jiaohua | [turboheaven] catchall for the ghost potentially known as dan

[turboheaven] catchall for the ghost potentially known as dan

~~squints suspiciously at you. you're tutorialing aren't you. AREN'T YOU.~~

ok well i guess not

Taller. Older. Stronger. More like a ghost and less like a human.

[this tells her, like, nothing.]

What do ghosts look like in your world? Even the stories in mine cannot come up with a single consistent explanation of what they look like.

[so "more like a ghost" isn't terribly descriptive.]

[ huffs a laugh ] That's because there isn't any one consistent way for them to appear.

Former humans tend to stay humanoid. Skin colors tend towards blue or green. They have a faint glow unless they're actively suppressing it. But other than that...anything goes, really. Number of limbs, size, whether your hair is hair or made of fire, if you're even three-dimensional at all...

Ghosts are ruled by the mind. The body is nothing more than whatever the mind wants it to be, in the end.

...and what did your mind want your appearance to be, before you were forced into that body?

Strong. Imposing. Unstoppable.

So I looked less human than I did before. More monstrous. Blue skin, fangs, pointed ears. White flames for hair. I looked older, more like the age I felt.

You wanted yourself to look monstrous...?

Yes, and?

Why? Are there not ways of looking strong and imposing without choosing to look like a monster?

Of course there are. But I'm a monster. So I looked like a monster. [ shrugs, simple as that ]

Edited 2025-02-10 00:26 (UTC)

Who decided that you are a monster?

It wasn't a decision, it's simply fact. It's what I am.

But if you really need it to have been a decision, then I guess you could say it was mine.

Why do you think that?

What else would you call someone who kills all their loved ones, and then drags their guardian into murder-suicide?

You did all that..?!

[ laughs darkly ] Oh, that was just the beginning. I murdered people in the thousands, millions, even. I razed entire countries to the ground. I destroyed ghosts--and made others wish I'd destroyed them instead.

[this is really funny coming from someone who looks like a twinkish teenager. like. okay, hot topic chuuni.]

And now you're ... here.

[ i know, i feel like i need to be cutting the crusts off his sandwiches

anyway all the smugness and glee in his tone vanish with that reminder. ]

Yes. Now I'm here.

...

No wonder you have been so angry nearly every time I've seen you.

[ looks over at her in surprise ]

[the surprise on his face makes her laugh.]

You were not exactly subtle, what with your yelling and your ripping apart of that stuffed animal.

[ scoffs ] I was never trying to be.

[ looks away ] I just didn't expect... [ understanding? ]

[softly - ]

There is nothing more frustrating than losing power once you have had it.

[ clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly ] ...yeah.

[she grabs one of the little bowls of cheerios from the shelf and holds it out to him.]

...when you find the person responsible for taking your power from you, give them hell.

Edited 2025-02-10 03:36 (UTC)

[ blinks in surprise

then breaks out in a grin ]

Oh believe me. The second I find them, I'll give them all that and more.

[ not when he's nerfed he can't. but he's not thinking about that right now ]

(no subject)

jiaohua - 2025-02-10 10:27 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only