don't stop believing

[stagemanagers]

[Streetlights, reveals] | [Vision Statements] | [Mass Resolution: CONNECT] | [A little touch of the sun (Revival)] | [They do this bullshit like 8 times a week (Rescue)]


[It's a pleasant afternoon in the garden. Maybe not emotionally, but physically - isn't it nice when you get to have class outside?

As your voices rise, singing defiance in unison out for the Wizard, there's no immediate response; at least, nothing that clearly is a response. But there's something. Amidst the sound of your song, it may be hard to hear at first; Janis will likely be the first to notice, but eventually everyone is able to hear. It sounds as though other voices are rising along with yours.

There's something on the air - no music, or at least no instrumentals, just a disembodied sort of lyrical chant. You don't recognize any of the voices. They aren't singing the same song as you all are. Maybe they can't; they sound long long ago, and far far away now. Still - despite everything - the trees around you move lightly in a sudden soft breeze. It feels as though you have invoked something, old and entirely beyond your knowledge.

But first. Haven't you forgotten something?

It's Wednesday.

Welcome to this week's school club!]

Comments

[violentenvies]

I do. I truly mean that.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Salieri can’t see it, but Spongebob is smiling. It’s shaky, but genuine. He felt like a kid, whenever his mom would hold him close after a rough day, and he felt the pain just melt away as he felt nothing but comfort.]

That’s great to hear.

Because you’re already the best dad I could hope for.

[Sure Salieri did screw up badly, and he loves his biological dad with all his heart, but in his mind?

The universe was more than big enough to hold multiple perfect dads.]

[violentenvies]

[Something in Salieri's chest lurches a bit at that, tightening--there's the kneejerk reaction to deny it, but ("We don't get to decide that--")

instead he'll just hold Spongebob a little tighter and close his eyes for a moment so he doesn't start weeping all over again. Instead,]

I love you, son. So much.

cw hallucinations, suicide implications

[employeeoftheyear]

I love you too.

[And they stay like that for a long while. Spongebob wants to just stay like this forever, feeling comfortable and safe. He knows he has to let go eventually, but he's going to savor this for as long as possible.

Soon, however, Spongebob quietly laughs.]

Y... you know, you've actually have been helping me a bit already.

When... when Will gave us that motive, I started seeing you around everywhere, and you were...

[Spongebob doesn't finish that, but judging by his tone it seemed like the hallucinations were not nice ones.]

But... but after the car crash you stuck around, and you seemed so scared. You kept apologizing to me and telling me how much you loved me and how I deserved to live...

[A sob catches in his throat, and he takes a moment to settle himself down before he continues.]

I... I know you weren't really there, but it really helped me when I was stuck in the nurse's room. It... it made me realize how much you loved me.

Re: cw hallucinations, suicide implications

[violentenvies]

[...oh. He hadn't realized; Orpheus, Eurydice and Elle had talked about a sickness, about the hallucinations--Salieri hadn't counted on anyone seeing him. The way Spongebob talks about it, he can't imagine what he said to him, at first, at how horrible it might've been, and Salieri's stomach knots at the thought of it, at the little sob that catches in Spongebob's throat, and he tightens his arms around him, at that.

After he's finished, Salieri is quiet a moment, eyes squeezed shut to keep himself from crying again, still holding him tightly]

I...[he swallows, hard] I'm sorry that I ever made you think I didn't love you, Spongebob. [he sucks in a shaky breath] ...but even though those hallucinations certainly made it difficult for you, I'm glad they were also able to comfort you later.

cw hallucinations, suicide implications

[employeeoftheyear]

Yeah... it was like my brain realized how scared I was, a-and it tried to remind me that I still have people who loved me, and...

[He takes a shaky breath.]

Those visions were terrifying at first, dad. I felt like everyone was mocking me. Like... like I was at the bottom of a giant hole and everyone was either telling me how much of a failure I was, or...

Or tell me I was doing something good, even though I knew I wasn't. And they were laughing too, like they were making fun of me. Like even though they were trying to encourage me, that they knew I couldn't do anything.

[Another sob escapes him. Spongebob finally started to accept that he does provide a use to the team, but... but those voices in his head still rung sharp. Even though he knows no one was really thinking it, the fact that it felt so real still makes him wonder how much of it is an act.]

Like... like I was just a simple sponge.