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Published:
2025-05-05
Updated:
2025-09-03
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2,393
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2/?
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Cast Cuts

Summary:

Glisten immediately noticed one day when his handler didn’t wake him on time. When he goes out to the common spaces, there's other toons. They all had one thing in common. Glisten takes charge as they all fear for what the future could hold for them.

(Or: Suddenly, Glisten, Scraps, and Shrimpo have been cut from the cast of Dandy’s World and of Gardenview before the shutdown of the facilities)

Notes:

This might not be updated very frequently but I'm brewing some ideas!

Chapter 1: Snip, snip, snip!

Chapter Text

Glisten was a perfect toon. He was always perfect. And always being perfect came with a few requirements, one of which was a perfect routine, a perfect schedule. Glisten and his handler, Guinevere, had a routine, a schedule. One that was followed closely everyday, even on the weekends. Infact, he was the busiest on weekends! His perfect schedule started with waking up at the same time everyday. Guinevere would wait until exactly 7:00 AM everyday before she woke him up, no matter how early she arrived at the Gardenview center. She insisted on not using an alarm of any kind, if the power went out or if it broke it would throw off their perfect day. Guinevere was perfect. She was never early, never late. Glisten rolled around in his bed, grumbling to himself.

He woke up all on his own, sometimes he would do that and simply pretend to be sleeping until Guinevere came or until he actually fell back asleep. But this morning was different. It was taking too long. Too long. Gwen should’ve been there by now. Something was wrong, if Gwen wasn’t here, something was wrong. Or Glisten was being overdramatic, but probably not. He was supposed to be perfect, after all.

Glisten launched out of bed and ran through his morning routine, the one he normally did with Guinevere. Wiped down his face with a damp towel, then a dry one, tied the soft pink bow around his waist, pulled on his sparkly leg-warmers, and powdered on a bit of blush and eyeshadow. Out his door he went. It was Saturday, the Toons’ busiest day of the week. Floods of kids to greet, to teach, to become friends with. It was one of Glisten’s favorite days because he had the ability to show everyone how perfect he was!! While Glisten woke up earlier than most of the other Toons, normally some of them would be in the halls, greeting each other and their handlers as they got ready for the day. Today, the halls of the Toon Rooms were empty.

He hadn't even taken the time to be perfect this morning. There was no time to be perfect. He raced for the kitchen, in it housed the closest clock he knew of. He zoomed in and looked at the digital clock on the oven. EIGHT FIFTY-SIX?!?!??!?!?! Something was MOST DEFINITELY WRONG. This was the most un-perfect he had been in years! Glisten took a few steps back, clutching the edges of his frame in sheer horror when a voice interrupted him.

“You too?” Scraps huffed monotonically. Him too? Him too WHAT???

“I- I’m sorry… ‘you too’? What do you mean ‘you too’? Where’s Goob? Why aren’t you down there getting ready for craft-time?” Being perfect like he was, Glisten also knew the other Toons’ schedules. So Scraps was off of hers as well? If she was one of the craft-SIBLINGS, why wasn’t she with her little brother? Why was she so unbothered by the break in their routines?

She looked up from her notebook, “Your handler was fired too, wasn’t she? Did she at least come to say goodbye like Sasha did?”

A tiny crack appeared in Glisten’s perfect world… Gwen? Fired? Glisten tried to process what that could possibly mean for him and the dread weighed down on him. Why would they fire Gwen? She was PERFECT! She was his best friend, his caretaker, his handler. She taught Glisten how to be perfect. Why would they ever fire Guienvere? She was… everything to Glisten. Questions buzzed in his newly-unperfect mind. Would he get a new handler? Would this one be nice? Would they have a routine like Glisten and Gwen did? What now? What would he do while he waited? Why was Scraps’s handler let go, too?

“I HATE RELATING TO OTHER TOONS!! I HATE BOTH OF YOU!” A squeaky yelp came from the table farthest from the entrance to the kitchen. Shrimpo was there too… just GREAT. Surprising, his annoying voice helped ground Glisten from his panicked drifting state.

He took a deep breath and ran his fingertips over the edge of his frame, “Sorry, what’s going on, Scraps? Why was your handler fired and not Goob’s? Why is he down there when you aren’t?”

Scraps’s face turned solem, timid almost. It wasn’t like her. Her ear/horn things drooped to the side of her hexagon-like face as she fiddled with her claws and looked away from Glisten. “She said that if anyone found out she visited me… something bad would happen… but she came to say goodbye to me but didn’t explain why she had to go. She told me that until further notice I simply wouldn’t be going down, making crafts, teaching and spending time with the kids. I don’t get it, we’re both confused, Glisten.”

He felt sick to his stomach. He placed a hand over his mouth and sank down into the chair next to Scraps. “So… Goob is…?”

“He’s fine, a little concerned when Sasha didn’t come and Geoff told me to stay put. He was asleep when Sasha showed up. I’m sure he’s having fun though, he can have fun doing almost anything.” Scraps smiled sadly. Glisten put his arm around her.

He reassured, “Hey, I’m sure we’ll get new handlers and everything will go back to normal. And no matter how long that takes, we’ll be there for eachother, won’t we? My radiant perfection and your bubbling creativity together can only create good things!! I-”

“We aren’t GETTING new handlers.” Shrimpo barked.

Glisten turned to glare at the little crustacean. “Yes we ARE. Scraps, don’t listen to him! He’s Shrimpo and he’s just being a jerk to be a jerk. He probably hated his handler anyway,” He scoffed.

Shrimpo slammed his hands on his table and stormed over to the other toons, he jabbed his finger at Glisten, “YOU DON’T GET IT! THERE’S NO NEW HANDLERS! THERE’S NO MORE GLISTEN. THERE’S NO MORE SCRAPS. AND THERE’S NO MORE SHRIMPO! We’re DONE! GONE! RETIRED! DELETED!! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!!! THEY- THEY HATE US!” Shrimpo’s angry look began to be more and more faulted as he yelled. Voice shaking and eyes watering, his fear was evident. His hands shook at his sides when he pulled back slightly. “They HATE us!” Shrimpo sucked in his lower lip to prevent himself from crying. He knew more than Scraps and Glisten did, it was clear.

Glisten went to put his hand on Shrimpo but paused mid-air, aware he would probably punch him for that, “Are- are you alright, Shrimpo?”

“I HATE WHEN OTHER TOONS ARE CONDESCENDING!! ESPECIALLY WHEN WE’RE ALL IN THE SAME SITUATION!!”

Glisten rubbed the rim of his head in perplexity, thinking about what to say next. “... What situation are you referring to, exactly? Also I wasn’t TRYING to be condescending.”

“Being REMOVED from the cast. Duh.”

“Wait… WHAT?”

Chapter 2: Choices

Summary:

Shrimpo knows what's going on, but... will anyone believe a bully?

Notes:

Sorrrryyyyy this took soooooo long! I literally wrote this whole chapter today soooooo I have no excuses other than just focusing on mostly RRP (Rodger's Recovery Plan, my main fic, go check it out /nf) and some little side projects. Allllsssooooo not knowing where I wanted to take this after chapter 1? Tbh I still have no clue! Suggestions welcome lmao

Enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Shrimpo was a very hate-filled creature. He was made that way. He was meant to be that way. He had always been that way. What he HADN’T always been, was a boy creature. In the first season of the show, Shrimpo was Shrimpy. And Shrimpy was a girl. She had eyelashes, she had a high-pitched, nasally voice, and she wore a dress. Shrimpy was the cartoon Shrimpo was based on. Then, Shrimpo was created. They made him watch the show. And he HATED it. Infact, it was the one thing he hated the MOST in his ENTIRE LIFE. Although that life, of course, had been very short at that time. Why did he hate the colorful, cheerful show? Because Shrimpo wasn’t in it. There was a Toon that looked exactly like him, sounded exactly like him, but acted completely different. She was a girl. Shrimpo wasn’t a girl. Not only that, but Shrimpy was never EVER depicted as anything other than a stupid bully who was always wrong. She had no friends. Shrimpo hated ALL of it.

Shrimpo went to the handlers, Shrimpo went to Arthur, and Shrimpo went to Delilah. “I HATE SHRIMPY!” He told them. His handler barely blinked before taking him to Arthur, Arthur understood his plight and took him to Delilah, Delilah gave him an aggravated glare.

“What do you mean, you hate Shrimpy? You hate yourself?” Delilah had asked under barely masked disgust.

“NO! I HATE HER! I HATE SHRIMPY! I HATE BEING A GIRL! I’M NOT A GIRL!” Shrimpo had snapped in reply. “IF I WAS A BOY, I WOULD NOT HATE MYSELF! BECAUSE I AM A BOY! I HATE WHEN KIDS AND PEOPLE THINK I’M A GIRL! I’M NOT!”

Delilah and Arthur had exchanged a surprised glance. His handler put a hand on his head-tail. Arthur crouched down to Shrimpo’s height. “I’ll see what we can do about that, Shrimpy.”

“SHRIMPO” Shrimpo corrected.

“... Shrimpo.” Arthur repeated.

~~~

Okay, sure the next season was already in progress so the show couldn’t change immediately but the REAL him could. There were modifications made to Shrimpo to differentiate him from Shrimpy. They gave him antennae, large ones on the top of his head, small ones under his cheeks. They gave him another tail, one where a tail would actually go. They gave him new clothes. This included a tight piece of fabric he could pull over his head that would hide the convex shape of his chest. They taught him how to lower his voice. They removed his cartoonish eyelashes. They introduced him, once he was ready, as Shrimpy’s brother. If people were upset that the actual “Shrimpy” wasn’t there, Shrimpo would declare how much he hated them to show he was just like her.

When season three aired, Shrimpy was no more, only her brother, Shrimpo, remained. Sure, he was in less episodes due to the more complex design, but he hated season 3 slightly less than the other two. Shrimpo was Shrimpo. And he was happy with that.

~~~

Shrimpo laid on his bed after a long, long day of hating. EVERY day was a long, long day for Shrimpo. He hated everyone and everything, that took a LOT of energy. JUST when he thought he had escaped people, escaped hating for the day, his handler, Sean, ducked through his door. “I HATE WHEN PEOPLE COME INTO MY ROOM WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION!” Shrimpo announced without sitting up.

Sean sighed, “Can I come in?” he asked, despite already being inside.

“I HATE WHEN PEOPLE ASK TO COME INTO MY ROOM. …FINE. WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Shrimpo, only then, propped himself up on his bed to look at Sean. Sean looked upset. Uh oh… did he find out he almost popped Looey when he ACCIDENTALLY squirted a lemon in his direction earlier?

“Hey, Shrimpo. I need to talk with you, buddy.” Sean sat on the floor next to his bed

“I HATE WHEN YOU CALL ME BUDDY!” He swung his legs to the side and positioned himself so they were off the side of the mattress.

“... I know. Delilah and Arthur talked to me and a couple of the other handlers today.”

“AND?”

“You have a choice.”

“... WHAT?”

Sean gave him a sad look, hesitating. He cleared his throat, “Either, you have to pretend to be… her again.” Shrimpo’s stomach dropped. No. This couldn’t be happening, right? This was a sick prank from Connie, right? He couldn’t POSSIBLY mean that, right? “Or they remove you from Dandy’s World. And not just that, they remove you from Gardenview entirely.”

Shrimpo hated this. He was so vulnerable here, in his room, on his bed, in his binder and his basketball shorts. Why did Sean do this here? Where else would he do it? Anywhere else there would be other people around. His voice of reason spoke in his head. Shrimpo hated this. “I- I hate…” For the first time in his life, Shrimpo’s voice died in his throat. Why was he upset? He hated Gardenview. He hated the stupid show. He hated everything. Why was he upset? Shrimpo hated feeling upset. From staring off to nowhere in particular, Shrimpo turned to lock eyes with his caretaker, “I won’t do it.” Calm, collected, and firm, who knew he had it in him?

“Okay… Okay, Shrimpo. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I- I’m going to be out of a job soon. Maybe tomorrow. Are you going to be okay?”

Shrimpo sniffed and wiped at his face pretty aimlessly, he realized he was crying. He hated crying. He was silent as he melted onto the floor. He was silent when he climbed onto Sean’s lap. He was silent when they embraced each other in a hug. He was silent when Sean left. And then he screamed.

~~~

“THEY’VE REMOVED US FROM DANDY’S WORLD. THEY’VE REMOVED US FROM GARDENVIEW. ARE YOU STUPID? I HATE WHEN TOONS ARE STUPID!” Shrimpo explained.

“Oh… my gosh.” Glisten held his face in his hands. “You’re… you’re lying!” He suddenly accused.

“I HATE LYING. I’M NOT LYING. WHY WOULD I LIE ABOUT THAT?!”

“No! You are lying! Why in the world would they do that? Maybe that’s the case for YOU, because unlike YOU, we actually contribute something POSITIVE to Gardenview and the show! We’re nice! We’re important! We’re talented! We actually have FRIENDS! The only thing YOU do is cause trouble and put others down! I don’t even know why they made you! Why would ANYONE be your fan? Why would ANYONE want to meet YOU?” Scraps’s tail lashed as she spoke. Wow. She had really struck a nerve with that one. Shrimpo’s fists clenched. He pushed all those words to the back of his mind. He was Shrimpo. And Shrimpo is always the best.

“FINE THEN! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE IN YOUR LITTLE FANTASY WORLD WHERE WE HAVE ANY FUTURE OTHER THAN SLOWLY FADING INTO OBSCURITY THEN FINE! BE MY GUEST! I HATE YOU BOTH ANYWAY!” Shrimpo spat out his words with an aggression he only expressed when he was purely livid. He stormed back to his room. He inserted a Nirvana cassette tape into his boom box that Sean had got him, and cranked the volume to the max. Without even bothering to put on his boxing gloves or even wrap his hands for safety, he started to go to town on one of his punching bags. Sean bought those for him too.

Notes:

Me when I have to write a transwoman GULP! (I'm transmasc so... uh... I'm gonna have to do some research before we get any Scraps inner monologue. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hope the uhhh gender stuff was chill. Tbh Shrimpo gets more support off the bat than I do rn- HAHAHHA anyway I'm mostly winging it so... uhhh what else do I say

Hope you're liking this mediocre fic!