32 Comments
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Keith Long's avatar

Love the way this one turned out — also you may claim title of the smallest thing in Small and Scary lol

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

I tend to go to extremes, so when I heard "Small and Scary," I couldn't let go of the atom as my idea. Thank you so much for helping me get this one out. Super stoked to read yours again and see the changes.

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Liz Zimmers's avatar

That final line! And the sheer unstoppable momentum of the terror. This will stay with me for a long time.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you! I'm glad I was able to scare ya

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Lyndsey Resnick's avatar

This is the most horrifying story. Hands down.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

I was pretty horrified by what I put down, but I'm sure I'm in for a rough night of terror. Thank you! I'm excited to see your piece

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William Pauley III's avatar

No happy endings. 🤘 Visions of those astronaut deaths will stick with me for quite some time. Enjoyed this very much!

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Hell yeah! I appreciate the kind words a hell of a lot, thank you. I'm excited to see your story!

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A. C. Sanders's avatar

Even the name Dr. Payne is such good foreshadowing! Those last moments were written SO well!! I love the idea of the combination of Magick and Science. Very haunting.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it

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Shane Bzdok's avatar

The reading of this was as unstoppable as the bomb itself. Fantastic story, Ashley. And quite chilling, given the world climate we find ourselves in today.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you! Though sensational, it felt all too believable as I wrote it

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Andy Futuro's avatar

Wicked.

Funny we both reference Zapata for this.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Zapata is seldom employed, but always appropriate

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Nick Buchheit's avatar

Damn. I love so much about this. Great work.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you! I'm happy you enjoyed it

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Garen Marie's avatar

Super innovative idea! Feels like it could be a novel or a blockbuster movie. Enjoyed the cyclical nature of it too. The book - the last grimoire - lives on. Great stuff!

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you! I didn’t want to write too much, but a lot of thought and worldbuilding went into it. Maybe one day it'll get an expansion…

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Nick Winney's avatar

This was excellent. Had to read it 3 times to catch all the nuances. very clever. the flat relentless bleakness and matter of fact annihilation were so well done. nothing matters. the world rendered pointless. the universe sorts out its problems.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Sometimes, the world just feels that way. Thank you for the kind words! I hope you enjoyed each reading, and I'm glad there was enough in there to make it worth re-reading

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Nick Winney's avatar

oh absolutely - there was stuff I didnt get until the end - and then it was like - wait - how did we get here, and then again - there were some things i didnt grasp at first, like how was she printed in the book and why would there be an intelligence driving the world to be annihilated, and what was that robot thing exactly.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

I hope it all makes sense! I wanted to add more detail, but left it in the subtext so that I didn’t make it too long 😅 If I did it over again, I might have split it into two parts

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Nick Winney's avatar

i didnt quite get it at first pass - this happens a lot when Im reading something with a cunnign twist - I need to go and read it again, knowing what I am looking for - if you see what I mean. I think if you put more exposition in it, it might lose something of the enjoyable realisation of whats going on unfolding.

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Wendy Cockcroft's avatar

Brilliantly written and absolutely gripping. Great job!

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you so much! This event was a lot of fun

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Edward.Marlo.Ruiz's avatar

Holy shit man, this was brilliantly done. Absolutely glued to the words all the way through. This shit could be even longer and I’d happily read it. Dope work, I can’t say it enough.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you so, so much! There was more I wanted to add, but I also didn't want to go too far over the word limit. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'm excited to see yours

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Edward.Marlo.Ruiz's avatar

Haven’t read yet, but I already love the vibe you set with the map and pre amble.

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Katharine Kapodistria's avatar

This was so gripping. You packed so much into one short story, but it still felt perfectly paced. Fantastic!

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you, I was definitely worried about the pacing. It's good to hear it all worked out. Can't wait to see your work

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Ken Flyingheart's avatar

I love the direction you took this in. Drop the bomb, indeed! Fantastic work, Ash. Can't wait to check out your archive.

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Ashley T.K.'s avatar

Thank you so much! I'm excited to read your story!

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