A little drabble for Night for @ultimategirldad ! It's another little experiment with style, kind of addressing Milgram as a whole rather than a single prisoner moment.
Milgram prison contains no windows and no doors. There are no vents, either, and the walls are too thick to hear anything from the outside. Hours, days, and seasons all look alike. Its occupants found that the best way to distinguish the time of day is to listen.
During its first trial, the prison was rowdy with chatter all day, only to settle into peaceful silence each night. During its second trial, things have reversed. The days are full of hushed voices and silent, suspicious glares. And at night, the panopticon comes alive with noise.
There is the underlying chaos from cell 009, as furniture goes flying and muffled screams vibrate through the walls.
A sudden cry may come from cell 003 or 006, as injuries are agitated in sleep.
From any of the cells, one may hear gentle sniffling for hours on end, whispering about could have been’s and days long gone.
From even the most unexpected rooms, there have been bouts of unrestrained sobs before quickly falling silent once more.
Any of the cells could burst with the gasping shock of awakening from a nightmare, though some are better hidden than others.
It may not sound through the room itself, but there was another noise that haunted the panopticon. Hundreds of voices, constantly speaking over one another, drive the prisoners to near madness all night long.
Not all noises are so bad, though.
Sentimental calls are exchanged between cell 001 and 004. Even when they receive a scolding from in between, it's always half-hearted.
Particularly dull days could end with games shouted through the room, or music harmonized among the cells.
The darkness made it easier to bear oneself to others, and secrets are often passed through the bars with newfound trust.
When cell 003 or 007 erupted with snoring, it could cause ripples of giggling to the neighboring area. 002 had the highest record of uncontrollable laughter late into the night.
And on some rare occasions, when the outward and inward voices calmed, and the whole place was nearly silent, the prisoners can strain their ears to just make out what was coming from the guard’s chambers at the end of the hall: the melody of strange songs that leave them with nameless emotions for the rest of the night.
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Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Tron - All Media Types, Tron (Movies)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tron (Tron)/Original Character(s), Rinzler (Tron)/Original Character(s)
Characters: Tron (Tron), Rinzler (Tron), Original Programs (Tron), Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s) of Color
Additional Tags: i dont have a good excuse for this it just sort of happened, Romance, Eventual Smut, probably? idk i just work here but i might chicken out, what even are programs and how do their bodies work? idk maybe we'll find out, Canon-Typical Violence, starts off between movies and through Legacy, Sea of Simulation (Tron), it's kind of a character here honestly but whatever. it's complicated., Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Summary:
The Grid gave form to the Sea of Simulation, and the Sea loved the Grid. And so the Sea made what it could, and gave these to the Grid out of love. But the ISOs were not the first gifts it made--first, there must be a prototype. A fraction of the Sea itself. A vanguard, to walk upon the Grid and see what gifts would be worth giving. An Oracle, to speak for the Sea, and to tell It all it had seen.
And then, one day, Tron found the Oracle. Or, more accurately, she found him.
The Sea loved the Grid, and Tron lived to save the Grid, and so the Sea loved Tron. And the Oracle...would never be the same.
Alright, so, recently I had a spontaneous urge to revisit Tron: Legacy, and man, that movie really is somethin’ else. Really impressed by how well it holds up; all the things that annoyed me about it when it first came out were still annoying, but all the things I loved are still so spectacular. And because I am the person I am, of course I still had an old, unfinished fanfic for it that I dug up outta the archives. We certainly don’t need to go into a discussion about the quality or lack thereof of my writing skills 14 years ago, but it seems that Tron and Rinzler and my OC Delphi really had been living in my head rent-free all this time, and damn were they ready to be let out.
So here’s...this. Somehow I managed to write 5k+ words in the past week for these kids, which is practically unheard of for me. And I don’t think these muses are gonna let me stop anytime soon, so hopefully there will be more to come. I know I say this every time, but I genuinely think this is some of my finest writing, and I’m really pleased with it if a little baffled about where it all came from. I hope you like it, too. Thanks so much for reading <3
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try one more time, a hundred times / all i remember is your face ...
Ace didn’t mean to fall asleep in the library, but between the sticky summer heat and the silent noise of rustling pages—really, between the ceaseless boredom and research for their summer homework—it was hard not to. He’s woken up all too early, though, by the sound of someone talking to him.
“—ce. Ace?” calls Deuce, shaking his shoulder.
I’ll be glad to go home for summer break so I can nap in peace, Ace thinks, but it’s gonna be weird without Deuce and Y—...
He stops for a moment, groggily lifts his head to look around the table he was seated at, and then realizes that person isn’t here. The person who would usually wake him up… isn’t here.
“Where’s the TA?”
Deuce looks confused, so Ace elaborates, “You know…” He finds himself blanking on that person’s name, much to his own horror. “...Crewel’s TA?”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” says Deuce plainly, frowning a little. “Even I know there’s no TAs on campus. Are you still half-asleep?”
“No, I swear I remember—there was this guy, all year he—” Ace cuts himself off, his memories slipping from his grasp. “I… Why can’t I remember?”
He gets a slightly sympathetic look for his troubles. “It was probably just a dream,” Deuce assures him. “Now hurry up. Housewarden Rosehearts wanted us back at the dorm by 4, and honor students aren’t late!”
Ace hesitates. “Yeah… Sure, whatever,” he concedes, although there’s a nagging feeling in his gut. Uneasy, he grabs his books and looks at the exit. “Let’s go.”
~
i had this idea last night and finally wrote a little snippet for it ...
it probably won't go anywhere, but i love mysteries where you and the protagonist know something is off from the start in a world where everything is picture-perfect and no one else acknowledges the strangeness, but the problem is finding out what the truth is. and unfortunately that's what i've decided to inflict upon ace
looks like everyone's memories of the TA and his effect on the various overblot incidents have been erased... sorry, ace, but even if you're the only one who consciously remembers his existence, you're gonna have to cling to those memories like your life depends on it~
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