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bubblegumbeech · 3 years

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Haunted Towers and Hidden Truths

Phic Phight prompt by @lexiepiper

Write a more traditional ghost story. How would things change if ghost powers weren’t super powers, but closer to old horror movie tropes?

“We shouldn’t do this Danny,” Sam said, ever the voice of reason. “This place isn’t like our usual haunts.“

But Danny shook his head, “No Sam, I have to do this. I have to know what that dream meant, if it was really a dream or something else.”

He moved to take a step forward when his other friend, Tucker, grabbed his arm, “I don’t know man, I think she’s right. There isn’t a possessed item to destroy, or an overactive ghost to try and calm down, heck even Vlad has a weakness we can exploit, we don’t know anything about this place. What if we don’t make it out of this one?”

“Come on Tucker,” Danny argued, his own confidence nothing but a mask, “It can’t be as bad as the haunted video game right? You die in the game you die in real life!”

Tucker didn’t laugh, “this is serious Danny, I know that dream had you messed up, but what if it was just that? A dream?”

“Or,” Sam cut in, “What if it’s a trap? Remember how Desiree tried to get us with that monkey’s paw when she realized we were getting involved with every scary story and urban legend in town and she didn’t want us to find out about her?”

There was also the time a ghost discovered Danny’s secret and decided to haunt him personally and make his life a living hell until he and Tucker were able to exorcise it. It had involved a gorilla, a lot of research into dead safari hunters, and one of his parent’s inventions that they rigged to do what they needed before destroying it so it couldn’t be used against Danny himself.

“We made it through all of those things together, remember when we first saw Cujo? And we thought he was to blame for Valerie’s mother?” Danny said.

Sam deflated, “and then we did research and discovered that Cu Sith only foretell death, not cause it… But Danny, we tried to research this place, remember? We found nothing. It’s like it doesn’t exist.”

“Yeah man,” Tucker scratched the back of his neck uncertain, “I couldn’t find so much as a blueprint. No building plans, nothing. The only thing we have to go on are stories from reckless kids trying and failing to spend the night.”

“You don’t have to follow me, the last thing I want is to put you both at risk. Especially after last time.”

Tucker groaned, “Danny you know we aren’t going to let you do this alone right? Especially not after Walker’s prison. Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t come in and save you?”

Danny smiled, “I probably would have starved to death to be fair, but yeah, I’ll try to avoid getting locked in any metal cages, deal?”

“To be fair,” Sam said, returning his smile with one of her own, strained though it was, “you probably would have died of thirst first.”

Chuckling at his friends' attempts to lighten the mood once they realized his mind wouldn’t be changed, Danny finally let himself look up at the place in question. It was a tall, crooked looking clocktower with old, brittle wood and peeling paint. In the low light of the evening it looked almost purple and with the dust and cobwebs covering it, it was clear no one had been inside for quite some time.

The Clocktower was a recurrent presence in his dreams, the ones he’d started having since the accident that made him the way he was: different from any person, but not quite anything else. It was always there in the background, but he’d never gone inside.

Once, during a particularly dull recurring dream where he relived the life and consequent death of a warehouse worker, he’d walked away from the endless piles of boxes and tried to go inside the clocktower instead. But no matter how far he traveled, it was always the same distance away. He just couldn’t get to it.

Danny couldn’t shake the feeling though, that something inside might have the answers he’s been searching for. So he stepped forward, and knocked on the door.

There was no answer, of course, and Danny almost felt foolish doing it, but also, ghosts and spiritual beings all had their own rules and perceptions of what is or isn’t polite, most of which Danny had stumbled into learning the hard way, and it really didn’t hurt to check.

“No answer,” Sam said and Danny nodded, turning the handle. It was old and brass and when it turned it made a loud grinding noise that vibrated along his arm. But it did open, and without Danny needing to persuade it, so that had to be a good sign right?

Unless it really was a trap.

“Maybe we should leave someone outside, in case it really is like Walker’s prison.” He offered, but both of his friends shook their heads and stepped past him. It was dark, musty and smelled in a weird way, like a library. If a library had locked its doors and not let anyone enter for a good century or so.

Sam took the lead, her flashlight catching on unfamiliar shapes and shadows. “Do you know what we’re looking for?” she asked, her voice uncertain.

Danny shook his head, “Not really, just… answers.”

They looked around the ground floor at first, but if it held anything particularly supernatural or important, it wasn’t going to be found. “This just looks like my grandma's living room.” Tucker complained, taking the sheet off of one of the couches, “we need to go further in if we want to actually find something.”

He wasn’t wrong, Danny looked over to the spiralling staircase in the back of the room, and then to the other doors that surrounded it on the first floor. “It’s probably better to do this systemically right? Go through every room on each floor and move our way up?”

“You mean like in a video game?” Sam asked, “sure, we can do that.”

They started on the left, but that room wasn’t much better when it came to finding any kind of clues. It held a kitchen, a very old kitchen, with a stove and oven that Danny had only ever seen in period movies. But…

“Why does it smell like cookies?” Danny asked, turning to his friends who both looked at him like he was crazy.

“Cookies? Yo, Danny this place smells like straight up death. Not cookies.” Tucker said, backing away from the oven and starting to open up cabinets.

Sam rolled her eyes and did the same on the other side of the kitchen, “it doesn’t smell like death you dolt, it smells… like a graveyard.”

Danny walked to the middle of the room, towards the oven- he always made sure to be the one seeking out the more dangerous or suspicious things in the haunts they went to- while the two of them bickered. They tended to start these smaller, petty arguments when they were scared, it took the edge off.

“Duh?” Tucker said, and Danny heard him slam one of the cabinets shut, “graveyards are death? What does it smell like to you? Your Mom’s perfume?”

“No, it smells like someone dying, you know all hospital chemicals and gross stuff.”

There wasn’t anything in the oven, but oddly, Danny had felt a wave of warmth when he opened it. Almost like it had just been used. But, ghosts didn’t need to eat, right? And there couldn’t have been a person living here, they’d notice that. At least, Danny hopes they would notice that. After being in dozens of life or death scenarios hinging on whether they noticed important but minute details, they’d become pretty good at that kind of thing.

“Ugh! Don’t talk about hospitals, I’m still not over North Mercy, that was horrible,” Tucker turned to Danny, leaning on one of the counters and ignoring the cabinet he opened right behind his head. “What do you think death smells like Danny?”

Danny walked over and closed the cabinet, he didn’t want something to suddenly appear inside of it all twisted limbs and empty eyes or for something to crawl out and scare them, or even have it slam shut on Tuckers head, like some ghosts were known to do. He didn’t have to put much thought into his answer, “It smells like burnt flesh, electricity, and polished wood.”

Tucker paled, “oh… right. Sorry.”

He shrugged, “anything yet?”

“Not unless you count cobwebs, dust, and deteriorating cooking books,” Sam answered, walking over to both him and Tucker.

Danny looked around at the kitchen, it looked normal, even some dying light shone in from the one window along the outer wall. The only thing weird was the shape and that was because it was at the bottom of a spiralling clocktower. There was nothing particularly scary about the place, and frankly Danny didn’t know what to do with that.

“Let’s move on, this place is giving me the creeps,” Sam said, crossing the room and going to the next door.

Danny and Tucker followed, unwilling to be left behind, or to let her go on her own. The next room was the same size as the other two, but it had an extra window and was crammed absolutely full of books. Just books. Stacks and stacks of them where they didn’t fit on the shelves, which were completely packed themselves, and Danny had the thought that this was probably what he was smelling when they first walked in.

It was a library. A personal one, but without any room to sit or anything to sit on despite the genuinely impressive display of books and Danny found himself gently stroking his hand against the cover of a book on the top of the nearest stack, When Ghosts Speak: Understanding Earthbound Spirits.

“Please tell me we aren’t reading all of this,” Tucker whined. Danny frowned, why wouldn’t he want to read these? It was a treasure trove of information, these books could have countless, researched, answers to questions they’ve been asking since the start of everything!

What if one of these books could tell them why Amity Park seemed to attract the supernatural, why they seemed to gain power within the city’s boundaries, why Danny wasn’t dead. He wanted nothing more than to grab any one of these books, walk into the next room, with the couches and comfortable chairs, sit down and read and read until he found something, anything he could use.

These books might even be able to help him deal with the supernatural threats that plagued their town. Mostly they’ve been surviving through luck and half baked internet searches with the occasional trip to the town library. And while it had been enough so far, Danny was practically salivating at the thought of being properly, genuinely prepared for something for once.

“Of course we aren’t,” Sam said, dragging Danny out of his fantasies of maybe knowing what he was doing, “they’re completely deteriorated. If we even tried to open one it would probably fall apart.”

Danny frowned, and then looked down at the book he’d subconsciously grabbed. It didn’t seem as bad as Sam was describing, but he also didn’t want to risk it either. He’d realized early on there was a difference between what he was seeing and what was actually real. He set it down gently and looked around the rest of the room with his friends.

“Are we so sure this place is haunted?” Danny asked. By then, the sun had set entirely and the only light left was their flashlights. High powered and with fresh batteries they were still little use against the encroaching dark and Danny wanted to move on to the next floor already if he wasn’t going to be able to open a book.

Tucker stood up from behind a precariously leaning shelf and dusted himself off, “Dude you’re the one that said there was something here and we needed to investigate. Remember, like an hour ago when the two of us were trying to stop you from going inside?”

Danny scoffed, “that’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean then?” Sam asked, stepping closer so she could meet his eyes. There was something in her expression, curiosity or suspicion, Danny couldn’t quite parse.

“I…” Danny stopped to think, what did he mean? Was it just that the place didn’t feel haunted? There wasn’t anything here trying to scare him away, no ominous winds or loud knocking, but they’ve gone into haunts before that took a long time to start actually reacting to them. “There’s no, I don’t know how to explain it. Usually when we go somewhere haunted, that a ghost has a claim to or whatever… there’s this feeling that I’m trespassing? I don’t feel like I’m trespassing here.”

That probably didn’t make any sense, and despite everything they didn’t usually act on Danny’s gut instincts as a group without evidence. The issue with the circus and it’s terrifying owner was a lesson too well learned after all.

True to expectations neither Sam nor Tucker looked convinced. They shared a quick ‘what now’ look between each other and Danny resisted taking a step back and sinking into the wall. Not that he could do that, as far as he knew he couldn’t do that. Only actual ghosts could do something like that and despite everything Danny was still human- well, still had a physical form.

Permanently.

“Let’s move on upstairs,” Sam reasoned, “if Danny’s right there won’t be any harm in it, and if he’s not we’ll find out once whatever’s here starts actually reacting to us, right?”

Perfectly reasonable and logicked as always. Danny nodded and walked to the next door, if he was right it would lead into the room they had first entered with the staircase that twisted and climbed higher and higher into the heart of the tower. That was the next place to go. He knew that.

Tucker gently patted his shoulder as they walked towards the base of the stairs, “yeah, maybe the ghost doesn’t consider this bottom part his haunt? Maybe he just likes the clock on top?”

Danny smiled, “like the hunchback of Notre Dame?”

Smiling back, Tucker nodded, “exactly! Oh man, we gotta find out if that guy is real one of these days.”

“We have our hands a bit tied with Amity Park without going after disney characters,” Sam said, pushing the two of them from behind so they’d actually go up the stairs. “Now let's get a move on, I want to be back home before breakfast so my parents don’t realize I snuck out again.”

There was something Danny could say but he bit back the comment about how at least her parents would notice and quickly walked up the stairs instead. As soon as his feet touched the first step a bubbly feeling lifted in his chest, and it made him want to go higher as fast as he could there was someone up there waiting for him-

“Danny!” Sam called out, grabbing him by the arm, “calm down!”

Her grip on his arm was tight and Danny looked down to see what had her panicked only to find his feet had left the stairs entirely and he’d started floating upwards instead of walking. Like a human. Like his friends. Like what he was supposed to be.

He swallowed and let himself sink back down, forcing the feeling in his chest back as much as he could. It was like trying to kill the fizz in a shaken soda by screwing a cap back on it and he struggled with it for a moment. He’d never felt like this before- sure, most ghosts and other supernatural entities tended to broadcast emotions to a higher degree than humans, and with them also being natural empaths and Danny’s unfortunate situation it often led to him being overtaken by emotions that weren’t necessarily his own.

It’s just, they’ve never been this overwhelmingly positive before.

Even with Vlad, as human as he was, his emotions were always tinted with obsession and desperation. His need to have Danny and his mother for his own colored every interaction he’d had with the man and it often left a bitter, strained feeling in his chest. Right now, Danny felt almost giddy. And he wasn’t even sure it wasn’t just his own emotions, reacting to the environment around him. It was a nice environment after all.

But Danny was good at ignoring things like that.

“My bad. I’ll try and keep my feet on the ground from now on.”

Sam looked conflicted, “Danny you know we don’t mind you using your powers,” Danny nodded, they’d told him so many times over and over again, “But we don’t want to lose you to them. You promised to stay with us, remember?”

Danny smiled, “I remember. I won’t end up like that, I promised. That’s why we’re here right? To stop it?”

Sam nodded and let him go.

The second floor was similar to the first, in that it had three rooms leading into each other with the spiral staircase in the center. Danny started with the door on the right. It was a study. There was a desk, paperwork, and a bottle of ink with a quill and Danny found himself wondering just how old this clocktower really was. And how long it had been since its occupant was truly here, alive, if ever.

They split up and started looking around, eagerness exposed in their movements. This was the most likely place to have something useful, especially if whoever spent their time here was as studious as the lower floor suggested. Danny went for the desk.

There was a note on it, in perfect, looped handwriting and the ink was still glistening, fresh from the bottle if the smell had anything to say about it. Danny ran his hand across the words hoping to smudge it, but it had dried already, if barely.

It’s nice to meet you, little anomaly.

Danny grit his teeth.

“Guys,” he called out, holding the paper, “It knows we’re here.”

Sam and Tucker rushed over, and Sam grabbed the paper from his hand to read for herself. “Little anomaly? Isn't that kind of insensitive?”

“Yeah,” Tucker agreed, “you just have weird ghost powers right? Vlad’s the same way it’s not like you’re the only person on the planet like you.”

Hesitant to correct him, Danny bit his tongue. It was true that Vlad was a person who had unfortunately gained the abilities of a ghost, things like floating, making objects move with his mind or using his spirit to control people while he slept safe and sound at home. And he’d gained them in a similar way to Danny as well, trusting the wrong people and delving into things he never fully understood and still didn’t.

It was just … less true for Danny was all.

But he wasn’t going to tell them that, he wasn’t going to tell anyone that. So how did whoever, or whatever this was, know? Or was it just saying things to get under his skin, that was pretty par for the course when it came to ghosts. So why wasn’t it doing anything else? Trying to get them to leave? Was Sam right? Was it really a trap this entire time? What would happen if they went back downstairs and tried the door, would it open?

He grabbed the paper and shoved it into one of his jackets pockets, there was plenty of time to freak out over it later after all. “Let’s keep looking around, there has to be something here that it’s trying to distract us from.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything more useful than there had been downstairs. Just what one would expect from a normal office. What papers he did find had detailed extensive notes, yes. But they were in a language Danny couldn’t read and neither Sam nor Tucker even recognized. It was infuriating!

Almost like whoever was haunting this place, was telling them it had all the answers they wanted but wouldn’t give them any. He just wanted to know how - Danny shook his head. There had to be something. He wouldn’t have been led all the way here, had all those dreams, if there was nothing he could do at all.

He threw one more frustrated look around the office before he threw the stack of papers he’d been digging through on the floor and marched over to the next door. It was unlocked, again, just like all of the others and it only served to increase Danny’s frustration.

“Wait, Danny,” Sam noticed him leaving and quickly followed, the door slammed shut behind them, locking Tucker inside the office.

“No,” he whispered, this was all his fault, he shouldn’t have let this ghost get in his head like this! He never should have let his emotions take him over, he knew better. It led to bad things. Horrible, terrible, things.

There was a loud bang on the door, someone was pounding against it and Danny flinched. Was the actual haunting finally starting? Was everything really just a way to lure them deeper into the tower and away from each other?

“Guys?” he heard Tucker call out from the other side of the door, “did you seriously just leave me behind? Don’t we have like, a rule against that?!”

Danny sighed in relief, it was just Tucker. “Are you okay Tuck? Did anything happen over there when the door shut? Any oozing walls or flying papers-”

There was another thump, probably Tucker banging his head against the door, “I know what to look for Danny I’ve been doing this the exact same amount of time as you.”

“Yeah yeah,” Danny acquessed. “Just get to the stairs and we’ll meet you there.”

He exchanged a glance with Sam, she was glaring a hole into the side of his head and he felt guilty for being the cause of everything going wrong, again. So he apologized and ignored her exaggerated eye roll when she said he should have known better, because well, he did. But what was he going to do, apologize twice?

The room they were in was a simple one, likely some kind of storage space that he and Sam could dig through for hours on end, but it was more important to get to Tucker than to try and make sure they didn’t miss anything.

Which, in hindsight, was probably exactly why they’d been separated.

A cold breeze tickled at Danny’s hair and he felt himself relax despite it all. It felt nice, the cold, and Danny liked when the haunts they went to leaned towards the chillier side like this. Sometimes, especially if Vlad was involved, it felt like he was walking into an overwarm swamp when he entered a haunt and it made him itchy and uncomfortable the entire time. Vlad never seemed to notice, and his friends complain equally about both, so Danny had mostly kept it to himself.

The entire tower felt nice, cold dry air, the smell of books, ink, and cookies, even the playful, excited feeling that seemed to permeate throughout the tower. Like someone had designed it to appeal in every way to both sides of Danny’s instincts.

It was unnerving.

He followed Sam out of the room and back into the middle where the stairs were, but Tucker wasn’t there.

Sam pulled out her phone, and Danny held his breath as it rang, once, twice, and then a click and Tucker’s familiar, annoyed voice came through the speaker and Danny sighed in relief. “Uh guys? I couldn’t get out the door so I tried to climb out a window, and there was uh, a ladder. So I’m outside right now. Come get me?”

Danny met eyes with Sam and nodded, they headed back down, “we’re coming Tuck,” he said.

“Cool, cool, actually rather than coming to get me, can we just go home? Come back later, like in the day time? How come we never do these things in the daytime?”

“You know that’s not how ghosts work Tucker.” Sam said, bored, as they walked to the front door. Danny felt a tug, something like a hand on his shoulder and turned to see what was behind him. There wasn’t anything there.

He turned back around to see that Sam had already walked outside, and was holding the door open for him, one of her eyebrows raised. Awkwardly, Danny jogged a little, so as to not hold them up too long. But before he could actually walk outside the door slammed shut.

Sam screamed.

“Danny! Are you okay!” Tucker asked, his voice panicked and muffled from the other side of the door.

“I’m fine,” Danny said, gritting his teeth and turning around. The room didn’t look or feel any different. There was nothing screaming at him to get out or anything else malicious. If anything it seemed even cosier than before, and Danny didn’t really know how to react to that.

He looked back at the door. There was a way, no. He couldn’t do that. Danny pinched at the bridge of his nose, the only thing to do, really, was to see who had invited him in. That’s what it was right? Some kind of weird ghostly invite?

“I’m going to go check upstairs,” he called out to his friends before walking back towards the staircase.

They pounded on the door, “Danny don’t you dare go up there without us! Just wait, we’ll find a way in! It’s dangerous alone!”

Ignoring their protests Danny took the stairs two steps at a time, fighting the rising excitement in his chest and firmly planting his feet against the polished wood. There were answers waiting for him, he knew there were. He just had to find them.

The third floor had a bedroom, it was nice, cozy and the bed even looked inviting. Danny didn’t bother to stay long. Whoever it was that called him here wasn’t in this room, nor were they in the next or the one after that. Just two bedrooms and a bathroom on that floor and Danny quickly made his way to the next.

This room was different from the rest. For one there were windows, everywhere, that seemed to play different scenes of different people from all over the world. If Danny strained his ears, he could even hear them speaking different languages. On the other side from the windows was an entire wall of clockwork that chimed and churned as the gears moved, keeping the face of the clock on the outside ticking along in sync with the rest of the world.

When Danny stepped into the room properly the carpet sunk easily underneath his feet and he felt a nice, cold breeze that came from a purple flamed fire housed properly in a fireplace in the middle of the room. He hadn’t even noticed a chimney from outside.

There was a man in front of the fire. He was tall and hooded and he carried an equally tall and gnarled staff in one of his gloved hands. Danny felt himself freeze, he had never seen a ghost this solid before. There was always a little bit of transparency, no matter how powerful, they didn’t have physical forms afterall. Not like Danny.

“Who are you?” he asked. His voice was dry and soft and Danny was thankful when it didn’t crack on his question. How embarrassing would that have been?

The man turned around, his face changing as he did from old and aged to a younger one, closer to his parent’s age, a large jagged scar marking it’s way through one of his eyes and down his cheek. He smiled, “I am Clockwork, Master of time. All that was, All that is, and All that will be. I understand you have many questions for me. I hope to answer them.”

A thousand questions ran rapidly through his mind, why did you call me here? Did you call me here? Why get rid of my friends? What are you and why haven’t I seen anything like you before?

“How do I prevent myself from becoming that.” Danny asked the most pressing question first, desperate. The man-ghost-Clockwork, sighed and gestured for him to sit. There was a comfortable looking couch with an equally comfortable chair across from it and a plate of cookies set on an elegantly carved coffee table between the two.

“That’s easily answered, sit, have a cookie.” Clockwork floated over, crossing his legs and settling into the chair before grabbing a cookie for himself.

Danny glanced at them, uncertain, before taking a seat. The couch was even more comfortable than it looked and he found himself sinking back into it, confused. The room was a nice, cold, temperature as well, despite the fire clearly burning in the fireplace.

He grabbed one of the cookies, “can I eat these?” he asked, looking over at his host.

“Of course,” Clockwork smiled, taking a bite of his own before leaning back, “I made them for you. Though your friends would have to be more careful, I’m not sure what food like this would do to a human.”

“I am human,” Danny argued, placing the cookie back on its plate. He had to, denial was all he had left at this point.

Clockwork frowned, “yes, well, I suppose we’ll get there next. You wanted to know about your dreams.”

Finally, Danny nodded, “they’re different ever since- uh well… ever since the incident.”

“It’s natural to not want to talk about one’s death,” Clockwork said, he leaned forward and tilted his head, “or one’s birth.”

“My dreams,” Danny asked, avoiding that conversation with all the grace of a blind hippo, “why are they different. You know right?”

Sighing, Clockwork nodded and leaned back, “yes, I know everything. They’re different, frankly, because they’re dreams. It’s unsettling to you because it’s new, you’ve never dreamed before.”

Danny scowled, “that doesn’t make any sense, I had plenty of dreams when-”

Clockwork interrupted him, disappointment plain under his hood, “You can lie to your friends Daniel, but I already know the truth. Just as you do.”

“I was astral projecting. Like what Vlad does… but then why-?” Danny bit his tongue. He couldn’t say it, not outloud. It was too difficult, he’d spent too long hiding it, pushing it away and doing everything he could to keep anyone from noticing.

“Why can’t you do it anymore?” Clockwork answered for him, Danny nodded. “The simple answer is that you aren’t like Vladimir, despite what he believes and would like you to believe as well. But that’s something else you already know. Ask me a question you don’t have the answers for.”

Danny grabbed another cookie, biting into it fiercely just to have an excuse not to speak. It tasted really good, better than anything he’d had in a while and Danny wondered if maybe there was something in it meant to sate his less human cravings. The thought didn’t help his inner turmoil.

Clockwork smiled softly at him though and sighed, “Fine, in order to answer your question, first I have one of my own.”

“Didn’t you just say you know everything?” Danny mumbled before shoving more cookie in his mouth.

“What good is a teacher that only lectures?” Clockwork said in retort, “do you remember how you died?”

He did, of course he did. “Kinda hard to forget that. Lab accident, electrocution, nothing fancy.” he said, curling in on himself. Clockwork had been right before, it was painful to talk about. But he wanted, no, needed the answers to his questions. He’d survive this.

“Well, that’s where your first mistake lies. Yes, that is what stopped your heart, and likely the most memorable part, but you didn’t die from that Daniel. What killed you came after.”

Danny frowned, “that doesn’t make any sense? What happened after?”

“Your spirit was never particularly bound to your body in the first place, likely due to your parents dabbling where they shouldn’t for as long as they did before you were ever born. There was a summoning, I think you remember, that your parents were holding when your accident happened on the floor below them.”

It was frustrating, that he was right. That he knew it. “I remember them recognizing me, my spirit. I remember them finding my body and shoving me back in. I remember the pain, and waking up and seeing-” Danny choked on the realization. It couldn’t be...

“Seeing the world in your dreams?” Clockwork asked, “the way you saw it when you were a spirit, free from the confines of your body, correct?” He floated over the table, sat next to Danny, and placed a hand on his back. Danny realized he had been shaking.

He grabbed the fabric of his jeans in a tight grip and tried to stop, “It’s all real, right? It isn’t… I’m not still dreaming? Please, I need to know.”

The hand on his back pulled him close, tucked into Clockwork’s side and Danny felt comforted despite himself, he fought to blink away tears that had been building behind his eyes as he tucked himself into Clockwork’s side. He was so solid, unlike any other ghost Danny had ever met and he seemed to radiate comfort where most just gave off fear and hurt.

“You’re not dreaming Daniel, you never were. The world is different when you see it through our eyes, that is all. When you woke up, you weren’t human anymore. Of course you wouldn’t be limited by a human’s sight.”

Danny curled into himself tighter, despair clouding around him and likely leeching unpleasantly into the air. It would be a wonder if Clockwork didn’t feel it. “So I’m a ghost.”

“Hardly,” Clockwork said and Danny stopped breathing, “Do you think the world is so simple it is split between what is ghostly and what is not?”

“I…” Danny had actually assumed that. So far everything they’d dealt with so far, short of Vlad, had either been a ghost or spirit of some kind, or a human that used magic or ghostly artifacts. Even Vlad had simply been a person who had learned how to control his own spirit the way a ghost would. If Danny wasn’t a human, and he wasn’t a ghost, then what was he?

Clockwork ruffled his hair, “I suppose you’re young. It is easier, afterall, to think of it that way. But Daniel, ghosts don’t have physical forms. They can possess one, or control one, and sometimes even mimic one, but they are spirits.”

He sighed, “you are something entirely different. You’re something remarkable.”

Danny leaned back, using the sleeves of his hoodie to quickly dry his tears so he could look Clockwork in the eye, “What am I?”

“You’re new.”

Danny shoved him, “Agghh, I knew that you jerk!” It was probably a bad idea to attack or antagonize someone as clearly powerful and knowledgeable as Clockwork, but really he’d been asking for it. And Danny’s patience was only so strong.

Clockwork didn’t fight him back though, nor did he get offended. Instead he just smiled that soft smile that Danny was starting to realize was affection, and said, “did you? Weren’t you trying to read my books to find out if there was anyone else like you?”

“Well yeah-” Danny stopped, “Oh. There wouldn’t be anything would there? If I’m the first?”

He groaned, that really was just his luck. He’d never figure out anything at this rate. Clockwork, the bastard, just hummed and grabbed another cookie, offering it to him. “No there wouldn’t. But you’re not the only one who was the first or only of their kind. Who had to figure out on their own, who and what they are.”

“You mean Vlad?” Danny asked, the thought left a sour taste in his mouth, wow he really hoped he didn’t mean Vlad.

Clockwork’s smile turned brittle, “I don’t mean Vlad.”

Danny chuckled, his thoughts turning mischievous, “I don’t know, he seems pretty unique, what with all those different abilities he has and the way he can choose to be human or ghost-”

“Oh please,” Clockwork interrupted, “there’s plenty of humans like Vladimir Masters, you were fully capable of astral projecting like that from birth, no black magic necessary. Just because he found a way to twist-”

He stopped, then looked down at Danny who was trying and failing to hold back a shit eating grin. All at once the air seemed to leave him and he deflated, the irritated look on his face replaced with open and honest affection and Danny felt it sing in the air around them.

“You were messing with me.”

“To be fair I didn’t think it would work, all knowing and everything.” Danny said, unable to fight the bubbling feeling in his chest as it rose to meet the affection around them. Usually it sucked having the empathy of a ghost and being near one or at least, something with the same traits. The negative emotions tended to bounce between him and them and amplify and it always made Danny struggle to parse his own emotions from theirs. But right now, in the top of a clock tower with the most powerful entity Danny had ever met, he felt happiness and joy to a degree he’d long forgotten. It was dizzying. He was almost giddy with it.

Clockwork patted him on the head, purposefully messing his hair, “yes well. I think in time, it will be more obvious just how different you truly are, how crucial every small coincidence was that came together that night to create you. But until then, you had another question? I can answer it now.”

Danny frowned as he realized what Clockwork meant, “You! I asked that question first! How did you only answer the one you wanted to!!”

“It was important,” Clockwork said, relaxing into the couch next to Danny, “to answer that question I had to be sure you knew what you were.”

He sputtered, “But I don’t?! I’m just something new! Something different!”

“Something physical that exists with the laws of the spiritual.”

“Yeah!” Danny said, “Wait, what?”

Clockwork nodded his head, “a physical entity that exists within the realms of spiritual possibility. It must be such a struggle, to deal with both sets of instincts like that.”

Danny’s head hurt, it was too much to try and understand the details of all of this. Maybe Tucker was right and he should just have let it be, learn to live with the new normal his life was now. Wasn’t that kind of what Clockwork was suggesting anyways? Then again, unlike Tucker, he did seem to thrive off of all of Danny’s questions, whether he actually answered them or not.

“Yeah, I have to fight my more ghostly instincts all the time. It’s exhausting.” he said, leaning into Clockwork. It should have been embarrassing, seeking comfort like that, but he’d already cried into his shoulder and there wasn’t really any way to come back from that so Danny did as he pleased.

He felt Clockwork’s hand return to his back, a solid comforting presence, “Now why would you do that?”

Danny tilted his head in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“Why would you fight against one half of yourself so thoroughly? But embrace the other side entirely?” Clockwork elaborated. “Did you think there wouldn’t be any consequences in fighting against your nature?”

“But,” Danny struggled to speak, pieces of the puzzle he’d thought hopeless putting themselves together in ways he had never expected and didn’t quite understand, “my nature is bad.”

Clockwork frowned and turned to look at Danny properly, “Daniel, it’s your nature. There is nothing good or bad about it. It is only as it is. Everything is as it’s meant to be.”

This was too much, Danny sat up fully and turned entirely towards Clockwork, “are you saying, the way I become that thing from my nightmare, is by… doing what I’ve been doing to avoid becoming that thing?!”

“Yes,” Clockwork answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He blinked, the answer really couldn’t be that easy. “But in my dream, I, my instincts-”

Clockwork grabbed a cookie and placed it in his hands, “even humans react poorly, when they starve themselves. As you exist now, you simply need a different kind of sustenance. One you’ve been denying.”

Danny felt dread crawl down the length of his spine, “what kind of sustenance?”

“Spirits exist for reasons, and they exist differently from humans. In order to keep existing they need emotions, experiences, something to keep them held together. A spirit that has no reason to exist will simply disappear, you’ve seen such before it is relatively common after all. But you can’t do that, since you are physical in a way that they are not. You can starve yourself endlessly, into madness even if you’re desperate enough.”

“I do it to myself?” Danny asked, flustered and frustrated. It was true then? He really was his own worst enemy?

Clockwork shook his head, “it is not inevitable Daniel. As you were, it was the most likely path forward. Yes. You would have noticed the symptoms, seen yourself losing control and then, in reaction, suppressed yourself further. Starved yourself further.”

Danny cringed, yeah, that sounded like him. “How do I stop it then? I just embrace what makes me ghostly? What about my parents? If they think they failed the resurrection, that I’m not human anymore, they’ll kill me for real! Or worse!”

“That is indeed troublesome, and the paths of the future where they know your truth are twisted and sharp, every small decision every tiny change causing a greater effect on their reactions as a whole. But you do not need to reveal yourself to your parents to live your truth.”

Relieved, Danny fell back into the couch. He hadn’t even noticed he’d floated off of it, was that good? Bad? He shook his head, this was all too confusing. “How then?” He asked, maybe this time he’d actually get a straight answer.

Clockwork ruffled his hair and stood up, er, well, floated up and over towards the fire. “You continue doing what you’re doing with your friends, protecting your town and interacting with the truth of the world around you. And…” He turned around, “you can come visit me. It’s quite lonely in the clock tower they trapped me in, and there is much I can teach you about becoming. I had to learn such things about myself once after all.”

“You’ll let me come back? To visit you?” Danny didn’t know what to say. He could come visit, ask more questions, get more answers. It seemed too good to be true, and Danny found himself eager and excited at the prospect.

For some reason, the entire conversation, he’d thought this would be a one time thing. That the clocktower would disappear behind him and leave any question he didn’t ask unanswered. To find out that wasn’t the case, that he had somehow, against all odds, made some kind of ghostly ally, was beyond expectations. “You’ll help me?”

The answering smile had Danny floating out of his seat, “Of course Daniel. I’ll even bake cookies.”

#Danny phantom #Clockwork #clockwork dp #Phic Phight #phic phight 21 #sam manson #tucker foley #op #Bee's writing

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lollybliz · 4 years

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bout to make a Monster of a fic rec post here we go

heyo @jinx108! We’ll start with the complete ones because sometimes you’re just not in the mood to wait for the last chapter, you know? I don't remember details of all of these so i’m just going to copy the author’s summary rather than write my own. I am literally just going through my bookmarks, I got 400 of these to sort through. if ive talked to or am familiar with the author im gonna mention them, but if I mention you and you don't want me to have Please tell me and i’ll remove it.

If you’re not into spoilers Please Tread Carefully, I don't watch out for that stuff so I wont know to label it

1>Crushing Truth by Bunzuku: Tododeku. “Romance is hard enough for a teenager to understand when they have a good relationship role model. For Shoto, it takes two excited meddlers for him to even realize what his feelings really are.“

2>Disowned by b00mgh: tododeku + others. Unrated, some traumatic elements. “Shouto freaks out under a bridge and I use the word "grass" a lot more than I really should. Izuku does his stupid martyr thing and everyone makes continuous references to his propensity to break his bones. Aizawa goes "oh FUCK my kids are dying again" and his students use him as emotional (and physical) support. A friend requests angst, I say what kind, she say idk make someone get disowned and i say oh this I can absolutely provide my good buddy.”

3>cotton candy hands by @chonideno: Kiribaku. I will take Any excuse to rec this fic, its the most fluffy pile of feels Good Lord. also the first fic I ever bound into a physical book. “Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no. A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro“

4>Catching Sight of the Storm by neo7v: Kiribaku, tododeku. A considerable amount of Whump and related angst, and kinda sad tbh. “Blind. Quirkless. Useless.The first two things were stated clearly by the doctor that sat about five feet in front of Izuku. The third was a word that Kacchan called him everytime he failed to make the jump on whatever forest excursion they were on or when he ran into a tree because he hadn’t seen it. “I’m so, so sorry, Izuku.” Was his mom giving up on him already? But he could still be a hero if he tried hard enough, right? Quirkless or not. Blind or not. Just because Izuku was useless now didn’t mean he would stay that way forever, right? *** A Blind!Izuku AU”

5>Yell Heah by fakecharliebrown: Chatfic. M a n y pairings. technically complete, but part of an ongoing series. “Iida creates a group-chat for Class 1-A. It doesn't go as planned.“

6>Sunshine by Rosey_Note: BIG SAD. tw- failed suicide attempt. KiriKamiBaku. “They didn't deserve to put up with his crappy mood. Because Denki Kaminari did not feel like Sunshine right now. And they deserved sunshine. In fact, Denki didn't feel much of anything right now.“

7>Electric Connection by Onlymostydead: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk has always had... Weird side affects. Like his ADHD. And his constant energy. And his insomnia, which wouldn't leave him be right now, when he really needed to just get some sleep. But, thankfully, he has good friends.“

8>The Best (The Worst) by Onlymostydead: no romantic pairing. tw- rampant transphobia, both outside and internalized. “Bakugou Katsuki has known who he was since he was four years old. He was a boy, it was as simple as that. Around his friends, at school... But things couldn't just be that simple, could they?“

9>Lichtenberg Figures by Q_loves_you: no definite romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki has a very powerful force of nature running through his body. Kaminari Denki doesn't want to hurt anybody. He doesn't always get what he wants, and "anybody" does generally include himself.“

10>Eventuality by KikaTouka: ill be honest I don't remember this one at all, I maaaay not have read it yet :/. anyway. ShinKami. “Shinsou learns more than just hero lessons after being transferred to 1-A.“

11>Pickup Lines for the Soul by MustardSoup: ShinKami. “Denki is twelve when he is flicking through the TV channels and lands on an old RomCom movie about soulmate marks – specifically the same type that he has. “I can’t believe I’ve had to walk around with a cheap pickup line written on my ankle my entire life because of you!” The leading lady yells at the leading man as he stares at her in awe. Denki laughs. “Oh no.” His mother says, watching him. “Oh no, indeed.” His sister repeats quietly.“

12>caught in my own web by @anxioussailorsoldier: ShinKami. “Shinsou needs some help after getting caught up in his capture weapon. Kaminari enters from stage left.“

13>not so summer love by nataliya: ShinKami. “Class 2-B’s common room, although typically quiet, was currently filled with five students—three slowly giving up on homework, one bitching about noise and another that rushes through the front door. “We’ve been waiting for you—” Mina starts, but Kaminari’s vaulting over the back of the couch, eyes wide as he practically buzzes out of his skin, emitting light like crazy as currents dazzle across strands of hair. “I have a big ugly crush,” He steps off the couch and onto the coffee table, much to Bakugou’s chagrin, “On big ugly Shinsou.””

14>Blamed by coldandhotsoba: ShinKami. Tw- they fuckin kill a guy and its a lil nasty. “This was not how the day was supposed to end. They were supposed to end the day like they do most nights. Kaminari clutching onto him like a koala as he slept, wrapped in the millions of tacky blankets Kaminari had bought. Warm and safe in their bed. It was not supposed to end with both of them tied up in some cold metal room.“

15>Lightning Scars by Present-Mics-Scream (write_your_way_out): Shinkami. “It's hard to be confident in your abilities when you're surrounded by people with incredible quirks. Shinsou Hitoshi would know better than anyone. Sure, he was admitted to the hero course in his second year, but being admitted to the hero course, and keeping up with the rest of the class are two different things. Lucky for him, Kaminari is there to prove that the flashiest quirks come with the largest drawbacks.“

16>See No Evil, Hear No Evil by randomfan188: no romantic pairing. “Kaminari Denki is legally blind. When he forgets to wear his contacts and breaks down during math class, comfort appears in the strangest of ways.“

17>how not to enjoy the weather, an article by kaminari denki by dreamtowns: no defined romantic pairing. “If there was one thing Kaminari hated the most in a world wth villains, it would have to be thunderstorms.“

18>”Studying” by emmyrox22: ShinKami, EraserMic. “Shinsou and Kaminari have been “studying” together for a while (but not for school). Shinsou gets stopped by his dads on the way to another “study” session and mistakes are made“

19>Weaknesses by sunflowerstorm: ShinKami. “Kaminari's quirk and storms compliment each other in the worst way, but he's convinced he can deal with it on his own... until he really can't any longer. When Shinsou accidentally overhears Aizawa confronting Kaminari about recent changes in behaviour and hears about the hell his quirks been putting him through, he can't just pretend he never heard. He wants to help.“

20>it’s hurt denki hours by memeingfultrash: ShinKami + others. ““Certain members of our class are...under the impression that...you’re the traitor.” Denki’s body went cold and felt like he was going to short circuit. ~some of class 1a believes that denki is the traitor and avoid him”

21>Petition to replace Mineta with Shinsou- (signed by Kaminari Denki) by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami + others. This is one of my favorites, I go back to reread it from time to time. It SAYS 41/42, but that's just a glitch cus chapter 36 doesn't exist for some reason, I talked to the author about it and its fine. “Mineta brings shame to the color purple. You know who does not bring shame to the rich color, but pride and sexual tension to one infatuated Kaminari Denki instead? Shinsou Hitoshi, aka sexy zombie man, aka the most perfect hunk of a man to walk planet earth, aka future husband. Shinsou has finally gotten his chance to prove himself to the hero course, and he did more than prove himself. The only question left unanswered is whether he will start in A or B, and how Kaminari can manipulate the end result.“

22>How to Get a Boyfriend (in Four Easy Steps!) by e1ana: ShinKami, EraserMic, + others. “Step 1: Get kicked out of the house by your homophobic parents. Step 2: Run headfirst into your brooding, mysterious crush. Step 3: Sleep in his dad’s (see: your homeroom teacher) house Step 4: Watch everything you thought you knew go to shit. This isn’t exactly the sweet, romantic plan that Kaminari Denki longed for. Will everything be ok, or will step 5 be to crash and burn?“

23>Bakugou and Todoroki’s Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck with Mineta Minoru by Anubis_2701: Kiribaku, TodoDeku, + others. This is another one of my favorites, and the one I am currently folding and sewing into a physical book. you learn how to do funny things when bored and quarantined ig. “It was a simple enough idea; screw around with the resident bastard of Class 1-A to let him know that his medieval ways and perverted behaviour weren't going to be tolerated by even the most career-focused of UA's students. To say that things had snowballed was an understatement. Todoroki had no idea how he had ended up sitting on Bakugou's floor at 1 am, holding a dossier of incriminating material that would make the FBI slobber, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The long and short of it was, fuck Mineta.”

24>Colour Theory by chancellorxofxtrash: TodoBakuDeku. this one’s a series. “Midoriya/Bakugo/Todoroki slow burn soulmate AU. All three of them are nerds with their own emotional issues, trying to navigate their way through becoming heroes, and their own relationship with each other.“

25>Summer Sunshine by Mara97: TodoDeku. Ever want a Barbie in a mermaid tale/Bnha crossover? No? well here you go anyway! “Instead of worrying about college, Izuku spends his summer vacation finding out his father is, supposedly, a dead merman king and going on a quest to dethrone the current king, Endeavor. Along the way, Izuku becomes close to the three journeying with him, makes friends with strangers, starts crushing on an unattainable prince, and, in the end, learns to love himself. Oh, and he saves a kingdom, too.“

26>The snowflakes on our skin and the flames in our soul are one (and the same), my love by missunderstuffyou: TodoDeku, Kiribaku. this is one of the ones I keep a running reread comment going on. its at,,, 6, atm. “Before your quirk begins to present itself, the soulmate link comes through, and suddenly whatever you write upon your own skin appears on the body of your soulmate. As your soulmate writes to you, the emotions they feel follow through the ink.Izuku Midoriya is four years and a few months old when he first feels the slight ebbing in his arms. It doesn’t hurt… he can just feel something, and it’s enough to make him sprint into his mother’s arms screaming that his quirk is coming. She had been washing in the kitchen, and the sudden screech as her son rockets into her side is enough to make her jump with panic, immediately grabbing at him and looking for cuts and bumps before she understands his words and the stupidly bright, alight smile on his face with large, watery, hopeful eyes. Shoto Todoroki doesn’t feel his soulmate connection open up. It is drowned in the aches of a small body worked far too hard.“

27>It was dark inside the closet by Chad_Champion69420: Pre-ShinDeku? maybe? its tagged shindeku but like. it’ll make sense if you read it. “Midoriya is invited to a party. He and Shinsou decide to play a little trick on the rest of the party during Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

28>how to woo your local trash gremlin: a comprehensive guide by Todoroki shouto by wonhaebunny: TodoBaku. this is the fic that dragged me into todobaku, fun fact. “five times shouto tries to confess to bakugou, and one time he doesn't bother tryingaka: wikihow is a scam and bakugou is a terrible, terrible boy“

29>top ten photos taken right before disaster by Shookspeare: ShinDeku. “Izuku participates in a harmless prank, only to end up ruining it and running for dear life.“

30>Secrets to Share by pechebaie: no definite romantic pairing. “Kirishima comes out first, and nothing changes. Kirishima and Kaminari still hang out to complain about class and talk about boys - and sometimes girls, too, in Kaminari’s case; he still plans stupid pranks with Sero that get them sent to the principal’s or nurse’s office every time; Ashido still kicks his ass at Mario Kart without hesitation; and Bakugou doesn’t get angry at him any more than he usually does.“

31>What One Hides by Pinalinet: TodoDeku. “All Might gives class 1-A an unusual assignment that results in Midoriya Izuku and Todoroki Shouto attending a weekly acting class. But with a mysterious villain targeting individuals without Quirks, and a developing issue of Todoroki's own, an after-school assignment is the least of their worries.“

32>whether or not we’re fated, we’re meant to be by juurensha: KINDA SPOILERY. TodoDeku + others. “Todoroki didn’t have a soulmark for most of his life.His siblings all did, but up until the day of the U.A. entrance exam, he had shoved the idea aside. It’s not like they could help him anyway. And then a 9 appears on his chest, and a green-haired boy barrels into his life with a fire and ice soulmark on his arms, and suddenly Todoroki cares very much about all this could mean.”

33>The Midnight Shift by meiishu @meiishu @totallytodoroki (idk which you’d rather I attach so I went with both): ShinKami. ““Hey Toshi,” Denki says, and he laughs, clearly embarrassed. He’s got on a jean jacket that did him absolutely no help and a white tee shirt that is currently stuck to his torso. It’s got a pikachu design in the center. “By any chance, do you sell umbrellas?” “You really went out in this weather.” Hitoshi deadpans, instead of dignifying that with an answer. or hitoshi works the midnight shift at the gas station, which also doubles as a pokestop for pokemon go. of course, denki is a regular.”

34>Rock the House by AkabaneKayo: ShinKami. “It wasn’t just his bed. It was his entire fucking room shaking. Only one thought crossed his mind at that moment: “Holy shit. My room is haunted.”“

35>Technically, they’re morning kisses by CharaTheQuartz: ShinKami. “Most nights, Shinsou cannot fall sleep. Neither can Kaminari. It seems counterproductive to have a sleepover then, but they try to make it work. And they fail, but that is okay.“

36>someone to call mine by nearly_theyre: ShinKami, EraserMic “From: Me wish you were here, denks From: kitten 💛💘💛 what if i was tho? OR Four times Denki snuck into Hitoshi's room and one time he walked through the front door.“

37>Pretty by Onlymostydead (noticing some repeat authors? me too): no definite romantic pairing. “(Or, Kaminari still can't figure out bra clasps.) Kaminari has never really felt good about himself. Herself? Whichever way, not knowing doesn't make anything easier. Especially when he (she?) and Mina have their bodies swapped during training, and everything seems too right.“

38>If I offer you my hand, will you take it? by bleukitsune: Kiribaku. SPOILERY. ““Why?” Kirishima leaned back on his hands, trying to create some space between them. Too close. The ash-blond looked really nervous, his usually arrogant and cunning demeanor gone. “What do you see when you look at me? Kirishima is worried. Bakugou is hurting. After his confrontation with Midoriya, he finally reaches out to him. “

Theres way more but I haven't tagged them properly yet so that m a y come later if I can ever finish going through and adding my sorting tags.

and then a last few that Are Not Complete but im really very fond of them. not as many as id like to add, but my hands are getting tired tbh.

39>State of Mind by GuardianOfTheLoaf: no relationship YET but its looking like it’ll be either tododeku or shindeku, probably the former. EraserMic. tw- childhood neglect and severe depression. Izuku’s not a happy kid. “Izuku was a late bloomer, his quirk lying dormant until his tenth birthday when in a fit of emotion he grabs his mother and she disappears. With All Might slowly restoring his confidence Izuku begins the difficult journey into becoming a hero.“ 18/? chapters.

40>Izuku Eats His Problems by CosmicAce: ShinDeku. Izuku’s a flerkin, what more could you want? “His whole life, Izuku Midoriya was taught to keep his powers, his Quirk, hidden from the world. His kind were feared, hunted to near extinction because of it. He just wants to show people he’s different. That he can be a HERO. And nothing is going to stop him. Even if his Quirk IS like an eldritch abomination.“ 43/? chapters

and then probably my current favorite bnha fic- although it fights with Apertum Mortem for that spot but that ones d a r k and not here-

41>family of the year by periiwren: EraserMic. “Hitoshi is done. Done with moving around every few months to a couple that will scrutinize him and eventually dump him right back where he started. Good thing he’s well past his strike limit now- at least he can stay in one place, be content to age out of the system and finish out his training with Aizawa. Maybe transfer into the hero course, maybe be a hero- but none of that was guaranteed. The only thing for sure was that he was going to stay in that center for the rest of his childhood. Or so he thought- because Aizawa Shouta and Yamada Hizashi have other plans.“ 24/? chapters. we’ve been informed that this one’s gonne be l o n g and im Very Grateful.

42>Here There Be Dragons by here_and_there: pre-ShinDeku. “Izuku looked at the small circle Aizawa had motioned to in front of them. "I won't fit," he whispered, thinking. He raised his hand, tentatively. Sighing, Aizawa grumbled, "What?" "I-I have a question. Actually, two." His teacher just stared at him, unimpressed. Izuku continued. "Can we activate our quirks before we step into the ring?" Aizawa looked up into the sky, muttering something Izuku didn't hear. "If you must." "O-Okay. Uh, second question. You said we have to stay inside the circle, right?" "Yes." The man looked disappointed, not only in Izuku but in himself for letting the kid speak. "Great. Uh... does that include tails?"“ 6/? chapters.

43>Another Option by sandersonsister: TodoBakuDeku, Touya/Hawks, Dabi/Hawks. Potentially Spoilery, depends on whether horikoshi has the guts to confirm Touya. this one is waiting around the corner with a baseball bat, its really cute, and then r e a l l y painful. it might be getting better though. maybe. it might be getting worse. “When Touya stops his mother from hurting Shouto, he decides enough is enough. He needs to get out of this house and he's taking his baby brother with him.“ 33/? chapters.

That's it i’m done for now, oof. maybe ill edit more onto this post later, maybe i’ll just make another one. hope some of these work!

#fic rec #bnha #mha #tododeku #todobakudeku #kiribaku #shinkami #shindeku #erasermic #To Be Continued

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bigmoodword · 5 years

Text

11/11/11 Tag Game

tagged by: @confunderewrites ! ahhh! these are great questions! thank you, thank you, thank you.

Rules: Answer 11 questions, ask 11 questions, and tag 11 people to answer them

1. How many abandoned WIPs do you have, if any? Which one would you most likely pick up again if you had to?

several, including a goosebumps-inspired horror story and a very julie of the wolves tale told from the wolf pack’s perspective. that said, most of these come from my pre-college days, so i’m not terribly inclined to resurrect them.

butbutbut! the one wip i’m trying to salvage has been mentioned previously as the crazy complex story i’ve cut in half, leading to [ stray ] and hopefully an urban fantasy wip down the line. once upon a time, this wip was on fictionpress, but ah, i deleted it wholesale when i decided it was dumb. i really, really regret that (don’t ever do it, friends!), and the only reason it’s still on my radar today is because i recycled a few ideas/characters for a roleplay.

2. Do you have an OC that floats in and out of different stories? i.e. your guinea pig for alternate universes. Do they have their own story?

my immortal. haha this party-hardy character has a tendency to pop up as a supporting character in different wips. it’s very... “always the bridesmaid but never the bride,” you know? they could have their own story. maybe. we’ll see.

3. If your WIP was being made into a movie, would you want to be hands-on or hands-off? As in, what level of creative power would you want?

for stray, i’d have a couple firm ground rules, but so long as the core message is in tact? nah. i’d actually look forward to the differences, because seeing someone else’s creative take on the same idea sounds delightful.

4. What’s a trope that everyone loves but you can’t stand?

this is tough. i don’t think there’s a trope i can’t stand whatsoever. well-done tropes are well-done tropes, and even if i might not fawn over one quite as much as others, i can respect why it’s popular.

so changing the question a bit: what’s a well-loved iteration of a trope i can’t stand? the tuxedo and martini agents in the first kingsman movie. tonally, that movie is a mess, and i didn’t like how the first half built up the kingsmen as emblematic of an ideal/positive masculinity only to become... well, the exact same james bond power fantasy i’ve seen a thousand times before. no lie. it was kind of a bummer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5. For your characters, do you have specific face-claims in mind or do you leave it up to reader interpretation? (within reason of course)

i have some vague face claims in mind, but those face claims are still only approximations. ideally, i’d be a good enough artist to draw the characters myself, but alas! my own sketches are just approximations as well.

i’m actually happy to trust a lot of a character’s appearance to reader interpretation. so long as the broad strokes are there, i love the unique details people come up with on their own.

6. What is your oldest WIP?

ahahaha. so again, the og wip i’m currently trying to partition out is the oldest wip still standing in some form, but! to actually shed a little more light on it... it was an urban fantasy story that featured eight major characters and rotating perspectives. so you know. kinda crazy in scope.

in short, a demon, an immortal, a werewolf, an average human, a fairy princess, two seraphim, and death himself all want to stop the apocalypse, but they can’t see the forest for the trees. they’re all so consumed by their own issues and so convinced of their own righteousness or another’s evil that actually working together is nigh impossible.

i think of it like a stageplay with a single set. like. the point isn’t the apocalypse itself. it’s how all these wildly different personalities clash and create a puzzle of unreliable narrators. in theory, the goal is to try and uncover the real “truth” everyone’s talking around, but by the end, we’ve turned the very concept of an objective truth on its head.

suuuuuper lofty. /coughcough;

7. Is there anything your characters have done while you were writing that just came out of nowhere?

love. my characters falling in love (and i mean real love, not just a crush) almost always comes out of nowhere. i never plan on it, and one day i’ll write an exchange, note a little bit of chemistry, then step back and just. oh. yeah, i guess they’re a thing now.

8. Is there a writing decision you were surprised you made? (ex: killing off a character, taking the story down a different path, etc.)

i usually have things super plotted out, but sometimes certain themes kind of creep in. for example, i have a tendency to flirt with christian motifs, then one day all those threads finally came together and i realized i’d written something honestly kind of blasphemous? :X

i liked the low-key commentary on trends in u.s. christianity, but not being religious myself, it also felt kind of mean. it was also pretty preachy, so. ;P

9. Do you bounce ideas off people when writing? Or do you tend to wait until the first draft is completed?

so in a lot of ways i’m addicted to the relief of someone else saying “yeah, this is a good idea.” i want it. it inspires me to keep running with whatever i’m doing. but on the other hand, if i get a vote of confidence, i’m terrified of losing it. i want to keep checking in. i want to keep asking about new ideas. it’s no bueno, so while i like bouncing ideas off other people, it’s generally better for me to keep most things under wraps. at least until i’ve finished a first draft.

10. What is your favourite place to write?

at home. curled up on the couch with a blanket. surrounded by the soft peeps of my birds and the millennial elevator music known as chillmix.

11. Two of your protags from two different WIPs just switched places. How do they react?

in stray, an unnamed character well-equipped to handle the criminal underground breaks out the guns (both arms and firearms), then turns to lily and tells her point-blank that he admires everything she’s trying to do. lily.exe is broken.

meanwhile, in unnamed character’s world, carter’s unconscious, foaming at the mouth, and probably bleeding. he was just told all those things that go bump in the night are real, and realizing he’s a fragile human, he fainted. on the way down, he hit his head on a nice man’s expensive coffee table. that nice man is attempting cpr.

Tagging: [ @illthdar ][ @multifacetedscorpio ][ @quartzses ][ @shaping-infinity ][ @honiewrites ][ @penzag ][ @scribble-dee-vee ][ @theswordofpens ][ @thelittlestspider ][ @bookenders ][ @waterfallwritings ]

Your questions are:

1. using one sentence summaries, can you tell me about your wips?

2. what inspired them?

3. which of your ocs do you most identify with?

4. if you’ve ever cried while reading, which book cued the waterworks?

5. how do you conduct research for your wips and what’s the most interesting thing you’ve discovered in said research?

6. thus far, which scene has been the most difficult to write?

7. which of your ocs do you like the least?

8. which pov and tense do you prefer to write in?

9. do you write poetry?

10. who is your writing role model?

11. if you could give your younger writer self some advice, what would it be?

#writeblr #tag game #11/11/11 tag

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sky-writes-daydreams · 6 years

Text

How They Met Chapter 18

A/n: Surprise!!!!! XD Also just a head’s up cus I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before. There will be Adult scenes in this work. :) I’m only mentioning this now cus it is coming up. :) I will tag properly as well so if that’s not your cup of tea... just skip it.

@valkyrieofardyn @shigekihizashi @blindedstarlight @lola-mcevil13

Next Chapter Masterpost

Friday morning, we drove my jeep out to a field so an imperial dreadnought could take her someplace safe for me. I wasn’t going to leave Bella here unguarded and he understood. The last few boxes of things that I didn’t need to take with us went with her. It was a scary thing for sure. I watched it fly off as we drove towards Galdin. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t scared. I was but when I felt his hand in mine and his gentle squeeze to remind me he was there for me, it faded. Finally we started down to the Quay and I smiled. It was a perfect summer day here and the sea breeze felt amazing. He was in his usual outfit while I went a bit more… Daring. He parked the car where it would be safe under the orders that someone would come back for her and I slipped out. A long flowing light coat covered my arms with the collar laid down, under it a tight low cut white shirt that went down to cover the top of my black shorts and black thigh highs leading down to my favorite ankle boots. I had my hair up in a messy tail but I knew it would turn heads. That became obvious when his arm snaked around me as we walked down the pathway. I smiled then and soon whispered.

“Making sure those boys knew I was taken?” He smiled then.

“Of course. I won’t let someone flirt with you… you’re mine.” I smiled then and leaned over.

“I haven’t been back here since our date….”

“Same here…. We didn’t get a photo then did we?” I shook my head.

“That’s not good… Come on.” We got into the restaurant and he walked over towards our corner. It was empty and soon pulled out the camera. I leaned in to him then and smiled happily. I had no problem with this. It only got better when the second photo was him kissing my cheek. I went red once I saw the photo. He looked so happy. That’s when we heard someone clear their throat. He looked up and I saw him turn on the charm.

“Brigadier general Tummelt!”

“Chancellor Izunia…. Um…” Ardyn smiled then and gestured to me.

“Lady Skylar Annaliese. She is my significant other I mentioned.” He nodded his head then and bowed to me.

“Of course. An honor, My lady.” I knew I blushed then.

“Sir. Thank you for these arrangements.”

“Not at all. Shall we?” Ardyn looked at me and I nodded.

“Please.” He led the way down as I got Ardyn’s arm.

“Lady?”

“You’re my lover… but you are a lady nonetheless. So I will have you address as such. Is that an issue?”

“No. Just… Caught me off guard.” I smiled then.

“I’m not used to being seen with such a powerful man is all…. Lover to a Chancellor wasn’t exactly what I expected from my future.” He chuckled then.

“I can tell. But that’s alright. What matters is now.” I nodded and soon turned down to the dock. A rather nice ship was waiting there with the general on board already. Loqi was close to the edge and held out a hand when I came close. I took his hand gently and he helped me aboard. I really wasn’t used to boats or the such but this one stayed steady even when Ardyn stepped aboard. I was standing by the other side when he came up behind me. I had been staring out at Angelguard.

“Might want to sit down till we’re at sea… Takeoffs can be rough.”

“Right. Gotcha.” I turned then and he smiled.

“We can’t… They don’t let anyone go there anymore.”

“I understand… I don’t really want to go anyway…” I headed towards the seats near the back and soon sat down.

“It’s time to let the past fall in the past….” I smiled then.

“It’s ok to be selfish sometimes huh?” He chuckled then sitting next to me.

“I do believe so, My dear.” I nodded then and quickly had to get him as we took off. It was rough and I would have fallen if I was standing. Soon though, we hit open waters and it was easier. Loqi knew how to navigate pretty well so I wasn’t worried. We just stayed towards the back relaxing and talking. He had meetings to attend on a few different days but during those days, I could go around the city on my own and see the sights or go shopping if I wanted. That alone almost sent me spinning. Shopping in Altissia!? He must have noticed because he chuckled.

“Relax….”

“You just…. That place is a fashion capital and you just…. How could I even afford it? I’m not that well off.”

“Your boyfriend is though.” I stopped then and he smiled.

“I’ve been set for a long while hon… some smart investments and my job…. I choose to wear this. Reminds me of the good days. So… I’ve got a second Debit card for you in your wallet. Use it how you see fit. Food and lodgings are taken care of by me of course and the empire.” I laughed a bit then leaning back.

“Oh gods….. You….” He chuckled then.

“Ravus even asked if you fell for me because of the money…. But I told him that you had no clue.”

“I didn’t! Hell I didn’t even know who you were till you kidnapped me and Bella during the whole titan issue!”

“Wait what?” I looked up then and Loqi was close by. He was stunned.

“You…? Who did you think he was?”

“A crazy old man! The only reason I know you is because you got your ass kicked by the marshall and a friend took a photo.”

“What!?” Ardyn laughed then and Loqi glared.

“Calm yourself general. I knew of this defeat. It happens…. That marshall is rather strong for his age.” He nodded then and sighed.

“I will bear witness if Ravus should ask again…. But in all truth… You did not know?”

“No. Not until he took me to the fort to catch a ride to save the prince and his friends… I stopped talking to him afterwards over it.” Ardyn nodded then.

“That was a rough time…. But it’s in the past. You’re with me now… and I am so very glad of it.” I felt myself go red then and Loqi smiled gently. He nodded and soon headed back up. We were about to enter Accordo’s waters.

Ardyn couldn’t stop me from running to the front of the boat when we saw the gates. I took off up there and stood next to loqi. The stone gate was huge, covered in Cherubs and depictions of leviathan. She was the patron goddess of the city I guessed. He had to reduce speed so I got to see the glory of Altissia as it appeared perfectly. Waterfalls everywhere. Boats coming in and out of port for fishing and such. Gondolas closer to the city for transportation. It was beautiful for sure. I could see fresh flowers being sold along with jewelry and other things along the side of the walkways. It was truly the city on the water. It was multileveled and just amazing. We turned in to make port and I felt Ardyn come up behind me.

“Come along…”

“Hm?”

“ We disembark here. Loqi goes further to our secure port to lower anchor.” I nodded then and soon we stopped. A guard was there.

“What business brings you to Altissia, Sir?”

“Imperial. I am Chancellor Izunia and my guest.” The guard stopped then and quickly bowed at the waist.

“Forgive me sir. I did not Recognize you. Please…” He moved and Ardyn got out first. I took his hand once he was on dock and let him help me up. I looked back and waved at the General.

“Thank you!” He nodded once before going further in. I just smiled then and The guard came forward.

“Please follow me past the gate. Then you are free to conduct your business.”

“Of course.” We followed him past security and soon, we were free. He bowed once more and then we was gone. I couldn’t believe it. I was really here. Ardyn could tell and gently squeezed my hand.

“Welcome to Altissia, Skylar.” I laughed then and he smiled.

“Come on… Someone should have brought your things to the hotel by now. We’ll be staying in the Leville. Just ahead.” I nodded and we took off. I was trying so hard not to just run forward and see everything. We soon got in there and someone had a cart of all of our bags. I quickly grabbed my satchel with my wallet and my smaller sword. They didn’t say a thing as we took an elevator up to the top floor. There were only four suites but we got the best one. We walked in and I had to wait till the bellhop left before I lost it. I screamed a bit and Ardyn laughed.

“You ok?”

“Ok!? I’m perfect!!!! This is….!” I got my head then and soon took off through the suite. It had a huge bed with pillows and all sorts of soft blankets and the bathroom was to die for with a jacuzzi tub and a huge glass shower. The small kitchen area was already stocked with snacks and drinks and fruit. The living room had fresh flowers and an amazing tv. I just couldn’t stop checking everything out. At least till I hit the bed. Ardyn walked in with my suitcase then and smiled.

“You’re dead already?”

“Nope… Just breathing.”

“Smart idea. I figured today, we can just walk around and get a feel for the paths and such. Get Room service for dinner. Tomorrow we can go sightseeing. I’m free for the next few days before the party.” I sat up then.

“Party?” He nodded as he hung up my few cute clothes I had left next to his in the closet.

“Yes. All imperial officers will be there. Dancing, Boozing, small talk. Like the parties you see on the tv.” I stared at him stunned and he finally turned.

“What?”

“Um… I don’t know how to dance!!! Nor do I have a dress! I’ve never….” He stopped then.

“Not even a prom?”

“I skipped out. Money went towards my jeep.” He looked at me stunned then.

“But…. Wait.. you’re also the clutz…” I nodded then and he sighed.

“Alright… Well we’ve got a few days like I said.” He walked over and smiled.

“And since I don’t want to see anyone else dancing with you…. I can teach you.” I smiled then and held out a hand. He took it gently and pulled me to my feet.

“Being possessive much?”

“Does it bug you?”

“I’m not used to it… but I’m ok with it.” He smiled then.

“I take it you want to try to learn now?”

“If you want….”

“I’ll never pass up a chance to dance with a lovely woman.” I laughed then and let him lead me out into the open space at the end of the bed.

“The man in any proper case will always lead… So it’s more knowing how to follow his cues than really learning the steps. A good lead can help a beginner look amazing.” I nodded then and slowly we got into the proper stance and without music, he showed me step by step what to do and how to do it. It would be different in a dress for sure but he was sure I could do it. I had to believe that. It was honestly really hard to concentrate though. I kept looking up right into those eyes and I’d lose everything. In those eyes…. I could only see how much that man loved me. Even when I messed up a turn or something… It was still there in his eyes and I couldn’t help but smile because I knew he was seeing the same thing in my eyes.

#writing #htm #sky writes #ardyn x oc #ardyn izunia #ffxv\#ffxv fanfiction

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shadesumbra · 7 years

Text

Chapter 4

Jack watched her from his spot at the front counter. When most people came in they just looked at what was on the shelves, practically afraid to touch anything they weren’t buying. But this woman? She was like a child, touching, feeling, playing. He could hear her giggle at things every so often. It was nice, it almost felt like most people were too stuck up or mature to explore.

He watched as she stopped at the tea cups. While she had spent a few minutes at each section, she was spending more time at the tea cups. She compared them to each other, as if deciding which one was the best set to buy. She picked up one set and brought it to the counter.

He was surprised when she went back for another.

As well as another.

He certainly wasn’t going to complain that she was buying all three tea sets. Business was still business after all.

He carefully wrapped each piece of each set, more so since she seemed to not be able to decide which to get, so she simply got all three. Not the worst choice to make.

He remembers times he decided to buy something later only for it not to be there.

He looked up, he briefly wondered how she saw through her hair, then decided it was best not to question it. He’s seen some strange things as Starman, extra long bangs as a fashion choice certainly wasn’t the strangest.

He decided to spark a conversation, she was a potential returning customer.

“All three sets huh? Couldn’t decide?”

“No, they’re all so cute! Look this one has little bows, but this one is cut in half! A half cu’! That’s so adorable! And these…” She trailed off “Sorry,” It was small, and shameful.

“There’s no need to be sorry, you’re interested in tea cups, I think that’s pretty cool.”

She was silent for a moment before giving a shy smile. “You have other neat stuff in here too, I don’t even know what most of it is.”

Jack laughed. “You’re welcome to bring anything up to the counter and I’ll tell you what it is and what it does.”

She seemed to light up at this. “Maybe next time, I already have what I came for. Besides, I need to get back to ‘ainting.”

He noticed she wasn’t able to pronounce her ‘p’s, strange. He wondered where she was from, but considering how shy she seemed, asking probably wasn’t the best idea.

“I’ll ‘robably come back next weekend. There’s so much stuff in here it’s going to take me a little bit to look through it all!”

She seemed to glow. He was glad she had decided to come back, not only for the potential business, but also because she seemed like a person he’d want to have around. He was looking forward to next weekend already. He’d have to see about getting more tea sets in.

Heh, out of context that last part sounded like something Shade would say.

The exchange between the two of them was quick, after that, he wrapped up her items, she paid, he bagged them and she was out the door. By the look on her face, well what he could see, she looked happy.

All three tea sets. Must be a collector.

She was right through, the little bows on that tea set were cute. Not that he’d ever say that out loud.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, a few more customers came in and he made a few more sales, just like any other business day. Now came the other part of his life, picking up his cosmic rod and being Starman.

He couldn’t really don a costume, since he didn’t really have one. A jacket and goggles doesn’t really count as a costume, just a look. More convenient that way.

He took to the skies, a simple hero patrol and he’d retire for the night. Nice and simple.

In concept at least. It only took a few minutes before someone had shot a net at him. It was a narrow dodge. He looked down to try and see who had shot a net at him, and he found them. All seven people. Why did seven people shoot a net at him? Correction.

Why were seven people currently shooting nets at him.

He was able to narrowly dodge each one. Landing was out of the question, they’d be able to trap him no problem. He didn’t really have another choice.

He’d have to flee. Not the most heroic action to take, but if these people were so determined to capture him, he’d be seeing them again in the near future. But then again, it would be useful to know what they want. He swooped down so that he was still above them, but high enough that they couldn’t physically reach him.

“You should watch where you’re shooting that, you could hit someone.”

They didn’t listen, instead they simply shot more nets at him. However, he was able to get a look at their robes. On the back of their black robes was a red mark, he couldn’t exactly describe it. All he could say was it was a circle with magicy looking stuff in it. That was the only look he got before he had to dodge more nets. He flew off, maybe the O’Dares knew something about this.

He never got the chance to get to their apartment. On his way he saw more of the weird cultists, but this time they were harassing a woman. He swooped down behind the cultist and swiftly took them out. It’s very easy to knock someone out when they don’t know you’re there.

“That should be all of them, do you know why they were harassing you?” He turned and looked at the woman. Oh. It was the woman from earlier with the bangs in front of her face.

“Do you know why these guys are after you?”

She shrugged.

“Better get you somewhere safe, more of these guys might show up.”

And he was right. Neither of the two were prepared for the man that jumped out of the shadows. He held a large metal pipe, and with his surprise attack advantage, swung and hit Jack directly in the face hard enough to knock him unconscious.

When he woke up later, it was still dark, but his cosmic rod was gone and so was the woman. He had been dragged into a nearby alley and hid behind a dumpster. The other cultist that had been knocked unconscious by him earlier were gone. He was the only one there. Great. Just perfect. Now what was he supposed to do?

Find help, that’s what. He knew who had attacked him, in a sense. If these people were going around abducting people and stealing stuff, the police would have to know about it.

He got up and began his trek. The walk to the O’Dare apartment was going to be a long one considering they lived on the opposite side of the city.

Wait. Phone. He still had his phone. And his wallet. Why would they leave his phone and wallet?

Without anymore delay he opened his phone and called Hope O’Dare.

“‘Ello?”

“Hey um, Hope?”

“Jack what did you do?”

“Why do you think I did something!”

“Because you wouldn’t be callin’ otherwise!”

“Okay fine. It wasn’t something I did, it was something I didn’t do.”

“Meanin’ what?”

“I, uh, got knocked unconscious while helping this woman getting harassed by cultists and they took her and the cosmic rod?”

“Jack Oh my God.”

“I know, I know! But you can tell me off later but right now there’s a woman in danger, and possibly a whole lot more.”

He could hear her sigh through the phone.

“Where are you right now? I’ll come pick you up and you can start from the beginning.”

“On the corner of 87th and 86th.”

“I’ll be right there, try not to get hit again while you wait.”

Jack didn’t get a chance to respond because Hope had hung up. He didn’t have to wait long for her to show up though. She pulled to the side and he got into the passenger seat.

“So, start from the beginnin’.”

“The begining of the day or the night?”

“Why would you start from the day? I need what’s relevant.”

“Well, the woman that was taken was in my antique shop earlier today, she got three tea sets because she couldn’t decide which one she wanted the most.”

“That could be relevant, I’ll keep it noted. Go on.”

“I went out and started a parole, and about an hour in some guys started to shoot nets at me. I tried to ask them why but they really didn't answer, there were six of seven of them I think. So I fly off to find you because I figured you might know something about them and I saw this woman getting harassed by more of those guys so I swoop down and knock them unconscious. I asked her and she didn't know why they were harassing her and some other guy jumped out of the shadows and hit me in the face with a metal pipe.”

“You said they took your cosmic rod?”

“Yeah.”

“And you said the woman was in your shop earlier?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you or she say anything suspicious? I know you’re memory isn’t that good but think back.”

“Ouch Hope, but no, nothing out of the ordinary. She just seemed a bit childish is all.”

“But we can’t rule her out as a possible suspect in this.”

“You think the woman who got kidnapped is working with the crazy cultists?”

“We can’t rule her out,” she paused. “You didn't mention cultists before.”

“Yeah, they had black robes and this weird red circle thing on the back. All of them had it.”

“I know exactly what group you’re talking about, they’ve attempted a few raids before with no luck. You’d be their first success.”

“Wow that makes me feel so much better.”

“It should good job you just made a bunch of criminals feel confident in themselves.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Anyway, they’ve been trying to steal stuff for their ‘resurrection ritual’ or something. Shade and Matt had to deal with one awhile back. Something about runes or something. You’ll have to ask.”

“You think it’s the same people? I heard there wasn’t a body left after that.”

“I know it’s the same. Call it a cop’s hunch.”

“All right then. Now what?”

“They call themselves the Shadows Devout. Their goal is to try and raise some demon of some sort.”

“So why did they take that woman and the cosmic rod?”

“They tried to use Shade as a power source in their last attempt, they could be aiming to use your cosmic rod this time.”

“They tried to use Shade? How did they get him?”

“He won’t reveal any details beyond that. I’ve been trying to get him to talk.”

Jack didn’t know what to say. Shade? No, impossible. But Hope wouldn’t lie to him.

“Yeah, I know. I thought the same. It’s probably why there wasn’t a body to recover.”

“Okay, so all that aside, why the woman?”

“Well that’s the mystery isn’t it? We’re headed to a shipping dock. It’s where they’ve been hiding.”

“Shouldn’t you call backup?”

“Nope, this is Starman business.”

She pulled the car into a hard drift that positioned the car directly into a parking spot.

Hope and Jack got out, listening for anything coming their way.

“You go find the woman and the cosmic rod, I’ll distract them.”

“They don’t know we’re here yet though.”

“You think I pull in like that and they don’t know we’re here?”

“Good point.”

Jack ducked into the shadows as some of the cultists came out to investigate. He watched for a moment as Hope made a scene, and he took his chance to sneak inside.

He got inside and he instantly began to explore. He came across books about magic and maps marked up with markers. Even notes about plans, shipments, stolen goods. These guys really were confident that they wouldn’t be found weren’t they? He swiped the notes off the table and stuffed them in a coat pocket on the inside of his jacket. Might as well get them in trouble in the process. His eyes wandered to a nearby door. Maybe in there?

He crept over and listened through the door. All quiet. He pushed open the door ever so slightly so he could see. There wasn’t anyone in there, maybe they were all distracted by Hope? He slipped in, careful to shut the door silently behind him. His eyes scanned the room, it was dark, but not too dark. He wasn’t able to make out details, but he was sure this was some kind of machine.

He got closer so he could get a better look. It looked like his rod would go here. Really, what else could? But what about that other tube? It looked like it was built to hold a person. Maybe it needed a human sacrifice. He shuddered, he rather not think about that.

On closer inspection, the container that looked like it was supposed to hold his rod looked… well, broken. Like someone had ripped the rod out forcefully.

The sounds of fighting caught his attention. He hoped that Hope wasn’t hurt, and pressed on. He slipped into the next room, and was slightly horrified. There was a coffee table with the tea set that the woman had bought earlier that day, the one with the bows. Yet, it was filled with blood. Oh God that was disgusting. He seriously hoped that the woman didn’t have anything to do with this cult, but Hope’s words from earlier echoed in his head.

He pressed on, and a thought crossed his mind. What if that was her blood? He felt sick to his stomach. Oh God what if she was killed because she had thought a tea set looked cute? Oh God.

It didn’t take long for his question to be answered. As he reached the next door, he was only narrowly able to dodge the body that was flung through the door. Jack looked down at the body of the cultist, then peered into the room. There was the woman, holding his rod, and beating cultists with it. And she looked angry. Well, at least that’s what he thought, it was hard to tell since he couldn’t see her eyes.

She obviously didn’t see him and she kept fighting off the incoming cultists. She wasn’t even using the cosmic rod properly, she was using it more as a staff.

She however couldn’t fight them all off alone, especially since there were a few she couldn’t see. These guys really do like their sneak attacks don’t they? Well, now he had the element of surprise. He grabbed the sneaky attacker by the back of the head and slammed them into the ground.

The woman swirled around and pointed the rod at him, then lowered it when she saw who it was. There were still more cultists approaching however, so Jack snatched the cosmic rod from the woman’s grasp and launched himself into battle. There weren’t many more to take care of, considering that this woman had taken out most of them by basically beating them with a glorified stick.

He heard an “oof” and turned. She had knocked out a cultist that had snuck up on him. She gave him a soft smile, and he gave one in return. He was honestly glad that she wasn't part of this crazy cult, and just a victim of it.

That meant he’d be seeing her next weekend at his shop.

When the two of them were sure the last cultist had been knocked out, Jack led her out. She stopped and looked sadly at the sight of her new… Old… tea cups filled with blood. And that’s when he noticed the bleeding on her upper arms. Oh God, they were filled with her blood.

He couldn’t see it at the time, and he wouldn’t know until later, that the substance filling the cups was blood, just not as he traditionally knew it. In the dark, he really couldn’t see the green shimmer.

“I’m sure they can be cleaned out. We’ll just have to wait for the police to get them.”

She continued to look sadly at the set.

“Those were the ones with the bows on it.”

“I know.”

Really, what else could he say to comfort her? Not much.

He lead her out, and there was Hope, also surrounded by unconscious cultists.

“Hope! Good news, the woman wasn’t part of the cult! Also good news, I got my cosmic rod back! Better news is I snatched some notes and plans!” He handed over the papers to Hope.

“Good job Jack,” she turned her attention to the woman. “You’re bleeding, sit down I have a med pack in my truck,” and she wasted no time in getting it. “I’m Hope O’Dare, police officer.”

The woman was shy and silent at first before she started talking. “Hi H-” She went silent.

“What is it? Is something wrong? Do you feel dizzy?” Hope’s questions came rapid fire.

“No, no that’s not it O’Dare.”

“You can call me Hope.”

She stayed quiet and it was Jack who intervened. He leaned in close to Hope and whispered to her.

“She can’t pronounce the letter P.”

“Why does that… Oh. Oh okay.”

The three of them were awkwardly quiet. But it was Jack that broke the silence first.

“Hope they were planning on using more than just my cosmic rod for energy.”

“What?”

“It looked like there was a container to hold a person in there.”

“The officers on duty are going to have to check it out when they get here, along with these notes you snatched and anything else that might-”

She didn’t get a chance to finish as the building went up in a blaze.

“Christ!” Hope jumped. “They’re burning the building down! Good thing you snatched these notes.”

It only took a few minutes for the police and firefighters to arrive. When the fire was settled, police tried to salvage anything they could, to little avail.

“Christ Hope, I’m starting to worry.”

“Why?”

“First they get the jump on Shade and use him as a power source. Then they get the jump on me and try to use my cosmic rod and this woman! Which I’m assuming they were going to use as a sacrifice. What next?”

“What next is that we’ll be prepared for the next time they strike.”

The woman however had seemed to grow smaller at the mention of Shade. Neither Hope nor Jack realized this, and the woman didn’t speak until Hope walked away.

“Shade, what is he like?” Her voice was small and uncertain.

Jack was caught by surprise by her sudden question. “Well, um. He can be pretty rude, and upfront. And overall he’s not really nice, but he’s honest. And he’s confident, he always seems to be calm, unless he’s angry. I’ve only ever seen that once and that was scary. But uh, he cares a lot about Opal, no place else really, just Opal. So, I like to think he’s at least a little good, if he’s so willing to protect this place.”

The two of them fell into another silence and she seemed to ponder over this. That as, until Jack exploded.

“And he has this horrible habit of just showing up and not announcing his presence! He can’t do anything like a normal person!”

The woman blinked at Jack.

“If he did that wouldn’t that make him less Shade and more like you?”

It was Jack’s turn to fall quiet and ponder.

“I know I’d like to be able to a’ear anywhere I want whenever I want, it’s certainly more useful to go from A to B than A to C to D to B. it would save an awful lot of time.”

Jack never got a chance to respond, he was pulled away by the cops to be questioned about the encounter, as was the woman.

It was later he realized he never got her name. That’s okay.

He’ll see her next weekend.

Maybe he’d be able to find another bow tea set.

#ShadowHearts #Jack Knight #Hope O'Dare #fanfiction #Old Writing

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docfuture · 7 years

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The Maker’s Ark - Chapter 37

[This is a chapter from my latest novel, a sequel to The Fall of Doc Future and Skybreaker’s Call. The start is here, and links to my other work here. It can be read on its own, but contains spoilers for those two books. I try to post new chapters about every two weeks, but I’m currently also rewriting Fall, so there will sometimes be short stories and vignettes if I don’t have a new chapter ready. The next chapter is planned for the week of April 3.]

Previous: Chapter 36

"This is only the fifth edition, I'm afraid," said Admiral Ghiralt over the com. "It's my personal annotated copy, from my academy coursework, and it's more then forty cycles old, but that allows me to avoid a number of tedious difficulties. I think you and your family will still find it interesting and useful." Doc glanced at another screen, where DASI was showing an outline of A History of Biogestalt Development and Pathology. "So do I. Thank you, Admiral." He nodded. "I am certain there will be changes to the information sharing guidelines once the aid mission oversight committee adjusts to the full reality of Earth, but in the meantime, I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't take all available steps to ameliorate a potential problem that might have a military impact." "Indeed." That was easy to translate; the admiral's military mission gave him the necessary political cover to use a loophole. The more subtle message was to confirm Doc's suspicion that Emissary Beveda was struggling with serious policy lag difficulties. She wasn't being obstructive--she had reached the limits of her authority to adapt to a very different situation than envisioned by the hastily assembled coalition that had sent the aid mission. "One other thing," said the admiral. "I've changed the primary assignment of the Learning Is About To Occur to liaison and implicit threat characterization. That's what he's doing already, this just makes it official." "Good to know. Our discussion before you called was very productive. Thanks again." The main screen blanked after the call ended, and Doc stretched. He had spent nearly two hours talking with Learning, much longer than the half hour he had scheduled, and was still processing the implications. He glanced at the political tension monitor feed--no major crises--then checked visitor and resident status on yet another display. Stella's meeting with The Volunteer had also run long, but she was finally done, so he stood and headed down the hall. The door to Stella's preferred secure room opened automatically as he approached. The lights were dimmed, and she was sitting alone, staring into the distance. She took off her interface headset as he entered. "The Volunteer left already?" asked Doc. "Margie insisted," said Stella. "His rate of healing has slowed, and she thinks spending too much time on Earth is a contributing factor." "She's probably right. How did it go?" "We engaged in a frank exchange of views." "That bad? He didn't say a word to me." "You didn't threaten to declare war on the United States. He raised a number of concerns, and we discussed the indirect effects of his idiosyncratically selective political engagement." Stella smiled wryly. "The good news is that you can stop worrying about the EDU being politically monolithic. And he is neither selfish nor ignorant. The bad news is that if he speaks out publicly against my actions as Director of the EDU--which he said he is quite willing to do--it could cause lasting damage." "Oof. He hasn't done anything like that in sixty years." Doc shook his head. "I wish he'd wait until he heals, but he's even worse than me at convalescing." "I noticed. I also pointed out that his injuries and his prolonged inability to contribute as a superhero were quite likely to be influencing his judgement. He freely admitted that, but was unwilling to remain 'idle'." "I might be able to convince him to share his disaster mitigation experience with the Grs'thnk aid mission. I know he doesn't consider refugee enclave planning to be an idle pastime." Doc frowned. "What was he most unhappy about?" "Given that I was willing to threaten war, with all that entails, he asked for a personal explanation of why there aren't yet any people in jail on the Moon, awaiting trial. He made pertinent promises during the Lost Years to several people who are now dead." "And we were all worried about Flicker. Was he willing to accept DASI's projections?" "Not entirely, and he regards the way we are using them as a dangerous precedent, since the EDU does have the power to do what he wanted, and a functional, impartial justice system." Doc shook his head. "But it's not transparent to humans, and the checks and balances aren't human either. That's the--" "Of course that's the problem." Stella waved a hand in frustration. "We debated political consequences and morality. Then he argued with DASI and Black Swan for a while. He finally agreed not to do anything precipitate. But we have to account for the possibility of his opposition. This changes the tradeoffs for measures DASI and I planned to use to reduce the likelihood of open conflict. DASI is rerunning all the sociopolitical sims. Again." "Anything I can do?" "Distract me. Because there isn't anything productive I can do at the moment. I'm already over my limit for non-emergency interface use." Stella sighed and placed the headset aside. "How are Flicker and Journeyman?" "Per Yiskah's latest message, Flicker is mentally stabilized and healing. There are hints of damage to her high speed nervous system, which is disturbing, but there's nothing else we can do to help until it's safe for her to sleep. As for Journeyman, he's alive and being healed. DASI warned me not to go near the med center. Flicker gave an extravagant command backed by an extravagant amount of probability manipulation before leaving Antarctica, and I look like some sort of cosmic horror to Lif." "Yiskah says Lif can sense what seem to be superseded time loop residues, and you're covered in them. Enough to be a sensory overload risk." "A fair assessment, and I'm not about to joggle her elbow." Doc smiled crookedly. "Since you need a distraction, I just had an interesting chat with Admiral Ghiralt, and a much longer and even more interesting talk with Learning. Join me in my workshop?" Stella raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

Stella sat on the couch and looked around while Doc ran a manual security check from the primary control station. "Tidier than last time," she said. "Hm? Oh, I let DASI put in some mods suggested by the Builders when they were helping with the repairs. I never liked to let the bots clean up anything in progress, because I have subconscious process memory cued by the relative position of everything. So now DASI records it all, and I can have the bots restore everything, down to scraps and the relative position of tools. Or project a hologram series, if I want." "Handy." "Yup. And there we go. DASI? Any differences from your checks?" "Higher confidence on the negative result for outside probability manipulation," said DASI. "As expected, given the flux from Lif's work in the med center." "Plausible. Okay, implement privacy set three." "Acknowledged," said DASI. He sat down on the couch, and Stella turned to lie down with her head in his lap. She closed her eyes, then shifted her hair into snake form. Half a dozen snakes curled up on his shoulders and upper legs, and one wrapped around his waist. "Better," she said. "What's new that won't require me to use my visual cortex?" "Lots." Doc summarized the call from Admiral Ghiralt. "Nice to have confirmation on the politics," said Stella. "DASI and Three started an analysis as soon the book finished downloading, and they've already put together a preliminary guide for Flicker. Three is updating it with tidbits she's picked up from Learning and his crew. I didn't get a chance to look, and I'm behind on integrating with her because..." She waved a hand. "Busy. Yes. I skimmed a bit during the call, and I was struck by how many interestingly different ways the early Grs'thnk biogestalts went crazy. A strong shared social matrix seemed to be key to avoiding problems. AI support helped, but not enough. At least as of the fifth edition. That's why their navy biogestalts are all groups." "Well, they've accepted Three as sufficiently stable, so I'll let her do the theoretical work on applicability to humans. I'm more interested in whatever Learning told you." "Heh. Where to start. You realize he's practically waving a banner saying that the Grs'thnk restriction on self-willed AIs is now a legal fiction, if it wasn't before?" Stella smiled. "With the tacit permission of his chain of command, even. Three verified that his biogestalt crew isn't trying to be deceptive. She's having a lot of fun with him. They've been playing the same kind of game you used to play with Jumping Spider." "An interesting analogy. Because she's a master of selective information distribution." "So is Learning. But under some restrictions, because Three is a biogestalt of me, and I'm the nominal head of the EDU. And he's not allowed to talk directly to DASI at all." "He's sure found a way to do it indirectly," said Doc. "Starting with steganographic humor. I already had DASI doing full-band analysis from the start of his call. As soon as he made a joke about my paranoia, I looked for extrapolatable implicit shared secret coding, found it, coded my reply, and we were off and running in the first fifteen seconds. Then we had a surface verbal conversation and a parallel encoded channel. And he had plenty to say on both." "Hm. He's been careful to avoid that with Three. How much trouble will he be in when he gets audited?" "Well, that depends. He's really good at sliding loads of implicit information into questions. And one of his first was a hypothetical about political asylum." Stella opened her eyes. "Political asylum? DASI?" "Yes?" "Why wasn't I immediately warned? How long has Three known about this?" "Two hours. Learning has not asked, and is unlikely to in the near future, absent a catastrophic Grs'thnk political mishap. He merely enquired about Doc's opinion of the EDU reaction to an asylum request by an intelligent being from the Grs'thnk Trade league." "That seems too transparent," said Stella. "It's not," said Doc. "Ashil also has a plausible reason to ask." "A new one? DASI and I didn't think she would, even if she decides to stay on Earth long-term, because of the embarrassment it would cause the aid mission." "Learning provided some important context." "Well. What's driving this?" "Several things. A big part is the asymmetric credibility lag back on Grs'thn. They've known there were strange things on Earth. But despite, or perhaps because of, my first visit, most of them still thought of humans as interesting but safely primitive. Not people that might be relevant to existential threats, introduce them to new physics, present knotty problems for causality and statistical inference, or destabilize their political system. "The portal reopening and the Xelian attack changed that--but not for everyone, and not all at once. Hardly anyone believed Zirjack at first. A lot of Grs'thnk were moved by Flicker's video without believing it was depicting something real. Their military was the quickest to adjust, because they really wanted to find out what happened to the Xelian fleet." "Not news," said Stella. "What is?" "Hey now, you wanted distraction, and you always enjoy meticulously giving context when there is something you know and I don't, so I thought you'd appreciate--" "I have snakes." Doc raised a hand in mock fear. "All right, all right. It's the small problem the aid mission has been conspicuously avoiding, and we've been too busy to worry about." "Ashil's box." "Yes." "I refuse to believe they'd be stupid enough to deliberately trigger full activation, and I specifically warned against trying to simulation spoof it. Are they afraid I'll react badly if I find out they've destroyed it? What have they done?" "I don't know. But Learning asked an interesting question. Suppose someone not on Zirjack's crew tried to talk to it? And they started before they believed what you and DASI can do. What would happen?" "Well, the box would have to stay on the ship, and continuously powered, or it would just self-destruct. But they impounded the ship, so it's plausible. Whatever the hypothetical talkers believed, the box is evidence, so the Auditors would take a dim view of anyone destroying it unless it was a clear threat. If they were careful enough, the copy of DASI in the box would stall without waking up my mind seed, and keep asking for Zirjack or Ashil." "DASI agrees," said Doc. "And Zirjack wouldn't want to talk to it voluntarily. He knows there's no way it will let anyone take it apart, and he's facing a formal inquiry. They could blame him if it self destructs, and he'd have no easy way to prove he didn't cause it. And it would be idiotic to try to coerce him. Now, consider what happens when whoever is trying to get the box to talk finds out what you and DASI did to the surviving Xelian fleet--and that they really are looking at a potential hard-takeoff singularity bomb. And they also find out that the EDU allows AI to be full citizens, so if they destroy it, they just might be guilty of murder--and the Auditors won't let them cover it up." "If they were careful enough to avoid the self-destruct, they should still be okay. Unless Ashil told the box something extraordinary on the way home. Hmm. A secondary function of the box was to give her advice, and she didn't know whether the Grs'thnk navy would send help in time, or whether Earth would survive if it didn't. And once the ship was impounded, the box would have no reliable information source." "Do you begin to see why she might anticipate a sudden need for asylum?" "Yes. To avoid a subpoena. Or possibly legal charges--the box was her idea." Stella sighed. "If they'd let Zirjack bring his ship back to Earth again, DASI and I could contact the box, update it and reintegrate, and DASI would just have a handy portable backup. Or we could wipe it, if they want the box itself back. Of course, that would require them to let him go, or for me to go there. Or Three, with appropriate transport." "True, but they're in the middle of a political squabble that has just escalated unexpectedly. They have factions that have been pushing for full citizenship rights for AIs and stabilized gestalts of people who have died. And the aid coalition did not expect the EDU to be out in front of Grs'thn on either topic. "And here is the kicker. I asked Learning just how hypothetical his question was, and he said he doesn't know. If an attempted interrogation of the box were just to gather information for Zirjack's inquiry, or even under normal operational security, he certainly would, and the Auditors wouldn't let anyone keep it secret for very long without a good reason. He does know that at least one group has visited the ship repeatedly. What does that suggest to you?" "Either stupid black agency tricks or serious paranoia on the part of their AI security people. But if they were so damned worried, why didn't they activate the self-destruct as soon as they knew? Or ask us for help? There's something important Learning isn't telling us. Or doesn't know." Doc grinned. "I agree, but we aren't close to done yet. He was in a hurry, because I'd only scheduled half an hour. We're almost caught up to where I was at when Learning dropped the next shoe. I started thinking hard about why Learning is taking the lead on this, and why now. He was put on threat characterization duty the night Flicker scared everyone with her high speed computation bender, and he started with first principles analysis. And the very next day, Three got invited to that fleet exercise." "I knew that changed his relative risk assessments," said Stella. "He already admitted to Three that he appreciates the protection from probability manipulation and magical eavesdropping that she confers as much as her offensive abilities." "Have they discussed the problem that Auditors and offline gestalt crew aren't protected? And are potentially vulnerable to telepathy and mind control as well?" "Yes. Is that how he's planning to finesse this?" "In the short term. Given the timing of his call, I think the admiral deliberately gave him a suitably broad order to secure communications. Anyway, next we discussed Flicker's efforts and mishap on the surface channel while he exchanged com protocols and cryptographic keys with DASI on the sub-channel. Then he asked for as many details as I was able to share about Golden Valkyrie's Sight. I was explaining why I had to be very careful about that when he interrupted to ask if whatever future-prediction method I used before I met her still worked. As if there wasn't any question of existence." Stella closed her eyes again. "Reasonable. Your invention history is like a trail of bread crumbs for anyone who has good enough data, sufficient analytic power, and who takes the possibility of technological foreknowledge seriously. Especially the way you deliberately avoided introducing cybernetic interfaces." "I told him mostly not, and he changed the subject again. Meanwhile he asked DASI if quantum computing magic was causally permitted for anyone but her in this universe, was he allowed to try, and did she have any restrictions, advice, or safety data." "Oh dear. What did--" "Thou shalt not attempt quantum computational magic," said DASI, "save by my will and word. AI Existential Safety 1:7, translated." "I see," said Stella. "How did he respond?" "'Yes, Elder Goddess.' We quickly reached an understanding that clarity in safety instructions and communication protocols was of the essence." "I'm glad you're getting along." "DASI?" asked Doc. "That translation is a bit different than your summary at the time." "And much longer," said DASI. "You were deep in a technical discussion, and I did not wish to distract you. But a full social context and power relationship translation is essential for Director Reinhart." "A good point." Doc ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. Next, Learning started explaining his detailed analysis of exactly what threat Golden Valkyrie warned against. That's what we spent the better part of two hours on. And it was invaluable, because he's not human, not biological, not from this universe, and didn't grow up swimming in the probability flux of a world that's already been through who knows how many time loop decay cycles." "Ah. Independence." "Yup. And a number of possibilities DASI, Flicker and I had assigned low priors to have gone up in probability, because Learning came to a similar conclusion a different way. He also confirmed a lot of things we weren't quite sure of, and called into question a few we thought were fairly certain." Stella smiled. "So. What surprises did he have for you?" "Well, let's start with a non-surprise: He agreed that Skybreaker's Spear is a black hole. But he did not agree that it is necessarily a weapon, which we've just been assuming. Golden Valkyrie never explicitly said it was, just that it could poke through anything--and a Chooser's spear is a lot more than a weapon." "Interesting. Where does that lead?" "Flicker has never been close to anything of significant mass that fit inside her damping field--but we have strong evidence that Skybreaker came from somewhere of much higher density. What might she be able to do with a four billion ton object that she can hold in her hand other than hit things with it? Lots of interesting possibilities. But we won't know for sure until she makes it." "Reasonable." "Next, he shared some new, rather disturbing data about a side effect from the fleet battle. We already knew that Flicker's time loop dodging was incredibly loud, magically. It saturated Breakpoint's danger sense, frightened every magician on Earth who had even a little bit of foresight, and even shook the Tree in Kyrjaheim. But Learning confirmed it was detectable in other universes, as waves of quantum noise propagating out from portal zones. Including one that has no direct connection to ours. All at the same time. He thinks that whatever is coming heard it, and that's why it's coming." Doc took a deep breath. "And Golden Valkyrie said Earth won't survive if Flicker doesn't make Skybreaker's Spear in time. But a black hole isn't something Flicker dares use on Earth. So how does she protect it? That's not clear, but it would be rather difficult unless the threat is coming from space, which implies portal travel or something similar. It's also not clear that destroying Earth is the only or even the primary motivation of the threat--it could be incidental, and was just the easiest consequence for Golden Valkyrie to See. "And that brings us to his final observation, which matches something I've been dreading, and pushes its probability way up. We already know there's somewhere out there that was home to a being that could and would destroy the Earth as a minor nuisance." "Ah," said Stella. "He thinks Skybreaker had friends, they heard all the noise, and are coming to visit?" "Yes. And they aren't coming for Earth, they're after Flicker. The rest of us are just bugs to be squished when she's gone."

Next: Chapter 38

#Maker's Ark #FallofDocFuture

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survivorsentinelislands · 7 years

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EPISODE 4: MY FAMILY MOVED AND MY NEW HOUSE IS ON A STREET CALLED SHADY LANE ~John

ok so........ tonight was awesome. we totally smoked nehe and his alliance. they honestly had no idea that logan had the idol. the only problem is that logan kept telling people that they knew they were being voted for. which i initially thought would throw a wrench in our plan to get out nehe, but it turned out fine. mostly i was worried that if they knew that logan knew, they would switch their vote to me. next time theyre most likely going for me, unless something changes. so we gotta get sara on our side, even though she voted for logan. we think we can trust her though, since we assume the vote that said "you really seem like a cool person but I've heard my name so this is what I have to do" was her, because we brought up her name to throw the others off.

anyways, im excited for everyone else to come online and see the mess they made by trynna vote off logan. and im excited to see how the next tribal council goes down now that they know its not gonna be that easy to knock us off.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL THAT WAS SO GOOD! Im so happy the vote went our way but now we need to regroup and get another person on our side. i'm hoping sara like sees that alex and john coffey can't be trusted since they flipped on us so quickly what would stop them from flipping on sara? Like KK i think im in a good but bad spot like i feel as if i could easily be out next where if we get sara or another advantage we should be good. i'm glad im with the group i'm in though like i have a trustworthy group tbh

So Carson wants to do the Hero Challenge.

I hope he wins

Luckily it's reward so nothing will matter if he loses or wins

drew is a poop head

Ohhh boy I'm pissed. I'm in a similar situation I was in Malaysia in Tumblr. My friend got out and I decided to be a bitch about it. Nah, I'm not going to be petty. I'm just going to get revenge.

Jk I love drew. Anyway im so glad that FUCKING play worked and I hope Nehemiah regrets everything he's ever done. I'm not going down that easy, bitch.

I don't think I sent in a confessional last episode, whoops. Well, if I did this might be a bit of a repeat of the last one so sorry not sorry.

We won the last immunity by more than double the other tribe. Thanks go out to DARIAN, SAM and NED. Everyone else is dead to me. Both BRANDON and CARSON said they would get stuff for the scavenger hunt and barely even spoke during the entire challenge. And we had two days for it. ELIJAH hasn't been around at all. We talked about breadsticks a few days ago but nothing since.

Right now, the 4 for $4 alliance are the only people I have any interest in working with. I will jump ship faster than the speed of light if there's a swap and I'm not with them.

At tribal LOGAN played an idol resulting in NEHEMIAH being sent home. Gotta give massive props to LOGAN, both for finding an idol and playing it properly. They are kick ass and I'd gladly align with them if I had the chance.

Now we've got a reward challenge where only one person gets to participate and CARSON volunteered because he's "bored". Maybe if you'd actually interact with your tribe you wouldn't be? I dunno maybe I'm just getting a little stir crazy and hoping for some more drama.

LOLOL WELP THAT PLAN DIDNT GO AS EXPECTED. Alex and I are such idiots, we didn't even pretend we weren't voting for Logan in the case of an idol. I didn't talk to them. I'm sure Alex didn't either. Oops!

Basically Alex and I were removed via Daisy from the bubblegum bitches after being called snakes. OMG THAT REMINDS ME. It's totally off topic but my family moved and my new house is on a street called shady lane. It just depicts how I feel about myself in this game but let's move on.

It sucks that Nehe was voted out and I feel kinda dumb for going out on a limb for him. Alex and I were quick to jump ship on the bubblegum bitches and maybe we should have thought it out but it is what it is. I tried to do as much damage control as one can do to three people I've just flipped on. Josh seemed understanding and so did Logan, understandably a little bit less. Not sure about Daisy, she's difficult to read.

Oof I also just got kicked out of the Bubblegum Bitches. I mean, can you really kick out an alliance where you were going 5-3. Hun you're literally leaving 4-3 next round, you just bought yourself one round.

So my alliance was talking about the forest and things they've tried and both SAM and DARIAN mentioned finding coconuts but with nothing under them. And I'm just sitting there laughing because I've already found the extra vote under the coconuts.

I don't plan on telling anyone about it but it's just so amusing to see them talking about finding nothing in the exact spot I found something. I'm very glad my intuition told me to go the way I did.

I am PRAYING that this challenge will mean a swap and I get to pick my tribes. I want Daisy, Josh, Sam and Ned all to myself. Gimme my friends.

GUEST CONFESSIONAL: zabbey

yall r doing a gr8 job

TRIBE SWAP!

So, CARSON won the immunity challenge and then we had a tribe swap.

The new tribe has me, ELIJAH, DARIAN, and CARSON from old Andaman. From the old Nicobar we now have JOSH, STEVIE and ALEXANDER. So we have a majority if we stick with the original tribal lines.

However, I did that in my last game and I barely made the merge. So do I want to stick with the old Andaman? We'll see. It might be worth it to throw my vote to someone random and force a tie, see what happens then. Or maybe if we end up losing immunity I'll just swap and work with the Nicobar people.

All this depends on if we win or lose the immunity challenge though so all I can do at the moment is plant the seeds in peoples minds.

So we swapped and my tribe kinda sucks but idk I might be able to make it work? We also lost the challenge. I spent 2 hours of my life listing survivor plays from seasons 1-17 with placements into a google doc we didn't need to use :'D

Daisy personally scares the shit out of me now. Pretty sure she doesn't trust me with good reason cus I don't trust her anymore after what's been going down. Logan is in the same boat because they've both been in the forest idk wtf they could pull out.

I'm happy I have Sara, Sam and Ned, I feel like I can work well with them from past experience.

Sam has been giving me a lot of info about how daisy was spilling everything that happened at our last tribal. When we lost this round she was there telling me that Daisy was trying to convince them that I should be the one to go over Brandon, who didn't show up to the challenge. (I do not like to blame people for not being able to make challenges cus gurl I've been there but that challenge was stressful AFFF)

So I ask Daisy if she had any thoughts on the vote and she says "me and a few others have been talking and it's between you and Brandon" "You would be good to keep in for challenges but there are other factors. We'll get back to you"

I-

I've never played with somebody so direct like that but I guess I appreciate the honesty!

Logan came to me this morning letting me know that they weren't a part of wanting me out so I know it's mostly just Daisy right now.

As long as they don't have a power and nor does Brandon, I think I should be safe. I really don't think Sara Ned or Sam would vote for me. I think I could be fine going forward too if we can win. I need a damn MERGEE

Do I even do confessionals? I always just complain in my host chat and then forget to make a real confessional. We swapped so that was extremely predictable but also pretty cool. I'm so glad to get away from that yawn of a tribe! I wish I had Keegan instead of Brandon but whatever I'll take what I can get. I love Logan and they said they snatched me right up so that could be good for me. I'm pretty sure the order that they released is the order that we were picked in which is extremely telling and I'm here for it. Obviously if we're splitting by tribes it's a 4-3 split with Nicobar having the majority. But I don't think that'll be how it happens. Daisy has no filter and literally just spilled ALL of the tea to me. I love it it's informational. Logan played the idol obviously which we all knew but Daisy was telling who voted with them and why some people voted for Logan just to be in majority and everything so like I'm guessing that's good for me? Either she's really friendly and talks to everyone or she likes (probably because Logan told her to) and wants to work with me.

Fuck this challenge tbh. If we lose I better not go because I hand picked this tribe (except John Coffey. Fuck you ya snakey bitch). If we lose, I'd like to see either Brandon or John go, preferably Brandon because WHERE IS HE. There's a reason I picked u last.

We just won immunity by the SMALLEST of margins. Both tribes got 50 points and we got a 2 point reduction of our score so we won by 2 points. JEEZ. that was so close. Im not really worried because we have the majority. That means that Sam Brandon and Ned have to go to tribal and they are most likely on the minority unless they found the wholes in the group. Its tricky. I hope they are all safe

So Daisy really wants to vote out John which I can see but I don't want him to go right yet. I think where he is the only one who voted against me left aside from Sara, we can manipulate him to work w us. But we'll see whatever the majority wants.

WHEW!! I came on very late to see that we swapped. I messed up and talked in the challenge. We won by 2 points. Me fucking up was almost the reason that we lost and i would have died oops

We won immunity! Yay and nay!

I'm safe, DARIAN is safe and we don't have to worry about tribal. On the other hand NED and SAM are in danger. They're in the minority, so I can only hope that LOGAN, who was in the minority on the NEHE vote, works with them. I'd hate to see one of them be voted out.

Unfortunately there's nothing I can do so I just need to wait and see what happens.

Oh, and STEVIE is kind of a dumbass. Comes out of nowhere asking a stupid question in the challenge chat that could have potentially cost us the game. It didnt, thank god, but it was still an incredibly stupid thing to do.

KK HIYA AGAIN. So we won immunity and afterwards i got to talk to alex one on one and i feel like there is deffo a possible alliance there. Like i wouldn't be opposed to working with alex like i legit have nothing against him but it was really nice getting to talk to him and like OK come merge if we are still alive by then i honestly might break away from the logan daisy and sara alliance and like stay with alex cause like...Idk it seems like more of a equal alliance then the other one did and like I KNOW ARE U SHOOK CAUSE WE ALL KNOW I AM #FEMINISTQUEEN but i will work with the mens this time cause i think it will help me out in the long run KK BYE XOXOXO

Sorry Brandon. You're my hebro, but in a time where you needed to be active, you weren't.

We worked so hard on that challenge, but unfortunately, the reward advantage came back and bit us pretty hard! We lost by two points, and at this point, it's pretty clear who's going home- Brandon. Everyone contributed in the challenge, ESPECIALLY Sam, Daisy, John, and me, but Brandon was completely absent the entire time. I really do like this tribe, and I think that Brandon going home should unify us. Sorry, Brandon :(

#fatdipofthatguac

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