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lieutenantselnia · 10 months

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Drabblecember Day 7 - Stuck Inside

pairing: Davy Jones x Selena Finley

word count: 1 764

summary: The Flying Dutchman's ability to sail underwater has helped the crew in many precarious situations, but it is always something frightening for new crew members when they experience it for the first time. Selena is no exception, but luckily she has someone to look out for her.

tags: a bit of everyday life aboard the Dutchman, just a little bit of worldbuilding too I guess (both in terms of self-shipping and general universe lore), early relationship stage, Davy and Selena are both awkward about expressing their feelings, Maccus doing his best to be a wingman

warnings: Mentions of drowning/almost drowning I guess? I kept it pretty light and didn't really go into detail, plus it isn't an actual threat in this story, but if you're extremely terrified of the sea, being stuck underwater, or drowning just a heads-up.

author's note: First of all I'm not entirely sure whether I'm happy with this or not ahhh, on one hand I think it's cute and I'm so happy I got to explore a little bit of the universe lore too, but on the other hand I'm not sure if I always knew where I was going with this😅 For example in this particular instance I wasn't sure whether I wanted it to be set before or when they're already a couple, decided to go with the latter one eventually, but they're in kind of an early relationship stage. They feel already comfortable with showing affection or touching each other when they're alone, the issue is just that they're both shy to initiate it^^" I decided to take my own spin on this prompt since I felt this idea would be perfect for Davy, however, I might have gone a bit off track and made the set-up very long before getting to the actual point. I'm so glad I was finally able to write for Davy though, I love him but he's probably also the f/o where I'm the most self-conscious about mischaracterising or misinterpreting him and writing him in a completely wrong way, and sometimes I almost feel intimidated about approaching a story with him ._. Lastly, trying to write an accent in a language that's not your native one certainly is ... an experience.

The storm made its presence known long before it actually arrived. Dark clouds were gathering at the horizon, overshadowing the light of the day, and the air had an unsettling feeling about itself.

Selena stood at the railing, watching as the sunlight faded more and more. A slight nervousness was growing within her chest; it was the first storm she would witness while being aboard the Flying Dutchman. The first ever since that horrifying night, when the winds were furious and the waves were raging, and an unexpectedly strong surge of water just yanked her from the deck of the Diligence to pull her down into the dark, cold water. Selena was sure she would have drowned that night, hadn't the cursed ship found her and picked her up, soaking wet and freezing. The life aboard the Dutchman wasn't an easy one, but it was a life at least.

A rough push from behind snapped her back from her thoughts. She felt a clawed hand on her shoulder and turned around to find Maccus.

"C'mon. The captain wants ta keep an eye on ya when we're going down. Can't have ya get lost at sea another time, hah."

"Down?" Selena frowned as she followed him across the deck. She knew of the Dutchman's ability to dive underwater and resurface without any damage on neither ship nor crew, but in the weeks she had been here, she had never had to experience it herself. Until now.

"Would ye rather want to sail right through the storm?" Maccus turned his head to grin at her, showing multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth. "'Cause I doubt that, givin' yer seafaring skills. Trust me, it’ll be easier sailing below."

Selena scrunched her nose. She knew he was probably right, but that still didn't make her nervousness go away. "It might be better than a storm, but it doesn't sound like the most pleasant thing either. It's just something new to me, that's all."

"That's why the captain 'imself is gonna have a watch over ye", Maccus said in a smug voice. He gestured Selena to follow him, leading her to the captain's quarters. Other crew members were running across the deck, even though the Dutchman didn't need a lot of preparation before going below the surface, they wanted to be sure that nothing would go wrong.

Davy Jones opened the door to his quarters upon Maccus’ knocking, his gaze darting between the hammerhead shark and Selena.

"I brought ya the lassie. Figured she better not be on the open deck during her first dive."

The captain's gaze softened in a barely noticeable way, and he stepped aside to let Selena in, before turning his attention to Maccus again. "Order tah men ta start going down. They shall not veer off th' course, sail straight away undah tha storm."

"Aye, cap'n!" Maccus returned to the way he came from, and Selena could just hear him start to yell orders before Davy closed the cabin door.

"Is the first dive frightening?", she asked. Davy seemed to think for a moment before he responded. "Tha new sailors always dread it. It certainly be an … unsettling experience for those once mortals. Many of them say it feels unusual or unpleasant, but most of them adjust in a short time. I’ve been doin’ it fer so long, I … cannae remember what it was like in tha beginning."

His eyes became a little clouded as the memory seemed to pain him. Selena didn’t say a word, but reached out to gently take Davy’s right hand, squeezing it lightly. His tentacle-like index finger responded immediately to the action, wrapping around her hand as if it wanted to make sure she didn’t let go. Davy gave her a thankful look, before leading her to one of the windows. His beard tentacles were writhing calmly around his shoulders, and his whole demeanour had softened slightly, like every time they were alone.

"Yah might feel like ye're drowning when we’re going underwater, but it will pass, alright? Ye're bound ta the Dutchman now. She will not be leavin' ya behind."” His gaze became a little more tender, and he leaned a little closer. “I will not be leavin’ ya behind”, he muttered.

All of a sudden, Selena felt a slight jolt going through the hull of the ship, before the floor underneath her feet started to tilt. Instinctively she grabbed Davy’s sleeve with her free hand, while holding onto him a little tighter with the other one. He pulled her closer towards him, just enough so he could wrap his crab claw around her back, securing her where she was standing so she wouldn’t fall over on the uneven ground.

“Maccus must’ve given the signal.” Selena was a little annoyed about how nervous she sounded. But even though Davy assured her that she would be able to get through the dive like every other crew member, the thought of experiencing another time what it felt like to almost drown made her stomach turn, and she took a deep breath to calm the feeling. She felt how Davy started to rub her hand with his thumb in a soothing motion.

“We will stay inside here for this time. It be calmer and there are less things for ya ta worry about than on tha open deck. I think Maccus made a fine decision there.”

“Maccus?” Selena tilted her head. “So he didn’t bring me here on your command?”

Davy shook his head slightly, and a little snort, almost like a chuckle, escaped him. “Nay, he didn’t. But he seems ta keep an eye on ya. He be a proper first mate.”

In the meantime, water had started to seep in, coming through every opening in the ship’s hull and filling up the insides. It was already washing around their feet, and the level rose quickly. On top of everything, Selena also felt a biting cold creeping up her ankles now, and pressed herself closer to Davy.

“It will be alright, Selena.” His gaze caught hers, bright blue eyes captivating her. “Remember, ya will survive this. Even when we’re underwater, breathe. Ye’re bound ta the Dutchman now, and bound ta the sea.”

The water had already risen to Selena’s knees now, and it couldn’t be stopped in its way. She flinched as the cold waves reached her stomach, then her chest, her chin. A few moments later, she and Davy were both completely underwater, the entire room was filled. The Flying Dutchman had completely submerged beneath the stormy sea.

Selena had instinctively closed her eyes and pressed her face into Davy’s beard when it happened. She stayed in this position until she felt something soft gently caressing her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes again, finding that it was one of Davy’s beard tentacles. He looked at her with a tender gaze, his arms wrapped around her a little tighter now.

The first thing that Selena noticed about their surroundings was how clear she could see everything. She remembered how she tried to “dive” in her bathtub as a child, and how blurry it had always been, but this now felt only marginally worse compared to her eyesight above the surface. Apparently, this was one of the positive effects of being bound to a cursed ship. She could see the details on the wooden planks that the ship was made of, and the small barnacles on Davy’s clothes. The captain himself offered an unexpectedly amusing sight in this situation. Unlike usually, his tentacles were not pulled down by gravity now, and were floating more freely, although he seemed to control them enough that they weren’t going all over the place but kept their beard-like shape. He even had used two of them to keep his hat in place.

She had initially held in her breath, as this was an instinct that was hard to suppress, but now Selena felt her chest getting tighter. Davy seemed to notice that she began to struggle, he let go of her with his right hand and brought it to her cheek instead, brushing over her lips with his thumb as if to encourage her to take a breath. Hesitantly, Selena let go of the last bits of air in her lungs, before she had no other choice than to suck in the water that was the only thing surrounding her.

The first breath was unpleasant, even painful, like something heavy pressing on her chest from both in- and outside, along with a burning sensation as her body took in the water where air should belong. Selena contorted her face, but after a few moments, the feeling started to fade again. She tried to take a few more deep breaths, adjusting to this new feeling, and to her relief it seemed that Davy and Maccus told her the truth and it was merely a matter of getting used to it.

When she looked up to Davy again, Selena received the honour of witnessing one of his rare genuine smiles. She couldn’t help to note how natural he looked in this environment, as if he belonged here. She opened her mouth, attempting to saying something, but only a string of barely understandable sounds came out. Davy’s smile turned into more of a grin, and he shook his head, as if to tell her, ‘No talking’. Instead, he leaned forwards to wrap his arms around her and pull her into him, resting his cheek against her forehead. She could feel that he was proud of her, as well as relieved that she took the whole experience so well.

Selena felt how some of Davy’s tentacles started to play with her hair - it was something they seemed to attempt at every opportunity given, whether Davy wanted it or not -, and now she felt a smile forming on her own lips as well. She lifted a hand, caressing a few of them with her fingers, and shifted her body a little to make herself more comfortable in Davy’s embrace. She didn’t know how long the Dutchman intended to stay underwater, or how long it would take to leave the storm behind them, but for now, Selena felt calm and content, far more than she would have expected before all this. She looked out the window, into the vast sea that was far quieter than what she was used to from it, and something that Davy said came up in her mind again, putting a tender smile on her lips. ‘I will not be leavin’ ya behind.’

~~~

end note: I just want to quickly mention that the whole "the Dutchman crew can breathe underwater" thing was not something I came up with. I in fact I once even read a somewhat similar scene in an ancient Davy x oc fanfic here on livejournal (The Isa Chronicles by cazcatharsis in case the link doesn't work, I'm not sure anymore in which chapter though and this website kind of of hell to navigate). I was a bit worried about copying too much, however I dare to say the the general idea is not something that can be copyrighted by a single person, I'm pretty sure there were and are discussions and different headcanons about how the crew is dealing with going underwater. It seems reasonable that their bodies have to adjust in some way, so they would be able to either hold their breath for a much longer time than regular humans or just straight up breathe underwater. As most of them are inspired by fish rather than for example whales, I decided to go with the second option. I'm not sure if I will stick with anything just like I wrote it here, as this whole story is continuously developing and just in its starting phase. I tried to also generally adapt the situation to the context of my storyline, so I figure it shouldn't be an issue?

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agentnico · 1 day

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The Substance (2024) review

Right, so that was one of the most disgusting films I’ve ever seen. Like I’ll never eat shrimp again, just saying.

Plot: Elisabeth Sparkle, renowned for an aerobics show, faces a devastating blow on her 50th birthday as her boss fires her. Amid her distress, a laboratory offers her a substance which promises to transform her into an enhanced version of herself.

It’s fair to say that 2024 hasn’t been a particularly memorable year for films thus far. In fact outside of Dune I haven’t been truly amazed by any of the releases, and as such have been diving deeper into discovering older movies, mainly through boutique labels like The Criterion Collection, BFI and Indicator. Which don't get me wrong has been wonderful, but I’ve missed seeing decent films at the cinema. However we’re now in the fall movie season which is when all the indie fare that has finished their film festival circuit run now get released to us the regular audience, as well as films that are fighting for a chance to contend at the upcoming award ceremonies. So fingers crossed these last few months redeem 2024, and if The Substance is anything to go by then I thinks movies may truly be back!

The Substance is the type of movie that is made to shock and unsettle an audience. There’s a lot of disturbing imagery, with blood and gore and body horror, very reminiscent of horror films of David Cronenberg like The Fly and Naked Lunch. The final 30 minutes especially are so fun to watch with a crowd of people in a packed theatre, as it’s a kind of visceral and grotesque experience that is at the same time disgusting, horrible yet funny. Let’s not even sugarcoat it - the final 30 minutes are so f-ed up and it was a thrill to experience that with an audience, hearing the gasps and squirms from fellow moviegoers. Definitely up there as one of my favourite cinema trips.

Demi Moore is fantastic here, giving a truly brave performance that carries a lot of commentary in itself. She ends up doing a lot of the emotional work through her eyes, especially to the end of the film, and I must say I can’t recall seeing a performance from her as powerful and memorable as this. She really throws herself into the extremism of this movie, however it is one of the quieter scenes where she really delivers, where her character is getting ready to go on a date but can’t leave the house because of how ashamed she is of her ageing body. It is in this moment where I felt an earnestness that really struck a chord, and a welcome one, as overall this is a pretty campy horror comedy. I say comedy as this movie is really funny, even in the more horrific parts, as the film is aware of its ridiculous premise and satirises the idea of beauty and fame. Oh, and the presence of an over the top Dennis Quaid only added to the parody nature of it all, even though I have read that Quaid’s role was originally meant for Ray Liotta before his unfortunate passing, which makes me wonder of what could have been. Margaret Qualley rounds up the cast as “perfect version” of Moore’s character, and she did fine, though her role was primarily to be eye candy, so I’m reality could have been played by anyone.

We need to also discuss the sound design - it’s impeccable! You hear every crunch, breath and slimy move, so much so that I’m certain this movie would be the biggest turn on for fans of ASMR. The soundtrack too is full of heart-pumping beats, and overall it felt like the director wanted you to FEEL every part of the movie as if you were partaking in the substance yourself.

The Substance is a wonderful and absurd time at the movies, and as long as you’re not too squeamish you’ll have a grand time. Just make sure not to eat anything beforehand, especially not shrimp. Like genuinely I’ve now witnessed some of the most obnoxious chewing ever! Thanks Dennis Quaid!

Overall score: 8/10

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