Silly comment but I chuckled when Zoox knocked on the hatch of Benefactor Orlene's ship with "Shave and a Haircut", because, in Mexico, we added new lyrics to that little tune (and in certain contexts, knocking it/whistling it mean "I'm saying this to you"), lyrics that roughly translate to:
taz november celebration fic 1: card prompt vampire
i was pretty loose with the prompt as you’ll see, although vampire fish (also known as lamprey eels) are a real thing, this is a devo fic, 1k words, tw blood and general guidance being guidance @taznovembercelebration
Four year old Devo was having a very hard time sitting still. Sunday services had just ended, and he wanted to go play with all the other children in the parish courtyard. Of course, he was never permitted to do that, though. Guidance had acquiesced slightly and allowed them to sit on a bench outside rather than inside to have their discussion, and that was as good as it was going to get. She placed her hand on his shoulder and said,
"Devotion, look at me." Her voice was stern but not harsh. "You need to pay attention in services and when we talk. You're going to have a very important job someday and everything you do now is helping you get ready for that."He crossed his arms and pouted, an appropriate reaction for any other four year old, but unfortunately not the one who would be replacing the Hand of Guidance. "Why can't I have time to play too?"
Guidance sighed, getting frustrated now. "That's just not part of your training, okay? You're different from all the other kids. It's about time you got your head around the fact that you need to do what I say without asking questions and that I only have your best interests at heart. No more talking back. Now, where were we? Ah yes, tell me something you learned from this morning."Having been scolded so thoroughly, Devo only wanted to cry, but he took a deep breath and managed to remember that they had sung one of his favorite hymns earlier. Just as he was about to answer the question, a horrible pain exploded in his right arm, and he screamed. Devo didn't even notice yet, but Guidance saw that there was a deep bite in his arm that was bleeding profusely, and she jumped up to carry him inside. She noticed an eel slithering away, and cursed silently. They ran inside, immediately drawing the attention of Adelaide, the secretary, since Devo was still screaming and sobbing. As she ran over towards them, Guidance shouted, "Go find Orlean NOW and send him to the infirmary, I don't care what he's working on, he needs to drop it and help me!" Adelaide nodded in stunned silence and rushed off to obey her instructions. In the small infirmary at the back of the parish, Guidance set Devo down on one of the cots, where he immediately curled up into a ball. She rubbed his back and whispered, "It's going to be okay, Devotion. I just need you to sit up and let me see your arm, okay? Be brave for a little bit and then you can rest while Benefactor Orlean and I figure out what happened." Devo did not like Benefactor Orlean, but the mention of his name barely even registered right now while he was so overwhelmed with pain, extending his arm to Guidance so she could wash it, stop the bleeding and bandage it. He laid back down, cuddling the extra pillow Guidance gave him (he had no stuffed animals or toys) and passed out almost immediately. There was a light knock on the door, and Benefactor Orlean finally entered, looking very annoyed.
"This better be good, Guidance," he snapped. "I already have to waste enough of my time on Devotion with tutoring."Her face darkened. "Watch it, Orlean. I give you a lot of autonomy, and you do valuable work for the parish, but Devotion is our future, and everyone will be a part of ensuring his success, no matter how they feel about it. The problem at hand is that he could possibly die if we don't come up with a cure for a vampire fish bite. Not that you asked."
Orlean looked surprised. "Wow, okay. That's actually bad. Are you thinking a spell or a potion?" They headed off down the hall towards his office. In their worry about preserving the future of the Hand of Devotion, it hadn't crossed either of their minds that they had just left the current child in their care alone. So, little Devo did, in fact, wake up alone in a dark room, confused and still in pain. He didn't know what to do, but he he definitely didn't want to try and get up and go somewhere else, even though his own bed would be more comfortable than the cot. After a moment's thought, he sat up, still hugging the pillow, and started singing the hymn from this morning to himself. It was one of his favorites, it was about serving others. From his perspective, it didn't seem like his teachers at the parish actually did anything like that very often, but the lyrics and melody of the song were comforting to him, he often sung or hummed it to himself when he was upset. Eventually Guidance and Orlean returned with a weird purple liquid for him to drink, it tasted sour and fizzed in his mouth, but it worked and he didn't get sick at all. The bite itself slowly healed, scabbing over, then scarring and fading a bit over time. Devo was often told to be grateful and thank Benevolence for his healing, which he did, of course, but as he got older, he realized the ones who had really saved his life that day were Guidance and Orlean, which was honestly worse. He figured it was the least they could do against all the other bad things, though, and he didn't feel indebted to them by any means. When Devo finally left the parish, and got to figure out his own sense of style, he of course bought a very fashionable long jacket, which meant he didn't see the scar often, and he honestly preferred it that way. Whenever he did see it, he pictured four year old Devo in his mind, sitting in the dark infirmary, and gave him a hug. In some ways, he was still just as lonely, but he was much more powerful now. Hell, he had survived the vampire fish bite as a little kid with barely any control over his magic. He'd come a long way from there, and the world better look out for Devo La Main now.
thinking about how in the alternate timeline where benefactor orlean never joined the benevolent parish, devo never deprogrammed and acknowledged the abuse and left
how he was still abused by the hand of guidance and other members of the parish, but never had that final straw to push him to leave. and how, in some ways, that's possibly Worse.
and it just makes me think of like. how i'm absolutely not at all grateful for the fact that my parents abused me in the first place. but sometimes i am almost grateful that it was as bad as it was, rather than like still abusive but just 10% Less Awful. because if it was any less awful, it would have been so much harder for me to leave.
I am convinced Griffin is on a mission to create more and more monstrosities as Ethersea goes on. None of us asked for Giraffe-Orlene, yet we have received Giraffe Orlene.
image description:
A digital portrait shape drawing displaying a full-body drawing of Benefactor Orlene from the Adventure Zone Ethersea. Orlene is a white skinned man with elf ears and round glasses. He wears his gray hair combed back in a straight long bob. He is holding a book in his right hand, and stretches out his left hand towards the viewer. He wears a light yellow shirt and brown trousers. He is stood in front of an entry way. From within the ship comes bright yellow light, the outside is dark blue. The most striking and unnerving feature however is the thick giraffe neck that connect's orlene's humaoid head to his humanoid torso.
I was discussing this week's episode with a Canadian (@token-canadian) and he brought up that this whole thing might be a trap, and I was like nah man it can't be
And I just had the horrifying realization
In the hypothetical situation that this is all a trap, who would it be set up for? Whoever had the other end of the tracer spike. Who gave the pc's the tracer spike? CHAUNCEY. WHO ALSO JUST SO HAPPENED TO HAVE A COPY OF THE JOURNAL ORLEAN IS IN POSSESSION OF RIGHT NOW?? CHAUNCEY.
IM LIKE. 90% SURE IT ISNT TRUE BUT IF CHAUNCEY FOR SOME GOD FORSAKEN REASON IS WORKING WITH ORLEAN I WILL BE VERY UPSET
