Partially Stars
Series Metadata
Listing Series
-
Tags
Summary
After the dreams — the dreams, the dreams, and the soft, deep, commanding Voice still lingering in his ears, even after he’s been awake for hours — the arrival in Night Vale is almost an anticlimax.
Almost.
Series
- Part 1 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Two weeks in Night Vale — even after the battle with the living trash in the bins outside the lab, encounters with creepy hooded figures, and other daily manifestations of the paranormal — are still nowhere near enough to adequately prepare Carlos for the sudden realization that it's up to him to save the entire town.
And the dreams are getting worse.
Series
- Part 2 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Carlos doesn't even have a definition of a "normal" day anymore, but even having left behind all of his old standards, he has to admit this day is particularly bizarre.
Not only is there a new threat to deal with in town, but he's made an enemy among the Sheriff's Secret Police, received notice that management is visiting for an unscheduled inspection, gotten a brand new car from... somewhere... and spoken to a being that he believed only hours ago couldn't possibly exist.
Not to mention his paranormal abilities are starting to spill over from his dreams into his waking hours. It's only a matter of time before someone notices.
So why not run with it?
Series
- Part 3 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
It ought to be a proverb — surviving the first five months in Night Vale doesn't guarantee that you're going to survive the next five months. Or the next five minutes.
Not if your name's Carlos, your precognitive dreams have started repeating themselves, you've somehow sent a secret message to yourself, and you're pretty sure someone is actively using your new home for a very bloody experiment in how to cause mass panic... and especially not if the only way to stop it is to agree to work secretly with the altogether-too-distracting Cecil Palmer.
Temporary. It's only going to be temporary.
Just keep telling yourself that.
Series
- Part 4 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Carlos is just having one of those days.
You know the kind, you've probably had one yourself. Mysterious doors in the desert. Worsening nightmares. An upcoming performance review from a boss that isn't really human. An arrest by the Secret Police. The first, unforgettable time you ever see the Night Vale City Council in person. A town-wide emergency that leaves even the Voice of Night Vale frightened. Not to mention a lost, confused stranger who needs a place to hide. You know — one of those days where everything happens at once.
But Carlos is on it. He's got rules, he's got a backup plan, he can handle this.
...Right?
Series
- Part 5 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Later on, when it’s all over and things have returned to the closest approximation of normal that Night Vale ever has to offer, he’ll write it all down.
When it’s all on paper, laid out neatly, in both chronological order and the order in which it happened, Carlos will read it, and remember it, and finally conclude that he’s certain no important detail, no possible key to the situation, has been left out.
But it will still be hard to believe it happened at all.
Series
- Part 6 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
time travel pros:
- looks cool
- good practice for protecting your weird hometown from things that don’t respect temporal borders
- research goals jackpot
- get a head start on anyone who’s chasing you down to murder you
- can say you arm-wrestled infinity
- eat at your favorite restaurant twice
- clout with other scientists latertime travel cons:
- you might accidentally create a bunch of other timelines that aren’t supposed to exist
- your alternate self has definitely done some things you don’t approve of
- there’s a clock tower now and it’s really loud
- not likely to count as a valid excuse for missing work
- the portals are somebody’s proprietary technology and you probably weren’t supposed to see how they did it. Corporate espionage now a possible complication
- he’s already involved, which means he’s in danger, which means you have to talk to him, which means...
- is it too late to undo it?
- it’s way too late to undo it.Series
- Part 7 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Say you have two choices: 1) Keep the man you secretly love out of danger by continuing to avoid him, but end up permanently stuck in the wrong timeline, or 2) ask him for help, hopefully find a way to fix everything, and then privately deal with any side effects you might suffer.
You might think Carlos is making the wrong decision, but he did promise to get his friends home safely, and anyway it isn't really a date, it's saving Night Vale, right?
He can handle it... right?
Series
- Part 8 of Partially Stars
-
Tags
Summary
Being clairvoyant was never what Carlos wanted.
This whole time, he’s been telling himself he hates it, it’s scary, it’s embarrassing, it would be such a relief not to deal with it anymore. How many times has he wished that the dreams and the visions would cease? Hoped that some obscure branch of his research would lead to a cure? Imagined that he could push a button, or take a pill, or perform a ritual, that would make it all stop?
And now it has. Now it has, and he doesn’t feel relieved at all.
He feels deserted.
Series
- Part 9 of Partially Stars