uh…,” Cady stutters, feeling around in her pockets. “I don’t have it. I must have dropped it during the storm.”

Lavagirl’s hair suddenly sets ablaze in anger, and she shatters the next cuckoo in a single punch. “I was really starting to think you were the answer, Cady.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Sharkboy grumbles protectively. “She’s just mad because she’s having an identity crisis and you didn’t fix it for her.”

“Shut up, Sharky!” Lavagirl yells. “Look who’s talking. You’re mad she didn’t make you… king of the ocean or whatever the fuck, with a giant fish army. Cady thought her dream world would be a happy place. We’ve all been had.”

“Guys!” Cady yells, interrupting their bickering. “End of the line.”

“Oh, shit,” Sharkboy says, as the end of the conveyor belt gets ever nearer. There’s nowhere to go but down. Lavagirl falls first, followed by Cady and Sharkboy.

Cady yelps in pain as she lands smack on top of Lavagirl, scrambling away to avoid any serious burns. Lavagirl buries her face in the dirt and groans. “I think you dislocated a few of my craters.”

“Sorry,” Cady says frantically. “Ow, you’re hot.”

“Thanks,” Lavagirl teases. “We gotta find a way out of here.”

The three of them stand and dust themselves off carefully, before setting off in an attempt to find an exit.

“I don’t think there is a way out of here,” Sharkboy says after a while. “And the Darkness is coming.” He appears to realize something, suddenly. “Wait! Cady, sit down.”

“Uh… okay,” Cady says confusedly, sitting down on a pile of calculus textbooks.

“Now dream,” Sharkboy commands. “What do you see?”

Cady closes her eyes carefully and tries to dream. “I see… a giant… Kälteen bar.” Both her companions look very unimpressed when she opens her eyes again. “I’m sorry, I’m starving! I never got my lunch.”

“For the love of magma,” Lavagirl huffs, massaging the bridge of her nose.

“Here,” Sharkboy offers, brandishing a… fish? Maybe? “Fresh sushi.”

“Blech, that’s not fresh,” Cady nearly-heaves. “I don’t even know if that’s sushi anymore.”

“Just a few weeks old,” Sharkboy shrugs.

“You want me to cook it for you?” Lavagirl asks, wrapping a fist around the poor… thing. When she pulls away, it’s been charred to a crisp. “Oops.”

“Er… on second thought, I’m not that hungry, it’s fine,” Cady says. “Let me try again.”

“Hey, um… if you happen to dream about, like, who I am… how I fit into this world,” Lavagirl murmurs. “That would… really be helpful for me.”

“Stop distracting her. Focus on the problem at hand,” Sharkboy insists.

“I can put her to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her away. “Come on, one punch?”

“She made us!”

“And where has that gotten us?!” Lavagirl roars. Cady backs away in fright, until she hits something with a metallic clang. She whirls around and looks up to see…

“Tobor!”

“Huh?”

“It’s Tobor! I tried to build him out of our old food cans and stuff when I was little,” Cady says happily. “But… I could never get him to work.”

“So here he is, forgotten in the dream dump,” Lavagirl says, finally seeming to calm down.

“He’s supposed to be very smart. Maybe he can help,” Cady says. “Tobor, wake up!”

“Yeees?” Tobor replies. Cady gasps in shock. That voice is… familiar.

“Rhys?” She asks, eyes brimming with tears. She hasn’t heard that voice since she was eight years old. She thought she had forgotten. Tobor just gives her a wink. That’s all the confirmation she needs.

“Hello, Cady Heron.”

“You can answer anything, right?” Cady asks, wiping her eyes and looking up at Tobor’s large tin head.

“That I can. Whether it is correct is another matter entirely,” Tobor replies ominously.

“It can answer anything?” Lavagirl asks, unceremoniously shoving Cady out of the way. “Tell me something about me. Please.”

“Never heard you say please before,” Sharkboy grumbles under his breath.

“You are extremely bright,” Tobor says to Lavagirl. Her brow furrows, but she gets a slight grin as she tries to work out what that could mean. Sharkboy goes next.

“Hi Tobor! Am I king of the ocean?”

“No.”

“Damn it.”

Cady chuckles and pats his shoulder comfortingly before she goes to ask Tobor her question. “How do I save this planet?”

“The answer… is in your dreams,” Tobor says.

“You mean if I put her to sleep?” Lavagirl asks, brandishing what looks to be a tire iron.

“No, where did you even find that?!” Sharkboy says, wrestling her to take it and throwing it as far away from them as he can.

“No… at least, not here. Darkness is falling. Any dream of hers will become a nightmare. And you don’t want those becoming a reality,” Tobor continues. “But, if you go to the land of Kälteen bars… that’s where the good dreams are.”

“Oh, duh!” Sharkboy says, as if it should’ve been obvious the whole time.

“That’s where the answers are.”

“Can you take us there?” Cady asks Tobor.

“I would, but I have no body. I can’t move,” Tobor says sadly.

Lavagirl looks him up and down suspiciously. “You can move your eyes and your mouth.”

“I suppose that might work.”

Lavagirl and Sharkboy each take one of his eyes, and Cady climbs into his mouth. Suddenly, they detach from the large tin can that made up Tobor’s head a drift off to the land of Kälteen bars. What a day.

——

“Tobor, why didn’t you work when I built you?” Cady asks, drifting peacefully over what looks like a forest of brains.

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real on their own, like Sharkboy and Lavagirl. I, on the other hand, am still only a dream.”

“Oh.”

“Um…” Tobor says.

“What’s the matter?”

“Train of thought. I’m losing it.”

“Land of Kälteen bars,” Lavagirl huffs.

“No, I’m literally losing the train of thought,” Tobor says. “Down there.”

“Huh,” Cady says interestedly, looking down. “I never thought I had a train.”

“What did you think you had?” Sharkboy chuckles.

“I dunno,” Cady shrugs. “Maybe a race car. Doesn’t get too much use, but when it does it goes fast and needs frequent pit stops.”

Lavagirl chuckles at that, but stops abruptly and tries to cover it up with a cough.

“Well, since I do actually have a train… how do I keep it on track?” Cady asks anxiously.

“With your mind. You are easily distracted. Stay focused, and it will speed you directly to the land of Kälteen bars,” Tobor explains. “The rest is up to you.”

Cady and her companions jump down onto the train. Cady looks back at her old creation for a moment. “I’m sorry I forgot you.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve just saved me,” Tobor chuckles gently. “I’m free.”

“Cady!” Lavagirl yells. “Get your ass down here!”

Cady gasps and whirls around. Lavagirl has her head poking out the window of the engine car.

“What’s wrong?!” Cady yells over the roar of the train engine.

“We can’t control it!” Sharkboy says as he and Lavagirl frantically press every button and flip every lever they can reach. Cady joins in as if she knows what she’s doing.

“All you have to do is keep it on track,” she says. Sounds easy enough.

“There is no track!” Lavagirl reminds them. Cady freezes and looks out the window. She’s right.

“What do we do?” Sharkboy asks anxiously.

“Uh… scream?” Lavagirl says. “I don’t know.”

Sharkboy flips another lever, and the door opens. “Jump! It’ll be fine!”

He leaps out the door and is quickly blown off by a gust of wind. Lavagirl follows almost immediately. Cady is left alone on a crashing train. At least if she jumps she’ll crash with her friends.

Cady closes her eyes and leaps, hoping for a miracle. The wind blows her hair everywhere and stings her skin as she hurtles to the ground. Until it stops. Warily, she opens her eyes.

“A Kälteen bar!” She says happily, pushing herself upright. It tips slightly, so she puts her arms out for balance. “Whoa. In a river of milk. Huh. Um… do you guys know what it means when your train of thought… crashes?”

“Nothing good,” Lavagirl says, sounding remarkably chipper. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Twenty minutes,” Sharkboy replies anxiously. He takes a step forward to look around, but his foot suddenly sinks into a puddle of something. He yelps in surprise, but crouches down to inspect it. “Chocolate?”

“It must be the s’mores flavor,” Cady chuckles. “There’s marshmallows too.”

“Why Kälteen bars, though?” Lavagirl asks. “And not, like, cookies, or something?”

“I never had cookies as a kid,” Cady replies. “But we always had Kälteens. And I wasn’t really allowed to eat them, I ate a whole box in a row once and got sick, so my parents hid them and I could only get them if they gave them to me. They were a special thing.”

Lavagirl gives this a moment’s thought and nods. “Try to dream again. Lie down.”

Cady does, using a bit of marshmallow as a pillow. She closes her eyes, but the bar beneath her begins to shake. “It’s too shaky.”

“I hear it too,” Sharkboy says, listening around with his highly trained ears. Lavagirl raises a suspicious eyebrow at the two of them.

“Let me try.”

“No, Lava-“ Sharkboy says, but it’s too late. Lavagirl rests her head on the marshmallow, and the whole thing is suddenly charred. “Hothead.”

“Cady,” Lavagirl says suddenly. “When you dreamt up these giant bars… who did you expect to be able to eat them?”

Cady shrugs. “I dunno, I never really thought about that part.”

“Because if you dream giant bars, something has to be created to consume giant bars,” Lavagirl explains. The rumbling sounds get louder, suddenly, and everyone looks around for the source.

“Giants!” Sharkboy yells, pointing off to the left. He abandons ship again, followed by Lavagirl. Cady is so distracted looking at the giants that she nearly doesn’t make it off, leaping at the very last second before one of the giants chomps down on the Kälteen bar raft.

Luckily for them, they appear to land on…

“Hey, this was my ninth birthday cake! That thing was awesome,” Cady laughs. “Nice and springy.”

“Too much frosting,” Lavagirl grumbles, trying to brush herself clean.

Cady removes herself from her cake and turns around, watching the giants leave peacefully hand in hand. Sharkboy approaches her and rests a hand on her shoulder.

“Those giants look a lot like my parents,” Cady murmurs.

“They seem happy together,” Sharkboy nods. “Is that… another dream of yours?”

“Family,” Cady nods. “Hasn’t really been coming true lately.”

“Well, most dreams don’t come true on their own. You have to make them true,” Sharkboy says. “It takes a lot of work. Not easy. But it’s not impossible either.”

“Alright, we’ve had enough sweets, go to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs, joining them.

“I’ll try,” Cady says anxiously, laying down on the granola ground. Sharkboy gently plays with her hair to help her drift off while Lavagirl paces around.

Flowers begin to bloom around them as Cady dreams, and a shark-shaped motorcycle suddenly drives up. Sharkboy gasps excitedly and runs to check it out, so Lavagirl takes over his position by Cady’s head.

“Dream about me next,” she says quietly. “I need to know who I am. Dream of me as something good.”

A clap of thunder suddenly booms overhead, making Lavagirl whirl around. She looks back to Cady’s face and finds it pinched in concern. “She’s having a nightmare. Sharkboy, get back here!”

Sharkboy runs over and tries to shake Cady back awake, to no avail. Lavagirl stands and aims her hands carefully at Cady’s backside.

“Sorry Cady,” she murmurs, firing a jet of lava.

“Jesus!” Cady yells, her eyes snapping open as she leaps to her feet. “Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“You weren’t waking up,” Lavagirl shrugs sheepishly. Sharkboy kindly fires a jet of water to help cool her off. “Thanks Sharky. Cady… your nightmare… it was about me, wasn’t it?”

Cady tries to think. Surely that can’t be right. She can see bits and pieces, but can’t quite reach them enough to put them back together. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

“Plug hounds!” Sharkboy suddenly yells, pointing to an ice cream hill above them. Neverbury makes her way to the top.

“I have the high ground!”

The hounds suddenly run towards them, stumbling down the hill. Cady and her friends run to the shark bike, but nothing happens when Sharkboy attempts to start the engine. Other than…

“Ah, fudge,” Cady says. “I forgot to dream of gas.”

“Oh my-“ Lavagirl says angrily, storming off in a huff to fight the hounds off. Sharkboy joins her. Lavagirl shoots a jet of lava at one, before she looks at her hands. “My powers are weakening.”

One of the hounds suddenly unravels, wrapping her up in tight confines while a few others zap at her toes. Sharkboy, on the other hand, is doing remarkably well, punching out several with a series of very elaborate karate moves.

He rips off a part to the shark bike to use as a staff, and takes out several more. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice one that hasn’t quite been beat down rise to its feet, followed by another. They both shock him, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained moan.

“Hey! Leave my friends alone!” Cady yells, bending down and swiping some frosting onto her face like war paint. She’s in the middle of a battle cry when she also gets shocked and falls to the ground. It didn’t quite go to plan, but it did allow Sharkboy to escape his attackers and rush to her side.

“I don’t-I don’t have much fight left in me, Cades,” he pants.

“Where’s Lavagirl?” Cady puffs back. Lavagirl comes… flowing over, so to speak.

“What?” She asks when they both give her confused looks. “How else was I supposed to escape? Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m literally made of lava. It’s up to you now, Cady.”

“Cady, you can dream us out of here,” Sharkboy realizes. “We believe in you, go on.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut and tries her hardest to dream. Lavagirl quietly pleads for a lava bike behind her, and Sharkboy asks for a shark boat. Cady opens her eyes to reveal…

“A banana split?” Lavagirl spits. “Seriously?”

“They’re really good!” Cady defends, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

“Still hungry?” Lavagirl says threateningly, popping back into her human body and holding up a fist. “How about a knuckle sandwich?”

“Lava, chill,” Sharkboy says, batting her hands away from poor Cady’s face. “Look at it, it’s a banana split boat!”

“Then let’s split,” Lavagirl yells as another wave of plug hounds rounds over the hill. Cady helps Sharkboy push it into the milk river and start rowing just before the hounds reach them.

Once they’re steadily drifting down the river and being steered by Lavagirl, Cady and Sharkboy finally get to sit down on a swiss roll bench. “This is great, Cades. You’re starting to daydream. If you can keep this up, they’ll never get us!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! If you learn to dream with your eyes open, you don’t have to be asleep to dream,” Sharkboy explains. “You’ll be able to make anything happen at any time. You’ll be unstoppable.”

“Grool,” Cady says. She freezes suddenly. “I-uh… I meant to say great, and then started to say cool…”

Lavagirl bursts out laughing, a remarkably bright, clean sound. Cady likes it. She smiles back at her before scooping some whipped cream onto a finger to taste it. “Mm!”

“Sugar will give you nightmares,” Lavagirl says, already back to her typical brooding. Cady immediately spits out her mouthful before she swallows any. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Uhm… best not to ask,” Sharkboy says anxiously, checking his radar. “The lair of dreams is across the ocean of ice. We’ll have to travel there on foot. What did you see in your dream, Cady? Anything we can use?”

“I saw an object, shaped like… do you have something I can draw with?” Cady asks. Lavagirl holds up one of her fingers and shrugs.

“Sharky, come steer.”

Sharkboy takes hold of the cherry stem to steer their raft, and Lavagirl offers Cady her hand. Cady takes it gently and aims at one of the ice cream scoops. Lavagirl fires a jet of lava from it, letting Cady steer it around.

“A heart?” She asks, tilting her head when Cady finishes. Her eyes go wide when she puts it together. “The crystalheart!”

“It’s the treasure of the kingdom of ice, it can freeze anything!” Sharkboy says excitedly, coming to join them. The raft spins wildly until Lavagirl leaps to grab the cherry stem to keep steering. “Even time.”

“Wow,” Cady breathes. “I’ve only ever dreamt of freezing a moment in time.”

“And, even better,” Sharkboy says. “The ice kingdom is ruled by the ice princess. She’s said to be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

Lavagirl’s jaw drops open indignantly, and she fires some magma at Sharkboy’s bum.

“Ow! What the hell, man?” Sharkboy pouts, rubbing his sore backside.

“She is not! She’s cold and cruel and cares for nobody but herself! And you don’t even like girls,” Lavagirl accuses.

“Cady does!”

“I do?” Cady says in shock. She thinks for a second about her past crushes, and then shrugs. Lavagirl certainly doesn’t look too bad. “Eh, yeah, I probably do. Have you met her, Lavagirl?”

“No,” Lavagirl replies sheepishly. She puffs out her chest before continuing, “But I know we don’t get along! She’s ice. I’m fire. We must be enemies.”

“We need that crystal heart,” Cady says pleadingly. “But I’ll need you both to get it.”

Lavagirl sighs and lets go of the cherry stem. Sharkboy leaps to grab it so they don’t drift away too far. Lavagirl looks out off the edge of the raft and huffs. “I just hope this isn’t a trap.”

—————-

“Wow,” Cady breathes happily, looking around at all the beautiful crystal clear ice and powdery white snow surrounding them. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and clearly very intricate, but the air is barely chilly. Even in her thin flannel, Cady isn’t cold.

They approach a thin bridge, made of solid ice. Cady is a little apprehensive at the height, but carefully steps out onto it. Sharkboy follows. Lavagirl thinks about it, but pauses and hunches in on herself a bit just before she tries.

“I can’t go with you,” she calls. Cady and Sharkboy pause and turn around. “I’ll melt the bridge.”

“Can you chill enough to get across?” Cady asks, reaching a hand for her. Lavagirl looks at her feet, then back at her.

“I’d have to be asleep.”

“Try sleepwalking!” Cady calls to her. “You can do it!”

Lavagirl nods slightly and closes her eyes, shaking out some of the tension in her muscles before warily taking a few steps forward. She mumbles under her breath about… a dream of her own. To live on Earth. Someplace warm. And to be accepted.

“Oh no,” Sharkboy says suddenly, anxiously watching his best friend as she crosses the bridge. “No, Lava, don’t sneeze!”

He runs to block her nose with a finger, and breathes a sigh of relief when she relaxes again. He carefully removes his finger and takes a small step back.

“Achoo!”

Lavagirl sneezes, unleashing a rush of hot wind that blows Sharkboy backwards and off the bridge. He grabs onto it with one hand just before he topples all the way off to a certain doom. Cady runs to help him back up.

“Look,” she says quietly, gesturing to Lavagirl. She’s somehow still upright, but deeply asleep. She’s actually snoring quietly, which is remarkably cute. “She’s sleeping.”

Lavagirl sleepwalks towards them carefully, slowly, but isn’t melting the bridge. Cady watches her with a small smile. Until she looks behind her.

“They found us again,” Cady says, her heart sinking. “Lavagirl, behind yo-“

Sharkboy claps a hand over her mouth before she can finish her sentence. “If you wake her up, she’ll reheat. She can make it.”

Cady nods and clings to his arm in fright. “Come on, Lava.”

Sharkboy holds her back, feeling himself growing more tense. They’re all in danger, and his instincts are demanding he protect his best friend. “Lavagirl, they’re behind you!”

Cady frantically slams a hand over his mouth, and he covers it with his own hands in shame. But it’s too late. Lavagirl opens her eyes and looks behind her, bursting into flame when she sees the hounds closing in.

Cady and Sharkboy both scream in fright and run away, barreling for the other end of the bridge. Lavagirl follows them, the bridge melting and crumbling away beneath her feet as she goes.

“Come on, Lava, hurry!” Sharkboy yells. He and Cady both reach out to help her make it onto the platform holding up the castle, but yelp and quickly pull away as she burns them. They made it.

But the ground beneath them begins to crumble. The three of them whirl around.

“It’s a trap!” Cady yelps, instinctively shoving her friends behind her. A small pit suddenly forms from the ground that’s crumbled away, and Neverbury leaps out at them. Cady furrows her brow in thought. “This can’t be right. Someone-someone else’s dreams are in here.”

That’s the last thought she has before the world goes black.

—-

When she comes to, she’s suspended from the ceiling by a spring over a hole in the ground. Sharkboy is also hanging next to her, and Lavagirl is on the other side with her feet stuck in a block of solid ice.

“Welcome to the dream lair,” an ominous voice says. Ominous but… familiar, somehow. “I am the leader of this planet.”

“No you’re not!” Sharkboy yells, wriggling to try and get down. “Cady is!”

“Cady might have dreamed it originally,” the voice says with an airy titter. The large chair in front of them suddenly rotates to reveal none other than Regina George. “But I’m, like, so much cooler, wouldn’t you say? I… am Requiem.”

“How did you get so much power here?” Cady asks. “This is my world.”

Requiem pulls out a small book and holds it up to show them. Cady gasps in understanding.

“My dream journal! That’s why all my dreams are going wrong! You’re changing it!”

Requiem gives a quiet chuckle and sashays her way down in front of them. Sharkboy gasps and goes into a sort of Superman pose when he spies the tank of electric eels beneath them.

“Shocking, isn’t it Sharkboy?” Requiem hums. “Reminds me of… when an electrical storm blew apart your mother’s research lab.”

Sharkboy stops struggling for a moment and looks at her. “Where is my mother?”

Requiem flips through the journal to see if it says anything, and gives a particularly evil sounding chuckle when she finds the right page. “Check the bottom of the ocean.”

Sharkboy snarls at her and tries to get loose again. Requiem moves to Lavagirl. “And you. Once I figure out how to freeze the core of this planet, all your powers will disappear.”

“I have powers?” Lavagirl asks quietly. “What powers?”

Requiem doesn’t grace her with a response, walking to stand in front of Cady. “And last, but least. You. You thought you could escape fear by running to dreamland, hm? But fear exists in the one place you can never escape.” She hops a few times, and is suddenly floating at Cady’s eye level. “Your mind. I’ll show you the true meaning of fear.

“Anyway, for now, you must all leave. I have dreaming to do. Kisses!”

She blows them a mocking kiss with two fingers before they’re dropped, plummeting through the holes beneath them. Sigmund Freud would love it here, Cady thinks to herself.

——————

They land in a large bird cage. Lavagirl paces back and forth while Sharkboy sits next to Cady on the uncomfortable bricks they have for chairs. “If only I had my journal. Then I could turn everything back to the way it was.”

“My fire is dimming,” Lavagirl says quietly. Sharkboy looks at her sadly. He grabs one of the bars behind him and pulls as hard as he can. Nothing happens.

“My strength is fading too.”

“How much time is left?” Cady asks.

“Who cares?” Lavagirl huffs. “We’re never getting out of here.”

Cady frowns at her, but looks up in confusion when a quiet song can be heard. “That’s freaky.”

“Aww, hi La-La’s,” Sharkboy says, playing with the small bubble creatures. Lavagirl bats them away from her face angrily.

“Where did these come from? They’re so annoying.”

“Don’t listen to her, she’s just mad you’re not made of fire,” Sharkboy comforts the little things.

“They piss me off,” Lavagirl grumbles. “That song. Disturbing. It’s so high!”

“Sing louder. Higher,” Cady encourages them quietly. Lavagirl’s hair is on fire again, and she’s visibly tense. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her close.

“You don’t want to be too close to her when she erupts,” he says quietly.

“Enough!” Lavagirl yells, firing lava out of both hands at as many La-La’s as she can reach. Inadvertently, she also melts them a way out.

“Nice progress, Lava! Much more control this time,” Sharkboy praises. Lavagirl grins at him sarcastically before she crawls out of the hole she’s made. Sharkboy and Cady follow quickly.

—————

“She’s asleep,” Lavagirl whispers to her friends beneath her. Cady crawls her way back up into the dream lair and tiptoes back over to Requiem. Ever so gently, Cady lifts her journal off of Requiem’s chest. She tiptoes back to her friends, and slides down the pillar holding the lair aloft.

“Okay, first things first,” Cady says, flipping through the pages. “A way out of here.” Suddenly, she finds the perfect page. “Oh, Lavagirl! You have a lava bike!”

“I do?” Lavagirl asks. The bike suddenly materializes next to her and she gives a delighted cackle. “I do!” She eagerly gets on and revs the engine. “Hehe, this is tits!”

“Chill out, babes,” Sharkboy chuckles.

“Even has fuel this time! Now, Sharkboy,” Cady continues, flicking through to another page. She quiets when she reads the first few sentences of it. “Your mother really is at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Oh,” he says quietly. Lavagirl takes his hand and squeezes it gently.

“She’s in a submarine, she’s looking for you! She has been since the storm,” Cady continues, looking up at him with a smile.

“Oh!” He says again. Lavagirl squeezes him one more time and smiles at him too. Sharkboy comes to read over her shoulder to figure out specifics of where it is. “I’ve gotta get back to Earth.”

“What does it say about me?” Lavagirl asks quietly. Cady flicks to yet another page.

“I’m not sure what this is.”

“I can figure it out!” Lavagirl replies, climbing off her bike and running over to them.

“Lavagirl, no, you’ll-“ Cady tries to warn, but it’s too late. Lavagirl grabs the book and turns it to ash. “Burn it.”

Lavagirl stares at her hands in shame. “What have I done?”

“Hey, it’s okay-“

“Why the fuck did you make me out of lava? Why? What fucking good am I?” Lavagirl yells, holding up glowing fists and with her hair on fire yet again. “Look at me! Why, Cady?!”

Cady looks at her sadly, and tries to follow as she storms off, but Sharkboy grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. “Let her cool off a little.”

Cady doesn’t listen, running over to where Lavagirl is sitting on a rock, head in her hands. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be good. I know I can be. I-I can feel it. But I destroy everything I touch.” She turns to Cady with tears in her eyes, boiling away into steam the second they touch her cheeks. “Why-why did you make me like this? I have-I have more potential.”

“I’m sure you do,” Cady says quietly. Lavagirl stands suddenly and turns around to see her.

“And why did you make us a team?” She continues, pointing to Sharkboy. “We’re nothing alike! I fizzle out when I touch water. When he’s near heat, he shrivels. We aren’t compatible!”

“You’re… really on fire,” Cady murmurs sheepishly.

“Yeah. I do that,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy shoots some water at her to put her out. “Thanks, Sharky.” Sharkboy nods.

“No problem.”

“Maybe I really am evil. So far, everything sure looks that way,” Lavagirl murmurs, sitting down again. “Everything else you’ve dreamed has been right. Maybe I do need to learn to accept it.”

“That’s it!” Cady says. “Everything else I’ve dreamt has been right, the crystal heart!”

“We were captured last time,” Lavagirl sniffles.

“Because Requiem doesn’t want me to have it! That must mean it’s important, we must be able to use it to stop her!”

Lavagirl’s face suddenly splits into a wide smile, and she rejoins her companions.

“We have to get back to the ice kingdom!”

“We only have ten minutes left,” Sharkboy says. “We’ll never make it!”

“We can do it!” Cady yells, running off.

“How?!” Sharkboy and Lavagirl yell at the same time as they follow her.

Cady freezes in her tracks and turns back to look at them with a small smirk. “You’re Sharkboy and Lavagirl. You can do anything.”

—————

“This way,” Cady says, beckoning Sharkboy and Lavagirl over to a sort of slide into the ice palace.

“You had to pick ice?” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Hey, Kenya is really hot,” Cady defends. “Not my fault that’s where I wound up. I’m sure if my parents were studying penguins we’d be somewhere hot and you’d be having a better time right now.”

Lavagirl just crosses her arms and pouts. She’s remarkably precious, for a girl made of fire. Cady chuckles before turning back around, stopping just in time to avoid crashing face first into a tall ice pillar. Sharkboy is already looking up at the large heart shaped crystal floating above it.

“Is that what you saw, Cades?”

“Uhhuh,” Cady nods. “You’ll have to climb up there and get it. But it’s as delicate as a snowflake, so don’t drop it. And don’t touch it or you’ll freeze, use your claws.”

“Got it,” Sharkboy says, using his claws as a sort of ice pick to climb up the ice pillar. He makes it rapidly up the tower, but as he’s reaching for it, he loses his grip and slides back down. He ends up dangling from his fin a few feet off the ground. “You’re up.”

“Lava, can-“ Cady asks. Lavagirl raises an eyebrow at her. “Er… nevermind. Chew on some ice, it’ll help you cool off a bit.”

Lavagirl looks confused when Cady hands her a chunk of ice, but gnaws a bit off with her molars. “Hmm.”

Sharkboy removes his claw gloves and hands them to Cady to climb the pillar herself. It’s slower going for her, but she finds enough hand and footholds to make it to the top. Carefully, she puts on the gloves and reaches out.

“Hey, nice job, Cady!” Sharkboy calls up at her when she grabs it. Just then, he slips, and the crack caused by his fin splits the whole tower in two. It crumbles beneath Cady and she’s forced to drop the heart to save herself.

“I got it!” Lavagirl yells, lunging to grab it before it can hit the ground. She makes it, but is immediately frozen into a solid block of ice.

“Lavagirl!” Cady yells, sliding down what she has left to hold and helping Sharkboy out. She knocks carefully on Lavagirl’s forehead. “She’s frozen solid.”

Just then, a creaky rumbling echoes throughout the cavern as several ice golems rise from the ground and come to life. One with a large club looms over them threateningly and escorts them to a different room.

Once they arrive, they’re roughly shoved to the ground with a command to, “Kneel before the ice princesses.”

Princesses? Cady thinks. There’s more than one?

Sure enough, two girls in white dresses come out onto what appears to be a small stage, hand in hand. They look familiar too. An uncanny resemblance to Regina’s little minions back on Earth.

“You try to steal our crystal heart,” the one on the left asks gently. “Why?”

Cady is too distracted staring at the both of them to hear her. Why are they here? Sharboy nudges her gently to get her back into the moment. “Oh! Uh, we believe it can stop time. Long enough for us to defeat Requiem.”

“Our crystal heart cannot help you,” the other one says. “Only the two of us have the power to use it.”

“Then you can come with us!” Cady says.

“They cannot leave this castle. The crystal is the only thing that protects our kingdom,” one of the ice golems says.

“Please, princesses, we’re running out of time,” Cady begs.

“Perhaps we could… give it to you?” The first princess says. “But are you worthy to wield it?”

“I think so!” Cady chirps. “I hope so.”

“The crystal you stole was a decoy,” the second one says. A rumbling noise sounds off behind them, and several more ice pillars rise from the ground. “The real one is somewhere in this room. Choose the correct one, and you may take it with you.”

Cady and Sharkboy both turn around and look at all the crystal hearts glimmering above them. Sharkboy points to the one nearest them. “That one looks nice, pick that one.”

But Cady shakes her head and turns back to the princesses. “It’s around your hands. Tying you together.”

Sure enough, the gem dangling from what Cady originally thought to be a simple bracelet gives a magical glimmer, and the princesses give her a kind smile. She heads to stand before them politely.

“How’d you know?” Sharkboy asks in awe.

“Saw it in a dream,” Cady murmurs.

“Be aware, Cady,” the first princess says, more serious this time. They gently remove the necklace they had looped around their entwined hands and rest it in the palm of Cady’s. “If anything happens to the crystal heart, our entire kingdom will be destroyed.”

“I won’t let anything happen to it,” Cady says bravely. “I promise.”

“The crystal will now work, but we must stay here,” the second one says. “Good luck.”

And with that, they’re all tossed from the palace onto the frozen sea of confusion. Sharkboy and Cady have no choice but to push a still-frozen Lavagirl to their destination themselves.

—-

“We’re almost back to the dream lair!” Cady yells when she has it in her sights. “How much time do we have?!”

“Uh… we’re out of time!” Sharkboy yells back. “Ten seconds!”

Cady stops Lavagirl and hops off, standing on the frozen sea. She holds the crystal heart aloft. “Here goes nothing.”

The crystal gives a promising glimmer, but then… everything goes dark. Including the crystal.

“What happened?”

Sharkboy shrugs. “It didn’t work.”

“How could it not work?”

Suddenly, a crunching noise can be heard as Lavagirl finally frees herself from her ice cocoon. “Only the ice princesses can use it. I was trying to tell you.”

“There’s nothing,” Sharkboy says, staring at his shark radar. “No readings, no nothing.”

Suddenly, a small crack forms in the ice, revealing a melted chasm. Neverbury’s cackling laughter can be heard.

“Sharkboy, no!” Lavagirl says. “She’s baiting you.”

Sharkboy tenses, and clenches his jaw. “I can’t… resist my instincts!”

Before either of them can react, stop him, Sharkboy dives into the water in front of them and swims rapidly to the other side. Neverbury stands ominously above him. Sharkboy tilts his head in confusion as she tries to make a poorly timed electrical joke.

“Oh, fuck it,” Neverbury huffs. “Electric eels, eat up.”

“Sharky, no!” Lavagirl yells, lunging for him. Cady grabs her to hold her back. “Swim away! Run!”

Sharkboy tries, swimming as fast as he possibly can. But the eels are faster, and quickly surround him. Cady and Lavagirl watch in horror as he suddenly goes limp and sinks to the bottom.

“No!” Cady says, trying to touch the water. It’s still electrified, the current nearly melting off the rubber sole of her shoe. “Can-can he survive down there?”

“He can hold his breath,” Lavagirl replies, staring hollowly at the water. “But not forever. He’ll drown if I don’t save him.”

“No, I can’t let you go,” Cady says with a sob, clinging to her arm. “You’ll die too.”

Lavagirl turns to look at her, gently cupping her cheek with a warm hand and kissing her. She pulls away before Cady has time to process what’s happening. “He’s my best friend. I have to. We love you.”

With that, she turns back and dives into the water, swimming down to Sharkboy on the sea floor. Cady watches as she grabs him by a hand and hauls him back up to the surface. Cady helps lift them both back onto the shore.

“Sharkboy?” Cady asks frantically, trying to shake him awake. “Wake up, please! Come on, please, please please.”

She’s so distracted with Sharkboy that she doesn’t notice Lavagirl crawling away from the water before collapsing. She’s not breathing, and her fire has been extinguished.

Cady whirls around when she hears a rattling breath, and finds Lavagirl’s lifeless form. “No, no, no, Lavagirl, please! Not both of you!”

Neither of them wake. Cady frantically shakes them, crying harder than she thinks she ever has, but to no avail.

“I can’t do this without you!” She sobs. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Suddenly, the disembodied face and voice of Tobor appears. “What do you think you should do, child?”

“Dr-dream… a better dream,” Cady whimpers, holding the lifeless hands of both her friends.

“Interesting,” Tobor says kindly. “Explain.”

“I wanted all my dreams to come true,” Cady sniffles. “But… I only dreamed for myself. This whole place only exists because I wanted to escape my real world. But I should’ve dreamed to make my real world a better place. Selfish dreams shouldn’t come true.”

“You’re becoming a very good dreamer, Cady,” Tobor says. “You always were, monkey. Get it back.”

“What do you do?” Cady asks hollowly. “When your dreams have been destroyed?”

“Dream a better dream,” Tobor replies. “An unselfish dream. You can do it. I believe in you, monkey.”

“I love you,” Cady says as Tobor floats away. She never thought she’d hear her brother call her ‘monkey’ again. She needs to say it. Tobor winks at her, and then he’s out of sight.

Cady takes a deep breath, and squeezes both of the hands in her own. “Dream a better dream.”

Sharkboy suddenly snaps awake next to her, coughing some water out of his lungs. Cady tips him onto his side and pats his back to help. He looks at her thankfully before crawling over to Lavagirl.

“She knew this would happen,” Cady murmurs. “If she saved you. I couldn’t stop her.”

Sharkboy nods sadly, taking Lavagirl’s hand. It’s cool to the touch, for the first time since their creation. Suddenly, a bright light is visible from behind them. Sharkboy and Cady turn around to see Lavagirl’s volcano home glowing brightly.

“Lava,” Cady breathes. “We have to get her there.”

“I’ll go,” Sharkboy says. Cady grabs his arm to stop him. “I’m stronger, and faster.”

“No, I can’t let you go again. You’ll burn up,” she says desperately.

Sharkboy doesn’t listen, cradling Lavagirl’s body in his arms. “Are you sure this will save her?”

“It’ll do more than save her,” Cady agrees quietly. They have a stronger bond than they’ll ever have with her. She knows she can’t stop him now. She blinks, and Sharkboy is gone. She can faintly see a blue and pink blur running at inhuman speeds towards the volcano. Cady hunches in on herself and says a little prayer.

“I know who you are now, Lavagirl. You are not fire, or a simple flame. You are greater than that. Something more important, and so necessary. That is why you have to live. You are not destruction. You are not evil.”

Cady winces as she sees Sharkboy chuck Lavagirl into the mouth of the volcano, and watches in horror as he’s thrown back by the force of the eruption once she makes contact.

But then, she sees Lavagirl standing where he just was, and watches her hands suddenly glow bright like beacons.

“You are light.”

Cady closes her eyes as a bright glow rushes over her. Lavagirl has realized her true power. And so has Cady.

“Holy shit!” Sharkboy screams when she suddenly appears beside him. He holds a hand over his heart as he tries to get his breath back. “How-how did you get here so quick?”

Cady doesn’t answer that. “Hold off Neverbury. I’m off to deal with Requiem.”

“I’ll need my fish army,” Sharkboy says. Cady turns to look at the frozen ocean they were just on.

“I’ll unfreeze the ocean.” With a snap of her fingers, it’s done. “Good luck. I love you both.”

“I’ve become what you feared most,” Cady murmurs to Requiem’s turned back. “Requiem.”

Requiem whirls around in surprise. “How’d you get in here?”

“I’m the day dreamer,” Cady replies. “Able to dream with my eyes open.”

“Hate to burst your bubble here, dream girl, but I’ve read your little book,” Requiem says. “There’s not one dream you have that I haven’t already seen. So what do you say? Let’s blow the roof off this place.” She raises her arms, and suddenly they’re on what appears to be a battlefield. “May the best dream win.”

She sticks out a hand towards Cady, releasing a wave of piranhas. Cady winds up and sticks out her own hand, releasing a wave of…

“Bubbles? Come on,” she whispers. But, as the bubbles make contact with the chomping fish, they’re suddenly trapped inside and carried off with the wind. “Oh. I guess that worked.”

She winds up again, and blows a wave of butterflies towards Requiem. Requiem unleashes her own swarm of wasps.

“Wait!” Cady yells. All the bugs suddenly disappear. She puts a finger to her temple and closes her eyes. “Brain storm.”

Requiem looks at her in confusion before she puts the pieces together and looks up in horror. “Eww!”

Brains splat down to the ground all around her, and she puts her arms up to protect her head from the falling craniums. She screams when one lands in her hands and throws it as far as she can, wiping off the fluid on her cape.

“Brain… freeze!” She yells, lifting her arms to the sky. All the brains raining down pause in place before landing in the ground in a single sheet.

“Brain.. fart,” Cady replies with a giggle. Requiem’s head suddenly swells to roughly one hundred times the size it’s meant to be, and she leans from side to side in a ditch attempt to keep her balance. Before she knows it, she’s completely upside down resting on top of her hand. “Nice headstand!”

Requiem’s head deflates, and she lands back on her feet. She looks at Cady and gives her a quiet chuckle. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

Cady watches in horror as she moves her hands down her sides in a quick motion, and suddenly rockets off into the sky on a stone tower. Cady repeats the motion and rises to the same height on a pillar of her own.

“I used to be,” she says quietly. “But now I understand. Someone ruined your dreams, and now all you can do is ruin everyone else’s.”

Requiem scowls at her, and sends her tower even higher. Cady follows again. The air is getting a bit thin up here. Hopefully she won’t have to go any higher.

“We can create a better dream than this,” Cady pleads. “A better world. Don’t you see?” She snaps her fingers, and a makeshift bridge suddenly appears between each of their towers. Cady carefully walks halfway across it and reaches out a hand. “What do you say? Regina?”

Regina looks at her in shock for a moment, but slowly joins her on the bridge. She looks at her own hand, before inching it toward’s Cady’s.

Just before they touch, a creaking can be heard and the bridge gives way beneath them. Cady uses her day dreamer powers to sort of float, rushing quickly after Regina.

“Don’t let me fall!” Regina screams, covering her face so as not to see her rapidly approaching doom. Cady grabs her wrist and floats them gently to the dream lair.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t ruin people’s dreams, Regina. Because you ruin your own, too. And then you’ll stop believing.”

Cady is suddenly tackled to the soft ground from behind. She screams, but looks up just in time to see Lavagirl before their lips are slammed together. Her warmth is back.

“Cady,” Lavagirl whispers against her lips. “I am light. Thank you.”

“You always were,” Cady replies, holding Lavagirl’s hips as she straddles her. “Nothing to do with me.”

Lavagirl kisses her again. “But now I know. So thank you.”

“Big deal,” Sharkboy teases. “The real news is what I am!”

“A pain in the ass?” Lavagirl asks, finally standing and helping Cady up.

“I’m king of the ocean!”

Cady giggles at their bickering.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for saving me,” Lavagirl says quietly, leaning in to kiss his cheek. There’s a quiet sizzle and flash of light when she makes contact.

“Ouch,” Sharkboy says, rubbing his cheek. At least he’s smiling.

“Everything will return to the way it was,” Regina says from behind them, joining the conversation. “You will be able to travel to Earth and back again as you wish.” She gestures to Sharkboy. “You can search for your mother.” To Lavagirl. “You can rule Earth’s lava realm.”

“And just what am I supposed to do?” Neverbury asks, appearing out of nowhere. “Now that you’re all… buddy buddy.”

“You can go back to being the good guardian of the planet,” Regina replies.

Neverbury cackles. “Oh, really? Keeping everything running? Making sure this loud, obnoxious world is a happy place?”

“Hey!” Cady says sadly.

“You’re dreaming.” Neverbury chuckles.

“I dreamt you,” Cady says boldly, letting go of Lavagirl’s hand and puffing out her chest at Neverbury. “And I can un-dream you.”

“You think you can just snap your eyes open and make me vanish?” Neverbury threatens. “Not so easy. I am the danger of dreaming. For every person who dreams up the lightbulb, there’s the one who dreams up the atom bomb. This is one dream you won’t be waking up from. I’m gonna put an end to this ridiculous tangent at it’s source.”

With that, she takes off towards Earth. Cady yelps and leaps out of the way. “Where did she go?”

“She’s headed to Earth,” Sharkboy says, tracking her on his radar.

“She’s going to try to destroy you in your sleep,” Regina says.

“In my sleep?” Cady asks quietly. “You mean I’m asleep?! All this time I’ve been asleep?!”

“No,” Lavagirl says calmly, coming over to her. “You’re dreaming, Cady.”

“With your eyes open,” Sharkboy adds.

“Make the dream real,” Lavagirl says, taking her hand again. “And you can live out your dreams on Earth. Just like you made us real.”

“Make it real,” Sharkboy commands gently. “You can do it.”

“Blink three times,” Lavagirl murmurs, gently cupping Cady’s face in her hot hands. “One.”

Cady listens. “Wait, but-“

“Two,” Sharkboy says. Cady blinks again.

“Will I ever see you again?”

Lavagirl kisses her one more time before letting her go. “Three.”

Cady blinks.

——

When she opens her eyes, she’s back on Earth, huddled under her desk in the science room. The teacher is trying to gather everyone to head to shelter from the storm, with the help of Ms. Norbury.

Ms. Norbury lifts the desk off of Cady. “Cady, get up! There’s a tornado heading our way!”

Cady scrambles to her feet and dusts herself off. “It’s not a tornado!” She yells over the gusts of the wind. “It’s worse!”

“Regina, wake up,” Ms. Norbury commands, tapping Regina at her desk. Regina snaps awake and winces at the large puddle of drool coating her desk. Gross.

Cady leads them to the gaping hole in the wall, created by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. That was a mere moment ago, but it feels like years. “Look!”

The tornado barreling towards them suddenly begins sparking, and Neverbury emerges from the cyclone before it dissipates into a simple thunderstorm.

“It’s Ms. Neverbury, from planet Drool! The one from my dreams!” Cady explains.

Ms. Norbury and the science teacher both look at it in confusion. “You mean… this is real? Your dreams are real?”

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real,” Cady says.

“I don’t believe it,” Ms. Norbury says.

“It’s literally right there!” Cady yells.

“No, yeah, I can see that!” Norbury replies. “What I can’t believe is… you dreamt me! As a big, round bad guy!”

“Sorry!” Cady says. “Kinda took on a life of its own!”

Ms. Norbury sighs before turning to the class, watching in horror as the storms grow again and Neverbury looms ominously just outside.

“Okay class, we’re just teachers,” Cady’s science teacher says. “And we are here to inspire the answers in you! And there’s some damn good inspiration outside. So, this is now a pop quiz. We need to defeat that lady! Any ideas?!”

Regina raises her hand, surprising everyone.

“Wow, Regina. Yes?”

“I can take her,” Regina says boldly, running outside.

“No, you can’t!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and pulling her back in. “Not by yourself. We need another idea.”

“No dumb ideas, come on,” Ms. Norbury says.

“Maybe we can freeze her circuits,” Regina suggests.

“That’s literally the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Ms. Norbury replies. “We’re in Illinois in August. Next?”

“No, that might work!” Cady says. “Regina, where are your friends?”

“Gretchen and Karen?”

“Yeah, where are they?”

“Uh… English, I think?” Regina says with a shrug.

“Then come on!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and hauling her out the door. The English wing is on the other side of the school.

“I am in heels!” Regina yells.

“Take them off, then! This is kind of an emergency!” Cady yells back, breaking ahead. Regina pauses to snatch her shoes off before barreling after her.

The teacher looks up in shock as a very disheveled Cady and Regina suddenly slam the door open. Cady points at them and pants, “We need… Gretchen and… and Karen.”

They already seem to have known this was coming, and stand to join them. Regina says, “Take off your shoes now, save yourselves. Just come on.”

When they make it back to the science room, Cady reaches into her pocket.

“Those jeans are horrific, by the way,” Regina says. Cady waves her off as she pulls out the crystal heart.

“Is this yours?” Cady asks, holding it up to show Gretchen and Karen. They both look at it and each other in shock.

“I’ve only seen it in my dreams,” Karen says quietly, gently running a finger over it.

“Me too,” Gretchen murmurs.

“It can freeze anything,” Cady murmurs, looping it gently around their intertwined hands and fastening it.

“Even time,” they both say at the same time before looking at each other with a small smile.

“Let them out,” Cady commands. Everyone parts like the Red Sea to make way for them to get outside. “Do you know what to do?”

“Yes,” they say. “Stand back.”

Cady watches with a smile as they approach Neverbury casually and each hold up a hand. They still hold each other with one, and fire a beam of ice at Neverbury with the other. Neverbury freezes solid, and then shatters. Snow begins to fall around them.

Everyone cheers and runs outside to play in the magical snow, except for Cady.

“You’ve made me a great teacher today, Cady,” Ms. Norbury says.

“How did I do that?” Cady asks. “I punched a hole in the school.”

“A good teacher learns as much from her students as they learn from her,” Ms. Norbury explains. “You’ve awakened something in me. That being said, I’m going to start looking into a different career.”

“I don’t blame you,” Cady chuckles, before Ms. Norbury pushes her outside to join her peers. Cady heads out aimlessly, not really knowing who to join. Until she sees Sharkboy and Lavagirl standing with her parents. “Sharkboy! Lavagirl!”

“Hey!” They both say. Lavagirl catches Cady as she barrels into her and slams their lips together.

“Oh, um…” Cady says sheepishly when they break apart. “Mom, Dad, I’m bi.”

“After today, we’re just glad you’re alive,” her dad chuckles, ruffling her hair. Cady throws her arms around both of them, and smiles as they squeeze her tightly. They feel like a family for the first time in years.

—————-

epilogue

“The following story is true,” Cady begins. “It may have began as a dream, but as we all saw last month, when you let your dreams become reality, reality becomes a dream.

“Sharkboy and Lavagirl both live here now. Sharkboy rules the ocean as king, and is searching for his mother. He says his instincts tell him he’s getting closer every second, so he’ll find her soon. And Lavagirl lives with me. We just have to keep the heat on max.”

That gets a chuckle from everyone.

“She gets to live her dream too, don’t worry. She rules all of Earth’s volcanos, a source of light and life for all of us. Just from a distance. So… so she can be with me. My advice to you all is… dream your best dreams. Then work to make them real.”

The end.

---

hope you enjoyed!

I'm sorry it wasn't the most romantic, but i did my best to make it fit with the story. we'll be back on earth next week :))

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

#cadnis #space safari #paint by numbers #cady heron x janis sarkisian #cady x janis #cady heron #damian hubbard #janis sarkisian #mean girls #mean girls musical #mean girls the musical #mean girls broadway #mean girls on broadway #regina george #gretchen wieners #karen smith

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olimpias · 4 years ago

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30 questions tag game

thank you so much @sadsentinel for tagging me!💗

1. nickname: Liza, Liz and of course gremlin!

2. gender: female

3. star sign: virgo

4. height: 5′4

5. time: 8:45 am

6. birthday: 23rd september

7. favorite bands: the Beatles, Deep Purple, the Rolling Stones,

8. favorite solo artists: Janis joplin, Jim Croce, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Django Reinhardt

9. song stuck in my head: say so by doja cat has been stuck in my head a lot lately

10. last movie: Cherrybomb (2009) which I only watched because of Robert Sheehan and his hair

11. last show: misfits (also because of Robert Sheehan hehe, but also bc it’s really good)

12. when did i make this blog: I think December or November 2020? I had another writing blog before that, but it was getting a bit clustered

13. what i post: snippets and oc intros from my long wips, occasional short stories and sometimes memes and stuff like that

14. last thing i googled: c’est comme ca blandine bellavoir

15. other blogs: @fokina, my litblr

16. do i get asks: sometimes when I reblog an ask game. I always love to get asks though!

17. why i chose my url: I wanted to have something aesthetic in there, so I though veil is a cool thing, also bc it’s mysterious and everything and then i put my nickname in there as well

18. following: 608

19. followers: 182

20. average hours of sleep: 8 maybe? Idk my sleeping schedule is trash so

21. lucky number: i don’t believe In lucky numbers

22. instruments: the piano and the cello and i also sing

23. what am i wearing rn: a grey chequered dress and dark blue tights

24. dream trip: Vienna or Cairo

25. favorite food: Pasta i guess? I just love food in general (except cauliflower and raisins)

26. nationality: british

27. favorite song: currently Les oiseaux dans la charmille from the opera the Tales Of Hoffmann by Jaques Offenbach

28. last book i read: Saabyes Cirkus by Lars Saabye Christensen

29. top three fictional universes: harry potter, lotr and marvel

30. favorite color: marine blue or coral

tagging @macabretypewriter @wherewindysurgeswend @writerlywonders @alias-levi @writingbyjillian @regan-wickworre @ashen-crest and anyone who wants to participate!

#tagged💕#30 questions #sadsentinel #tag game

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creampuffs-and-cakes · 5 years ago

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—-Atlantis—- [Part 1]

There were so many others like him in this cold and damp cave, barred by columns of coral with imbued magic that kept the water out. Otherwise, mere humans like them won’t be able to breathe and they’ll be crushed by the water pressure. Fifty thousand metres below sea level.

Well … Ever since the ‘Noah’s Flood’ three years ago, engulfing all the lands and practically wiping humankind and land animals from existence, if it weren't for the mermaids and mermans, thought to be only myths and legends, arriving to their aid, humans would’ve been long extinct. Most land animals did anyway. It couldn’t be predicted such a calamity would strike. So millions of people perished.

Though, in exchange for life, the remaining alive were now imprisoned and enslaved. It felt … natural. After all, they were no longer at the top of the food chain, but at the mercy of others. Especially average people like him who didn’t do anything special. No military experience, hell, he just graduated from a fashion major … That was a useless degree now.

Rose watched the others with a blank expression, seated with metal cuffs linked with a chain; and all their clothes were taken off. It’s a health hazard.

Some were listless, restless; others were praying and comforting one another; and some didn’t care. Or maybe they lost all hope and just waited for the inevitable. They were the next batch of slaves for the upcoming auction show.

Slave.

Rose never thought he’d become one in his lifetime. But life was just unpredictable like that.

“T-They’re coming! Oh god!” The scream took Rose out of his daze and looked to the gate.

The sea urchins scattered and the corals were pushed to a side. Then the mermen, the ones with two-legged flippers since there were some with just the tail waiting outside, came in from the bubble-like wall magic that had been keeping the water out.

“Line up!” The commanding voice did not dilly dally. And even a second of slowness pushed the other merman to pull the humans up and drag them in the forming line.

Rose was obedient to follow. He didn’t want to cause trouble and make his life more miserable than it already was. Hypothermia was going to kill him.

He was given a pill shortly after, and now he usually wouldn’t take such things but what choice did he even have?

After swallowing, the merman was kind enough to make sure everyone did so, before ushering them out of the bubble wall. Some resisted, naturally panicked. But Rose continued to be obedient and went out. Aiyo, they had weapons and this was their territory. Even if he fights, it was a losing battle!

Then … to his surprise, he could breathe and feel just fine. Rose blinked incredulously.

“Move it!”

Taken out of his stupor, Rose followed the merman leading them to an entrance. But can’t he just at least take a moment to look at his surroundings?! He was filled with so much wonder and slight excitement at the prospect of being able to do these things like aquaman. Sure, it’d be nice with clothes on, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“Hurry up! If you don’t, you’ll be crushed by the pressure.”

Ah, time limit. Disappointment filled his heart, but Rose quickly headed inside. The same bubbled wall, except that, it acted like a separator. By which each human that went in would have their own bubble space.

Hooo~

Rose was very fascinated and filled with wonders. After all, you can only read these things in fiction. To experience them first-hand was completely different! Again, it’d be better if he had clothes though.

A set of five bubbles would be presented on a platform, simply floating in … mid-water?

In front were crowds of merfolks, seated in rows of corals extending outward and higher. Very similar to a theatre seating arrangement. Every one of them held a signboard and wore masks. Very human-tradition like that Rose didn’t expect to see.

The host, with their gavel, started the auction with their loud and booming voice.

“Starting with human L1! Can I get 10,000?!”

The bidding began and Rose looked up at his number, plastered on the bubble. A backward ‘L13’. He was part of the second batch of people, so he watched the procedure unfold.

So far, it was no different to a regular auction.

People lifted up their cards, the price went higher, and— “Sold! To number 56! Thank you for your purchase!”

—you were easily bought.

Rose’s only question was, why did they have to wear masks? The stadium was surrounded with large and towering doric columns. Sea creatures would pass by in the background yet strangely, none entered the vicinity. As if they knew. Then again, when Rose squinted his eyes, said creatures were actually—

“Diplorodons?” He whispered in shock. There were many of them, swimming about and not minding the merfolks. What he thought was extinct, thank you discovery channel, was actually still existing and very much thriving.

One thing was certain in Rose’s mind, as it was now his batch’s turn—there was no escape.

——

“Sold! To number 3! Thank you for your purchase!”

Rose looked to the merman who just bought him. These people varied in appearances. Some looked like sea animals: fish, octopus, squids—even clams! Yet others were exactly like the myths. Half human, half fish. A couple were like humanoid sea creatures; a scaly body with fish head for one. So bizarre but Rose didn’t really have an expectation of what the majority of merfolks would look like. So he was just amazed.

His buyer happened to be a half-human, half-fish seated at the ... floating box? But with a tail than the bipedal ones earlier. It was hard to describe how it defied physics but hey, if magic exists, anything was possible. So all Rose could say was that it was floating high up. Is it some VIP seats?

The merman had short bobbed brunet hair that floated about, and was half naked ... Well, they were wearing some uh, armour? A right shoulder metal pad with a strap connecting diagonally across their rib. Coupled with gold wrist guards and belt.

Can Rose just say he was confused, aroused, and didn’t mind? That was a six-pack right there! But, why did mermen even need a six-pack? So many questions!

It was left unanswered as Rose’s batch were brought to another room in order to continue the auction for the next session.

He could only wait until it was over.

——

AN: my mermaid AU redemption

#Rosella Sans #Arial Narrow #mermaid au #short scene stories

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rwby-redux · 5 years ago

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Deconstruction

Worldbuilding: Overview

If you were to ask me what my main reason is for running this blog, that answer would probably be worldbuilding. If it wasn’t apparent from the table of contents, I have a lot to say on this topic, so let’s not waste any time.

To give you some context, the very first book that was ever read to me as a kid was The Fellowship of the Ring, so you can imagine where I might’ve gotten that enthusiasm from. From my childhood onward, I was enthralled by the craft of building living, breathing worlds; of designing places and people so detailed, so immersive, that until you lift your head out from under the waters, it’s easy to forget that they’re not real. To roll with the analogy, worldbuilding is a coral reef you glimpse through a glass-bottom boat—a place of beauty and curiosity, a place that for all its haunting familiarity, isn’t your world. And yet, as you stare into the abyss, watching the light catch on the frills and fronds of coral, at the sleek and mesmerizing living kaleidoscope of shoaling fish, you long to leave the boat and slip beneath the surface.

Worldbuilding, at its heart, is the art of creating a world that we can never originate from, and yet want to belong to on some level—tourists, who stay long enough to fall in love with a foreign place, until we must eventually pack our bags and return home; until we have but souvenirs and photographs to remind us of the people we met, and lessons we learned, during our many travels.

But if elaborate metaphors aren’t your thing, here’s a technical definition:

Worldbuilding is the construction a fictional world, usually with the purpose of supporting an intended story or characters who belong to that setting. Many constructed worlds (or conworlds for short) range in detail and depth, with histories, geographies, ecologies, societies, cultures, biodiversity, and scientific laws (such as magic systems, or fictional periodic elements). Some creators even go so far as to construct entire languages for the worlds their characters inhabit.

Worldbuilding is the skeleton, or scaffold, upon which your story rests. It provides a supporting structure for your world by grounding it in a believable reality. Contrary to popular belief, worldbuilding doesn’t exist exclusively as an outlet for justifying the gimmick of your story (like wanting to create a fantasy setting to justify the inclusion of elves and dwarves). You could have a story that’s just Earth in an alternate timeline and you’d still need to include at least several hours’ worth of worldbuilding, for one very important reason—stories don’t exist in a vacuum.

To quote a passage from Seven Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding, by Charlie Jane Anders:

If your pitch is, "It's just like our world, except everybody can turn invisible at will," then you've already failed. Because if everybody could turn invisible at will, it wouldn't be anything like our world. Especially if this power had been around for more than a few months. Whether you're creating an alternate history or a secondary world or a far future, any technology or power you introduce is going to have far-reaching effects — not just first-order effects, but second- and third-order effects, too. Going with the "invisibility" example, you'd have people using it to spy on each other — but you'd also have a huge boom in heat sensors. We'd start redefining the whole concept of privacy, and pop culture would be massively transformed. There would be whole art forms based around invisible performers, and it might be legal to shoot an invisible intruder on sight (on smell?). You could be here for hours imagining all the ways that the universal power of invisibility would change the world, and you'd probably still just be scratching the surface. [1]

So not only is worldbuilding potentially fun because of the creative opportunity at play, but it’s necessary, and I think this pretty aptly explains why. If a writer takes their time in creating that backstory, the quality of their work tends to stand out. If you want great examples of worldbuilding done right, look no further than J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or Michael DiMartino’s and Bryan Konietzko’s Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra. There’s a reason why The Hobbit was published in 1937 and we’re still talking about it almost a century later. There’s a reason why A:TLA is widely-acclaimed as one of the greatest animated works of the twenty-first century. You could argue that Tolkien set the precedent for fantastical worldbuilding, which is why he’s often regarded as the father of the fantasy genre. Fun fact: the LOTR legendarium was actually designed after he wrote his numerous languages (and I do mean numerous). Similarly, A:TLA is often said to have set the benchmark for what defines not just good worldbuilding, but excellent worldbuilding. A:TLA’s setting is rife with cultures, politics, and geography that informed how the story unfolded. Never mind the simple yet comprehensive magic system with its well-implemented limitations and constraints, which didn’t hinder the narrative or plot.

But I’m getting off-topic. How does this all relate to RWBY?

Let’s go back to that quote I mentioned earlier. In RWBY, characters have the ability to unlock Aura, and by extension, discover their Semblance (a magical superpower unique to the individual, which consists of a single, vaguely-defined skill). Semblances are useful for fighting off Grimm, but as the show has repeatedly shown us, these skills can be weaponized against humans and Faunus.

So how does RWBY’s worldbuilding address this in-world problem?

Simple: it doesn’t.

Neither the show nor its creators have ever established how Semblances are regulated (if they even are at all). In a world where people can develop the power to turn invisible, cast mass illusions, telekinetically move objects, create tangible clones, summon the shades of fallen Grimm to act as thralls, and run at superspeed, how does the general public ensure that Huntsmen aren’t turned into living weapons? What happens when trained Huntsmen go rogue (like Raven Branwen), and use their powers and fighting skills to aid bandit tribes? Are there technologies like infrared security cameras that can scan a person’s Aura and detect whether or not they’ve unlocked their Semblance? Would technologies like that be controversial because they infringe upon a person’s boundaries? In a world where Auras are manifestations of the soul (therefore making souls more analogous to organ systems than metaphysical/philosophical constructs), would that be considered an invasion of privacy? Do Huntsman need to have a background in law enforcement like a police officer in order to legally arrest someone? Is four years at a Huntsman Academy enough time to learn the ins and outs of all four kingdoms’ legal systems?

What about outside the kingdoms? If settlements like Kuroyuri eventually intended to gain autonomy and become a recognized self-governing kingdom, does that mean the laws of Mistral don’t apply to it? Are Huntsmen’s authority legally recognized in all of the kingdoms equally? What about non-kingdom nations like Menagerie, which doesn’t have a Council or Huntsman Academy? Are Huntsmen forbidden from operating there? If a Huntsman licensed in Vale commits a crime in Vacuo, which kingdom do they answer to? Do all of the academies maintain a registry of active Huntsmen that includes what their Semblance is? Would a list like that be available to the public upon request? If a person with a Semblance has a criminal record, are they legally required to disclose what their Semblance is when applying for a job (especially if they used their Semblance to commit the crime)?

RWBY answers none of these questions. And to give you some context, all of these hypothetical scenarios I just pitched? I came up with all of them in less than thirty minutes. In a brainstorming session. With one other person.

And these are all questions that pertain to just one of RWBY’s core worldbuilding elements. We haven’t even touched on the issues with Dust or Grimm.

At the end of the day, my issue isn’t that RWBY has a weird magic system—my issue is that RWBY hasn’t taken the time to explain the rules of that magic system, and how those rules affect the world that the show inhabits. Questions like these can seem tedious and time-consuming for writers to have to think about, but the payoff is undeniable. Because then you won’t have pedants like me going over the franchise with a steel comb, trying to figure out how the hell RWBY’s script managed to get past Rooster Teeth’s staff without a single person raising their hand and asking, “Hey, don’t you think we should fix that?”

With the right attitude and the right amount of research, a writer can make their audience believe anything. BioWare’s research into physics and chemistry made Element Zero in Mass Effect believable. (Seriously, read the Codex. The devs did their homework.) Bethesda’s research into virology, radiation, and atomic weapons made Fallout’s post-apocalyptic wasteland believable.

This is why good worldbuilding matters. With it, your story is immersive, and allows the audience to suspend their disbelief. Without it, your audience becomes aware of inconsistencies, and it makes it difficult to have any real investment in the stakes of your story when rules can change on the fly. This is a theme we’ll be revisiting time and time again, so keep that in mind.

Here seems like a good place to stop, as we’re now 1,600 words in and I haven’t even scratched the surface. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, and thanks for bearing with me.

Glad we got that out of the way. Now let’s move on to our first topic.

[1] Anders, Charlie Jane. “7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding.” Online article. Gizmodo. August 02, 2013. [https://io9.gizmodo.com/7-deadly-sins-of-worldbuilding-998817537]

#deconstruction #writing #worldbuilding

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lovemesomesurveys · 6 years ago

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do you have a lot of barbecues during the summer? My dad used to all the time when I was a kid, but he’s not into it anymore for some reason. My fam just uses this little kitchen Cuisinart Griddler and a cast iron skillet for stuff like burgers and steaks. Oh, and my dad has a hot dog broiler/roller thing lol. do you plan on going to the movies soon? to see what? My mom and I want to see It Chapter 2 again. do you tie your shoes or just tuck in the laces? I tie them. What is one present you got for your last birthday? A Nintendo Switch with a couple games and a case, some Adidas clothes/shoes/socks/fanny pack/mini backpack, and a weekend getaway. What is one thing that you took to show and tell as a kid? I really don’t remember.

Do you remember losing your first tooth? Yeah. I was eating an apple, ha. In the summer would u rather have the windows down or the AC on in the car? AC for sure. Having the windows down does nothing for me cause the air blowing in is just hot air. are you itchy anywhere right now? No. Have you ever thrown anything at a moving car? Uh, no. Have you ever been addicted to a game? What game? I go through spurts where I’m obsessed with The Sims. What song makes you laugh when you hear it? Uhh. do you believe in “the one”? I actually thought I found a potential “one” in Ty. Or at least something serious and long-term. Silly me. Do you like maple cookies? I’ve never had one, but I’ve seen them and they look/sound delicious. I love maple donuts, so I imagine I’d love a maple cookie. Have you ever volunteered anywhere? where? Yeah, various places. are you afraid to pop a balloon? I do get a little nervous in anticipation of the POP! Name one person you’d like to see this month. I’ll be seeing one of my aunts that I’m close to soon. How high do you put the volume while using headphones? When listening to ASMR I turn it up all the way, but something else maybe half way or so. When was the last time you laughed when you shouldn’t have? I don’t know. What would be the worst possible way to be woken up? I don’t enjoy being woken up ever so if someone does they better have a good reason and some coffee, ha. which was better: lion king 1 or lion king 2? Lion King 1. Do any of your grandparents have a tattoo? No. When was the last time you had a bubble bath? Not since I was a kid. have you ever had a pet rock? No. Do you believe in marriage? I just can’t see myself ever getting married. What word do you say way too much? I know what phrase I say too much, “I don’t know.” What do you usually buy when you go to the corner store? Like a Quick Mar/gas station/liquor store type store? I just get a drink, like a Starbucks Doubleshot. I used to get chips all the time, too. are you currently cold? No. It actually feels nice right now, which is shocking. It looks overcast out right now and it’s only 72 F, which is a big drop in temp for us Californians who have been experiencing upper 90s and triple digit temps. do you believe that your pets feel love towards you? Yes. what is a creative way to paint your nails? I wouldn’t know, I suck at painting them just the basic way. I tried dabbling in nail art stuff a few years ago, but I sucked. does your computer have built in speakers or do you have some plugged in? They’re built in. bubbles or sidewalk chalk? I liked playing with chalk as a kid. What do you use to tell time when your gone out somewhere? My phone. what colour is your alarm clock? I use my phone, which is coral. what brand is your TV? Insignia. are you proud of your body? Nooope. Watermelon or Cherries? Watermelon. What is your all time favourite song? I have too many, I couldn’t pick just one. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? On TV shows and movies. Eric Northman, playing by Alexander Skarsgard, for example. That character first introduced me to Alex. What is the band you’ve listened to most lately? I don’t think there’s been one in particular. how much effort do you put into how you look? Not much at all. :/ Favourite brand of cookies? Oreos and Keeblers. what would you do if you found out your mother had killed someone? Wowwwww. That would be.....wow. I don’t even know. If you could meet anyone who lived before your time, who would it be? Lucille Ball. Do you pay for your own things? Some things, not everything. Have you ever been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance? Yes. Do you think the world is getting worse every year? I think we’re just more aware. Have you ever had a reoccurring dream? Yes, a few. Have you ever gone a day without eating? Yeah. I’ve gone days. How do YOU believe the world & universe started? I believe in God and that He created the world and everything in it. What was the topic of the last essay you wrote? I don’t remember. That was almost 5 years ago. how old were you when you discovered what sex was? I remember making my Barbies do what I thought sex was haha. Do you wish you had smaller feet? No, they’re already pretty small. Have you ever stuck gum under a desk/chair? EW NO. I hate when people do that, it’s SO disgusting. Throw it away it’s really not that hard. When shopping at a grocery store, do you return your cart or just leave it? I don’t use a cart. What is one thing you’d never want your parents to find out? They don’t know I’ve smoked weed a few times. Doesn’t sound like a big deal to most, but I don’t know I just haven’t told them. Who is the best cook in your house? My parents and brother are all good cooks. They each have their specialties. When you were little, did you like Dr. Suess books? Yeah. Do you have a ‘prized possession’? My laptop. Have you ever felt trapped in a relationship? I’ve felt that way in some friendships. How many dryer sheets do you put in a load of laundry? I don’t do the laundry. Recommend a good book to me. I don’t know what you like. What would you consider unforgivable? Someone murdering someone I love. When you hear someone talking about lice, does your head start itching? Haha yeah. What would be a clever name for a giraffe? Lol I named my giraffe stuffed animals with G names. Like my 4ft giraffe I have is named Gigi, like GG for “giant giraffe.” lol. She’s giant in comparison to the other stuffed animals. Are there any items of jewelry you never/rarely take off? No. What’s something you like to do while you’re drunk? I don’t drink anymore. Do you think you deserve more than what you have? I don’t think I deserve anything. Would you rather give your food to a homeless shelter or money to charity? Why not both. Kiss on the neck or kiss on the cheek? Depends who the kiss is coming from. True or False: you this read wrong True. Don’t you hate when you hit your tooth on your cup trying to get a drink? Yes, or a utensil. I do that forks a lot for some reason. Which store would you choose to max out a credit card? I don’t want to max out any credit cards. I gotta pay it back, you know. Who has the loudest mouth in your house? My dog? lol. Can you understand shakespear english? Kinda, but I didn’t really enjoy Shakespeare, so I didn’t put a lot of effort into it. Do you usually buy or make your Halloween costumes? I’ve done both. Do you like eating out at restaurants? Not anymore, really. I like getting takeout to just eat at home. What was your least favorite year of your life so far? These past few years. What is the most ridiculous law you ever heard about? Hmm. I’ve read articles in the past about weird laws each state has, but I can’t think of an example right now. Is your name common? Yeah. If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get? I love having a dog. Do you like fried bologna? I’ve never had it fried, but I love bologna sandwiches. How do you act around people you dislike? I’d act civil, but I would probably be short and just keep my distance, not interacting unless I needed to. Do you like decorating rooms or would you rather have someone else do it? Someone else. I’m not creative enough. Have you ever been to Canada? No, but I’d love to go. have you spent money on a game online? Yeah. I’ve bought a few game apps and Sims games. Are you good at making small talk? Nopeee. Has someone ever taken something from you that you could never replace? Yes. Are you a fan of tattoos? I mean, sure. Are you bikini ready? I don’t wear bikinis. What do you dislike the most about being the gender that you are? Menstrual cycles were a bitch, but I don’t get them anymore.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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theonyxpath · 7 years ago

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This excerpt comes from the Introduction chapter. There’s less than a week left on the Kickstarter for TCFBTS!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Aaron Riley

You are about to land in a lonely zone of terror… on an uncharted atoll in the Pacific! You are part of The Second Scientific Expedition dispatched to this mysterious bit of Coral reef and volcanic rock. The first group has disappeared without a trace! Your job is to find out why! There have been rumors about this strange atoll… frightening rumors about happenings way out beyond the laws of nature…

— Opening Crawl, Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

There are few better ways of opening a game about science fiction, fantasy, monsters, horror, and comedy, than a quote from Attack of the Crab Monsters. The above snippet from a 1950s B-movie classic tells you so much about what this game contains. Your Director will introduce mystery, your characters will find adventure, and a communal story of daring deeds, bold feats, and heroic deaths shall unfold. In They Came from Beneath the Sea!, all these things are possible.

The stage is set at a nebulous point in the 1950s. A new Chuck Berry record swings into place on the jukebox turntable. Greasers walk in and take their seats at the diner counter. Everyone enjoys a frosty milkshake and a juicy hamburger while Big Jim, the diner owner, shakes his head at the lackadaisical attitudes of youths these days. Oh, while Roy can fix up a hotrod and charm the skirt off that plucky girl Suzie (she’ll make it as a top reporter one day, just mark Jim’s words), Jim’s just satisfied wiping down the counter and tapping his foot to the refrain from the machine in the corner. He enjoys the beat but can’t help but think of how easy these kids have got it. He was in a war just a decade ago. A war he’ll never forget. He lost friends. He lost….

And then the sheriff walks in. Diane takes her hat off and sits next to Roy, cramping the young mechanic’s style as he makes moves on Suzie. Big Jim smirks and winks at Diane, serving up her usual pot of coffee. The Saturday morning ritual goes as normal, until that kook Professor Tamborne busts in, waving papers in one hand and a fish in the other. “What the heck, Tamborne?” shouts Diane, jumping from her stool. “They’re here!” he replies, waving the eviscerated fish. “This is just a warning! They’re going to invade from beneath the sea!”

Most of the diner’s patrons laugh, but Roy and Suzie suddenly look afraid. Big Jim knows Tamborne from many years back, when they served in the same unit. And Diane? She knows a liar, and the Prof ain’t a liar.

By the time noon rolls around, all five are exploring the caves on the shoreside, discovering evidence of Tamborne’s “invaders” and looking at each other in a mix of disbelief and common cause. They have to stop whatever’s about to happen.

In short, that is the game you’re about to play. These characters are heroes, but they’re also you and me. They’re humans living in a time of geopolitical uncertainty, still reeling from the greatest war humanity has ever known. Big Jim is a Survivor, a veteran of war. Roy is an Everyman, just wanting to protect his patch of land. Suzie is a Mouth, capable of getting into any exclusive event and prying a story from any target. Diane is a G-Man, a sheriff of a small town with responsibilities to powers she does not fully understand. Tamborne is a Scientist, as prone to madness as to brilliance, in this atomic age. The characters you play in They Came from Beneath the Sea! are like Big Jim, Roy, Suzie, Diane, and the Professor, but they can be whoever you want them to be.

Is this a Comedy or a Horror Game?

There’s the crucial question. This game wouldn’t work if it was pure comedy. It is impossible to prescribe comedy to a wide audience and expect everyone to laugh at the same thing. Rather, this is a science-fiction game with comedy elements. It provides you with the tools to make things amusing for you and your group, but how often you use these tools is up to you. They Came from Beneath the Sea! is a balance of horror and farce. Some groups will make every scene a playful caper, while others will pull out the jokes at crucial junctures, like punchlines after a lengthy wind-up.

TCfBtS! contains a system device called Quips (see p. XX), which helps facilitate the humor element of the game. Characters come equipped with Quips from the point of their creation. These one-liners are to be used in dramatic situations for mechanical bonuses, as described in the Cinematics chapter. Likewise, the other Cinematics covered in that chapter all lend to the comedic feel of the game. Despite this, elements such as Quips, Directorial Control, and Tropes can be dropped if you feel they’re inappropriate for your group. TCfBtS! is a toolbox, and you can choose to use the whole set or just the big hammer, depending on the task at hand.

On the subject of comedy and horror, good Directors should ask their groups before running the game what kind of game they want to play. Test the waters, find out what works and what doesn’t. If things need scaling back or ramping up mid-game, that’s fine. Adjust to suit the group, so long as everyone is having fun!

Metagaming

In many RPGs, “metagame” is a dirty word. The concept of metagaming in the context of RPGs is applying player knowledge to a character situation. For instance, you (as a player) may know Centopus’ weakness from a previous scenario of They Came from Beneath the Sea! However, your character does not. If you (the player) use your knowledge to allow your unknowing housewife character a way out of Centopus’ maw, it can erode tension and hamstring drama, as well as making you look like a know-it-all.

Metagaming in TCfBtS! is encouraged via certain paths. The Cinematics listed in the chapter of the same name allow players to step back from their character roles and affect scenes from a directorial perspective. Replacing your character with a stuntman to achieve a better outcome on a physical challenge, fading to black on a scene to avoid a harmful combat, or revisiting a scene to achieve a better outcome, are all metagaming — a little like a cheat mode on a video game. This kind of behavior is encouraged in They Came from Beneath the Sea! as these powers are designed to further increase the fun (and farce) of the game, as well as to make it more cinematic.

You are reading and will hopefully soon be playing a rare game, in that metagaming in this way is rewarded. Just be aware that metagame actions you take as the player are not known by your character. Your character does not believe they’re the character in a B-movie, or an actor playing a character. You are a god, or at the very least a director or editor when you use powers like this. Your character will never be aware of the subtle or heavy hand you place on their shoulder when you give them a push.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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multiimuse · 7 years ago

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frost blue, burnt umber, tea orange, coral, currant, crimson, raspberry, baby blossoms, mallow, honey, new leaf, silk, atoll -- dr gang~

frost blue: does your muse enjoy the snow and cold? or are they the type to enjoy summer more?

Hajime - He’s not really a fan of the cold- it’s not that it’s physically difficult for him to take, or anything. He just prefers long, warm days to short, chilly ones. And as for snow, it’s an inconvenience that he could easily live without.

Kaede - She likes the cold, actually! Mostly because it means she can drink more hot chocolate, but snowfall is pretty and soothing and it’s nice to have an excuse to snuggle under the blankets with a book or a video game and just… stay in.

Shuichi - He’s…. pretty neutral on it, really? Cold weather lets him get away with staying in bed longer, though, so that’s a plus. Warm weather and longer days tend to perk his mood up just a little, so it’s kind of a trade-off.

burnt umber: how stable is your muse, mentally and/or emotionally?

Hajime - Overall, he’s pretty stable both mentally and emotionally! So long as he doesn’t push himself past his limits, he’s a grounded person with a lot of confidence and determination to help his friends. He’s not without his traumas or his weak points, but he can usually hold himself together pretty well — unless he’s being stubborn and ignoring it, in which case it can end up overwhelming him. Generally though? He’s pretty stable.

Kaede - She’s a teenager in every sense of the word, so she tends to be pretty emotionally erratic. She’s trying very hard to be grown-up and put together but it doesn’t always work, and sometimes the cracks show, and show in ugly ways. She wasn’t happy with who she was before she went into the game, but she’s trying to be better now, and as a result is working her way toward emotional stability one day at a time. As for mental stability, her mother is a psychologist and is making sure she gets everything she needs to minimize trauma from the game. She’s not 100% stable in either category, but she has a good basis to reach that point going forward!

Shuichi - Hahaha what is stability? This child is not okay. Send help. …More seriously, he really isn’t in that great of a place. He suffers from clinical depression and struggled with keeping his head above water before the game. If Team DR had any kind of a screening process he wouldn’t have gotten through, but the company did not and so he got in, got pushed into the protagonist role and had to deal with that. He’s… really not okay, but he’s trying to stabilize, and is very slowly starting to improve. It’s hard, but he has friends to help him, and they won’t let him fall.

tea orange: what is something that your muse is fascinated with?

Hajime - For Hajime, what really fascinates him is emotions and bonds, and the way people can affect one another (can affect him) through both of these. After spending a few years without either, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be bored of simply feeling again. Besides this, he’s also still easily fascinated by things he can’t predict, and can lose track of what’s going on around him when he finds one such thing until he’s deciphered its mystery and worked it out. … Usually this doesn’t take long, but there has been at least one situation where he’s been contently staring at what looks like nothing for upwards of ten minutes.

Kaede - It’s kind of funny, given what she became in the game, but Kaede’s always been fascinated by music. Not classical music, really, but things like vocaloids and mixing technology, and she’s absolutely considered trying her hand at a few covers of her favorite songs. There’s just something about the way everything comes together, the way each little bit contributes to making a great piece. It’s neat!

Shuichi - Books, mostly! He adores fiction of all kinds, but especially mysteries, and he can spend hours curled up with a stack of books without realizing that time’s passing. He’s very well-read for a kid his age, and tends to spend most of his free time with his nose in a book. He also likes puzzles, especially number and logic puzzles - he doesn’t always have the mental energy for them, but he’ll never turn down the chance to try and solve one.

coral: what is your muse’s romantic and sexual orientations?

Hajime - Grey-asexual // Biromantic

Kaede - Pansexual // Panromantic

Shuichi - Bisexual // Biromantic

currant: what’s something that absolutely disgusts your muse (can be a person, place, thing, ect)?

Hajime - … Junko Enoshima. Her concept of despair. People that use and control others, taking away their chance to choose their fates for themselves. And, on a much lesser scale, sakuramochi.

Kaede - People who hurt kids, people who turn a blind eye to others’ suffering, people who frame you and set you up to die because you’re a threat to their stupid toybox world—- ahem. Really, Kaede is most bothered by cruelty and indifference.

Shuichi - Meaninglessness. It sounds stupid, but he doesn’t like it when something doesn’t have a point or a purpose. When something isn’t worth bothering with because there is no reason to bother with it. He doesn’t like gossip, either, because that kind of thing does nothing but bring hurt (and… he knows he’s been the target of gossip a lot in the past, which makes him like it even less.)

crimson: how passionate is your muse about the things they love most?

Hajime - Unlike a natural Ultimate, Hajime doesn’t have that same all-consuming passion that they do. He tempers his passions with realism, but that doesn’t make him love them any less - generally his passion is controlled and constant. A steady warmth and dedication rather than flares of heat.

Kaede - She tends to get very passionate about the things she loves! Vocal and excited, eager to engage with other people and share how much she loves it - her passion is bright and intense, and is a part of why it was so easy to make her into the Ultimate Pianist. Passion itself is a natural part of her personality, the game’s programming just… gave her a specific direction for it.

Shuichi - When his energy levels let him, he can be very passionate. (See the several-thousand word character analysis he wrote about Kyoko Kirigiri and an in-depth look at each investigation in both games, both posted to a popular internet forum.) But when his depression is flaring up even getting out of bed is hard, let alone investing himself into anything. If passion is a fire, then Shuichi’s periodically gets water dumped on it.

raspberry: what food and/or drink can your muse not get enough of? do they indulge in it often, or is it something reserved for special occasions?

Hajime - Kusamochi. It’s one of the few things the Neo World Program managed to properly dig out of his head. He… also thinks he may have tasted it as Izuru and enjoyed it a little then, too? Maybe? He didn’t really pay much attention to food while he was living like that. Either way, he hasn’t had any in a long time but is pretty sure it’s still his favorite.

Kaede - Koala March cookies, especially the green tea flavored. She’ll fight you for them. She’ll fight your friends for them. She’s happy to share them, though! Just.. don’t deny her access to them, you’ll probably regret it. (She also enjoys other thigns that are green tea flavored, like ice cream and mochi and Kit-Kats. Strawberry and chocolate flavors are nice too, especially chocolate-banana, but green tea is her absolute favorite (which is… ironic, because she’s doesn’t actually like real green tea very much!)

Shuichi - Nori. Don’t judge him. He likes seaweed, and it’s easy to get and keep around to snack on. Even on bad days he can usually manage to eat that, and that’s not something you can just shove aside as silly. (He also likes salty things, but he only really likes sugar if it’s in a drink.)

baby blossoms: does your muse have a favorite scent? what is it, and why?

Hajime - This is a complicated question, actually. Hajime’s sense of smell was fine-tuned by the project, so he tends to pick out the component scents of something and gets a little overloaded by particularly strong, complicated smells. As a result he tends to like simpler, lighter smells, those that are generally faint to most people. He doesn’t have a specific favorite scent, though he’ll get… very twitchy around hospital smells. Hospital-grade chemicals and bleach tend to upset him.

Kaede - She likes floral scents, especially the scent of plum blossoms! There’s no particular reason for it, she just really likes that scent and will never, ever, ever get tired of smelling it.(Alright, it might be because she got into a bottle of plum blossom perfume when she was very tiny and, spilled it all over her pillow, making her room smell like plum blossoms for a week. She’s loved it ever since.)

Shuichi - He likes the smell of books the most - books are safe, and if he can smell them he’s usually somewhere he’s going to feel comfortable and can safely lose himself for a while. There’s just something soothing about being surrounded by so many books that you can smell the paper and the ink. (Bookstores and libraries are two of his favorite places, actually - it’s easy to tuck yourself into a corner for a few hours and read the day away.)

mallow: what sorts of things might remind your muse of those close to them? any scents, objects, sounds?

Hajime - Video game noises, clouds, the sound of a fountain, the golden light of later afternoon, toast instead of rice, getting bumped into from the side, white rabbits a game consoles, the smell of the beach and midday-warm sand. And this is just the two most important people!

Kaede - The sound of a pen on paper, business suits from the back, barely-comfortable chairs. Piano music and baseball caps, nail art and checkered scarves, Pocky and the hum of fluorescent lighting. Running footsteps, really embarrassing movie covers.

Shuichi - Aquarium bubbles, birthday cake, muffled sobbing, black ribbons. Piano music, planetariums, magic wands, exercising. Plum blossom perfume, the warmth of a hand on his, the feeling of grass under his palms, the sight of the sky at night.

honey: when your muse loves someone (whether it be romantic, platonic, or familial love), how do they show it?

Hajime - He tends to show his love by being present, by putting up with things that exasperate him or annoy him; by persistently reaching out if he senses something is wrong, and offering a shoulder to cry on or just a listening ear if that’s what’s needed. He really… he just tries to be there. That’s the most important thing he can think of for anyone.

Kaede - If Kaede cares about you she’ll make sure you know it. She tends to fuss. She’ll push and prod and nag a little if needed, making sure they’re taking care of themselves - but she’s also free with her encouragement and compliments, quick to smile and try to bring smiles, and generally try to make their lives a little brighter.

Shuichi - He’s quiet about it. Usually he tries to do little things - little acts of kindness, like giving gifts or, if he’s feeling up to it, making time for them and whatever they want to do. He’ll stand up for them if it looks like they need it, or try to find something encouraging to say if they’re not doing well. He… isn’t sure he’s very good at any of it, but he tries to show his care in whatever way he can. (He has a hard time telling people ‘no’, unless he sees it as something that’s important for him to refuse, and that doesn’t happen that often.)

new leaf: what message would your muse send to their past self, if any?

Hajime - Chiaki and Miss Yukizome are right. You’ll learn that eventually.You’re going to hurt, a lot, and life will feel very empty for even longer. But it gets better, and you’ll become someone you want to be in the end. You’ll find people who love you, too. Just… hold on until you do.

Kaede - Put that shot put ball back where you found it you absolute moron! No. Really. Rube-Goldberg machines are a bad idea and you don’t want to do that, you’ll regret it. Not just for what it does to you, but because of what it does to him.

Shuichi - It’s not cool. It’s not cool, it’s not interesting, and it’s not going to make the thoughts stop. It’s going to tear you apart over and over and over again and you won’t even know why it’s happening until it’s finished and you have to live with it all. How could you be this stupid? Just… just tell someone you’re thinking of entering. Tell them why. Let someone stop you.

silk: does your muse care about appearances much? do they spend a lot of time on their own appearance, or do they just go with the flow each day?

Hajime - Not really. He tries to keep clean, mostly, but beyond that doesn’t think about it. He keeps his hair short mostly because he didn’t bother looking after it as Izuru and woke up with it a tangled mess. He’s not doing that again.

Kaede - A little bit! She likes to look her best, but she’s not going to get all elaborate and fancy about it unless she needs to dress up. A cute outfit, a brush of her hair and a little mascara and she’s good to go.

Shuichi - … That takes energy he doesn’t have. Even his school uniforms tend to be wrinkled unless his aunt gets on his case about it. He’ll comb his hair if he’s going out or having a better day. Otherwise… why bother?

atoll: if your muse could go anywhere, without any restrictions whatsoever, where would they go? why would they go there?

Hajime - He might like to go to his old home, just to see what happened to it - to them. There’s almost no chance either of his parents are still alive, and he’s not sure what he would do if they are, not when he doesn’t really remember them apart from the fact that they weren’t happy with him. But… he’d like to know what happened, all the same.

Kaede - She wants to go to Australia. Let her go there, to see all the animals and explore the pretty mountains and swim on the Great Barrier Reef. She wants to pet a kangaroo and hug a koala. Please, somebody, let her hug a koala.

Shuichi - Maybe to an aquarium again? He’s… not really sure.The only places he wants to go don’t exist. It’s not like wishing could make Hope’s Peak Academy real, or make him anyone or anything special. …. Mostly he’d just like to be able to go somewhere and enjoy it. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as he could have fun again. Maybe somewhere with his friends?

#;hc: hajime #;hc: kaede #;hc: shuichi #strangefellows

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coralsweep · 4 years ago

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what are your favorite books and poems (if you like poetry)? your favorite authors and poets? the list can be as short or as long as you want :)

ooh i'm always down to talk about books. and i wish i read more poetry!! but i'm afraid i don't really understand it much lol. like the whole thing where poets put "/" between words in a line... i don't get it! i thought that was the notation for a new line when quoting poetry! why don't you just make it a new line then? i don't get it!!

ok ok but that being said.. i really like some of kaveh akbar's poetry, as well as hieu minh nguyen's. "a poem in which every pronoun is fire" by timi sanni is one of my favourite poems; when i read it, i thought that was such a cool idea, i'd love to do something like that someday.

(obligatory mention that i have a tag where i talk about reading stuff!! it's pretty sparse atm, i'd been making to make another rec list haha, but can be found here.)

i don't think i have a favourite author...!! but i absolutely do have favourite books. (hold up.. how do i make lists on tumblr again..)

maharani by ruskin bond; neena is such a vibrant character! i love her, and i'm so thankful to the person who recced it to me haha.

hopeful monsters by hiromi goto; it's a collection of short stories! you can see some of my favourite lines in the aforementioned tag, the author has such an incredible mind in writing description.

slaughterhouse-five by kurt vonnegut; i'll be honest, i read this ages ago. but the way the book hops between timelines and "reality" and "not-reality" and makes you question what's actually going on and the repetition of certain phrases and whatnot... i think that's brilliant. i've a bunch of his other books sitting around, but i haven't gotten around to reading them lol.

women talking by miriam toews; i also read this a while ago, though more recent than slaughterhouse-five. about two years ago, now? i'll be honest, i don't remember the prose or anything being particularly noteworthy. but i think the concept was really interesting, and imo the book did a good job doing what it set out to do.

do not say we have nothing by madeleine thien; this was recommended to me by my english teacher, actually. frankly, i think it dragged in places, but the way the author wrote about music and how it was interwoven into the story was really cool, and something i'd like to take another look at someday to analyze. i'd love to be able to set up a uhh symbol (yes, let's call it that for now) that stretches throughout a story like that.

everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by jomny sun; it's my blog quote! what can i say, it's really sweet!

how much of these hills is gold by c pam zhang; i wasn't particularly taken with the ending, but i think the beginning was super strong. and then it plays with timelines too (goes back into the past before going into the "future" wrt to the beginning), which is really effective, because you know what tragedy is going to happen, but not the specifics... ack.

i have a few others that i'm fond of, but i'll end on 8 with hungry daughters of starving mothers by alyssa wong; really, the story that got me wanting to read/write horror!

#asks answered #anonymous #c.txt #in which coral reads short fiction (and other things)#eta: if u have recs hmu!!!#forgot to add that i think.#i am always open to recs

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ask-de-writer · 5 years ago

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SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 6 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 6 of 83

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

written 2007

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from the beginning. PART 1 is here

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Kurin and her class watched the tides carefully. At the highest tides, they could get useful data to guide boats doing traditional soundings. The boats were a necessity to get the detail vital for so dangerous an area.

The task was complicated further by the seaweed mats growing everywhere and making it difficult going for the boats. The shoals were thirty to sixty feet down, most of the time.

For a reference point to base all of her measurements from Kurin chose a shoal that was easily seen at all tides by the violently swirling currents that it created. Small boats were sent out to take soundings, their positions controlled by the officers using the range finder and Kurin’s quick, precise beating of directions to the boatmen on the hailing drum.

As quickly as one boat was positioned and began its sounding, she turned the big tubular drum in its swivel to repeat the process for the next boat. Its sound carrying great distances across open water, enabled them to map a mile from the ship in all directions, a circle two miles across. The chart began to grow, as each new reef or safe channel was added, circle by overlapping circle. It took nearly a whole Wohan to finish it to Kurin’s satisfaction.

A Dragon tide could drop the sea level twenty five feet in under three hours if conditions were bad. That was not enough time for a ship to escape these reefs, as others had found before. This necessitated keeping the Longin in safe waters beyond the shoals at all times.

With the Captain’s encouragement, Kurin’s class in how the oceans spoke with the deep waves, and what they told, began to understand what she was teaching. Children and young people fared best at feeling the waves. Older people had spent a lifetime filtering out what they were now trying to feel but were often best at making and reading the charts, based on what others told them. The older folks teamed up with the younger ones made a formidable combination. Only a few of the adults, Captain Mord among them, were able to set aside a lifetime’s habit of ignoring the ship’s roll and pitch and learn to feel the sea anew.

As the two charting methods worked together, the true form of the Ship Killer began to emerge. It was a large group of nearly circular areas of coral with central lagoons filled with dangerous coral heads and other obstructions. Each ring or group of rings had wide, shallow, treacherous edges. There were safe passages and some that were trickier. At most tides, the whole complex could be sailed over with serene security. The Longin only drew twenty four feet.

At the celebration to mark the end of the charting, a copy of the new map was weighted down on a big table in the mess for all to see.

Master Juris was looking at the plot with a jaundiced eye. He was soured that his new journeyman, actually still his apprentice, had got so much attention and spent so much time away from the boat shop. As a result, he had paid as little attention as possible to the whole process. His mood was worsened by the fact, plain to see, that he had been right in the first place. It was time well spent.

He ‘accidentally’ slopped a little of his water on a note in one corner of the parchment sheet as he leaned forward to stab with his finger at a feature.

“Pulled a Silor there, didn’t you Kurin? That whole big lagoon’s not charted,” he sneered.

Before Kurin could react to such an outrage, Silor finally took his chance to even a score, even if it meant defending Kurin. “White Head, there did the right thing! If you were able to pay attention to anything at all,” he riposted, “You’d have seen the note that you slopped water on! ‘L-24 not charted — Wide Wing rookery!’ We all talked about it at meals, trying to figure a way to do that lagoon.” He grinned triumphantly and held a sounding line out to Master Juris. “Go on, you do it!”

Master Juris looked around the mess hall for support and found none. In a small voice he said, “If those Sea Hawks even thought I was a threat to their young, they’d all attack at once. I’d be ripped to shreds!”

Gently and utterly crushingly, Silor said, “I know.” He laid the sounding line on the table by Master Juris and left before anything could spoil his moment.

“Look here, Captain,” Old Sorra, one of the Longin’s most experienced fishermen, gestured at the new Cliftos Reach chart. “Here’s my notes on places where we’ve had luck before, and here’s that chart we made just a few weeks ago.”

Captain Mord opened the window of his cabin for more light, illuminating the precise navigational water-clock hung in a gimbal on the forward wall, and above it and to both sides of it the shelves of books. The Logs of the Longin occupied nearly an entire shelf. There were books of tables of the angles of all three moons and the sun, for navigation. In addition there were books full of the Laws and traditions of the Naral fleet and others besides. His bed occupied the space between the bookshelves and the window. It, like almost everything, including the ship itself, was made of glue laminated Strong Skin. The surface layers of the glue in his cabin had been tinted in light blues and greens and inlaid with expensive iridescent shell in abstract fish-like designs around the door and portholes. Fish and seabirds of shell sported along the edges of his book shelves as well.

He studied the notes and the chart together, a few minutes. He smiled the smile of one who senses a fortune near at hand. “Glue Fish,” he pronounced. We always catch them near here in the early part of the day.” He pointed at the three underwater hills near one end of their Cliftos Reach home waters.

“It appears that if we set our drag net to fish about a hundred feet or a bit deeper, we might find the Glue Fish schools where they are sheltering for the day.”

“Exactly my thought,” Sorra replied, gesturing ahead, toward the bow. “We are already making for the place, in hopes of a few Glue Fish and some those tasty little Skelt. If we drag a net deep down through there, what harm?”

Two days of sailing later, they deployed a net and adjusted the lines to pull it behind the ship, a hundred feet down. Only an hour later, it was pulled in filled with flopping riches. Glue Fish.

While the big boats were out fishing deep for the Glue Fish, smaller four and six oared boats spread nets near the floating seaweed mats to ensnare schools of Skelt. The wild paddle ducks nesting on the mats thought that concentrating the Skelt was a fine idea and promptly made a nuisance of themselves by diving into the netted fish and helping themselves.

Marad, a journeyman cook was in charge of the big solar cookers used to process the fish. The reek of boiling Glue Fish permeated the ship, but nobody minded. It was the scent of wealth.

“Hi, Marad, can I help?”

“I don’t know Kurin. Can you reach high enough to skim the cooker?”

“Sure, if I stand on something.”

I’m not comfortable with that, Kurin. The tallow is awful hot, and the sea isn’t the smoothest today. Why don’t you bring molds for me to fill from that stack? Then you put them over there to cool. When the tallow gets hard there is a big tub of water that you can quench them in. The deck-hands can take the finished blocks to the cargo handlers for stowage.”

“You’ve given her my job,” protested Gren, one of the apprentices.

“Well you can have the job, if you want it, but I thought that you and Mikka were ready to handle cookers number three and four by yourselves.”

Gren visibly swelled with pride at being given the responsibility. “I think that we can handle them,” was his answer, along with a fast check of the cookers’ alignment with the sun.

Kurin had used the time to get several molds ready. Tallow from the Glue Fish was already rising to the surface of the big cooker. Marad let it get to a thick layer before he began skimming with a wide scoop. Each scoop load went into the waiting mold until it was full. Marad was careful not to let any water flow into the molds along with the tallow. Kurin took them away to cool and quench, which freed the blocks from the molds.

The deck-hands were fetching the tallow blocks of the apprentices, but not Kurin’s. Silor told them, “Let the little show-off do some real work. She can bring her blocks to us.”

When Kurin saw that they were not coming for her blocks, she began carrying them to the deck-hands, without complaint. Captain Mord came on deck to take a sighting of Carsis, the middle sized of the three moons, and saw at a glance what was happening. He took his sighting and went below. Shortly, he came up a companion-ladder near the bow and quietly watched.

After a bit he wrote on a tallow-slate and came down the deck to Silor. Kurin could not hear the exchange, but it was short and sharp. Silor signed the tallow-Slate sulkily. As Captain Mord went back to his cabin, deck-hands began picking up her finished blocks, too.

“Mumph,” grunted Marad looking into the cookers, a measure of fish in hand, “Doesn’t look like I can fit any more fish into either of these. Kurin, drag over the spare pots and put them into their cradles. Don’t want to spill anything.”

“Sure, Marad,” returned Kurin, glad to be real help. “I thought that the pots were only half full of water when we started.”

“They were, but we’ve been adding fish steadily. As they cook down, we get tallow on top, but what on the bottom?”

“Glue,” she replied chagrined, “should have thought of it.”

Marad attached lifting tackle to the big pots. One by one he brought them over, clamped on a handle, and poured the boiling water off into the new pots. Setting the glue filled pots aside, he lifted the water pots into the focus of the reflectors and added more fish and water to make up the losses from boiling. He used the crane and handle pour the glue through a strainer, and into more molds that Kurin had waiting.

Soon a procession of glue blocks, one of the two monetary standards of all of the world of Sea, was heading to the hold for stowage.

Every so often, Marad had to clean the detritus of muscle, bone bits and skin from the strainer. He dropped the waste onto a sheet of greased cloth and let it cool and harden so that it could be thrown away.

The cycle repeated itself endlessly, and would for a week.

On that first day, Roper came by to watch. He and several of the other children were too small to help. He grabbed several of the chunks of Glue Fish waste.

Holding them, he asked Kurin, “How deep is the bottom around here? Silor says that it’s so far down that you couldn’t hit it if there was no water and you fell all day.”

She grinned, “Either Silor is pulling your leg or he’s run up on dry land. Either way, he’s wrong. It’s only about two hundred feet down, not as deep as the Longin is long, from stern to forward cargo hatch.”

“Oh, then I’ll need about two hundred fifty feet of number two cord,” said Roper scampering off with his offal.

“What was that about, I wonder?” Marad asked.

“I have no idea, but he wants to reach the bottom for something. Maybe he wants to try for flounders.”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

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#SEA DRAGON’S GIFT #Part 6 of 83 #World of Sea #Written by De Writer

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satyrykal · 7 years ago

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Sugar, Spice, and All Things Ice 3

Hey guys,

This is the third of seven entries I wrote for Gratsulu Week 2018! I am super excited. This is a collection of interconnected one-shots in an alternate canon-verse.

Story excerpt below!

Cheers,

Satyrykal - 4/17/2018

3 – Protective – Gratsulu Week 2018 Prompt “PDA”

Rated T/M.

The sun beat down relentlessly, hot and arid. A touch of humidity mixed in with the salt air, swirling in the light sea breeze. The water osculated against the white sand, froth eddying onto the shore in aquamarine waves. The ocean was crisp and clear, the blue sky meeting blue water seamlessly.

The three of them had been at the beach since after breakfast, leaving their hotel room to take advantage of the warm weather and the cerulean surf. The palm trees dotting the shore swayed in the gentle wind, in sharp contrast to the biting gusts that had haunted the streets of Magnolia only a few weeks prior. Winter was only just beginning to meld into spring in their hometown, while the coast here was already balmy and temperate.

Lucy lay on a teal towel stretched over the sand below a wide umbrella the boys had erected earlier. She lay on her stomach, the straps of her white bikini untied at the neck to prevent unwanted tan lines. The strings hung loosely on her shoulders while she kicked her long creamy legs in the air, crossing them at the ankles as she immersed herself in the book she'd packed.

She was facing the sea, large black sunglasses resting on the bridge of her nose, her hair pulled up in a messy bun – still damp from her soak in the water earlier. The novel was a recommendation from Levy, a classic written a century earlier in Crocus, detailing the lives of a huntress who she crossed into faerie lands to protect her family. As she came to the end of the chapter, she paused, blinking into the bright rays shining down on her.

Resting her chin on her folded arms, she could see her boyfriends in the water, wrestling each other down beneath the waves, grappling for leverage to see if they could dunk one another under. She smiled at their playfulness, warmth that had nothing to do with the sun toasting her from the inside out.

Last time she'd looked up, they had been racing out to the large volcanic rock past the reef, nothing more than specks on the horizon. Once they stroked back to shore, panting for air, they were already screaming about rematches. Judging by the cocky smirk on Gray's face, she had gathered he was the victor, though Natsu could be heard complaining loudly about how it was cheating for their boyfriend to have frozen him in place.

They'd ambled over to her towel, dripping wet as they demanded she act as judge, jury and executioner. Silently, she'd agreed with the fire mage about the noirette's underhanded tactics, but she refused to be pulled into the argument. It wasn't as if Natsu wasn't equally guilty. When she had been swimming with them earlier, he'd tried boiling Gray like a lobster as a joke, forgetting she was nearby and didn't have the ice mage's ability to cool herself off.

If that wasn't reason enough, her interference almost always led to one of the men pouting childishly in the corner – and both tended towards unwitting destruction when upset, like toddlers throwing a tantrum.

Luckily, she wasn't asked to referee the current wrestling match. She bit her lip, rolling it between her teeth as she snickered at their hi jinks. The dragon slayer had their partner in a headlock as he dunked him below the waves, intermittently pulling him back up by the scruff of his neck. To non-wizards this may have appeared violent, but she knew them – knew the restrained power that hummed just beneath their skin. To them, this might as well have been foreplay.

She raised a slender brow as she saw how close they were tangled and amended the statement in her mind.

It was definitely foreplay, and she estimated there was a high probability they might try to drag her in as well, but knowing they'd respect her decision and go off on their own if she dismissed them in favor of relaxing. She could still feel the slight soreness in her core from their activities the prior night. They'd been running her ragged since they'd arrived at the resort – utterly insatiable balls of energy.

*Special thanks to MorriganFae for her input on this one!*

Click to read the complete chapter on Fan Fiction ^.^

Chapter 1, 2, 3

@gratsuluweek

#satyrykal #gratsulu week 2018 #lugratsu #gratsulu #pda prompt #3 of 7 #sugar spice and all things ice #sugar spice and all things ice 3 ff #fairy tail fanfiction #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #gray fullbuster #lucy x natsu x gray #fairy tail prompts #cheers satyrykal

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hexidecimaldrms · 7 years ago

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Sweet as a Dream, Clear as a Bell

Woah, it’s thing from me! After 17,000 years! Of course, it’s Jotakak, and double of course, it’s something from my siren AU that I love and cherish with my heart and soul h a h

"Is there a particular reason you dragged me out here at 3 AM, Jojo?"

Kakyoin rubbed his eyes sleepily, feeling slightly miffed at his siren boyfriend. As much as he loved him, being practically forcefully dragged out of bed this early in the morning was simply inexcusable.

"Of course there is. I'm not that much of an ass." Jotaro scoffed, folding his arms offendedly. "I've got something important to show you. But before I do, you have to come closer."

Kakyoin, who had been sitting in his usual spot at the edge of the pier, reluctantly obliged, scooting himself to the point of almost falling into the water. Something about this didn't feel right to him.

"Perfect."

Jotaro suddenly grabbed his arm, and pulled the painter into the ocean, grinning all the while. Kakyoin gave a yelp of protest but was immediately silenced by the sea. It had stolen his breath, but not in the literal sense; rather, the scenery he was surrounded by amazed him to the point of forgetting he had to breathe in the first place. Tiny, glittering fish darted about all around him, hiding in colorful forests of coral and sea glass. One clumsily bumped into him and quickly swam off in the other direction. Kakyoin wanted to stick around for just a bit longer, but Jotaro had already begun to pull him away, swimming into the dark depths of the ocean. The pair had reached another bank of coral, and the siren gestured to it expectantly. He was saying something, but it became an intelligible mess of bubbles.

Kakyoin tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in lieu of a verbal response. The coral looked no different than what he had just seen. Jotaro rolled his eyes and forcefully pushed the painter into the forest of coral, seemingly unaware of how sharp it was. Kakyoin flailed and struggled against the siren's touch, but that only caused him to push harder. Eventually, he couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. Kakyoin prepared himself for the feeling of thousands of needle-sharp points in his back.

To his surprise, it never came. Kakyoin slipped through the coral as if it were silk sheets, and eventually came to land on what felt like hard pavement. He no longer felt like he was engulfed in water, albeit, it took for the impact to knock the air out of his lungs for him to realize that he wasn't submerged anymore. From what he could see from his vantage point on the ground, Kakyoin was surrounded by soft neon blue lighting. There was what looked to be a fountain on his left side and a pair of long legs approaching on his right. They knelt next to him almost immediately.

"Ah, shit." he heard a familiar voice say. "Nori, are you okay?"

The person extended a hand to Kakyoin, and he warily took it, unsure as to where he was. The owner of the hand pulled him into a tight embrace, and a familiar smell of saltwater and fennel rushed into his nostrils. Kakyoin couldn't help but to sigh and close his eyes. The person he valued the most was right beside him.

And that was precisely the problem.

"Wait..." he sprung back in surprise, wrapping his arms around his 'boyfriend's shoulders. "You... you are Jotaro, right?"

From what Kakyoin could see, the person whose arms he was currently wrapped in certainly looked like Jotaro, down to the curly, jet black hair. But this person had legs. Real, human legs that were capable of walking and bending and other leggy things.

"Why wouldn't I be? You're acting strange, Nori." the slightly suspicious individual said, a twinge of hurt in their voice. "Did you hit your head when you landed?"

"I... I'm fine. Just a little confused."

'Nori' wasn't a very commonplace nickname for Kakyoin; in fact, there was only one person that used it at all, and that was Jotaro. But as much as he wanted to believe that this strange man was the siren he knew and loved dearly, something in the back of his mind was practically screaming otherwise. Kakyoin sighed heavily, deciding he would ignore his instincts for once.

"So... Where are we, Jojo? This is the last thing I'd expect to see at the bottom of the ocean," he said, pulling away from the siren and gingerly standing up.

"Well... That'd be too hard to explain." Jotaro stood up next to him, slicking his hair back. "So... Take a look around for yourself."

Kakyoin paused for a moment to drink in his surroundings. They were in some sort of city, lit by hazy neon lighting that seemed to glow brighter in the rainy atmosphere. Buildings stretched into the cloudy sky for what felt like forever, and Kakyoin could just barely make out the gently shining moon tucked away behind said clouds.

"Wow..." was all he could say. The painter was completely awestruck.

"I knew you'd like it," Jotaro responded, a slight grin trained across his lips. "Are you ready to set off?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Well, we're not gonna stand here all night. I wanna show you around."

Jotaro slipped his hand into Kakyoin's, a slight flush creeping across his face. He began to wordlessly pull him along, making sure to keep his pace even so the painter could keep up.

They were further from the city than Kakyoin had first expected, and the entire time they were walking, he couldn't help but notice how attractive Jotaro was when he had legs. In fact, Kakyoin would go as far as to say his legs were attractive as well; despite his view of them being mostly blocked by the heavy black woolen coat Jotaro was wearing, he could still appreciate how regally the siren seemed to carry himself.

He was also unreasonably tall, which allowed for Kakyoin to view a different angle of his face; one that accentuated the sharp curve of his jawline and the slight taper of his nose. He elected to give a quiet smirk instead of the loving sigh that had generated in his heart. Jotaro's features were still slightly softened even from his new vantage point, and the longer he gazed at his face, the more familiar he became.

The pair reached the city in a few short minutes, and it was even prettier up close. The soft lighting had gotten slightly clearer, and Kakyoin could make out the names of various businesses that piqued his interest. Jotaro suddenly stopped and turned to him, the grin he was wearing earlier still present if only a little.

"What d'you want to do first? The night is yours, Nori," he said as offhandedly as he could, slightly failing to conceal his excitement.

"Well..." Kakyoin tapped his chin contemplatively. "I did see a bookstore that I wanted to check out if that's alright with you?"

"'S no problem. Which way is it?"

It was Kakyoin's turn to take the lead now, and his grip on Jotaro's hand was much firmer than the siren's was on his.

The bookstore was a block or so away from where they had stopped, and it was a lot larger than Kakyoin had expected. When they entered, there was seemingly no one around. The store was quiet, empty, and quite dim. Jotaro drew Kakyoin a little closer to him, bending down to whisper in his ear.

"Are you sure you wanted to go here? This place is kinda giving me the creeps."

"I'm sure it's fine. After all, it is nighttime."

The painter separated himself from Jotaro and began to stalk the shelves in a silent awe. His fingers traced the spines of quite a few books, some with titles written in languages that were almost alien. One book, in particular, caught his eye; something about a barista falling in love with a bookstore owner of few words. He leafed through it with a hum, strangely fond of this fictional couple.

"Jojo!" Kakyoin called. "Come look at this book I found!"

Jotaro came out of what seemed like nowhere, and Kakyoin proudly held the book out to him like a child at show-and-tell. The siren picked up the book and turned it over in his hands, taking a moment to thumb through it himself.

"Mm. I've never really pegged you as the type to read this sort of stuff." Jotaro said with a touch of mirth in his voice. "But if you really want it, I don't mind buying it for you."

"There's a first time for everything, Jojo." Kakyoin paused warily. "Although, you don't have to buy it for me. I can-"

"Don't worry about all that. This is a date, so let me pay for it."

He turned away with a hint of a smile and strolled towards the counter of the store. Kakyoin assumed the person behind it was the owner, but something about his demeanor struck him the wrong way.

The supposed owner was shockingly blonde and extremely pale, and three moles dotted his left ear. Orange eyes peered over small, square spectacles, striking the very depths of Kakyoin's soul. Jotaro seemed unbothered by this, and he wordlessly placed the book onto the counter.

"Hmm. Interesting choice, for someone such as yourself." the owner had a heavy, raspy voice, with a slight trace of an English accent. "Or... is this a gift for the quite... Curious young man next to you?"

"Yeah, this is a gift for my boyfriend," Jotaro replied coolly, putting a sharp emphasis on the word boyfriend. He slinked a protective arm around Kakyoin's waist, drawing him way closer than usual.

"I see. Thank you for your patronage," he replied, gently placing the book in a bag. He was wearing a ring of his own; a round, flat-faced one with the Roman numerals for twenty-one engraved onto it. He callously handed the bag to Jotaro, who simply passed it to Kakyoin without a word. He then swept him out of the store, his arm still wrapped around Kakyoin's waist tightly.

"Hmph. What a dick." Jotaro spat bitterly.

"What do you mean, Jojo...?" Kakyoin said cautiously, not wanting to make him any angrier than he already was.

"Did you not notice him flirting with you, Nori?! And right in front of me, too! He's got some balls, that's for damn sure."

"I'm sure it wasn't like that... He was probably just-"

"That was more than being friendly, Nori. Trust me. I just..."

Jotaro sighed and ruffled his hair. A sure sign of him being upset. Kakyoin, unsure of what else to do, drew him into a hug, nuzzling into his neck.

"It's okay, Jojo. You're the only person I'll ever love. And I mean that."

Kakyoin could feel Jotaro's heart quicken, his skin becoming almost unbearably warm. The siren muttered a quick 'good grief' and returned his hug, placing his chin directly on top of his head. They stood like this for a spell, until Jotaro hastily pulled away.

"S-so. There's... There's more places for us to go, so let's get going. Are you hungry?"

"Somewhat, yes."

"Good. Well, not good, but... Whatever. You know what I mean."

Jotaro held his hand out again, and Kakyoin gracefully took it, giving it a reassuring squeeze. They began to walk, chatting idly about frivolous things.

Eventually, they came to a set of stairs leading underground; its depths lit by yellowed fluorescent lights.

"We'll have to catch the subway to get to this particular place. You're okay with that, right?"

"Yes, that's fine. Although... I don't believe I've ever ridden on the subway before."

"Like you said, there's a first time for everything, right?"

They descended the stairs with a jovial air about them; however, their mood was almost completely snuffed by the desolate atmosphere of the semi-deserted station. It was overwhelmingly silent, and their voices eventually died down into whisper-quiet titters.

"I forgot how creepy it could be down here at night..." Jotaro said, placing a gentle arm around Kakyoin's shoulders. "You alright, Nori? You seem kind of freaked out."

"I'm fine, really..." Kakyoin leaned into Jotaro, drawing his arm closer. "Just cold."

The siren brought Kakyoin to his side in one fluid motion, wrapping him up in his coat for good measure.

"Is this warmer?"

The painter nodded, a subtle blush creeping across his face. Kakyoin could feel Jotaro's body heat radiating off of him with how close he was, and he couldn't help but cling to him.

"You sure you're okay? You're holding onto me kinda tightly."

"Y-yeah... It's just... I like this."

"Just making sure. The train should be coming soon, hopefully, so just sit tight, okay?"

As if summoned by Jotaro's words, the train smoothly drifted to a stop in front of them, stirring up some weathered fliers that lay at their feet. It was eerily empty, but nonetheless, they boarded it, eager to rest their tired feet.

Their ride was a short and silent one, but still enjoyable all the same. The gentle rocking of the train almost put Kakyoin to sleep a few times, but Jotaro was sure to shake him awake each time he began to nod off. After a short walk from the station, the pair came to a tiny cafe, which was warmly lit by overhead lamps.

The inside was just as warm as the outside looked, and there was a faint smell of vanilla lingering in the air. Kakyoin and Jotaro seated themselves in a booth that was just wide enough for Kakyoin to be able to comfortably rest his head on Jotaro's shoulder. The siren flushed lightly and picked up a menu in an effort to hide his flustered face.

"O-order whatever you like." Jotaro stuttered softly. "The pastries are what most people come for, but they've got some nice little snacks 'n stuff too."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kakyoin said with a smile, his eyes hungrily scanning the menu. He was more hungry than he had initially thought, and everything sounded delicious based on description alone.

He eventually decided on a nice strawberry shortcake, along with some sort of latte and a cherry flavored parfait. Jotaro, on the contrary, ordered only pudding and plain coffee. The lady who took their orders had an all too sweet smile that was complimented by plum colored eyes that had a sort of mischievous glimmer about them. Her purple hair was tied back into a high ponytail by a yellow scarf, and slightly hidden within was a headband dotted with large blue stars.

As she swayed away to put their orders in, Jotaro began to drum his fingers on the table, tapping his foot in rhythm. Kakyoin lightly placed his hand on the siren's, resisting the urge to squeeze it as best as he could.

"Is something wrong, Jojo?"

"Not really... 'M just... I wanna make sure you're having a good time, y'know? This is the first time I've ever done this kind of thing, and-"

Kakyoin placed a finger on Jotaro's lips softly, leaning in close enough to feel the heat of the blush that was slowly overtaking his face. He turned his face slightly with his other hand, staring him directly in the eye.

"I'm having a wonderful time, Jojo." the painter whispered, touching his forehead to the siren's. "Thank you. For all of this."

"I... Y-you're welcome. After this... Do you wanna go take a walk somewhere? There's a nice park, near here." Jotaro said, stumbling over his words quite a bit.

"I'd love that."

Their food came without incident, and they tucked in quietly with only the sound of clinking dishware to break up the silence. Kakyoin gently plucked the cherry off the top of his parfait, turning to Jotaro with a smile.

"Hey, Jojo. Watch this," he said, his smile only growing wider as he took the stem off the cherry.

"What, are you gonna tie the stem in a—"

Jotaro's expression gradually shifted to one of disgust, only intensifying the longer Kakyoin rolled the cherry around on his tongue. The painter laughed mirthfully at this and ate the fruit with a smirk.

"I can tie the stem in a knot, though. I'm quite dexterous with my tongue if you couldn't tell."

Jotaro angrily flushed and shoved a forkful of pudding into Kakyoin's mouth. He accepted his fate quietly, savoring the taste of the pudding for as long as he could before the siren took his fork back. They finished rather quickly after that and made sure to tip their waitress rather generously as they left the cafe.

"So, about that park you mentioned?" said Kakyoin, hooking his arm around Jotaro's.

"It's not far. Did you get enough to eat?"

"Yeah. You were right, the food there was really good!"

The siren chuckled softly, prompting Kakyoin to smile as well. It didn't take them long to get to the park, and they walked around for a while, admiring the scenery around them. Kakyoin would have killed to have his canvas and paints with him at this moment; he would have painted a gorgeous portrait of Jotaro, silhouetted by the light of one of the tall street lamps that lined the path they walked. He began to lose himself in his thoughts, working out all the details in his head. Kakyoin, in his mind, had gotten halfway through the painting before Jotaro roused him from his daydream with a few taps on the shoulder.

"Nori, you're really out of it. D'you need to sit down?" he said, an edge of concern on his voice.

"I'm okay, really," Kakyoin said as reassuringly as he could. "Although, sitting down sounds nice. My feet are killing me."

The pair sat on a nearby bench, huddling together to block out the light breeze that had kicked up. They sat like this for quite a while, soaking in each other's company quietly. Eventually, Jotaro broke the silence, his face an uncharacteristically deep pink.

"So... did you enjoy yourself? I know this was sort of sudden, and it was like, really early in the morning, but I-"

"It's okay, Jojo, really. I enjoyed myself a lot. But not just because of all the places you took me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kakyoin took this opportunity to sling his arms around Jotaro's neck, bringing him face-to-face with him. The siren's blush deepened, and he shot an embarrassed glance towards goodness knows what. He turned his face back to make eye contact, and for the first time in a long time, he noticed how gorgeous Jotaro's eyes were. They were the kind of blue that was just shy of icy and yet still not overbearingly light, which held Kakyoin's gaze completely in place.

"You're the reason why I enjoyed myself so much. It was never about the bookstore, or the cafe, or any of that. Spending time with you makes me happy, no matter how that time is spent."

"I-"

Kakyoin couldn't help himself. Jotaro's expression was too tantalizing for him to bear, and so he leaned forward to fill the space between them.

The moment their lips connected, the painter awoke with a start. He ran his hands through his hair sullenly and gazed through his window, hoping that it wasn't too early in the morning. Thankfully, the moon hadn't gotten all that far in the sky, which left him more than enough time to finish what he had started. Kakyoin slipped on a comfortable pair of shoes and a coat to cover up his pajamas, taking great care to lock the door behind him as he left. There was someone that he needed to see, and soon.

#jotakak #jotaro x kakyoin #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jotaro kujo #noriaki kakyoin #ayyyyy it's ya boi momo back with more Good Siren AU Content #i've decided to put more of my other content on this blog cuz i've been real inspired lately so i've been writing a lot more owo #so keep an eye out for some Good Shit (tm)

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xtruss · 5 years ago

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Why a Generation is Choosing to Be “Child-Free!”

Photograph: Getty / Guardian Design

The biggest contribution anyone can make to the climate crisis is not to have children. So why do we still treat parenthood as

— Sian Cain@siancain | Saturday 25 July, 2020 | Guardian USA

When I think that it won’t hurt too much, I imagine the children I will not have. Would they be more like me or my partner? Would they have inherited my thatch of hair, our terrible eyesight? Mostly, a child is so abstract to me, living with high rent, student debt, no property and no room, that the absence barely registers. But sometimes I suddenly want a daughter with the same staggering intensity my father felt when he first cradled my tiny body in his big hands. I want to feel that reassuring weight, a reminder of the persistence of life.

Then I remember the numbers. If my baby were to be born today, they would be 10 years old when a quarter of the world’s insects could be gone, when 100 million children are expected to be suffering extreme food scarcity. My child would be 23 when 99% of coral reefs are set to experience severe bleaching. They would be 30 – my age now – when 200 million climate refugees will be roaming the world, when half of all species on Earth are predicted to be extinct in the wild. They would be 80 in 2100, when parts of Australia, Africa and the United States could be uninhabitable.

We are in the middle of a mass extinction, the first caused by a single species. There are 7.8 billion of us, on a planet that scientists estimate can support 1.5 billion humans living as the average US citizen does today. And we know that the biggest contribution any individual living in affluent nations can make is to not have children. According to one study, having one fewer child prevents 58.6 tonnes of carbon emissions every year; compare that with living car-free (2.4 tonnes), avoiding a transatlantic return flight (1.6), or eating a plant-based diet (0.82). Another study said it was almost 20 times more important than any other choice an environmentally minded individual could make. Such claims have been questioned. After all, does a parent really bear the burden of their child’s emissions? Won’t our individual emissions fall as technologies and lifestyles change? Isn’t measuring our individual carbon footprint – a concept popularised by oil and gas multinational BP – giving a free pass to the handful of corporate powers responsible for almost all carbon emissions? The only thing that isn’t up for debate is that we all know that we are living in ways that can’t continue.

Some scientists call the plummeting birth rate 'jaw-dropping', but perhaps it is an understandable consequence of the existential malaise many of us feel

In the last days of March, with much of the world in lockdown, came the first predictions of “coronababies”. Nadine Dorries, the UK minister responsible for maternity services, tweeted: “How busy we are going to be, nine months from now.” At that same moment, thousands of people under 35 living in five European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – were being asked whether they planned to have children this year. An overwhelming majority (60%–80%) reported that they were either postponing or entirely abandoning the idea. But the virus, LSE academics wrote, was only part of it. The generations that are currently of childbearing age were on the brink of adulthood during the 2008 global financial crisis; a decade later, they find themselves facing another. In the US, the birth rate is at a historic 35-year low (having fallen by 20% after 2008) and is well below the “replacement level” that keeps the population steady. And these are just a few of the 183 countries, from a total of 195, that are set to see huge population crashes by 2100. Twenty-three, including Spain and Japan, may see their populations halve.

Scientists have called this “jaw-dropping”, but others see it as an understandable consequence of the deepening, existential malaise so many of us currently feel; a growing sense that accountability has been eroded, inequality is rampant, and that the profound structural changes we need to feel better about the future are out of our reach. So while governments focus on pronatalist policies, groups including Population Matters and Optimum Population Trust have reported a sharp uptick in interest in their advice, which is to only have one or two children, or none at all. More extreme groups like the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (motto: “May we live long and die out”) have entered mainstream conversation. New terms have been minted: “birthstrikers” refuse to procreate in the face of the existential threat of climate change. Antinatalists argue that bringing sentient life into the world is inherently cruel, as it is doomed to suffer; some make headlines for suing their parents over their own existence. In the darker corners of the internet, ecofascists write screeds about issuing birth licences to those they deem worthy. But the most universally applicable term now is “child-free”: those who have voluntarily decided to not have kids (and so, are not child-“less”).

Coronavirus isn’t likely to give us coronababies – but a pandemic isn’t the reason that having children has shifted from an inevitability to a choice, and now, a moral question. A long time ago, “Do we have children?” became “Should we?”

Children gather at Parliament Square, London, to protest against climate change in February 2020. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP

In A Children’s Bible, a new novel by Lydia Millet, kids are contemptuous of adults for their lack of action before the collapse of society. “It was so sudden, they said. They’d all been told there was more time. Way more. It was someone else’s fault for sure.” One of the children, Jack, finds a decaying Bible, and in it, a way of making sense of his disintegrating world. When an apocalyptic storm hits the US, the book tells him what to do: build an ark.

Few novels have attempted to tell us what to do in the face of climate catastrophe. Amitav Ghosh has called this “a crisis of imagination”. As Richard Powers writes in his 2018 novel The Overstory, “The world is failing precisely because no novel can make the contest for the world seem as compelling as the struggles between a few lost people.”

But even when the future seems like no place for a child, there is always room for them in fiction set at the end of the world: they are emotional ammunition, a reminder of bigger stakes to come. In Lauren Beukes’s upcoming Afterland, a global pandemic that kills only men has lead to a “global reprohibition”; Cole, a mother on the run with her mysteriously still-living teenage son, thinks: “When there aren’t going to be any more kids, you want to hold on to their childhood for as long as you can. There must be a German word for that. Nostalgenfreude. Kindersucht.”

Perhaps it is kindersucht we feel when we read novels like The Children of Men by PD James, Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich, or JG Ballard’s The Drowned World, in which children are conspicuous by their presence or absence. In Ballard’s 1962 novel, set in a submerged London, “the birth of a child had become a comparative rarity, and only one marriage in 10 yielded any offspring … the genealogical tree of mankind was systematically pruning itself.” In Margaret Atwood’s 1977 short story “When It Happens”, a middle-aged woman makes preparations to flee her family home due to an unnamed threat, and her gaze falls on a family photo: “The children when they were babies. She thinks of her girls now and hopes they will not have babies; it is no longer the right time for it.” In Jenny Offill’s Weather, the narrator watches her son play and recalls a past conversation with an environmentalist friend: “I asked her once what I could do, how I could get him ready. It would be good if he had some skills, she said. And of course, no children.”

Clive Owen and Claire-Hope Ashitey in Children of Men, the 2006 adaptation of PD James’ novel. Photograph: Allstar/UNIVERSAL/Sportsphoto Ltd.

Children become resigned to not having the future they should have had; in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, when the father says: “You are not the one who has to worry about everything”, his son counters, “I am the one.” And in Season Butler’s Cygnet, a teenager mopes around an island populated only by pensioners waiting out the end as their homes slowly crumble into the sea: “I think about the kids that people my age are having, or will start having soon. Life is going to be so boring for them. Not just because the world will have gone completely to shit by then and there won’t be much of anything left, but because their parents are going to talk constantly about how the world used to be.”

In the real world too, children play a leading role: think of all the kids we’ve seen skipping school to hold signs on the news, or addressing world leaders for us at UN climate summits. It is tragic and effective, and why every book about the environment right now is written by parents. Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything starts with her realisation that her toddler may never see a moose. Notes from an Apocalypse opens as Mark O’Connell sees a video of a starving polar bear and mourns for his son, who is happily watching a cartoon bear nearby. Jonathan Safran Foer’s We Are the Weather looks forward to the lives his children will inherit. In David Wallace-Wells’s The Uninhabitable Earth, he confesses to the “delusion” and “wilful blindness” involved in his decision to have his first child while writing it. And the title of James Hansen’s Storms of My Grandchildren says it all.

All these books are well argued, emotive and interesting, but it is remarkable how many of these authors suggest that having a child is a hopeful gesture, a sign of one’s investment in the future. Wallace-Wells has said having children “is a reason to fight now”. O’Connell writes that his son’s birth is a dilemma because “the last thing the world needed, after all, was more people in it, and the last thing my hitherto nonexistent person needed was to be in the world”; by the end, he has a second child, and a “radically increased stake in the future”. Klein writes that, before having her son, she “couldn’t help feeling shut out” by activists talking about their children and grandchildren, and wonders: “Was it even possible to be a real environmentalist if you didn’t have kids?” (Yes.) If you don’t, it is seen as fatalism. “Are we then expected to hasten the end, to succumb at last to the logic of oblivion, by renouncing the biological imperative?” asks O’Connell. (No.)

When asked why I do not have children, I have given various explanations over the years. 'I don't want to' is the only one that provokes a flinch

So, we continue to place our hopes in children, even the ones that don’t yet exist, to save us. Lee Edelman calls this “reproductive futurism” in his book No Future; it is that child, “the fantasmic beneficiary of every political intervention”, that people feel inspired to fight for, the one people mean when they say to women like me: “But what if your child was the one to solve climate change?”

As Sheila Heti writes in Motherhood: “I resent the spectacle of all this breeding, which I see as a turning away from the living – an insufficient love for the rest of us, we billions of orphans already living.” And as Greta Thunberg told us all last year: “You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you.”

Child-free women are often considered unnatural and cold … Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

When asked why I do not have children, I have given various explanations over the years. “It is a complex situation” is vague enough to make most interrogators look ashamed for having asked. If I say, “I am worried about the environment”, parents often tell me in hushed tones that they have wondered whether their children will be able to have children too. (In my meanest moments, I think: “Really? How hard did you think about that?” And then I feel a deep, sour sense of shame, because I have a choice in the matter and rightfully, so do they.) But “I don’t want to” is the only answer that provokes a flinch.

“Choosing to have children is neither inherently good nor selfish, and the same goes for being child-free!”

Countless studies have found that people consider child-free adults unnatural and cold. Women bear this burden particularly hard; Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon have been forced to share miscarriages and infertility; the former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard was once criticised for being “deliberately barren”. Last year, I wrote a news story about Paul Dolan’s book Happy Ever After, which contained some research about child-free people being just as happy as parents. Subsequently, complete strangers called me a “stupid bitch”, a “feminist cancer”. One Instagram account uploaded a picture of me where thousands of men discussed how unfuckable I was; more than one messaged to tell me that my mother wished I had never been born. When I read this, I thought of my mother, who had me as a teenager and could give them a brisk, pitiless history of all the people like them who treated her terribly for having had a child. (If you still don’t think this is a gendered debate, I ran into Dolan a day later, and asked him how he was coping. “What abuse?” he asked.)

Still, my generation continues desperately to hunt for things to do in the face of the greatest catastrophe some of us (or our children) may live to see. We give up meat and take holidays closer to home, even when we know that if the super-rich cut their emissions to that of the average EU citizen, global emissions would drop by a third. But we can’t make anyone else do anything, so we do what we can, and we justify our choices as being meaningful, bigger than us.

Ever since my partner and I concluded that we wanted to be child-free, I have looked to books for positive examples of fulfilling and rewarding lives lived without children. The closest I have found have been eccentric spinsters and ambivalent parents, in a long line from Doris Lessing and DH Lawrence, Barbara Pym and Rachel Cusk. There are countless mothers who find their intellectual pursuits strangled by their children and absent husbands (most recently, Fleishmann Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet).

But recently, as millennials are coming of age as both prospective parents and as authors, characters are questioning the status quo. “Fuck all those childbearers and their ‘fulfilling’ lives, never getting to have adventures like mine,” thinks the 38-year-old narrator of Melissa Broder’s The Pisces, for whom the prospect of children is “like something mildly distasteful: a piece of onion I would prefer not to put on my plate”. “Why bother having a kid when the world’s going to hell anyway?” wonders one character in Ottessa Moshfegh’s A Year of Rest and Relaxation. “Why do you want children?” the narrator of Avni Doshi’s Burnt Sugar asks her boyfriend. “He shrugs. ‘So we can be like everybody else.’” In Amina Cain’s Indelicacy, a woman objects to her husband’s expectation that they will someday have children. “Why is it necessary for everyone to think of it, as if there were no other choice?” she rages at a friend.

The climate crisis has presented an opportunity to rebrand being child-free, once the greatest taboo, into the ultimate altruistic act. At the same time, parenthood is framed as the ultimate investment in a better future. But choosing to have children is neither inherently good nor selfish, and the same goes for being child-free. We must challenge the orthodoxy that says choosing to live one way is a criticism of another. Just this week comes a new novel by Emma Gannon, Olive, which centres on a woman in her 30s who has chosen to be child-free; Gannon herself has spoken about being made to feel guilty for her choice. What we need instead is a quiet revolution, a complete reappraisal of what we deem to be a meaningful life. I, for one, will continue to turn to books, where I find reassurance in the strangest of places. In one tiny strand of The Overstory, Ray and Dorothy, a couple who have spent thousands on fertility treatments, finally decided to move on. “In place of children, then, books,” Powers writes. “Ray likes to glimpse the grand project of civilisation ascending to its still-obscure destiny. He wants only to read on, late into the night, about the rising quality of life, the steady freeing of humanity by invention, the breakout of know-how that will finally save the race.”

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