Guided By Voices

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:31 pm

William came hustling into one of the side music rooms, panting and a little out of breath.

He collapsed on a stool, and massaged his temples. "Gnnnaaaa..."

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:31 pm

"And what the hell was that all about? We were in the middle of a number," Will said, following behind him, with her hands on her hips. "Dude, you bombed the concert."

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:32 pm

"And you...you...you bombshelled the concert! What the hell is with the...the...you know, all THAT!" William said, gesturing at Will's chest. "In front of everybody?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:33 pm

"What the f...I shapeshifted. Because, you know, I'm a shapeshifter. I shifted my shape into a new shape, to better fit the situation. That's what we do."

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:34 pm

"OK, yeah, maybe a couple inches taller or a little buffer or something but...but you're supposed to stay you when people are around!"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:35 pm

"Get off your high horse -- I was 15 once and with a full-length mirror too, you know," Will grinned. "C'mon, just take a couple deep breaths and calm down. Everything's fine. We're all fine, here."

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:36 pm

William turned crimson.

"That's...that just makes it worse!. What, you want them to be staring at you like...like that?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:39 pm

"Will...that's not what this is," Will frowned, concerned.

"This is me, Will. This is us, eventually. Male, female -- it's still just us. Just because we were born one way doesn't mean we have to stay that way. We can do whatever we want, be who we want. It's all going to be OK.

...How long have you been at Xaviers?"

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:40 pm

"Like...72 hours. Maybe 96, I don't know, things are confusing now.

And this is a hell of a lot of things to take in. I haven't even been out as a mutant for very long, and there you are, standing up in front and just, you know, showing off like that. And not just a little parlor trick, but a whole...she-bang.

I don't know. It's just...just scary to think how much I might change," he said, with a small lopsided grin.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:41 pm

"Kid, you don't know the half of it," William's stool replied.

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:42 pm

Both WIlls jumped back at that.

"Jesus christ, what the fuck?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:42 pm

"How long have you been sitting there?" the other Will demanded.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:43 pm

"I dunno, I went to find Robin after talking with Miranda and Sam, and I couldn't find her, so I just stayed out of the way...eight, nine hours?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:43 pm

"You've been a stool here for nine hours?" Will shouted, incredulously.

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:44 pm

"You were a stool?" the other Will shouted back, simultaneously

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:45 pm

"Yes, and yes! I just was staying out of the way, and this fits in better with the room's decor," the stool said, shifting back into his base, default self.

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:46 pm

"Dude, do that in private," Will hissed. "What if someone who wasn't us had come in here?"

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:47 pm

"Oh, Ryan and Rachel were in here for a bit, but they finished up a while back. Everything's OK," he smiled, giving them a thumbs-up.

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:48 pm

"Wait, Ryan and Rachel snuck off? My Ryan and Rachel? If so, then..."

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:49 pm

"Oh, I don't think they were from the same universe, no. But they got along very well, very quickly, and needed some lumbar support. It's a good thing I was here!"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:51 pm

"Dude, NO. No no no no. Jesus fuck, that's wrong. If they found out that was you, they'd...tear you limb from limb. Or report you to somebody. No no no," Will frowned.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:52 pm

"What? Will, pal, I was a stool. They needed somewhere to sit while they made out, and I was more than happy to help. I made their day just that little bit better. I helped, and everyone had a good time because of it. That's good?"

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:53 pm

"Yeah, Will," William mocked. "After all, 'We can do whatever we want, be who we want', right?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:53 pm

"That's different, and you know it. There are some things that, for propriety's sake, you don't do out in public!"

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:54 pm

"Like grow three cup sizes? Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

by **Null** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 6:55 pm

"Aaaaand out comes the religion talk. Congratulations, all three of you, you're all idiots," a fourth voice said, slow-clapping from the doorway.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:01 pm

"Look who's talking. You're the one on this self-inflicted anger campaign. We've got the evolution of Stanton, right here!" Will said, wrapping an arm around his younger and female selves. "A logical progression from being a flesh-and-blood boy who occasionally slips in as a towel in his high school locker room..."

"I did that one time!"

"You did that plenty of times, which is why she," she said, resting on the other Will, "is so embarrassed by me here. But again, logical progression, from flesh-and-blood boy to clay-boy to sentient clay, no humanity necessarily attached."

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:02 pm

"Now, hold on just a minute -- I'm definitely still -human-. Women are human," Will protested.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:02 pm

"Well, yes, of course, but are jackets human? Like for Onyx? What about a bathtub for Sara? An action figure for Sam? A dolly for Robin? You do this stuff all the time!"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:03 pm

"Yeah, like, as a, you know...thing from time to time. That doesn't mean I'm not a person!"

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:03 pm

"I didn't say not a person, I said not a human. Though, I have some bad news for you on that first point, too..."

by **Null** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:05 pm

"Evolution, you call it. Devolution, if you ask me.

You've got one guy here afraid to see where his powers can take him..."

"Hey!"

"...A hypocrite who decides whatever he does now is normal, but 5 percent more or less? That's either weird or intolerant..."

"Hey!"

"...and an egoless lump who'd rather spend the day underneath a werewolf's ass than accomplishing anything on his own."

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:06 pm

The other two Wills looked at the third Will, expecting something.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:06 pm

"Hrm? Oh! Oh, sorry.

Hey!"

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:09 pm

"Look, just because this is new and a lot to take in...

OK, yeah, I'm afraid. This is scary shit! This is...I know, alternate dimensions, not guaranteed, but this is lots, and lots, and lots to take in all at once. I don't see how I get from here to...to there," he said, pointing at stool-Will. "Maybe it will all make sense going forward! I don't know! But I think a little bit of fear is probably a healthy response to getting slapped with 'you're not a flesh and blood person, really', don't you?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:13 pm

"And it's not that I think other people are weird or intolerant," Will countered back.

"It's...look. Sara has left me, in the past, over shifting more than she's comfortable with. I've had people get very, very mad at me for doing things, and I've been called strange and a freak dozens of times. And even when people don't do that, you can see by the look in their eyes, sometimes, that you've crossed a line. It's a hard line to follow, and I'm constantly falling off. I'm doing the best I can to try to stay in everyone's good graces -- I've got a family to raise, a team to run, a Goddess to somehow serve...it's a lot. There aren't any clear guidelines on how to do any of this, and...and it's terrifying. I've seen what happened to Legion and to Taleisin. I'm just trying to be a good man, and I don't know how to do that, all the time. And so when I see a me crossing what might be an unspoken line, and taking advantage of our shifting? It's scary to think I might be there."

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:17 pm

"And it's not that I have no ego," Will joined in.

"I spent so, so long denying who I actually am, and what I can do. You all know how nice it is to be useful, all of you do. You're ashamed by it, because it's new and weird and you use it for peeping," he said, pointing at William, "or because you're afraid people won't take you seriously," he said, pointing at Will, "or because you've lost the part of you with magic dancing behind your eyes," he said, pointing at Null.

"When people understand you, when they truly understand you, then you can be yourself around them. I wasn't myself for a long time, and it took me a long, long time to understand it, and come to grips with it, and get other people to come to grips with it as well. But if I want to be a water fountain in the quad, or a tuna sandwich or a formula one racing car, I should be allowed to do it! I'm not hurting anyone. It feels good. Life's too short to deny who you are."

by **Null** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:19 pm

"And you've lost perspective," Null countered.

"You want to just be that...water fountain. Because you've lost the part that makes you William Fucking Stanton. You don't care any more if they treat you like Will, you care if they treat you like a fountain. You're surrendering your humanity in order to get a few cheap thrills. That's spitting on everything that these guys went through," he said, gesturing to the other Wills, "to become us. No es bueno, my man. No es bueno."

by **William Stanton** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:21 pm

"Wait, wait, wait, when did this become some kind of...epic philosophical discussion?

I was just..surprised that he would want to be a woman. Or she. Whatever. Or that he would want to be a stool. I don't think I'd want someone's butt in my face all day; that's weird and gross...

...but if that's what he wants, I mean...OK? Good on him? And if people don't, uh, mind, that's OK, too? Mostly? I mean, it's strange, but, then, like, there are people here who can read your thoughts. That's stranger, right?

Like, it's not bad to be strange, necessarily?"

by **Will** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:24 pm

"And, um," Will added after a moment. "This doesn't have to be, you know, a binary thing. Like, I don't think when I'm shifted for Sara that she doesn't still think of me as her husband. I'm just temporarily also something else, right? I don't need to give up my, uh, Will-ness if I'm also being a good pen, yeah?"

Who is online