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Challenge #04401-L017: A Thousand Points of Light

It's again the anniversary of when the Earth circles their star. Even though they are far from Earth, and have never actually been there, they were born and raised on a different world, like the people of Earth, they celebrate with parties, lots of food, and lots of brightly colored drones making the equivalent of silent fireworks in the air. Don't want to scare friends with the bangs after all! -- Anon Guest

[AN: Most Terran colonies celebrate their own solar anniversary, mostly because it's easy to lose track of the Terran calendar]

Time makes worlds strange. Colonial worlds doubly so. The journey down deep time desynchronises the colonists from Earth's real time. Starting with the centuries to millennia of deep time that the colonial ships travel to get there. The best they can hope for to resynchronise is attempting to receive Earth's transmissions and co-odinate matching new years' days.

This doesn't always work. Signals can be either a very long time coming, or undetectable by the time the colonists regain the technology to receive them. Assuming, of course, that the colony was ever able to have that technology.

Brav'nu was not alone in a slide backwards from the Space Age to more elementary levels of technology.

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Challenge #04400-L016: Wind Me Up...

Why... are they putting all sorts of useless gears all over their equipment and some of them in their clothing?

"Buddy, let me tell you about Steampunk!" -- Anon Guest

Fashion, like those who follow it, is weird. So, too, are countercultures. Some originate with whatever the youth find cheap to obtain, later sold at inflated prices to those who admire the aesthetic. Some originate in whimsey, others in spite.

Some borrow fashions from prior eras and add flair. They do things

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Challenge #04399-L015: Rainbow Matchmaking Conundrum

A: hey, quick question Mina is Bisexual right?

B: she is, but her type is straight women and gay men.

A: does that mean she’s destined to be all Bi herself?! -- Anon Guest

[AN: This prompt was trimmed for brevity]

"Hahahahaha," Libbie deadpanned. "So hilarious. Listen. Nobody deserves to be alone, okay? We're not Mina's type, and we love her, so maybe focus on helping her out instead of being mean?"

"I didn't think I was being that mean," grumbled

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Challenge #04398-L014: Panic Mitigation

My dear human friend, would you kindly stop moving for just a few moments? I know you are uncomfortable, but if I don't get this spike out of your leg, properly, you could very well bleed it, it's far too close to the artery. -- Anon Guest

Panic has many modes, and few of them are rational. Further, few could be expected to act rationally when pierced through a major limb with something long and sharp. The accident that caused it had

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Challenge #04397-L013: Let Me Help

Why are you so desperate to get rid of your magic?

"All I ever do is hurt those I love most."

Have you ever thought to find a teacher?

"Who'd teach a useless waste of life like me?"

Alright... lesson one... you're not a useless waste of life. -- Anon Guest

To make the world a better place was a bigger job than Wraithbind thought. The first thought to tackle was, Who am I making the world better for?

A world made

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Challenge #04396-L012: Foundling Need

A family invites Wraithvine and friends to stay with them for the holiday and until the new year. The youngest among them, a human that was adopted, keeps calling Gikka, 'little sister' despite Gikka being older than them, and begs Gikka to please stay with them as family. -- Anon Guest

The Human that the family had adopted - stolen fair and square if one asked their Harukh mother - was considered "a bit simple" by many. Still, they could be relied

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Challenge #04395-L011: Standing Out? Outstanding!

The bullies tricked the person into consuming something the person was severely allergic to. The mage that saved the person got pissed, and taught the bullies why such behavior was a BAD idea. -- Anon Guest

Orleth the Incredulous was minding her own business when she found the kid wheezing and turning red as their hands and face began swelling up. Some quick work with an antitoxin spellwork brought them the ability to breathe again. Orleth stayed nearby and offered her arms

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Challenge #04394-L010: Consequences, the Ultimate Lesson

Don't piss off that quiet, small, human reading her book. Small doesn't mean meek. -- Anon Guest

Sooner or later, civilisations learn the reason behind the saying, Watch out for the little guy. Some unfortunates insist on learning it again and again. Such as the two schoolyard bullies observing the local nerd in the library.

Neither of them could pin down exactly how or why the nerd became the school's favourite target. "Being weird" was generally excuse enough.

There was currently no

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Challenge #04393-L009: Fluffy Puffy Omnicidal Vengeance

A human brings two very fluffy, but small, dogs with them. These dogs become the pirates' worst nightmare when they attack the ship. -- Anon Guest

On first impressions, they looked like amorphous blobs of fuzz. One black and one white. Only when they woke did they seem to sprout feet and, in the case of the white one, little beady eyes. Portions of the floof oscillated as Human Ela called their names.

"Mune? Nux? Heel."

The snuffling fuzzballs were no bigger

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Challenge #04392-L008: Memorial Ceremony

Why, my human friend, do you shed tears, and raise a glass, alone like this, every year?

"Because, my kind rescuer, there are so many of us that didn't get out of there in time." -- Anon Guest

It was time, again. The same day on the calendar of the world that Human Kie had been born on. Companion Wes kept watch on that calendar, all so he could keep watch on Kie and hir ritual. To make certain ze didn't end

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Challenge #04391-L007: Lives in Her Hands

They were quite close to me. They have so much magic potential. I have no magic, no money, and no knowledge on how to help. Please kind elf, help us? -- Anon Guest

It is known, even amongst the most simple, that those with magic in their blood or bones will leak it. Happy baby Elves sparkle. Upset infant Hellkin make the shadows writhe and the walls bleed. And a neophyte Sorcerer... well. It depends entirely on the origin of their power.

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Challenge #04390-L006: Life (Fast) Cycle

"How in the name of all the POWERS can you live in a place this cold?? You do know that it's well below freezing and temperatures outside could even make you HUMANS die in a few hours!"

Yeah, true, but it's quiet here. And it's only winter for 9 months of the year. The other three months are beautiful! -- Anon Guest

The world is silent, dark and deep. As the poem once said, I have promises to keep and miles to

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Challenge #04389-L005: 'Tis But a Scratch!

Human, why is there a long, red, gash across your hand??

"Oh, that's just a scratch don't worry, already treated it."

But it looks enflamed!

"Yah, we humans do that when we get small cuts like this, it's sterilized, and treated, but it'll look bad for an hour or so, then heal right up." -- Anon Guest

"Are you certain? An injury like that should be inspected by medical. Just to be sure it won't get worse." Companion Gine bobbed in concern,

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Challenge #04388-L004: Comfy Cosy Calm

A cup of hot, havenworlder safe, chocolate, a crackling, if simulated, fire, and a warm, quiet, room with my best friends chatting and playing board games. This evening is just what I needed. Maybe I'll take a nap. -- Anon Guest

What many people didn't expect from such lunatic Deathworlders as Humans was - they knew how to relax. They engineered supreme comforts and even tailored them to accommodate their companions.

Such as this cozy environment. Just cold enough to warrant wrapping

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Challenge #04387-L003: To Maarow

Sometimes a knomira isn't a knomira. Sometimes, they're just a person whose day has gone so catastrophically wrong, they're at a loss on how to cope anymore. -- Anon Guest

There's a way to tell the difference between arrogance and exasperation. Arrogance acts like the owner of it is the sole centre upon which the universe turns. Exasperation is tired of everything else's [EXCREMENT]. Exasperation is close to tears. Exasperation may also be explaining their problem with the wrong lexicon.

Which is

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