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randomwriteronline · 1 month

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"Pohatu - fancy seeing you here."

Nokama smiles a little more when the Toa turns to her. He sits slightly hunched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, powerful legs swinging idly in the emptiness that divides the rocky wall from a plummet into the ocean, completely unafraid; the unusual shape of his Kakama Nuva greets her wordlessly.

"I hope I did not bother you," she continues gently: "You seem so caught up in your thoughts, these days..."

A comfortable silence follows the pause she allows to hang.

For a moment a sense of dread creeps along her spine, around her arms, ensnaring her neck: Pohatu, whose voice rattles the mountains, stares at her eerily quiet with a terrifyingly blank gaze and a lack of emotion in his expression.

But he blinks, and his eyes widen, and he says: "What?" as he leans his head forward. "I'm sorry Turaga, I was not listening."

She exhales, amused, as the broken tension allows her shoulders to sag a little: "I only mentioned that you seem very distracted as of late - even during Vakama's tales."

"Ah," he replies with a slightly embarrassed laugh: "I guess my head likes to be in Lewa's domain far more than my feet do in Onua's."

Nokama laughs with him: "May I?" she asks.

He gestures to his side amiably, inviting her to sit with him: "Of course, of course."

It's surprising how little he's worried. Even her head starts to spin from vertigo when she dares to look down at the swirling waters, and she is the furthest thing from the infamous Po-Matoran hydrophobia; yet he sits there without the barest hint of concern despite knowing very well he would sink to the depths of the ocean horribly easily.

Pohatu looks again to the horizon.

He's unusually unreadable.

"I've spoken with the Mahi of Po-Koro, on one of my visits," she tells him - her Rau's abilities have already been unmasked by now, so it's less strange than it could be - "They've told me you quite love to pamper them, more than the Hapaka."

His laugh vibrates out of him, but she notices he does not smile as wide as the sound would imply when he simply shrugs: "I like horns."

They've told her that, too.

"What troubles you, Toa of Stone?"

He glances back at her: "Nothing."

"Yet your mind is so often elsewhere, and you almost don't look like yourself. I've come to know you, Pohatu - I wish to help, if I can."

Nokama's gentle worry makes him sigh deeply: "You're as good a teacher as Toa Lhikan thought, Turaga," he replies with a heavy tone. "Very attentive."

She looks to her feet: "Vhisola was proof otherwise," she mutters.

Pohatu tilts his head: "Then it just means you've gotten better."

The Turaga smiles: "You're always too kind."

He does not reply to that.

His fingers sink into the stone of the precipice to rip a chunk out of the cliff like it's nothing; he tosses the rock from palm to palm absentmindedly, neck craned back to look at the sky.

"I'm just thinking of Po-Metru."

Curiosity, then. "It's only natural," she soothes him: "Your siblings wonder about Metru Nui too. Gali has asked me about Ga-Metru and the Great Temple quite a lot in the past few days. I'm certain Onewa will not be too shy to answer your questions."

She watches him pull one knee up to lean his chin on it: "I don't have many, to be honest - not about the city."

"Really?"

A shrug: "Turaga Vakama is very good at descriptions."

"Ah... Yes, he is, isn't he."

The Toa does not smile back at her; he keeps looking further away into the endless sky, as if to pull on the rest of the ocean with his mind until the other side of the island appears on the horizon.

"What is it, then?" Nokama nudges him. "What doubts take hold of your focus?"

He does not answer immediately.

The rock falls back in his hand perfectly each time he juggles it.

He does so halfheartedly, distractedly - in the same way he sits at the Amaja circle and looks at her brother speak as though he could see right past him, through him.

"The Matoran come from there," he finally says.

She nods.

At last, his strange nearly impersonal gaze returns upon her mask.

"Do you know where we come from?"

It takes her a moment to understand who he speaks of: "You come from the canisters," she answers, because that is nothing if the truth. "You come from the sea."

"The sea bears life - the sea bore us," he says under his breath at that, as though he is repeating a memory. It sounds a lot like Gali.

She nods: "That is as much as we Turaga know."

"And nothing else?" he insists. His words don't hold any desperation, but there is something in them she can't explain with any other term. "Did we have anything before that?"

"No, nothing. Nothing that we know of."

"You were Matoran. You became Toa. Do you not remember us?"

"No - you were never in Metru Nui. We never could have met you there, not even as Matoran."

"It remains we must have been Matoran. Isn't that right?"

His tone is... It strikes her enough to make her stagger before she can offer a response.

He sounds like...

He sounds like them, in a way.

He sounds like he is testing her - to see if he can trigger a specific reaction from her.

His tone is somewhat methodical, scientific, like a researcher interrogating a subject to observe the effects of whatever he's administered them; it is that of calculated questions that one already knows the answer to. His mask is unreadable, incomprehensible - not for a blank anonimity but instead an overwhelming amount of minuscule tells and signs that muddle the waters of his emotions, obscuring them within their own cacophonic confusion.

If only she too knew the answer.

If only (she assumes) he had not forgotten it.

"I imagine as much," Nokama finally replies. "But you six are special, Pohatu."

"You were chosen by Mata Nui himself," he interrupts her. The kindness in his voice is nearly an afterthought, but he masks that fact well. "I would say you too are not necessarily as ordinary a bunch as any Gukko flock might be in Le-Wahi."

She chuckles despite the strange atmosphere: "Oh," and then she laughs, and she laughs some more, bent over herself to try and stifle the giggles that bubble in her chest, "Oh, be careful not to say that in front of Tamaru or Kongu, lest you want a very angry lecture on how the Gukko force is so very different from their wild siblings."

Pohatu's smile is lukewarm.

The Turaga recomposes herself quickly when she takes in his lack of amusement: "But you are different," she insists. "You are something more than what we were or could have hoped to be."

"That sort of thing doesn't spring out of the ocean from nowhere."

"That sort of thing is what legends and prophecies are made of. Your arrival was foretold in stars that cannot be rewritten; you came to aid us, delivered upon our shores by the elements themselves; you battled against the Great Spirit's most insidious, terrible enemies, and defeated them. You are special. And perhaps you had no need of a Toa Stone to become who you are."

The reply she gets is a silent stare.

The rock creaks from within the Toa's grip.

If she were looking at it she'd notice the liquid manner it behaves.

"It's a sad idea," he finally says, "To be born only to fight."

The Toa protect, for that is their duty; the Matoran create, for that is their destiny.

Her hand lays on his arm with a kind, humid pressure.

"I may very well be wrong," Nokama reassures him now. "I've told you, not even we Turaga know much."

"You know prophecies."

"Those can only get us so far. And they can't see the past."

"I wish they could," Pohatu says with a focused gaze.

His eyes are locked onto her own.

"I will pray the Great Spirit to bring you answers soon, Toa of Stone," she promises - because what else can she do? How else can she reply to the perfectly still stare that seems to pass through her, carving holes within her head with the precision of a sculptor? "So that you and your siblings will never have to feel as you do now again."

He does not move.

Then, at last, his head tilts with a tired, relieved smile.

"Thank you, Turaga," he tells her earnestly. "I hope so too."

Nokama grins back at him, so gentle, so sweet - so glad that the disquieting spell is over and the Toa is once again fully himself.

She raises herself from her seat with a bit of a struggle, helped upright by his powerful arm. Another burst of vertigo makes her sway for a moment as she catches sight of the long fall into the waters, head feeling light before she imperiously shakes the sensation out of it: there is nothing to fear, the cliff won't fall. Even Pohatu has gone back to swinging his legs in the nothingness with the carefree movements of a Matoran dangling from a jungle vine, and if he is not afraid then she has no reason to be either.

He does not move to follow her.

"I shall return to Ga-Koro now," she tells him: "Soon enough we'll have to carry the boats to Kini Nui, and I ought to make sure they're nearing completion."

"Call Taipu when you need to move them, if my brother is too busy listening to stories - I'm sure he'll be happy to help," he suggests.

Her smile confirms that his poison is mistaken for a lighthearted jab: "A good idea. I will ask Whenua to send him to us, if he is not busy enough already and wishes to lend us a hand. You should be off too, listening to stories like your siblings, should you not?"

Head thrown back and legs stiffened, the Toa whines like an annoyed child: "But Turaga," he exaggerates his whimpering drawl to kick a laugh out of her shoulders, "I don't wanna!"

"Neither do I want to go fetch Nixie out of her observatory for the eleventh time today, but duty call us all the same."

He huffs and pouts dejectedly as his body slumps on himself in a comical manner; his furrowed brow clears into a simple smile as Nokama hiccups chuckle after chuckle at his stellar performance.

"There's still a little while," he bargains with her.

"And will you be at Kini Nui on time?"

"Am I ever late?"

No, she can't argue with that. Her eyes shine with affection as she lays them on him again.

"Alright," she pretends to concede with a sigh, as though she were doing him a big favor. His grin amuses her to no end. "But make sure to be there."

He places a hand on his heartlight: "I will be."

"And try to focus, as best as you can."

"I will try my hardest. I just need to clear my head a little more, and then I'll be the most captive audience Turaga Vakama has ever had."

"I'm certain you will. I hope the sea brings you solace, Pohatu."

"Thank you, Turaga. Goodbye."

She does not see his cheerfulness drop in an instant as soon as her back tells him she will not turn to look at him again, smile flattening, eyelids drooping, eyes hardening. He watches her until she disappears from view with a face devoid of love and a sizzling in his heartlight that almost makes him feel sick; the stone in his hand squeezes through his fingers like putty, slithers between them, takes a slug-like shape as it coils around his digits squirming like a worm emerging from a fresh tomb into a summer downpour, before he lets it collects itself in his palm once more.

He crushes it gently and looks down only when he opens his palm again. It looks like a Kane-Ra bull. He tries again: this one is a Makika. A Fikou. A Dikapi. A Tunnel Stalker. A Husi. A Fusa.

A Turaga with their mask shattered.

Without a word he presses the rock with both hands to somewhat shape it back into a proper sphere, carefully, taking his time.

He kicks it as far into the ocean as he can. His eyes follow its trajectory until the distance turns it far too small for him to distinguish it against the flickering gleams of the waves in which it no doubt sinks. He continues to look at the calm waters, legs swinging idly much like branches in a light breeze.

The sea bears life, Gali said; the sea bore us.

Pohatu looks into the cradle of his siblings' rebirth thoughtlessly, quietly, hating it as much as he hates them for not swallowing them whole.

#bionicle #nokama #pohatu #random writing #orpiment au #(kisses head of orpiment pohatu) my beautiful boy who is so full of hatred and has decided to let it stew so he can make it explode harder #idk if this reads the way i want it to? but then again idk how i want it to read #i guess nokama interprets his strangeness as melancholy and/or ghosts of memories from his amnesia #whereas in reality pohatu has a completely different motive #i.e. 'i wish the prophecies could look into the past' - nokama interprets this as him wishing he could know his past #while what he means (and tries to convey by staring) is that they wouldnt ail the mata as heroes if they knew ''the truth''#or ofc what he thinks is the truth (that they left the av matoran to die bc they were cowards). which is completely off the mark #audience pls tell me your interpretation of whats behind the convos and actions. thats your homework for the day. im jokin but itd be nice

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thecryptidbard · 1 year

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Cbs ghosts prediction (and therefore I guess potential spoilers??) under the cut

Okay so my wild theory for who killed Alberta is that it was (at least partly!) Thomas Woodstone.

Like we know some long-held secret of Hetty’s is gonna come to light in the next few episodes, we know we’re gonna find out who killed Alberta, in the trailer released for the tail end of the season we even get a glimpse of Hetty as a ghost in the midst of a big event that, based on the 20s-era costumes, is likely the night of Alberta’s murder. Hetty has adamantly said Alberta wasn’t murdered but just died of a heart attack on multiple occasions, suggesting she has a vested interest in the truth remaining hidden. The writers have also followed a trend of putting Hetty B-plots with Alberta A-plots (Alberta’s Fan, The Podcast, Alberta’s Descendant) which means that when big clues are revealed related to the murder, Hetty is almost never present (with the notable exception of the letter discovery), meaning we don’t get to see if she reacts to new reveals in a way that would suggest she already knew the information—for the most part she's kept fairly separate from the murder investigation. If Hetty knew who the killer was, why would she hide it for a hundred years…unless it was one of her own descendants who did it or was in some way involved.

Thomas is the only immediate relative of Hetty’s that we’ve seen; also, there’s the fact that his name starts with ‘T’ (I know, so does Alberta’s sister’s name, Theresa—but the show seems to be setting her up as a red herring way more than the actual killer imo). I’ll be honest, I don’t exactly know how to do the math on this one when we have no idea of the year for the flashback he’s in, and we also don’t know how old he was when Hetty died (or even exactly what year she died). But if he was still a child when Hetty died, as she implies in The Family Business, and we assume she died in the 80s or 90s, then he could reasonably be in his 40s-50s and the current owner of Woodstone mansion the night of Alberta’s murder. This would also put a whole new dimension on Hetty’s statement that she watched “generations of Woodstones make mistakes in this house”, and to the flashback we see of Thomas where he struggles with uncertainty over whether a particular girl is “the one”.

In less concrete evidence (as though any of this is “concrete” lol)—cbs ghosts continues to use the occasional bbc ghosts plot point; Hetty is based off Fanny, and I think this could be their spin on Fanny discovering her husband having an affair with a man, a discover that led to her husband killing her. In this version, Hetty’s son is in a secret relationship with Earl, and it’s Alberta who gets killed, with Hetty the only one who knows the truth.

We also know that the reveal of this secret will test one of Hetty’s “most enduring friendships”; depending on Hetty’s reason for keeping the secret, this theory could mean the friendship tested is either Alberta (because Hetty hid the truth about her murder for so long) OR Isaac (if she kept it secret because she wanted to hide her son’s involvement with another man). The phrasing of “most enduring friendships” makes me feel it’s slightly more likely to be Isaac, especially considering they were officially deemed besties in A Date to Remember.

I could be way, WAY off base, of course…admittedly, this theory doesn’t really account for the fact that Earl does go on to date Theresa, nor does it explain Hetty’s seemingly enthusiastic reaction to the discovery of the letter in The Liquor License. Still, my money’s on Thomas having something to do with the murder, and that being what Hetty has kept secret for so long.

#cbs ghosts #I’m most likely WILDLY off base but the thought occurred and I couldn’t get rid of it #realistically I may be looking WAY too deeply into the character motivations and intentionality of a sitcom #but half the fun of a murder mystery plot is coming up with completely unhinged theories anyway #so just gonna view this as my own personal Pepe Silvia #long post #cbs ghosts spoilers #potentially? I guess? Altho I think that’s giving myself way too much credit #who killed alberta #there's been SO much more about parenthood throughout this season too which would kinda fit

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echosong971 · 2 years

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sometimes i like to have a lil chuckle, a little tee-hee if you will

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laevanders · 7 months

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But because I can, I'm gonna talk about my original universes and the little of story that they have

I have basically 3:

"Selestia"

Magical world, inspired by space. 3 kingdoms/planets (sun, moon and stars) LOTS of characters

I have the characters and a little idea of the world building but besides that.

"Gray & Gold"

Fantasy Universe™. Probably the easiest to make a webcomic or something but I'm not a writer so I don't really have a plot besides the characters backstories. Honestly the difficult part is writing the rivals to besties idea I have in my mind for de MCs

"ParaNormal"

Not the real name. I just don't have one.

It's the biggest because it's just Normal World + Monsters and stuff. Very urban fantasy and I just put most of my characters here so it's kinda bangue in plot and Worldbuilding

Example:

Ex-Monster Hunter Vampire Dad, his Vampire Daughter, his Assassin (or smth) Friend

Goth lil witch and her friend who's the town ghost, but Gothy doesn't know

Underground mafia monsters, they're a throuple

3 guys. Living in a 'abandoned' house, probably gonna become a poly couple. One of them is a monster probably. Very Slice of life

Girl who's entering witchcraft because her sibling just die and is now a ghost with memory loss. They live in the same 'abandoned' house as the last three.

Demon Girl and her witch Wife who now run a coffee shop after having a enemies to lovers/monster hunter X monster past

A demon obcessed with the human world , her cousin, her friend/love interest. Getting to know the world. Demon 1 also a fan of Demon Girl™ of the last point

And now things complicate because I just have ideas that would kinda mean that I have to separate the last 2 points from the rest of this universe + 2 new characters

A investigator who ends up summoning Demon 1 by accident in the middle of the investigation, and ends up with a crush on her?

Mafia demon lady in the real world, probably the cause for the investigation in the first place. Very much Big Mama form rottmnt vibes

Sigh. I wish I was a writer, or that things would just appear from my mind into the paper/computer screen. But oh well

#original character #writing #writing ideas #that last section would have been easier if i just said ther names #but its kinda funny this way #just a girl her boyfriend her sister(who can see ghost no worries) and her parents (mom #and noone is gonna judge me for that #i think #itd be nice to actually have an idea of plot because modesty aside i really like my ideas #but i guess i would have to have the motivation to drawing/write it as well

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