Each string was a life, each strand sectioning off into a what if, a splitting cable that led to endless possibilities.
Different lives in different worlds.
Better lives in better worlds.
The Way Time Twists (AO3)
Chapter 18: Kid
The strings pull. The strings snag.
The sun warmed her closed eyelids, tinting everything in a hazy, muted glow. She could hear the faint squalls of seagulls, the distant chatter of voices she didn’t recognize, and the waves crashing into the sea from what felt like a hundred miles away. Save for the smell of metal, faint underneath the sea salt in the air and the terrible rot wafting out from the dumpsters, everything was fine.
She blinked open her eyes, slowly sitting up and taking in her surroundings. She recognized it. All of it. It was Mafia Town.
It was... Mafia Town?
But you’ve never been here before- a thought, murmured by an uncomfortably familiar voice, wormed its way into the forefront of her mind, unbidden. This is your first time away from home.
Chapter 19: The Way Time Twists
Kid's memories blur and blend together, but they're not just hers this time. (But they are, aren't they?)
Art by @nakakabaliw.
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@mintso / @milliin
Happy @d20exchange! Here is the second gift. I ended up creating an interview type series where the interviewer has to interview The Bad Kids. For your gift though, I just wrote for Adaine and Riz as they were listed as your favourites!
I definitely wanted to go for a different approach for a character focus, hopefully you like it! Please read the whole article under the read more.
Gift One | Adaine Abernant | Gift Three
Interview with: Adaine Abernant
Written by Apricotflyer
It sometimes takes a while to track down the students we interview, and none are more elusive than the Oracle herself. She has been declining our invitations, but there is a deadline to meet and having 5 out of 6 interviews from an Adventuring Party isn't great on my record either. So on the day my photographer calls, I'm running. She's in the library.
A library isn't the ideal place for a tell-all chat, but as a journalist, I know how to adapt to any environment. Running in - out of breath - I spot her as our faithful photographer corners the elf. Her skin is dark, tight curls of pale blonde hair framing her face. Blue eyes glare behind round glasses. She knows it is too late to escape.
Adaine Abernant is The Oracle, and a member of the well-known adventuring party The Bad Kids. She also studies as a divination wizard. Over the past two years, her adventuring party has been on two massive adventures that have saved the world. And she's been experiencing a lot of personal growth too, which it excited me to ask about.
Hello Oracle, it's an honor to finally interview you.
Adaine: It's Adaine. And I never agreed to this. It must be a breach of something.
Principal Aguefort encourages freedom of speech, actually.
Adaine: That means I'm free to not continue this interview then. Goodbye.
Wait, wait, wait! You can't leave.
Adaine: Are you serious?
Just answer the questions and then it will be over. What is it like being with the Bad Kids?
Adaine: Fine. They're my friends, maybe a bit chaotic, but I enjoy hanging out with them.
Well, that's boring. Can't you give us some gossip? We've heard about your difficult relationship with your sister, and that she was part of the first plot to take over the world. How did it feel to find that out? Have you reconciled with her?
Adaine: What's with the shift in tone? I thought this was about my adventuring party, not my personal life.
You're seriously going to avoid the question again?
Adaine: We're on better terms. There, I’ve answered your question. Can I go now?
Not yet. I've only asked two questions. Can you tell us more about your parents and what happened in the Nightmare forest with them?
Adaine: Stop asking personal questions!
The librarian: Shhhhhh.
Adaine: Ah, sorry. Please stop asking me. I'm trying to be polite, but being confronted with these questions is an invasion of my privacy. It's very overwhelming.
I only have more personal questions left, and knowing that my editor shakes their head and mouths at me to change the subject. So I do.
Can you show us your emotional support frog then?
Adaine immediately brightens up, and we spend the rest of our free spell in the library cooing at a little frog wearing a little backpack.
And that's all from me, fellow students. Until next time!
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god i wish i wouldn't have to explain the intricacies of the neopets economy to you guys to give the full context for this but. the new neopets team that took over from jumpstart pledged that they were going to curb the inflation of rare items, which is great because a lot of rare items are worth literally hundreds of millions of neopoints, they are unbuyable unless you've been playing actively for 20 years. they did this earlier with a site festival that included random loot boxes, some of which had Unbelievably Fucking Rare And Precious items worth 200 million neopoints apiece.
well.
today they have gone a step further. by releasing this year's trick-or-treat bags. and having the trick-or-treat bags be stuffed to the brim with unbelievably fucking rare stamps, weapons, paint brushes, defense magic, and other unbuyables. (all prohibitively expensive and in-high-demand types of items.)
jellyneo, the premier neopets website, has recorded prices of some items plummeting from 2,000,000 neopoints to 4,000 neopoints IN THE LAST THREE HOURS. this is when most people haven't even heard about the event or OPENED THEIR BAGS YET.
and of course. cherry on top. 20-year-old account holders are crytyping on the site events neoboard about how mean and cruel it is to make rare stamps part of the prize pool, because their entire identity hinges on being part of the neopian bourgeoisie, and they are having MELTDOWNS over their assets being devalued until they're part of the lowly proletariat.
this is a children's game for children btw.
none of the money is real.
i'm having such a good time.
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