SPOOKY JONES STORY # 3: "Choices"

LOL. That's awesome. :D So glad you liked the story!

Alex Woolfson

Alex, you taught me a new word, "avuncular"! I appreciate it, thank you and OMG was that story good!

Donald

This is a really awesome, thoughtful reaction, Hannah. :) I agree, Spooky's optimism is part of what makes him a hero and I'm glad you're liking that. Very glad you liked the story!

Alex Woolfson

This was a really enjoyable read. The part I connected with most was when "he said the words he'd rehearsed in his head"; for me, that's what's always been at the core of being a superhero, that they are hopeful. It's the reason I love superhero stories so much. Of course they bring hope, too, but it's really a consequence of their optimism that they can change things for the better. I love the way you've made it clear--through what is revealed of Spooky's character throughout this story--that he dares to still have that hope, and I love the way it makes the people around him brave, from the kids he rescues to Hastings. Of course he also has determination and stubbornness and Amanda to help out along the way, and that was pretty awesome. I'm really looking forward to more stories.

Hannah Albert

Glad to hear it, GOT! :)

Alex Woolfson

I love all this backstory, especially because it's really helping me grasp the scope of Platinum Priestess' plans. Not to mention it's cool to see how Spooky has been gearing up for this fight for a couple years now, too.

Passthecass

This is wonderful, Chris. I do put a lot of effort into the details (the "connections") and it's a great pleasure to have so many of them noticed, noted, and appreciated in such a thoughtful, thorough reaction. This was really fun for me to read, Chris. You've made my night. :)

Alex Woolfson

OKAY WARNING A TOTAL TL:DR APPROACHING... Oh Alex, I think I like this best of all the Spooky stories. You really are a terrific structuralist in addition to creating truly appealing characters. I love that here we have Spooky at 15 years old, very much a work-in-progress as a boy to man, and yet we can see the fine person that we love in the making. Given how much we all love him in the main story it's a wonderful connection between then and now. WARNING WARNING --- SPOILERS BELOW --- WARNING WARNING (honestly, I try not to, but consider yourself warned) V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V I love that in the VERY first line we get to see Spooky's determination and that he's made "saving" kids his personal raison d'être... and that meshes so well with what we know of his year in hell (CONNECTION) from the Bonus comic and who he is today. It (CONNECTION) leads beautifully to why he HAD to try and save Mitch. Just great structure. Watching Spooky balance his magic skills and try to integrate them into a smart fighting skill-set spoke literally, and also subliminally, of the military and practical skills Amanda has been helping him with. Again a great (CONNECTION) thing that we learn in the doing rather than being told. Love that. It was great how he feared for Amanda (as in breaking a wrist) and her turning down healing and NOW we know why (CONNECTION). Still, I liked that he appreciated the fact that her teaching may have saved him here, and he seriously realizes that he needs that practical skill-set also. You gotta know the kid has some mojo if he accidentally broke Amanda's wrist. I can't imagine that would be easy with that young lady we met in the Bonus Comic... great bit of character info. The sensory detail throughout is wonderful. It pulls us right inside the story fast. How far he's had to come to find these kids (days) and that it's not magically easy to just 'find' someone (CONNECTION - MAGIC CHEERIOS). The smells. The sneakers on a gravel driveway. The types of cars, cold, but not dusty. The detail. Love Animation Network. Love that the boss is "The Freak." The kernel of corn shooting from the mouth to bounce off a chest was genius and says everything we need to know about these men. Just rich detail for a short story. Well done. I really appreciated that you immediately and firmly began (and proceeded throughout) to share clearly and unambiguously with us the way Spooky understood and worked with his magic. Clear parameters. I read so much fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal etc... where authors deliberately leave EVERYTHING vague forever. No teasing here. Step by step you let us see how Spooky's power operates and that even at this age, where he is a boy/man that ExSec finds scary, he's still someone to be reckoned with. This story gives us a much clearer picture of the "magic-crazies" and how conflicted ExSec is and why (and so very governmental). The crazies previously seemed rather vague and far away. Now we see that it's rather the opposite. They are scary. All that and ExSec's attitude (CONNECTION) explain why Spooky stays with TYP after these years. He is a man who will go his own way, according to his own ethical rules. Spooky can trust Amanda to respect that. Understanding Spooky as a character at this age couldn't have been easy because he is such in incredible mix of different qualities of experience and age at this point (what has-been and what-is-to-come), but I really think this story does a wonderful job. I don't think you could have balanced it better. The scene with the kids and the "balloons" was just brilliant and I can't imagine a scene that speaks to Spooky's character better than that one. That was a purely joyful moment set in the middle of a dark one. The child in Spooky reaching out to soothe real children and enjoying it just as much. And magic for joy... not just crazy misery. So great. I love that he recognizes an arch-demon's signs. I love that we wonder if this was an early attempt to reach Laampros or something unrelated. I love his relationship with the "the man in black" and the conflict of revealing government secrets. Setting up Sircea as the White Witch at this point was wonderful and scary and thrilling. And again (CONNECTION) explains to us why he warns Kyle about her. I could go on and on (oh look I have), but it's best to just re-read the story. What is most exciting is the way this story links with the previous two and leads us so seamlessly into the man we know 'today'. A man who can hug Kyle-better (or at least into the right mind-set). A man tough enough to battle the Annihilator while he has a throwing star lodged in his thigh. A man compelled to try everything to save his friend Mitch. Such CONNECTIONS... this story is definitely about the young version of that MAN. Bravo and thank you Alex. Moar please. :) (AW walks off mumbling about greedy fans, lol)

Chris Dangerfield

Very glad to hear it, Tobyan! You're very welcome! :)

Alex Woolfson

I wonder if the people in the glass prison could be the kidnapped boys and girls in this story (thank you, Captain Obvious :/ )... I had a great time reading this story, thanks a lot, Alex !

Thank you, Charles! Glad you liked the story and the additional information about TYP's world! :)

Alex Woolfson

This was a great piece, Alex. I'm surprised Platinum Priestess hasn't moved to put an end to Spooky sooner. The world expansion in the second half of the story was fantastic. I can't wait to see how the story in TYP works out.

Thank you very much for the kind words, Mik! I look forward to sharing what happens next! :)

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Danish! Very glad this makes you want to read more! (And there is indeed more to this story... Stay tuned. :) )

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Clio! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed this and that it's drawing you in! And we at least know he didn't have "good things" to say about The Platinum Priestess to Kyle...

Alex Woolfson

I wonder if Isabelle will make a cameo on the comic? :O It could happen! :P

K

Fantastic good read Alex! This storyline is sucking me in deeper and deeper! I wonder how much Spooky actually told TYP about PP? It seems as if had Spooky told Kyle all that he knew about PP, he would have made more of an effort to get away from her and all her associates--including Duncan. It would be interesting indeed to know how classified her dossier actually is

Clio Henry

I'm loving your prose stories and every time I finish one, I want another :) This almost feels like the start of a written TYP prequel novel .. hmm, or kind of a sequel after the comic bonus story. Yes, that's it. We got the Spooky/Amanda bonus comic and now some very interesting in-between story between the bonus comic and the actual TYP. So prequel, sequel or what it can be called - I love it and I want more to this story, especially now that we know exactly when PP started to be more openly important/known in the TYP univers. As Sofia said, I also wonder (even more now) how connected the collapse of the dimension walls is to her.

DanishWolf

That was fantastic. I'm honored that you shared that with us (and a just a little eager to see what happens next).

Mik McAllister

Did I say AWESOME? Because it is! Go Spooky!

Admiral Jane

THIS WAS AWESOME!! AWESOME!! It's all connected isn't it? All of it.

Admiral Jane

Ah, good! Glad they at least have a workaround! Hopefully they'll be able to get it fully sorted soon.

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Kim! I'm glad you like the new story! :) And if there is interest, there's lots of stories I can tell about all the characters...

Alex Woolfson

Actually, I was concerned that just the opposite would happen. There are certain characters I very much enjoy writing and, once I became aware of that with Spooky, I accepted the fact that the readership might not share my affection. I've certainly had that experience with other authors and their "favorites." It's actually been very gratifying to me that readers enjoy him as much as they do. So, yes, a bit of a surprise. But FWIW, the affection people have for Flyboy was an even bigger surprise. I'm, of course, very gratified when people find any of my characters engaging -- and, of course, I do my best to write all of them in an engaging way -- but the passion some readers have for Flyboy was the bigger surprise for me. :)

Alex Woolfson

Yay! New story. I'll go read it now. Oh, and since I'm online here you can probably figure out that I've found a solution to my log in problem now :) They've gotten it traced down to a browser issue that happens to some, so I use another browser when I want to log in now. That one works with the help I got.

DanishWolf

did you expect spooky to be so popular?

Daniel

Wow, you're getting more and more refined with each story Alex! Awesome job :) I love how much flavor these stories add to the comic. Can we have a "Before They Were Heroes" milestone goal, where we get a short story for each character? When did each character discover their abilities and how did it shape them today? :D

K

Glad to hear it! (And that's definitely a coming attraction...)

Alex Woolfson

I'm loving these backstory tales. I would like to hear more about Spooky's time in Hell.

midwestmutt

All good questions. :)

Alex Woolfson

I wonder if when Kyle said that Spooky had told him of The Platinum Priestess, he meant about this or other occasions in the future. Did Spooky manage to get closer to Sircea prior to the events unfolding now on the main comic? The more and more we learn about the past, the more I think that Sircea is the one who weakened the walls between the realms in the first place... Can't wait for Duncan to figure that one out!