Great God Grove | A Fickle Editor

[fairyfic]

Rating: G

Fandom: Great God Grove

Characters: Click Clack, Thespius Green (mentioned)

Relationship: Click Clack/Thespius Green

Words: 932

Tropes: Internalized Homophobia (Click Clack), Autistic Character (Click Clack), Character Study, Denial of Feelings, Unconventional Format

Summary: Click Clack carefully edits his thought process (lest it leads to something he's not yet ready to face).

He can't let his mask fall off, after all!

This fic was 80% inspired by the fact that there were a grand total of 2 Great God Grove fics with the Internalized Homophobia tag on AO3, none of them featuring Click Clack, the God of Internalized Homophobia. (The other 20% was the song "OUCH!" by Zoofles! I thought the format of a character's internal monologue being interrupted whenever it got too vulnerable was fun and interesting.)

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[CUT TO A STRANGE ROOM HIGH IN THE CLOUDS. ENTER THE GOD OF STORYTELLING. THEY TYPE FURIOUSLY AT THEIR CHAIR, HUNCHED OVER THEIR TYPEWRITER. THEY ARE WITHIN THE THROES OF YET ANOTHER CREATIVE FERVOR! THE SUNLIGHT FROM THE WINDOWS HAS LONG FADED, LEAVING ONLY THE SPOTLIGHT IN THE DARKENED ROOM.]


Click Clack distantly muses that he hasn't pulled this many all-nighters since he was still a mortal in college... but he simply can't hold back! Regardless of how his wrists protested, he can't rest until "Oh Partner Mine" was PERFECT for viewing, with all of its difficult edges sanded away into something easy to swallow.


Click Clack usually hates that sort of phrasing. Making something "palatable" for those who want to "consume" their art. Something to tear into with your teeth and toss aside like trash! What a complete insult!! But King had opened their eyes. Some ideals simply have to be forgone for the sake of having your art viewed by as many folks as possible. So the work can be famous! So that THESPIUS can be famous!


Oh, Thespie... Click Clack sighs dreamily, only looking away from his work for a second before getting right back to typing. He is only able to work this hard because it is for Thespius's sake. It had always been that way — Click Clack is at his best when doing something for or with his beloved Best Friend! As if his dearest's presence would give Click Clack a shot of pure, undiluted inspirational fervor, straight to his racing heart!!


It is without exaggeration to say that the artist had truly changed Click Clack's life. When they first met as mortals, to see someone like that so confident in his own skin had someone "like" what? since we will not clarify, it's best to avoid this line entirely. When they first met as mortals, it felt like a twist of fate! Their personalities played together perfectly, and each individual's spark fanned a creative flame in the other, almost as if they were always intended to work together. Click Clack might not have even begun to pursue editing professionally if not for his beloved Best Friend!!


Writing with Thespius, when they were mortals, had felt inspiring and invigorating, like nothing Click Clack had felt before. He felt like he was finally reclaiming something he had lost. The experience of staying up into the night, whispering in excited, hushed voices about love and heartbreak... He had been unable to do that as the other boys did, those thoughts instead relegated to what thoughts? you've never so much as had a passing fancy for someone. He had been unable to do that as the other boys did, but concepting romantic stories with Thespius made him feel like he was a teenager again!! The teenager he'd been meant to be. And now, finally, FINALLY, with the power of Click Clack's genius networking and editing, they have a chance to repay Thespius for everything!


Not to say it wasn't difficult, of course. Click Clack always had trouble discerning the gray areas of relationships. This makes it difficult to determine which lines Thespius had written with romantic intent, and which lines could be kept as-is. When in doubt, though, he could always emphasize their Platonic Companionship through such explicit words! In that way, it is similar to this line will divert focus, and should be removed. It is less subtle than Thespius would have been able to achieve, but Click Clack is trying to make their upcoming TV deal a surprise, so some sacrifices must be made! To go back to the food metaphor: one must crack a few eggs to make an omelette!


Another thought comes to Click Clack and he relents, the sound of the clattering keys of the typewriter coming to a stop as he mulls it over. He wonders what the ending to "Oh Partner Mine" would be like. Thespius would certainly try to end it romantically, which would have to be erased, but otherwise...


The two of them have always been fond of tragedies. Romantic tragedies especially! It was the one thing that Click Clack often required Thespius to hold him back on, lest he go too far, instead of the other way around. A tragic ending would not well fit the tone of this little story, he will confess, but, for some reason, doing anything explicitly happy doesn't sit right with him, either. After all, he knows what happens to way too dark, way too quickly. also, makes you seem like a bigot. He will confess, a tragic ending would not well fit the tone of this little story, but perhaps a bittersweet one would work...?


Click Clack ponders on it longer than they expect to, imagining different ways that the two leads could have their hearts broken or mended. They would not think about the minute details of this story so much if it was not intended to be Thespius's big break. (Or perhaps they'd think about it more?)


He decides to leave the tone of the ending to Thespius, disregarding the romantic elements. To cut his darling chrysanthemum's intended ending to that degree, it feels a bridge too far! Click Clack is not twisting this wonderful story into something else entirely! They were just trying to make sure Thespius knew they were valuable, and cut this. it makes you sound insecure.


He just wanted to do something for Thespius that nobody else cut this. you sound creepy.


He just wanted Thespius to cut this.


He just wanted his Best Friend to be happy.