#nt journal

[formulapookie]

AMO ENTP SLAY, io ho avuto la mia fase pazza con l’mbti ma anyway noi NTs siamo clearly i migliori oui

amo io in seconda superiore VIVEVO per gli MBTI, avevo fatto fare il test a tutti, mi mettevo li a cercare chi avesse lo stesso MBTI di quale personaggio anime/marvel impazzivo letteralmente

(tra l’altro io stesso MBTI di Deadpool)

si clearly NTs superiority sempre

[charlyritter]

Challenge: watch anything about the WC 2014 without crying

Runtime: 10 years

Results: still failing

[freebooter4ever]

lol its my friends birthday and i stumbled across this photo from work during our halloween party of me clutching carlo's light saber like its a lifeline, can you tell i absolutely dont want to be there?

[yellowsubiesdance]

so my friend was driving around running errands w me in the car, and he drives stick shift. and i noticed he would wiggle the stick every time he stopped. so i finally asked him what it was, and after he told me about it, he was like “how did you notice that?? that is such a small movement, you Are autistic,” and i laughed so hard for like a solid minute, i cannot stop thinking about it

[stormears]

December Art Dreams

Three years in a row now, December has been the month I start having artistic aspirations beyond my skill or practice level. I watch YT vids of people's fantastic, full sketchbooks of pencil/pen drawings, alcohol markers and gouache and think...I wanna do that...damn...

I DO have two sketchbooks that I use now and again but the stuff I draw isn't like, good at all. It's even worse than my journaling/bujo "designs" lmao. And yet I occasionally have these delusions of art grandeur, of having a sketchbook I could proudly show off to people...dragons and landscapes and beautiful skies and interiors and buildings, moonlit mountains and powerful figures and scenes from my fanfics pfffffft

But yeah too-ambitious compositions for someone who struggles to draw realistic grass and is pretty terrible at human faces/figures.

It's not that I'm putting in zero effort, but still not nearly enough. There's often weeks, sometimes months between my sketchbook drawings (I date them) and like. I don't really see a notable improvement. But I can see/remember places where I sort of scraped the edge of understanding on making a good line, a good shape. It's so hard to grasp.

But once again, I want to try harder at it. Once again I'll give myself an injection of drawing effort to close out December. Also trying to finish 1 more fanfic chapter before EOY.

[madelynpryor]

chat what do you do when you randomly change your mind on where you wanna go to college and what you want to major in on a random wednesday after being certain you wanted to do something else for like 2 years

[tenth-sentence]

"The country is not fertile, is poorly stocked with game, and the whites have taken possession of all the main watercourses," reported The Queenslander.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[pedriscroquettes]

i want to know who the new la liga youngster is can we have a hint😭

🇹🇷 .

[alexthebordercollie]

Ford's autism

K so I don't think I need to defend the interpretation Ford is on the spectrum. People make jokes about him being autistic all the time. We all see it. What I want to do here is sort of connect together some character details and examine them through the lense of my own autistic experiences.

I wanna start with his hands. It's an observation I've seen from multiple people that Ford is insecure about his hands and often hides them behind his back or in his pockets. And yeah, he is obviously insecure about them. He even mentions his six fingers at times when they aren't really relevant to anything. It just showcases the space this physical deviation of his takes up in his mind. And yes, it makes sense that he's insecure about them because he was bullied for them growing up. I want to add to this observation.

Ford would have been bullied regardless.

The problem was never really his hands. When you're on the spectrum people around you can tell that you're weird. Uncanny. Something is different and feels wrong about you to NT people, especially kids. They will pick any shallow superficial thing they can find as an excuse to bully you and justify the sense of revulsion they feel around you but can't articulate. If Ford had been born with normal hands they just would have made fun of him for something else, it would have been his glasses, or the movies he liked, or hell maybe some good old-fashioned antisemitism. Literally, any excuse they could find.

I know growing up I tried for years to change the things about me that I was made fun of for and it never made things any better. The bullying never stopped. "Fixing" things about myself didn't work because the thing that was actually "broken" was something fundamental to who I am. That realization as a kid was soul-crushing. That there was nothing I could do that would ever make me "normal", that would ever make people like me. I felt like an alien born on the wrong planet.

Ford continues to latch onto his hands as a sore spot because they're something simple and obvious he can point to as an excuse for why he's so outcast. He probably knows by this point that the hands aren't actually the problem. I'd argue this journal entry and his comment about "another failed social interaction" shows that he's aware his hands aren't actually the problem. But, it is a lot easier to fixate on those than to dwell directly on that sinking feeling that at the core of you're being you are fundamentally weird, wrong, unlovable. Ford's a genius. If his polydactyly bothered him that much he could have removed the extra digits. The hands aren't the problem, they're a symbol of a more fundamental kind of pain.

Looking at it through this context also makes the gloves Fiddleford gives him an extra sweet gift given what they represent. A kind of wholehearted acceptance of who Ford is and even a willingness to adapt to his unique needs just to show him love and affection. I think something that hurts me so much about their relationship is that Ford had someone who very clearly loved him as is and would have never wanted him to be someone or something else, and Ford was too stubborn to fully appreciate that.

The same is true of Stanely by the by. He never had a problem with his brother being weird. Another relationship with someone who loved Ford as is but who Ford took for granted. He needs these kinds of relationships in his life. People who embrace and accept him for the weirdo he is. He needs them desperately, which gets me to my next point.

Ford's ego. So it's also a common observation that Ford has a massive ego. He's kind of an ass, to put it mildly. But I have had someone in conversation frame it like the pressure to prove themselves was just on Stanley and Ford just spent his whole life being hyped up and told he was hot shit. This isn't true, or at least it's a flattening of his experiences.

Ford was praised for his genius. This is true. But his own father only gave a shit when said genius showed signs of netting material gains for the family. It only mattered cause Ford could be useful. Furthermore, this genius never netted him social acceptance from his peers growing up. He was still a bullied, weirdo, loser most of his childhood. Add that seeing Stanley kicked out would have drilled into Ford's head that if he couldn't make something out of himself his family wouldn't want him either. Stan was an unspoken threat of what this family does to failures.

Gonna bring up my own personal experiences again. Having set the stage for how it feels growing up on the spectrum. That feeling of alienness that you can't really explain. I loved to write and draw from a very young age. Moreover, as I got older I realized that when I drew, people were nice to me. The only time I got social acceptance was when people were admiring or praising me for my art. So I did it more and more, I devoted myself feverishly to my art. I loved it anyway and would have hyper-fixated on it regardless but the positive reinforcement turned art from something I loved to a need. I NEEDED to be an artist. I needed to be the best at my school. I needed all eyes on my work because it was the only way I could make friends. The only way I could prove that I had value. That I deserved a place in society.

I see that in Ford. I see his ego not as shallow narcissism but as an overwhelming need to prove his value as a person. To be loved and accepted and believing that no one will want him if he isn't brilliant. If he doesn't change the world. If he isn't useful. This is also why he couldn't bring himself to destroy his research even knowing it was the safest and most responsible option. Burning down everything he worked for would mean finally giving up on the fantasy of ever being accepted or valuable.

The sad thing is he's so single-mindedly fixated on this personal goal of proving his worth to the world that when people do come along that love him unconditionally he takes them for granted. These people are statistical anomalies in his life. Nice to have around, but not enough to fix the bigger problem. They aren't reflective of society at large. They aren't enough to prove that he, personally, is loveable. Just that on occasion he meets another weirdo. For a while it's nice. Like a campfire in a barren tundra. But he has to keep moving, he can't stay. Warmer lands are ahead if he can just get to them. If he can just keep moving.

This also is why Ford was so susceptible to Bill. Bill told Ford what he wanted to hear. That he was destined for greatness. That, the fundamental wrongness he felt all his life was something incredible other people just couldn't see. Bill promised Ford exactly what he wanted, but not what he actually needed. Ford never needed the world at large to accept him. He just needed a few good people.

I also think his chemistry with Bill was connected to his autistic experiences as well. Bill is literally an alien. There's no pressure to mask around him. To try and "act normal". Ford can just be himself with Bill and not have to think about it. And sure, he could be himself around Fiddleford, but Fidds is still human. The anxieties of human social expectations are still present. Like when Fidds get him a gift for the holidays and Ford feels a bit guilty that it didn't even occur to him to do the same. He doesn't have to think about these social nuances with Bill.

That said I'm sure Bill isn't what his world would have considered neurotypical anyway. Not that Ford would know that. But Bill was also a strange freak in his own society. Just as outcast, possibly more so. I think Bill sees a bit of his own experiences reflected in Ford. I think he relates to him on a level. Not that he would ever admit it outright due to his own ego. I think Bill's fixation on him after the breakup also stems from Ford rejecting the path that Bill chose for himself. Bill still lives with some sort of deeply repressed guilt for what he did. Imagine how validating it would have been to see someone else like him burn their own world to the ground for the same reasons Bill did. But no, Ford's a better man than him, and Bill can't stand it.

Ok, I don't know how to end this long-ass monologue so I'm gonna call it here I guess. I just wanted to spill some thoughts of mine about Ford as a character. If anyone else wants to add to this with other examinations of Ford's character through this lense go right ahead. I'm just saying as an autistic person myself I understand every choice Ford made. I could relate to why he did the things he did even if I know those were mistakes and even acknowledging that he's kind of an asshole. Ford is a strange man who makes an eerie amount of sense to me.

[theendorisit]

magnus protocol season 1 part 1 praise and credits

all right my lovelies, we are at our Magnus protocol hiatus and you know what that means?

Credit where credit is due, we do not get wonderful stories without wonderful storytellers, and storytellers don’t get to tell stories without the people working tirelessly to bring the story to the audience. So thanks to everyone at Rusty Quill who makes these stories possible! I also want to shout praises to our part 1 guest writers: Graeme Patrick, Cole Weavers, Jamie Petronis, Shaun Pellington. Stellar work everyone!

All credits and my thoughts on each episode are below, so SPOILERSSSSSSSSS, you have been warned.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 1 – First Shift

CAT1RBC5257-12052022-09012024 Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email] CAT23RAB2155-10042022-09012024 Transformation (eyes) -/- Trespass [chat log]

Written by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: stunner of a first episode, juggling meeting literally everyone and setting up the huge diversity of case styles we will be seeing. Also shout out to Alex for making sure we got such a banger of a line: ‘Canaries should stay above ground’.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 2 – Making Adjustments

CAT3RBC1567-23092022-18012024 Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Editing by Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: Like walking down a stone spiral staircase, you never know what the next thing is going to be (but you know it'll be dark and make your stomach drop a little). Enjoying the twist on accurate CS terminology (yes, contractors ARE called Externals).

The Magnus Protocol Episode 3 – Putting Down Roots

CAT2C8175-03042009-22012024 Infection (full body) -/- arboreal [journal entry]

Written by Graeme Patrick (for more of his work visit https://www.aintslayednobody.com)

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: absolutely now a fan favourite, compelling gruesome body horror, with an intriguing backstory. The slow unravelling of a mind. Brings to mind horrors like Kafka's The Metamorphosis and the film The Ruins (not because they are similar stories necessarily, but, well, vibes). Definitely need more Graeme Patrick in my life!

The Magnus Protocol Episode 4 – Taking Notes

CAT3C7494-19111831-29012024 Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]

Written by Cole Weavers (for more of his work visit https://www.thetownwhispers.com)

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: A curious tale, that gets more curious in the re-hearing. Sure, an instrument plays the player. But how was the teacher driven wild BEFORE the pupil got the special violin? Maybe the chaos was from him, and the violin was a conduit? Got to hear more Cole stories! Dear grandpa Augustus does always tell such lovely stories, if Tim Fearon can narrate my life, that would be great thx. Also - need a promotion? get your windows NT to tattle on your boss! Lena giving Gertrude vibes with the killing-my-assistants theme.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 5 – Personal Screening

CAT2RB2377-10012023-05022024 Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [internet blog]

Written by Alexander J Newall and Jamie Petronis (for more of his work visit https://www.thecellarletters.com/)

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall.

Thoughts: I really love this one, it is such a brilliant thrilling story that genuinely has me shouting 'WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED? I need more details!!' - which is a hallmark of all good mysteries honestly. Will be on the hunt for more Jamie stories.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 6– Introductions

CAT1RB4824-09022024-12022024 Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call]

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: Needles is a lame tryhard. I love him. Also Alice referring to Lena as 'Big Bird' is hilarious. Also, yay, Celia!

The Magnus Protocol Episode 7 – Give and Take

CAT2RC3338-03022016-12022024 Agglomeration (miscellany) -/- congregation [email]

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: I really hope that Mr Clayton turns up again. As the remains of a crime scene. Also, worldbuilding: hello Oxford. hello people in what is essentially an antique shop repeating the same phrases. Getting déjà vu. And Gwen, you know the Civil Service is really easy to move around, right? You can get a secondment, a loan, a transfer, there's internal job adverts... are you sure you want a promotion?

The Magnus Protocol Episode 8 – Running on Empty

CAT2RBC3366-12072023-28022024 Architecture (liminal) -/-hunger [coursework]

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: I feel like I just experienced a TMA/Backrooms crossover and I can dig it. Interesting repetition of ... repetition as a theme ('people' repeating phrases over and over). I like this one a lot, I feel that it communicates a great deal about the way this universe (or at least, its spooky experiences) works. Also, I really really hope Gee Gee is a villain in this story, just so Sue Sims can be the tiny cackling witch she was destined to be.

Interestingly, the official transcript has the name Hostile Workplace - an early title perhaps?

The Magnus Protocol Episode 9 – Rolling With It

CAT3RB3354-14101998-08032024 Dice (bone) -/- fate [Magnus Statement]

Written by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: This is a fun one, and does put an interesting twist on the idea of owning an artefact, that one could compel others to take the negative consequences. Can't decide if the ending (oh one last time) is too predictable - but definitely immensely satisfying. Also, I'm not sure if the truck/diner death is a direct reference to a final destination movie ending, but I noticed some similarities.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 10 – Saturday Night

CAT1RB2275-06082021-09032024 Mascot (kids) -/- murder [TV interview]

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Edited with additional material by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: appropriately named! The sound design for this episode gives me intensely-visual mental images of the TV interview, and I really want a YouTube video unpacking the Bonzo Butcher and his crimes, timelines, arrest, everything.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 11 – Marked

CAT23RC5246-06012020-11032024 Tattoo (corpse) -/- compulsion [email exchange]

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Edited with additional material by Alexander J Newall  

Thoughts: Shirley Jackson Susan Hill called, she wants to know when she can have her haunted typewriter back.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 12 – Getting Off

CAT1RB4728-09032024-13032024 Mascot (kids) -/- frenzy [insurance claim]

Written by Alexander J Newall 

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims  

Thoughts: Possibly my favourite so far. Alex is bringing the gory horror and it's perfect. Excellent descriptive storytelling - opening a guy's head like a book is a visual I did not know I needed.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 13 – Futures

CAT3RB4622-17092023-14032024 Gambling (application) -/- murder [voicemail]

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: Can someone get Alex in as a writer for Black Mirror? The series might actually get good as a result. Also can someone start a series tally for died in a hospital bed due to wickedly cool sound design? Thanks. Death by personal adjustment is giving TMA season 5 Mortal Garden vibes.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 14 – Pet Project

CAT1RB4426-01081995-15032024 Transformation (snake) -/-horde

Written by Shaun Pellington (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14461505/)

Script Edited with additional material by Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: Sometimes well-written characters come and punch you in the gut. Character writing isn't always prioritised in horror, as the characters can just be the vehicle through which horror happens. But the transition from report to last message to dad really hit hard, and the story was creepy af. Shaun writes podcasts and voice acts, so check out his stuff.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 15 – Well Run

CAT1RB-6451-22062023-22032024 Hunt (aristocratic) -/- compulsion

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

 Thoughts: the real horror is being forced to be the monster. Yet you had a choice, you chose the monster, before anyone else could. I will always praise the sound team, though it is amazing how a shot through a window also kinda sounds like a brick wall falling down. I enjoyed Alice's run-in with the drowned woman, great writing, sound design and authentically chaotic. Also, let us all simp for Lady Mowbray, purely because it disgusts Jonny.

The official transcript also has an alternate name Good Show

I know exactly what Jonny means about disgust for the aristocracy, but his reaction is too funny to not do it.

PSA - nellie the elephant was dropped as a CPR technique bc you need to depress a chest by 2 inches to pump someone's heart, and compressions were too shallow when people used that song. Another One Bites The Dust and Stayin' Alive are better rhythms to use.

 The Magnus Protocol Episode 16 – Anti-social

CAT1RB1565-30102023-25032024 Tattoo(influencer)-/- Cardiac

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: I genuinely really like this case and the character. Sure, cringy, but she's young, overexcited, and wants attention, like every other human being on the planet. I think she's quite a compelling character to follow, as she trips headlong into abject misery. Spectacular sound design on the death scene.

Also, a lot of people were complaining about the slang, but given the load of cringy slang that the fandom made the cast read out: this episode was 100% deserved. You want them to call their characters dummy thicc? You made your cringy slang bed, now lie in it (I say with love, affection, and sarcasm).

I am aware part of the complaints were that non-AAVE characters were using AAVE - but unfortunately, that is how real life, and real slang use, works. For example, the word 'cool' meaning good, has been around since the 1930's, and originated from Black Americans in the Jazz scene. Now, everyone uses it. I can't comment on whether this is good or right (and I don't think the show does either), only that the show's use/misuse of slang is accurate to real life.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 17 – Saved Copy

CAT2RC1147-30111997-04042024 Doppleganger (interdimensional) -/- murder

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: Alex and Jonny are very good at twisting existing formats. Evil Twin/Doppleganger? Oh he'll want to kill you, replace you, drain your life, steal your existen- oh he wants a friend to play in his murder dungeon? That's new! Also, the receptionist and orchid-pervert - stop being a tease Alex!

The Magnus Protocol Episode 18 – Solo Work

CAT1RC2374-20032024-10042024 Memory (derelict) -/- compulsion

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: How can a body speak without lungs? Autopsy reports are some of my favourite horror (see The Mortuary Assistant game and the autopsy of Jane Doe film). A house full of fog and forgotten poems.

Also, I got the credit details from the official transcript, so I'm not sure if Jonny writing and editing his own script is an error or deliberate, but it is kind of funny on an episode called 'Solo Work'.

Everyone complains about the AQA Anthology (2004) we had to read for English GCSE, but I loved it intensely.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 19 – Hard Reset

CAT13RBC1137-21031684-11042024 Transformation (canine) -/- growth (Crystalline)

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Edited with additional material by Jonathan Sims

Thoughts: Alex writes the word 'Christendom' in a story and is immensely happy about it. I get the deep suspicion that Alex and Jonny have 'Edward-Kun'-ed the boys into a horrific electronic chimera a la Full Metal Alchemist. Excellent world-building. Wonder if the 'Protocol' is going to be 'yeah, we find people acting sus, and we teach them what the second part of 'fuck around and find out' actually entails'. Also COLIN ISN'T DEAD YET. YAYYYYY.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 20 – Social Stigma

CAT1RAB2534-12042024-12042024 Transformation (tattoo) -/- Social Media (influencer)

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Edited with additional material by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: Talking to a supernatural person... in person. I love it. Interesting dialogue on parasocial relationships and Gwen trying and failing to be an authority figure is hilarious (I am very similar!). Gwen's playlist is just RESPECT covered by Aretha Franklin on repeat. She can't get no respect ever.

Created by Jonathan Sims (@jonnywaistcoat)  and Alexander J Newall (@rqbossman) Directed by Alexander J Newall  Executive Producers April Sumner, Alexander J Newall, Jonathan Sims, Dani McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha F.G. Hamilton Associate Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius d’Raven, and Megan Nice Produced by April Sumner    Featuring (in order of appearance) Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer

Kazeem Tosin Amore as Teddy Vaughn Anusia Battersby as Gwendolyn Bouchard (@anouchard) Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelley Alexander J Newall as Norris Jonathan Sims as Chester Kate Sketchley as Daria Jenny Haufek as Therapist

Tim Fearon as Augustus Paul Schmidt as Klaus

Hattie Quinlan as Operator 1 Harry Roebuck as Needles Tom Park as Operator 2 Joe Bence as Police Operator Lowri Ann Davies as Celia Ripley

Jon Gracey as Gerry Keay Sue Sims as Gertrude Robinson

Catherine Luff as Geraldine Hardy Steve Newman as Nigel Dickerson

Uncredited as Mr. Bonzo Beth Eyre as [Error]

Zena Carswell as Answerphone Euan Shedden as DarrienEp

Jesse Hawke as Voicemail Danny Scarre as Caterer Ellie Dickens as Lady Mowbray Yanick Ghanty as Luke Dyer Lara Sawalha as Drowning Victim

Vera Chok as Ink5oul Ki Griffin as Madam E

Sasha Sienna as Georgie Barker (@sashasienna)

----

Dialogue Editor – Lowri Ann Davies Sound Designers – Tessa Vroom, Katharine Seaton, Meg McKellar, Mastering Editor - Catherine Rinella

Music by Sam Jones (orchestral mixes by Jake Jackson) Art by April Sumner  ��� Fabulous work everyone! Can't wait for the next part!

Official transcripts:

[theatrum-tenebrarum]

I wanted to present you with my magickal, astronomical and folkloric commonplace notebook for 2024, which is going to be 'La Soleil' bullet journal, by Notebook Therapy! ☀️🔮

I was torn between 'La Soleil' and La Luna, the one with the black cover, but ultimately decided to go with the Sun one as I already have a black journal from NT (Moonlit Spell one), and as the Sun symbol is better suited as an expression of what I am after in my life and in my spirituality. This journal has a 2024 Moon phases calendar, which is very useful. It looks very luxurious and I feel like a Master Alchemist while jotting down the things I research and the things I will be referring back to 😁

[formulapookie]

Pitching my vision: documentario sogno azzurro come agli ultimi europei ma 90% delle riprese sono gli scamattesi che chiavano duro

il restante 10 sono barella e bastoni che si appartano in angolini dell’hotel e Spalletti che piange perché dove si gira si gira c’è frociaggine

però si pagherei io per produrlo e distribuirlo su RaiPlay nell’orario in cui Pillon e Vannacci guardano la tv

[nalyra-dreaming]

As a big fan of Daniel I’ve mixed feelings about the finale. Absolutely it was fun to see Daniel serve c*nt, loved his glasses and leather jacket. Very fun - I also feel his very energetic vibe definitely affirms that journalism/writing/publishing books that have an impact is his drug (as a certain maker affirmed earlier). But, where is his story going to go now???

Like I feel SO cheated at not only not seeing him being turned, but not seeing him having to adjust at all or struggle/cope with being a vampire? Time skips freaking sucks. Like that is a big change, and I wouldn’t expect them to do it in as much detail as Louis (good TV writers wouldn’t repeat themselves like that, and it wouldn’t be good writing) but I expected something? Like I already was feeling a bit annoyed at how Daniel’s trauma in San Francisco basically just become all about Louis’ and Armand’s dynamic. I didn’t expect DM to happen there (and I loved the episode) but I thought the emotional fallout would be bigger. Like Daniel gets half-a-scene(!) of being upset and devastated, and then the writers very transparently just uses this to make Daniel aggressively suspicious of Armand and as a way to foreshadow the level of Armand’s deception. Like Daniel was obviously angry, but even that was basically only shown as it was useful. I hate when plot is done at the expense of character. Of course when plot and character go hand in hand that is the best, but this wasn’t it?! Like if Rollins meant that Daniel was one of the two who needed the second interview to happen it barely makes sense. There’s only closure in the most shallow sense that Daniel got to find out that he was traumatized and that this did have a negative impact on his life (by an event he couldn’t consciously remember but feel). I presume that is what Rollins meant? It feels really(!) underwritten. Nothing wrong with the idea, but again basically just stated in explanatory dialogue about his exes and kids. Happy to hear a better take on this if anyone has one though? I want to be convinced to be more positive! Of course Daniel isn’t the main character, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that he’s still treated as a three dimensional character.

I don’t know, I just feel upset now at the thought that Daniel’s mainly been turned at this point to become a vampire-chronicler for plot reasons… Like if DM had happened I would expect them to leave us a substantial hint. I’m freaking begging any higher power that Armand’s revulsion at creating a fledgling means something (and is not a red herring like the “you should fear the other one”). And that we’ll revisit it. But I just don’t have faith anymore… Praying that I’m wrong, but if Daniel spends the next season as only a narrative device I’m out (I don’t mind him being a narrative device if he also gets to be a character outside of that - to be clear). Waiting four years for any kind of plot to be resolved after it’s been introduced is too long frankly….(if they aren’t addressing this until season 4). So if we aren’t finding out about the turning or worse - there’s nothing more to it and we’ll get an independent DM plot which begins in pure spite then, I’m freaking sad!

I’m really sorry for the downer post, I just feel I needed to express some of my worries and frustration. Would love to hear what you think, as I’ve often found some comfort reading your blog <3 A more positive take is warmly welcomed! There’s a lot to like about this season, but I just feel a bit lost now… I just wish there was something substantial to hang on to (and the Alice stuff ain’t it)

He is not only turned to be the chronicler. Reread the interviews with Eric re Raglan James, too 😈

There will be a LOT going on. And I just shared the link to the ATx festival, where they also talked DM. Might be worth a watch?^^

It‘ll be alright. I would bet real money on it. They just do it their way.

[ghostmath]

actually you know what i’m going to start putting it here. if all i’m writing right now is neopets fanfic then that’s simply what all of you are going to have to see. or scroll past, according to your desire. anyway here’s my two-chapter short story (novelette??) about the aging Internet, the struggle to find a place for yourself in the grown-up world, and how nothing lasts forever, especially the things that felt like they would when you were a kid. It’s also about ghosts. obviously

MOVING PARTS: Part One

(Part Two here)

GIVING UP THE GHOST

Neopian Adventurers Must Adapt to Changing Times or Be Buried With History

by Corey Copperbottom, Neopian Times correspondent

NEOPIA CENTRAL — A long, long time ago, an especially unusual Neopian Times article was penned by an especially unusual predecessor of mine, one Tanya Deanyn. Justifiably regarded as something of a sensationalist in her day, Deanyn had made it her mission to scout the next big adventure hero (bear in mind, this was before the discovery of several now well-trodden locales such as Geraptiku and Moltara, and certainly before the well-publicized budget cuts earlier this year forced the Defenders of Neopia to shutter its doors) and subsequently use the platform afforded to her by the Neopian Times to skyrocket her champion (and presumably herself as well) to fame and glory. Why she picked a scrawny, ghost-hunting teenaged Shoyru—barely out of high school and with all the charisma of an Almost Gummy Rat (Grape)—remains a mystery to this day. And as it’s now been several years since anyone at NT Headquarters last heard a peep from Ms. Deanyn, it seems doubtful anyone will be solving that particular mystery soon, if ever.

But mystery was an inescapable part of life back then. Deanyn’s “Ghostchaser” stories—pulpy tales precipitated from the chemical reaction between a quirky ghost-hunting youth and a mediocre writer with ambition so inexhaustible and gloriously out of proportion with the scope of her work that it frequently approached megalomania—passed for journalism because they were exactly what the average Neopian wanted to read with their morning cup of joe. In that changing world, where the unexpected lurked around every corner, people wanted to know that there was someone out there keeping them safe. Tanya Deanyn’s work was moderately popular. For a while, Kiyoshi Paco, Deanyn’s eponymous “Ghostchaser”, became a household name.

Then the market crashed.

Almost overnight, the jobs dried up. Danger and mystery are expensive, and citizens learned to be safe, rather than sorry. Suspected pirate hideouts were demolished, city walls got taller. Royal mages were called in to cast anti-ghost charms around settlements prone to haunting. Adventurers like Paco, who had until that point put food on their tables largely through charitable donations and the goodwill of those ordinary Neopians they ostensibly served to protect, found themselves in the difficult position of needing neopoints to survive but being incapable of earning them. Before young Paco fell off the map, records show he was making minimum wage as a clerk at the Guild of Explorers headquarters here in Neopia Central. What became of him after his scant five months of employment there came to an abrupt end is unknown, because he never again achieved anything worth reporting.

And he’s certainly not the only would-be hero to suffer this ignoble decline in relevancy. Around the globe, that old image of the classic adventurer—his grin roguish and his collar popped as he fearlessly charts a course through the unknown—has faded from the minds of modern Neopians. The current generation is more likely to know Jake the Explorer from a cereal box than they are to recall the legendary jungle adventures that made him the early face of the Guild of Explorers in the first place. For what is there left unknown that’s even worth knowing? Does the discovery of the tomb of some long-dead king in the Lost Desert help me run my tax-filing business in Shenkuu? Will the temporary banishment of a ghost from a house in Neovia lower my rent in Neopia Central?

As a society we have well and truly moved beyond the childish need for adventurers to come and save us, and it’s high time we admit that—lest we fall victim all over again to some opportunistic new “reporter” who’s just a couple coconuts shy of a coconut shy.

After all, everyone has to grow up someday—even ghost hunters.

*

One of the last holdouts of adventure was, of course, the Guild of Explorers, whose venerable headquarters stood near Neopia Central’s old town centre on emerald green lawns that were just a touch overgrown, its huge double doors flanked by marble columns whose numerous nicks and scuffs were only noticeable on close inspection. It was within the hallowed halls of this prestigious institution that a split Aisha named Tyra Magena was spending a pleasant summer evening enjoying a small adventure of her own.

“This will be the end of exploration as we know it!”

The Aisha responded to the heated declaration with practiced nonchalance, letting her hands slide down along the burnished wooden edges of her lectern until her arms were fully extended, framing the roughly brick-shaped metal gadget on display. Her expression was perfectly calibrated to convey a sort of dignified indulgence as she peered over the top of the device at the belligerent Tuskaninny in the first row. He was on his feet (so to speak), his angrily puffed red cheeks making him look very much like some variety of freshly boiled seafood.

“Mr. Blom, as we have discussed at many other points in this series,” said Tyra, “Exploration will live on as long as we explorers live on to do it. My invention will keep all of us alive longer, so we can spend more time doing just that.”

Scoffs and retorts broke out across the packed lecture hall.

“This conversation is going nowhere! I can’t believe the Guild is still humouring this ludicrous proposal!” Mr. Blom the Tuskaninny whipped his head around, appealing to the blue Kougra seated at the moderator’s desk next to Tyra. “Jake old boy, I beg of you. Put an end to this sham and send this deceitful technophile back to her evil lab.”

“The Guild reminds all members that personal attacks are not tolerated in the course of an academic debate,” Jake intoned, spinning a pen between his fingers absently. “Your concerns have been noted, Mr. Blom, but as this is an open forum, you must remember that not everyone here shares them. A portable communicator like one being presented by Ms. Magena would make many of your fellow explorers feel safer in the field.”

“That’s right! Some of us aren’t as young as we used to be!” shouted a grey-bearded Ogrin near the back of the hall. “If I fall into a pit trap and can’t get up again, I should jolly well like to be able to call for a lift!”

“Have we really gotten so soft?�� A grizzled Skeith a few rows away had twisted around on the bench so she could shake her walking stick menacingly in the Ogrin’s direction. “Back in my day, we’d fall into three pit traps before breakfast on most adventures! And we’d like it.”

“Maybe that’s why your joints sound like Scarblade’s hull every time you move!”

“The Guild reminds all memb—“

“Peril builds character!”

A clear but pleasant voice spoke up. “I think we’re all being a little selfish.”

At once, the bickering died out, and a sheepish silence fell over the hall as all eyes turned to a young spotted Lupe at the end of the first row. With her wildly curled orange hair and bright, earnest expression, she made a striking impression that seemed to effortlessly command the respect of the other guild members. She closed the notebook she had been writing in, wholly unbothered by the sudden attention on her as she continued, “The whole point of a guild is to connect as many different people as possible under a common goal, isn’t it? We’re all very different people, it’s just silly to assume we’re all going to agree on something like this. We all have our preferred tools and techniques for exploring, and Tyra’s comm would just be one more option. No one’s forcing you to use one.”

“Well said, Aley,” said Jake after a moment’s silence. “As usual. We’d all do well to remember that the point of this series is to generate conversation about the applications of technology for the modern adventurer, not to debate the validity of the technology itself.”

“How do we even know it will work?” demanded Mr. Blom. The colour of his face had become marginally less alarming, but he still stood, now pointing accusingly at the silvery brick on Tyra’s lectern. “If we pin all our hopes on some little box that runs out of batteries right when we need it, we’ll be worse off than if we never had it at all!”

“Tyra wouldn’t do that,” Aley said. “If she says it’s gonna work, it’s gonna work.”

Jake sighed. “Once again, Mr. Blom, our speaker’s credentials are not up for debate. Ms. Magena’s expertise speaks for itself. Many people in attendance tonight, including Aley and myself, have used her inventions before and can attest to the reliability of her workmanship.” He removed his fedora, running his hands through his hair. “Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, so long as this technology takes a support role to the people actually doing the exploring, I’m all for it. Adventure should be about challenging yourself, I agree—using all your senses to experience everything the world has to offer. But you can only do that if you’re not spending all your time worrying about getting lost, or hurt, or worse. Let’s face it. Guild enrollment is down, and it gets lower every year. Anything that gets more people out there is a good thing in my books.”

Tyra nodded, speaking up. “And remember, the specific device being presented here is just a prototype. It’s perfectly functional already, but it’s only one example of the kind of utility technology could bring to our discipline.”

“Not to keep kicking a dead Whinny about it,” drawled a rugged-looking Island Shoyru with his boots propped up on the back of the row in front of him. “But there shouldn’t be a buffer between an explorer and the unknown. Call me old-fashioned if you want. But adventure with convenience is just tourism.” Murmured noises of agreement followed his remark, but Jake cut them off.

“I can see we’ve reached the end of any productive discourse for tonight, so let’s leave it there,” the Kougra said, putting on his hat as he rose. “As a reminder, this series continues tomorrow night at 6, when we’ll all have the distinct honour of going through this all over again. Thank you for your time once more, Ms. Magena.” He strode across to her and shook her hand to scattered applause, although an equally audible rumble of frustrated muttering filled their ears as the attendees began to shuffle back through the tiered seating towards the exits.

“Sick of us yet?” Jake asked her under the commotion.

“Are you kidding?” Tyra flashed him a grin as she stacked her papers and grabbed her prototype comm from the lectern. “I live for this.”

On her way out through the darkened foyer, she was unsurprised and a little smug to see Mr. Blom lurking near the open front doors, looking agitated. At the first sight of her, he pounced.

“How many lectures has it been now, Magena? How many more until you’re satisfied?” A string of spittle swung from his mustache, glittering in the moonlight. “Are you trying to punish us for something?”

“Mr. Blom,” Tyra said with a dramatic sigh. “It’s 10:30. This lecture was supposed to wrap up over an hour ago. Go home.”

The Tuskaninny moved to block her path. “I think you want us to fall apart. You’re trying to make us fail like you and your little Ghostchasers gang failed all those years ago. Oh yes, there’s no point in denying it. We know all about it. Don’t you read the Neopian Times?”

“Yes, and there’s very little I enjoy doing less,” Tyra said, sidestepping Mr. Blom while he continued to bluster and froth.

“Don’t walk away from the truth, Magena!” he yelled after her, even as she started down the steps outside. “You haven’t heard the last from me!”

“I’m counting on it,” she called back over her shoulder. It’s what’s paying my rent.

*

Kiyoshi was just getting to Thyme when he heard keys at the door.

“Hey,” Tyra’s greeting sounded especially tired tonight. She stepped into the apartment and slung her briefcase down on the chair by the door, then looked around and blinked. “Wow,” she said. “Did you clean up in here again?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess,” the Shoyru replied absentmindedly. He fished out the jar that he’d just spotted hiding behind the nearly-full spice rack and scanned its label, which proudly declared its contents to be Cinnamon!. Suddenly overwhelmed by the cruel machinations of destiny, he groaned, sinking into the bar stool and surrendering his head to the oblivion offered by his arms.

Through the depths of his despair, he was vaguely aware of Tyra coming closer, then stopping when she was in front of the kitchen island he’d spent the last hour labouring away at.

“Kiyoshi,” came Tyra’s voice after a couple of seconds. “Are you alphabetizing my spice rack?”

“It didn’t work,” he said wretchedly, lifting his head just enough to cast a withering glare upon the jar clutched in his fist. He used it to gesture at the top row of the spice rack, where the neatly organized little jars had indeed failed to preserve even the slimmest space in their lineup that might now accommodate their fallen brethren Cinnamon!. “It’s okay. I’ll start over.” And with that, he grimly began the process of removing the jars from the rack.

“I don’t even cook,” Tyra said. “You know that.”

“I didn’t have anything else to do. I finished the bookshelf earlier today.”

“The… which one?” Tyra said, dumbfounded.

“Oh. The last one. All of them.”

It’s going to take me years to figure out where anything is, Tyra thought, but managed to calm her voice before she spoke again. “Kiyoshi, you really don’t have to do any of this.”

“I‘m not doing anything else,” he mumbled, focussing on his domain of spices.

Tyra slid onto the stool next to him. “Did you ever meet up with that girl with the haunted swimming pool?”

“Yeah,” Kiyoshi said without looking at her. “False alarm. It was a setup for her podcast.”

“Another podcast?”

“She said she’d pay me in exposure. Like I need any more of that.”

Tyra struggled to think of something to say. “There’s gotta be a legitimate haunting somewhere in Neopia Central. One of these days someone will really need you.”

“The one time there was actually a ghost, the ghost was in on it too.”

“Kiyoshi—“

“Those paint brushes should be illegal.”

“Kiyoshi, it’s not your fault that people aren’t being honest with you.”

“But it is my fault for not being honest with myself.” The jar of Cinnamon! rolled off the counter and clattered to the floor. “If people don’t need a professional ghost hunter anymore, that’s fine. That’s good, actually. But I need to be able to move on with the rest of the world. I thought if I could keep that job at the Guild of Explorers, at least that’s kind of related to something I’m almost good at, but…” He shrugged his shoulders heavily, slumping onto the countertop again.

“They didn’t deserve you,” Tyra said automatically, but Kiyoshi’s wings curled around him further and she immediately knew it had been the wrong thing to say. By all the light of Fyora, she was bad at this.

“I just feel bad staying here for free,” Kiyoshi mumbled.

“You paid the whole rent for like the first three months after you sold your neohome,” Tyra said firmly.

“And then never again.”

“Yeah, but you can’t help it if the neohome market is abysmal. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. My parents are still paying half my rent, even after all the times I’ve asked them to stop.” She shrugged. “I’m probably making more than them at this point, with all the honorariums I’m getting from the GOE. Seriously. Don’t worry about the rent. Besides, I’m happy you’re here. You’re a good roommate, and a good friend.”

He looked up. “I am glad you’re doing well, at least.” He gave her a small smile. “One of the three of us had to be successful.”

“I think Jeri qualifies as successful,” Tyra said, remembering how the final member of their old ghostchasing party balked at the prospect of a steady job with the Guild of Explorers and ran away to Krawk Island with his old treasure-hunting partner Aidne, “if getting as far away from a desk job as possible counts as his measure of success, which I think it does.”

She hopped off her stool to pick up the Cinnamon! “I know this is going to sound ungrateful,” she said. “But for what it’s worth, I still don’t really feel successful. There’s so much more I could be doing with this tech. I hate feeling like I’m not allowed to take it as far as I know I can.”

Kiyoshi sat up a little, studying her. “NaKaranth?”

Tyra sighed. “Yeah.”

Tyra’s first communicator—the clunky original that she had taken on countless excursions over the years, that had gotten their old team out of countless scrapes—had been a collaboration between herself and an unusually sociable Alien Aisha named NaKaranth. He had scavenged the components for her comm from space junk he found floating around the Virtupets station. Without his help, she would never have been able to build anything like it, and NaKaranth knew it. His people had rules about the dispersal of advanced technology to Neopians, rules that she had consistently persuaded him to bend in her favour. But her plans to mass-produce and distribute a smaller version of her own comm had definitely crossed a line. Even though (as she had attempted to explain to him) the inner workings of her prototypes were ‘paraphrased’ and not ‘transcribed’ from the original comm, the situation had stressed the Alien out enough that he had jumped planet and returned to the Homeworld. He once mentioned that some of the snoopier Homeworlders had started asking questions about her, but at the time she had stupidly internalized it as a compliment.

So now here she was: tiptoeing along on an annoyingly short leash that she couldn’t bring herself to break. She hadn’t talked to NaKaranth in over a year but she still found that she was unable to fully dive in and explore the comm to its fullest potential—somehow knowing that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself, and the already strained threads of their friendship would be torn beyond any hope of repair.

Tyra realized that Kiyoshi was still watching her. To stop herself from feeling self-conscious, she said suddenly, “Do you ever feel like your whole life has just been packing for a trip you haven’t taken yet?”

Kiyoshi swivelled his stool back and forth, laughing a little. “I’ve often felt the train could hurry up a little, yeah.”

“Very inconsiderate of it to leave us waiting at the station all these years.”

“It’s like. If this is the real world everyone told us we needed to be a part of, why is it so hard to find anywhere we fit?”

Tyra sighed. She placed the Cinnamon! randomly on the third shelf of the spice rack, which made Kiyoshi frown. She propped her elbows on the counter and leaned back languidly. “We’ll get there eventually. We both will. Me? I just need to have a stroke of genius and find the perfect battery for my comm, and then it’ll be smooth sailing.” She made a half-hearted pantomime of a boat sailing by with her hand.

Kiyoshi seemed unconvinced, but interested. “What, um. What do you need for the battery?”

Tyra rolled her shoulders. “The original comm has this big crystal wired into it that feeds into every system in the machine. NaKaranth called it Zigzagium and I still don’t know if he was lying. But I can’t get more of it anyway, so I have to find a substitute. The placeholder battery I’ve got in the prototype is…” Tyra considered her words. “Bad. Like, really bad. It needs to be plugged in every few hours to recharge. Ask me how well I think that would go over with the Guild if they found out.”

“Could you use magic somehow? Is that weird?” Kiyoshi said abruptly.

Tyra laughed, but Kiyoshi pressed on, even as his cheeks flushed. “I mean. I know I don’t know anything about magic, but you’ve been studying it on the side, haven’t you? I don’t think Alien Aishas can do magic, so maybe it’s something only you could think of? Can you even combine magic and technology, or is there like. Some cosmic rule against it?”

“No, it’s a good idea,” Tyra said. “I’ve been thinking about it. But it’s tricky. The more complicated the solution, the less likely it is that it’ll work. The new comms are so small, there’s no space for any extraneous parts. Every single one of them needs to be the perfect match for the job it’s meant to do. And if I’m going to try working magic into it, I barely even know where to begin. I’ve got this whole list of materials and reagents I’d like to try experimenting with somewhere along the line, but I haven’t really had a chance to go out and buy any of them yet.” She yawned. “These stupid lectures are eating up all my time. Prepping the lectures, delivering the lectures, staying to give witness reports after the lectures…”

“Can I see it?”

She looked at him blearily. “The witness reports?”

“The list,” said Kiyoshi. He was sitting up straight now, eyes brighter than Tyra had seen them in a long time. “Can I borrow it?”

Tyra blinked at him, then rummaged around in an inner pocket of her lurid green overcoat until she found a crumpled piece of note paper. “I guess you can,” she said hesitantly, “but listen, Kiyoshi, don’t worry about it. I can get this stuff myself. It’s my problem anyway. I just need to stop losing track of time in my workshop, and be better about sticking to my schedule, and maybe start waking up a little earlier…”

She didn’t remember closing her eyes, but the next time she opened them with a start that nearly had her slipping off her stool, Kiyoshi was standing in front of her, already holding the tattered list in his hand.

“Tyra,” he pleaded. “For the love of Fyora please let me do this for you.”

*

The first few items on the list were easy enough, but by noon the next day, Kiyoshi started running into problems.

“Angelpi don’t lay eggs, and even if they did, I wouldn’t give you one!” snapped the green Usul at the Petpet Shop, clambering onto a stepstool to toss a handful of seeds into the cage of squawking Pawkeets that hung over the checkout counter.

“They don’t?” Kiyoshi said uncertainly, but only the excited screeches of the Pawkeets answered him. The Angelpuss on the counter tottered over and rubbed against his hand. He scratched it under its chin and it purred contentedly. “Then where do baby Angelpi come from?”

The Usul hopped down from the stepstool and snatched up the Angelpuss, which yowled indignantly. “They come from the Petpet Shop,” she said acidly. “Which, I’ll remind you, is the name of the business, my business, that you decided to wander into and monopolize with your weird questions. If you’re not here to buy a petpet, then scram. Your sloppy clothes and bad vibes are upsetting the petpets.” She pointed sharply at the Pawkeets.

Kiyoshi wondered if the vibes that could do anything but upset the Pawkeets had even been discovered by modern science. He glanced at the list and decided to try again. “Do you sell Puppyblew tails?”

“OUT.”

Back out on the bustling, sun-warmed streets of Neopia Central, Kiyoshi grumbled to himself. “Why is everything to do with magic so inherently suspicious…”

He glanced down at the list. Still a good few things to check for, and there were plenty of neopoints left in his belt pouch from what Tyra had given him. So next on the list was…

“Egg hot dog,” Kiyoshi said to himself, shoving the note back in his coat pocket. A couple of shoppers casually gave him an extra wide berth as they hurried past. “Okay.”

Just outside of Neopian Fresh Foods, a clamour from inside the store stopped Kiyoshi in his tracks. More yelling, followed by a crash. He had just taken a hesitant step towards the sun-faded flyers plastered all over the front of the cheeseburger-shaped building, when the front doors swung open and a greenish-blue figure came flying out at him. The Shoyru gave a choked gasp and stumbled backwards as that someone collided directly with him, then went straight through, instantly freezing the air in his lungs. For Kiyoshi, the sensation of the ghost passing through his body was as familiar as the reflex that had his hand reaching for his slingshot before he remembered with a pang that he had left it back at Tyra’s place.

While the Shoyru wheeled, catching his breath, an enormous jar of purple baby food came soaring out the front doors, falling short of the streaking tail of the ghost and exploding on the sidewalk near Kiyoshi’s feet. As the ghost vanished through the wall of a nearby shop, the Chia shopkeeper came stomping out of the food store, nearly knocking Kiyoshi into the crash site of broken glass and purple goop as he did so.

“And STAY OUT!” the Chia hollered after the ghost, shaking the handle of a broom in the air, although not a trace of the figure remained. The Chia glared at the wall the ghost had passed through, then jammed his chef’s hat back onto his head and marched back into his shop.

Speechless, Kiyoshi glanced around at the other Neopians on the street and was again taken aback to see most of them already recovering, murmuring to each other in unconcerned tones and shrugging their shoulders before they continued on to their destinations. Kiyoshi glanced one more time at the wall where the ghost had vanished, then spun on his heel and caught the door of the food shop before it could close.

“Wait!” he said, staggering into the store and almost slipping on some of the baby food that had apparently gotten under his shoe. He caught himself on a rack of bread products, struggling to catch the loaves before they tumbled to the floor. “Wait, what was that?”

The Chia turned around, his expression falling into a disapproving scowl as he glanced from the loaves bouncing out of Kiyoshi’s hands to the streaks of purple across the floor behind him. “That’s my own personal poltergeist, that’s what that is,” said the Chia shortly.

Kiyoshi’s shoes squeaked as he took a step forward. “That was a ghost, wasn’t it? A real, actual ghost?”

“Boy, you city kids sure don’t catch on quick, do ya?”

“You were chasing it away.”

“Well, obviously!”

“So it wasn’t a customer? Wasn’t just someone painted ghost for… for personal reasons?”

The Chia laughed incredulously, retreating behind his cash register and replacing his broom against the wall. “A customer? He doesn’t have any money! Not that it stops him from coming in every day and trying to buy the same blasted container of Flotsam Flakes over and over again!”

Kiyoshi’s mind whirred. “Every day?”

“Every day, same time, same jar of Flotsam Flakes! Been going on for months! I tell ya, I’m being pranked from beyond the grave! And he has the audacity to check his stupid see-through pockets every single time and act like he’s surprised he still doesn’t have the neopoints. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he didn’t even know he was a ghost!”

Kiyoshi slammed a handful of neopoints onto the counter with so much force the Chia jumped. Glancing suspiciously between Kiyoshi and the pile of coins, the shopkeeper said, “What’s this for?”

“Gimme a jar of Flotsam Flakes.”

[dying2getudizzy]

ok pinned post time

you can call me dizzy :3

i follow from a blog with 4 numbers in the url, you’ll figure it out.

i’m a 28 year old transfem, (2 years HRT) and i use this blog to flirt, journal sex stuff, and get off. i try to tag stuff but i’m gonna be real i miss shit so if you have things that aren’t ok for you to see, you probably shouldn’t follow. things posted and reblogged here are works of fiction and fantasy, posted by and for consenting adults. i block people who don’t have an age in their bio.

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[everythingseasoning]

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