17th shards christmas 17th Shard's Christmas: Advent Calendar

[Experience]

Ok, I finished mine.

Today's prompt is... Shadow.

The emoji is . 

EDIT: Wow, that worked out perfectly. The new prompt on the new page.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Ookla the Shadowed

[Channelknight Fadran]

11 minutes ago, Ookla the Shadowed said:

Ok, I finished mine.

Today's prompt is... Shadow.

The emoji is . 

EDIT: Wow, that worked out perfectly. The new prompt on the new page.

You are magical, Exp.

And, uhh...

Vapor, aren't you supposed to be yeeted?

[Bearer of all agonies]

Vapor! Become ze Ookla!

[Cosmical Existence]

I’m late for yesterday’s prompt, because my photos were giving me a hard time. Here it is. I’ll post today’s prompt a little later, once I’ve finished it. 

[Mat]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Channelknight said:

Too bad. I'm asking.

7 hours ago, Ookla the Mok Turtle Soup said:

So I was on my phone last night at 9:57, and I knew it would shut off (my downtime is at 10) and I remembered that I hadn't done the prompt yet. 

So I went to camera and put my phone on the ground, taking the picture of the floor- but it's just a black screen, cause of how close I was. Then I went to edit that picture and just selected markup, picked the white marker, and... yeah, that.

I was gonna have the  on top, but it was 9:59 when I started so I just gave it up and hightailed it to the Shard. The literal second after I posted it my phone shut off.  

[Channelknight Fadran]

1 minute ago, Ookla's Dice said:

So I was on my phone last night at 9:57, and I knew it would shut off (my downtime is at 10) and I remembered that I hadn't done the prompt yet. 

So I went to camera and put my phone on the ground, taking the picture of the floor- but it's just a black screen, cause of how close I was. Then I went to edit that picture and just selected markup, picked the white marker, and... yeah, that.

I was gonna have the  on top, but it was 9:59 when I started so I just gave it up and hightailed it to the Shard. The literal second after I posted it my phone shut off.  

Huh. Cool.

[Experience]

Just now, Ookla's Dice said:

So I was on my phone last night at 9:57, and I knew it would shut off (my downtime is at 10) and I remembered that I hadn't done the prompt yet. 

So I went to camera and put my phone on the ground, taking the picture of the floor- but it's just a black screen, cause of how close I was. Then I went to edit that picture and just selected markup, picked the white marker, and... yeah, that.

I was gonna have the  on top, but it was 9:59 when I started so I just gave it up and hightailed it to the Shard. The literal second after I posted it my phone shut off.  

Is this what your using for your ?

[Mat]

Just now, Ookla the Shadowed said:

Is this what your using for your ?

*Checks top of page*

Haha didn't even see the new prompt  So, nope.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Btw, I edited the one I posted yesterday. I changed the term "Forces" to "Etherea," and "Force" to "Ethereum." I did this because the Force is already taken... 

[Chasmgoat]

I didn't have much time so...

Spoiler

 

[Experience]

This was fun to make, haven't ever made anything like it before.

Spoiler

 

[Nathrangking]

What silliness exists in the shadows? Where can they escape from the Witless wits? Around a crackling fire where more learning is present than all of the libraries in all of the lands. Warmth spreads and songs rise. They spin around and join with wisdom around flames bounded by wisdom. 

[Tesh]

Well, here's a picture of the shadow of a tiny Christmas tree. Unfortunately, my phone's camera isn't super great.

Spoiler

And the bird, the tiny gremlin that things he's the center of the universe. He made taking that first picture very difficult.

Spoiler

Merry Christmas!

[Knight of Iron]

Apparently someone liked my tree "emoji" and so now because I am too lazy to be creative I have made another emoji related to the prompt.

And no, it's not related to the prompt emoji, just the word thing.

Behold, the Ninja Shadow.

 

...and the smirking variation

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ookla the Knight

[I Am A Fish]

Just now, Ookla the Knight said:

Apparently someone liked my tree "emoji" and so now because I am too lazy to be creative I have made another emoji related to the prompt.

And no, it's not related to the prompt emoji, just the word thing.

Behold, the Ninja Shadow.

Another lazy emoji maker?

[Knight of Iron]

10 minutes ago, I Am A Fish said:

Another lazy emoji maker?

Thank you very much!

I do plan to do some other things though for other prompts. But this is fine too.

[Bearer of all agonies]

[Channelknight Fadran]

Finally finished it! Part 2 of Forces of Nature. In case you missed yesterday's, here is link:

Spoiler

 

And here's the story:

Spoiler

Hagytha didn’t like being old.

Her joints kept aching all the time, and her eyesight was far from where it used to be. She could barely read the recipes in her cookbook anymore; not that she needed them.

She hummed as she stirred her potion, surrounded by candles. Most of her customers assumed she did that for effect, though the small children believed that they granted her power. Funny that those were both right.

The bell at the door rang, and Hagytha grunted as she tried to stand up straight. An embarrassing croak of pain laced her sentence. “Hi, welcome to Hagytha’s Alchemic Shop. How can I help you?”

The customer was a young girl; probably younger than twelve. Hagytha remembered being that young… and she probably could become young again, if she wanted to. But no; that was cheating. She got to live for seven hundred years, she she got to become old. You get what you get and you don’t drink a potion to make sure you stop getting it.

“I was wondering if you could help me.” The girl peeped.

Hagytha raised an eyebrow. “Then you came to the right place. What do you need?”

“Um, I…” She crept forwards. “Are… are you like me?”

“Not in the slightest. You’re… what, ten? Not a wrinkle in sight on that baby face of yours.” Hagytha pushed up her glasses. “Very pretty face, by the way.”

“Um… thank you. But that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“Like… can you feel them?” Her voice somehow grew even quieter. “Like layers… but without the space in between.”

Hagytha was quiet for a moment, mind filled with thoughts and questions. She settled on only one of these, though, to say aloud. “What’s your name?”

The girl hesitated; poor thing looked scared half to death. “Daisy.”

“Well, Daisy… why don’t you come on back?” She asked. “Old Hagytha’s best cures aren’t the ones that you can drink.”

Daisy followed Hagytha to the back of her little shack, both of them passing through a smoke-like curtain that separated one half of the house from the other. The walls were covered in shelves, which, in turn, were covered in no end of random junk. The place looked like a fishing hut, but without the smell of week-old tuna. Two pillow-like cushions sat on the floor; there were always enough for her to seat her guests.

Hagytha sat down on one of these, then took a small pot off a stove, pouring the contents into two cups. “I hope you like hot chocolate, Daisy, because that’s what’s cooking in the house tonight.”

“Thank you.” Daisy, who had sat down on the other pillow, took the cup. She didn’t drink, though. 

Hagytha, on the other hand, downed her own in just a few gulps. “So… what is it that you need, exactly?” She asked. “Something about layers?”

“It’s… the masters called them Etherea.”

Hagytha raised an eyebrow, and held her cup up to her lips, as she had just poured herself second helpings. “The Etherea, you say?”

“Yeah, and the kids here… they keep talking about how magical you are. So I thought that maybe you had answers.”

Hagytha sipped her drink. “You were with the masters, weren’t you? Why didn’t you ask them?”

“I… I ran away.”

“Why?”

“It felt wrong.”

Inside, something broke; the feeling of a sad sentiment that grew from sometime that you didn’t know would become such an experience. The pure, clear wisdom of a child… it was always something that no amount of time spent in life could replicate.

“Like a shadow on your soul?” Hagytha asked. “Something that you can feel and draw upon—something you can use to strengthen yourself—and even though you can comfort yourself with it, you just can’t seem to get rid of it?”

“I… yes. Like that.” She looked down at the floor. “I don’t know why I’d want to get rid of it, though.”

“Well, kid, that’s what happens when you’re unlucky enough to become like me,” Hagytha replied, holding up her cup. “A witch.”

“A witch?”

“That’s what you are, aren’t you? You can use the Etherea? That’s what witches do.” She drained her cup. “What you need, Daisy, is someone who gets it. Somebody who can teach you about the privilege—and responsibility—of being attuned to the Etherea.”

“Can you teach me?” Daisy asked hopefully.

Hagytha snorted. “No. Are you kidding me? I’d teach you the way of stirring cauldrons and scaring children. I’d be a horrible teacher.”

“Who, then?”

She poured herself a third cup. “I don’t know. You’ll probably just bump right into them. Fate has a way of introducing you to the people you need.”

“So I just keep… going? Keep walking around until I find the right person?”

“Yup.”

“Umm… okay.” Daisy finally took a sip of her drink. “Thank you.”

“It’s just a packet of chocolate mix thrown into a pot of boiling water, kid. Don’t thank me too much.”

“No… for the help.”

Hagytha smiled. “Yeah, I know. Happy trails, kid; good luck on your adventure.”

“Thank you. Good luck with your shop.”

“Shadow speed you.”

 

[Vapor]

I see your storming awesome art and raise you a crappy photo of 'fun' shadows.

 

[Cosmical Existence]

The photo uploaded sideways for some reason, can’t get it to change. Oh well, here is my “Shadows”. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ookla the Empyreal

[Mat]

You get: a shadow of my hand!

Spoiler

Of course it’s sideways. Of course.

[+JesterLavorre]

Chapter 2! Prompt: Shadow

Spoiler

As Layla made her way down, moving her foot from the final rung of the ladder to the green grass of the Nexus Clearing, she looked around. Ascertaining the source of the noise was not difficult.

A gigantic Tyrannosaurus was stomping about, not a hundred paces from where Layla stood. It was standing with its tail off the ground. Hmm, that’s a change. Layla thought. As usual, Space Rock was beating it. Badly. 

Space Rock manifested as a giant rock, perhaps three meters in diameter, which trailed a stream of fire. As Layla watched, Space Rock backed into the sky, then fell toward Dinosaur at a startling speed, the air humming at its descent. Right before it hit the ground, Dinosaur did a weird kind of stumble-dash backward away from the spot where Space Rock hit.

The small explosion threw up a cloud of dust and fire. Rocks flew through Layla’s body. She felt nothing, of course, seeing the Spirit World was very different from being in it. The impact left a comically large crater in the ground, and Dinosaur roared, charging forward at the burning hole in the ground. 

Meg buzzed annoyedly. “Mmmmzz, yes, that was not a correct roar. Tyrannosaurus should not roar. These humans, they have corrupted us. Mmmmm, yes. It is true. Very true.”

“Meg, we should get moving, Shadow’s cave is an hour away.” Layla winced as Space Rock crashed to earth again, with a sound like thunder. “I hope Dinosaur will be okay.”

The Clearing was only a mile in diameter, and the forest grew progressively darker the further they ranged. Tree hadn’t accompanied them. He rarely did. Meg tried to act tough about his continued degradation, but Layla had heard her nervous buzzing whenever another of Tree’s branches fell to ashes. Meg saw Tree as a brother. She said they had both come into being near each other in time. “Late Carboniferous,” or something like that. 

Layla polished off her breakfast bar half an hour into the trip. She thought it an accomplishment. Usually she couldn't have held off that long. Her self-control was improving! Layla looked to Meg to see if the dragonfly had noticed, and Meg gave her an affirmative buzz.

The shadows grew long, and trees became gnarled and twisted as the two of them delved deeper into the woods surrounding the Clearing. Layla came here often, so she had grown used to the strange ways the wildlife twisted and spiraled into the path, like grasping hands. Meg said this place was dangerous in the Spirit World, but it couldn’t hurt Layla, and Meg expertly dove and swerve between branches.

Soon, the pair reached the home of Shadow. The cave emerged from the trees ahead, mouth gaping with stalactites like teeth. 

Layla skipped into the cave, happily humming to herself. Shadow liked those who didn’t show fear, and nothing here could hurt Layla.

The cave was deep, but no matter how far Layla and Meg journeyed into it, the sunlight still shone just as bright, casting shadows ahead. It was a strange visual, and Layla found herself feeling a sense of vertigo at the sight.

Then, a hundred or so feet into the cave, they reached a dead end. This was Shadow’s home. “Shadow!” Layla called into the darkness. “It’s your favorite human!.. And Meg.”

The darkness cast by the stalactites began to write and twist like the branches and plants outside. A figure emerged, indistinct, but humanoid. Shadow lay flat on the ground, like the shade cast by someone standing in the cave mouth. Then, she moved, sliding up the wall.

Well… move wasn’t the exact word. Shadow didn’t move so much as the angle of sunlight shining from outside seemed to shift, giving the illusion of time passing.

Shadow opened her eyes, two stark white pits, and stared directly at Layla from the wall.

“Hsssslayla.” The voice was a whisper that slowly trailed into distinct speech. A snake’s hiss one breath from stabbin’ you with pointy fangs. “Layla, my child, it has been too long!” 

Once Shadow’s voice resolved, it’s inflection was perky. A strange contrast to her menacing demeanor.

“How have you been, Shadow?” Layla asked.

“Vvvvvery well, Layla. Thanksss for asking.”

“No prob, bob.”

“Mmmm.” Meg hummed nervously. “Shadow, we came for help. Help with Space Rock and Dinosaur.”

“Ahhhhhh… Sssso they are fighting again? I should have known. You know I cannot help you here. I am bound by my nature, Meganeura, I am a shadow. Mysterious, yet always by your side. I will help how I can, but I am not ssso sure I have the power to break those two up.”

“Well, can you try, please?” Layla interjected. “I don’t want to talk to the other Aspects. They’re mean.”

Shadow hissed in a way that Layla thought was meant comfortingly. “I will try, young human.” Then, Shadow’s hiss turned acid, worried. “It ssseems ssssomeone else has entered the cave.”

 

Here's the previous chapter, if you missed it (prompt: tree):

Spoiler

 

Layla was awoken by a tree shaking her shoulder to the sound of a Tyrannosaurus’ roars.

So, it was pretty much a normal day for her.

Layla brushed Tree’s hand from her shoulder, sitting up to rub her eyes, blinking rapidly to try and banish the glaring sunlight from her eyes. Once Layla’s eyes had adjusted, she looked over to where Tree stood at her side.

Tree was, as his name suggested, a tree. Layla couldn’t figure out what type he was, and it seemed to shift with his mood. Some days he would be an evergreen, with needles that got stuck in Layla’s sock no matter how hard she tried to avoid them. Some days he would be a maple, with wide, pointed leaves that fluttered in the wind. 

Today, Tree’s leaves were yellow and brown, the colors of autumn just turning to winter. They fell from his branches as he moved, twirling to the ground. One of those branches was the one that had rudely roused Layla from her sleep. Now, Tree stared at her with his two eyes that Layla guessed she could consider as old and wise, but really looked more like they were squinting while staring directly into the sun.

In speaking of which… Layla quickly pulled her sleeping bag back up over her head, blocking out both Tree’s eyes and the morning sun.

“Not now, Tree… Let me sleep. I can save the world afterwards.”

“*Grrrrggkkk*… “ Tree’s speech sounded like the branches of an old oak blowing in a subtle breeze. “We.... need… your assistance… Lllllayla.” Layla’s name was stretched out to a highly unproportional length by a last groaning creak.

“No, Tree! Humans need sleep. If I don’t sleep I’ll die!” Layla neglected to mention how long that death would take.

Tree paused, his leaves rustling in the wind. It sometimes took him awhile to decipher her statements. Maybe Layla could get in some more sleep in the meantime… But no, the grogginess had drifted from her mind, and a new voice sounded from outside Layla’s barricade of sleeping bag fabric.

“Layla, “ It was Meg, her singsongy buzz of voice sounded normal Layla, after the past year. “Layla, Dinosaur and Space Rock are fighting again. 

Sighing, Layla threw off her sleeping bag, a puff of leaves bursting out into the air around her. Apparently, Tree had been standing here long enough for them to pile up. One landed on Layla’s curly red hair, and she brushed it free, looking toward Meg.

Meg was a Dragonfly. Technically, she called herself something else, putting forward that she had separated from Dragonfly long ago. Layla respected her wishes, but also couldn’t pronounce Meg’s true name, so Meg would have to do.

Meg was also massive. Layla barely noticed it anymore, but Meg was over two feet long, with a similar wingspan. She said she was supposed to be smaller, but humans heard “giant prehistoric insect” and thought big. Layla couldn’t fault ‘em for that.

“So, “ Layla asked, “what’s the problem?” 

“Mmmmm, “ Meg hummed. “As I said, Dinosaur and Space Rock are fighting.”

“Again?” Layla would have thought Space Rock would have separated by now. Didn’t enough people know the difference between comets, meteors, and asteroids yet? Layla had been posting about it on the Shard for weeks now. She would have thought it would be enough.

Meg continued. “We need your help with her.”

Layla groaned. “Why?”

“Because she’s the only one with enough power to take on both Space Rock and Dinosaur. And you’re the only one she listens to.”

SIghing, Layla packed her bag with Rhythm of War, her phone, and a breakfast bar and climbed down the treehouse ladder. Really, she was excited for this. She liked quests. She just wished she had time for breakfast.

Being the only human who knew about the Spirit World was fun, but also tough.

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ookla the Sprinkle

[+Doomstick]

I chose  for today:

[danex]

Okay, prompt: Shadow. 
Context: I want to write this in a sorta fairy-tale style, like The Girl Who Looked Up, or The Dog and the Dragon. However, I can’t think of any good moral lessons that go with shadows, so I think I’ll have this be a sorta, corrupted fairy tale. Like how Disney massacres all the morals of the original tales so that they’re almost completely different stories, I’m going to write this as if it had an actual moral to begin with, but over many generations it became lost and now it’s just a story. Because it’s easier to be intentionally wrong than to be intentionally right. 
(also I might turn it into a magic system, or an in-world story for a world I haven’t made yet.)

Shadows

Spoiler

“Mother,” the girl asked, “Why do we light candles?”

The older woman set down the lamp she had been lighting and looked at the little girl. “Utility, my dear. It is hard to get work done if you can’t see your hands.”

“Then why do we leave the candles lit all night?” the girl retorted. She pointed at the numerous candles and lamps her mother was lighting, just as she did every day at the advent of night. “Wax and oil is expensive, if we light candles for the utility, why do we let them burn while we sleep?”

The woman sighed and lit the next candle. “It is just the way things are done, my dear.” She handed the girl a lit candle. “Now off to bed.”

The girl took her candle and made her way to her room, pausing by the room of her younger brother. “Timothy,” she asked, “why do you think we light these candles?”

The toddler looked up at his older sibling. “The dawk is scawy” he replied.

“But why?” the girl asked, “Why is it scary?” The toddler thought a moment, shrugged, and said: “It just is.”

The girl continued on towards her bedroom, pausing once more at the study of her father. “Father, why do we light these candles?” 

The aged man looked at her, and seemed to ponder the question. “The dark hides things, dearest, and that which is unknown could be dangerous.”

”But darkness can’t change anything,” the girl protested. She gestured around her. “This room is exactly the same in the dark as it is in the light. What is there to be afraid of in familiarity?”

The man frowned. “Enough of these questions. This is just the way things are done. Now off to bed.”

The girl arrived at her room, and set the candle on her nightstand. As she climbed into her bed, she considered the answers her family had given her. She was troubled that none of them had a concrete answer. Lying in her bed, she realized there was one source she hasn’t asked. She leaned over, blew out the candle, and let Darkness into the room. 

“Darkness,” she asked, “Why do we light these candles?” 

“Well,” Darkness replied, “It is true that Darkness hinders work, it is true that Darkness can seem scary, and it is true that Darkness can hide unforeseen dangers. But the real reason that you leave these candles on, is to avoid the total isolation that comes from Darkness.”

“But I’ve been alone before,” the girl began, “in the light. It can be unpleasant, but it isn’t horrible.”

”Ah,” Darkness replied, “but that isn’t entirely true now, is it? For you see, in when you are in the light, you always have one thing that you can’t have in the Dark. A Shadow.”

With these final words, Darkness left the room, and the girl was alone. Completely. 

Well, that was a disappointing ending, wasn’t it? I’m glad you think so, because it’s supposed to be. I’m thinking of ideas for what the ‘original’ story might have been, before it was ‘warped’ into this, and I think it might actually be good, but you guys are stuck with this version. Thank you, and goodnight.

Edited January 14, 2021 by Dannex

[Experience]

Well, I'm constantly out of rep, so I'm just falling behind on repping all your creations. I will get to all of them eventually.

Prompt: Junk Mail!

Emoji: