Prompt Fill
Jun. 11th, 2007 06:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dethoratsAnd now for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shuraiya's prompt.
Prompt: Squid
Rating: G
Pairing: GBU Ben and Shanks
Word Count: 968
Note: AU and utter crack, minor spoilers for PoTC3
There were times, rare ones to be sure, when Shanks was reminded of exactly why he and Ben Beckman really worked. Sure there were the pop-psychology reasons found so easily in that 80s cheese hit of the most pathetic American Idol host. They certainly were opposites in many ways and it was true that it was precisely those things missing in himself that he loved in Ben – when they weren’t annoying the crap out of him. But beyond the superficial differences, they had a lot in common. And one of those commonalities was on display as they left the cool dark of the movie theater and walked into the muggy heat of a California evening.
Plain and simple, Shanks decided as he listened with half an ear as his boyfriend ranted on and on, they were both really very weird when one got right down to it. Weird in divergent ways most of the time but definitely weird. Maybe it was an academic thing? That bore further thought, most likely when Iceburg cornered him in the lounge to go on and on about that bitch Alvida. It would be a nice distraction. In the meantime, however, he had to deal with Ben’s own decidedly offbeat brand of weirdness.
It all came down to squid. Well, the Kraken really, considering that was what had gotten the history professor so worked up. Ben had a strange, and Shanks thought privately, somewhat unhealthy fascination with squid. Not octopus or that wonderfully smutty and pointless genre of Japanese pornography known as tentacle rape. Just squid. From the way he went on about them, stared at them whenever Shanks managed to drag him away from work to the aquarium, and collected odd scientific journal articles about them, one would think Ben harbored a secret desire to be a marine biologist devoting his life to the undersea creatures. Shanks had never asked but he enjoyed picturing his usually stuffy, tie-wearing boyfriend running around on a beach in a skin-tight wetsuit. Or the equally enjoyable, albeit for different reasons, mental image of Ben’s six feet and ten inches of height crammed into one of those tiny submarines he remembered from old Cousteau specials. In any event, Ben really liked squid, even as sushi in what the english teacher saw as a perverse sort of homage.
Pirates of the Caribbean had been Shanks’ sort of movie. It had swashbuckling action, lots of booze, humor, and Johnny Depp. Ben had accompanied Shanks to the film and had managed to keep his muttered comments about the historical inaccuracies regarding British naval and corporate practcies to a minimum thanks to, namely, Johnny Depp and an appreciation for period firearms. And so it had been fairly easy to persuade Ben to go see the sequal when it arrived, especially when commercial clips began hinting at Davy Jones’ pet. Too bad the filmmakers had allegedly gotten the Kraken all wrong.
For days Ben had droned on and on about why the Kraken in the second Pirates movie just wasn’t right. Failure in the area of the tentacles, in the shape of the head, the eye, and so on and so forth until Shanks had finally resorted to grabbing the history professor’s ponytail and hauling him down for a kiss, regardless of venue, as soon as the words ‘squid,’ ‘kraken,’ or ‘pirate’ had left his lips. It took a little while but work had finally overriden Ben’s odd obsession with tentacled sea beasts and Shanks had thought he was as in the clear as he could get considering he lived with a weirdo squid fanatic. And then they’d got to see Pirates 3.
One would’ve thought the damn Kraken was Ben’s closest friend. It was like the beast’s death was an personal affront. Given how much he’d complained about the creature from the second movie, Shanks had thought, when the rotting corpse of the giant squid showed up on the beach, that Ben would be happy. But apparently there was no pleasing the older man because from that point on he stopped paying attention to the movie. The dead Kraken held all of his focus and he worried over its death like a cat with a mostly expired mouse. It was enough to distract from the movie, although given how irritating that pratt Orlando Bloom was (should’ve stayed a blond and an elf, worked much better for him) Shanks wasn’t entirely upset. Still, he wasn’t prepared to endure another round of weeks of squid talk. This sort of disaster called for drastic measures and, as much as it pained him, he knew exactly what to do.
Ben had paid $29.95 plus shipping for an hour-long dvd from the Discovery Channel. A waste of money in Shanks’ opinion when there was always freaking TiVo or a tape, but Ben had spent it. And so, sitting on their dvd rack amidst historical documentaries, Shakespearean plays, Tom Cruise flicks, and random other detritus, was the magic dvd that would solve all of Shanks’ problems. He’d seen it a hundred times, or so it seemed, but it would be just the thing to stem the tide of squid-related ranting that was threatening to take his ear off. One night. He could stand one night if it would just shut his weird boyfriend up.
Shanks slid his arm around Ben’s waist, leaned into him and pitched his voice towards sympathetic (not hard to do considering how big the pity party he was throwing in his head was). “C’mon gunslinger. Let’s go home. We can watch Killer Squids and you can tell me just how the Kraken would’ve actually killed everybody in this movie.”
Sure it was weird but it would work. It had to because Shanks had very little sanity left when it came to squids.
Bonus Crack Regular OP Bit:
“D’ya think we could-“
“No.”
“But just think a’ all the stuff we could do if we-“
“No.”
“It could be stealth and power in one-“
“No. That’s why we have camouflage and cannons on board.”
“And its tentacles are just the right size-“
“NO Shanks.”
“Aww, you always hafta spoil my fun.”
shuraiya's prompt.Prompt: Squid
Rating: G
Pairing: GBU Ben and Shanks
Word Count: 968
Note: AU and utter crack, minor spoilers for PoTC3
There were times, rare ones to be sure, when Shanks was reminded of exactly why he and Ben Beckman really worked. Sure there were the pop-psychology reasons found so easily in that 80s cheese hit of the most pathetic American Idol host. They certainly were opposites in many ways and it was true that it was precisely those things missing in himself that he loved in Ben – when they weren’t annoying the crap out of him. But beyond the superficial differences, they had a lot in common. And one of those commonalities was on display as they left the cool dark of the movie theater and walked into the muggy heat of a California evening.
Plain and simple, Shanks decided as he listened with half an ear as his boyfriend ranted on and on, they were both really very weird when one got right down to it. Weird in divergent ways most of the time but definitely weird. Maybe it was an academic thing? That bore further thought, most likely when Iceburg cornered him in the lounge to go on and on about that bitch Alvida. It would be a nice distraction. In the meantime, however, he had to deal with Ben’s own decidedly offbeat brand of weirdness.
It all came down to squid. Well, the Kraken really, considering that was what had gotten the history professor so worked up. Ben had a strange, and Shanks thought privately, somewhat unhealthy fascination with squid. Not octopus or that wonderfully smutty and pointless genre of Japanese pornography known as tentacle rape. Just squid. From the way he went on about them, stared at them whenever Shanks managed to drag him away from work to the aquarium, and collected odd scientific journal articles about them, one would think Ben harbored a secret desire to be a marine biologist devoting his life to the undersea creatures. Shanks had never asked but he enjoyed picturing his usually stuffy, tie-wearing boyfriend running around on a beach in a skin-tight wetsuit. Or the equally enjoyable, albeit for different reasons, mental image of Ben’s six feet and ten inches of height crammed into one of those tiny submarines he remembered from old Cousteau specials. In any event, Ben really liked squid, even as sushi in what the english teacher saw as a perverse sort of homage.
Pirates of the Caribbean had been Shanks’ sort of movie. It had swashbuckling action, lots of booze, humor, and Johnny Depp. Ben had accompanied Shanks to the film and had managed to keep his muttered comments about the historical inaccuracies regarding British naval and corporate practcies to a minimum thanks to, namely, Johnny Depp and an appreciation for period firearms. And so it had been fairly easy to persuade Ben to go see the sequal when it arrived, especially when commercial clips began hinting at Davy Jones’ pet. Too bad the filmmakers had allegedly gotten the Kraken all wrong.
For days Ben had droned on and on about why the Kraken in the second Pirates movie just wasn’t right. Failure in the area of the tentacles, in the shape of the head, the eye, and so on and so forth until Shanks had finally resorted to grabbing the history professor’s ponytail and hauling him down for a kiss, regardless of venue, as soon as the words ‘squid,’ ‘kraken,’ or ‘pirate’ had left his lips. It took a little while but work had finally overriden Ben’s odd obsession with tentacled sea beasts and Shanks had thought he was as in the clear as he could get considering he lived with a weirdo squid fanatic. And then they’d got to see Pirates 3.
One would’ve thought the damn Kraken was Ben’s closest friend. It was like the beast’s death was an personal affront. Given how much he’d complained about the creature from the second movie, Shanks had thought, when the rotting corpse of the giant squid showed up on the beach, that Ben would be happy. But apparently there was no pleasing the older man because from that point on he stopped paying attention to the movie. The dead Kraken held all of his focus and he worried over its death like a cat with a mostly expired mouse. It was enough to distract from the movie, although given how irritating that pratt Orlando Bloom was (should’ve stayed a blond and an elf, worked much better for him) Shanks wasn’t entirely upset. Still, he wasn’t prepared to endure another round of weeks of squid talk. This sort of disaster called for drastic measures and, as much as it pained him, he knew exactly what to do.
Ben had paid $29.95 plus shipping for an hour-long dvd from the Discovery Channel. A waste of money in Shanks’ opinion when there was always freaking TiVo or a tape, but Ben had spent it. And so, sitting on their dvd rack amidst historical documentaries, Shakespearean plays, Tom Cruise flicks, and random other detritus, was the magic dvd that would solve all of Shanks’ problems. He’d seen it a hundred times, or so it seemed, but it would be just the thing to stem the tide of squid-related ranting that was threatening to take his ear off. One night. He could stand one night if it would just shut his weird boyfriend up.
Shanks slid his arm around Ben’s waist, leaned into him and pitched his voice towards sympathetic (not hard to do considering how big the pity party he was throwing in his head was). “C’mon gunslinger. Let’s go home. We can watch Killer Squids and you can tell me just how the Kraken would’ve actually killed everybody in this movie.”
Sure it was weird but it would work. It had to because Shanks had very little sanity left when it came to squids.
Bonus Crack Regular OP Bit:
“D’ya think we could-“
“No.”
“But just think a’ all the stuff we could do if we-“
“No.”
“It could be stealth and power in one-“
“No. That’s why we have camouflage and cannons on board.”
“And its tentacles are just the right size-“
“NO Shanks.”
“Aww, you always hafta spoil my fun.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 11:07 am (UTC)Ben being a Kraken fanboy is just the cutest thing ever. To be obsessed with squid of all things...just adorable.
Yaoi Con - those rates are awesome! I've been looking, too, and the lowest I've managed to find was $400 round trip. I could go for either one, but in all honesty, I'm looking at the $200 Philly fare. Not only is it $130 cheaper, but it gives us a bit more time to get organized and cough up the funds.
If we do go with the Philly departure, since I'm about 5 minutes from that airport, we can make arrangements to meet at my place ahead of time. Depending on what time we're leaving and what everyone is comfortable with, we can even meet up the night before and have a slumber party in my tiny little apartment.
Did we ever settle completely on how many days we want to spend in San Fran? I still think that we should do an extra few in order to bang around and see the sights. Maybe head out Wed. through Sunday?
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 05:45 am (UTC)As for times and stuff, I know Tiff has the hotel booked Thur - Sun, meaning we could fly back Monday morning. She and fffshuuu can't come out any earlier or stay later but that isn't necessarily true for the rest of us. I might be able to find a cheap hotel (I can't look until 90 days in advance of travel unfortunately) if we want an extra night. I'd definitely be up for that! I think it would be awesome to bum around San Francisco but I'm not sure about everybody else.
Maybe we need a separate post just for that?
I miss bits and pieces of GBU myself. Ah the crack. And you know Ben's gotta have some quirks himself in order to be able to tolerate all of Shanks'.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-13 12:50 am (UTC)I sent an email to my friend Tara and let her know about the $200 option for this month and am waiting to hear back from her. If she's still interested in coming, I'm sure she'll go for it. I think that just leaves Sherri to contact - I'm not sure if she saw this post. I'll shoot her an email to see about her situation.
I've stayed extra time in San Fran in the past, and from what I remember, a lot of the hotels downtown are pretty reasonable (if not damn cheap). We should definitely spend our extended stay downtown because its just so much more fun. I was so bummed when they moved the convention from there to the airport. I mean, downtown is still easily accessible by catching the metro train from the airport, but its not the same...
Anywho, if you guys wind up coming to stay with me before our trip, then I will be obligated to take you into Philly for a cheese steak. Its kind of the rule.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-15 07:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 11:23 am (UTC)Arg. Well, just because we can't make that excellent rate doesn't mean you should miss it.
BTW: squidcrack WTFH? And the mental image of Shanks and Ben curled up on the couch watching a documentary is weirdly cute.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 04:29 am (UTC)About the only qualm I have about this rate is that it lists flights to San Francisco starting in August, way before our departure, but it currently doesn't offer San Fran as an actual selectable choice in the booking dropdown even though it's listed above as part of the discounted fare offer. I'm going to see if I can find an email link later tonight to inquire about that since the rate is only valid for internet booking.
Also,
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 06:06 am (UTC)If the flights work out, it might be most awesome to crash at her place. :D
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 03:29 pm (UTC)I might attribute some of my laughter to the Midol I took a little while ago, but oh my god. This was hilarious and magical and perfect. I miss writing them, I am going to kick my butt into gear and write something for you-know-what. I just KNEW you'd do something great with the squid prompt, and hot damn, you did! You are brilliant and I love you and this is going to entertain me all day at work. XD XD XD
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 05:11 am (UTC)PS: Cosplay pics? Some people - namely me - are dying to see them!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 02:48 pm (UTC)PS: I believe Natalie is finished editing the batch she had at her house, I've actually been meaning to ask her about it... I'll ask her tonight after I get home from work, and see if we can get it all uploaded to
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-12 02:49 pm (UTC)