#god Marvin is a little too much like me

[witlesswitnesstm]

Marvin trilogy posting again

I noticed a difference between the In Trousers 1979 version of Another Sleepless Night and the 1985 version.

1979 version: “I know this girl. I call her my wife. She is my wife. She is my thorn in the bushes. No happy endings and no fuss. What a girl, what a saint, what a wife ain't is my wife. So I sleep in a bed too big for one person. I'm big for one person. But this bed is bigger than both of us...”

1985 version: “He never stops, this Whizzer Brown. I need my sleep. Five times a night, he’ll request it; I wanna rest it. (It will keep.) All he wants - what he wants, is a body that won't fuss. So we sleep in a bed too big for two people. It's big for two people but this bed is bigger than both of us.”

The 1979 version implies that Marvin is alone in bed, and so he reminisces on his relationship with his wife. The line “I'm big for one person. But this bed is bigger than both of us” refers to the fact that both him and Trina were out of their depths when they got together, but still Marvin feels alone. He misses having someone with him, even if he wasn’t attracted to them.

In the 1985 version, he is completely caught up in the passion that Whizzer provides in his life. He’s fulfilled but it’s taxing having to keep up with Whizzer’s needs. I always interpreted the line “So we sleep in a bed too big for two people. It's big for two people but this bed is bigger than both of us” as sex being the defining characteristic of their relationship. And later lines in the song reveal that Marvin believes this should make him happy, but it doesn’t. He still feels alone, despite getting what he thought he wanted.

I think that both of these interpretations really add to the lyric “Marvin always gets the things he wants, except the things he wants” Marvin has contradictory wants by nature, and it’s a huge part of his character development to realize what *specifically* he wants (ie. “I want it all” to “I never wanted, I wanted- I never, never, never, never, never, never wanted to love you!” to All I want is you”)

[freakartack]

what made orbulon one of your favorite characters?

Oh my god LOL thats a crazy question. Not because it is crazy to ask, but because it is crazy to answer. I guess i should break this down point by point

Due to my various neurological idiosyncrasies, I have a brain chunk that is specifically dedicated to fucked up little cartoon aliens. I own a frankly embarrassing amount of Marvin the Martian memorabilia and also several collectible items of the cereal called Quisp, which was discontinued in the 1970s*, because it has a little cartoon alien on it. (*it came back on-and-off later and the last time it was discontinued was actually the end of last year, which was very sad for me, the sole Quisp enjoyer in the world.) And yes i am just as insane and anal-retentive about these cartoon aliens as The Big Man Himself. So that was the hook

THEN, I realized that orbulon is not just the typical freaky little megalomaniac alien, but a DEEPLY INSECURE and SURPRISINGLY INTROSPECTIVE freaky little megalomaniac alien. This is important to me for the same reason that I am a fan of the Muppets. His endless internal struggle to not be seen as stupid on a planet full of ants is very compelling to me

Continuing that thought, the fact that despite his dubious motivations he is genuinely enamored with the beauty of both Earth and space really rounds out his character. Not only is he trying his best to connect with the creatures of the Earth after one thousand years of being here and not doing that, but one of his favorite ways to do so is to bring people onto his spaceship and show them the wonders of the cosmos. And I love it every time because on earth he is just a weird thing but when he takes them in his spaceship they are amazed and speechless at the beauty of space...it is like he is letting them into his world, and they can finally see and understand what he sees. Effervescent

Also, the fact that he is so god damn old leads to a lot of fun story opportunities (like it being possible for him to meet the four heroes from ttyd) but also opens the door for some extremely poignant and heart wrenching implications, summed up very subtly by one of my favorite Orbulon quotes:

5. On a similar note, the fact that Orbulon plays it fast and loose with the "alien traits" he has makes it EXTREMELY fun for the biology freak in me to go wild with the speculations. I won't go into it too much here because i've already covered this extensively but just know that this is a very big bullet point.

6. The fact that his luck is constantly in the shitter is very relatable. I like orbulon because things are always happening to him

7. I would be remiss to make a list like this without including his gender. The fact that he shapeshifts so freely for the purposes of both self-expression and disguise is very genderish indeed

8. He's just got a kickass design. The shades that are evocative of both the glassy eyes of a stereotypical grey alien and Men in Black, the amphibian proportions, the awesome wardrobe. The bowling pin head is both inexplicable but also feels effortlessly natural. He's truly got it all. Similarly, the fact that he is a space alien that crash lands onto earth simply because he is shit at driving is such a funny and seemingly obvious direction to take this kind of character, and yet he's the only one I've really seen cash in on that. I like orbulon because things are always happening to him pt. 2

9. We have the same music taste

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Was Qubo actually coming back?

So I heard a rumor that's been going around that The Qubo Channel, an American children's tv channel that ran from 2007-2021, was coming back in 2023 and this idiot fan did everything they could to make it seem real, videos and everything but it all turned out to be fake. They said that the company E Scripps announced it but they never did and this random person made an entire wiki page of it too. Qubo is officially never coming back, although I hope someone will have a solution or come up with a replacement kids channel. It's sad that kids have nothing that genuinely teaches them good lessons, besides Bluey. Don't get me wrong, I love Bluey, Bluey's awesome but it's like the only thing that kids can watch nowadays that's good for them. In my opinion, you need MORE THAN ONE SHOW! You don't have to have as many shows as I did growing up, but you can't only just have one show either.

I'll admit I was more of a tv kid, but I grew up in a small, dumpy town in Pennsylvania and I had no siblings or kids in the neighborhood to play with. I also never really had close friends at school who I got to hang out with outside of school, because school days lasted long and we were private people. When I got home, I'd most likely draw, watch tv, or take a nap. I did spend time outside but not in the autumn and winter as much because I hated cold, especially when I got older. I did watch a lot more tv than most kids did but it wasn't an unhealthy amount. I also wasn't really a Disney movie kid as much either. Disney channel? Yes, but I didn't really watch much of their animated movies growing up, especially not the older ones that everyone else grew up with. I had older parents and also was raised by my grandma, and no siblings so it's not like we had family movies nights like some families. Being an only child, I was basically the boss of the tv and my mom grew up playing outside and not much of a tv kid, so she just let me watch the kids shows that were playing on tv. Just to clear things up, I was born in November of 2002 and my mom gave birth to me when she was 42 years old, so a lot of stuff from her time wasn't really meant for kids. So yeah, I mostly just grew up watching tv channels. I was lucky enough to have Qubo, Sprout and the Nickelodeon and Disney channels. Lucky for me, I didn't watch much Cartoon Network, which in my opinion was kind of a good thing because a lot of stuff back then was inappropriate. Thank God I had more relaxing and... less unhinged shows to watch on channels like Sprout and Qubo. I know Qubo had its fair share of weird shows like Grossology and Being Ian, but most of the Qubo shows were good. In fact, some of my favorite shows ever came from Qubo!

Let's have a little talk about a well known Canadian show that was based off a book series, called "Scaredy Squirrel". If you were in Canada, you probably watched Scaredy Squirrel on YTV or Treehouse, but us Americans watched it on Cartoon Network, Disney X.D or Qubo. I was the kid who watched it on Qubo because I ignored the Cartoon Network channel growing up and I think around 2013 was when I started to hate Disney so... yeah. I became a fan of Scaredy Squirrel through Qubo and that show means so much to me. Another show that means a lot to me is called "Marvin the tap-dancing Horse" which originally aired on PBS kids for like 2 years, as part of a block called the "Bookworm bunch" which only lasted a short time and plus, I wasn't even born yet. I got introduced to Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse through the Qubo Channel and I absolutely fell in love with it. Honestly, those are both very underrated shows and deserve an actual FANDOM rather than 3 fans. A few people I know have at least heard of Scaredy Squirrel barely anyone has heard of Marvin the dancing horse (and yes, Marvin is based off a book too). I highly recommend those shows, as well as many others!

Cable tv is kind of shutting down now anyway, and it's sad. All we have now is streaming services and a lot of them just don't have those nice kids shows that Qubo had. A lot of those shows were cute and not too overstimulating for the younger kids, and almost everything they have now is for older kids. Sprout became Universal Kids, which is more for older kids and they didn't need to do that. We need more things for little kids too. Also, as a 21 year old with trauma, I don't like rough adult shows like South park and Hazbin hotel, I want more calming shows like Scaredy Squirrel and Toddworld. (Also, I'll put a list of my favorite shows from Qubo in my last paragraph).

I hope one day I can make my own tv channel or streaming service to replace Qubo or Sprout, but nothing can really "replace" my favorite channels growing up. Also, if you want some relaxing kids shows from Qubo to watch, I'll give you some;

Scaredy Squirrel, Toddworld, Stella & Sam, Timothy goes to school, Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse, Maggie & the Ferocious Beast, Harry & his Bucket of Dinosaurs, Miss Spider Sunny Patch, Babar, Veggietales, Gofrette, I Spy, My Friend Rabbit, Sandra the Fairytale Detective, Willa's Wild Life, Pecola, Turbo Dogs, Sidekick, and Stickin' Around (although there's a trigger warning).

Tell me what you think and if you agree! Are you too a Qubo or Sprout fan?

[t1redallthetime]

1. The lesbians from next door + Trina

2. Mendel, you know what you did

3. Mendel, the actor playing him is always really charismatic but I don’t get the Mendel hype

4. The lesbians from next door, I swear to god people always forget them!

5. I love them equally but Trindel a little less

6. Holding to the Ground

7. Hard choice but The Marriage Proposal

8. This Had better come to a stop

9. Year of the Child

10. Everything from Gotta Die Sometime, especially Jason’s Bar Mitzvah, I cannot listen to that song without crying :(

11. Obviously Marvin

12. If I could change it, I think I’d have a Whizzer+Trina duet and I’d have a scene where Marvin meets the Lesbians

13. Father to Son changed my view on Marvin, it gave me hope for him, and for my own father

14. 100% Day in Falsettoland, that song is SO fun and I’m Breaking Down cause duh

15. Charlotte or Trina, they’re the ones in my vocal range, but I would definitely play Marvin if someone to a bit of a genderbend version

16. Trina, she has my heart, also me and the lesbians would have such a good polycule

17. I’d want to get to know the lesbians better cause we don’t know so much about them!

18. Best decision is definitely Jason having the Bar Mitzvah in the hospital

19. I’d sing with Cordelia, I feel like she’d be so fun to be with at karaoke

20. Stephanie J Block, you have my heart and soul ❤️, and Christian Borle is up there too

21. When I try to get someone into falsettos I make them listen to This Had Better Come To A Stop, really good introduction to the basic concepts

22. Idk I can’t really decide!

23. How bad act 1 Marvin is and how he definitely passed away after Whizzer :(

24. I’m not sure, I don’t really have an answer to that

25. The three I relate to a lot are Trina, Marvin and Jason, their little fucked up family speaks to me

26. Lesbians + Marvin’s friendship, and Jason and Whizzer’s

27. “Everything will be alright” genuinely use this in my day to day life if something goes wrong, gonna get a tattoo of this someday

28. Marvin hitting Trina was so fucking heartbreaking and made me hate him so much

29.

I fucking love this image

30. I just want to vent a little, Marvin is really similar to my Tata (dad) and it was kinda nice to see someone like that go through an arc and improve as a person, my Tata has a lot to do but he is trying to change. Father To Son used to make me so jealous I’d cry, because Jason’s father improved but mine didn’t, but know that he’s trying it makes me almost happy. Anyway that’s my addition! This show means so much to me ❤️

[greydoesthearts]

i mentioned a little bit in my tags about this but the thoughts have been stewing around a little more so hiiiiii i would like to talk about blind!marvin :3

like i said, marvin with magical guide dog would be very very cool i think. but the thought stewed a little more and i came up with the magic that marvin learns (at least this specific version, i now have another marvin under my belt) is extremely, extremely old and admittedly quite dangerous as well if not handled with extreme caution. marvin, however, being ~19 when he discovers this magic... admittedly doesn't take the warning in the book he found that contained said magic very well. "what's the worst that could happen?" he thought.

i'll give him one thing, he wasn't entirely reckless with this new magic. but he didn't exactly heed the warning about only using it if you absolutely have to. this old magic has a give and take relationship with whoever uses it. it gives you wonderful powers, and each time you use it it takes a little something from you (this varies from user to user, in extreme cases it will literally take years off of someone's lifespan). and for marvin, it started taking his sight.

now it wasn't super alarming at first. just some slight blurry vision, nothing that glasses couldn't fix. mostly everyone gets glasses eventually, right? his best friend jackie's had glasses since he was 7, this was an average thing! ... until it started getting noticeably worse. it seemed every few months he was having to get his eyes checked, and each time his vision has decreased. it really hit when he used a spell and right after realized his vision had gotten a little darker. he probably should've heeded that warning in the book. and he wanted to stop, but he was helping so many people with this magic, how could he stop?

well... you could probably guess where it lead.

........ okay, i don't have an eloquent transition into this admittedly- but after he finally decided to mention his increasing blindness to his fellow magic users, some of them suggested getting a seeing eye familiar to help him a little more (obviously most of them were also like "hey stop using the magic", but it was kind of too little too late advice, y'know?). familiars were extremely common among magic users, and some disabled users summoned familiars specifically to be service familiars. (walking, seeing, alerting when someone's speaking to them, even some are used by users with chronic fatigue to help them cast spells :3)

and so, with the last spell that he could use with this old magic that was hurting him, he created something nice from it. a dog to help him. and sure, it was scary at first to suddenly navigate the world without sight, but now that he's gotten used to it it's simply just another part of him. he now uses his dog (who's name is storm) to cast spells if he needs to (shoutout to the idea of him using an echolocation spell, i think that's cool and i'm taking it), so he doesn't have to keep using that old magic. his life is very different now, he never thought he'd end up where he is, but honestly? he wouldn't really change it, he's happy with where things are now :3

...................... oh i should've just made this its own post oh god this is long i'm sorry uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh [skitters away]

(obviously, y'know, not blind myself, so i'll take any criticisms for this and change it, i just had a thought blurb and you were asking for disability headcanons soooooooo i just started writing and it... turned into this

uhhhhhhh for a smaller headcanon i like the headcanon of jackie being an amputee. i don't know why i don't mention it more, but i think he has a cool mechanical arm that he uses when he's out fighting :3)

Agaksgkslsh I love love love this so much. I'm also not blind (I mean, legally almost but yk glasses do help to an extent as you mentioned) but both of my parents are to varying degrees which is why blind!Marvin means so much to me (and my mom, obviously).

Magic having severe consequences in certain circumstances is such a good fucking trope. I hope you do something with this because it's very cool. No pressure. (And anyone who wants or needs help writing a blind character can feel free to ask questions!! Like I said, my mom and dad are both varying degrees, but of course they're not professionals by any means, I just know my mom would love to be included lol)

[hey-must-be-a-devilbetween-us]

guys, ain't no mountain high enough being in Muriel's play list like...dude...

maybe its the little kid who grew up with a sick mom in me but...

I'll be really disappointed if there isn't a scene in s3 where Maggie is bringing over Muriel a little welcome to earth care-package that has some records in it (obviously!)

(Maybe its also an excuse for Nina and her to go check up on Crowley who is holed up in the loft can't confirm or deny.)

Then they start playing the Tammi and Marvin record and they're all laughing and dancing and Crowley hears it from upstairs where he's been moping for hours, he comes down all grumpy like 'what the hell are you all doing😠'

Muriel turns off the record instantly and before Maggie and Muriel can start apologizing Nina jumps in,

'Marvin and I are getting our act together right Marvin?'

Muriel nervously but still giggly is like 'right Tammi.'

Maggie and Nina hand Muriel a hair brush and toss Crowley a candle stick or something and she says 'in fact, we were just looking for another beautiful backup dancer!' she says as she puts the needle back on, (she's started to grow fond of records, a little fonder of people too.)

and Crowley scoffs of course, the silly humans and the silly little angel trying to make him feel better so silly.

but its the lyrics, he never stood a chance.

"Aint no mountain high, aint no valley low, aint no river wide enough baby!' Muriel mouths all the Marvin bits trying to emulate a rock star, Nina and Maggie and cheering and fawning, Crowley rolls his eyes, (no sunglasses to be seen might I add)

"If you need me call me, no matter where you are! No matter how far!" Nina mouths as she dances towards Crowley, he can't help but give a smidge of a smile.

"Don't worry baby!"

"Just call my name,' Maggie mouths as she nudges Crowley towards the middle of the room where the sun is shining from the windows, out of the shadows, 'I'll be there in a hurry you don't have to worry!"

"Cause baby there ain't no mountain high enough! Ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough!" they start really singing, doing a goofy little choreograph dance, (ha! there's two god!) raising and waving their hand and singing into their play microphones.

Crowley is swaying half-assed at first and he can't help but get caught up in the fun, what does he have to lose by being silly in front of these silly creatures?

"To keep me from getting to you babe!" They all point at Crowley, he bowls over with tears he's laughing so hard.

"Oh no darling! No wind no rain!" Crowley takes Muriel and spins them around the shop, they laugh so loud its a squeal.

"Oh winters cold can't stop me baby!" Maggie and Nina sing to each other, spinning around themselves. "No no baby!"

"Cause you are my love!" they're all arm in arm dancing through the shop, "If you're ever in trouble I'll be there on the double, just send for me oh baby!"

Muriel holds their pretend mic up to Crowley, "My love is alive, right down in my heart, although we are miles apart!" Crowley can't help the few little tears that escape through the joy.

Crowley holds his up to Muriel's, "If you ever need a helping hand I'll be there on the double just as fast as I can!"

They hold out there hand to Crowley and they spin like a ring around.

The chorus starts again and they all continue to dance so badly they fall into each other in an embrace.

So free, so safe in this warm happy place Aziraphale made on earth, the sun shines brightly through the skylight and the place is filled with so much love and laughter and peace you can almost feel Aziraphale sitting in his arm chair, just watching them smiling on, like somehow everything is going to be okay.

Anyways yeah you guys remember that 1998 movie Stepmom by Chris Columbus? yeaaaah...

[reddeadreference]

Horseshoe Overlook: Who Is Not Without Sin

Full Transcript below ([...] placed where a gap of silence is  for the same person speaking or when there’s a long period of silence  and distance traveled.)  

Arthur: Swanson, you in here? [...] Reverend, where are you? [...] you here, Reverend?

Stranger: Come on…

[Arthur enters the building where Swanson and two men are playing poker]

Swanson: Mr. Morgan. I took your advice, sir, I took your advice.

Arthur: Then your god has finally deserted you. What you talking about?

Swanson: I took your advice, sir. I have removed myself from morpheus’ embrace. No more shall I sink, sir. I am free, I am free!

Arthur: You don’t seem free, friend. You seem drunk.

Stranger: Sit down, Reverend. We ain’t finished.

Arthur: You ain’t finished? Look at him, he’s finished.

Stranger: None of us forced liquor down his throat, friend. I-I just want him to play.

Arthur: Now firstly, we ain’t friends. Don’t make no mistake on that subject. Now secondly, he can’t hardly see, let alone reason. Now reasoning ain’t never been one of my strong points neither but seeing I do just fine. You wanna step outside, or deal with business here?

Stranger: I just want him to finish the game.

Swanson: Why can’t we all just get along? These are good men, Arthur. They’re children of God… they are children of God

[Swanson collapses]

Stranger: Oh… well. How’s about you play in his place, huh? That seems fair.

Arthur: Fair?

Stranger: Sure. You wanna game?

=Play=

Arthur: Sure, I’ll play a few hands.

Stranger: Well, sit yourself down then. [Arthur sits] I’m Luther, this is Marvin.

Marvin: Fortunate for you both we’re being gentlemen about this.

Arthur: Same goes for you.

Luther: So… how you two know each other anyway? Don’t seem like the likeliest of friends, if you don’t mind me saying.

Arthur: We go a long way back. 

Luther: And now you’re his chaperone?

Arthur: I guess it’s something like that… can we play?

Marvin: He can’t be no real clergyman, he committed about five cardinal sins just in that chair you’re sitting in.

Arthur: I think he used to be. He’s… drifted a little in recent years. Life is a challenge… to all of us.

Luther: Call.

Marvin: Can you imagine him at the pulpit? If he could stand up (in a drunken voice) “On the fourth day, he turned water into whiskey and I don’t remember much after that”.

Arthur: Just a little wager… He’s a decent feller going through a bad time. Disrespect him again, and you’ll find yourself in a bad time too.

Marvin:  Alright, alright… just trying to have a little fun here. It is a game after all, mister.

[They continue and Arthur wins the pot.]

Arthur: Gentlemen, this is getting too rich for me.

Luther: Sit down.

Arthur: Oh, I’m done, friend. It’s been a real education. Come on, Rev- (he doesn’t see Swanson) Where is he? Where’d he go?

Luther: Who?

Arthur: The reverend, where is… (he lets out a frustrated sigh as he heads to leave) Excuse me, gentlemen.

=Don’t Play=

Arthur: I can’t partners. I don’t mean to spoil your fun. I got things to do.

Stranger: You sure?

Arthur: Quite sure. I gotta get him outta here. C’mon, Reverend. Let’s get you… (he goes to kick where Swanson had been laying and looks down when his foot hits nothing.) home. (he sees that Swanson isn’t there.) Where’d he go?

Stranger: I don’t know. I was talking to you.

Arthur: (he lets out a frustrated sigh as he heads to leave) Gentlemen…

|

Arthur: Reverend! Reverend Swanson! Where’d you go?

=Question=

Arthur: ‘Scuse me, I’m sorry… y-you see a drunken idiot, a priest, wandering about?

Civilian: Sure, we saw him… smelt him… and avoided him. He went that way I think.

Arthur: Thanks…

Civilian: Guy looked kinda crazy, mister.

Arthur: Oh you have no idea.

=Demand=

Arthur: Hey, you… have you seen a priest?

Civilian: What’s your problem?

Arthur: Have you seen a priest, all… drunk and crazy?

Civilian: Leave me alone.

Arthur: Don’t make me shoot you.

Civilian: Shoot me? Why would you shoot me?

Arthur: Have you seen a priest?

Civilian: Yes, he went that way… angry jackass…

|

Arthur: Reverend! [...] Hey,, Reverend! [...] Reverend!

Swanson: Mr. Morgan! A hand here, please!

Stranger 3: What the hell did you just say to me?

Arthur: Hey! Get your hands off him!

Swanson: I didn’t say a word.

Stranger 3: You’ll keep! (to Arthur) You stay out of it!

Arthur: Get your hands off him now, you son of a bitch.

Stranger 3: I’ll kill you both. [...] Pair of damn fools.

[Arthur knocks the man out]

Witness: Oh, my God. You killed him. I’m gonna get the law on you.

[The man runs away and Arthur gives chase, cue sheep noises as Arthur runs through them]

Arthur: Hey, you! Get back here. You better stop right there.

Witness: Stay away from me!

Arthur: Stop, you son of a bitch! [...] Stop, or I’ll kill you. I swear. [...] I said stop, dammit.

Witness: Okay, okay… please don’t hurt me.

=Beat + Rob=

[Arthur pushes the man to the ground]

Arthur: (unsubtitled) You hear me now?

Witness: Yep! I… I won’t tell a soul, I promise.

Arthur: (unsubtitled) I presume that means yes. [Rob] On second thoughts, you can give me all your money too.

Witness: (unsubtitled) Okay, here, just take it. Just-just please let me go.

[Arthur punches and knocks out the man]

Arthur: (unsubtitled) What is wrong with you? (Seeing Swanson up on the tracks) Reverend! Get off the damn tracks!

=Threaten=

Arthur: I said stop, dammit.

Witness: Okay, okay… please don’t hurt me.

Arthur: You tell anyone what you saw back there, you’re a dead man. You understand me?

Witness: Yep! I… I won’t tell a soul, I promise.

Arthur: Good, get the hell outta here.

Witness: (unsubtitled)  S’last thing I need.

[Arthur heads up the hill and spots Swanson walking along the tracks.]

Arthur: Reverend! Get off the damn tracks! [Call out] What are you doing? [Call out] Reverend! 

[Arthur, having made it up the hill, runs down the tracks to where Swanson has gotten his leg stuck. In the distance he can see the train coming.]

Arthur: Come on, my friend… It’s just a simple mistake… You can… still be… s-saved. [...] What have you done with your foot?

Swanson: It appears to like this place and wants to stay.

Arthur: Get your foot outta here, twist your leg, you drunken bastard! [He pulls Swanson free and pushes him to the side] Got it, come on!

[The train rushes past. Arthur helps Swanson off the tracks.]

Swanson: Thank you, sir.

Arthur: Ah-ah-ah, oh no you don’t!

[Arthur pushes Swanson who falls to the ground.]

Arthur: What the hell is wrong with you?

Swanson: What the hell is wrong with you? Throwing me off a bridge like that.

Arthur: There was a goddamn train you crazy bastard!

Swanson: Have I been bad again, Mr. Morgan? I’m sorry. [...] I wish I was different.

[Swanson cries and Arthur awkwardly pats him on the back]

Arthur: Let’s get you home.

Swanson: Home… Yeah, that’s a wonderful idea. I could have tea with Margaret.

Arthur: Margaret? Who’s Margaret?

Swanson: My…

[He falls backwards. Arthur sighs then puts him on his horse]

Swanson: (slurring) Where am I? [...] Kippers, please..

Arthur: What are you mumbling about now?

Swanson: Tea, please. [...] One for the road? [...] Close the drapes…

[Arthur carries Swanson through camp]

Molly: I was wondering when he’d show up.

[Arthur drops Swanson off in a tent]

Arthur: You better sleep your way to salvation, my friend.

Susan: Oh, what happened?

Arthur: Just… the usual.

Susan: Poor bastard.

Arthur: Exactly

Susan: Well, thank you, Mr. Morgan. I’ll keep an eye on him.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Hold My Hand Tight

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Nineteen

A JSE Fanfic

Forgive me if the title seems unfitting, I almost forgot to queue this so it's super late as I'm titling it and writing this author's note. I'll get straight to the summary. Chase realizes that he made a mistake earlier, and so tries to make up for it by hanging out with Marvin, just the two of them. There's also a brief discussion about what to do about the thing in the school basement, and a scene where JJ gets an unexpected visitor. Enjoy reading :)

More of this AU

++++++++++++++++++++

The school week passed uneventfully, but still, Chase couldn’t help but feel like something was off. And it wasn’t because of the “paperpillar” in the basement. He hadn’t heard anything about that. No strange sounds or sights, and no rumors about a paper monster in the school. No, this was something else.

It took him until Thursday afternoon to realize what it was. He was watching TV in the living room. Schneep was there, too, but he was curled up reading instead of paying attention to the show (he wasn’t into this show.) The commercials had just started, allowing Chase’s mind to wander—and then it hit him. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot,” he whispered.

Schneep looked over at him. “What? Why?”

“I called Marvin ‘weird’ again.” Chase hit his forehead. “Dumb! Dumb dumb dumb! I didn’t mean it like that! I should’ve used a different word!”

“Chase.” Schneep lowered his book and stared at him.

“Don’t sound so disappointed! You didn’t say anything when it happened!”

“I was busy thinking about how Marvin suddenly had powers. And... a-and I should not have to say something every time you make a mistake.”

Chase slumped back against the sofa. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he repeated, mumbling.

“What did you mean it like, then?” Schneep asked.

“I dunno. Uh... strange, but cool. Because it is cool.” Chase shook his head. “I just... I use that word all the time. Everyone does. Even Marvin does, I’ve heard him say it. But I should’ve thought about what happened. And the, uh... the... surroundings. Of the word. There’s a word for that, um... the context. I should’ve thought about the context.”

“And you should have realized what you did before now,” Schneep muttered.

“I know! But we’ve been kinda busy!” Schoolwork was really starting to get intense, which wasn’t fair, because the end-of-term exams were still at least a month away. And besides that, there was, you know, a giant paper caterpillar in the basement of the school. And that weird Circle group, which everyone was convinced was watching them. And that guy who looked like Anti—Jackie had called him Jack McLoughlin. Chase had tried asking around about him, but he was too old for any of the kids in his year to have known. “And I’ll say again, you didn’t say anything, either. And neither did Stacy!”

“Well maybe she thought you would’ve realized on your own much faster,” Schneep pointed out.

Chase sighed, slumping further. “I should’ve.” He paused. “Uh... what do I do now? I should say sorry, right? Or has it been too long?”

“You should say sorry.”

“Yeah.” Another pause. Chase stared blankly at the commercials on TV. Some toy ad was playing. He didn’t really care about it. “But like... I wanna do more than that, too. Cause like... I don’t want Marvin to hate me. Or think I hate him. I want to do something to make up for... um... being a butt.”

Schneep laughed a little. “Maybe you two can do something together. Ah, ‘hang out’ somewhere.”

“You don’t think that’s too much?”

“You just said you wanted to do more than just say sorry. I think hanging out together could be that.” Schneep shrugged. “Marvin might not want to, of course. In which case, you still say sorry. There is nothing to lose in asking. You should not be so, ah, unsure about yourself.”

“...yeah, I guess you’re right.” Chase nodded. “I don’t know what he’d want to do, though. I guess he could choose. That’d be easier, and show that I, uh... wanna hear about stuff he likes to do.”

Schneep grinned. “That seems good to me. We will see everyone tomorrow after school to talk about everything, ja? You can talk to him after all that about this.”

“That’s a good plan. Thanks, Schneep.”

“You are welcome.”

At that moment, Mom walked into the room. She glanced over at the sofa on her way to the kitchen. “Chase, do you want to break your spine? Stop sitting like that.”

Chase groaned. “It’s fine, Mom!” he said, but sat up straight anyway.

Schneep laughed.

++++++++++++++++++++

The whole group had agreed to meet up at Zelly’s on Friday. Mom dropped Chase and Schneep off, promising to pick them up when they texted her. Everyone else was already there. Jackie, Stacy, and of course, the Jacksons. Chase stared at Marvin for a little longer than he probably should have. But Marvin didn’t notice. He was too busy methodically shredding a napkin.

“Hey guys!” Jackie grinned as Chase and Schneep sat down. “We’re probably not gonna have a lot of time. I have to work in like, half an hour. But I think that’ll be long enough.”

“I didn’t know these guys sold hot chocolate,” Stacy said as she read a menu.

“Yeah, they sell it in winter,” Chase said. “Did they put it on the menu already? It’s not that cold.”

I’m going to disagree, JJ said. He was wearing a blue jacket over his normal shirt.

“Well, let us decide what to get and then talk about the past week,” Schneep said.

They decided on their drinks—Jackie, Stacy, and JJ would get hot chocolate while Chase, Schneep, and Marvin stuck with soda. A server came over and they ordered, adding on a couple baskets of fries for the table. As soon as the server was out of sight, Stacy leaned forward. “So, like, how does this work? Do we just start talking about how to deal with the paper thing in the basement right away?”

“The paperpillar,” Marvin said, his eyes brightening a little. “It’s a paperpillar. Paperpillar!” Clearly, he really liked the word and/or the concept of a paperpillar.

“Yeah, that,” Stacy said. “What’re we gonna do about it?”

“Do we need to do anything about it?” Schneep asked. “It has not come up into the school since we saw it. And I have not heard about any trouble.”

“But like... it tried to eat Jackie, sooo...” Chase pointed out.

“It wasn’t eating me, it was just like... wrapping around me,” Jackie said. “It didn’t hurt or anything. And I don’t think something made of paper can ‘eat’ things in the first place.”

Chase has a good point, though, JJ said. It ran at us the moment it saw us. It will probably do the same thing to anyone who goes into the basement.

“Hmm. Yes, you are right.” Schneep nodded. “Even if most people do not go down there, it looked like there was a lot of, ah, maintenance things there. Someone will go in the basement one day to mess with those things. That is how maintenance works.”

“Alright, so we agree we gotta stop it, then,” Jackie said. “How?”

“Uh... we can, like, burn it or something,” Stacy suggested.

“Whoa!” Chase laughed. “I-I didn’t think you’d say that.”

“What? Cause I’m a girl? Girls can burn things down if they wanna.” Stacy pushed her glasses into place. “And if it’s made of paper, fire is probably the best thing to use. Have you ever seen paper burn? It goes up immediately.”

JJ nodded. We can find lighters easily enough. Maybe we could throw one at it. Maybe a couple, just to be sure it will catch—

“Maybe let’s not set a fire in the school?” Jackie said delicately. “If it spreads to the rest of the building, uh... there’ll be a lot of people in there. So... that’s bad.”

“Oh.” Stacy blinked. “Right.”

Will it spread so easily? JJ wondered.

“Yes,” Jackie emphasized. “If the thing on fire is a big paperpillar that can run really fast, then yes.”

JJ frowned. Probably a bad idea, then.

“There could also be gas things in the basement,” Schneep added.

“Okay, so no fire,” Chase said. “But what do we do, then? We can’t banish it like the ghost, we can’t pop it like the bubble monster, we can’t cut it up like the mushrooms, we can’t... uh... what did we do with the monster dog?”

Marvin, previously rather quiet, straightened. “I was thinking about that, actually. Uh, so, you know, we managed to like, pull all the greenlight out of the monster dog and turn it back to normal, right? Using a bunch of crystals. But, like, uh... I have this now.” He held out his hands, palms up. A tiny ball of green light appeared hovering over each of them. He quickly closed his hands into fists, making the lights disappear, and continued. “Maybe I can just pull the greenlight out of the paperpillar by myself. I mean, if that’s a good idea. Do you guys think it is?”

Chase squirmed in his seat a little, but no one was looking at him to notice.

“Do you think you can do that?” Stacy asked. “I mean, in movies and stuff people always have to learn magic and get better and stuff through practice. Pulling out the greenlight seems hard.”

“I, uh, I have been practicing,” Marvin admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed.

JJ nodded excitedly. He can make shapes!

“Make shapes?” Schneep repeated. He leaned closer, intrigued. “How? Can we see?”

“Oh, uh... s-sure.” Looking uncharacteristically nervous, Marvin cupped his hands together, holding them over the table palms-down. A translucent green golf ball appeared on the table under his hands. Then it shifted to a cube. Then a pyramid. Then a squiggly sort of cylinder. Then Marvin lowered his cupped hands over the shape and it disappeared.

“Cool,” Chase breathed.

Very cool! JJ signed. He can also make glowing stars, like the kind that goes on ceilings, they look so nice at night. And he can make tiny hands and ropes to move and grab stuff.

Marvin laughed. “Y-yeah.”

“Wow.” Jackie grinned. “So, you’re kinda like Green Lantern, then.”

“Who?” Marvin asked.

“He’s a superhero.”

“Oh. Well, I’m a witch.”

“We are getting off topic,” Schneep said, shaking his head. “The point is, do you think you can do that? Pull the greenlight out?”

“Uh... I mean, I don’t think I can really practice that,” Marvin said slowly. “Not without something that has greenlight in it. And the only thing we know about like that right now is the paperpillar. So... we kinda just have to try.”

“If crystals can make greenlight more powerful, maybe we can bring some to try and help you out?” Stacy suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Jackie said, grinning. “Okay, I think we have a plan. We meet after school one day—oh.” They paused for a moment as the server returned with their fries and drinks. “Thanks.” After everyone had their order, small talk with the server was done, and the server had walked out of earshot, Jackie continued. “We’ll meet after school one day. Go into the basement to find the paperpillar. Most of us will try to distract it as Marvin tries draining the greenlight. If he can’t do it, we’ll run and try again some other day.”

“We’ll need somewhere we can defend, then,” Chase said. “A fort of some kind.”

If we’re doing it after school, maybe we can lure it out of the basement and into one of the classrooms? JJ said. There are sets up in one of the Theatre rooms we can hide behind.

“That sounds perfect,” Stacy said.

“Okay, but before we start talking about more details and stuff, can I ask something?” Chase said. “Has anyone found out anything new about the Circle? Or that Jack guy who looks like Anti?”

A chorus of various ‘no’s rang out around the table. “The same teachers are being weird, but nothing actually happened all week,” Marvin said.

“Maybe they’re not going to do anything,” Stacy said optimistically. “Maybe they’re just going to keep an eye on us to make sure we don’t say anything.”

Schneep frowned. “I do not trust grown-ups like that to not do anything. Just because nothing has happened yet does not mean nothing will happen ever. They are probably just waiting for a good time to... to...” He looked down into his soda glass and went quiet. Chase leaned a bit closer, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Schneep squeezed back.

“We still have to be careful,” Jackie said. “Try not to go anywhere in school alone. And definitely don’t trust strangers.” He paused. “You also asked about Jack, right, Chase?”

“Mm-hmm.” Chase nodded. “Did you find anything? I didn’t.”

Jackie shrugged. “Got confirmation from some Band kids that Jack moved back to Ireland right after the school year ended. But they didn’t know anything else about where he’d go. One of them knew his parents’ names, I guess... guess I’ll try looking online or in phone books for their names? Gonna be hard covering all of Ireland, though. So it’ll take a while. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Anti would look like that guy.”

“Maybe it’s random,” Stacy guessed. “Maybe Anti just started looking like the first person he saw when he came out of the dark place.”

JJ frowned. Maybe. But I think there’s a connection. It’s just not clear why.

“Yeah.” Chase paused. “Well... back to the paperpillar, then.”

The group talked some more, hashing out the specifics, and agreed to try fighting the paperpillar after school that Monday. After that, they talked some more about school. Mostly complaining about tests and homework. JJ and Schneep insisted it wasn’t that bad, while everyone else universally agreed it sucked. Even Stacy, which surprised Chase, since she seemed like the smart type. Jackie did point out that school was important, but he was probably only doing that because he felt like he had to, as the oldest one in the group. After the school discussion, they talked about games and movies and books for a while before it was time for them to all go. Mostly because Jackie’s shift was about to start and it would’ve been awkward for the kids to stay there while he was working.

But, as Schneep suggested, Chase hung back, waiting. When everyone was gone but him and the twins (Schneep agreed to wait outside) he tapped Marvin on the shoulder and said, “Hey. Can I, uh... talk to you?”

Marvin looked at him. Then he looked at JJ. Then back at him. “Yeah. Do you mean alone? Should JJ leave?”

“Uh... I guess not,” Chase said. “I was just wondering if you wanna... hang out? Sometime this weekend? Not like, the whole group, I mean. Just you and me?”

“Um...” Marvin looked confused. “Sure, but why?”

“I wanna hang out with you,” Chase said. “I don’t think I’ve done stuff with just you before. Or, uh, just you,” he added, looking at JJ. “If you and me wanna do something after this, we can.”

JJ smiled a bit. That’d be great, but I don’t think I’d have the time. I have a lot of classwork to do. But you and Marvin can do stuff together. I don’t mind.

“You sure?” Marvin asked.

I’m sure.

“Alright, then.” Marvin looked back at Chase. “What were you thinking?”

Chase shrugged, trying to look casual. “Whatever you want to do.”

Marvin stared at him. “...shit. What do I like to do?”

JJ laughed, seeing the blank look on his twin’s face.

“Oh shut up.” Marvin shoved him. JJ shoved back. The two of them were distracted by a shoving contest for a couple seconds before Marvin suddenly went “Oh!” and looked back at Chase. “I got it. Do you wanna go watch a movie?”

“A movie?” Chase repeated. “Uh, yeah. Sounds fun. The theater’s closed on Sundays so we’ll have to go tomorrow—”

“Oh, not at the big cinema,” Mavin interrupted. “Have you seen the small one on Everson Street? It’s just called ‘Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema.’ It’s kinda old.”

“Uhhh... I think I’ve seen that?” Chase hadn’t really thought much about it, though. It was just part of the background of that street. “You want to go there?”

“Yeah, we go there all the time during school holidays,” Marvin said, gesturing to him and JJ, who nodded. “They don’t usually show new movies that just came out, instead they screen a lot of ones that are already out. Some of them are kinda old, too, but they can do anything that’s on DVD. We can go tomorrow or Sunday, they’re open all the time. And nobody usually goes there so it’s not as crowded. Which is great.”

“Okay. Sure.” Chase nodded slowly. “I don’t know if Mom will let me go see a movie by myself.”

“Why not? Doesn’t she let you go to the library and park and stuff alone?”

“Yeah, but I dunno. Something about a movie seems different. But, uh, maybe if I say Jackie is going too, that’ll work out. He can... watch a different movie. While we watch ours. If he’s cool with that.” Chase glanced towards the kitchen doors. Jackie had disappeared through them a couple minutes ago. “I’ll ask him. Does that work?”

“Yeah, fucking perfect.” Marvin smiled a little. “So... talk to your mom and Jackie about times and stuff. Then call JJ.” JJ waved. “And I’ll pick up.”

“Got it.” Chase nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“See you later.”

And with that, Chase turned and left the restaurant.

++++++++++++++++++++

Chase was correct; Mom would not let him go to the movies without someone else. When he asked why, she said it would be dark so anything could happen. But she agreed to it when he said Jackei would come. And thankfully, Jackie agreed, too. He picked up Chase Sunday morning, and together the two of them picked up Marvin and drove down to Emerson Street.

This was in the center of the city, where a lot of the older buildings were. Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema sat right on the street. That was a bit weird, since the other theater in town, the Cineworld, was a bit off the street, surrounded by parking lots. Posters were plastered on the sides of its concrete building. There were no posters outside HMPC, only a couple of those signs with the removable letters hanging on the side of the brick building. Marvin, Chase, and Jackie walked up to these signs. They listed the prices for tickets and the movies that were currently playing, times included.

“I brought extra money if you guys need help covering your tickets,” Jackie said.

“No, I got it,” Marvin said. “JJ and I know how much it costs. We use his allowance money for it. I got just enough right here.” He put a hand in his pocket. “But all of this looks boring.”

“Uhhh I wouldn’t mind watching a couple of these,” Chase said. “But, um, yeah. You can choose. I dunno what you’ll want to see if it’s all boring to you, though.”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

There was a ticket booth next to the theater’s entrance. Marvin walked right up to it, leaving Chase and Jackie to follow. A man sat behind the glass in the booth—a boy, really, not that much older than Jackie. He wore a nametag pinned to his shirt that read ‘Nick.’ He wasn’t really paying attention to them, instead reading a thick-looking textbook propped up on the counter. “Hey,” Marvin said.

The guy—Nick quickly closed the textbook. “Hi, what can I do for you toda—Oh hey, Marvin.” He looked at Chase. “Did Jameson get shorter?” Then at Jackie. “Or... taller?”

Marvin grinned. “No, this is my friend Chase, and the beanie boy is my friend Jackie.”

“Oh, nice to meet you two.” He stared at Jackie for a minute. “Aren’t you that kid with the name change?”

Jackie looked a bit nervous, but smiled. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

“Alright.” Nick looked back at Marvin. “What can I get for you today?”

“Do you have an empty theater?” Marvin asked. “Your listings are boring.”

Nick laughed. “Yeah, one’s empty right now. What d’you want to play?”

“Can we watch, uh... that bridge movie? The sad one?”

Nick’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s, uh... probably a bit too sad for your friends’ first visit here. Don’t want to make a bad impression.” He laughed again, just to clear the tension. “How about The Princess Bride? Or maybe Narnia? We’ll be getting the sequel to that soon, y’know.”

“Narnia is good,” Marvin said, looking a bit disappointed but getting over it quickly. “Two for that.”

“Um, what’s playing in the theaters next to the empty one?” Jackie asked.

“We have The Godfather and Spider-Man 2.”

“Oh hell yeah. I’ll have a ticket for Spider-Man 2. Can I just walk in?”

“Yep, go ahead. I think it just barely started.” Nick bent over, fiddling with something under the counter, and reappeared with three yellow tickets. Marvin and Jackie paid for their respective tickets and Nick passed them over, along with some change. “Alright, you two head to Theater 2, it’ll be a moment to get it started. Jackie, right? Yours is Theater 3, it’s to the right of 2. Enjoy your movies.”

The three of them said their thanks and headed inside, Marvin in front. The interior of the small theater was done in shades of warm yellows and oranges against contrasting black. There wasn’t much in the main entrance, just a small counter for concessions manned by a woman with curly blond hair. She was also familiar with Marvin, handing him two small bags of buttered popcorn. Chase watched this and wondered how often the twins came here if the staff knew them on sight. Or maybe not many people worked here. Maybe both.

They walked down the one hallway, with Marvin talking as they went. “This style of, uh, interior design is called ‘art deco,’ JJ really likes it, and I can get where he’s coming from but I think I like ‘art nouveau' more, it’s much more swirly while this one is all angles. And here we are!” He stopped in front of a pair of theater doors. 

“You guys have fun,” Jackie said, continuing down the hall. “Text me if anything happens. I’m not gonna silence my phone.” He laughed. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t!” Chase said. “You have fun too!” And he followed Marvin into the room.

There were only five rows of seats in here, and the screen, while much bigger than any TV Chase had ever seen, was way smaller than regular movie screens. The chairs in here looked a bit old, their red fabric cushions faded, but there was something nice about it. “You gotta sit in the middle,” Marvin said, inching his way into the third row. “That way you’re not too close or too far away. But if there’s a lot of people they always go for the middle, too, so if it’s full, I prefer the back. But it’s not full now.” He sat down in the exact middle of the row. Chase sat next to him, and Marvin passed him one of the popcorn bags. “Cool, huh?”

“Yeah.” Chase nodded. “Um... so... I wanna watch the movie, but I... also want to... talk to you about something.”

Marvin stared at him. He nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s wait for a bit. Watch the start of the movie.”

“Okay.” Chase nodded back. “Um... I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this one. What’s it about?”

“Oh, you haven’t?! Okay, so...”

Marvin had just enough time to explain the basic plot before the lights dimmed and the film started. Chase tried to relax, but he couldn’t. He was busy mentally preparing what to say. And then... well, he was a bit confused. “I thought you said this was a fantasy movie,” he whispered to Marvin.

“I said that they went into the fantasy world,” Marvin replied in a normal volume. “They have to start in the real world first. You’ll see. The beginning is, like, ‘oh my god,’ but then they go out to the country and find stuff there.” He paused. “Also you don’t have to whisper. It’s just us in here.”

“Riiiight.” Chase nodded, going quiet for a moment and trying to pay attention for a bit. Marvin didn’t have any problem with that. He was immediately sucked into the movie, eyes glued to the screen even as he ate popcorn. Chase almost hated to interrupt him. But he had to. So, when the movie seemed to be slowing down, he spoke up again. “Um... can we talk now?”

Marvin glanced at him. “They’re not even in Narnia yet.”

“Yeah, but... but I-I wanna talk before we get too into it.”

Marvin sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” He put the popcorn bag on the seat next to him and looked at Chase. “What is it?”

“I, uh...” Chase’s mind went blank. He fidgeted with his own popcorn bag for a moment before putting it aside and blurting out, “I’m an idiot.”

“Okay.”

“Wha—You’re not gonna, like, say that I’m not?”

“A lot of people are idiots,” Marvin said. “I’m an idiot. But we’re smart in other ways. I thought you were establishing a rapport.”

“A what?” Chase repeated, confused. “What the heck is that?”

“It’s uh... You know, I don’t actually know how to explain it.”

Chase shook his head. “Well, I wasn’t doing that. I was, um, opening up to something. I’m an idiot because... because I didn’t realize I’d made you upset again. When we figured out you had greenlight powers, I said they were weird. I, uh... i-it took me a while to realize you, uh... got... your feelings hurt.”

“...oh.” Marvin stared at him, then looked back at the movie. “That’s fine.”

“No it’s not!” Chase protested. “I didn’t want to upset you! I... I’m sorry I did. I wasn’t really thinking. I was just... using the same word I always would’ve and didn’t think about the context. I’m really sorry. You’re not weird.”

“Yeah, I am.” Marvin didn’t look back at Chase. “I’m an idiot, but I’m not fucking stupid. I like wearing capes and others don’t. I talk a lot and others don’t. I get upset when the lights in the school are too loud and others don’t. I’m a fucking weirdo, Chase. And you don’t have to pretend I’m not. I know. People think I don’t know, but I do. I mean, I didn’t used to know, like when I was really little, but by now, I’ve figured it out. I’m not normal. I’m weird. Fucking... deal with it.”

“...oh.” Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I, um... It’s not a bad thing. To, uh... not be normal.”

“People always say that,” Marvin sighed. “But like... even though I don’t get made fun of or anything, the difference feels bad sometimes. Like—like—” He gestured vaguely. “Like, everyone is painting a picture, but my paints are different colors. And I can mix colors and stuff to get something that’s sort of close to what everyone else is using, but it’s not right, and everyone can tell. So, like, fuck it, right? Might as well use my own colors. At least then everyone’s looking at my painting. Even though they like everyone else’s better.”

Chase nodded slowly. “Um... I like your painting, though.”

“Uh... I don’t actually have a painting. It’s a metaphor.”

“No, I know. I know what a metaphor is, I’m okay at English class. And I’m keeping going with this one. I like your painting. I like how you use different colors.”

Marvin finally turned to look at him, surprised. “But... you...” He paused, struggling for words. “You keep... It’s... I’m a magic weirdo, though.” He raised one hand, a little baseball-sized sphere of greenlight forming in his palm.

“I like that you’re a magic weirdo,” Chase explained, grinning. “Look at that! That’s so cool. You can just, like, make stuff. Freaking amazing, bro.”

“And... the cape and stuff?”

“I’m not gonna lie, it was, uh, strange at first, but now I know you and it’s also cool.”

Marvin blinked. “I’m... confused.”

“Uh... how do I say this...” Chase looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “If we talk about it like paintings again, I think... I think a lot of people want their paintings to look just like what everyone else wants to see. Maybe they’re drawing a bowl full of apples, but they wanna draw a bowl full of oranges, but people like apples more than oranges so they don't. For me... I’m looking at what everyone else is painting. A-and I’m trying to do the same thing.”

“Why do you want to make the same thing everyone else is making?” Marvin asked quietly.

Chase shrugged. “I think everyone does. But that’s impossible. Everyone paints differently. Why don’t you want to make the same thing?”

Marvin paused. He shrugged. “It’s hard. And it’s not fun. And it’s not... it’s not me.”

“Yeah.” Chase smiled at him. “And I like that. I like that you’re... that you’re so you all the time. I-I wish I could be as much me as I wanna be. But... when my painting starts looking a bit different than everyone else’s, I get nervous. I-I don’t want people to look at it and think ‘I don’t like that because it’s not like mine.’ So, even if it’s hard and not fun and not me, I try to change it. But you don’t. And I think you’re really... I think you’re really brave and cool for that.”

Marvin blinked. His eyes were looking watery. “I... I-I get nervous, too, you know.”

“Yeah, but you do it anyway, and I don’t. In fact, I...” Chase lowered his head, ashamed. “I get so nervous that I don’t even want my painting to be near different ones sometimes. B-but I shouldn’t want that! It’s not fair and it’s mean and it’s not what I really want. I want to hang our paintings together.” He raised his head again. “I want to keep being friends. Screw what other people think. But I-I might make mistakes sometimes. Because I’m not used to it. So... I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

A moment passed. Marvin looked away. It took Chase a moment to realize he was wiping his face on his cape. When Marvin looked back again, his eyes were red, but clear. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I... I want to keep being friends, too. I’m not... good at making them. So, a couple mistakes aren’t gonna make me hate you or anything.” He smiled a bit. “But I think you should’ve said this earlier.”

Chase slumped with relief and smiled back. “Yeah. I know now. But I’m an idiot when it comes to other people’s feelings and stuff. Don’t know how to deal with it.”

“Fuck, I don’t know, either. Let’s just agree to talk about stuff right away in the future. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Marvin smiled wider. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Chase’s.

Chase laughed. “Oh, man. I have not been watching the movie at all. What’s even going on?”

“Oh shit, I think we missed the first moment! Alright, it’s okay, I remember what happened. So basically...”

As they grabbed their popcorn again and settled down to finish the movie, Chase felt like a weight was lifted from his chest. Huh. He didn’t even realize that was there.

++++++++++++++++++++

JJ closed the textbook, relieved to finally be done with his history notes. Carefully, he slid the sheets of lined paper into his binder, preparing them to be turned in on Monday. God, he hated taking notes. He was already good at remembering stuff. He didn’t need notes. Especially Cornell notes, ugh. They didn’t help at all! Why was his World History teacher so obsessed with them? Why did he need to prove that he’d done them?

He’d do it anyway, of course. They got graded on their notes. It’d look bad if he skipped them and got a bad grade as a result.

Well... now what?

He sighed, leaning back in the kitchen chair. He wished there was room for a desk in his and Marvin’s bedroom. It’d be nice. Doing his homework in the kitchen wasn’t too annoying, but it did mean Mam and Dad sometimes poked their heads in to ask if he was working. Which... obviously he was. And... obviously they were interrupting him. Obviously.

JJ stood up and put his binder back in his bag. Then he headed out. He could hear the TV playing from the living room. Sounded like one of Granmam’s shows. Maybe after he put his bag back in his room, he’d come back down and sit with her. She didn’t mind it when he was there. 

Sometimes he and Marvin wished that their grandmother could stay with them all year. Everything seemed... somehow better when she was there. But they knew they couldn’t ask her to do that. They were lucky that she stayed with them through Christmas every year. Grandparents didn’t usually do that.

He headed up the stairs. There was more TV noise coming from Mam and Dad’s room (totally wasn’t fair that they got a second, personal TV and he and Marvin didn’t even have a desk) but he ignored that and headed straight to his room. He walked in, turned on the lights, put his bag in its usual place in the corner by the door—

“Hey.”

—and then spun around when hearing the sudden voice.

Anti was sitting on the windowsill. It was narrow, probably a tough place to sit, but Anti could float so it didn’t really matter to him. He grinned when he saw JJ and gave a little wave.

JJ grabbed the nearest thing he could find—one of Marvin’s shoes—and threw it at Anti. It passed right through him and thudded against the window’s glass.

Anti’s grin disappeared. “You really like throwing things, huh? Rude. You’re so... so fucking rude.” Then he giggled, as if amused by his own swearing.

What are you doing here? JJ demanded.

“I still don’t know what you’re saying, but you pointed at me, so you’re probably asking why I’m here.” Anti tilted his head. “Your twin is off doing something right now. With someone else. Did you know about that?”

Confused, JJ nodded. He glanced around the room, wondering if there was something he could use to get Anti out of here. Maybe if he threw enough stuff at him he’d go away. He took a couple steps forward, aiming to get to the dresser.

“You did? And you’re okay with that?”

JJ nodded again. Why wouldn’t he be okay with that?

“What if Marvin stops doing anything with you?” Anti pressed. “Would you be okay with that? Are you scared of him doing stuff by himself?”

JJ frowned. He shook his head.

“You’re not scared of that?” Anti blinked. The ceiling light flickered. “What if he’s scared of that? What if he doesn’t want you to do things without him?”

Marvin wouldn’t be like that, though. The two of them had always been together, and always will be. They’d gone through a lot, told each other things that they’d never told anyone else. JJ isn’t so... insecure... to think that Marvin doing something with Chase means he’ll stop hanging out with JJ. And the same could be said for Marvin, too. Besides, they lived together. They couldn’t ignore each other forever. JJ took a couple steps towards the dresser and shook his head again.

Anti stared at him. His eyes narrowed. He seemed somehow unhappy with JJ’s answers. “What are you scared of?” he whispered. “You don’t ever look scared. You don’t ever look upset at all. But you have to be scared of something. Don’t you?”

JJ raised his shoulders. Something about this conversation was disturbing him. Quickly, he grabbed the nearest item from the dresser and threw it.

The object hit Anti in the chest, right under his neck. “Ow!” Anti gasped, catching the object as it fell. One of Marvin’s crystals. Anti stared at it. He seemed more surprised than hurt. And soon, both those feelings were overtaken by anger. He looked up at JJ, the green in his eyes flaring brighter as the ceiling light flickered wildly. JJ started backing up. “You’re terrible, Jameson Jackson,” Anti growled. “I gave Marvin a nice birthday present. Maybe you’ll get a Christmas present that’s just... as... ni͢c͏e̡.̛”

The light went out for a few seconds. JJ looked up at it. Then he looked back at the window. Though he should have been able to see Anti’s silhouette even in the sudden darkness of the room, he only saw the dark blue square of the window. And then the light turned on again. And his suspicion was confirmed; Anti had disappeared. Marvin’s crystal was on the ledge right where he’d been sitting.

JJ shivered. He walked over and quickly grabbed the crystal—and the shoe he’d thrown first. Then he put them back where he’d found them. And he thought about what Anti meant. If he’d pushed Marvin down the stairs as a ‘present,’ what did he want to do to him? The twin he didn’t like?

...It would be fine, wouldn’t it? JJ would just have to be careful to not go near anything dangerous by himself. He could do that. No need to tell Marvin or any of the others about that. Well, he should probably tell them he saw Anti. But not about the... threat. He didn’t want to worry them. He needed to not worry them. Or anyone. Ever.

JJ headed back downstairs—gripping the bannister tightly—and walked into the living room. As he suspected, Granmam was on the sofa watching one of her ‘shows,’ as she called him. She looked back as he came in. “Hey, lad,” she said, smiling. “Everyt’ing alrigh’? You look a mite pale.”

I’m alright, JJ said.

“Hmm.” Granmam pursed her lips. “Hey, c’mere t’me. Ye want to sit with you granmam for a bit?”

JJ nodded and hurried over. He slid onto the sofa and scooted up next to her. She always smelled a bit like vanilla. It was nice.

“Your brother’s still out?”

He nodded.

“T’ink he’ll want to join in when he gets back?”

Maybe.

Granmam smiled down at him. “Well, I know your parents are up for the night, so we have some time.” She leaned a bit closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I love ‘em, but they can be a pair of dryshites sometimes.”

JJ burst into laughter.

Granmam grinned right back. “Not Marvin, o’course, he’s grand. He can come right in if he wants to. For now, let’s have a moment, yea?”

JJ nodded. He leaned his head on her shoulder and stared at the TV. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but that wasn’t really the point of watching shows with Granmam.

Nothing to worry about. No need to worry anyone about anything.

Neither he nor his grandmother saw the shadow walk down the stairs, stare down the hall at them, and then disappear into thin air.

[iamvegorott]

Meeting A Magical Man Pt. 54

Part 1: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

“Would it be bad that I hope it’s a false alarm?” Chase asked as he and Marvin appeared in front of Henrik’s home. 

“That’d be-” Marvin didn’t get to finish before the window beside them shattered, a man flying through as if thrown. 

“Holy shit!” Chase shouted, and, after being sure the body wasn’t one he knew, Marvin rushed into the house. Chase cursed again and followed him into the kitchen. “How the-Robbie!” 

“Robbie.” Marvin echoed much softer. 

“You hurt him.” Robbie’s voice was deep and harsh, almost sounding like there was an artificial layering to it. His skin had a hue of purple to it, his eyes blackened, and his hands sharpened to points. Another man was in his hand, dangling in the air by his neck and gargling in an attempt to breathe. 

“What’s…oh my, God.” Mare took a step back, arm going out to block Mad from going in any further. Jackie nearly mirrored him with Phantom when they got in as well. 

“There are more bodies,” Mad said as he looked around the room. With the one outside and the one in Robbie’s hand, there were seven bodies in total, and only one was alive. 

“Robbie. Robbie, dear.” Marvin spoke gently as he slowly neared Robbie. “It’s me, darling, you need to listen, okay?” 

“I’m going to break his neck,” Robbie stated. 

“We need him alive. We need to know why they’re here.” Marvin placed a hand on Robbie’s arm. “Robbie, look at me, please.” There was too long of a pause before Robbie finally turned his head. “Put him down, and let’s go help Henrik. Where is he?” 

“Dad…” The reminder was enough to snap Robbie out of it, and he let the man go, having him drop to the ground. The man coughed and trembled as he started getting up. 

“No, you don’t.” Mare stepped in, grabbed the man, and slammed him down against the table. “You’ve got some questions to answer.” 

“Oh.” Mad breathed out and stiffened a little, and Phantom guided Jackie to stay with Mad before jumping on the table and sitting on it. The brothers seemed to have a routine as they questioned the barely conscious man. 

“Where’s Henrik,” Marvin asked Robbie again. 

“Room,” Robbie spoke and moved at the same time, leading Marvin and Chase to the bedroom. “Dad? Dad, are you still here?” Robbie went to the closet and opened the door, showing Henrik sitting there and holding his arm. The angle of it showed it was broken. 

“I’m going to kill that man,” Chase said as he bent down and helped Henrik to his feet. 

“I cannot tell if it is a clean break.” Henrik was shaking, fighting off shock, and his arm was numb, giving him more concern. “Edward is-is on the-on the way.” He was struggling to speak as his shaking got stronger. “We were-we were-we…” Henrik’s voice trailed off, and he blinked, tears rolling down his cheeks. The arm was the worst of it, but there were other injuries on his body as well. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but nothing would come out anymore. 

“I can heal the surface injuries, but I’m not the best at it.” Marvin shoved down his emotions as far as they would go. He needed to focus on making sure Henrik was fine. He’ll have his feelings about this later. 

“Maybe Phantom could help? Doesn’t he do more healing stuff?” Chase was in the same boat. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Marvin nodded, and they walked Henrik back into the kitchen. 

“Fucking useless.” Mare threw the man out of the room. “Passed out before we could get anything useful.” He grumbled. 

“Hen!? Henrik, are you okay!?” Edward called out as he rushed into the house. “Oh, fuck, fuck-Hen!” He pushed Jackie aside and rushed over to Henrik. “The fuck happened?” 

“Some men came in. I was downstairs when it started, and when I came back up, they were hurting Dad.” Robbie hugged himself, voice shrinking into almost a younger-sounding tone. His body slowly started shifting back to normal. 

“Phan, you got anything in the chamber for that?” Mare asked as he looked at Henrik. 

“Is it broken? I’m still working on figuring out bone.” Phantom over for a closer look. 

“It’s okay, Hen, we got you.” Edward kissed the top of Henrik’s head. “We got you.” 

“Maybe if we work together, we can get it healed,” Phantom said to Marvin. 

“We can try.” Marvin agreed. 

“Wait, some dudes showed up and started attacking Henrik?” Jackie asked Robbie, getting a nod from him. “That sounds like they were trying to get something from him.” 

“Nothing’s missing or at least nothing obvious. They would have trashed the place looking for it,” Chase said. 

“They were probably trying to get information. You know…beat it out of him.” Jackie lowered his voice for the last part. 

“Information? What would they want from Henrik? He’s not involved in anything.” Chase said.

“He’s involved with us,” Mare stated. “Don’t know who exactly they’re using Henrik against, but it has to be one of us.” 

“You got nothing from the guy?” Chase asked.

“Nah. He just blubbered about wanting to live before he passed out.” 

“We haven’t pissed off that many people with enough power to send seven dudes. Dark wouldn’t go after Henrik.” 

“Actor would.” Mare said that, and he looked at Mad, seeing that he was watching everything happening with wide eyes. 

“But, why Hen?”

“He’d connect the dots that Henrik’s involved with me and Mad disappearing. To have his son show up right before we’re gone? That’s too much of a coincidence.” 

“What do we do, then?” Chase tapped his foot. He didn’t want to risk getting caught up in another standoff, especially now that he no longer had his gun. 

“I don’t know,” Mare admitted. 

“Ah!” Henrik’s scream bounced off the walls. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Marvin apologized as he and Phantom worked on healing him. 

“Hold him still, or it’ll be worse,” Phantom said to Edward. “It’s some strong pain now to save him a long time of more pain.” He had to shout over Henrik’s scream.

“Shit, Mad.” Mare slipped away when he saw Mad pressing his hands over his ears, having been caught off-guard. “Mad, breathe.” Now was not the time for a fireball as well. 

“Make it stop,” Mad whined. 

“You just gotta wait, starlight. They’re helping him.” Mare hugged Mad to himself, hoping using his body would prevent the flames as well. He tensed up as Henrik screamed more, and he prepared himself to get burned. 

“Stop!” Mad cried out.

The screaming stopped.

“I didn’t do that,” Phantom said. 

“Neither did I.” Marvin blinked at the now fully healed arm and saw how the rest of Henrik was also healed. 

“What?” Henrik looked at himself. “I’m…I’m fine?” 

“Mare, did you heal him?” Phantom asked.

“You know I’m terrible with that magic.” Mare said. 

“Then…holy shit, did Mad do that?” 

“Is it over with?” Mad asked, voice slightly muffled by Mare’s chest. 

“Does that count as an upgrade if his unintentional magic is healing?” Chase asked. 

----------

Tags: @brokentimewatch @bookwormscififan @d-structive @rainymae523 @ashtonisvibing

[yoinkschief]

I too have that little ‘no one understands them like I do’ thing going on. It is only partially not my fault

Bro help I hate the fandom so much with my little guy specifically. Every time I try to find stuff about them I can never escape just how much people infantalize them. It is an issue

And yes, I would be crucified by many for saying ‘that’s an adult’. And shipping??? Oh yea my head is ending up on a spike for that :)

OH MY GODD NO THAT I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE NO IDEA

I mentioned this on the tags of the last post and it's not a huge deal more of an ick cause orgs not canon (yet(?)) but Marvin within the fandom, at least last I checked, is like FAMOUSLY asexual, yet I cannot escape the amount of ns//fw shit with him in it it makes me crazy

Gol-ly man, the infantilization of characters has followed me EVERYWHERE, 2016-2018 Tord specifically, also Edd and SEVERELY Matt, I know everyone talks about Tord because he's like the most jarring to see in that way but MATT WAS DONE SO DIRTY

Bro was treated like Derpy Hooves was by the majority of the fandom, incredibly ableist towards a very autistic coded character and infantalizing

God and pro shippers too, it's like really bad now cause I'm like an adult and it's so hard getting into fandoms that is prominently kids, like Gravity Falls ran in my youth so the people who watched it at the same time are like the same age as me, but The Owl House is ROUGH, and my bestie and I share this sentiment because we both love TOH BUT WE DON'T CARE WHO HUNTER WANTS TO KISS I WANNA KNOW HOW FUCKED UP HIS CHILDHOOD WAS SO I CAN GAUGE HIS TRAUMA METER RAHHH

But like actual proshipping sucks so hard cause even when I was kid I had that shit around me at all times, I WASN'T EVEN ONLINE THEN EITHER, not prominently anyway, I had CLASSES with this chick who OPENLY SHIPPED DIPPER AND MABEL

LIKE BRO ????? YOU'RE GONNA SCREAM "TWINCEST IS BESTCEST" IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAFETERIA LIKE THAT ???? ARE YOU MAD ?????????

[witlesswitnesstm]

Thinking about how Trina starts Falsettos saying that Jason is Marvin’s son in Please come to our house, but then she says that Jason is her and Marvin’s son in Year of the child. I think it’s very sweet, but it’s also kind of tragic that she associates all of Jason’s bad traits as being inherited from Marvin.

If I really wanted to be an asshole, I could say that the only reason Trina said that Jason was her child as well is because she was in competition with Marvin during that part. (I don’t believe this but this is if you wanted to interpret it in the worst possible way.)

However, the song ends off with everyone saying that Jason is their child so, I mean, that’s sweet.

Can I go on a tangent? I don’t think Trina is perfect. I mean, none of the characters are. She’s obviously not as terrible as most of the other characters, and her arc is very sympathetic, but sometimes the way she treats/talks about Jason is a little concerning to me. (But that probably comes from my general distrust of all parents.) She very clearly projects onto Jason in Everyone tells Jason to see a psychiatrist, with the line “You and I must trust our emotions, make no commotions” and there’s also “Don’t be disgusting, be yourself!” in Please come to our house. She is so worried about appearances throughout the whole play, and it makes sense for the time, but I don’t think that really, absolves it? I’m sure it probably also comes from her fear of being alone, so she complies to everyone’s wants, but she kind of controls Jason in the process.

I might be looking way too far into this, but it also seems like at least part of the reason she wanted Jason to see a psychiatrist is so that she could talk to Mendel more. She invites Mendel over excessively (according to Marvin), she makes intricate dishes for Mendel, she’s nervous about Jason acting out around Mendel, and so on. It feels a little shitty cause Jason was clearly looking for answers about himself and Trina lets her feelings towards Mendel outweigh trying to consider others that could actually help Jason in the way he needs. And I feel kind of bad for Jason cause he doesn’t have friends, so the only people he can really rely on to get help are his parents.

I’m not denying that Marvin also wanted Jason to see Mendel, but I give him more of the benefit of the doubt cause he had been seeing Mendel for years already, and just assumed that he was a good psychiatrist. (He’s not.)

There’s also the line “Jason calms me” in A day in Falsettoland which is very vague, and most likely just describes how seeing Jason makes her feel calm, but the worst possible interpretation of this line is that she might be spilling all her problems to Jason, leading to him becoming a kind of therapist for her (ironically.)

But again, that’s just the worst possible interpretation, I really have no clue how morally gray these characters are intended to be, so literally any other interpretations are valid.

And this is not to say that I hate Trina, far from it actually. I absolutely adore Trina’s arc and earlier today I started crying over Holding to the ground cause god does she go *through* it in this trilogy. She has so much depth and the misogyny she deals with is written and addressed in such a compelling way. I have a so much empathy for her regarding her reoccurring themes of suicide/self harm considering it’s not something I’m unfamiliar with, and like, god man I love Trina

[the3rddenialist]

Void Silver #1 Liveblog

Hello, this was done on the 1st of June, but will be posted later, this is me liveblogging Void Silver #1! Find The Somewhat Incredible Jackie-boy Man Liveblog here

Edit(28/06/24): I believe enough time past so I'm posting this, ignore the spelling mistakes. These are my initial thoughts from liveblogging

Spoilers ahead haha

Cool cover, hello galaxy higgins

London in the 90s? Back in the past baby!

Did lil marv have a bad day at school?

Oh god he looks tired, dude you're like 12 chill mate

"Bruv" "wicked" oh wow, also hi little sam

British teengers, oh no. And teacher strike on the newspaper

aww lil marv likes magic, haha the guy on the magazine looks like jbm

oh rude dude, that's a child. also ay the preview page thing

huh, the circle seems almost common knowledge in this world. so is magic like normal in this universe if the guy was comfortable to do it on a public train? marv still is sad

marv surely you could of grabbed, liek an apple, also he's an A student? how old is he? and there's meeting at 5 pm?

marv...

oh god i love his mom. i was spoiled he had a mom but she looks so cool. trial prep tho? hmm

THE CAT! and mention of cosmic entity ooo. also a cyborg dude spitting prophecies? this is a strange world

depression the page

gardening!!! also marv what you thinking. also it's weird higgins didn't introduce this volume, I guess it's not going to be a reoccurring thing

OH THE GUY WAS FROM THE PREVIEW PAGE TOO, hey it's the big cat. what is a 'mark' tho?

marvin looks happy for once, but mother dearest is concerned. i mean she's in the right here but the narrative ain't going to like that. ohhh are we going to see marvin sneak out to find the guy.

chill marv, some people care about the bees

bill clinton is canon to marvin lore

yooo another dream. oh don't trust the cat

here's the sneaking scene

my guy has a sick place. a water fountain and everything

marv you don't just zap a man.

IT IS RAMESSE????? I was thinking that but i thought the head was wrong. OH HELL YEAH. WHAT IS HAPPENING???

time eh ramesse? i'm not sure how much a trust this whole 'mark' business. also marv you really shouldn't be walking with a random stranger.

oh that's the headquarters hun? so i suppose the other place in the last page of #0 was somewhere else then. does ramesses bring random kids here often lol??? god he's weird.

two years is along to marvin but short to ramesses is funny. ayy mother dearest is to the rescue! being grounded for the twentieth century isn't the worst punishment when there's only a decade remaining. marv is crying?

i do like colour in this volume. oh god marv read the room. glad you're happy though

TWINS SPOTTED????????? Also this dude was from when he first entered the circle. huh marvin is special or something? this doesn't feel right, echo also told chase he was special. perhaps it's linked. but what great things do you speak of braid twin.

Ramesses how did you manage to insert yourself in marvin's life. mother dearest you okay. is the magic circle and magicians a big enough deal that you're allowing this? interesting.

HE EIGHT??? OH THAT'S SO MUCH WORSE. RAMESSE THAT'S YOUNG. seems time is broken haha. marv you're going to kill someone.

MOIRA!!!!!! NAME DROP THANK GOD. So she's Irish? or at least Gaelic maybe? or just cool name.

oh okay okay we have magic rules now.

Mana energy of non life (abiotic things?)

Malia energy of life (biotic?)

Impetus energy of forces (potential and kinetic energy?)

Apotropacis? To ward off evil. Nazar protects people from the evil eye. but what is the evil?

UNICORNS ARE REALL. TWILIGHT SPARKLE!

cosmic horror takes form of a cat to calm 8 year old kid. ramesses why you broke.

"alchemy in her guts" ramesses stop. stop touching. why are you such a menace.

ohhh incantation. we've seen that a lot. just realised marv will be 10 for his exam, wow.

heyyyy moira. and good effort ramesses.

can marvin opt out of magic? god imagine marv as a lawyer. oh no he has been selected, no choice there. god marv looks anxious about moira and ramesses talking. is that another sam?

TATTOOS AT EIGHT WOW. moira i'm so sorry. OH FUCK MOIRA YOU GOOD????

tey look like a family in the car, grandad, mum and kid. marv got his green cloakkk. hey moira, nothing bad is going to happen to you right. please.

time passing. oh no, marv you good?

HE FAILED????

oh god trial and tribulation art looks so good.

woah. okay. so we have yet to see everything that was on the final page of #0. so that will probably be across the next couple of books. what happened when you fail? does he need to wait another 2 years? 5? he looks significantly older in #2. did not expect a proper ramesses introduction. anyways this was interesting! I enjoyed it a lot, and liked the background character designs too.

anyways until next time

[thechaosqueenishere]

Sooooooo, did I just post about one fanfic I wanna write and am now posting a different one? Absolutely! Let me introduced to you:

The wizard and the infant

An (jse) ego fanfic inspired by Epic! The musical, specifically the first two songs, that is very oc-centric. I don't wanna spoil too much, and I'm tired and don't know what else I'm supposed to write. So for now, enjoy the beginning!

Chapter one (part one)- brace for a storm

Marvin was not having a good week.

A few days ago, a new guy had shown up at their doorstep. That would not have been a problem, if not for Anti deciding that guy was his new favourite puppet and showing up almost every day to attack them and get to him. And yesterday he'd finally managed to kidnap Jameson (or as they started calling him, JJ). He'd not slept all night, neither of them had, really, which really didn't help with them trying to come up with a plan now.

Currently Jackie and Henrik were in the middle of a screaming match. Marvin could feel a migraine coming on. "No! We have to get him out of there, now!" Jackie yelled at Henrik, who slammed his hands on the table. "We can't! We need to recover! If we go now, Anti. Will. Kill. Us. Why can't you get that through your thick skull?" He spat back.

"So what? We should just go to bed? Maybe have a nice breakfast in the morning? Some eggs and bacon maybe? All while Anti is doing god knows what to JJ! Well I'm sorry, but that's bullshit!" Jackie turned towards Marvin. "You agree, right? We need to get him. Right. Now."

Marvin knew Jackie would ask him to agree sooner or later. He sighed.

"Jackie look, I really want to get him back too, but Hen is right. We are in no shape to face Anti right now. I'm not even sure I'll be able to use my magic by the time we find him if I don't rest. I really don't like it, but we have no other choice. We can't help JJ like this." Jackie looked at Marvin in disbelief.

They agreed on most things, and Marvin knew this wasn't what Jackie wanted to hear, but it was what he needed. He was stubborn, and if he refused to listen to Henrik, Marvin telling him might at the very least make him think.

"I can't believe you guys." Jackie got up and walked towards the door. Henrik looked like he was about to say something, but Marvin stopped him.

Jackie slammed the door.

"Give him some time. We're all not doing well right now." Marvin told Henrik. "I know, but I wish he wasn't this much of a thick-head sometimes." Henrik ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Marvin chuckled weakly. "I don't think that's a saying in english, Hen."

Henrik smiled at the comment. Marvin rested his head on his arm. The ringing in his head was not getting better. He was about to ask Henrik for something so the migraine wouldn't get too bad, when he noticed movement on the other side of the table. He realised he'd completely forgotten about Chase, who was sitting on the other side of the table. He felt bad. The poor kid looked awful.

Chase, like Jackie, was just 15. It was shit that he had to spend his teenage years trying to get away from a murderous demon. "How are you doing, Chase?" Marvin asked. Chase winced at the mention of his name. The screaming match had clearly made him anxious.

"I'm- uhm, I dunno"he finally said, quietly. Marvin smiled at him. "That's ok."

"Yeah, like Marvin said, were all not doing well right now." Henrik added and put a hand on Chase's arm. Chase smiled weakly. "I'm really tired" he finally said. "Well, we should all go to bed now." Henrik lightly clapped a hand on the table twice and got up, a little habit Marvin had noticed him doing regularly.

Marvin got up too. He looked at the clock. It was 7 in the morning now. He was absolutely exhausted and while walking to his room, he could feel the ringing in his head grow louder with every step. He considered turning around to get painkillers, but he reeaally wanted to get to his room.

That confused him a bit. It felt like something told him that getting to his room was better than getting the painkillers, as if it wasn't his own feeling.

As soon as he closed the door to his room behind him, Marvin felt like someone hit him over the head with a baseball bat. He heard a scream. His own scream. Pictures of his friends and him being attacked by something flooded his mind. A dark shape… Anti.. no, there was another one… who?…

Just as he felt like his legs couldn't carry him anymore, his head cleared. The ringing remained, not as violent as before, and finally he recognised it. He let go of the door handle he hadn't even noticed he was clinging onto and turned around. Standing in front of him was Darkiplier.

[orangetubor]

OOOH WHAT'S THE POP CULTURE LIKE?? Any common references?? ALSO TELL ME ABOUT THE MUSIC WORLD!! I'm very curious.

Well, to get the background, we need to understand what we brought with us. Sailor moon, Marvin the Martian, star trek, wolf 359, star wars everything space sci-fi or fantasy! We wrote about this place and now we're in it!

And as for what we found: glass domes, blue suns, vast desserts, a mountain so tall it breaks the atmosphere, broken down robots, sand storms, and two moons that will eventually drift away from and crash into us. But we have four million years before that happens, don't we? So let's enjoy the view

The music is wild: a thousand genres, some as old as Chinese opera, some as new as astruca pop. It's all new wave if you think about it, a new era of humanity. There's a lot of synth.

Astruca pop is founded on the concept of 'we are in love with the stars, and we sing about it' upbeat pop, things like 'messages from the stars' and the likes. Themes of celestial bodies, relationships, and insane amounts of synth.

Other genres are not yet named. I've mainly been focusing on the fashion if I'm honest. But here's another space themed one: it has a lot of vocalisations, wacky instruments, and lyrics about how in the vast expanse of space we are alone. Kind of outdated since we discovered aliens. Like... imagine listening to some song about how we are unique in our sentience meanwhile your nextdoor neighbour is a 7'1, six armed alien, from a planet in the neighboring solar system. Embarrassing.

As for media, there's a show called 'mandy mystery' it's a teen girl solves mysteries type show. Similar to Sally Bollywood. Does anyone remember that? Idk. There's also one called 'star racers' you're getting the star theme right. It's like five guys and they all have names like 'red moon' and 'black saturn' cuz. It's space themed who cares. They're drag racers. They wear funny little outfits and pose on top of cars. A lot of these were made up for so I could design group Halloween costumes for the gang. There's probably more shows than that. I just haven't thought of them yet.

Sports is really popular too, low gravity leads to muscle atrophy so you gotta stay active, (god ain't it awful) so there's lots of parks, sports places, etc. So fun ways of getting around are also popular, roller skating, cycling, skate board, they're going places on wheels. Absolutely insane.

And fashion magazines! There's tons, mostly for nouveau futurism, retro futurism, stellar dessert, and random other shit that I haven't named it. They like cowboys too. Astral outback my beloved. There's also thing like 'elegano frill' which is based around black undergarments and white lace/chiffon things, focused on unique silhouettes and fancy hairstyles, it's seen at a lot of weddings. Its counterpart, jangle frill, is much less refined. Seen at concerts, there's the black undergarments again, but this time the veil things are less layers, and are lined with tassels! The hair is much more droopy and more colours! The songs performed are generally made with the jangle of the audience in mind, completing the song.

That's pretty much all I got. Theres a musician called 'vallicent' I'm pretty sure. One called Xiro. Various others.

[showfallmediacameracrew]

[This post was made using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech. If you believe there's been an error and would like to end Showfall Media Text-To-Speech, please say 'End transcript'. ]

[ Input registered: Ambient background noise. People laughing and chattering indistinctly, the clinking of glassware, tapping of cutlery, and faint country music. Closer to the mic is the squeaky sound of someone shifting around on a cushioned booth. ]

J: "Don’t sit on my tail, you can touch it if you want, but I swear to fuck don't sit on my tail."

M: “I’m not touching your tail!”

[ Input registered: More uncomfortable scooting. ]

M: “I forgot how much I hated these stupid booth seats. Why do they even sound like that?”

J: "Hell if I know, it's the first time I’ve sat in one. I guess it’s better than most seats, since I can just put my tail on whatever side you're not on, but it feels like it's way more full of air than it looks. Unfortunate."

M: “I know some seats at Showfall that are better than these. Christ. I hate that I even said that.” 

[ Input registered: Jasprix laughing, quiet metal clinking sounds closeby as something taps on the wood of the table ]

J: “It smells better though then most of the food the food person makes. Probably will taste better than anything the food court would have had. Did the person asking for our orders look confused to you when we asked for the options we chose, or is that a normal look servers have when they don’t wear masks?”

M: “I have no idea. I was too busy looking at everything that sounded good. Fuck, I haven’t had a steak in years.”

J: “Well, I guess you’re having multiple different steaks, and whatever that other stuff you ordered was. I can smell all the different cooked meats in here, it’s amazing, though I do sometimes wish I could eat pancakes again. Steak, though, is still the best of the food types, hmmm.”

M: “I could actually cry right now. A whole fucking filet. All I’ve been eating for months is fucking packaged foods and those shitty little nutrient things. I just remembered I ordered salmon, oh my god.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Abrupt cough. ]

M: “Er, sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve had… well, actual food. It’s getting to me a bit. Fuck.”

J: “I was worried you were about to apologize because you thought I was a fish. It’s fine, what sort of wonderful boyfriend would I be if I didn’t spoil you on whatever you desired for dinner? Especially when I can only agree that those leave much to be desired. Hopefully they won’t mind us bringing some back with us, as I don't see how they could possibly expect us to eat it all at once.”

M: “Mmm, leftovers.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: A quiet chuckle, then a curious noise of interest]

J: “Oh, I believe I spy my house host at the door. Did she take her own advice on dinner places?”

M: “Hm?”

J: “She’s headed for the counter for some reason. Hmm, well, if it comes up, she believes my name is Jasper.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Scoff. ]

M: “Jasper? Why Jasper? You made yourself sound normal.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: shifting of styrofoam containers in plastic, and footsteps approaching getting louder. ]

R: “HEY! Uh- whoops, sorry- hey!”

J: “Hello Ruth, fancy seeing you here. What are you doing?”

R: “Picking up food for me ‘n Chase, uh. I was going to drag him inside with me but he decided at the last second he ‘couldn’t do it’, so. Pick-up. Also…? Oh, is this-?

[ Nonverbal input detected: Quiet metal clinking and quick shifting of fabric ]

J: “My wonderful human boyfriend, yes. Thank you so much for the suggestion to come here. We’re just waiting on our orders.”

M: “Yeah, we are, um… Hi. I’m Marvin. Nice to meet you. You’re… Ruth, correct?”

R: “You told them about-? Oh, well. You did kind of. Sleep in my bathtub. So I guess it would make sense you- Right. Yes. Hi. Ruth Shirbon, Lostfield Reporter. Uhm. Nice… bowtie…?”

J: “It does make him look yummy doesn’t it? Good thing the food here smells so good, or it’d be tempting, he has that effect sometimes.”

M: “We’re in public, man. Shuttup.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: Tail thumping against booth seat as Jasprix snickers. ]

R: “Uhm. Right. The, uh, whole. Cannibalism thing. That’s…! Anyways! Uh. So what’s that like, uh. Dating a demon? Who is also the demon king? Also how did that… happen?? Exactly???”

J: “He flirted with me, so I agreed to his offer of courtship. It was quite fun to participate in the manner he did it in, as well.”

[Nonverbal input detected: Hastily cleared throat and gasp of air before an alteration of pitch to something lower and quicker.] 

M: “Ilostgaychicken.” 

J: “He also loves chicken a great deal, and he was able to order some on the menu here.”

R: “Oh. Uh. Not… entirely sure how that’s relev… doesn’t matter. I’ll leave you guys to your date. It was nice meeting you, Marvin.”

M: “Oh, um, nice meeting you t-”

[Altered Pitch Registered: slightly more hushed tone, but closer to the recording device]

R: “And if you ever see anything strange around Lostfield, you can contact me… uh… crap, did I leave those cards at home?? Did I spend all that time laminating those and forget to fucking- arghhh. Nevermind. Jasper can tell you where I am if you need me. Anyways, uh. Nice seeing you! Bye!

[ Nonverbal input detected: Footsteps rapidly growing quieter, and the opening and closing of a door as Jasprix snickered. ]

J: “I hope you can see why I told her the name Jasper now. I told her the backstory of my character from when I was an actor. The demon king on a date with his human boyfriend.”

M: “That was… interesting, to say the least. Huh. Odd kid. Not in a bad way, just… Odd.”

J: “I might just invite her on a tour of the mall at some point. I think she’d love to see it, and everything that she theorized being wrong.”

M: “Are you trying to get her masked? Absolutely not. No.”

J: “I mean, alright. But the way she was talking about it the day before, I’m pretty sure they’re going to try something on her own. She stands outside the mall every day, darling, they haven’t been killed yet. She’d probably somehow manage to avoid everything and still believe that demons exist and the robots are somehow aliens.” 

[Nonverbal input detected: Fabric shifting amongst metal clinking together, Jasprix sighing as a hand returned to tapping on the wood.]

J: “Apologies if my doing that hurt your arm, I may have forgotten putting my hand around your back to pull you closer wasn’t possible currently. I did my best to not push when I realized, but I apologize if you didn't appreciate my hand pressed to your back with your own hand.”

[ Nonverbal input registered: Quiet chuckle. ]

M: “‘S fine. Don’t worry about it.”

J: “Hmm. Well, I hope whatever she got here for... Chase is an improvement from the constant yogurt she was feeding him before.”

M: “Fucking yogurt? All day? Gees.”

J: “I think he’s very confused, but oddly committed, to playing an idiot demon. He truly got her to believe that demons didn't eat actual food. It’s a mystery how she can believe literally anything either of us have told her.”

M: “Wow. That’s kind of impressive. In a sad way.”

J: “But an impressively active imagination. They could be a writer if they wanted instead of a reporter. Maybe direct something.”

M: “Something outside of Showfall. Very, very far away from Showfall.”

[ Nonverbal input detected: Surprised laugh. ]

J: “Sure, I’ll refrain from mentioning her abilities to anyone important, just for you Honey Bird. Oh look, people carrying fold out tray things. Maybe those are for us and mean our food is done?”

M: “I see my steak.” 

J: “All the food you ordered and you notice the steak first. Goodness, are you sure you’re not also a carnivore, perhaps you’ve been crossed slightly with an eagle and never noticed?”

M: “If I was I’m very sure I would have noticed if feathers started to sprout out of my ass.”

J: “True enough, I did notice the tail rather quickly myself. You should know, when we’re finished, and have the rest of the food secured, we might have to leave quickly.”

[ Altered Pitch Registered: Low whisper just barely caught by mic. ]

J: “The concept of Dine and Dash is something I’ve heard of and wanted to do, and we do not have money.”

M: “Oh shit, we don’t.”

[ Transcript has been manually ended. Thank you for using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech! Posting... ]

[sugarrspice]

"-never seen him so relaxed," Anti hears, and he debates, for one moment, the merit of heaving a completely unnecessary sigh. Instead, he continues to lay still, sprawled out over Chase's lap as he is, Chase idly braiding and unbraiding tiny braids into his hair as he talks with Marvin and Jackie.

Shit, he really needs to cut his hair. But then Chase wouldn't be leaving little braids along the nape of his neck on accident, and-- gods all damn them, they've made him fucking soft.

Used to be he'd cut off someone's hand for touching him. Now he's sitting here preening as someone does his damn hair. The Fell Omen, his fucking ass.

Chase hums in response, and moves on to the next braid, warm hands steady and soft against the coarse strands of hair. "You think so?"

"He's in your lap, looking like he's about to start purring." Anti feels, more than sees, the withering look that Marvin sends Chase, and rumbles a soft laugh. Serves him right for asking stupid questions.

Chase pauses in his braiding only to flick Anti on the head, but his voice stays mild. "You stop laughing. It's an honest question."

"He doesn't let anybody within three feet of his back, let alone his hair, and you're asking if he's relaxed."

"He's pretty," Anti drawls, eyes closed, "but he's not always the sharpest."

Chase sighs, and Anti can feel the sound, lips curling into a smirk. His smirk falters as Chase says, still amused, "I usually leave the sharpness to you and your knife."

"Good. Artemis is a beautiful blade, and she's lasted the longest."

"I forgot how weird he gets about his knives," Jackie mutters, and Chase snickers, dropping the last braid. Anti flips Jackie off without looking; anything else is quite a bit of effort right now.

"Your first superhero name was fucking Jackieboyman. You don't get to say shit about me being weird."

"I panicked," Jackie protests, and Anti's smirk widens as he works himself up into a fit of playful indignation. Marvin groans, loud and pointed, and from the sounds of it, drags Jackie into his lap before he can actually get up.

He cracks open an eye at that, smug as he ever is. "Sounds like someone's coping-"

Chase must take pity on Jackie because he sighs, and flicks Anti again on the forehead, Anti reaches up without looking to catch his wrist. With an air of apparent acceptance, Chase settles back into the couch. "You don't let anybody near your hair, huh?"

"Not just anybody," Anti says, and because he's being indulgent, he figures he'll entertain this line of conversation and let Jackie go. "You're not just anybody. I trust you."

"That, and Brody's too soft to do much more than slap someone," Marvin hums, amused. "Harmless as they come."

Anti's eyes flick to meet Chase's at that; steel blue and bright, venomous green. Steel blue, warm as Chase's weight against his side, but Anti knows how cold those eyes can be, hard as the gun tucked away into a safe, safely out of sight. For the briefest flicker of a moment, they're back in the freezing sleet, a smoking gun in Chase's hand and blood pooling around Anti's feet. There are callouses, well and hard earned, catching against Anti's hair.

Anti smirks, then, and stretches further into Chase's touch. "Harmless," he echoes, almost mocking, and Chase huffs a soft laugh at the shared joke, before leaning down to press a kiss against Anti's forehead.

"For you? Always."