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moongothic · 5 months

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i would love trans crocodile but im very cynical that oda would write him in a respectful manner. thats not even thinking of how horrible that one portion of the one piece fandom would treat him

Yeah the fandom sucks and I'm going to strangle everyone (including the cishets who claim to be trans allies and then use "Crocomom")

But with Oda it's weird because like. The more I think about it, the more I'm like... 50/50 about Oda being able to actually deliver good, respectful trans masc rep.

Like I've posted about this before but One Piece does have this on-going theme of having characters "stuck in wrong bodies" or "having one's body changed" (sometimes reversably, sometimes irreversably; sometimes against their will, sometimes consentually). Which, in theory, in my mind, does kind of signal that on some level Oda understands the idea of being "the wrong sex" (whether or not that's a good way to explain The Trans Experience™ is a whole different subject but it's an old fashioned explanation that Oda would probably be/is familiar with) But at the same time, while the concept pops up again and again in One Piece, Oda doesn't really dwell too deep into the idea of what that's like. Like, emotionally. How it feels like to like, get turned into a toy or be a child who gets aged 20 years or to get turned into a cyborg or a giant child or have parts of your body permanently turned into animal parts (sometimes with a will of their own) etc

And like. Part of me understands why, Oda does tend to want to focus on writing a story he thinks teenaged boys would be interested in reading, and he has often stated he wants to have fun with his story too (like that's partially why Luffy's a Rubber Man, because Oda thought giving Luffy a ridiculous ability would make him more fun to write and draw long-term, which is valid as hell) This is why for example Oda has avoided doing any romances in OP, and while there are dark themes in the story, often he has done his best to avoid making them too blatant, as some things would be too mature for his youngest readers (like, for example until Kuma's backstory, it was never explicitly stated what would happen to the slave wives of the Tenryuubito, even saying it was "implied" would be pushing how that subject had been treated until now)

So like. Because of that, I understand why Oda hasn't dwelled into The Feelings™ part much/at all despite the "stuck in the wrong body" narrative appearing time and time again

Either Oda thinks it'd be too boring either for himself or his readers, or he hasn't dwelled into it because he doesn't really understand gender dysphoria and can't relate to the experience (despite how often it shows its face in OP). Or it could be both, even

The thing is though, as OP has gone on, while I wouldn't say Oda has "broken his writing rules", Kuma's backstory alone has pushed them to a new limit with the love-that-never-was story and the all-but-explicitly-stated storytelling.

So a part of me wonders, if Crocodile is trans, could Oda actually like... take a slightly deeper look into his feelings and explore his queer experience? ('Cause god knows, if Crocodad Real, then there really would be a literal coming out-story built into his backstory that would be extremely unavoidable, and as I've mentioned before, the fact that we haven't gotten to learn almost anything about his backstory yet is Kinda Fucking Sus)

Also I do want to mention how... like Oda gets a lot of bad rap when it comes to queer rep in One Piece, but the more I think about it, I think it's more an issue with the terminology and how translators have gone about either localizing it, or more often than not, leaving it unlocalized 'Cause like. Yes the "okama" would be horrible trans rep but... really... they're not trans representation. They're representation for draq queens. Piss poor draq rep, but still, they're draq queens. And just like our very real life drag performers; some of them are cishets. Some of them are gender non-conforming gay men. Some of them are nonbinary*. Some of them are trans women. Obviously lumping all of these people into one group is kinda offensive (which is why "okama" is (as far as I understand it) such an unpopular term even amongst queer people in Japan), and the way Oda often chooses to draw these characters looks no different to how gender criticals choose to present trans women in their propaganda.

*Like Bon-chan, who explicitly states they are both male and female. And Iva-chan, who switches between boy-mode and girl-mode from time to time, could arguably be called genderfluid (though any specific terminology is up to debate). Both are nonbinary draq queens.

And yet, despite all that. It can not be understated how if you put aside the nameless background gag-characters, Oda does treat the actual, proper queer characters with respect. Everyone would agree that Bon-chan is an absolute hero, we would all die for them. Iva-chan (and Inazuma too) is explicitly presented in a heroic light, seen as someone who helps people and fights for justice (with the Revs)

And then there's the first binary trans characters we've actually gotten, Okiku and Yamato. And I'm pretty sure we would all agree Okiku is 10/10 perfect trans fem representation (I am not entirely serious, I'm not trans fem so I can't speak for trans women here, it's just that I can't see anything Horrendously Wrong with how Okiku is presented within the story- not actually perfect but all things considdered, damn good). She is stunning, people around her (INCLUDING SANJI!!) don't just view her as a woman but would go out of their way to date her (as in, she is seen as "desirable", and not as some kind of a disgusting freak to avoid), she is heroic and sweet and kind and just. IDK I love her And while I'm sure many trans mascs would agree Yamato may not be how they want to be seen by the world (though having Yamato ID as a man while having the biggest moobs is surely validating for a lot of people, including anybody who might not want or be able to get top surgery and/or HRT), again, he is only presented as heroic within the narrative and respected by the characters around him, Luffy especially, which is by far the most important part; the protagonist going out of his way to be respectful of trans characters does represent the values of the story.

And like.

Think about how Oda has treated Crocodile so far.

Like, although we're all having a bit of a laugh over the whole Cross Guild thing, Oda is still treating him as a cool character whom he presents seriously and treats with respect. Like Oda wants the readers to see Crocodile as at least a little bit cool. So I can't imagine him pulling a full 180 with how Croc would be treated in the story if he was revealed to be trans, especially when the potential foreshadowing for that was laid out in the story years ago already.

All this to say; Oda is not perfect at all, but considdering the things he has gotten right so far, I think there is hope he could pull it off. Because Oda is for Queer Liberation.

Really, my only concerns would be whether or not there's a risk Crocodile could get somehow detrans'd during the story (I'm praying the Haki theory isn't an option, really Doc Q might be the only true risk here), if he's stealth and that got presented as "a wrong thing to do" (which I'd hope not, like our previous queer characters have been okay with being openly queer but that may have been more for the readers than anything else. At least, I hope, god knows if Crocodile is and wants to be stealth trans then that's his right and he shouldn't have to out if he doesn't want to, and yeah, I don't want him to be demonized within the narrative for being stealth (if he's stealth, for all we know he could be out)) and like, most importantly, what'd end up being Crocodile's "motivation" for transitioning in the first place

Like. God. I just. I don't want there to be a twist where Crocodile transitioned because "being a woman was weak" or because he "wanted to be acknowledged by Whitebeard" ('cause WB doesn't take women into his crew) or "the scar in his face made him so ugly he decided he should be a man instead" (seen unironic Redditors suggest that. Almost lost my mind) or something

Like I hope someone's at least tried to explain gender dysphoria to Oda. Like the man does have actual queer friends in real life (some of whom inspired characters in OP), so I'm hoping at least someone's tried to explain the feelings that come with The Trans Experience™ to him so that, if Crocodile's trans, then Oda can actually try to base his reasoning to transition on those feelings instead of any stupid "reasons" that no actual queer person would relate to

But it all just boils down to... Is Oda willing to actually dwell into those feelings and explore them in the story.

It... it really could go either way with Oda

So yeah. Anon, I'm with you, I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was at least A Little Worried. But also... I want to be hopeful. Because I do believe there is reason to be hopeful.

Only time will tell how it'll go

#Moon posting #Asks #Sir Crocodile #OP Meta #OP Spoilers #Long post #CW Discussions of transphobia #For the record- cishets using ''crocomom'' for like fandom tagging purposes is fine #But outside of that. P e r i s h #Literally no need to misgender him.#(And obligatory disclaimer: yes if you're trans masc you get a pass on misgendering Crocodile. I'm @'ing the cishets not you)#(Also I'm not dead serious. It's just a pet peeve and god dammit I need to complain about it somewhere djkfghdskfgh)#While I'm at it with the tagging complaints please for the love of god tag your genderbends so people can blacklist and avoid them #Your Cross Guild Yuri is fun and fine but for some people having a trans man get presented as a woman in fanart #For no other reason than “girl pretty” pretty much #Can be just really emotionally draining and painful when the world so explicitly **does not want you to be trans**#Just. It'd be The Nice Thing To Do. You can draw your fem Croc just. Please tag it. For the love of god.#These tags are an absolute mess yeehaw

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justaweirdo06 · 9 months

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Based off this one TikTok sound

#undertale #papyrus undertale #flowey undertale #papyrus #flowey #chatbox #i love them #they live in my head rent free #they're friends #god dammit let them be friends #they have so much potential #i need more fan content of them #yes i know this looks bad i made it at like 2 am #non gacha

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softquietsteadylove · 5 months

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some more jack and thenamesh? jacks grandparents, bens parents, come to visit as a surprise but jack is home alone with thena and gil because phastos and ben are on a date and jacks grandparents are a bit worried and confused because they don't know these people but jack is happy to say: this is my aunt thena and my uncle gil

"Jack?"

"Jaddi! Jaddati!" he smiled, rushing over to them as they closed the front door behind them.

"Hello," his grandmother leaned down, patting her grandson's head while her eyes were occupied with the strangers at the top of the stairs. "Jack, wh-who is here with you?"

Jack looked up the stairs as Aunt Thena stood first, always the most on guard when it came to meeting new people. Uncle Gil moved to stand beside her, watching things quietly. He grasped his grandmother's hand. "Jaddati, this is Aunt Thena and Uncle Gil. They're from Dad's side of the family."

Their eyes bulged, never having thought they would meet Phastos' mysterious family. They looked between themselves before trying to smile somewhat naturally. "H-How nice to meet you."

Aunt Thena watched as they ascended the stairs with Jack leading them. She took a few steps back to make room for them. But he had seen Aunt Thena meet new people before, and this was pretty normal for her.

"Aunt Thena, Uncle Gil," Jack moved between the two couples, trying to introduce them properly, like a grownup. "This is my Jaddi and Jaddati. They're Baba's parents."

Aunt Thena tilted her head at them, speaking slowly, "hello."

"Uh," Uncle Gil tried more to smile at them, "h-hi. Ben's family--we've heard about you!"

"Really?"

Jack twisted his lips as the events unfolded. They weren't being unfriendly, but there was something not quite right, either. He looked between both sets of people in his life. "Aunt Thena and Uncle Gil helped Dad save the world!"

His Jaddati smiled, clearing her throat and toying with the edge of her hijab. "Jack has such a wonderful imagination."

Thena just barely got her mouth open before Gil wrapped his arm around her waist. "Kids are great for that."

"Phastos has such a, uh," his Jaddi floundered, touching his hands to his jeans, "broad family tree. Where have you come from?"

"We are visiting from Australia," Aunt Thena finally spoke up. "Phastos and Ben were kind enough to open their home to us during our stay."

"Ah, yes," Jaddati smiled at them, the edges of it still shaky. "A-And how long are you staying?"

Uncle Gil and Aunt Thena just looked at each other. As far as Jack knew, they were staying until they had to go back to Australia for some reason or another. Maybe to do house stuff? Jaddi and Jaddati spend half the year back east, maybe his aunt and uncle would do the same with their home back in Australia.

"Until we have outstayed our welcome."

Jack eyed his grandparents. He could understand why they were nervous around his other relatives. Dad said everyone from their family just...had that effect on people (humans).

His grandmother straightened her shoulders and moved closer to the other woman present, both of them tall and statuesque when eye to eye. "Thena, was it?"

"It was."

She continued despite the peculiar woman naming herself Jack's aunt. "We have had the pleasure of knowing Phastos for a very long time now, and having him as a son for some of that has been a blessing."

Jack watched Aunt Thena closely. She had little things about her that could tell him a lot about how she was feeling. He caught the way her shoulders lowered faintly and her hands became less tightly clasped closed.

"I understand that there was a time when you were all," Jaddati searched for the right word, "separated."

Uncle Gil's hand slid over Aunt Thena's, moving their fingers together.

"But Phastos is a good man, and my son married the right person for him." Jaddati straightened her shoulders more, matching Aunt Thena's rigid posture. "And it is through them both we were given Jack. So I am thankful to your brother, and that he was brought into our lives."

Gil raised his eyebrows. Thena smiled at the human woman.

"Family of Phastos'," his grandmother held out her hands to Thena, "is family of ours."

Thena observed the hands for just a second before slowly holding her own to mirror the position. Her pale ones slipped against the hands of Jack's grandmother's. She blinked. "You have aged remarkably well."

"Thena!" Uncle Gil pinched her side, making her make a face at him. He chuckled, smiling at Jack's grandmother especially, "s-sorry. We, uh, don't get out much."

But Jaddati smiled, the same way Baba smiled at Aunt Thena when they were getting along so well. "It was a compliment, was it not?"

"It was."

Uncle Gil sighed. He often said he wanted Aunt Thena to meet and get along with more humans. Well, Jack thought this was a perfect opportunity! "Hey!"

Thena and Jaddati both looked at him sharply.

"Uh," he lost some nerve but tried to stay strong, clasping his hands in front of him (if he acted cute, maybe they would agree). "W-We should all do something together."

"Like what?" Uncle Gil chuckled, the way he did when he was humouring him.

"The..." Jack eyed his collective family, looking at him expectantly. "Movies?"

"I do believe your fathers have said that your screen time is too much this week already."

Jaddati looked at Thena, clearly pleased with her input. She put her hands on her hips, "you should listen to your aunt, Jack."

He sighed, looking down at his feet, "yes, Jaddati."

"What about this?" his grandfather held his hands out, eager to salvage the bonding moment. "We were going to take Ben and Phastos and Jack out to dinner when we arrived. We can call them and meet them in the city--all five of us!"

"That's a great idea!" Gil joined in, especially eager to bond over food, even more especially with their new extended family. He looked at Thena, "c'mon, baby, please?"

Jack and Jaddati both looked at Thena, who visibly squirmed, trying to look away from Gil's big puppy dog eyes. Jack made the same expression, pressing his hands together, "pretty please, Aunt Thena?"

All three humans - plus her husband - witnessed the second her resolve melted in the face of her nephew. "Very well."

"Yes! It's gonna be great, I promise!"

Jack's grandparents traded a look as he skipped and wrapped his arms around his aunt's torso. She didn't seem entirely natural about the physical affection, but her hand could not have been gentler as she laid it atop Jack's head.

"Wash your hands and wear something warm," she directed.

"Okay!" he agreed readily in his excitement. He took Jaddi and Jaddati's hands again. "You should bring your stuff in here. And you can sit next to me at dinner! Aunt Thena sits next to me too, because she doesn't always like food that's not Uncle Gil's, but she'll go halvesies with me no matter what I get."

#Jack and Thenamesh #I hope you like it!#I love seeing this little family dynamic #and I love Thena with Jack #I just think she would be so soft with him #so so gentle with this little human boy #his grandparents are like oh my god Ben was right they're not human #but they figure hey #Jack loves them #they can't be terrible #They get in the car and they're like Jack don't you want to be in front?#he says no it's okay #he's gonna sit in the back and hold Aunt Thena's hand because she gets carsick #his grandmother wants to cry because oh my this boy is just so sweet #and they see all night how much he adores her #they do sit together and they whisper about what to get and Jack asks her questions #dinner comes and Thena and Jack really do split her chicken pasta and his kids burger and fries in half #she gives him all her broccoli #only for Gil to then give her his because dammit they both need veggies #his grandparents think it's so sweet and lovely #Ben: I know right?#Phastos: do not encourage those idiots they'll spread the stupid to our son

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sleepy-crypt1d · 1 year

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am i?? losing my mind here??

okay, so, like, subnautica, right?

recent news is that subnautica 3 is in production/in the works, hooray!! literally cannot be more excited about this, it’s my favorite game ever and i am so thrilled to see where the next one is headed but, i feel like, what the next one is going to be about is. . obvious?

who knows!! maybe im losing my mind here and i am just a tad too into these games so other people didn’t think about this but, sub3 is gonna be about the architect home planet. it has to be, doesn’t it??

the exact quote from the people working on the game is “I dream of visiting new worlds, exploring intricate alien ecosystems and lost civilizations. I don't think I'll ever get tired of the fantasy of making contact with intelligent life. I also dream about going on these adventures with friends. Getting lost, together.” and people are theorizing that the game takes place either in the past, showing 4546B a thousand years ago, takes place in the crater’s edge, or another unseen part of 4546B but. . .4546B’s story is done? the only loose end there is Ryley, who i would love to see again, but the planet’s mysterious have all been answered? i don’t know how they are coming to those conclusions when BZ perfectly sets up what the next game will be about?

“I dream of visiting new worlds, exploring intricate alien ecosystems and lost civilizations” this??? seems so much like they’re talking about exploring the architect homeworld??? new worlds implies we’re going to a different place, doesn’t it? and lost civilizations, yeah, going through the arc homeworld and piecing together what happened??

“I also dream about going on these adventures with friends. Getting lost, together.” some people are interpreting this as sub3 going multiplayer, which would be okay i guess, but wouldn’t this make more sense if it were referencing Al-An and robin???? especially with the line BZ ends with?? ‘with you, I am ready to face whatever awaits us’ like???

also the second game ended with a cliff hanger!!! it ended with showing us the architect homeworld!!! WHY WOULDN’T SUB3 BE ABOUT THAT???? WHY WOULD THEY SUDDENLY SHIFT THE STORY ENTIRELY??

i dont know, maybe im losing my mind here, maybe theorists on youtube know something i don’t but the plot of sub3 seems obvious to me, because BZ literally ended with showing us where the story was headed.

am i crazy? or have other people also realized that exploring the architect homeworld seems like the only logical next step in the story? to find out what happened? we found out what happened to sam and the game ends with robin promising they’ll find out what happened to the architects. why are people thinking ANYTHING ELSE would happen????

who knows, if sub3 comes out and im completely wrong, i will take that L and dig myself a grave but until then, i will hold this thought pretty confidently

#subnautica #subnautica below zero #subnautica below zero spoilers #subnautica spoilers #subnautica al-an #is it because they hate BZ :(( it's because they hate BZ isn't it :(( god dammit #sleepy rants #these games are legit my favorite games in existence and BZ meant so fucking much to me - i adored that game!! it was so good!!#not every game needs to be a masterpiece - i had a wonderful time playing it and fell in love with the story/characters #that's all a good game needs #the story of the architects is so interesting and i would love to know more about them/their home and so many people just pretend-#-that they dont exist and it takes away such a big chunk of what makes subnautica the amazing game it is #sorry if i come off as bitchy here- i just care about subnautica a lot and seeing people completely ignore a major part of it sucks #al-an's story is so interesting!!! i love the arcs SO FUCKING MUCH!!! when i saw him for the first time i lost my SHIT #I WANT THE NEXT GAME TO BE ABOUT THE ARCS SO BADLY #TELL ME MORE ABOUT THEM #PLEASE #like i cannot tell if these people are willfully being ignorant to basic story telling mechanics or if they just. . . dont get it #it ended on a cliff hanger- the next game will be explaining that cliff hanger?#like sure we didn't get an answer to what happened to ryley word for word but we KNOW that alterra is pretending he doesn't exist!!#we know- in part- what happened to him- that's why it isn't answered #we find logs talking about how the aurora 'disappeared'#with no survivors #alterra is hiding his existence #also WE NOW HE'S IN SPACE- MYSTERY THERE SOLVED #SPACE #BUT WITH THE ARCS WE DON'T KNOW!!#WHY WOULD THEY SET UP AN ENTIRE GAME WITH THE MYSTERY OF TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ARCS AND THEN JUST DROP IT???????#WHY DO THEY THINK THAT UW WOULD DO THAT???#angry

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heart-shaped-chains · 3 months

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Need a guy to love on and hug and cuddle and whisper sweet nothings into his ear and more

#cj rambles #not nsft #yearning #you couldve had all of that smh....#im still getting over him lol #i just dont get it i have so much fucking love to give and no takers yet. i know that with patience comes rewards but i want it NOW #kills me that i don't have a beautiful boy to dote on. to make him feel so loved. ill make him feel like a million bucks #hell I'd carve open my chest cut my heart out and serve it to you you just have to ask #i need to be wrapped around someone's finger #guess i have the canine urge to pledge my loyalty to someone and bite them sometimes and give them unconditional love #it's not fair i need someone to obsess over tbh. to live in my head rent free. let me worship you god dammit!!!!!#gay #ftm #mlm #t4t #come onnnnnn ill play with your hair and let you lay on my chest ill be suchhhhhhhh a good boyfriend #actually losing my mind rn #all this devotion and no one to lay it on. feels like my hearts gonna explode sometimes like i need to get it out #manifesting a relationship this year idc if we dont get married and raise 5 dogs i just need something #thats not a fucking. one sided situationship......

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obwjam · 7 months

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Officially submitting a request for any ghostbusters gt or Jurassic Park gt one shot or even headcannons

okay so i've been working on this ghostbusters story for like a week and i just kept writing and writing and writing so this is super long, please accept my offering 🫴🫴🫴

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Really, it was just another day at the office.

You, Ray and Egon? You were over in the lab, poring over red goo and test tubes and weird steam that had stumped you three for days. You knew this slime responded to human emotion in some way, but you just didn’t know quite what it did.

Winston? He was talking to Janine, trying to sort out next month’s schedule, papers falling from his arms as he tried to keep everything straight.

And Venkman? He was sitting, legs crossed, feet up on the table, chomping down on a sandwich as he flicked through channels on TV.

Typical Venkman, as far as you were concerned.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” you sighed. “It’s just — it’s like — where are those lab notes from last week?”

Ray shrugged. “I dunno. Egon, have you seen Del’s papers?”

“Hm?” Egon finally answered after a full 30 seconds of silence. “Oh, uh. No. No, I haven’t, sorry.”

“You’re always losing things, aren’t you, newbie?”

Just the sound of his voice made your blood boil. “Alright, Venkman,” you rolled your eyes. “And I’m not a newbie. I’ve been here since February.”

“Yeah, yeah, talk to me when you save the world and blow up a giant marshmallow, okay?”

You groaned. “Does he have to be here?” you pleaded with your lab partners.

“Of course he does, Del,” Ray said, eyes not once wavering from the experiment in front of him.

“Just pretend he’s not here. That’s what I do,” Winston deadpanned as he whisked past you.

“Love you too, buddy!” Venkman called out.

“Okay, enough talking now, please,” you snipped. “This is confusing enough as it is—“

“Ray? Egon? There’s a gentleman from the Post who wants to speak with you both,” Janine ran into the room, almost out of breath. “And he won't go away.”

Ray and Egon looked at each other and shrugged. “Fine, tell him we’ll be there in five minutes,” Ray said.

You watched in almost horror as the two unceremoniously left the room, leaving you alone with Venkman. Great.

“So, egghead,” Venkman started, sandwich still in hand as he pushed himself up. You heaved another sigh. “What kind of nerdy fun do you get up to over here?”

“Not now, Venkman, please,” you begged. “This slime is serious stuff. And no food in the lab.”

“Psh. It’s not that serious. I’ve been slimed before. We all have.” He paused. “Well, almost all of us.”

You bit down on your tongue to keep from screaming. Peter didn’t want you here, that much was clear. He was perfectly comfortable with the four-man operation, and he strongly opposed your addition even when Egon and Ray begged for it. He eventually relented, but only because he knew it was a battle he couldn't win. You always figured he had it out for you so you’d be forced to quit on your own. The demeaning nicknames, the constant teasing, acting like you didn’t know what you were doing; you couldn’t take it much longer.

“Well, this one is important,” you retorted. “It’s from that weird ass ghost we came across last week. The composition of this, it’s… different than the others.”

“Hm. Different how?”

You turned to him and glared. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright, alright, sheesh. No need to get snippy.”

“I have to get snippy when you won't listen.”

“Woah, hey, alright now. Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there is!” you fumed. “You don’t want me here.”

“Oh, we’re just making stuff up now, are we? You know, just because you can’t instantly figure out the solution to a new problem doesn’t mean you can take it out on me!”

“This— this isn't about the slime!” you scoffed in surprise. “This is about you not respecting me here!”

As the bickering continued, neither of you noticed the way the goo began to jiggle and make strange gurgling noises. It only got louder as the arguing went on, until Venkman noticed it was emanating an eerie glow.

“Uh, why is your goo glowing?”

“What are you talking about—” you started, but never got to finish. As soon as you turned and you both were looking at it, the light became blinding and filled the room. You and Venkman shut your eyes and covered your ears as a deafening whining filled both of your heads for the briefest of moments before it all came to a halt.

When you opened your eyes, all you could see was white. You were sitting down, somehow, and you suddenly had a splitting headache that was definitely not there a second ago.

“Ugh… what happened?” you mumbled. Your eyes widened at the weird sensation you felt when speaking — like you were alone in a sprawling field and all your words had floated out into the void, never to be heard by another living soul.

“Venkman?” you tried. Nothing. It took a few seconds to blink away the residual light, but you finally managed to see straight again. A shiver ran down your spine as you adjusted your glasses. Why were you so cold?

As soon as you saw it, you knew.

You had felt this weird looming sensation, so you spun around on your butt to see what was behind you. It wasn’t a person, or a ghost. It was a sandwich. Venkman’s sandwich. Which was now as tall as a house.

You were on top of the table, and you were tiny.

“Ho-ly shit…” you murmured, shakily pushing yourself back. Panic was beginning to set in as you took in the now-giant world around you. How was this even possible? Would your health be affected in any way? How were you going to fix this? You couldn’t let anyone see you like this!

“What did you do?!” a voice rang out from behind you. You groaned and turned around. Venkman had shrunk with you.

“What did I do? Are you kidding me? You’re gonna blame me for this?”

“I bet it was that freaking slime,” he muttered, already turning his attention away from you. His eyes darted around the table, which looked more like the Great Plains than a lab counter, to find where the goo you were observing was. He tried to pretend he wasn’t utterly freaked out when the tupperware container holding it came up to his neck.

“It’s like it’s laughing at us,” he sneered, observing the way the goo bounced up and down as he stood right over it.

Soon, you were standing right beside him. “You’re right. That’s…”

“...unusual?” he offered.

“Yeah, you could say that,” you began, “considering we’re FOUR INCHES TALL!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been messing with that stuff,” Venkman shrugged, slowly walking away from tupperware to the edge of the table.

Your eyes widened as he got closer to the ledge. “Venkman! Be careful!”

“Come on, I’m not gonna… fall…”

In a rare moment, Venkman was speechless. The drop to the floor looked impossibly long – longer than the Grand Canyon, or the view from the top of the Empire State Building. No, this was a longer drop than he had ever experienced in his life.

“That’s… pretty far,” he confessed, voice lacking his characteristic wit. Also at a loss for words as you stared straight down, you simply nodded.

“God, that guy was such a hack, wasn’t he?”

Your eyes blew wide. No, they couldn’t be back so soon…

“I hate reporters. Always making me feel like I’m doing something illegal.” Egon snickered. “Or that I got caught.”

You were frozen. This was the absolute worst-case scenario. Not only were you stuck with Venkman down here, but now you had to deal with two scientists you had only looked up to figuratively. They had to see how you had failed.

“RAY! SPENGLER! DOWN HERE!”

You cringed. It felt so counterintuitive to yell, but Venkman wanted this fixed and fixed fast.

He began waving his arms around frantically. “STANZ! SPENGLER!”

The giant Ghostbusters paused. “Do you hear something, Ray?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

“It sounds like it’s–”

“–coming from the table,” they said in unison. It didn’t take long for their eyes to find you.

“Oh… my…” Ray couldn’t even finish his sentence. He took cautious steps forward, slowly leaning down as he did so. You shrunk back.

“Venkman? Del? What–what happened?”

The words got caught in your throat as his gigantic face settled in front of you. He was so unbelievably huge, and his size filled you with a sense of unavoidable dread.

“Oh, thank god,” Venkman sighed. “Look, you guys have to bail us out. I’m positive that this slime you guys were messing with did this to us.”

Egon and Ray were beside themselves. The square-cube law didn’t allow for this! How could this have happened? Well, they supposed, anything can happen when ghosts are involved.

“Uh… guys? You can see us, right?”

You and Venkman exchanged an unnerved glance that said I’m pretty freaked out that they keep staring.

Cautiously, Egon stuck his finger out and was halfway to poking Venkman before his face twisted into anger and he sidestepped. “Spengler!” he cried. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

Egon pulled his finger back, unfazed by Venkman’s annoyance. “Oh, wow. It’s real, Ray.”

“This… this is incredible. Simply incredible!” Ray’s booming voice marveled. You winced at the volume. “I mean, this is a game-changer! Slime that not only responds to human emotions, but can alter their physical body in ways we – we didn’t even think were possible! I can’t believe this, I…”

Ray trailed off when he finally locked eyes with your trembling form. Sure, he was excited – he knew you understood that – but what he didn’t understand was just how scary this must be for you. To suddenly have your autonomy taken away from you… being loomed over and stared at by beings fifty times your size… it had to be no less than utterly overwhelming.

Venkman rolled his eyes. “You two can ogle at us later, after you find a way to fix this.”

“Sorry, Peter, you’re going to have to speak up,” Egon said, leaning in closer. Your eyes grew wider than you thought was possible, and one shaky step backwards to get away from his pinning gaze sent you tumbling to the ground.

“Egon!” Ray gasped, pushing his friend back. “Del, are you alright?”

Sheepishly, you nodded.

“Sorry, Del,” Egon said, concern all over his face. “I suppose I’m going to have to make a few adjustments to the way we interact.”

“Gee, you think?!” Venkman cried in exasperation. “We’re tiny, you’re huge. There, I think that settles it!”

“Calm down, Peter,” Egon chided with the tone of a concerned father. “Look, we’re going to have to run a few tests to see how—”

“No!” you piped up, surprising everyone, including yourself. You cleared your throat as your eyes darted from Ghostbuster to Ghostbuster. “I mean… you guys are gonna have to give us a little bit to, you know… process all of this.” You eyed Venkman. “Back me up here…”

Peter shrugged. “Yeah, what Del said.”

You groaned. “Thanks for the help.”

“Del’s right,” Ray agreed, turning to Egon. “Right now, we can just… ask them how they feel. Besides, we have to re-calibrate all of our equipment and cancel all our appointments until we can get this sorted out.”

After a moment of thinking, Egon nodded. Even though he still thought the best way to solve this was to run as many tests as possible, he understood the need for space.

In a shaking voice, you recounted the events leading up to the shrinking and how you felt now – overall normal, just overwhelmed and a little cold.

“Well, that makes complete sense. Your bodies are so small that the amount of heat you lose proportional to your height is faster than you can generate.”

“Oh, great, so we’ll freeze to death?”

Ray hesitated. “Well… all science points to yes, but you told me you feel completely normal.”

“So far,” Venkman grumbled.

“And nothing is darker?”

You both shook your heads.

“Fascinating. It was always theorized that the smaller you get, the less light your eyes would be able to process, therefore the world would appear darker.”

“I mean… I guess it’s darker,” you admitted. “But not by much.”

“Incredible. So basically, everything we’ve ever posited would happen if humans were shrunk… isn’t happening to you at all. I’m surprised we can even hear you talking, to be honest.”

The longer this Q&A went on, though, the more tired you grew, and Ray noticed. Truthfully, he always had a soft spot for you, which is why he lobbied heavily to bring you on board in the first place. You were the top of your class at NYU in biochemistry, not to mention you were passionate about helping others in any way you could. He could barely stand watching you cower away from the world you loved and have dedicated your life to understanding.

“Guys?” Winston’s voice rang from the back of the room, finally back from sorting out the schedule. He wasn’t going to be happy that all his hard work was about to go to waste. “Who are we… talking… to.”

As soon as he joined the fray, it became too much for you. “I… I… I can’t do this,” you sniffed, the first tear finally breaking free. “I – this is crazy.”

“Del? Are you okay?” Ray asked, sorrow written all over his face. A rather unfamiliar feeling suddenly washed over him – he wanted to scoop you up, hold you close and reassure you that everything would be alright.

“They don’t look okay,” Winston replied, his wide eyes fixated on you.

It was like the worst kind of judgment day you could imagine; like you were in trouble at school and everyone was in on it, or being scolded by your parents all over again. Three people you considered to be your family were now unfathomably large, and right now, there was no end in sight. Were you going to have to look up at them forever? Have them cart you around wherever you wanted to go? How were you going to shower?

“Del–” Egon started, but it was too late. Now furiously wiping away tears, you ran toward what you perceived to be an amorphous blob of technology behind you and disappeared around the back of what was, ironically, a microscope.

You instantly dropped to the ground, folding your knees into your chest and tucking them in tight. Right now, you wanted nothing more than to be left alone for the next several hours.

You wouldn’t even get a few minutes.

“You know, we’re going to need them if we ever want to get back to normal.”

You wiped your eyes and sniffed. “I don’t really want to talk right now, Venkman.”

Instead of the usual quick-witted comeback, Venkman took a seat next to you, stretching out his legs, as if that would make him taller again. There was a rare comfortable silence between you.

“Did you know I got fired from Columbia?” he said suddenly, unprompted.

You looked at him in surprise. “Uhm – no. No, I didn’t, actually.”

“It was a while ago. Heck, it’s what inspired us to start the Ghostbusters in the first place.”

You sniffed a laugh. “I didn’t even know you worked at Columbia.”

“What, is that so hard to imagine?”

“...Yes. Yes it is. What were you, a professor of laziness?”

“If ‘laziness’ gets you PhDs in parapsychology and psychology, then, yes.”

At that, you had to laugh. “I think you’re making that up.”

Venkman feigned offense. “Ask Ray and Egon! They wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Maybe if they weren’t a hundred feet tall and could crush me in an instant, I would.”

You hadn’t meant to let that slip, but you also didn’t regret saying it.

Venkman sighed, but it wasn’t out of annoyance. It was out of… concern?

“Look, kid.” That was the first time he had ever called you that. “This is weird as all hell, don’t think I don’t agree with you on that. All I’m saying is… all of us, we’ve fucked up before. Massively. This… this isn’t your fault, you know, right?”

“Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“Is it working?”

You wanted to say no, to keep snapping at him and telegraphing just how awful he usually made you feel. But right now… you weren’t feeling that. Maybe you just didn’t have the energy. He was probably just trying to cheer you up out of sheer necessity.

“Maybe,” you said. “Maybe not.”

Venkman shook his head. “You’re one impossible kid to please, you know that?”

Somehow, that response didn’t make your insides boil up with anger. Instead, you smiled.

“Should… should we check on them?” Egon asked, still staring straight at the microscope.

Winston shook his head. “Give ‘em time.”

Sure enough, a few moments later, you and Venkman emerged from your hiding spot. Venkman didn’t seem to have a problem staring up at his longtime friends, but for you, it was still too difficult and too weird. You kept your eyes trained in front of you, nervously wringing your hands together.

Venkman clapped his hands. “So! You guys come up with a brilliant plan to get us back to normal yet?”

Ray, Egon and Winston exchanged glances.

Ray ventured to speak first. “Well… truthfully…”

“We have no idea how long it would take,” Egon interrupted. “Or if we even can do it.”

“Nope, I won’t have any of that quitter talk,” Venkman said a little too quickly. “Can’t you see how much that would upset Del?”

All eyes fell on you. You squeezed your hand harder.

“Venkman’s right,” Ray declared. “We have to try everything we can. Exhaust every avenue! We won’t stop until you two are back to normal.”

“...I can help,” you said meekly, almost too quietly to hear. “I mean, I was studying that stuff for days, and I’m the one it zapped. I should be able to–”

“–no, Del, you can’t,” Ray said suddenly. At that, you finally mustered up the courage to look at him. He looked stressed. “It’s too dangerous, and you’re too small. What if you get hurt?”

You felt your face get hot. “Then I’ll deal with it! I–”

“I think we all need a break,” Winston stated in that firm, authoritative voice of his. When the other Ghostbusters failed to think straight, he was always there to pick them up. “Maybe we can deal with this in the morning, alright?”

Everyone nodded in unison. Winston was usually right about these kinds of things, and he knew it.

“Well, I’m goin’ home and getting some rest. Maybe now that Venkman’s so small, we won’t have to hear his yapping all day.”

Peter frowned. “Ha ha.”

Suddenly, you heard a soft voice right next to you. “Hey,” Winston practically whispered, marveling at just how small you were. He wanted to be comforting, but truthfully, he didn’t know how much words would help. “Hang in there, alright? You just let me know if you need a break from these yahoos.”

The way you gaped back at Winston, so impossibly large when situated right next to you, he wasn’t surprised that all you gave him in response was a nod. The small smile he gave you was reassuring, but it was hard to keep your breath from hitching when he stretched back up to his full height and left the room.

That left the four of you.

“If you three don’t mind, I need to go over Del’s lab notes and start modifying our equipment,” Egon said, eyeing the array of instruments at the corner table. “Or, Venkman, perhaps you’d like to come with me–”

Venkman was quick to refuse. “Nope, nooooope, nuh-uh. I’m not climbing into anyone’s sweaty hand. Just… bring me food and a blanket, I’ll make do on the table.”

Egon couldn’t suppress his smile at how adorable tiny Venkman was. “Alright, camper.”

Venkman furrowed his brow. “Don’t smile! This is not amusing!”

“Maybe not for you,” Egon deadpanned, laughing at the death stare Venkman gave him as he walked away. You don’t think you would get used to the feeling of watching your friends walk around a giant room, taking mere seconds to cover ground that would have taken you forever.

You finally noticed that Ray was eyeing you, but with a different look. Was he… nervous?

“Del…” he started, unsure of how to ask this. “Why don’t you – um, if you don’t mind–”

“Oh, this is embarrassing,” Venkman muttered.

Instead of bothering to finish his unsalvageable sentence, he sucked in a breath and put his hand, palm-up, down onto the table a few inches from where you stood. You gulped and stepped back, not prepared for just how massive it was going to look.

“Why don’t you come with me and get some supplies for you and Venkman?” he finally asked. “Nobody knows what you two need more right now than you.”

Every one of your basic instincts told you not to get on his hand; no, don’t even go near it. He won’t even be able to feel you in his palm. He would forget that you’re there, close his hand, tip it down, crush you, drop you…

But this was Ray. The guy who believed in you from the very start, who you had connected with almost instantly. Whether you liked it or not, you had to rely on him now – hell, you had to rely on all of them. You were a team, after all. A famous, ghost-hunting, rag-tag team that you spent every waking hour with… and you wouldn’t want it any other way.

To Venkman’s surprise, it only took you a few moments of deliberation before deciding to climb onto the hand. You hoisted yourself up like you were situating yourself on a boat – more like a lifeboat, in this scenario. You didn’t really know how to sit, or what would be more comfortable, but you supposed you had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Above you, Ray smiled. He wanted nothing more than to fix you, but damn it if you weren’t absolutely adorable at four inches tall.

“Ready?” he asked, consciously keeping his voice low.

You took a deep breath. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

“Enjoy the ride!” Venkman called out, waving to you as you were lifted into the air.

“Try not to get jealous!” you grinned back, adrenaline coursing through you. It was the first time you felt like joking all day.

“Trust me, I’m good down here,” Venkman said, before muttering to himself, “for now.”

Ray beamed down at you, and you gave him a wary smile back. This was uncharted territory for any human in recorded history, but you had the Ghostbusters. You were going to be okay.

#this really got away from me lmao #but god fucking dammit i love them so much #i want to write more of this like i havent even scratched the surface #fuck it i'm probably going to because why not #it's the spoopy month i'm allowed to go through my ghostbusters phase right now!!!#asks #obwrites #ghostbusters #g/t #giant/tiny #giant tiny

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