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#while foolish is great at huge builds and organics
sweet-potato-42 · 2 months
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tubbo says that rn windmills are the easiest source of torque for create mod and he already built 2 huge ones
like imagine he continues just using windmills since like they are cheap to build and work well. However they dont produce that much energy
Imagine a town of fobo filled with cool windmills everywhere
i hope he does one day find a way to make the windmill dungeon in the farm spin since it would be such a cool sight
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hezuart · 2 years
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I will start this by saying I do think Vivziepop is a good creator.
But
Reading about the production of HH and Helluva Boss worries me. In Twitter, Vivziepop is alway talking about how she is tired and overworked, because she has to work on two shows at the same time.
While I do feel bad for her, I am also thinking, “why is she trying to do it all at once?” Like, if Hazbin Hotel is already a huge project to manage, why is she trying to do it while completing a completely different spinoff?
I get the feeling that this might be one of the reasons the world building in Helluva Boss is so weird. Maybe she is rushing writing each script of each episode? I don’t know if that might be true.
If it is true, it is strange she is organizing it this way. Like, she doesn’t have to produce it all at once. She is literally her own boss.
I don’t know. What do you think?
Yes, I've mentioned this before I believe. I'd be foolish to say I don't understand the struggle, the compulsion to jump from project to project and multi-task. I do that myself.
But that isn't something you can do in a corporate setting. She is 100% overworking herself and burning out. Her tweets have concerned me, and so many others.
It wasn't even just Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. She made that Addicted music video, and a pilot episode for Zootopia, and back then also made that Holidaze short. If she had focused on just making shorts, that would be one thing, but the fact that she has to commit to not only one show, but two, is also just not possible. It's too much to keep consistent or even separate sometimes, especially for someone who is not used to that kind of work schedule. She even does all-nighters. It's not healthy.
She might not be the boss for Hazbin Hotel in its entirety, because she sold the rights to A24, but for Helluva Boss then yes.
However, I personally don't think she rushed the Circus episode because she made this tweet a month after the release:
"I'm proud to be making shows that come directly from and deeply involve a queer perspective. It's not always a norm but it's happening more and more! The shows are for everyone, but they are rooted in what we want to see and tell!"
Instead of the show's original premise of being a dark comedy featuring Blitzo's crew in Hell and how despite being bad people, still have intriguing relationships with reason, she decided to flatten and focus on the side character Stolas for the sake of turning him into a pure-hearted baby boy who was a closeted gay that suffered for years against an evil straight woman he was forced to marry.
and that is apparently something she wanted to tell, since she wrote that episode herself. It makes it seem like she's proud to tell this "queer story" in, unfortunately, a very very poor way.
Would not be surprised if some episodes were indeed rushed, but the Circus has layers to its writing and implications. Unfortunately, Helluva Boss has lost sight of what it wants to be. I wonder if it ever knew what it wanted to be. It's gone from dark comedy to romantic drama. Helluva Boss can't write funny dark comedy. Most of the punch lines are sex jokes, swearing, and screaming. It's gotten pretty old and repetitive. Fandoms are more drawn towards romantic drama, so it feels like they attempted to merge or switch the genres to cater to fans, but they fell flat. It's ironic, because, the skimmed-down romantic drama was doing just fine until the Circus episode, where they doubled down and took it the opposite direction of where it was initially heading.
But I digress. Viv has some great ideas but needs help to implement them since she's not always the best at making those ideas work for the better. She's overworking herself through her multi-tasking and burning out, and through it all, her fellow employees are suffering for it. I hope she has learned from this experience and will know to try and focus on one show at a time from now on, or just stick to shorts to make things easier for herself.
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sunset-peril · 1 year
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Successors - Epilogue - Legends Never Die
 *Three Months Later*
~~~~~
 Op… ey… 
 Op… your eyes… 
 Open your eyes… 
 Wake up, Link… 
His head throbbed. Who was that? She was calling, but thinking about her hurt. His eyes opened and, for some reason, swept to the odd glowing wall beside him. His newly found breath choked and his eyes began to burn. Who knows how long they'd been resting, but they already protested. Something surged through him and strengthened these. It was grief. 
What, or who, was he grieving so instantly? Was it that woman? Who was she? 
He should probably get up. He hit the floor. He got up again. He had to. This grief wasn't stopping. Underneath it, the captured expression of catastrophic failure. It surged and he had no reason why. But he had to stop it. To do so, he had to find that reason. 
While he stumbled around, he found a pedestal in the otherwise empty room. It lit up, and he saw the massive mass of wires above where he once laid. 
That is a Sheikah Slate. Take it. His attention was redirected. It will prove useful on your journey. 
A familiar eye flashed in front of him. The grief surged. The light made him notice blood on the floor. He bolted out of the building in response. The view was huge. He felt small and hopeless.
He met an old man on the desolate plateau he'd glimpsed from that cliff. One who held him hostage for a little too long. Had he, Rhoam was the name and the former King of Hyrule he was, not already been dead, Link might have done the deed. Something within him resented this Rhoam person… the reasons why, however, refused to return.
She was named Zelda.
Zelda. The wind whispered in his ears. He realized they'd been saying her name all along. A goddess… 
Something tugged on him. His goddess, his mind decided without any reason or memory. Flexing his scars for the first, second, third time was definitely uncomfortable, but he promised himself the pain was fading away. 
The grass. He fell onto his hands and feet as his descent from this Great Plateau concluded.
Oh, how he suddenly became alive! These fibers under his palms, something was alight. His senses narrowed and, though it was unnatural for a Hylian's hips to be in perfect horizontal alignment with their shoulders, Link's did so without a flick of effort. He raced through the ruins that greeted his feral figure, growing stronger with every rock, grass blade and grain of sand that touched his scarred palms. 
There was a lake! Before he processed the liquid, it covered his body.
Paddle.  
Paddle paddle. 
Paddle paddle- 
Splish! 
Link's nose was bobbing in and out of the water in a foolish manner. He saw a fish swim by.
It was bleeding underneath his teeth the second later. He retreated to the shore with this paddling that surely wasn't Hylian in the least to enjoy his snack.
His former self would have demanded he at least warm up the scaly supper before tearing in, but the first drops of blood that fell onto his tongue reminded him of an important truth:
He hadn't eaten in a very long time. The bones, organs, blood, and flesh all went down the same. 
As he finished up the remains, he realized that his hips had been swaying in a most peculiar manner.
And that there were two fearful travelers staring at him. Swords drawn. 
"Mina, you don't suppose?" The male commented.
'Mina' didn't take her eyes off Link. "Th-the last one had to have died of old age already… there were only three… one died in the Calamity, the other shortly after. No males survive…" 
"There's no possible way he's the female's grandson or something? I'd swear to Hylia and all three Golden Goddesses before I'd believe he wasn't a descendant." 
"I suppose… but she disappeared off the face of Hyrule. Not even the extensive records recovered from the castle have allowed anyone to identify her or any offspring. For all we know, Mils, we could be her descendants." 
Mils scoffed. "Why us and not this guy? He's practically a hairless Hylian Retriever!" 
"I suppose only the Sheikah could truly identify him…" She fished a small game bird from her pocket, Link's undivided attention was all hers. "Here boy? It's a boy, right? I don't know if female Wolfbreds look… feminine or not." 
"Chest is flat. I suppose you could take the shirt off and see if there's more than two nipples, but that sounds a bit dangerous." 
"Probably doesn't matter. Here, boy!" Mina waved the deceased fowl around, all awkwardness was forgotten and Link trotted over. "Oh, he's not wearing anything we could attach a lead to…" 
Without another word, Mils clicked a leash onto the cloak he was wearing and snapped it around Link's neck. A sound of questioning escaped him. 
"Good boy!" Mina tossed the fowl, Link dug in once again. "Perhaps we can train him just like a regular dog. A Wolfbred would be very handy in this dangerous region." 
Mils mounted his horse while Link snacked, before an idea suddenly entered his mind. "Maybe we could breed 'em. The Royal Family used to do that. I bet other travelers would appreciate having a feral companion." 
"I'm not entirely sure that's… moral. First off, we'd have to breed him to Hylian women, and I'm not sure any woman worth herself would do that. Secondly, he's part Hylian at least. He may have enough emotion that doing such a thing would upset him." Mina scratched his head. After they had departed she periodically tossed Link some sort of meat to keep him from tugging away, especially when the Castle once again came into view.
Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda! Link stubbornly slipped his head out of the cloak and ran for the Malice-consumed ruins. His would-be captors were unable to catch his attention and he continued northbound in Central Hyrule. He laid down once to absorb the sun above, absorb this grass. There was something about grass that filled him with happiness.
"Sir, what are you doing here? The Guardians will get you for sure!" 
"Hm?" His feral outburst seemed to have calmed.
"This place is a death wish! Please, at least go to a stable!" 
Link knew that this world was new to him, so he followed this other man to a nearby stable. "I believe this young man is a lost wanderer," The other man began, "he was out in the middle of Hyrule Field." 
Rhoam's words came back. 
"I'm looking for… Ka-ka-ri-ko." It sounded familiar, but he was afraid of why. 
"Well, my boy! You're going the wrong way!" He got Link set out on the right trail, although his burning questions made the trip feel so long. He reached a fork in the road. He followed the directions as best he could, being momentarily distracted by a giant talking… tree?
“You-You see me?” The tree leaned in closer.
Don’t cower, don’t snarl, and whatever you do, don’t bite the giant tree. 
“Shaka! It’s been one hundred years since anyone could see me!” Link tried to sneak away while the giant tree, which was apparently named Hestu, rambled on about the last two Hylians that were able to see him. A male and a female, royalty. Unfortunately for him, the ‘could it be’ followed by the royal revelation was enough to get Link caught.
“Where’re you going? Come on! I need your help!”
And so Link was suckered into his first, of very very many, side tasks. Retrieval of red maracas from nearby monsters. It was simple enough, even with his lack of a weapon. The monster’s flesh was rather soft to tear into, and they were little things. Easily overcome.
It was immediately following their defeat that Link learned monster flesh was definitely not edible. 
He was free to go after this, the only lingering request being that he search for the tree's friends who'd played a terrible prank on him. “If you ever come through Korok Forest, come say hi!” were his parting words. It took a while longer than planned, but the words "Kakariko Village" finally danced above his head.
These people here. They knew him. They knew him better than he knew himself. He felt relief, knowing that Zelda's savior wasn't completely gone. Even if he didn't know him, these Sheikah did, and he knew they would teach him all about himself until he finally reunited with the part of him that went to sleep in that Shrine so long ago. He clung to this as he clambered up the steps of the Sheikah Head Family's house, and slowly pushed the doors open.
"So… you're finally awake."
Edited - 04/14/2024 
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five-rivers · 4 years
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Adoption
Based on a prompt by @fabnamessuggestedbytumbler for the Phic Phight! An excuse for Lost Time fluff? Don't mind if I do...
.
.
.
The Ghost Zone had a legal system. A court system. A prison system. A police system. A set of established rules. There were even lawyers.
In theory.
In reality the courts (Observants) refused to look at anything that wasn't world ending. Every group had their own, private prison. The police made up their own rules and, even then, broke them regularly. The actual rules had gone several hundred years without an update and referred to places, organizations, and customs that no longer existed. The lawyers were all clinically depressed. That's what happens when there's no active, unifying head of state for hundreds of years.
Still. Every so often a sufficiently foolish ghost, possessed of a brave purpose, would attempt to navigate the ruins of the legal system. Few made it out alive.
(True, being ghosts, they didn't necessarily go into it alive, but it's the thought that counts.)
But those who did make it out (metaphorically) alive, did so with prizes... well, not great enough, but something enough to convince others to make the attempt. Hence Clockwork's current location and headache.
"Sign the paper, Walker," snapped Clockwork.
"That would be against the rules," said Walker, leaning back in his stupid chair. Clockwork's nonexistent spine hurt just from looking at it.
Maybe he should give himself a spine, just so he'd have a reason to feel this way.
"How," he began, "would it be against the rules? This form needs to be signed by a law enforcement official that has seen or witnessed conclusive evidence the child in question being abused by their natural parents. That is you."
"Yes, but the law enforcement officer must first get a warrant approved by an appropriate court in order to collect such evidence," countered Walker.
"Not if the official came across the evidence or act of abuse while pursuing a different case or simply following standard operating procedure. You saw them shoot at him. His mother put a gun to his head. Have mercy, Walker. I know you don't like him, but he is a child who needs guidance. Not a criminal."
"He's a criminal in my books," said Walker.
"What he did was hardly a crime."
"Jailbreak is a crime!"
"Not if one is unjustly imprisoned," said Clockwork. "He was attempting to remove the foreign object." No matter that possessing material-plane items wasn't an actual crime.
"He let others escape!"
"And what were they imprisoned for?"
Walker grumbled. "Some of them are dangerous, and even he knew that," said Walker, nodding at the file spread over his desk.
"Consider it a cry for help. While you were watching him," stalking him, Clockwork did not say, "on the material plane, did he really strike you as criminally inclined? Or perhaps he was simply confused and scared? One thousand years is a very long time in human terms. The targets of his Obsession would have died. Even if he did commit a misdemeanor, he would have rightly been granted clemency, or at least had his sentence deferred."
Walker frowned.
"That's not what this is about, is it? You covering up a mistake?"
"No," said Walker.
Clockwork blinked, quickly running through potential futures. "No one will care that you crossed the veil without authorization. No one who can do anything about it, in any case."
"There'll be an investigation if I sign that there piece of paper. What's the big deal, anyway? Like you said, humans don't live that long. Just wait fifty years."
"They almost ended him," said Clockwork. "He's a child. Do you really want that on your conscience? With the knowledge that you could have stopped it?"
Sighing, Walker picked up his pen.
.
Danny went to school. Mainly, he went because he didn't know what else to do. He needed the routine, even if the routine was a lie and he felt like trash.
"You could have stayed," whispered Sam, as his hand inched towards the bandages on his chest for the fifth time that morning. "They wouldn't have noticed you."
Danny shook his head. His hand shook more. He put it back in his lap. "It wouldn't have been right. Besides, I need a passing grade in this class, right?" He couldn't get another F, or his parents would kill him, except- except- except-
They had already tried to kill him.
Everything had gone so much worse than he had ever imagined- No. That wasn't quite right. It had gone- It had...
At least he hadn't been cut open.
(Much.)
"Mr. Fenton?"
Danny jumped, banging his knees painfully on the underside of his desk. He looked up, wildly, tensing himself to flee, only the fact that he was currently human keeping his powers from activating.
(Well, that and... what had been done to him.)
When had Mr. Lancer gotten there?
"What?" he asked, breathlessly.
"Are- Are you alright, Mr. Fenton?"
"I'm fine," Danny said. He wasn't. His ghost half was urging him to go find a nice, dark, quiet, safe corner to hide in, preferably one in the Ghost Zone, his heart was hammering out of his chest, he'd spent the night not-sleeping in one of the guestrooms in Sam's house, and that was before even touching on his injuries.
He forced a smile. Mr. Lancer was one of the few teachers who hadn't given up on him, which was alternately touching and frustrating.
"You look sick," said Mr. Lancer. "Are you sure you don't want to call home?"
Danny's heart stuttered, his core painfully cold. "I'm sure," he said.
"Today is a project day," said Mr. Lancer. "You wouldn't be missing anything in this class, and I can talk to your other teachers."
"No, I'm fine."
.
The legal clerk for the family court was the kind of ghost who seemed to have fused with her role. The sleeves and collar of her shirt melded seamlessly with her skin. Her nails were brass pen nibs. The lenses of her glasses were part of her face.
She lived in either the basement or the attic of this particular building, depending on how one oriented themselves, among barely-organized stacks of books and papers. There were parchment scrolls and stone tablets, too, the later often re-purposed as elements of the room's furniture. Green-marbled filing cabinets grew out of the walls, and electronic somethings glittered out of the shadows.
The clerk had been reviewing Clockwork's paperwork for literal days. Rather, she would have been, if Clockwork hadn't surreptitiously dropped a time medallion around her neck and stopped time.
She hummed, thoughtfully. "In this document, you are using the pronoun tsai to refer to the adoptee. Are you certain you don't mean tusui? Or perhaps chahe?"
"Absolutely," said Clockwork. The intimation that he wasn't fluent in nchabhatsi was insulting. On the other hand, the requirement for that particular piece of paperwork to be in the language was also, in his opinion, rather ridiculous. Many ghosts, especially the recently dead, did not know nchabhatsi.
"The adoptee is liminal?"
"Yes," said Clockwork.
"Hmm." She stood up and flew from her desk to an inverted bookshelf anchored to the ceiling. From a box she took a huge sheaf of papers, and blew an amount of dust from them that was unhealthy even to a ghost. "It has been a while since we used these," she said, giving Clockwork a faded-ivory smile. "You'll need to fill these out and have them notarized by the proper officials before you can proceed. Liminal spirits are so rare, after all! They require special care. Oh!" Her hands fluttered. "And I'll have to get in contact with our liminality expert. That may take some time."
"If you can give me their name," said Clockwork, "I will take care of it." He gingerly took the stack of slightly-decayed paper. Had it really been so long since a partly-human child had been adopted? Probably.
"Oh, you're such a dear," said the clerk, not noticing the sudden absence of the medallion around her neck. "But that paperwork won't do itself, and-"
"It's done," said Clockwork. Fulfilling some of the new requirements had been more challenging than others and avoiding a paradox had taken considerable self-control, but what good were his temporal abilities if he couldn't use them for personal gain now and again? None at all.
"Ah," said the clerk.
.
Familiar, and very loud, voices spilled from the hallway near the office. Danny, one hand on his locker, trying to remember his combination, froze like a deer in headlights. His heartbeat picked up, his core buzzed frantically. He couldn't move. Grey crept in along the edges of his vision.
"... not him. It was never him! He's dead-"
"Mrs. Fenton, Mr. Fenton, I'm not sure what you're getting at, here, but your son has been at school all day, and we-"
"A ghost killed him and took his place! It's been playing a sick game with us this whole time!"
"Danny would never have gotten grades like this. We should have noticed the lower intellect right away, if nothing else."
"That's-" spluttered Mr. Lancer. "You- Daniel's work is exemplary, what little of it he turns in. I'm going to have to ask you to go back to the office-"
"No! Not until that piece of ectoplasmic scum is wiped from the face of the Earth!"
"Danny," said Tucker, much closer. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Right. Ghostly super hearing. Tucker and Sam, staring at him with concern, couldn't know.
"They're here," he managed, the words like sandpaper in his throat.
Sam uttered a word that would have sent her mother into a screeching fit. "We need to get you out of here," she said putting a hand on his back and pushing him down the hall.
"I'll run interference," said Tucker. "Make sure they can't follow you in the GAV."
"Good thinking," said Sam.
"Call me when you're safe," said Tucker, peeling off, presumably to hack the GAV.
"Danny, breathe," ordered Sam, as she propelled him through the double doors at the back of the school. "We're going to get you through this."
.
Clockwork had resorted to trapping the legal complex in a massive temporal bubble. Not the neatest solution, true, and it seemed to encourage the various functionaries, regulators, and bureaucrats to take even more time to process even the simplest request, but at least it would keep Daniel's suffering in the meantime to a minimum.
However, that didn't change the fact that he had been bouncing back and forth between the various floors of the building like a ping-pong ball, never getting closer to the solitary family court judge, for well over a subjective year. He was exhausted, frustrated, and he missed Daniel.
"You will be able to provide steady, stable access to the adoptee's preferred haunt?" asked his present interviewer.
"Yes," said Clockwork, dully. The room was ringed with runes that prevented deception of any kind.
"You will be able to provide shelter adequate for both his ghostly and human form?"
"Yes," said Clockwork. He had answered these questions so many times before.
"You have taken the mandated class on liminality?"
"Yes," said Clockwork. He was beginning to understand why other ghosts just gave up and sought extralegal solutions.
"You are aware of a liminal spirit's developmental and emotional needs?"
"Yes," said Clockwork. This was just so boring.
"And are you able to satisfy those needs?"
"Yes," said Clockwork. If only it would end.
The interviewer nodded. "Then we're done here," he said.
"Ye- What? Does that mean I can see the judge?" asked Clockwork, hopefully.
"No. That means that your adoption motion can move on to the next stage," said the interviewer. "Our liminality expert will examine your arrangements and determine whether or not they are sufficient, and we will contact law enforcement to follow up on your claim that the adoptee is being abused."
Clockwork bit back a groan. At least he was making progress.
.
They cut through the empty field behind the school, angling back toward the surrounding neighborhood. The grass came up to their chests, except where there were holes, mounds, and gouges from ghost fights. When there was one in the school, Danny tried to bring it out here, so people wouldn't get hurt.
He wasn't often successful.
Sam led the way. Danny felt- He felt ashamed. If his powers were working, he would be able to fly them away, or at least turn them invisible. This would all be so much easier. He could have taken care of himself, and Sam and Tucker wouldn't get in trouble, because they would definitely get in trouble for this. But he couldn't.
He couldn't even convince his parents that he was himself. He had to screw that up, too.
Before, he had thought, worse case scenario would be that they'd try to 'fix' him, to remove his ghost half, or maybe they'd think he was overshadowed. At least, he'd convinced himself of that, convinced himself that dissection would be off the table if he ever told them, that they would still love him. Maybe they might still want to do tests, but they'd love him. They wouldn't want to hurt him.
But he had been so, so wrong. They didn't believe him. They thought he had killed himself, replaced himself.
They had tried to cut him open.
(They succeeded.)
His core shuddered at the memory.
At least, though, there hadn't been any ghost attacks today. He wouldn't have been able to fight anything stronger than the Box Ghost. Heck, he might have lost to the Box Ghost. Like this, he would have to leave the ghosts to his parents, Valerie, or the GIW, none of which were particularly good options for the hunters, the ghosts, or the innocent bystanders of Amity Park.
His core pulsed uncomfortably at the thought of any of them getting hurt, including his parents.
He flinched. His core had been very jumpy, very active ever since... it... happened. Usually it only did this while he was in ghost form, and was otherwise almost dormant.
"Are you okay?" asked Sam. "Is it hurting?" She was the one who had bandaged him up last night.
"We can't stop now," said Danny.
Sam flattened her lips. "That isn't an answer. As soon as we get somewhere quiet, I'm checking you out, okay?"
"Yeah," said Danny.
When they reached the short fence, Sam gave him a boost to get over and they made their way into the suburb. There was a small library branch down the road a ways. It had a small family bathroom that Sam and Tucker had patched Danny up in before. It would be a good place to regroup before trying to put as much distance between them and Danny's parents as possible.
"We could take the city bus, I think," said Sam. "There's a stop outside the library. Maybe we could go to Elmerton?"
"Maybe," said Danny.
"Any ETA on Jazz since last night?"
Danny shook his head. "She couldn't get a flight. She's taking a Greyhound. Won't be here 'til-"
There was a beep. Danny stopped breathing. That could have been anything, a phone, a watch, a car, something from a building, but something about it tickled at Danny's brain as wrong.
"There is a ghost twenty feet in front of you."
The whine of a charging ectogun-
Sam slammed into his side, and they both fell. Danny felt the cut on his chest begin to bleed again, and he curled around it protectively. It hurt so much more than it should, and Danny wondered if that was because ghosts were ultimately shaped by their minds and his was in so much pain right now.
His parents had just shot at him. From behind. Not ghost him, Phantom him, either. Human him.
They hated him. All of him. Not just half of him.
His ghost sense went off. Because things could always get worse for Danny and the universe apparently hated him.
He struggled into a sitting position and blinked, confused. There were people surrounding him, protecting him, standing between him and his parents. Sam was shouting. Danny couldn't make out what she was saying, what anyone was saying, not with his heart pounding in his ears.
"Kid," said one man, shaking his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Danny considered that. "No," he said, finally.
The man pulled a phone from his pocket and began saying something about calling the hospital. Normally, Danny would be worried about that, but he was looking for the ghosts. It was possible one of the more benevolent spirits that haunted Amity Park had happened across the scene, but, somehow, Danny doubted it.
His ghost sense went off again. He whimpered.
His people were in danger.
Ghosts usually came for him (he was leading them here, an evil ghost, causing all this trouble, murderer), or at least attacked him first, to get rid of him as a threat. He staggered to his feet. He had to get away. Still clutching his chest, he turned and bolted.
Almost at once, he was surrounded by ghosts in police gear. Walker's goons. Definitely stronger than the Box Ghost. Still, he was going to at least try to fight. He put his fists up. Maybe some of them would be dumb enough not to phase out of the way of his stupid human punches.
Then Walker himself descended from the sky.
"Daniel," he said, stiffly.
"Walker," returned Danny. A small part of him was grateful that Walker hadn't called him Phantom and spilled his secret. It was strange, but no ghost had ever seemed particularly inclined to do that, despite how easy it would have been.
"We have a court order to take you into custody," said Walker. "Someone wants to ask you a few questions."
Danny decided today's mood was 'pointless bravado and defiance.' "And why would I want to come with- whoa."
As Danny talked, Walker had taken a piece of paper with strange symbols written on it in green ink out from the inside pocket of his jacket. The symbols made his head spin... Or maybe that was just his injuries catching up with him. His left leg was trembling, and he wasn't sure how much longer it would hold out.
He shook his head, trying to clear it, and focused on Walker. "I have no idea what that says."
Walker sighed. "Just come quietly, son. Make it easier on yourself."
Danny swallowed his discomfort at being called 'son.' "You won't hurt anyone else?" he asked.
"I'm just here for you."
There really wasn't much of a choice. Whether he went quietly or got himself beaten up even more, Walker would win and carry him off. Anyone could see that. Besides, ghost prison might be a better alternative than getting dissected by his parents.
He raised his hands in front of him, wrists together. "Go ahead, then," said Danny, flatly.
Walker nodded, and the goons converged on him. The cuffs they put around his wrists glowed green, but they had weight in a way most purely ghostly things didn't. Danny doubted that he'd be able to phase his way out of them, human or ghost. Then they picked him up and the whole swarm started to fly away.
.
"Yes, this is my lair," said Clockwork. "I can, however, duplicate and be both here and at the secondary residence I acquired expressly for the purpose of ensuring continuity of Daniel's human life."
The 'liminality expert' grunted. "He's still been here, though, hasn't he?"
"Yes," said Clockwork. "He has."
"And he might be here again in the future."
"Yes. I do plan to have him here, for short periods of time."
"And later, when he sheds his human life?"
"Perhaps."
"Then I need to know, are these up to OSHA standards? Your entire lair needs to be up to OSHA standards."
"They're time viewers and tools for unraveling paradoxes. OSHA, even the OSHA of the far future, does not regulate these items," said Clockwork. "Why, in the name of time, do you even need to know? Surely, OSHA didn't even exist the last time a liminal child was adopted."
"Well," said the expert, slightly sheepish. "No. But regulations state that all residences must be safe for children by both human and ghost standards."
"Then OSHA is not what you should be using," said Clockwork. "OSHA is the set of rules for occupational health and safety."
"Ah," said the expert. "Then we can move right along to the next check mark, shall we?"
.
"Hi," said a cheerful voice.
Danny looked up from his contemplation of the examination room table and glared balefully at the ghost who had just entered the door. They didn't seem to be affected. But then, why would they be? Danny was handcuffed to the table and clearly not a threat.
"I'm the interviewer," said the featureless ghost. "Do you know why you're here?"
"No," said Danny.
"Well," said the interviewer, "I work for the eighth authorized family court of the Infinite Realms, we're actually the only one right now, but there used to be more, and a little while ago, an adoption request was filed on your behalf."
Danny blinked and made a face. "You mean, someone stole my identity in ghost court?"
"No, no," said the interviewer, waving one amorphous hand. "Not at all. I mean to say, I ghost filed a request to legally adopt you."
"Who?" asked Danny. "Not Vlad?" Vlad was the only ghost he could think of who had demonstrated any interest in adopting him.
"No, that's not the name listed here."
"Plasmius?" asked Danny, still cringing internally.
"No."
"Then who?"
"Clockwork."
"What, seriously?" Danny liked Clockwork, and he liked to think that Clockwork liked him back, that they were friends, but the older ghost always seemed somewhat aloof.
"Yes, he was very serious. Now. I have a number of questions I need to ask you." They took out a small, glowing crystal, and set it on the table. "Do you know what this is?"
"No?" said Danny.
"It's a record crystal," said the ghost. "But one of its other functions is that it can sense deception, and record when in an interview it is being used. Go ahead, say something you know is false."
"I... like toast?"
The crystal's glow dimmed slightly before returning to its previous level.
"There, see? Very useful, don't you think?"
"I guess," said Danny. He didn't know how to feel about this. Any of this. What would ghost adoption even mean? He trusted Clockwork, but this felt like too much, too fast. He hadn't even properly processed what had happened with his parents a few hours ago.
"Right. So. We'll start with an easy one, then. Is your name Daniel Janus James Fenton-Phantom, also known as Danny Phantom, or simply Danny or Phantom?"
"Yes," said Danny, eyeing the crystal warily.
"And what would you prefer to go by, for the purposes of this interview?"
"Phantom," said Danny.
"Alright then, Phantom," said the interviewer, "could you please tell me where you primarily reside?"
"Fentonworks," said Danny, "in Amity Park." So far, he hadn't really had a reason to lie. All of this was common knowledge for both his human and ghostly acquaintances.
"And what would you consider to be your haunt?"
"My what?"
"Your haunt. The territory that you have metaphysically claimed."
"I- I don't really understand."
"Is there an area that you feel compelled to defend against hostile persons? An area in which non-hostile ghosts defer to you?"
"I- Yeah. I guess. Amity Park. And some of the bits around it, too."
"The entire city?"
"I guess? I don't know," said Danny. "Is that weird?"
"It would be unusual," said the interviewer.
Danny really wished the interviewer had an expression he could read. Or even just something approximating a face.
"Now, do you feel safe in your home? In 'Fentonworks?'"
The correct answer to that question would be no, but he wasn't sure he should answer. What if this was some kind of elaborate trick?
"We can come back to that," said the interviewer. "Are there any other places where you do feel safe?"
"I mean, sure?" said Danny. He fidgeted.
"Would you please share some of those places?"
"School, I guess?" Except that he got beaten up there all the time and his parents had hunted him down there and he had to escape and... Yeah.
The crystal dimmed. Danny grimaced.
"Ah," said the interviewer. "Anywhere else?"
"My friends houses," said Danny. "And the Far Frozen." To his relief, this time, the crystal stayed bright.
"Have you ever been to Clockwork's lair?"
"Yeah," said Danny. He slouched in the chair as much as possible. He wasn't sure he should be answering these questions, but he was. Maybe he should stop.
"Do you feel safe there?"
"Not at first, but now I do."
"I see. Why not at first?"
"Clockwork and I didn't meet on great terms and we sort of got into a fight." Maybe that would get the interviewer to stop. They'd decide Clockwork couldn't adopt him and leave. Did Danny want that? He wasn't sure.
"That's more common than one might expect. But you feel safe with him now?"
"Yes."
"Alright, moving on. How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
There was a long, drawn out silence that managed to be skeptical despite the interviewer's lack of a face.
"I know I'm small," said Danny, insulted, "but I am sixteen."
"Excuse my indelicacy, but... how old were you when you died?"
Danny flushed. "Fourteen," he bit out.
"Then you're fourteen."
"It was two years ago. I'm sixteen."
"Fourteen is your natural age," said the ghost. "A ghost's natural age is the age they died at."
"Yeah, but I'm still half human. I'm still aging. So I'm sixteen."
The interviewer shook their head. "As a liminal spirit, your apparant age range is likely larger than a normal child's would be, but your natural age, your true age, is still fourteen. Based on records of liminals, the highest extent of your age range is most likely to be either twenty-one or twenty-eight. That's part of the reason we investigate official adoption request so thoroughly. The relationship may very well last for thousands of years, if not forever."
"Wait, are you saying I could live forever?" asked Danny, incredulous. This was not how he wanted to find out he was immortal. Heck, he didn't want to be immortal.
"I'll admit, my understanding of liminality isn't perfect, but I believe that is the case. Why? Is that problematic?"
.
"The results of the law enforcement investigation have come back," said the bureaucrat to whom Clockwork was currently assigned. "As well as an inquiry as to the opinion of the mortal law enforcement arm."
"And?" asked Clockwork. "Their findings?"
The bureaucrat, who had up until that point not displayed evidence that xe possessed any emotions whatsoever, made a face of extreme disgust. "When the officers found the child, the human parents were openly shooting at him. Other humans intervened for long enough for law enforcement to pick him up. Of course, they then felt the need to arrest him and carry him away in handcuffs... I have no idea why I keep at this job, really I don't."
Clockwork's core shifted in worry. His first impulse was to leap up and go comfort Daniel, but he suppressed it. If he left now, he would lose his place in line and have to start over.
"The public nature of the event means that the human police are now investigating the child's circumstances and may recommend that the child be removed from his human parents' custody. If you have a human identity and you are able to gain custody of him there, it will aid your case here."
"I am aware," said Clockwork.
"Well, then," xe said. "I believe this is all in order. Here is your ticket to see the judge. Just show it to the door. You know where it is?"
"I do," said Clockwork, rising.
He had walked by the door several times in his dealings with the various clerks and notaries. The room behind it lay directly in the heart of the family court building, all the other rooms and residents armor for this one.
The door itself was made of dark wood full of eye-shaped knots. As Clockwork approached the door, the eyes opened, watching him. He held up the ticket and the doors swung inward.
Inside was a courtroom, complete with benches, tables, a witness stand, a courtroom recorder, a judge's box, and a judge.
The judge was a one-eyed ghost in pale purple robes. She examined Clockwork.
"We had not foreseen this," she said. "Not until you filed the first motion."
"You were never able to see me clearly," said Clockwork, hoping this would not turn into a power play between himself and the Observants. "Did you receive the relevant paper work, your honor?"
"Yes," she said. "Take a seat, Lord Clockwork."
Clockwork flew to the front of the courtroom and settled himself in the applicant's chair.
The judge leaned forward. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"Because I love Daniel, and I believe he deserves more care and protection than he is currently receiving from his biological parents."
The judge waved a clawed hand. "Yes, yes. But you didn't have to go through all of this and get to me in order to do that. You could have just taken him. That's what most people do, nowadays. Ever since the King was sealed and our systems of governance began to decay."
"I believe it is the only way Daniel will truly be safe," said Clockwork, meeting her one eye calmly.
"You want to prevent us from 'interfering.'"
"That would be nice, yes," agreed Clockwork.
"You want this to be binding," accused the judge.
"You say that like it is a bad thing," said Clockwork. "But what else could induce him to fully remove himself from that situation? You see how they treat him. Have you looked at the medical report, yet?"
"I have," said the judge, looking at her desk. "Very well. All the paperwork is in order. I am approving you for a one-month trial period. At the end of the trial period, the status of the child will be assessed. If his state is found to be acceptable, the adoption will be approved and bound. If it is not, this court will take custody of him until such a time as an appropriate guardian can be found." She scribbled something on a piece of paper and then hit it with a stamp. "The probationary bond should be active. You may go."
"Thank you, your honor."
.
After the end of the interview, which had become much more distressing than Danny wanted to admit, one of Walker's goons showed up and took him away, to another room.
This room was different than any of the other rooms he had seen in Walker's prison. For one, the walls were a soft, pastel green with purple accents, not the harsh, neon pink of elsewhere in the facility. The chairs looked soft, and were arranged almost randomly, clustered in little groups, or around tables. There were colored pencils and crayons on and occasionally floating over the tables. A large basket sat in one corner, overflowing with toys of various sizes.
Alright. Danny was confused.
He let the goon- the... officer?- guide him into one of the chairs and put a stuffed rabbit on his lap.
"I- I don't understand," said Danny. "What's going on?"
"Didn't that interviewer guy tell you?"
"He said I was being adopted," said Danny, who still hadn't wrapped his head around that particular tidbit of information. "But I thought- I was under arrest?" He raised his cuffed hands. "You arrested me?"
"Those're just so you don't run away," said the ghost. He ruffled Danny's hair. "You're not under arrest. We're just waiting for the court to decide what to do with you."
"And what if they don't do anything with me?"
"Then it's up to the boss."
"Oh," said Danny, not liking the sound of that at all.
"But, if it helps, I think that the court probably will decide to do something with you."
It didn't really help, no.
"Do you want a lollipop?"
"Sure," said Danny. It wasn't like this day could get much weirder.
The ghost handed him a lime dumdum. Yeah. That was about what he expected there, honestly.
The sensation of a thick, weighted blanket being draped over his mind hit him with such intensity that he looked around, trying to see if someone had just wrapped him up in a blanket without him noticing. Tension bled out of his muscles, and his core finally stopped the angry/depressed/frightened/pained dance it was doing in his chest.
He felt... protected. Which was wrong, because he was in Walker's prison, and Walker would use any excuse he had to keep Danny imprisoned for a thousand years. Danny was not safe here. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
And yet, that feeling remained.
He brushed his fingers over the bandages over his chest. What was wrong with him? His parents hadn't even cut all the way through, but he was so messed up. He didn't understand.
This feeling... This 'safety'... It felt like a cruel joke more than anything else, only it was one he couldn't escape from because it was coming from inside him and he was calm but he was also crying.
"Oh, heck, do you not like lime? I think I have some green apples-?"
The door to the room opened, and Danny looked up. Before he could register who had come in, he was swept up into a hug.
He blinked into silky purple cloth. "Clockwork?" he croaked.
"I'm here," said Clockwork. "It's fine. You're safe now, Daniel."
Danny pushed away. Clockwork let him. "You're adopting me?" asked Danny.
"Yes," said Clockwork. "Unless you don't want me to."
"Why?" asked Danny. "I don't understand. I didn't think you liked me that much."
"I like you very much," reassured Clockwork. "I want you to be my family."
Danny sniffed. "Okay," he said. It wasn't as if he really had anywhere else to go. "Okay. But what about," he made an awkward gesture with his cuffed hands, "Amity Park?" The idea of leaving hurt, even worse than the cut on his chest.
"You won't have to leave," said Clockwork, soothingly. "You can still have your life there."
"I'll have to go back?" asked Danny, in alarm. Back to Fentonworks, where even the walls had it out for him with how much anti-ghost weaponry they had packed into them? He couldn't. Not after what his parents had done.
(A small part of him knew that wasn't what Clockwork had said, and that he was being irrational. That part of him was ignored.)
"No, no," said Clockwork. "I have a new place, just for you. If you'll let me show you?"
Very hesitantly, Danny nodded.
"Alright, good," said Clockwork. He turned to the police ghost. "Do you have the key for these? We really must be going."
"Yeah," said the ghost, producing the item. "The boss says that he expects you to teach the kid how to respect the law."
"Appropriately," said Clockwork, neutrally, unlocking the cuffs.
Danny felt an urge to hug Clockwork. So he did. Clockwork hugged him back, and rocked him back and forth, gently.
"Are you ready to go?" asked Clockwork.
"Yeah," said Danny.
With a gesture of his staff, Clockwork opened a portal.
.
Clockwork wanted custody of Danny. He wanted full custody of Danny. Legally. In both worlds.
This posed a bit of a challenge, as he did not legally exist on one of those two worlds. Thus, Clockwork had to establish a legal presence in the human world.
On the surface of it, this did not seem too difficult. Between his temporal powers, his minor shapeshifting abilities, and overshadowing, simply creating an identity was easy. The hard part was creating an identity that Daniel would not have encountered before, in order to avoid a paradox, while making it plausible that Daniel had encountered the identity before, for the purposes of dealing with mortal law.
In one timeline, the hill to the west of town stood empty of habitation, owned by the county but rendered unusable due to a dangerous failed mine on the site. In this timeline, however, the mine had never been built, and the property was instead owned by a reclusive hermit who went by the name of Charles Worth. The property had passed through many hands in the years before Mr. Worth had purchased it in his youth, and a stately, if somewhat faded, mansion sat at the hill's crest, overlooking Amity Park.
Charles Worth went to Amity Park only rarely, and for good reason. He was an albino, with red eyes, white hair, and even whiter skin, and superstitious people often thought the worst of him. In recent days, he had even been mistaken for a ghost.
'Mistaken.'
He rubbed Daniel's shoulders, and the child startled, pulling away from him again. Daniel had missed Clockwork's, admittedly minor, transformation, and now blinked up at his newly pale face, confused.
"Do you like my disguise?" asked Clockwork.
Daniel's eyes flicked up and down Clockwork, assessing, processing. He gave a tiny nod, and reattached himself. "Where are we?" he asked.
"Hickory Hill," said Clockwork.
Danny frowned, mouthing the words. "Isn't that owned by... Charles Worth. Charles- Oh. I get it."
Clockwork gave Danny a little squeeze. "Would you like to see inside?"
"Okay," said Danny.
.
The house, Danny had to acknowledge, as they approached the front door, looked haunted. As if some pale, frail, spirit might look out one of the lace-draped windows on the upper floor at any moment. As if there was a Gothic mystery just waiting to unfold. A murder mystery, maybe, full of forbid love and jealous lovers. Or the tale of a sickly heir to a great fortune.
Or that of an ancient ghost and his adopted half-living son.
Even before they stepped inside, Danny's ghost half had decided it loved the building.
The door, as Clockwork opened it, creaked in a loving sort of way, the tone low enough to be comforting instead of annoying. The entrance hall's floorboards did not creak under the weight of the ghosts, but Danny could tell that if a human tried to cross them, they would. He hoped the rest of the floors were like that.
He padded forward, daringly leaving the protection of Clockwork's cloak, examining all the dark nooks and crannies, the odd architectural choices arising from generations of additions, smiling at cold spots. Clockwork shut the door. Even then, there was a draft, curling around his ankles, cool and refreshing.
Danny smiled. It was small and strained, but it was a smile. "It's perfect," he said.
"Don't you want to see your room before you say that?" teased Clockwork.
"Yes," said Danny.
Clockwork led Danny to a staircase with an elaborately carved banister and began to climb. Danny followed eagerly. He had never thought his core would be so happy simply to have somewhere safe to exist.
It almost was enough to let him forget what his parents had done to him. He stopped, hand on his chest.
"Daniel?" said Clockwork. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," said Danny, automatically.
Clockwork frowned, the expression both familiar and foreign on Clockwork's falsely-human face. "Why don't we take a look at that, once we get to your room, alright?"
Danny nodded, swallowing back his irrational fear.
They went up, and Clockwork opened the door to a large room, much larger than the one he had back at Fentonworks. The bed was similarly large and equipped with curtains and enough blankets and pillows to turn it into a nest at a moment's notice. The walls and ceiling were painted a deep blue, with tiny green-white dots picking out a star map. The room also contained a number of carefully curated hiding places, areas where the dressers wardrobe or desk created blind spots and deep shadows. The floor was carpeted, but still icy.
It was an excellent room for a ghost (or half-ghost) like Danny.
He was too nervous to enjoy it.
Clockwork pulled a chair to the side of the bed and sat down. It was a little strange to see Clockwork actually sitting and not floating or coiling. Actually-
"Can you have legs in ghost form?" asked Danny.
"I can," said Clockwork. "But typically I don't bother." He patted the bed. "Let's take a look at you."
Danny hesitated, holding his hands clasped in front of his chest. Clockwork's face went soft.
"I just want to make sure you are healing. I know this is difficult, but neither you nor I want things to get worse."
"I'm fine," said Danny. "I heal fast. It was just- It should be gone now. I've gotten worse."
"Is it?" asked Clockwork.
Danny could still feel it. "I don't know," said Danny.
Clockwork patted the bed again. Danny sat down and started fumbling with the hem of his shirt.
"Would you like help?" asked Clockwork.
"No," said Danny. He pulled his sweater off. Taking off his t-shirt was harder. Then there were just Sam's bandages. He bit his lip a the red and brown blotches staining them.
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Clockwork, taking one end of the bandage and starting to unwind it.
"I don't know," said Danny. "I just- It's so stupid. I shouldn't have- They saw me walk through a door and- They don't even know I'm Phantom. They just-" Danny hiccuped. "They tried to cut me open. They pretended."
Clockwork pulled free the last layer of bandages. The long, shallow cut was still there, straight along his breast bone until the end, where it curved sharply right and tapered off. That was when Danny had jerked free of the restraints and ran.
"Why isn't it healing?" asked Danny.
"It isn't just a physical wound, Daniel. Ghosts are spiritual creatures."
"Oh," said Danny. It made a sick kind of sense. "So my core is really hurt? I thought I was just... That it was in my head."
Clockwork raised a hand to touch the bottom of the cut. "Your parents are important to you, and to your Obsession, your existence as a ghost. Of course their rejection would affect you." The cut began to knit itself together underneath Clockwork's fingers. Danny's core thrummed strangely at the touch. "I can heal your physical injuries."
"But not the mental ones, huh?" said Danny.
"You need time for that," said Clockwork, reaching the top of the cut.
"Good thing I have you, then."
"It is," said Clockwork. He leaned forward and kissed Danny on top of his head.
Danny ran his fingers up and down the newly healed cut. "So my powers aren't going to work until, what, I get over this?"
"That is one possibility," said Clockwork. "But everyone heals differently."
"Can't you tell?" asked Danny, reaching for his shirt.
"The more involved I am in an event, the more difficult it becomes for me to see its future," said Clockwork. "The timeline branches and splinters as I look at it. Also, it may surprise you, but you are fairly difficult to predict on your own."
"Oh," said Danny. He pulled his shirt on, ignoring how it caught on the dried blood on his skin. "So, what now? Should I just, I don't know, hide out here? I mean," he shifted, uncomfortably, "It's fine if I can't let anyone know I'm here, I get that, but I'd like to, um..."
"Live your life?"
Danny flinched. "As much as I can, yeah." He licked his lips. "Sam and Tucker didn't get in trouble, did they? They're fine?" He'd been so wrapped up in how miserable he was, he'd barely spared his friends a second thought, and now that guilt from that rained down on his head.
"They're fine. Due to the circumstances, they haven't gotten in any trouble at all, so stop that."
"What?"
"Feeling guilty. I know for a fact that the safety of others was your first consideration." Clockwork patted his shoulder. "As for your continued presence here on the mortal plane," Clockwork smiled, "would it surprise you to learn that I am in fact registered as a foster parent? I have even had a few children here, although not many stay for long."
"Really?" said Danny. "But... Wait, um. What about- What about Mom and Dad?"
"They were seen shooting at you in public after insisting that you were a ghost. They've been arrested."
Danny swallowed. "Are they going to be alright?"
Clockwork sighed and shifted so that he was sitting on the bed next to Danny. He put an arm around Danny's shoulders. "They'll be fine," he said. "But we should come up with a story about how you wound up here, hm? For the social workers."
.
During Daniel's periodic visits to Clockwork's lair, Clockwork had noted how tactile he was, how much he enjoyed hugs and other physical expressions of affection. After Daniel got past his initial hesitation concerning his new situation, that particular personality trait multiplied.
Clockwork suspected the Fentons were ultimately to blame. Their hostility towards Daniel's ghostly identity and their tendency to carry objects that could hurt Daniel precluded him from seeking comfort from them, and his friends and sister, while very remarkable, were children themselves. Their relationship with Daniel was different.
This meant that Daniel could and would spend long periods of time laying against Clockwork. Usually, he would be doing homework during those moments or talking to Clockwork about various ghostly things that he had never had a chance to learn about before.
Today, however, he was just sitting there, quietly, almost dozing.
"I'm not keeping you from doing things?" asked Daniel, abruptly. "Am I?"
"No," said Clockwork.
"You don't have to do time stuff?"
"I can make duplicates and also time travel. I can be wherever I need to be. But if you want space-"
"No," said Daniel. "This is good." He snuggled closer and startled as a ring of light flashed around his waist. He was, for the first time since before his parents had attacked him, a ghost. Clockwork, in turn, shed his human guise.
Daniel was blinking down at his gloved hands.
"What?" he asked.
"I think you finally relaxed," said Clockwork, ruffling Daniel's hair. The smaller ghost leaned into the touch, purring. "Your transformations might be a bit unpredictable for the next few days."
"Good thing it's a weekend, then, huh?"
.
Danny jittered nervously as he and Clockwork passed through the large, eye-covered doors. This time last week, strange ghosts had been in and out of Clockwork's house, asking questions, poking things, and staring. Clockwork said they were checking to see if everything was in order, if the adoption could become official.
Danny didn't really see why it being official mattered. The Ghost Zone didn't really have a government to speak of. Families that Danny had seen just sort of decided that they were families, and that was that. It seemed important to Clockwork, though, and Clockwork claimed that there were certain benefits, like strengthening connections... Danny didn't get it. Wouldn't their connections be strengthened anyway?
Clockwork guided Danny with small nudges, directing him to a seat in front of the judge, who stared down at them with her one enormous eye.
"I have decided to approve the adoption request regarding Daniel Janus James Fenton-Phantom," she said.
Danny felt Clockwork relax incrementally beside him. He smiled. The judge's pronouncement felt a little anticlimactic to him, but, well, whatever.
But the judge wasn't done speaking. "The child's familial bond with his biological parents will be severed. The familial bond will be established with his current guardian, known as Clockwork. On all levels legal, physical, metaphysical, metaphorical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, Clockwork will be the sole parent of Daniel Janus James Fenton-Phantom. Due to the child's status as a liminal spirit, the memories and associations stored in his human brain will not be altered, and he may still experience feelings, especially those of nostalgia, towards his former parents, however, this is expected to fade with time. Questions?"
Danny had rather a lot, actually. Clockwork hadn't quite explained it like this. "Wait, are you saying I'll forget my parents?"
"No," said the judge, in a rather condescending tone.
"You won't forget them," said Clockwork. "But your core won't recognize them as your parents anymore. It's so you'll be able to defend yourself." His tone was almost pleading. "Your relationship with your sister will, of course, be unaffected."
"Okay," said Danny. They clearly didn't see him as their son anymore, so... It wouldn't really change anything. He didn't like the idea of ghosts he didn't know messing around with his core, but he trusted Clockwork. Even if he was apparently really bad at explaining ghost adoption. "What about the other stuff? The physical, metaphysical part?"
"The severed bonds in your core are replaced with ones to your new parent. Similarly, new bonds will be established in your parent's core," explained the judge. "Are you satisfied?"
Clockwork gave Danny an encouraging smile.
"I- Yes. I'm satisfied," said Danny.
"Very well." The judge waved forward a seven armed bailiff who had been waiting in the corner of the room.
The bailiff carried two tall glasses and a large, covered pitcher. He set one glass each in front of Clockwork and Danny and poured a thick, white, faintly glowing liquid into each of them.
"What is it?" asked Danny.
"It is a potion designed to stop our cores from fighting the changes that are about to happen," said Clockwork.
Danny looked at the potion dubiously. "Like an anesthetic?"
"Like an anesthetic," agreed Clockwork. He had already picked up his cup. "Together?"
"Okay," said Danny, still doubtful.
He picked up the cup and brought it to his lips, watching Clockwork carefully over the rim. Clockwork tipped his cup back, and so did Danny.
The potion reminded him a lot of eggnog, except that it was thicker, heavier, sweeter, like it had been mixed with honey. Almost at once, that heaviness settled into Danny's bones, weighing him down, a sensation just to the left of sleep settled over him. He lowered the cup from his face, his grip on it going gentle. The bailiff caught it as it tipped over.
Clockwork reached over and gently, slowly, pulled him close. Then he went as limp as Danny.
Inside, Danny's core became open. Not open, as in vulnerable, but as in receptive. Listening. He felt soft. Malleable. Like someone could press their thumb into him, and it would leave an impression when he hardened again. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation.
The judge sighed with something like disapproval. "So mote it be." She raised a stamp up off her desk, brought it down, and things changed.
Or, at least, Danny did.
.
Clockwork, being the elder ghost, recovered faster from the potion than Daniel. There was no reason to stay at the court, so, after bidding a goodbye to the judge, he picked Daniel up and left, flying a polite distance before opening a portal back to their home outside Amity Park.
He settled Daniel down in his bed, phasing him beneath his covers and tucking him in. Daniel would need to sleep off the potion, as well as take time to adjust to the changes to his psyche, however minor they might be.
"I love you so much," said Clockwork, brushing Daniel's hair out of his face. Getting here had taken subjective years of work and planning but it was worth it, because now Daniel was his child, in every way that mattered.
Forever.
.
.
.
Yes, that ending line was a little bit ominous, but they're ghosts. They wouldn't be happy if it wasn't ominous!
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giftofshewbread · 4 years
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Rebuilding Babylon
 By Rob Pue
Published on:May 10, 2020
In Genesis, Chapter 11, we read about the descendants of Noah who were living in the area known as Babylon. After surviving the destruction of the earth and the great flood, perhaps it was just “human nature” that they would become prideful. They considered themselves the “survivors” of something more horrific than the world had ever seen. But… they also forgot GOD. And so, out of pride for their own PERCEIVED human achievements, they began to construct a huge tower… it was said to be about 650 feet high and about a quarter-mile square at the base, when construction ended.
According to my research, the Tower of Babel was abandoned, and the people of Babylon dispersed in about 2247 BC — just a little over 100 years after Noah and his family had left the Ark. It did not take the descendants of Noah very long to multiply and begin again to fill the earth — and once again, they chose to rely on their own understanding and human abilities rather than to seek, honor and follow God.
According to the Biblical account, in Genesis 11:1-9, “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’
“But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The LORD said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called ‘Babel’ —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”
Why did God confuse the peoples’ language and scatter them over the face of the whole earth? I believe one reason was the peoples’ PRIDE. They sought to build a prideful symbol of how great they had become, and that symbol would be a tower reaching to the heavens so that they could be “like God.” It is said by some that the Tower of Babel was also used as the Temple of Jupiter, and so the people there had not only forgotten the God who mercifully saved them from the flood, but were also now worshiping a false god in His place.
One thing God despises is arrogance and pride in the hearts of human beings. As our Creator and Sustainer, He wants to commune with us, to guide and direct us as a loving Heavenly Father, and He wants us to depend upon HIM for our needs. Not pridefully act upon our own sinful, human natures.
So when God confused the peoples’ language, the Tower became known as the Tower of Babel, since “Babel” means “confusion.” Likewise, the city where they were centered was also called “Babylon,” again, meaning “confusion.”
Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
Romans 1 is SO rich with so many things we need to be aware of and HEED today, especially — a powerful reminder of what happens when a people or a nation decide to abandon God and pridefully go their own way. All through the history of the world, such action results in the same end:
Verse 21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him NOT as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
And then, also in Romans 1, we read THREE TIMES how God “gave them over.”
In Verse 24, we read that God “gave them over” — “to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.”
In Verse 26, God “gave them over” — “unto vile affections.”
And in Verse 28, God “gave them over” — “to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are morally wrong.”
No doubt, there was much of this sort of depravity taking place in the so-called “civilization” in the city of Babylon. And so God scattered the people from Babel. The Tower itself was later destroyed by Xerxes in about 478 BC, and so the ruins can no longer be found. All their prideful arrogance against God, wiped from the face of the earth.
What were the people of Babylon actually trying to achieve? I believe they imagined in their hearts they were doing a GOOD thing — uniting, for common defense and security, for sharing of wealth and resources, for peace and safety… perhaps trying to create a “Utopian World” of peace and love… but again, they had forgotten God; and NO endeavor of man, without the blessing of God and dependence upon God, will EVER be blessed by God — especially when mankind abandons Him and begins to worship humanity — or worse yet, a false god of their own imaginations. And while Scripture does not speak, in the story of the Tower of Babel, of a “one-world government” or “one-world leader,” this, ultimately, is likely what the people there were endeavoring to institute as well.
Because we ALL have an innate need to revere and worship, we will either worship God or we will worship someone or someTHING else. Undoubtedly, the people of Babylon sought a universal LEADER — a MAN they could set up as King, and revere as a god.
Some things never change. Over the centuries, we have seen MANY attempts to rebuild that proverbial “Tower of Babel” and usher in a One-World Government — led by a special, revered “class” of people (or perhaps even one MAN as “ruler of the world”) whom the people will blindly and willingly submit to and obey.
On the surface, such plans have always sounded like great ideas — as if they were for the ultimate “good” of mankind and society in general. But the constant and recurring fatal flaw in all these attempts has been the ELIMINATION of God from man’s plans. And so the silly ideas of powerful men are quickly revealed to be the wicked devices of our eternal enemy, Satan — and eventually smashed to bits by the Hand of God Almighty.
We are seeing this demonic spirit of “Globalism” resurface again in our time.
Every day now, the push for a “New World Order,” a “One-World Government” seems to be more and more bold and aggressive.  That SAME spirit that dwelt in the plans, hearts and minds of the Babylonians has continued to rear its ugly head down through the centuries, often known as Communism and Socialism — the same ideologies we have seen in so many failed nations in the past. And today it is back, and what was once a covert, secret “agenda” is now “out” of the “closet” and being proudly proclaimed as the answer to all that ails us by the so-called “Progressives” on the Left. In fact, not only are they NOT hiding their evil schemes any longer — they are openly advocating for them in our houses of Congress in America and governments throughout the World.
The most recent — and most concerning — attempt at a One-World Government is being orchestrated by the United Nations. We’ve obviously all heard of the UN, but how much do we really know about it?  It began as the League of Nations after World War 1, to solve disputes between countries. Obviously, that plan failed when World War II came along, highlighting a “need” for a new organization to promote “global peace and harmony.”
In August 1941, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill held a secret meeting where they discussed the possibility of starting an international peace effort. Out of this came the Atlantic Charter, which paved the way for the creation of the UN. In 1942, representatives from 26 Allied nations met in Washington DC to sign the Declaration of the United Nations. And on October 24, 1945, the official United Nations Charter was ratified by 51 member nations. Today there are 193 members, representing countries from all over the world. That new ‘Tower of Babel’ now exists in the form of the UN, but once again, the God of Creation has been excluded. And the “new Babylon” has been located in New York City since 1952.
It’s interesting to note that while the UN professes to ensure the safety, security and equality of ALL nations and peoples, it clearly is a government and authority unto itself, where SOME are more “equal” than others. For example, with 193 nations now represented, and the headquarters in New York City, one might be surprised to learn that delegates to the UN have what is known as “diplomatic immunity” when on American soil. This means that delegates and ambassadors — and their staff and family members — can commit ANY crime — from jaywalking to murder — and still be immune from prosecution in American courts. They cannot be arrested nor can they be forced to testify in court.
Additionally, while 193 countries are members of the UN, the United States pays more than 25% of the total cost of running and maintaining the UN — at taxpayer expense.
And it’s clear — from the UN Agenda 21 to the latest UN Agenda 2030 – that the United Nations has as its main goal a New-World, One-World government. While it has no military of its own, member states deploy military personnel to foreign countries at the direction of the UN, meaning that FOREIGN SOLDIERS often patrol the streets and cities of other countries.
Case in point: Haiti, where UN soldiers from Jordan were deployed after the hurricane in Haiti in 2010.  Rather than help rebuild the country or maintain peace, this UN deployment became a foreign invasion and occupation. Virtually NO humanitarian aid was provided by the UN, and the country remains in rubble even today – 9 years later. Not only did UN “peacekeeping” soldiers NOT help the people — when the people peacefully protested AGAINST the occupying foreign armies, UN soldiers opened fire on them with deadly force. Similar tyranny takes place WHEREVER the United Nations’ forces are stationed.
Clearly, the UN’s goal is world domination. Agenda 21 — nearly 27 years old now, was designed for the United Nations to control all land, water, minerals, plants, animals, construction, means of production, energy resources, … as well as all education and information people receive worldwide. It should be noted that EVERY US president since George H. Bush has been in favor of Agenda 21 — and has worked toward its full implementation in America and worldwide — since its inception… UNTIL President Trump voiced his opposition to it in 2017.
Indeed, Agenda 21 has been very successful in moving toward that new “Tower of Babel,” but now they’ve stepped it up even further with a new program known as “Agenda 2030,” which openly calls for a One-World government by that time. Agenda 2030 has 17 goals. Time does not permit to discuss all of them here today, but let me mention just a few, and translate what they mean to you and me.
Goal #1: “End poverty in all its forms everywhere.” This means centralized banking systems, cashless “currency,” control of all finances; the ability of you and I to buy and sell.
Goal # 3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” This means mass vaccinations, whether you want them or not, government-controlled “health care,” and “death panels,” forced sterilization and forced abortions worldwide.
Goal #4: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This means we will all be indoctrinated with UN propaganda from cradle to grave… control, not only of our public school systems, but also our social media, entertainment and news outlets.
Goal #5: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Here we have forced acceptance and celebration of sodomy, pedophilia, “transgenderism,” and all manner of sexual perversion. By the way, in case you didn’t catch it, “empowering all women and girls” is Liberal “code” for “free abortion on demand.”
Other goals of Agenda 2030 include UN control of all water sources, control of food production, control of all private land, new UN taxes being imposed on sovereign citizens, UN control of the economy and private manufacturing and innovation, UN control of public transit, including determining who — and where — sovereign citizens may and may not be allowed to travel. Not to mention “big brother” surveillance — not just in public places but even through monitoring of our own homes, cell phones and computers. There is no such thing as “private communications” anymore. And, of course, stationing UN soldiers from foreign countries to patrol — and CONTROL — the movements and activities of free citizens here in America and around the world. It goes without saying, none of this can be accomplished here in America without forced gun confiscation.
The UN fully intends to implement these — and likely even more drastic measures to ensure a fully operational One-World, New-World Order within the next ten years. But like the Tower of Babel, this nefarious plan of Satan, too, will eventually be crushed by the Hand of God Almighty. The question is, will we, as Christians, continue to remain oblivious to these goals and plans of the enemy? Or will we educate ourselves and others and be a restraining force against the evil that threatens to engulf us — and our children and grandchildren?
2nd Corinthians 2 cautions us to not be ignorant of the schemes of the devil… and we also need to take to heart 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
So learn to discern. Study God’s Word and learn from those who went before us. Do not fall for the devil’s schemes, no matter how innocent and lovely they may be presented to you. And most of all, keep ONE thing paramount, no matter WHAT the future may hold: WORSHIP ONLY THE ONE TRUE GOD OF HEAVEN, JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON, AND OUR COMFORTER AND WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, THE HOLY SPIRIT. Those who stand firm to the end shall be saved.
Maranatha Jesus !
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tcsparky-blog · 2 years
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My 2021 Turkey of the Year award
One of my favorite blog posts in any given year is when I give recognition to celebrities in the world of  sports, news, politics or Hollywood. What recognition you may ask? Well those who have made complete fools of themselves usually by either their actions or words of mouth. This year is no exception, there are plenty of very worthy candidates to consider for the top prize, however, numerous everyday citizens also joined the mix this year. Before I start the proceedings, let me just remind folks that there are three and only three people who are exempt for this award. The President, Vice President and the author of the blog due to conflict of interest. It is being discussed to wave this rule considering what is going on in Washington, but for the time being, the rule stays. So without any further delay, let us begin the proceedings.
Before I get to the finalists and the winner, let me pay recognition to those who were deeply considered for the award but just failed to make the final 5.
1. Colin Kaepernick
2. Antony Blinken
3. Liz Cheney
4. Dr. Fauci
5. Mitch McConnell
6. Rob Manfred
7. Ben Simmons
All of these individuals deserve a huge pat of the back. Better luck next year!
Now for the top finalists.
1. Aaron Rodgers.  ARod has always been a highly respected NFL player of mine. But during this past offseason, Rodgers became a big time professional athlete diva. He demanded this and that from the Green Bay Packer organization. Off course there are several athletes out there like him but then he sealed his fate in the top 5 by attending a Halloween party while not being fully vaccinated. In the process, Rodgers came down with Covid and was forced to miss a game. Any professional athlete in a team sport should get vaccinated. You owe it to yourself but also your teammates.
2. January 6th protesters.  Thousands of former President Trump supporters gathered at the Capitol on January 6th of this year. They were protesting the results of last year's presidential election which may have been rigged. Most of the protesters acted in a decent and respectful manner. A few took the protest too far by storming the Capitol building in Washington D.C. That type of behavior is a serious black eye to any Trump supporter and our country.
3. Rob Klain.  Klain is the current White House chief of staff who seems to think that inflation is just some upper class problem affecting only the very wealthy. How out of touch is this guy? Go tell that the the typical American who is paying so much more in gas and groceries. Klain is just another Washington elite who could care less about the average person in this country.
4. Kyle Rittenhouse.  Has anyone heard of this kid? If you have been living under a rock for the past month, maybe not! Rittenhouse is the 17 year old kid who showed up armed at a BLM rally to perform some vigilante duty. In the process a few protesters chased him, knocked him down and in all likelihood probably would have killed him. Rittenhouse shot the protesters to death. In my next post, I will talk about the case further. It is extremely foolish to take matters into your own hands at one of these rallies. I simply don't know what  Rittenhouse was thinking. Yes, he was being brave but also very foolish.
Now it is time to announce the runner up and winner of this year's Turkey of the Year.
Social media and big tech have created a great place where people can voice their opinions about just about anything. I am grateful for the opportunity to blog and share my opinions on this site. However there is one social media site who has simply gone over the edge. If you question whether the election was fair, you are met with censorship like many including President Trump has been. Or if you question whether government officials are telling the truth about the vaccines or Covid, you might just get censured too. But if you talk about the election being rigged due to Russian collusion, you are met with open arms. This site is none other than Twitter. I personally had a Twitter account for many years and canceled it. It is a cesspool of one sided garbage.
As bad as Twitter has been in the past year, there is another thing lurching out there that is far more deserving for the award. Just as we thought it was time to get on with our lives, this thing comes up and destroys so many lives around the world. Yes my friends, it time to award this year's award to none other than a virus. Congratulations to this year's winner, The Delta Variant. I give the award wearing a heavy mask and suit. The award is a one way ticket to the depths of hell.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I hope this year's winner does not come to your life.
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davids69811 · 3 years
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Making Use Of Top Level Domain Names to Create a Popular Domain
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We are possibly all aware of the image of a team of males straining to hear the starter weapon as they prepare to scamper as well as try to assert an item of 'Goldfield'. For those that had strong legs, or just an excessive quantity of the foolish good luck, the race to their 'case' was most likely one of the most successful couple of hundred steps they have actually taken in their whole lives. Fortunes were made by growing your white flag at simply the best spot.
A comparable Gold Thrill has been happening on the web over the previous few years right here the emphasis was not a lot on physical real estate however on possessing an edge of the web certain to be passed by great deals of online feet. I am obviously referring to the thrill to obtain domain that link in with what people would normally key in as they search for items and solutions on the internet Domain Selling Websites.
In the domain name enrollment race many people initially saw it as a little bit of a 'complimentary for all' to obtain the most effective domain. A favorite method of some individuals in attempting to get in on the action of this most current Gold Thrill was the technique of 'Cybersquatting' where people acquired the domain related to business names or advertising mottos of popular companies. They after that held the firms (as well as in some cases even individuals) over a barrel by requiring significant amounts for the release of the domain name. Nowadays the common regulation and also the proprietorship of businesses to their names and advertising and marketing slogans are well identified in a lot of jurisdictions. In the USA for example Anticybersquatting Consumer Defense Act (ACPA) of 1999 makes it possible for business to take supposed cyber squatters to court in order to fetch what is regarded as their intellectual property. Lots of other nations consisting of the United Kingdom, Australia and also Canada have similar regulations in place Domain Selling Websites.
Does this mean that the domain Gold Thrill is well and also absolutely over? Not by any type of methods! There are still significant quantities of cash to be made by choosing a domain ensured to reel in traffic and after that either building a web site on it or offering it on to a 3rd party. Think about the following:
1) In many locations of economic task they are typically a great deal of gamers who have probably all registered their organization names as domain names. What is very usually not 'taken' however are domain names related to basic descriptors of the products and/or solutions because area. To use a spurious instance: When you look at the area of "Paper Clip Straighteners" it may be that 'Acme Straighteners', 'ABC Straighteners' as well as 'Straight as a Pole' have all authorized domains in their own name. But suppose a person wants to do a bit of price contrast or research the area in general? This is where something like paperclipstraighteners can be found in (it is offered in situation you are interested)! The proprietor of this domain name can utilize this piece of Internet real estate to set up a cost contrast site, a marketing site, a website that reroutes traffic to merchants on a commission basis or perhaps offer it to among business mentioned over. Somebody that agrees to do his research can make a big quantity of cash in this way. As an example the domain pizza was cost 2.6 million bucks after its proprietor bought it for $20 fourteen years previously! There are in all probability much more such treasures concealed somewhere on the net all set to be extracted by those who want to put in the research Domain Selling Websites.
2) We live in a rapidly transforming world, with huge quantities of new items and also solutions entering the market every single year. Additionally the social environment remains in a state of constant change with new patterns and styles arising faster than we can offer names to them! One of the implications of this is that pieces of Net property that were widely valuable in the past are quickly ending up being pointless while the excellent addresses of the future still have to be created. If you doubt this truth, just spend a long time thinking of just how to relative worths of faxmachineparts as well as ipodgadgets must have fared over the previous couple of years. If you are somebody that has a keen eye on growths within popular culture, or within a particular niche market, you possibly currently have a great idea of emerging patterns. Doing some study and also investing in a domain pertaining to those patterns can be a hugely profitable investment. I am rather certain, as an example, that the individual that signed up speeddating still can not believe his/her all the best.
3) There has been numerous efforts to open domain name enrollment and also the body designating domain names be slowing down in the direction of allowing companies to set up in register their own leading level domain. This means that they will then have the ability to put any identifier behind the 'dot'. Establishing such a system will however be extremely pricey as well as will just be open to the largest of the international companies. Moreover people are made use of to the system that has actually been in location considering that the creation of the Net and possessing a valuable piece of realty will probably constantly put a smile on the face of your financial institution manager.
So just how can you get a piece of this action? The all-natural primary step would certainly be to maintain your eyes and also ears wide open and also attempt to identify certain items of Internet property that might earn handsome earnings in the future. You ought to secondly not hesitate to speculate. Not every domain name that you will purchase will certainly be layered with gold dust however it is rather most likely that with some there will certainly be quite a bit more than dirt around! Lastly there are a couple of vital devices that you will need. The very first is a piece of software able to do numerous domain searches and also possibly a lot more notably something to monitor domain about to run out. This is maybe where the largest possibilities lay. It is fairly most likely that there are some extremely beneficial domain names in your area of interest that have been signed up ages ago by somebody that is just 'sitting on them' waiting for the right time to sell. Very frequently these names run out since their owners are not taking an active daily interest in them. This reality implies there are literally thousands of valuable domain names running out every day without their owners knowing the reality. If you can handle to find several of these and to swoop on them when the time is best it can be equal to placing a claim-flag in the paydirt Domain Selling Websites.
Many Effective Domain Names online
If you are attempting to build a service that has an on the internet presence, which just about every company in this day and age does, probably you have actually thought about obtaining the appropriate site name as well as address for your firm. That is because this address at which both longtime and future consumers and clients can discover you online can not be more important to your company's success. If it is extremely made complex, too long, or very easy to puzzle with one more website, you can be reducing yourself off from a great deal of prospective organization. The most effective Internet-based firms have obtained this part of their organization model right. They have selected domain that are catchy and very easy to spell, as well as record the creativity of the client and also client. If these organizations had chosen to register different domains, who understands if they would have been almost as successful? If you are looking to develop a winning internet site, you would certainly be clever to remember of what these business have actually finished with their online presence. There are a great deal of wonderful lessons to learn. Without additional trouble, below are several of the very best domain names in Internet history!
1. ebay.com
By now, everybody and their mommy has acquired something from this on-line public auction site. Established In San Jose, The Golden State in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, a Frenchman of Iranian origins, the site was originally called AuctionWeb. Even with this rather clunky domain, it still began to expand slowly over the following two years, holding 2 million public auctions in January of 1997 alone, less than a year as well as a half after the firm's founding. Yet the site really blew up when its name was changed in September of that year to eBay. Tale has it that Omidyar wished to call the website Echobay, as the online public auction website was actually possessed at that time by his consulting business, Mirror Bay Innovation Group. Yet that domain name was currently possessed by a gold mining firm named Echo Bay Mines, so Omidyar had to register the shortened variation of it: ebay.com. This fantastic internet site name is brief, memorable, simple to bear in mind and also lead to: the ideal mix. So the development of the name ebay.com might have been an accident, yet its ability to create success for its firm was no fluke.
2. Facebook
Anyone that has seen the hit movie The Social media may already recognize this tale, but also for those who haven't, they may be amazed to discover that the web site was initially called TheFacebook. Mark Zuckerberg, the website's owner, had actually never ever thought to call it anything else, till an eventful conference with Sean Parker, the young coding whiz who established Napster. Parker suggested shortening the name in informal, off-the-cuff remark, to make it cleaner. And the rest is history Domain Selling Websites.
3. YouTube
Established simply 6 years earlier, YouTube has actually become one of one of the most crucial internet sites in the world. Individuals are able to post their own video clips, whether they be pirated clips of their preferred TELEVISION programs, or homemade tv programs. And also the domain is simply ideal, with the assonance in the interior vowel appears making it roll off the tongue completely.
Errors You Must Prevent When Choosing a Domain
Top 3 Mistakes You Have To Prevent When Selecting a Domain
You ought to always seek a domain that's brandable, appealing and unforgettable. If you're company depends on your individual brand name, make certain you register your complete name - mine as an example is Randy Charach, so my first concern in picking a domain name was to get the extension, which I did a very long time ago. In fact, I have most various other major extensions for my name and also company name, Harmony Domains, too. Okay, those are a pair DO's, but this short article has to do with DONT's, so here are the leading 3 errors to prevent when selecting a domain Domain Selling Websites.
Mistake # 1) You should keep away from utilizing hyphens as well as numbers in the domain name
Hyphens and numbers in a domain name reason confusion and also additional description when the domain is being explained verbally. Pick a relatively short domain with as few letters and words as possible. That way there's likewise less possibility of punctuation errors for your possible website visitor.
Mistake # 2) Accidentally selecting names with more than one meaning
Be very careful not to make the exact same blunders these site owners made when picking their domain name:
therapistfinder
pensiland
Error # 3) Registering your domain name at a much less than trustworthy registrar
Make certain you register your domains at a reliable and also well developed Registrar where that use fair pricing on domain names along with additional totally free functions such as domain name forwarding and 24/7 phone assistance. Please do not shop on cost alone and if you haven't become aware of the company previously and they seem small, do your due diligence or threat losing your Domain Selling Websites.
Is It Far Too Late To Modification The Domain Name Of Your Site?
If you currently realize that you have actually slipped up in choosing a domain name for one of your already developed websites then there are two methods you can go to repair this ...
You can produce a brand-new, pertinent keyword domain and web link it to your existing website, or put your existing site on your brand-new domain and point your old domain to the new one. Ideally, you'll move the website to your new domain name and re-establish its presence there.
You'll want to think about whether there are back-links to your existing website so you don't lose your present traffic as well as online search engine rankings. If you don't understand what I suggest by back links and do not recognize how to move sites about, you might need to get someone to do this for you or discover how to do it on your own. None of this is really challenging; it just calls for a little knowledge and a bit of time. If you don't intend to find out and do-it-yourself, after that you can post the job at a site where outsourcers will bid to do the work for you.
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evolutionsvoid · 6 years
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I honestly never imagined I would work for a private company, especially with my background. For the longest time I felt certain and secure in my position with the university, so sure that petty things like funding and grants would never dry up. Then one day they tell you that there is no room in the budget for you and that is that. After all those years of research and work, you are just kicked to the curb with nothing but a big fancy science degree that no one really cares about. Yes, having a PhD in genetics sounds wonderful in the world of academia, but out in the real world it just translates to "big know-it-all who costs more than some undergrad." I tried to get into other programs and universities, but their ships were already full. All the other smart science folk clinging to whatever life rafts they have, knowing that once that program sinks, they will drown just like me. What you get is just pity and half-hearted assurances of "well, if something opens up, we will let you know." It is either that, or some bozo telling you to go after a smaller position, that demanding things like health insurance and higher pay is foolish. "Just start small and work yourself back up," they say. "You can't expect someone to just take you in as some lab manager right off the bat. You got to work for that." If I was fresh out of college, yeah that may have been good advice, but when you have things like insurance, taxes and a mortgage, you can't exactly be accepting minimum wage.    So there I was, trying to find any form of work when I was contacted by this company called Gen-Core. I had heard about them before, but had never really put any thought into going into that line of work. They were a huge company that worked with genetics and technology that took advantage of that field. While they did produce some high-class equipment, they also had always seemed shady to me. They did good work, but their methods and morals always seemed questionable and profit-based. Working for them felt like the equivalent of working for Monsanto, just selling your soul to do some nasty CEO's bidding. But when you are faced with a mountain of bills and a quickly fading future, a devil's deal didn't seem so bad. So when they called me up that day, I listened. They wanted me to come in and work on a huge project of theirs. It was top secret, so they didn't give much in sakes of details, but they did list a nice fat number when it came to a salary. While the money was enough to make me drool, the mystery of the project also piqued my curiosity. The work would be done in a remote location, with housing provided at the lab itself. I would be flown in with a team of other scientists to work non-stop on this top-secret project. If all went well, we would be going home rich and famous. It honestly sounded like a line you would feed to a washed up actor, but I took the bait. Things were not going well for me here, so why not take the risk and give it a shot? If it turned out to be some cult or an organ-harvesting scam, then at least I wouldn't have to worry about bills again. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    While being brought into Gen-Core and this top-secret project seemed shady at first, I started to get excited as the process went along. Though there were many meetings and a forest's worth of paperwork, the mystery and secrecy started to make me feel like I was some kind of secret agent. Going through all these trainings and the constant talk of confidentiality made me fantasize that I was being brought in to study aliens and other science fiction nonsense. It seems silly to feel that way, but it was doing wonders for me. Only weeks before I had been depressed and wondering where everything went wrong, and now here I was being brought into some high-paying company for a tantalizingly mysterious project. When they told me that the facility was in South America, I should have been worried. Instead, I was further intrigued and even more determined to learn what was going on. If I backed out now, I would forever be wondering what they were doing there. So in the end, despite all the secrecy and forms, I shook hands with Gen-Core and prepared for my trip down south. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   When you do research in academia, you are constantly pinching pennies and keeping a close watch over your budget. So many corners are cut and so many projects are cored out to compensate for such things. In that line of work you sneer and turn your nose up at the scientists who sell themselves out to big Pharma and other money-grabbing companies. You talk about how they are contorting science to just make money, and you shake your head in shame when you see them flinging millions of dollars around like it was worthless confetti. When you start working for one of these rich, "corrupt" companies, though, your view changes quite a bit. Sitting in their company jet on a cozy flight to South America will make you start wishing such treatment never stopped. It certainly made me loath the idea of ever flying coach again! In a few hours, I would be touching down somewhere in Brazil, where I would meet with a driver who would take me to the facility. It would be a long drive to out in the middle of nowhere, and that would be the place I would call home for the next few months. That would also be where I finally meet the rest of the team, as they were being brought in from all over the world. Either this would be an amazing opportunity to work on some world-changing project, or I was going to wind up being one of those hostage scientists for a James Bond villain. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    When I finally got to see the facility, I was blown away. It looked almost exactly like one of those secret labs you would see in some spy movie or science fiction film. Tall barbed wire fences separating the facility from wild jungle and layers of gates and checkpoints that seemed to stop you every five feet. The building itself was a slab of concrete and metal, so armored and bulky that I was positive it was built to withstand a bunker buster. Unfortunately my brain compared it to a high-security prison, which you never wanted to think about when you called such a structure home. Right here was most definitely the point of no return. You couldn't exactly call it quits after seeing a place like this. I am sure I would probably get executed and my carcass thrown to the ants in the jungle. Not exactly happy thoughts to be having on your first day, but I was the one who got me wound up in this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    At last I finally got to meet the team, and I have to say my spirits are up after seeing them. Though they were complete strangers, their interest in science and their devotion to their fields brought a lot of familiarity to the table. It's like meeting someone who has the same hobby as you, you may not know them, but you already have a lot to talk about and bond over. The rest of the team is: Dr. Kambel, who works primarily with gene sequencing; Dr. Haymond, who is a wiz when it comes to genetic engineering; Dr. Oswall, who focuses more on heredity and and the likes; and at last Dr. Taylor, whose work with genetics is mixed with the field of ornithology. Getting to talk with them was wonderful, as we all hit it off quite well. As we talked about our previous work, I recognized a lot of their projects and ideas from my academia days. Sharing stories about our research brought back a lot of good memories, and my worries from before seemed to fade. If these were the people I would be working with for the next couple of months, things were going to be just fine. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    This fantasy of being surrounded by best friends and helpful colleagues was unfortunately tainted when we met with the head of the facility. Jerry Conwel was the big boss of this place, and I could tell from the very start that he was going to be a major pain. First thing was the fact that he was clearly a business man, some CEO from Gen-Core who was brought down to run the show. Just to listen to him ramble about our backgrounds in genetics and whatnot made it painfully obvious that he knew next to nothing about the field. The way he talked about us and what we would be doing made him sound like a manager of a baseball team who never played the sport. Right off the bat I knew he would be the type of boss who would complain about the lack of progress despite having no clue how genetic engineering works.        We all received an earful from Jerry as he went over the history of Gen-Core and hyped up his own company for what seemed hours. Slide after slide of fancy looking buildings and cliche scientists holding colorful beakers, it was a joke. Everyone else was rolling their eyes or almost falling asleep. All of us had PhDs and papers published under our names, and Jerry felt the need to treat us like school children. At last, he got to the project we would be working on and we all sat up in our seats. He made a lot of hubbub about how we would be changing the world and making breakthroughs that would go down in history. At last, with great pride, he told us we would be bringing dinosaurs back to life. The room went silent, as we tried to figure out if he was joking or not. Dr. Haymond started laughing, as she was sure this was some kind of prank. Dr. Oswall wasn't too pleased with the news, as he thought this was some kind of insult to his work. To be dragged all the way here for some childish idea was ridiculous. It took a lot for Jerry to calm us down, and he tried to explain things to us. Gen-Core had recently obtained samples of dinosaur DNA and wanted to use it to bring them back to life. Such an achievement would bring world fame, as well as a boatload of money. Jerry went on about how people would go crazy for the chance to see real life dinosaurs, and such a thing would bring in an endless revenue that would finance future projects. Though he tried to make it sound noble and sciencey, I couldn't help but imagine that we were going to be making tourists traps. If we were even successful, what would come out would probably wind up at some zoo for kids to ogle and point at. Not exactly a noble goal. Regardless, we were being paid a generous amount of money to do this, and we were also kind of shackled to this project. The amount of paperwork we signed prior to getting here made it practically impossible to bail out now. If I quit and went home, they could probably arrest me the next time I farted under the claim that I had taken company resources from the cafeteria and tried to disseminate it amongst the public. So in the end, we all agreed to go forward, no matter how stupid it all sounded. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Jerry took us on a tour to show us the facility, and I think it helped win some of us over. The labs here are crammed packed with the best equipment and technology the world has to offer. I can't imagine any of us had the luxury to even have access to some of this stuff, let alone have full reign over it. There were so many labs and rooms that I am sure we could get lost in them for days. Amongst them were pens and rooms designed to hold animals and specimens, further showing how confident they were that we were going to be successful. Kambel had noticed that they had colonies of rabbits on hand, which he asked Jerry about. Jerry looked to us with a smile and told us that they were food for the raptors. So now we were bringing raptors back to life. Of course we were. We asked "why raptors" and he told us that "people don't care about things that eat grass."  The kids love raptors, which made it even more obvious that we were working to make exhibits for a zoo. So much for furthering science.    At the end of the day, Jerry laid out the plan for us. The five of us would be using this DNA to recreate raptors for the company. We had free use of the facility and anything we asked for would be given to us. Jerry would over see the whole project, keeping an eye on our progress and approving any and all decisions. That was unfortunately the one thing he made sure to beat into our heads. He was the boss, what he said was law. What made it infuriating was the fact that he still tried to act buddy-buddy with us. Going on like he was going to be a cool, laid back boss, despite the fact we all knew he was some corporate pawn. No doubt being placed as the head of such a project was going to give him a god complex. At least I have the others to talk to and rely on. Be it success or failure, I am still receiving a paycheck and surrounded by some brilliant minds. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Work on this crazy project just started, and already Jerry is being a pain in the neck. We have hardly had a chance to even glance at the samples and he is asking for a timetable. "How long will this take? When can I tell them to expect results?" He is acting like we are building a house, and he doesn't even know how to read the blueprints! We keep telling him it will take time and we will let him know, but I still catch glimpses of him haunting the halls and doorways. Thank goodness I have the others to talk to. Just one month alone with him would drive me crazy. It is probably a good thing for him that there is armed security around here, as it would keep me from strangling him. On that note, it is kind of unsettling that we have armed guards around here. Thankfully they are not hauling machine guns around, but still. It makes you wonder what they are worried about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     We succeeded in getting a good look at this raptor DNA sample and I have to say it is quite...odd. The strands are clearly degraded in certain parts and there is a whole slurry mixed in with it. Now, obviously, we should expect for centuries old DNA to be a little worn, but that isn't what is strange to us. There seems to be parts of the DNA and genetics that appear to have been tampered with. I know it isn't the right way to word it, but there are chunks that almost seem new. For what we thought was a raw sample, it doesn't quite fit. It is like hauling the chassis of an old car out of a scrapyard to find that it has brand new headlights. Did someone work on this before? Are we not the first ones who have been assigned to this project? If we are the second team, then what happened to the others? I am probably getting paranoid, but it is worrying. Those guards with guns seem even more frightening now. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Jerry is at it again, complaining about lack of results and progress. He keeps saying that we need to work faster and that we "should have had an egg by now." It blows my mind how ignorant and annoying he is. He acts like you can put dinosaur DNA into a chicken and have it pop out baby raptors like it was a vending machine. It's absurd. We are working as hard as we can, trying to reconstruct this sample with what we have and he is still ticked off. Like I predicted, this buddy-buddy thing is wearing off fast. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Parts of this sample don't make much sense, and we are hitting a roadblock because of it. Something about how it was preserved has added odd parts to the mix and we aren't sure how to proceed. Of course this gave Jerry a conniption and he demanded that we charge onward regardless. He keeps saying he wants a dinosaur, not excuses. We keep telling him it is delicate and slow work, but he won't hear of it. I am starting to wonder if this mysterious first team didn't just throw themselves off the top of the roof. Maybe that is why this building has so many shutters and locks. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Still doing our best to scrap together a viable sample and Jerry is throwing an ultimatum down. He wants us to attempt genome insertion within the month so that we have eggs to show to the corporate heads. Apparently the big wigs are getting restless and he wants something to impress them with. It is ridiculous. There is no way we can guarantee such a thing, but he is adamant about it. We told him that there is a huge chance something will go wrong and it will be a failure, but he doesn't care. He says he approves all shortcuts and work arounds, and that he will take the blame if something goes wrong. Yeah right.   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    We have worked nonstop for the last couple days, and we may have a chance of pulling this off. We looked at the tampered parts of the genome and got some ideas from it. Whoever had worked on this before had made some breakthroughs, and we have been able to patch some things together by observing their handiwork. Maybe this crazy scheme will work. Maybe. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    The samples have been injected and added, and now all we have to do is wait. Maybe an egg will come out of it, but most likely not. I know all of us are worried about what will happen when Jerry finds out that this test failed. Most people would take it in stride and say try again, but I know he won't. That jerk is so obsessed with pleasing his bosses and making a name for himself that he won't take any form of failure. Clearly this guy never worked in science before. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    I can't believe it. It worked. Four eggs survived the process and we have four honest-to-goodness eggs sitting in the incubators now. Everyone is thrilled, especially Jerry. He is already calling up people about our success, even though they haven't hatched yet. Haymond has tried to tell him to not get his hopes up, as the embryos could fail to develop but he can't be stopped. At least he is happy for now, maybe this will buy us some more time. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    They hatched. I can't believe they hatched. After all the crap we pulled, all the corners we cut and we still managed to birth four raptors. Everyone is so surprised, we hardly know what to do now. Never have I expected to pull something like this off. All of us are flabbergasted, except for Jerry. He has been talking pictures and videos non stop, sending it all to his higher ups. He has been boasting our success as loud as he can and I overheard him talking about "turning up production" like this is some kind of assembly line. Right now, I don't care. I just made a freaking dinosaur. I am going to need some time to recover from that.    One odd note is that the raptors came out featherless. I wonder if the original tampered DNA had anything to do with that. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    They are only a few weeks old and Jerry is already talking about making more. He wants us cranking out samples and pumping out eggs as fast as we can, even though we haven't had any time to test and observe the young ones. For all we know, they could drop dead tomorrow. Or they could have some defects or health issues, we have no clue! For Jerry, though, he doesn't care. They aren't animals, they are products. He has already mentioned starting to work on making T-Rexes, because of course that is the next step. I am already worried about how we are going to care for four previously-extinct carnivores and he wants to keep churning them out like Furbies.          The raptors seem to be itching themselves a lot. I wonder if something is wrong with the humidity or environment of their holding pens. We should check that out. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    The raptors have been growing quite rapidly, which we can't tell is normal or not. Its not like we can waltz down to a pet store and pick up a "How-to-Raise Raptors" book. The one thing we do know is that they seem to be sick. They are making wet coughing sounds and they have been leaking from all orifices. I sure hope we didn't bring these poor things to life just so they could die from the flu. Taylor has been asking Jerry if we could contact someone or bring someone in to check on these poor creatures but he refuses. This project is not only top secret, but it is his baby. He refuses to let anyone come in and spoil it. He just keeps telling us to fix them. It makes me sick. Taylor is pretty torn up about it. He hates seeing those things suffer.    They are still scratching themselves a lot. They have started to make themselves bleed from all the itching. It is probably from the disease. I hope we can find a way to cure them soon. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Something is horribly wrong. The raptors' growth has taken an abysmal turn, and we are not sure how or why. Their scales are falling off and their bodies are forming these terrible growths. I don't think it is a sickness anymore, there is something very wrong with their bodies. We must have screwed something up with the genome, we had to have. All those shortcuts must have overlooked some issue or failure, and now these poor things are suffering because of it. They are in constant pain and they make the most horrible screeching sound. Jerry's bragging and boastfulness is gone, and he is now in "blame everyone" mode. He keeps saying we screwed something up and that he thought we were the best in our field. We just yell back that he was the one who demanded things be done in a rush, but he won't hear of it. I wonder if his higher ups are tearing into him for this failure. Haymond has seen him pacing around on the observation deck, looking at the horrible things that are suffering because of him. The phone calls he takes are a lot less happy sounding and confident. He doesn't say much about it, but I think things are going to be changing around here. Maybe they will send someone competent, but that is probably a fool's dream. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    The mutation and growths have reached a horrible level. I can't even understand what is happening to them. Malformed limbs, warped mouths and disgusting hairy growths.  The entire time these things screech and hiss as their bodies bend and twist. None of us can stand to look at them anymore. It hurts just to hear them suffer. We made the mistake of asking Jerry if we could put them down and he lost his mind. Started screaming and yelling about how this was our fault and that we ruined everything. He refuses to terminate them, saying they are the one thing we have left. He has pretty much stripped us of all clearances and authority. We can't go near their pens anymore, as he is afraid we will kill them without his permission. "Sabotage" he calls it. The raptors are locked down by his command and we are only allowed in our labs so we can continue to try to fix our errors. Jerry stays in his office all day. I haven't even seen him eat or do anything else but mope at his desk. Every phone call he has to answer seems to drain him more and more. I would feel sorry for him if it wasn't for the four tortured creatures he forced us to make. If he ever gets the heart to put them out of their misery, than maybe I could find some sympathy for him. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Something has happened, but Jerry won't tell us what. He just came storming into our lab today and demanded we destroy the samples. All of them. We were floored by the demand. He refused to tell us why, he just started yelling at us to pretty much torch everything. The samples, our work, our data, all of it. Delete it, trash it or destroy it. He wants all of it gone. Taylor asked if that meant that the raptors would be put down but Jerry didn't even look at him. I feel sorry for Taylor, as he cares so much for those poor things. We can still hear their pained cries, and I know it is tearing him up every time he hears them. Jerry just walked away, leaving us to do his bidding. We have no clue what is going on. We are all worried about what is happening. If we are purging all this stuff, then what will happen to us? If we have nothing to work on, what use are we to these twisted company?   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    Kambel figured it out, and now I know why Jerry is so freaked out. Kambel was going through the news today and found out that Gen-Core has just been pulled into this massive lawsuit. Some other company called InGen claims that Gen-Core has stolen research and materials from them, and from the sounds of it they have a very strong case. Tons of research and samples were apparently taken from their labs, and Gen-Core was the ones behind it. No doubt all this has been used to further their own research and projects. It makes me wonder how many "breakthroughs" and products that Gen-Core has boasted about are actually based on stolen research. All of us are terrified now, as this explains why Jerry was so adamant about destroying the samples. We were eliminating evidence. Those "tampered" DNA samples weren't from some previous team Gen-Core employed, they were stolen straight from InGen. If that is the case, then this whole place is coming down. Stealing something that valuable and rare from the company will no doubt guarantee that they come at us with everything they got. Haymond claims that we shouldn't be held responsible since we didn't know, but I am worried that one scrap of paperwork out of all the crap we signed will dump all the blame on us. Even if we are scot-free, are reputations are ruined. We will always be associated with this corrupt, thieving corporation. I never should have signed on for this, never. I got greedy and now I am stuck on this sinking ship with the rest of them. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    A helicopter just landed on the facility's grounds and that spells our doom. We heard from Jerry that an investigating team from InGen was coming to scour our facilities and prove the company's theft. I don't know what they will find after we destroyed everything, but I am sure they will come up with something. I have heard these folk are ruthless, and rightfully so. Gen-Core stole something incredibly valuable, so they are going to make sure we all burn for it. Jerry has practically barricaded himself in his office, terrified to face them. He has practically lost his mind these last couple of days. I think he finally realized that the company is not planning on saving him anytime soon. He was so sure that we would take all the blame that he didn't even think of the possibility of Gen-Core throwing him to the wolves. Poor sap. The rest of us have agreed to give these guys anything they ask for, hoping that they go easy on us. It is clear that Gen-Core has abandoned us, so why should we stick our necks out for them? If these guys tell us to strip down and do the hokey-pokey, I will do it in a heart beat. I will be as helpful as I can and do everything to show them that I am on their side. This wasn't my fault. I was just a scientist down on his luck. I didn't steal those samples, none of us did. We were tricked and we are more than happy to turn on Gen-Core and pay them back for this treachery. The investigating team just walked in, and I am ready to greet them with open arms. They don't look to happy, but then again, why should they? Jerry sure is going to get it no-    The alarms just went off and the building is going into lockdown. We have no clue what happened, but the security systems are on full blast. The shutters just came down and sealed all the doors and windows. It doesn't make any sense. What is going on? Did the InGen folk accidentally trip the alarm when walking in? It couldn't be, not with this level of lockdown. Only Jerry can control that sort of thing. Now that I think of it, he could do that from his office! But why? Was this some last ditch effort to delay the inevitable? If he was hoping to lock out the investigative team, he screwed up. They are locked in here with us! He has clearly lost his mind! Pulling a stunt like this is only going to make things worse for-    There was a gunshot, we all dropped to the floor. Everyone is hiding and ducking behind furniture, trying to figure out where the shooter is. I don't see anyone, not even the guards. Now that I have a moment to think, the gunshot didn't come from the lobby. It sounded muffled, and from down one of the halls. Like the hall where Jerry's office is. There hasn't been any other shooting, so I am starting to think the worst. Something is terribly wrong. I don't hear any more gunshots, just us cowering in our hiding spots. Wait, I do hear something. Something else in the halls. It's like a wet hissing sound, and the clicking of something on tile. Is it Jerry? Is it someone who got hit by the bullet? I have to see- no. Oh god no. No no no no no no no no. Oh god help us. Oh god no.   No No ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This has always been one of the scenarios I wish was played with Jurassic Park. I know it is far fetched and scientifically stupid, but I think it is a fun idea. I know I probably screwed up some of the science bits, but there is no way I am doing enough research to make this silly premise logically sound. I mean the serious, scientific parts of those movies have been thrown away long ago, so why not make some crazy fun out of it? They were already thinking of doing dino-human soldiers, so why not?  
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wwoofcsa · 4 years
Video
My weekend with pet
During my week with karla, i noticed (because it was pretty obvious) that i couldnt stop talking to petrina. We were like teenagers, messaging back and forth all day, day dreaming of one another and sharing everything under the sun. I was madly in love, like fall on your face in love with this girl and a plethora of bizzare things were circling our relationship (all of them super cosmic and hard to explain) that just gave me more reasons highting the importance of this relationship at this time. After intense and hilarious conversations, a thought popped in my head, maybe id buy a flight down to KL to see her for a few days? We chatted about it, but i was still feeling hesitations, i was afraid to let go and indulge in this realtionship. My entire life, im trying to find balance, and i was afraid that i was falling too deep into desire. BUT, after some conversations, i surrendered and jumped into the pool of love and bought my flight. A few days later, after pai, i was driving to the airport in chiang mai, hopping on the plane, and arriving in KL. I couldnt fucking wait! So i arrived, and we eased gently into one another, this was the first time we’d really spent time alone together, without any other stimulation to entertain us. But we eased smoothly the first night, as we laughed and talked and eventually fell asleep. The next morning we had planned to trip together. We had spoken about stepping a bit further out into the universe and taking a tab and a half each, and then adding some mushrooms on top. So we went and got some breakfast, made some food, set some intentions, and took the dive together. I lead the death meditation for her, and it felt like a  really lovely start to our trip. And there we went, our rocket ship left the atmosphere and the next ten hours were an intense explosion of connectedness, realizations and honoring the intriguing relationship that fell upon us. There were times that we held eachother so tight, that it was like we were a meteor flying through space, inpenatrable on the outside, but safe and gentle on the inside. It was as if i had lived multiple complete lives with petrina. Each life, a completely seperate reality, similar to mr. nobody. In one life, we were two kids that met each other and were full of lust. In another, we were partners with a child, all of us covered in with shalls and warming up by a fire in the winter of northern thailand. Another life, petrina was my daughter and i was letting her know how much her mother (petrina) and i loved her. 
The trip was incredibly powerful and intense, and near the end, we became slightly more sexual. Neither of us spoke, and i noticed that i wasnt sure what she was wanting from me. There were definitly signs that she desired pleasure, but at the same time it felt like a very surface feeling. I noticed that she wasnt recipricating touch, and that although we were being sexual, there seemed to be a slight distance making its way between us. Near the end of the trip, i started thinking about some of the things i had said earlier on, and that perhaps some of the things i had said earlier, may have caused a feeling of her needing to distance herself. I tried to open up and share and process the trip, but i could see that she was holding back a bit. I told her whenever she was ready to share, id love to hear. We fell asleep and the next morning she went to shower, closing the door and i could feel a continuance of the distance. It dawned on me that only a few days before, i was wearing the mask she was wearing of distance, and now it was my turn to feel the other side. I realized then, that neither of these roles were mine to play, and that mine was a secure one, and that i wanted to continue handling the situation from a place of truth and compassion, and not from anxiety and insecurity. So i meditated a few minutes as she showered, and when she came out, i asked if could share with her. She agreed and listened intently as i explained that i had noticed my mind finding insecurities, and only weeks ago i was on the other side of the coin. I realized that while i wanted to give her love, i never want to hold her back from anything, and that i really just wanted to make the most of our short time together. I wanted to end our beautiful weekend on a note that would send us into the world feeling good, and not one of regret and feeling foolish. I wanted to face my feelings, and confront them. I told her i was sorry, cause she expressed that she wasnt great with confrontation, but if we were gonna have a relationship of any kind, this is how we gotta do it. 
Pet was incredibly receptive and opened up a great deal about how she was feeling the night before. She opened up and we talked about the lust we were feeling the night before, and how it didnt feel great, that i wanted to give her love, but it felt cheapened by lust. I pointed out that i noticed she hadnt even touched me, and while that was ok, it just felt as if i was giving and she was receiving, instead of us mutually sharing love. The day continued on and our relationship truly blossomed. I learned the importance of communicating from a secure place, of not attacking, and not trying to pin my feelings on external events occuring, rather just to express my feelings and intentions. It was truly a game changer. We had a fucking blast the rest of the day, laying together in bed, getting coldstone ice cream, and going to see the new spiderman movie. 
Spiderman was hilarious, as we didnt realize that it was a cartoon. We arrived at the theater a few minutes late, and couldnt figure out what was going on. We left the theater and asked someone if we had made a mistake but the employee assured us that we had entered the correct theater. After reentering, we did some quick google searching and concluded, that we had in fact chosen to go see an animated spiderman, but since we were already there, we might as well enjoy it. And we did. It was a fucking awesome movie. I realized that night, that it didnt really matter what we were doing, as long as we were hanging out together, i was happy. 
A beautiful weekend of celebrating ourselves, with the lovely petrina
Things i learned from my acid trip with petrina.
There was this feeling in the depth of my being, that a large chapter of my life was coming to a close, and that this next chapter was about to commence. I could feel this third of my life, the third where i was making decisions for me and only me, was ending, and i was entering a realm where i would truly feel comfortable to make desicions that considered not only myself, but also others around me. Thats not to say that that hasnt happened in the past stage, but this would be the predominant work of this stage. A stage of giving back. As if the early ears of my life were focused on taking and utilizing resources from my parents and the world around me, and then i left for israel and i started thinking about caring for myself and taking less from those around me. I focused on learning and diving into the things that were interesting to me, and filtering a many great things that were interesing and letting those core healing practices emerge organically. I now feel like im arriving a stage, where i can truly allow for opportunites to come, that will help me dive to the depths of some of these realms that ive started digging in. Whether its a 21 day meditation course, or a month long ayuhasca retreat, im reading to get deeper. In addition, my relationshpi with petrina highlighted a desire that i had for a family, one of these days, a most unconventional family, and i believe that in this chapter of life, i will start to arrive to a place of emotional stability and groundedness.
In addition, i had an interesting experience, as i was showering during the trip. I could feel, very clearly, how much energy i had been storing in my dreads. This was stale energy that id been carrying around with me, weighing down on me for weeks, through pai and chiang mai. It was a profound experience, washing away all of this old, stale energy that was no longer serving me. I cant even explain how much lighter i felt after the shower, after coming to the understanding of just how much we carry with us and within us from the past and if we dont take time to cleans and wash, it really does build up.  it was awesome (like actually awe-some)
Another huge take away, was was omni present during the entire trip, was the idea of depth. I think for my entire life, ive been searching for depth, in almost everything that i do. Ive been trying to find tools to allow myself to experience the world in a more subtle and deeper way. During the trip, i feel like a door was opened that allowed me to see just how deep things can be in relation to how deep i have been living. It was truly humbling to see just how much of the mountain i had left to climb, but to see that there was a direction and deeper conciuosness (ironically, weeks later i would start my ayurvedic yoga/bodywork therapist trainging, where i would be consistantly practicing going to the depth of myself and of the world around me.)
Indulgance vs. discipline vs. balance
Lastly, something that petrina brought to my life, was this question between when its right to let go and indulge, when its right to hold back and be disciplined and how to find the balance between them. Obviously if you are always disciplined, you lose out on letting go, and living in the moment to some degree. On the other hand, if you are always indulging, it may be harder to reach a more sublte reality, or a deeper path.
An example of this would be, if i ate the entire cake by myself, i would miss out on a much deeper experience of sharing with others (a more eudonomic happiness vs. just sensual pleasure), or i would be trading sensual pleasure for pain and discomfort in my body later on. Or very simply, giving into sensual pleasures constantly, will be atempting to fill a void, that will just grow and grow (as both max and zen buddhism teach)
Having said that, if im constantly holding myself back, i may deprive myself of the simple and beautiful pleasures of life. In my attempt to get deeper, i will miss a very important lesson, in letting go and being present with what is, in flowing with the environment vs. trying to control everything. 
It’s been a very interesting idea to play with and observe in myself
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thelostcatpodcast · 5 years
Text
THE LOST CAT PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS: SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1
SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1
Episode released 14th December 2018
http://thelostcat.libsyn.com/season-4-the-hollow-city-episode-10-pt-1
Let us get up to date with what is going on. 
We have: the great destruction of the concrete tower tumbling in to the Bottomless Lake. The Bottomless Lake collapsing into the Hollow Palace that lay below it. The crashing of waves upon the palace towers as the huge body of water swirled around, looking for a way out. The heavy gates of the palace, groaning at the pressure but holding steady yet. 
And, finally, the tiny figure standing on the edge of the chasm, masked, running their finger tip from their forehead down their nose, and then leaping in.
There, I think that is everything. 
Now: let us begin.
THE LOST CAT PODCAST BY A P CLARKE: SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1
Down in the city fear was starting to rise.
The Hollow People heard the booms of the explosions, they felt the great shaking of the earth. Some ran to the exits, but they were blocked by fleets of Filler vans, assembling for a final attack. So they gathered on the central concourse, all of them, for the leaders would know what to do. 
But the leaders did not appear, no-one appeared at all.
“What’s happening in there?�� they asked. 
What was happening in there was Lisica.
She leapt from the lip of the lake, down in to the swirling waters below, past the grinding, shattering wreckage of the tower as it continued its slow collapse down in to the palace.
Inside the palace grounds was dark and loud – the high susurrations of breaking glass both close and far away, and the deep rumbles of foundational trauma. The water was twenty  feet high already, drowning much of the lower floors. 
Lisica swam unnoticed in the tumult, heading to the far left tower. She ducked in through a half-submerged window and found the Barnaban living quarters, filled with velvet drapes, chests overflowing with clothes and all manner of luxuries now strewn about.
In another room she could hear the bangs and hurrumphs of a huge man, bungling about in the dark, and the strained yelps of his many aides, trying to help.
She found it, a huge refrigeration unit, still humming on its own batteries because Dr Uremides took no chances. Inside were jars and jars of what the Bone Sisters took from the fallen Wholes – organs and meat. And Dr Uremides would fill Barnabus up with those organs to give him what he lacked and to fill him with a sense of hearty confidence and self-belief.
No wonder he had seemed so exhausted when they had first met: the organs had been getting old, grey. They had probably started to rot, there in the great cavity of his gut.
No wonder he had seemed so full of energy on the balcony the day before: nice fresh organs inside him then.
And here they rested, refrigerated at night to keep them fresh.
And Lisica took those organs, and replaced them with the organs that had been stolen from butchers across the city the day before: pig meat. Very fresh.
Then she heard Dr Uremides approaching with some guards on some jerry-rigged boats and rafts.
“Barnabus? Great leader?”
And there was much roaring from the other room.1
“It is I, your Dr Uremides, and the people have need of you. Time to fill you up”
Lisica left the way she came, throwing the human organs in to the water as she went. The doctor would be filling Barnabus up with her organs even as she swam away, towards the far right tower and Xavier’s living chambers.
Cold and sparse, Xavier’s chambers were, with bare, clean walls and neat shelves of books. The chambers were silent. One such as Xavier had no need of anyone else, when he had himself. There were no decorations but a huge mirror on one wall, bounded by small statues of himself on either side.
And she found him, to her surprise, peacefully asleep in his bed.
Someone such as he would rise only when he chose, and would happily ignore the concerns of others until then. Impressive, to be so self-content. 
She looked him carefully over. And there were the stitches that ran right up his side, and there, if you listened very closely, underneath Xavier’s steady breathing, a second, shallower breath of the small child he had within him.
No wonder he had seemed so listless when first they met, for he had almost entirely used up the previous child, who now no doubt lay discarded somewhere secret by Dr Uremides.
But now, with the child of the organisation’s leader inside him, he was entirely in control of things.
She oh so gently put a drugged cloth over his mouth, just enough to keep him asleep while she worked.
Then expertly she unpicked the stitches and so carefully she pulled the sleeping child from his hollow body. She was about to stitch him back up but then paused, having an idea, and then, with a small smile, replaced the child with one of the small statues of Xavier from next to the mirror.
Carrying the child so gently, she left, even as she heard the boats of Dr Uremides arrive at the tower
“Oh great and wise Xavier! It is I your humble Uremides. Rise! For there is an urgent matter only you can solve!”
The drugs had worn off, and Xavier was up and looking at himself in the mirror. He did so with a somewhat confused expression
“Are you alright, oh masterful Xavier?”
“I am...not sure,” he said.
Outside the palace walls, the crowd of all the Hollow people filled the concourse.
“What do we do? What do we do?”
The Feral Children moved all through the crowd shouting, “follow us! Follow us! We know a way out!”
But the Hollow People, all dressed in yellows and greens all kept staring at the empty palace balcony saying “what do we do?” still looking for their leaders. Still looking for their leadership.
And then the signal went up, the lights turned on, and everyone cheered as the great figures of Barnabus and Xavier emerged, waving to their crowds in their shining raiments of yellows and greens. Behind them, in the shadows, Uremides looked on.
Barnabus stepped forwards, and raised his arms up to greet the crowd. The crowd cheered. He took a deep breath, ready to speak… and then roared. Deafeningly, but without control, all vowels and spit.
With a frustrated look on his face, he breathed in a massive lungful to bellow anew but all that came out was a great honking squeal.
Barnabus collapsed, slobbering to himself. He may have been trying to speak, but all that came out were whinnies and oinks. He trotted off inside on all fours.
Uremides pushed a clearly perturbed Xavier forwards.
He raised his hands towards the crowd, smiling a little tentatively.
“Good people!” he said, then paused. He turned and whispered to Uremides. “Why am I here?”
“You are Xavier. You are Xavier!”
He turned back to the Hollow People and said: “I am Xavier. I am Xavier!”
And he smiled beatifically down on all of them.
They cried, “what should we do?”
And his face was as blank a mirror. “I don’t know,” he said. “What should we do?”
And at that moment the Feral Childrens stood up on barrels and stalls and yelled “come with us! Come with us! We know a way! Everything will be fine! Come with us!”
And it happened like that, in that instant. And afterwards everything was different. The crowd turned away from the light of the leaders.
“Yes!” yelled Bowen. “Go with the children. Your soldiers will protect you!”
And that was it.  No longer were they looking for guidance from the great leaders, and instead they looked to themselves.
The children led them down far tunnels, while Xavier waved weakly for them to return. He turned around to Uremides for guidance. But Uremides was long gone.
Now please do not think too little of the Hollow People here, if you felt they were fickle, or gullible or foolish. It is in their nature to trust, and their curse to be too easily tricked – they were not just blindly following. They needed safety, and they needed organisation, just as we do, from time to time. Do not think too little of them, lest we start to think of all the times we have been fooled, and we have needed some help.
The Feral Children led the Hollow People down, past the old sewers to a collapsed and forgotten exit. A little explosive on the collapsed part opened up the path, and put huge smiles on the faces of the Feral Children as they lit the fuses.
Back in the city, Bowen corralled the guards around him at the barricade as they waited for the Fillers. And from the depths of the corridor beyond they heard a hiss-whistle sound, and then one of the soldiers was whipped back, sliced almost entirely in two by a spinning, bladed disc that was now embedded in the wall behind them.
This was the Fillers’ new weapon.
And then hiss-whistles sounded out all around them.
The final attack on the Hollow City had begun. 
Back in the flooded palace, Lisica swam between buildings and great chunks of falling masonry with the barely conscious Jeremy towards the balcony entrance when, all around her slim shapes flashed down from above in to the water with barely a splash. 
Vampires were raining down, darting in to the water with the practiced grace of kingfishers after minnows.
Lisica pulled Jeremy out of the water on to a demolished attic, the closest remaining building to them, still many yards from the balcony.
Pale fish circled them in the depths.
Lisica was cold, and she shook with effort, but still she helped the boy along the rickety, groaning boards of the attic. Then a figure lit down upon the boards so gently they did not even sigh. Zubi landed in front of them, blocking their escape.
Cruel and imperious, the rain ran down her perfect face. “My poor dear, you seem like a drowned rat.”
Lisica said nothing, but pushed Jeremy further back in to the joists and broken woodwork, away from the Vampire.
“Your make-up runs, and we see who you are. You are but a girl left alone at the dance. Cry for me.”
They were backed up right in the corner of the ruined attic now. There was no way to get them but through the forest of joists, but also there was no way out but through the Vampires. Zubi stood on the boards, and swimming vampires patrolled in the water all around. Lisica pointed her sword out, and waited.
Outside the palace walls, Bowen, the Ghost, and the few last soldiers were being beaten back through the tunnels. Everywhere the hiss-whistle sounds echoed, and all around them lay their comrades.
“We can’t do any more,” said Bowen. “This is all the time we can give them.”
“Retreat to the central concourse,” cried The Ghost.
The Hollows ran deeper in to the city, and the hordes of Fillers ran after.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Dr Uremides drew up to the attic in his boat. He had his hands up to the gap in his head, increasingly distressed at the frothing water around him.
“Lady Zubi, the city is lost! But with that child I can still wield power. Zubi! Get him!”
“Come on,” teased Lisica. “Do your master’s bidding.”
And the Vampire roared with frustration.
Outside, the Fillers emerged from every tributary tunnel in to the central concourse. All of them gathered in that space. 
Of Bowen and The Ghost and the Hollow soldiers, there was no trace.
“Secure this area,” said the leader.  “Gather everyone. This will be our base for further searches.”
“Yes sir,” came the reply.
Inside, As a great chunk of the tower fell only a dozen yards off to their right, Zubi stepped up. “I grow bored of this.”
Dr Uremides spoke in to the tangle of joists at the far end of the attic.
“We will give you a count of three, and then the good lady Zubi will order the entire building torn apart, and you with it. You still have a chance. Just give the boy up. Shall we begin? 3… ”
And nothing moved behind the tangle.
“2… ”
The Vampires started swarming in the water around them.
“1… ” 
And then Lisica threw the sword out, then emerged, holding her rucksack out in her spread wide arms.
“Drop the bag too.”
And Lisica dropped the rucksack, but it fell in to the water and sunk in to the darkness near to the balcony entrance.
“Oh dear,” said Dr Uremides. “I hope it was nothing important.”
And Lisica said, “3,2,1,”.
And then, deep under the water, right up against the sturdy gates, the rucksack, exploded.
The blast from the explosion surged through the water and splintered the main gates as if they were match wood. The Fillers had just enough time to look up to see the wall of water hit them. If you hit water after falling from high enough it will feel exactly like hitting concrete. Now imagine if it hit you.
The vampires swimming in the water had no chance either. They were swept away and drowned or dashed against the walls.
The surrounding rock groaned so low it made the water fizz.
The great flood of water swept through the tunnels of The Hollow City, taking everything with it, scouring everything clean.
Lisica grabbed Jeremy and looked up as the final explosion acted as a signal for Cyraliene and the Blood Sisters to fly down in to the abyss of the palace. They picked the two humans up and then leapt up and out. They danced upon the falling masonry, using the concrete as leverage for their next leap out.
Zubi cried, “Sister Cyra! What are you doing?”
“The Blood Sisters have made their choice,” Cyraliene cried down. “Who makes yours?”
Zubi become apocalyptic in rage. The sharp and perfect lines of her face turned in to knives of rage and she screamed. 
She picked up a cowering Uremides, and gathered her surviving sisters to her. And cried: “Get them!”
And the Bone Sisters all leapt up after the Bloods in to the night, as the attic, and the hall and the towers of the palace all collapsed in to the great tumult of the water beneath them.
And that was the end of The Hollow City.
But, above, the battle raged on...
THIS HAS BEEN THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE OF THE HOLLOW CITY, THE FOURTH SEASON OF THE LOST CAT PODCAST, WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY A P CLARKE. COPYRIGHT 2018.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.
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