#rip birdman

[howyoustudythestars]

How to trigger painful Owl City 2022 ARG memories in just two words...

Music Decoder

[kushstronaut]

R.I.P. Rich Homie Quan

[shellovish]

Me? posting art even though my tablet is broken? its more likely than you think

[unwilling-therapist]

snappiness. Is a new word I enjoy now. And yeah. It might also be a horrible pun describing how Singer is only happy when he is snappy. Sue me.

[r0-boat]

Birdie Bride

Sfw Yandere!Harpy! Larry x GN!reader

Cw: slight yandere, (no killing or harm towards reader just watching them and kidnapping)

Gendered nickname: Wife (Larry does not know anything about humans)

Author's notes: yandere Larry is easy mode. I see him being a very light yandere. The most he'll do is kidnap you really and stalk you, but that's about it. So, you people who don't really like yandere's for their overbearing and murdering nature I feel like you enjoy this one.

Gentle claws brush against your cheek. Sharp jet-black eyes gaze down at you, taken in your unconscious form sprawled out in his nest. Curiosity took over the creature's mind as he tried to figure it out. Who or what are you? He had always watched you from afar his, his claws digging into the bark of a tree, watching you, studying you, a craving to satisfy a need to creep closer. 

Now that he had found you unconscious in that weird, thin hide cage. Larry could finally fully drink you in, cause gently prodding your hair and pawing at each strand to find out a single feather; at the same time, his own talons graze through his own black and white hair as if he was comparing mammalian hair to his mixed concoction of human hair and avian feathers.

He wasn't done. However, his claws gently grazed against your skin down your arm as if meticulously looking for a single feather on your skin.

You were not a harpy, it was evident, not a single feather on you. Your Talons were dull and flat, and when he gently pressed his thumb against your lip to inspect your teeth you had no Sharp things to rip and tear through meat, feeling your soft fleshy lips in the process.

You were not a harpy, but he can't deny the Primitive feeling he felt when he caught a whiff of your scent, even now as he pressed his nose against the nape of your neck, his black and white wings puffed up, his eyes open and softened.

Intoxicating.

If not, mate, then why is his body reacting this way? Why is his heart pounding in his chest? His face flushed with heat, instinctually letting out a low-throated cooing noise. He wanted more. Larry wasn't sure what he wanted, but he knew he wanted more: no more light touches with his fingers to inspect you. He tried to place his hand against your stomach, almost hypnotized by how it moved up and down as you breathed calmly. Despite his eagerness to be close to his mate, his hand approached you slowly and carefully.

Only to flinch away when you stir in his nest, tossing in the soft straw pillows and blankets. Keeping his distance but quietly observing as you slowly awaken from your slumber, expecting to wake up in your tent only to realize that your hand grazes through a straw immediately. Your heart quickens the fog of sleepiness immediately lifting as you bolt awake, scaring the figure next to you. Black wings flap as he jumps back, startled by your sudden movement, only to crawl toward you slowly.

That's when you finally saw your kidnapper. Jet black eyes matching with his feathers, with with what you see patches of graying feather. Even as he crawled, it was clear that he could easily tower over you. You were unable to speak due to your circumstances, and you're being riddled with anxiety and fear of just being kidnapped while unconsciously thinking that it's just a bad dream. Your palms were sweaty legs and arms shaking. You are not on the ground anymore, your eyes looking down a high drop. 

Larry notices your eyes filled with fear. His voice is low, husky, yet gentle.

"Do not be scared, wife. I will not hurt you,"

Out of everything that was happening, that one little nickname robbed your attention away, finally getting you able to speak.

"W-wait what did you just call me?" Your voice cracked fear still in your system as you try to scoot a little away as the big birdman urges you closer to his body.

"This is what human males call their mates, is it not?"

His knowledge of humans is highly lacking. However, getting him to change his mind on the little pet name he gave you seems complicated. But you had better things to worry about, like getting out of this nest and away from him.

" you do not have wings, wife; please stay away from the edge."

Larry cooed, still using that softer voice. You pull your arms closer to your body, or fists clenched as your whole body tenses up. His black wings brush against your side and closing you against his chest.

Almost in his lap, your body was pressed against him, a firm hand against your back, and his wing wrapped around you. You feel his nose nestle against your forehead.

Even though you've been kidnapped, things could have been worse. This bird guy doesn't seem like he wants to hurt you. You can't help but feel your heart fluttered by his voice when he calls you that little nickname. Even though he's technically wrong, it doesn't feel bad. Holding you against his chest like this feels kind of nice; it is better than killing you. Hopefully, you can convince him to let you go. Unbeknownst to you, Larry plans to keep you for a very long time.

[kisskiss-bang-bang]

rip cherri, u would've loved amyl and the sniffers

i watched the show(pirated, dw) it was eh. it could have been better, but i wanted to redesign cherri so she actually looked punk

her pins say "generic punk pin" and "kind hearted degenerate"

and her patches are for the bands "the birthday party" "the thought criminals" "radio birdman" "exploding white mice" and "the celibate rifles"

[therollingstonys]

Hellooo, no. 4 for buckytony? :3

Hello anon!! Good choice!!

4 “where it hurts”

Tony can’t remember the last time he’s been hurt this bad—probably Afghanistan. There isn’t an inch of him that doesn’t hurt, isn’t bruised or possibly broken, but all he can focus on is the broken and bleeding body of Bucky Barnes strung up in chains in front of him.

Bucky wasn’t even supposed to be on this mission with him, but Rhodey was on his honeymoon with Nat and Steve was on a different mission with Sam, and Tony had told Clint that he could handle it alone, but Birdman had refused to let him go without backup.

So now they’re here, in some shitty Hydra bargain basement laboratory with sadistic assholes trying to utilize Bucky’s blood to make new super soldiers—the song remains the same with these jackasses.

When they finally let Bucky out of the chains, they laugh as Tony pulls him close with shaking hands, their sneers ugly in the low light, their words in Russian, but the tone is still easily recognizable—hateful and cruel.

There’s little light available, but what there is he can see that Bucky’s in worse shape than he is—his golden skin has gone ghostly pale and his lips have a blueish tint that Tony really doesn’t like.

It’s only been a couple days, but Tony knows that neither of them can survive this much longer.

Pressing his lips to Bucky’s brow he holds him close, trying to share body heat—the concrete of the room saps all the warmth and strength from their bodies, but he’s damned sure not going to give up on trying to keep them alive.

Bucky makes a soft noise and tilts his head, eyes barely open as he smiles faintly at Tony. “Hey sweetheart,” he rasps out, voice broken and raw.

“Hey, hey Buck, just—just hang on,” Tony murmurs quietly, “the tracker in the arc is active, the others will find us,” he assures him, though he’s not actually sure it’ll happen while they’re still alive.

Bucky hums and lifts a shaking hand to nudge at Tony’s jaw, “Gimme a kiss,” he whispers and Tony’s eyes burn with unshed tears.

“Where?” he murmurs, “you’re hurt all over, I don’t want—”

“Kiss me where it hurts then,” Bucky slurs out, eyes drooping heavily and Tony chokes back a fearful sound that wants to rip free at the way Bucky is fading in his arms.

Nodding, he leans in brushes gentle kisses over Bucky’s brow, his sharp cheekbones, his bruised eyelids, his bloody lips.

By the time he pulls away Bucky is out, a soft smile on his face as he sleeps, and Tony has to brush away tears with a shaking hand.

Pulling Bucky closer, he leans back against the cold concrete wall and waits for rescue—or death.

[maxwell-grant]

So, as a lover of superheroes, supervillains, super-science ETC, i've had Venture Bros on the mind recently, for reasons that should be obvious, and my mind has run into an intersting question I kinda want to pick your brain on: Why does Venture Bros work. Like, it's a show that is absurdly cynical and dark and bleak. It's comedically dark, but sitll dark. Downright mean-spirited a lot of the time. And normally, I find that kind of cynicism very dull, but...For some reason, here it feels like it works. Maybe it's just the sense of affection, of real love for classic 60s cartoons and superhero comics sprinkled throughout, but...I don't know, it feels like it should make me as angry as something like Velma does but it just doesn't. I don't know why. ANy thoughts

I said as much that a lot of that has to do with the fact that the show stuck around, and the characters were developed so vividly, that the creators had to answer the "...okay, so now what?" process, that usually stops those kinds of mean dark parodies right on their tracks when they run out of cheap shots to take. But honestly, going back and rewatching it? Venture Bros was always going to go there, the whole Jonny Quest parody thing just did not last past Season One, hell you could argue it didn't even really last past the pilot or midway through S1. By episode one of Season 2, the show had gestated into it's own thing. The show was allowed to grow, and change, and develop. It got to move past itself and say goodbye to old favorite ideas and say hello to new ones, it got to breathe new life into itself with the soft-reboot of Season 6 and keep being so much more with every new season.

The artbook goes into this quite a lot, actually, with Jackson talking about how Venture Bros started as a one-off gag observation about how Jonny Quest ripped off Tom Swift, and then became a concept when he realized he could fit all of his unused ideas for The Tick and superhero parodies and weird comic ideas. He and Doc Hammer actually specifically address how the parody element faded and why:

I like the pilot. It isn't the show that we made. but I like the pilot. The pilot was made with a different concept. I can watch it and not tie it into Venture Bros. I can go, "Okay, here are these characters in their first bid for comedy,", and it had moments when we both said, "Yes, we will perpetuate these moments. This is who these characters are." And it had moments of single-beat pilot jumps. It was fine. It was not the show that we kept writing, because we couldn't.

There's something about a straight parody that I think has a cap. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people can write a parody forever, but I think you can only make so many jokes on one thing for a certain amount of time before you go, "We have to develop the world that these people are in.". It needs a revolving door.

You would need to approach it like Harvey Birdman, which said, "We're going to take every character we can get a license for, bring them onto the show, and have them do their thing in our world so we can demystify all the characters you remember from your childhood". It's a great straight-up parody. But if you take Sealab 2021 - that had nothing to do with the original. They took these drawings, and they said, "These are totally different people. We're going to give them their own different world, their own language, characters", and that worked.

We were leaning towards that. Venture Bros was even weirder because we said, "Let's make this world rock solid and deep and long and have just an abundance of information. Let's have the jokes come from everywhere, and the speed is hard to keep up with. You have to watch it twice". And that was nothing that Jackson and I talked about. Let's make this smart, rich and meaningful, and hope that other people have our sensibility and eventually get it. - Doc Hammer, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

There's even this quote from Jackson regarding one of the earliest attempts made in trying to figure out the show's look and design where it was supposed to be animated in CG at Will Vinton Studios, and it was intended to look gorgeous as well as outrageously expensive and within six months everyone aboard had left and Jackson's time in The Tick was up so he had to get production on the new thing moving along. And he describes what wound up being a pretty effective summation of the show post-animation bump;

"Screw the bad-on-purpose sixties Marvel thing. Screw irony. Isn't it way more subversive to do this smart-ass, darkish comedy but have every aspect of it look gorgeous?

That's what got me thinking that it's way cooler to make things well and beautiful than to try to make them crappy on purpose - Jackson Publick, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

Most if not everything that makes the show work, that makes it's character work, you can trace pretty directly from that process, of where the show started versus where it ended. It's Rusty Venture becoming a more complicated character and less of a mean caricature. It's Brock Samson needing things to do besides being the action badass who kills armies of disposable henchmen, and the show needing to move past him and make him so much more as a person. It's in how the show was originally conceived in a villain-of-the-week format and The Monarch was a throwaway gag character for the pilot, but The Monarch's defined personality and shtick worked well enough that it made it much easier and more rewarding for them to just go back to him for most episodes, until he wormed his way into becoming the show's other protagonist. It's Hank and Dean growing past literally and textually interchangeable and disposable Hardy Boys pastiches into actual people, distinct people, people who can carry their own plotlines and take center stage and actually be The Venture Brothers as something more than just a throwaway gag concept.

I'm certainly not saying it works for everyone, or that it works 100% of the time, again rewatching the show is putting a lot into perspective for me and a lot of jokes kinda did just age abysmally, but the show knows what it's doing enough to skirt by and avoid a lot of catastrophic pitfalls that usually happen with similar projects.

And really I'd say the main reason it works is, and it's never really just one reason, is because it was, and is, a painstaking labor of love founded on a marriage by two geeks (I'm not even exaggerating, that's how the two described their partnership at least a few times) shooting the shit at a treefort for nights on end, getting to do all these dumb voices that you only get to do with friends, laboring extensively for years on making this thing they'd created the best that it possibly could be, something they put all of themselves into again and again. It's them making a dozen different comedy duos voiced by themselves and finding ways to make each distinct so they can fit in all these dumb and lovely little conversations and skits, it's that combination of their skills and preferences and even disagreements. It's got that Asterix thing where the work is so inseparably intertwined with the partnership that made it, that the work's growth over time is tied to.

So honestly the best way I can summarize why I think the Venture Bros works is because it was 19 years of Jackson Pollock and Doc Hammer at AstroBase doing exactly this, just replace the cartoon sound effects with deep cut pop culture riffs and in-depth earnest extrapolations of why the comic books and cartoons they love and obsess about are deeply stupid on a fundamental level and why this something great that you can spin endless stories and scenes out of, actually no keep the over-the-top battle sound effects, those are equally important.

"Jackson and I, we'd go every day and talk and laugh and get to know each other and not even talk about the show, but just find out what our sensibilites were. It was like the process of falling in love"

We played darts and made up these little skits, much of it became The Venture Bros. It was all kind of based around this idea that Aquaman and Black Manta were not who they were but people that were much chattier and more social. It's almost like what The Monarch and Dr Venture became, actual people that have these bizarre jobs: chaser and chasee. This strange bureaucratic relationship with the paradigm of villain and hero.

I'm a goofball and name shit. Of course I named my studio. We took over the place and AstroBase as this entity - a really filthy fucking painting studio - became a creative tree fort. Owning the AstroBase is one of the things that made The Venture Bros.

A place where we could go at two in the morning and scream at the top of our lungs that had nothing to do with commerce. It was a clubhouse. A pure idiot invention. And if we wanted to stay up all night making costumes or rubber swords, we just did. - Doc Hammer - Doc Hammer, Go Team Venture!: The Art and Making of The Venture Bros.

[rakkuntoast]

qphilza most likely will stay locked until Friday so rip birdman he's gonna go feral lol

on the other hand WOOO HARDCORE 🔛🔝

[thepirarucuandtheorca]

Goonya Monster Oneshot: Birdman of a Different Feather

AN: Albatross focused story go! He's my newest OC at the time of writing this, so this is a bit of an origin for him and how he joined Orcinus. Also mentioning of Seal, a new OC created by @dragoningachahell(@whentheorcinusbeorca).

The decision I made forever changed me. Walking among the Monsters...I never even knew that it was possible to do so. I knew they were always there from the start, not just made with a potion that could make a human like me a Monster. How I know this is because a Monster ambushed me and my family days ago. I was scared out of my wits, not knowing what to do as the beast prepared to make its attack on me. I must of fainted, because next thing I knew...I was alone. The Monster was gone and so was my family. I sighed happily upon seeing that they were able to get away, but they left me behind accidentally.

I also happened to be a bit bruised too. It must of did do a punch on me, but it didn't hurt whatsoever. I was alone for days, trying to avoid trouble at every angle since I didn't have anything to arm myself with nor was I a Monster. I was just human. This would keep going on until that one fateful day when those women approached me. I still remember their faces and their names: Orca and Manta. They looked like close friends too from what I could tell since when they walked up to me, they both were smiling at each other before getting serious.

They told me that they could make me stronger and that I could be one with these creatures before offering me a deal to join Orcinus, a secret Monster organization, and to take the potion. I will admit it kind of did confuse me as to why humans like me would just want to be these mysterious beasts that have existed long before their own existence until I found out the truth. It was a way to deal with the ones who had existed before we did, thinking it would be a good solution to the problem. Fighting fire with fire.

I don't exactly remember what the Monster that separated me from my family looked like, but I knew that it was going to pay for what it did to me. So I agreed. I accepted the offer, took the potion, and drank it in one setting. If I was going to encounter that Monster again and find my family's whereabouts, I knew I had to get stronger. They welcomed me into the group with opens arms before I started feeling uneasy. I felt like I wanted to cough out my own gut out, but then it happened. My own transformation into a Monster.

There were some parts I remember like my face shifting into a beak, feathers bursting through my flesh, the ripping of muscles growing and cracking of bones to fit the new structure I was taking on...you get the picture. I also remember falling on my rear when the change was done, breathing heavily after what I had just went through. The women were still there too. Had they witnessed the whole thing?! Oh geez, that just made me almost have anxiety. Thankfully, Orca had reassured me that they were used to seeing humans transform shortly after taking the potion, since that was a normal thing.

At the same time though, I didn't feel like myself. Well, I felt like a mix of just me normally and the Monster I had taken on. Being in this alien body wasn't easy at first. It just felt like I had a thousand pounds slapped right on top of me with how top heavy I felt as I tried to get up to my feet. The feathers made me feel weighed down a little bit...and that's when I realized that I became a bird. A Birdman as Manta, the other woman, had called it.

Thankfully I was able to turn normal again after trying not to pass out even once. With that finished, I was then led to the main meeting spot for Orcinus. Since it was secret, no human was to know about it. Just the humans who had taken the potion. It was quite nice, but it felt alien to me just by seeing all of the people turned Monsters. After awhile...it started feeling like home. I happened to engage in the meetings and talk to other members, even making some friends too. 

Slug was the first person I met upon joining Orcinus. He was a very kind gentleman, and he looked to be around my age or a tad younger than me. He told me about his younger sister, Snail. She sounded like a wonderful sibling. It made me think of mine and all of the fun times we shared together. Yes, I told Slug about my sibling, and it made him smile. I could tell that he loved Snail dearly and that he wanted to see her again someday.

Then everything changed in a way that was both weird and unexpected. I met Anemone, some kind of psycho scientist who happened to be a mastermind behind the potions and her assistant: Moray. I could tell that they were nervous. It almost reminded me of me when I first arrived at Orcinus. Apparently I became friends with them upon finding out that the potion turned me into a Birdman...and let me tell you. It got weird. That Moray person poofed into a Nega-Birdman(Orca and Manta had given me the details on them after seeing Slug's Nega-Nine Tails form)out of nowhere and gave me a hug that almost crushed me! They sure were strong for a Monster.

What shocked me was that the Monster introduced themselves as Petrel and not Moray. Maybe both have different personalities and identities despite being one in the same? It just confused me, but they actually were pretty chill. Moray appolgized to me when Petrel poofed back into them, but I just understood and told them that it was all good. That was when we became friends for real. Guess Petrel got their proclaimed bird buddy after all. Heh. That kind of makes me laugh.

After that, I then saw her. She was beautiful, and I blushed at the sight of her. Orca had told me that her name was Seal, an earlier member of Orincus even before she was reunited with Manta. Orca had yet to introduce Manta to her, and I wanted to possibly talk to her someday since at first she looked crazy scary and a tad harsh. Maybe I could work up the courage to say something. All I know is that things might be looking up for me. That is...until those certain humans came into the story.

[forgottenvice]

Feathers in a Storm Ch 13

AO3

From the Beginning

Artist

Mobei Jun saw red as he surged into the room, he fisted his hand into the back of his uncle’s doublet and ripped the man away from Qinghua. He didn’t even bother to see where the man landed, instead diving to catch the birdman before he hit the floor. 

“Qinghua!” He cushioned the fragile weight, cradling him as the both dropped. “Please, I’m right here. Look at me, Qinghua please.” Mobei Jun’s chest felt too small for his breath, eyes stinging as he pleaded. 

He’d just found Shang again, but the fragile hope that he had for breaking the man’s curse crumbled, slipping through his fingers. 

He gripped the knife sticking out of Qinghua’s chest and pulled it from the birdman’s flesh. He ended up taking a small handful of feathers with it. 

Qinghua let out a pitiful cry, one that made his heart twist, but it needed to be done. He had to take it out before it killed the man he loved. The same man who went limp in his arms as teh blade clattered to the floor. 

His panic rose, deep red blood surged from the wound. He couldn’t tell how deep it went or how close it made it to Qinghua’s heart. Something further obfuscated by Qinghua’s half bird state. Was his heart still in the same place? It didn’t matter, the rush of sticky red through his fingers was far from encouraging. 

Anger surged through him, he wanted to yell for a physician, he wanted to scream at whatever god might listen, anyone, anything that could help. Deciding that he alone would not be enough he scooped Qinghua from the floor standing, trying to think of where he could go or what he could do. 

He turned toward the door only to finally remember that he’d not come alone. Binghe had managed to wrestle his uncle to the ground while the Cang Qiong ambassador was striding toward him with purpose. 

“Put him in the bed.” The man gestured with his fan, his tone firm and guiding. Mobie Jun followed the instruction on autopilot, doing his best not to jostle Qinghua’s still bleeding wound. He laid the birdman out in the bed, the very same one he’d shared with the King barely a day before. 

He was so much smaller, dark feathers blending into Mobei Jun’s dark sheets. So different from the pale man he’d been wrapped in them not long ago. Mobei Jun desperately hoped he would be able to see that man again, but first Qinghua would have to survive. 

Rest on AO3

[rinbylin]

tagged by @susiejj (thank you 🥰) to share faves of the month (i assume august):

河边的错误 only the river flows (2023) / birdman of alcatraz (1962)

special shoutout to the ritz (1976) for being so delightful and fun, and made me miss physical comedy of errors + grace guigley (1984) for murderous little old lady kate in a dark comedy AU of my beloved the reckless moment 1949 🤭

tagging @markiafc @karinyosa @pastelcryptid @seeorseem or anyone else who wants to do it

(idk enough mutuals who are actively into movies rip or I can't remember sorry </3)

[thehours2002]

if she was my wife i would not cheat on her or throw a kitchen knife at her. rip to birdman but im different

[avenin]

TAG GAME: 10 Fandoms, 10 Characters

Tagged by the lovely @tonbanereblogs

Fandoms:

1. Mr. birdman himself, Revali from Breath of the Wild. The brainrot for that man is unbelievable . Like I actually cannot believe how much I am obsessed wit him. Idk if I wanna be him or be in him but—

2. Stiles from Teen Wolf; that guy formed my personality. He was also the first fandom experience with transgender-ness that made me go “oh wait-“ about my gender. Which was neat! I also just love me a silly little guy 🤭

3. Zim & Dib from Invader Zim. I lump these two together because their weird little toxic co-dependency has me fascinated. I used to want to be Zim when I was in the fandom (many many many moons ago); His odd mannerisms tweaked my pre-teen soul

{realizing very quickly that I have NOT been in many fandoms}

4. This isn’t a show or game but Markiplier was a HUGE influence for me through my teen years. His videos and attitudes really helped shape me into the person I am today and gave me my fuckin goofy sense of humor

Gotta be honest most of my blorbos are from Zelda; I was out of the fandom scene for a good few years and Zelda is/was my reintroduction to fandom life. It’s the first fandom I’ve actually made art for and have tried engaging with. I’ve always been a lurker before this.

Link my GUY. Love how his gender is my gender. Ganon is such a fun and interesting character to play with! Zelda rips my soul to pieces. Love the champions!

anyway, that’s all I really have to say! Thanks for tagging me! Sorry it’s not more interesting haha ^^’’

I tag: @ginneke @naturalld @mommacomms @ghirahimbo @senchee @amiharana @coconi @john---baptist

No pressure to do this but I’d love to see your guys’ things! So tag me if you end up doing it!

[venusbutasaboy]

practice cyanotype runs,,, to be combined with screen printing,,, (rip warhol),,

large scale canvases soon :) shirts to be followed

*meme of birdman rubbing his hands*

ugh! this next collection is going to change me for the better VROOM VROOM BITCH

[lux-et-astra]

The Sink Session Six Transcript

Session Six: When We Don’t Come Back

#INTRO

[MUSIC]

VOICE OVER: Welcome to Sink Systems. If you are new to the service, make sure you start at the beginning. This is not the beginning. A warning. This session contains swearing, psychological difficulty, burning, burning, burning. For safety, we recommend you wear headphones from this point on.

[MUSIC]

[SFX: DISTORTION]

WOMAN 1: (DISTORTED) It’s an easy game.

[SFX: DISTORTION]

WOMAN 2: The scarecrow closes its hot, little button eyes, and puts its straw arms out like a nice big shape and it starts to count down. And the birds fly away, into the trees. The scarecrow opens its very warm, button eyes, and starts looking. And when it finds a bird, it –

WOMAN 1: They get to scare you.

WOMAN 2: You can’t stop, until all the little birds are scared.

MAN: I think we called it… Birdman.

WOMAN 2: The last bird to get scared is scared so much it isn’t a bird anymore, and it stretches out its arms, the new scarecrow, and it starts to count.

WOMAN 1: And then you start again. And then you start again. And then you start – start – start again.

[SFX: BBC SOUNDS JINGLE]

VOICE OVER: BBC Sounds. Music, radio, pod– podcasts.

NARRATOR: Welcome to your final session of The Sink. You’re finally here. You’ve finally ripped it back to where it all started. In the final session, there’s only one thing left to do. You just have to remember what happened. You have to do it all over again. The dreams might try to get in. They want to hide it, they want to protect you, but don’t let them, alright? This isn't about them. This is about what happened. You have to remember it, or you’ll never be free. You're here. You’re finally back! There's nothing left to do but do it. Don’t worry! I’ll be here, the whole time.

[MUSIC STOPS]

[SFX: RUSTLING]

NARRATOR: Go!

#SCENE ONE - FOREST

[SFX: ZIPPING, FOREST NOISES]

WOMAN: Hello! Ugh, okay! Think – that’s everything, so… if we sleep by the lake, tonight, we can set off properly in the morning, yeah? We can tell everyone in like a week, or whatever. When they’re fucking worried! Not that it really matters. (SHOUTED) Bye, everyone! See ya fuckin’ never! (SPOKEN) Alright, put some music on –

[SFX: HEAVY BREATHING]

WOMAN: Nice. They are gonna be so surprised when we don’t come back! (PAUSES) Ugh, cold. Okay, bored now. Let’s play a game, okay? C’mon! It’ll warm us up. Just for a bit, ‘til it gets… until it gets dark. I’m glad you’re here, you know? People don’t… they just don’t –

NARRATOR: Properly understand.

WOMAN: I’ll be scarecrow? Only one bird, but that’s fine, cause you are the best one anyway.

NARRATOR: Please.

WOMAN: It’ll warm us up? Nice and warm? Okay. I’m gonna count down, and you go.

WOMAN & NARRATOR: Three… two… one… go.

[SFX: SLAMMING]

[SFX: RUSTLING, HEAVY BREATHING]

NARRATOR: Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Good. You ran, remember? You started again, and you ran. Then what? What did you do? Your dreams will want to slip in. They want to forget this all over again, but you’ve come so far, don’t go back to the start! Go go go go! Whoo!

MAN (SONIC THE HOG): Help! Help!

NARRATOR: No, he’s not real, he’s not what happened. Fight it.

MAN: (FAINT) Can you take your headphones off?

NARRATOR: Fight it.

MAN: (FAINT) D’you mind? My foot, my – my red foot! It’s a lovely red boot! And my hands – I can’t get my hands out of the – I can’t make a fist, they’re both just stuck in a thumbs up! It’s the character!

NARRATOR: Leave him, he’s just a distraction. Remember what happened, run. Run!

[SFX: HEAVY BREATHING, RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]

MAN: (FAINT) Just the character! For the fun run, everyone was! Sonic, the… I’m Sonic the Hog!

NARRATOR: Ignore him! Keep going, you ran, then what. Concentrate, hold onto it. Keep a grip on it, keep a grip.

MAN (BALANCED FOR EGGS): (OVERLAPPING) Keep a grip on it!

NARRATOR: Careful.

MAN: Keep a grip on it!

NARRATOR: You’re letting them in!

MAN: A grip on the eggs, I mean!

NARRATOR: (DISTORTED) You were running.

MAN: The spoon, you see, it’s uh – it’s balanced for eggs!

NARRATOR: If you let them in –

MAN: Oh, you’re going quite quickly now, aren’t you –

NARRATOR: You’ll need to find your own way.

MAN: My father boiled a chicken once. In an egg.

NARRATOR: Your own way back.

MAN: The chick, it had been boiled in the egg. She was all boiled up. The feathers were white and boiled. Sometimes they’re just born too hot, there’s nothing you can do! If you’re born all boiled up like that. You can’t change it. When people are born all boiled up, all hot, or just different, you know, it’s not your fault, but if you don’t stay away, well –

NARRATOR: Run!

[SFX: HEAVY BREATHING]

MAN: (FAINT) If you don’t stay away, whatever happens, that's – that’s up to you! (INDISTINCT) Have you ever been to Milton Keynes shopping centre? They’ve got an animatronic frog! It burps disgusting bubbles!

[SFX: HEAVY BREATHING, FOOTSTEPS SLOW]

NARRATOR: Good! You’re back. The woods remember, that’s where it happened. Leave the sand. (DISTORTED) It’s not real. Ignore it.

WOMAN (SAND SELLER): Hello darling, can I stop you for one minute? Do you sort your bills, darling? No problem, darling, not gonna cause you any grief today, can see you’re in a bit of a hurry – but do you mind my asking, who does your sand? Friend’s in the living room, got lots of sand, suddenly she’s gone, uh oh! Where’s she gone? Follow the footprints, little dark footprints, all the sand, top of the roof more sand, and she’s just having a little dance with herself! Lovely stuff, no one needs to call the police. Not until it becomes clear that someone’s gone missing. Uh oh, where’s she gone? Uh oh! Where’d you last see her? Cause they’re gonna start asking lots of questions, aren’t they?

[SFX: DOOR, HEAVY BREATHING]

WOMAN: They’re going to ask you – they’re going to ask you if you could have done anything to stop it.

[SFX: DOOR, HEAVY BREATHING]

MUM (FEATHERS): Love, are you in there? You going out then, are you? I don’t want you to just be… doing things because… other girls have told you to do it. Alright? Don’t do anything… just because someone’s telling you. Alright?

[SFX: WATER RUNNING]

MUM: Just because… that girl is telling you to. Sweetheart, just… these little swimming trips, and camping trips, and little… obviously it’s lovely that you’ve – that you’ve got a friend.

[SFX: WATER DRAINING, DOOR]

MUM: But sweetheart… I don’t know about that girl. It’s nice she gets out, obviously boring for her, just… just with her grandma and grandad, but… people say things, darling. Her little games. Little stories. What happened in the swimming pool, it’s just… it’s nice you like her, but she’s… she’s not quite right, is she love? It’s best not to annoy her. Alright love? It’s best not to annoy her.

[SFX: WATER DRAINING]

MUM: Oh, the poor pipes… your dad did say.

[SFX: CLATTERING, SPLASH]

[SFX: UNDERWATER TRYING TO BREATHE, UNDERWATER SCREAMS]

[SFX: GASP]

MAN: We need everyone out please, quickly. Out of the pool please, orderly as you can. We’ve had an incident. Any lost items we collect can be fetched as – main items. Excuse me, out you get please. I’m afraid we cannot take the risk of anyone trying to dig. No place, this, for something like that. She said she needed it all to be dry, do you know anything about that? Dry for the fire. Excuse me. Very important you tell us the truth, okay? This is for her sake as much as anyone else. (FAINT) Excuse me, do you understand? Do you want a towel, for your body?

MECHANIC: It’s all looking good, she’s a much better colour, and her heart beep’s strong. She has been asking for you, demanding… obviously when she came in, we weren’t… we weren’t, uh, sure what we were dealing with, but, but she’s… powerful. She’s very determined to, to live. You’re the only one she wants! Not quite right, is she!

MUM: Not quite right, is she, love.

MECHANIC: She said something about, um, a game?

MUM: Little games, her little stories.

MECHANIC: What did she say – she said, um – she said –

MUM: Best not to annoy her.

MECHANIC: She said, at this point in the maze…

MUM: All things considered…

MECHANIC: At this point, there is a fire.

[SFX: RUSTLING]

DAD (BEARINGS): Right, get our bearings.

SIMON: I know it’s been stressful, this gala, those fucking pumas… honestly, a lot of them deserve what’s coming to them.

DAD: Two fields off from the scarecrow…

SIMON: But some monster –

DAD: One field off from the scarecrow…

SIMON: Is not coming –

[SFX: SYNTH]

DAD: In the tent with the scarecrow!

SIMON: To get me!

NARRATOR: Yes! That’s right. You’re back!

WOMAN (CAT ASHES): Um… I’ve got a story.

NARRATOR: I found you.

MAN (CHILDREN IN THERE): I’ve got a story.

NARRATOR: And when I find you…

MAN (HUFF AND PUFF): I’ve got a story.

NARRATOR: I get…

WOMAN (SHERBET): I’ve got a story.

NARRATOR: To scare you.

[SFX: SYNTH]

WOMAN (FOREST): Stop! Stop. Got you. Got you.

[SFX: HEAVY BREATHING]

NARRATOR: I’ve got a story.

WOMAN: I’ve got a story. Okay? That’s gonna be your scare. You just have to listen to the story. To the end, that’s all. Okay? And then it’s finished. And we go back. Okay?

[SFX: FLICKING LIGHTER]

WOMAN: Once, there were two people who… met each other in the world, and they knew that the world was all wet. They could see it was, it was dripping cold, all of it, and that all their clothes and bodies were heavy and their sleeves dragged along the road dripping off all the wetness everywhere they went and they were the only ones who could f– feel it. It was all wet and covering everything, and it made all… everything cold, and heavy, and dark. And even though they – they tried, they tried to make it dry, every time they tried to help, everyone else would stop them. They’d come and put water in their mouths and, and water them all out until they were even heavier and full and it couldn’t work. And they tried so hard, but it just – it couldn’t work. So one day, they ran away. Sloshing around in all their clothes and dripping their footprints on the ground and they ran! And they got away. 

[SFX: RUSTLING, LIGHTER FLICKING]

WOMAN: They found the woods! And they built a house, a dry house, and they built it out of straw. See? They could get rid of the dark heavy clothes, everything and all the water out of their mouths, and be dry! But, there was a problem. The problem was, it was still all dark and wet inside their skin. Sloshing around all their pipes so they couldn’t just get rid of the clothes, they couldn’t just stop there. 

[SFX: SOUNDS OF A FIRE BEING STARTED]

WOMAN: They wanted to, but that’s not what happens, in the story. No no, it’s okay, it’s okay, listen, listen, don’t… don’t move. So they couldn’t just get rid of the outside clothes. And they were so tired of being cold and heavy and dark. And they wanted to be dry and warm, all the way through, so they built the house out of straw. And they knew all they needed to do to be dry, and warm, forever was just to huff, and puff, and burn the house down. Wait, it’s not – it’s not finished, wait. Just – let’s – let’s put some music on. You have your headphones? C’mon. One for you, one for me.

[MUSIC]

WOMAN: Ugh, it’s the best song in the world. So. So, they knew, it would – it would hurt, for a minute. It would hurt for a little min– minute, but then, they would be so warm and dry to their bones forever. And they knew that the wet ones would look for them, but they were together, and they knew that sometimes, it’s better when people don’t come back. And they knew that it would feel – it would – you’re not, hah, you’re not listening to the – wait, stop – you’re not listening, to the end. We can only finish the game if you listen to the end, so you have to stop. They knew it would feel hot, just for a minute, for a little bit, but then they would feel so clean and dry, and then – no one would ever come – stop! – no listen, you have to – wait, stop! – you have to finish the scare, otherwise it won’t be finished. You’re the little bird – no! Come back, you have to – come back! Wait! Ah, fuck! Fuck!

[MUSIC & SINGING]

WOMAN: Help me! No, come on – (INDISTINCT) Wait, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. Just stay! Stay here! Stay here! No, wait – lie down, come back! It’ll be so much better if we don’t come back! Wait! Don’t leave me!

[SFX: SPLASH]

WOMAN: Ah, ah! (SCREAM) No! Come back!

[MUSIC & SINGING]

WOMAN (SHERBET): She says, this is the best song in the world. And… it is. And you look at each other, and you just think… oh no. And right now, with her eyes looking in you, is the last moment you'll – sort of – be alive.

MAN (CHILDREN IN THERE): The sky was looking quite red by now, red and black and white all over.

WOMAN (CAT ASHES): I’ll never forget that night as long as I live. I would have done anything. Some people, just… have that way about them. You know? It’s just… some people, you just… you just can’t help it. Some people, you just can’t help it.

[MUSIC & SINGING]

[SFX: CRACKLING, HEAVY BREATHING]

[SFX: SLAMMING]

JOHN: Bloody hell!

JIM: Are you alright? What’s happened? Jesus – Christ, are you burnt?

JOHN: Look, Jim! Look! Out there!

JIM: Oh my God, oh my God, what’s happened? Come on, love, sit down.

JOHN: Oh – fire!

JIM: Come and sit down. Do you want some water?

JOHN: Fire! Someone! The– them woods out back!

JIM: Jesus! Love – are you burnt?

JOHN: Can someone get some help, please, can someone please get some help?

JIM: Can you talk? Love? Listen to me, are you alright? Love? Are you alright?

JOHN: Was there anyone else, love? Is there anyone else in there? Can you hear me?

JIM: Just breathe in, okay? Breathe in, breathe out. It’s alright. You’re safe. Breathe in, love, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. That’s better. Breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

[SFX: MEASURED BREATHING]

WOMAN (FOREST): Breathe in, breathe out. You’ve done so well. You’ve done it. You’ve done it all. And the last little bird to get scared is scared so much it isn’t a bird anymore. All its feathers get hot and dry and they’re not feathers anymore, they’re just straw. And its eyes are small little buttons. And it all begins again. I knew I’d find you in the end. And the whole time… but –

WOMAN & NARRATOR: I found you, in the end.

NARRATOR: So warm now. So warm. So dry.

WOMAN: Close your eyes. Your small, button eyes.

NARRATOR: Stretch out your arms.

BOTH: Stretch them out, all the straw.

WOMAN: All the way out.

NARRATOR: Ready to count down?

WOMAN: Your turn now!

NARRATOR: There are new little birds to find. And when we catch them…

BOTH: We get to scare them.

WOMAN: Ready?

NARRATOR: Three…

WOMAN: Two…

NARRATOR: One…

[SFX: SOMETHING PLOPPING INTO WATER]

BOTH: Go.

[MUSIC]

#POST SESSION

VOICE OVER: The Sink is written by Natasha Hodgson, and produced and sound designed by Andy Goddard. It starred Alice Lowe as the Narrator, Natasha Hodgson as Kate, with Jason Forbes, Celeste Dring, and David Elms. The music was written by David Cumming. The executive producer was Victoria Lloyd. It was a BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds.