[Dictated]

[schrodingersghost]

[It had been a rough month for Danny. Actually make that a rough couple of years. A rough life.

Just... the last month had reached new depths of misery for him. It wasn't enough that the castle had made keeping his secret identity nearly impossible by taking away his ability to lie. It wasn't enough that he'd been trapped here for months going stir crazy with no ghosts to fight.

No, on top of all that he just had to gain all these new nightmares courtesy of the Event Horizon. He had to deal with memories of actually being tortured. Not just the nightmares he'd always had of being dissected.  This was worse, because it had come so close to happening for real.  And some part of his mind had thought his parents would approve of it.

How did you deal with something like that?

Danny had tried. Oh, he had tried. He'd stopped sleeping. He'd picked fights and blasted trees with ice and ecto energy until he couldn't stand up any more. But nothing helped.

And after a few weeks of this?  Danny just couldn't bring himself to care any more. He was exhausted, and he was so tired of being angry all the time.  He was tired of being scared. He was tired of people telling him that he had nothing to worry about.

He just wanted all of it to be over.

And so he finally grabs his journal and dictates a rambling and only slightly coherent challenge, the sort of announcement that could only be made while under the influence of sleep deprivation and complete emotional exhaustion.]

You know what? I don't care any more. All the people going on about how nice and understanding everyone in this castle is about people with freakish powers? Fine. You win. The castle and its stupid no lies curse and its thing against secret identities wins.

And when someone shows up to drag me off for lots and lots and painful experiments, maybe I won't even say I told you so.

I'll just say it right now.  I'm a ghost!  Happy?  I'll say it again. Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost, GHOST! And I'm human. And no I don't know how it works, so don't even ask.

[And with that he trails off into mutterings too soft for the journal to pick up.]

Comments

[schrodingersghost]

Because ghosts are scary, scary things. Apparently. [The response has the singsong quality of a common phrase being mockingly repeated.]

[abittooandrogynous]

I think, unless you're... chasing someone down to hurt them, there's little reason to be scared "just because" they're something different.

[schrodingersghost]

Yeah, well, back home you'd be in the minority. They're all, its a ghost! Of course it must be evil! Don't believe anything it says!

[abittooandrogynous]

... But this isn't your home, like how it isn't mine?

[ He's talking slowly, because he's not sure he's right. Not that he thinks the other person needs the words slower. ]

So why would it matter here? I have not yet heard screaming from this book.

[schrodingersghost]

No way am I lucky enough for ghosts to be something nice and harmless in every other world.

[abittooandrogynous]

They don't have to be nice-and-harmless in all of them, they can be nonexistent, in human-ghost forms. Then the only one they have to judge ghosts on is you, isn't it?

[schrodingersghost]

Great. If I'm not an evil sack of malevolent ectoplasm, I'm non-existent.

And I suck at first impressions.

[abittooandrogynous]

.... I meant...

[ And now he's discouraged. Bad Danny, he's older than you and you made him feel self-conscious- ]

Sorry, my friend tells me I am terribly awkward. I think my words aren't coming out right.

[ That's half mumbled and sort of run together and Duke takes a moment. ]

... They have no prior experience, so you set the expectations. You sound young enough, there are always behaviors that can be explained by 'that is a teenager', rather than 'that is how they always are'....

... Sorry maybe I should just stop talking...

[schrodingersghost]

In my experience? No matter what I do someone will jump to the worst possible conclusion.

[abittooandrogynous]

[ He's going to take his time to think about how to word things this time. ]

There is always "someone" who is stupid, or who is just mean because they want to be. There will be "someone" who doesn't know any better, but can be talked into seeing how things are.

I'm sorry you don't have anyone that lets you know that people are just plain stupid, and that isn't how things ought to be.

[schrodingersghost]

I can go with people are dumb. Its true, after all.

[abittooandrogynous]

So there are the dumb ones who listen blindly, and the mean ones who spread lies. Combined, they make those "people who scream and run" without getting to know whether its needed.

[ There, Duke thinks he's solved the problem- ]

[schrodingersghost]

Obviously. Which doesn't solve my problem.

[abittooandrogynous]

... Right.

[ He forgot that it was a problem because of the people, not to find out how the people made it a problem. ]

But.. here, are there people who are not from your world, and whether they are those who would stupidly follow the words of mean people, or are mean people, or are neither, is to be found out.

[ Again, he's speaking a little bit slowly. Piecing this together as he talks. ]

... so maybe you don't have as much of the problem as you're used to?

[schrodingersghost]

There is no way I am believing that in this entire castle there is not a single ghost-hater.

[abittooandrogynous]

"One" would be less than you are used to, by your words.