#cue loud crickets

[burn-gormans-eyelashes]

At this point I'll just come here give my 2 cents about the "Reasons Toshiro Loves Falin" debate as I'm sure no one will read or care, I just like to elaborate my own thoughts.

The thing I feel both sides of the debate seem to miss is: Toshiro does love the things that differ Falin and Laios but that doesn't mean he has good reason to love her either.

First of all, yes, she and Laios do have different personalities, but Toshiro fails to see how very similar they actually are. He doesn't know her well enough to know that there is more in common between the siblings than meets the eye. He says she is a fascinating woman because she was contemplating a damn caterpillar, but what if he had seen her frolicking around the garden and picking crickets and wild berries? Would he still find her alluring and interesting, or loud and obnoxious - like Laios?

Also, the things he likes about her are the things that make her mild. Not her bravery, not her intellect and magical talent, not her humor or the many qualities Laios and Marcille attribute to her. But her being soft-spoken and so considerate and introspective. He likes her because she doesn't take space and that's not true. We know how rambunctious she is. How adventurous and strong willed. Once again, he doesn't know her well enough to be able to love her true self.

As someone who relies entirely too much on cues and subtleties to show my feelings instead of being open about them, I completely empathize with Toshiro's struggle with Laios. I enjoy being a Shuro Hater for shits and giggles, I think he is a well written character that brings many interesting points to the story. But he is shallow, spoiled, and insecure, and I don't think he loves Falin - he loves the idea he created of her, and that's not good for either of them.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[miaountainmama]

train

a short drabble.

characters: atsushi, gn!you contains: pure fluff

wc: 700

a/n: so i wrote this thinking “wow i’m gonna make a nice platonic fic about best friends just as close as me and my best friend of 13 years because i don’t see enough platonic fics” and then i really went and actually fell in love with the fucker. anyways. we’re dating now lmao.

   Dusk was descending upon Yokohama, and you felt the most radiant you had ever been.

        The street lights flickered on just in time as the last passengers filtered out from the train station, either boarding the last car or scattering to go home. But you didn’t want to go home yet, and neither did he, and as best friends you supposed it would be more fun if you stuck together anyways. The crickets were loud tonight, you noticed, and the summer air was warm and mild-- a perfect evening for messing around and doing nothing important. On a whim, you took a sharp right onto a dirt road that ran parallel to the tracks and headed nowhere in particular, finding a nice smooth rock to kick around as you walked. Beside you, Atsushi let out a small “oh!” and skipped forward to watch a tiny frog hop across the path. You watched him blink in wonder and felt at peace.

        Somewhere back from whence you came, the bells signaled the departure of the last train, and with a gust of wind it whizzed past, ruining your hair. Both of you oohed at the sheer speed of it before pausing. At the same time your eyes met, and you narrowed your eyelids. An idea itched at the back of your brain, an idiotic idea, and you had a feeling Atsushi was suffering the same fate.

        The two of you moved as one, shoes tearing up the ground in an instant.

        And there you were, two dumb teens sprinting as fast as you could behind the train. It shot ahead with nothing but a trail of distorted sound and left you in the dust nigh on instantly, but you kept running until the last car was nothing but a tiny speck above the distant railway. From somewhere behind you spilled Atsushi’s clear, euphoric laughter, mirth flying from your own lips to match. Eventually you stumbled to a stop, doubling over and wheezing with your hands on your knees. Atsushi didn’t brake fast enough, though, and with boots skidding across the dirt he tumbled straight into your back. Your already exhausted limbs gave out at the slightest touch, and the two of you were sent crashing to the ground, a tangle of startled yelps and hysterical howls of laughter. 

        “Ow, fuck, you’re elbowing my ribs,” you wheezed, and Atsushi gasped and tried to clamber up immediately. It was, of course, futile, and he only succeeded in punching you in the face in the process. You squawked at the unexpected contact, and you swore it almost sent Atsushi to tears.

        “Oh my- I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry sorry sorry sorry-”

        “Dawg, it’s fine,” you snickered. “Don’t even worry about it.”

        “Yeah; but-“ He tried to prop himself up with an elbow and made a frustrated noise. “I’m stuck.”

        “You’re stuck?”

        “Yeah.”

        “Tragic,” you drawled, picking at your nails with one hand and trying your best to seem thoroughly unimpressed. Cue a long, drawn out sigh from your bestie.

        “Are you not going to help me?”

        A lazy grin slowly stretched across your face, and you knew he could hear it in your tone as you replied. “Nah. Not feeling it.”

        From the absolute indignation in whatever noise Atsushi made, you could tell you succeeded in your goal of royally pissing him off.

        “Fine then,” he huffed. “I’ll just stay like this then.” With that, he unceremoniously dropped all his body weight back down, and all the air in your lungs whooshed out in a wheezing laugh.

        And the two of you just laid in the dirt like that, him stubborn and unwilling to go back on his word, you disinclined to give in unless threatened with pain of death. It wasn’t until the mosquitoes started their attack that you finally got up and called it a draw.

        “You’re so mean,” he whined as the two of you struggled upright, and you raised your eyebrows and fixed him with a piercing stare.

        “And you’re slow and dumb as a rock, but you don’t see me saying anything about it.”

        “See, this behavior is exactly why-”

        ...

        What a match you two were.

[starlitangels]

trick or treat! (happy Halloween)

Hello, my friend! Happy Halloween! I'm sure if you dress up today your costume is awesome!

Have a little snippet of the next Pups AU fic I'm working on!

—

Micah sat on the back porch. This far out in the woods, the chorus of crickets was loud—and soothing. The summer air was a bit muggy, but the day had cooled off significantly. Micah had her knees drawn up toward her chest, her elbows resting on them. The nighttime breeze flicked her cyan bangs over her forehead.

The back door creaked open, then shut. "What're ya doin' out here, kiddo?" Sam asked, plopping down next to her. "All your friends are inside."

As if on cue, Natalie Shaw shouted, "Natural Twenty!" and the rest of the group cheered.

Micah shrugged. "Just needed some air. I love my packmates but sometimes all five of them together get a bit exhausting and I need a few minutes and some water to decompress." Micah nodded at the bottle sitting on her other side.

Her dad sighed and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Ain't no shame in that, little darlin'," he said. "Believe it or not, I know the feeling."

Micah gave her dad a sarcastically playful look. "Whaaat? You? The man who sneaks out of the solstice parties for a half hour every year? No way!"

Sam chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You are so much like—"

"I know, I know. I've got their blood. What do you expect?"

[wh0lemilk0vich]

this is a bit dorky and wholesome, but eddie is used to being the little spoon bcus it’s nice to have someone look after him and steve likes to protect, but at some point a while after eddie starts getting fat, steve can’t actually wrap his arms all the way over his midsection. cue eddie getting huffy about how steve isn’t cuddling him properly, oblivious to the size of his belly 🙏🙏🪱

also just a bit random but i feel like steve definitely love curvy people and when eddie starts gaining weight he goes absolutely fuckin feral over his wide hips and thighs 🫡

Lol my resident Wormie to keep me wholesome. You're like my version of Jiminy Cricket you get me to behave a little lol.

Of course i think this is cute, but also Steve adjusting where he holds Eddie as he grows. So like at first, Steve kept his arms slung low around his tummy, when it started growing. But now Eddie's slimmest point is right below his tits and it just doesn't feel the same as it used to so he's a little pouty...until Steve starts unconsciously feeling Eddie up in his sleep and it makes him feel squirmy and good and he's happy with the situation again.

I agree that i think Steve would be very secure in his tastes for bigger folks, but he would be super casual about it, until they started getting physical.

I think in inverse, which I've been really getting into mentally, with chubby Steve and chaser Eddie, Eddie would be loud and proud about being a chubby chaser, but like still doesn't do the awkward cringey fetishizing stuff most guys like that would do. He has just always had big partners, and of course people spread rumors. But imagine how feral chaser Eddie would be 🤤.

Also o feel like i was developing an idea one time where like, Eddie for the longest time didn't get what all the hype about King Steve Harrington was about, until he came back to school 30+ lbs up after a summer injury.

I would love to RP something like that with someone 😈🥵

[blubushie]

In da Bush, in that Glorious place you know is far blue water and home to Monsters; swimming, seething, slithering and each always searching.

Reminiscent of nothing but learned daily life, nothing more nothing less.

My Alaska Bush is uniquely vastly comparable when one's presence gets the permissions from the landlords, be used to unseen minds with keen examining eyes allowing me to tread lightly and become as we have been for millions of years before my narrow ass arrived.

My words are my question for you.

You Know The Silent Power I speak of Mate? Breathtaking in its simplicity. Unfathomable by its coherence...

Jolly Good Then

Ronnie

Christ, mate, you're making me want to catch the next flight back home.

The Australian bush is a bit more open than that of Alaska. Alaska is a lot like the forests of California, near the Sierra Nevada. You can't see far through the trees. The Australian bush is a mite different. Drier, hotter, more open.

And less bears.

But it is beautiful. It's alone in a way that doesn't make you feel lonely. Desolate but not devoid. There's hardly any treecover—at night all you hear is crickets and the occasional howls of dingos somewhere far in the distance, a reminder that you're anything but alone out there. It's a damn good place to get lost for awhile. To me, it's my favourite place on the planet.

There's something wild about Australia that I can't begin to describe—it's something in the land itself, something breathing. You go into the Outback at night, sleep under the stars, and it's like the universe is looking back at you.

You stop being a human being. You become like an animal in the best of ways—your ears tune themselves to the sounds of nature, you pick up the little cues. Something's right when the bush is loud. Cicadas, cockatoos, zebra finches, the patter of rain on eucalyptus leaves. Something's wrong when the bush goes quiet.

You learn to pick out the differences in the colour of the skies, you can smell rain before it comes, you develop a taste for the rougher things in life.

You turn back into whatever creature we were millions of years ago, before we had language or arts or anything that connected us to other human beings. You revert. You lose your sense of knowledge. You gain wisdom in its place. Rain isn't brought by clouds, it's the tears of heaven. When the temperatures drop below freezing the campfire becomes your mother. You enjoy the squirm of a grub on your tongue, you start cooking your meats rare, you eat your scavenged wild yams with the dirt still on them and you bathe in rivers because the only witnesses are the birds and who are they going to tell?

You get the urge to shed your shoes and walk barefoot in blistering sand. You run out of clean water, pray for rain, and it feels like your ancestors are kissing your face when it falls. You forget about whatever you were before—man, woman, it doesn't matter. There is no humanity out here. There's only the land and the sky, and something in between, something spiritual that thrums in your chest and tells you you're alive. You inhale the smoke of a campfire and Australia breathes with you.

You experience the same ego death that one gets when you're tripping on mushrooms. You forget your age, because time passes different out here. Sometimes you'll forget your name, and it might be a few days until you remember. Sometimes you don't remember at all, and you take a new name, whatever the land gives you. You stumble across a pool of water that saves you from dehydration and you name yourself Blu, because that's the colour of life. Someone asks my name, I think of who I am, and I see a pond. That's what I am. Free-floating.

You go into the bush—the Outback—a human being, and if you return, you come back as something else. Something raw. People back where you came from won't understand and they'll give you the name "Bushie" and it doesn't feel like a slur anymore. It feels right. It stops being an insult. You remember how to speak again, you drink your piss in a crowded pub, and you answer "Damn right."

You'll be covered in sand and dust and sweat and blood, and you'll never feel so clean.

The longer you spend out there, the more society feels like something that shackles you. You start dreading going back.

True freedom is the day you realize there's nothing forcing you to go back.

God is out here, in the land. God is the land. It's cruel, and it's caring. It'll strike your face as soon as stroke it. There's something deep in the heart of Australia, something primal, that still lives there. Something that's never been tamed and something that I don't think ever will be.

The broken limbs of eucalyptus floating in the billabongs become bunyips. You look at a rainbow and you forget how they're made—you see a serpent. Thunder sounds like drums. At night, if you camp at Uluru and lay under the Milky Way, you can lift your hand to the stars and it feels like you're touching the face of god. You understand what Dreaming means.

[softichill]

hello! I am here now! I went to the LEAST Cricket friendly exhibit at the museum yesterday. It was the spider exhibit. I have photos you can never see. That being said I have photos you can see so you can ask for those if you want! I also scared my mom in the physics exhibit. We had a thing to pull a metal house out of sand and there was a button to press that said it would shake the house into the sand. Cue me doing that and the whole thing screaming in vibrese so loud mom and sis booked it. We also took a nature walk where they were cutting down a tree, not cause it was construction, but because it rotted from the inside and they didn't want it to fall on the path and kill someone. I tried to help the guy hauling the bits so he didn't destroy a sign. He didn't but he hit it a whole bunch. I got a scorpion lollipop too! It's banana flavored. And scorpion flavored. 【Digital Stars 2023】 UNDERWATER / Hylen feat. Hatsune Miku 【MV】

Ooo sounds fun!!! I've always thought the scorpion lollipops were neat. I'd never eat one but I'd maybe put it up as a decoration somewhere

Teto Kasane cover of Machine Gun, made by wasureru! Original song was made by KiRA and uses Gumi if you'd prefer that version

[article1111]

The Enchanting World of Insect Song

Insects have a unique way of communicating that often goes unnoticed by the human ear. Their intricate songs, created through a variety of methods, can be beautiful and mesmerizing, providing a fascinating insight into their world. These songs serve as a means of attracting mates, establishing territory, and warning off rivals. Let’s delve into the captivating world of insect song and explore the different ways in which these tiny creatures produce their symphonies. Insects song

Types of Insect Songs

Insect songs are typically produced through three primary methods: stridulation, tymbaling, and wing-beating. Each method is unique to different species and involves the manipulation of body parts to create sound.

1. Stridulation

Stridulation is the most common method of sound production in insects and involves rubbing body parts together to create noise. Crickets, grasshoppers, and some beetles use this technique, usually by rubbing their wings or legs together. The sound produced can vary in pitch and rhythm, depending on the species and the purpose of the song.

2. Tymbaling

Tymbaling is another form of sound production found in certain insects, particularly cicadas. These insects have specialized structures called tymbals, which they flex rapidly to produce a loud, distinct sound. Cicada songs are often complex and can vary between species, with each species having its own unique song.

3. Wing-Beating

Some insects, such as certain species of mosquitoes, create songs by beating their wings at a high frequency. The rapid movement of their wings generates a buzzing sound that can be heard by potential mates. Male mosquitoes use this song to attract females, adjusting the frequency of their wing beats to match that of the female.

The Importance of Insect Songs

Insect songs play a vital role in the survival and reproduction of these creatures. The songs help attract mates, allowing for successful breeding and the continuation of the species. Additionally, they serve as a means of establishing territory and warding off competitors.

Insect songs also provide important cues for other species in the ecosystem. For example, birds and other predators use these sounds to locate and capture insects. Moreover, researchers study insect songs to understand their behavior, population dynamics, and the health of ecosystems. Insects song

Conclusion

Insect songs are an enchanting aspect of nature that often goes unnoticed. These intricate melodies offer a glimpse into the world of insects and their remarkable abilities. As we continue to study and appreciate these natural symphonies, we gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all life and the importance of preserving our natural world. So, the next time you hear the soft chirping of crickets or the loud buzz of cicadas, take a moment to appreciate the beautiful music of insects.

[eirian-houpe]

Final Line Friday

Here are some final lines from Disparate Pathways, which I have been working on this week. Please feel free to ask any questions which come to mind.

She nodded and moved slightly closer as he hooked one arm through hers, and he saw her cringe as he pulled the gun from where he’d holstered it.

“Just in case,” he pledged, hoping he wasn’t making an empty promise.  “Ready?”

**

The thought made him look down at his phone as he pulled it from his pocket and flicked to the secure email account. /Damn it, Gold!/ he thought vehemently as his message went unanswered. /Fine then,/ he answered himself. /We’ll just have to do this the hard way./

**

The narrow street beyond was poorly lit, but he wasn’t about to let that lull him into a false sense of security, though it did offer him a measure of protection as he took in the scene. There were two men, both wearing vests that identified them as FBI, which was promising, but didn’t actually mean anything worth Jack as far as he was concerned.  The FBI were supposed to have had his back; supposed to have given him a thirty minute heads up on the takedown, and it hadn’t happened, so he could only assume that there were two separate factions within the Bureau,

[leafity-writes]

ace + sapphire ! if its ok

Ace | Sapphire

Summary: I think Ace Trappola is a ruby type of person.

If one were to compare Ace to a gemstone, the answer might’ve varied, though most would’ve gone for the easiest answer: Ruby.

“It’s the hair,” You pointed out, “and eyes. I should’ve mentioned that first.”

“Obviously.” Ace huffed, flapping his shirt back and forth in an attempt to cool himself down. Both of you sat next to each other, spending the leftover time you had left before the hustle and bustle strikes again. Trey surely wouldn’t mind the detour they took on their way back from getting ingredients, he just had to make sure the fact that they had taken the detour never came to light.

The occasional gust of wind became their saviour in this hot weather. Though the ice cream from the shop lessened the unbearable heat, it was only when you found the perfect shade of tree, clear of obstacles that the heat magically worsened.

It didn’t take much convincing for both of you to take a short break from carrying the heavy bags of flour and eggs.

“But also because you’re affiliated to Heartslabyul, the embodiment of red as their trademark,” you continued, “and probably because they lack choices they could muster up in their brain too, I guess.”

Ace nodded in cue. It’s a solid argument, knowing most people, including him, were not well-versed in the art of gemology. You leaned further to rest your back on the bark of the tree, stretching your arms outward.

“Personally, I would’ve chosen garnet instead.”

“Any reason why you’d pick that?”

“That’s the only other gem I know that is red.” You grinned mischievously. “But at least my answer is different from the rest, right?” To that, He let out a laugh. You had your ways to turn things unexpectedly again.

“Ruby…” you place a hand on your chin, seemingly deep in thought. “I can see why it suits you. And your personality. You reek red.”

Ace raised an eyebrow at your accusation, unsure whether or not to feel offended by it. “Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”

“Not necessarily.” Ah, he knew that look on your face—one you make whenever you’re engrossed in something. “You have this fiery passion within you, and you’re stubborn to a fault—which is not a bad thing to me by the way. It just means you’ll never give up on the goals you held onto.”

“And that’s…red to you.” He deadpanned.

“Isn’t it?! Does it not seem that way to you?” You waved your arms exasperatedly as if it could prove your point further. “But too much red—or ruby in your case—is never a good thing. Like your reckless attitude for example.

You, my friend, need a sapphire in your life.” You said with much conviction. “Only then can you balance the ruby in you.”

“How did a sapphire even appear…”

“It matches don’t you think? Ruby and sapphire.”

It makes no sense, it truly doesn’t, he thought to himself over and over to make heads and tails over this bizarre conversation. From the outrageous statement you’ve made that he somehow understood, to the underlying hint of what it meant. Ace unconsciously repeats after you, the syllables rolling off his tongue easily. Maybe you had a point.

“...And who’s the sapphire in my life though?” He managed to stop himself from saying ‘my’ that almost slipped from him. “Are you saying you will be the sapphire?”

(He blames the summer heat that’d loosened his lips, clouding his judgement over his course of action. For what, by Great Sevens, did he think such? He shouldn’t have asked this question in the first place, though he couldn’t be bothered to correct himself anymore.)

The heat and the loud noise of the cricket drilling on his ears. The humid air and sweat that trickled down his face. The passing cloud and ice cream tube dangling by his teeth. You finally had the guts to look flustered, he noticed. A silence, followed by a nervous laughter as you looked at him shyly. The redness of your cheeks did not calm his nerves at all.

Ace lets out a long sigh. That of defeat.

“It’s really hot today, huh?”

You hummed in agreement.

(He thought again later that you might be babbling nonsense to look philosophical, and he almost scoffed in fondness at the idea that you out of all people would try to impress yourself to him. It’s adorable, really.)

[kimbapisnotsushi]

thinkin' about how like. it's implied that ushijima's dormmate is possibly just an average student and not one of his fellow teammates and that's SO fucking funny to me. bc it's ushijima wakatoshi. he's the pride of shiratorizawa! he's intimidating and tall and the poor unknown roomie is too scared to tell him that he snores horribly loud bc ushijima looks like he could bench press him. unknown roomie tries to start a convo of "hey, how's your day going?" and ushijima responds with "fine :|" and cue the cricket noises. unknown roomie asks ushijima if he needs help to try and get along with him despite being terrified and gets questions like "i'm going to get boba and i don't know what flavors are good, can you tell me?" and unknown room blinks bc he'd been thinking more like calculus hw or something but sure, no problem. unknown roomie asks about ushijima's favorite things and even tho the answers are short and straightforward, at least he's getting somewhere and 'maybe ushijima doesn't hate me after all'. unknown roomie who comes to realize that ushijima is just kind of awkward but sincere in all his efforts, and unknown roomie figures 'okay, sure, sometimes it's just like that' and rolls with it, figures they don't have to be friends, just that if they can continue to get along then they'll be fine. unknown roomie who is surprised when ushijima's teammates approach him and ask him to come to a game, since ushijima wanted to but wasn't sure how bc - unknown roomie has learned all these things about him, kept hanging out with him, is the only person outside of the vbc to take the time to learn about ushijima past the stoicism and silence, but ushijima still doesn't know much about unknown roomie, and ushijima thinks 'he's been such a good friend to me and i want to be one for him', is what the vbc members tell unknown roomie.

and unknown roomie remembers all the times ushijima has brought him back something from a trip out to the convenience store, all the energy bars left on his desk and the sticky notes about proper hydration, all the times he's left sweaters and t-shirts thrown around the floor to find them neatly folded on his bed, when he's collapsed face-first into his pillow and wakes up to find the blanket drawn over him on cold nights, all the serious "good mornings" and "good nights" every single day, and dammit no those are NOT tears in his eyes but he smiles and tells the others, sure, he'd love to see ushijima play.

[bowandcurtsey]

Can i request a headcanon where charlotte and yami accidentally reveal their relationship💜

🧡Love your writing btw🧡

AHA. After the last manga chapter I'm-

Let's just say my heart is hanging on a thin thread. (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

Characters: Yami Sukehiro x Charlotte Roselei TW: unchecked

Somehow, they got together, but they didn't tell anyone about it.

Well Charlotte was just too shy still and her mind was still floating about the fact that she's dating the Love of her life, and Yami was just... Well he just never thought it would be necessary or never found the opportunity to break the news.

Until the annual festival.

Charlotte was with the girls and they were having way too much fun. Charlotte had an extra drink or two and you guys know how she is when she drinks...

Yami was just going around getting all the free food he could get his hands on. Until he saw charlotte and the girls.

And as usual charlotte was all shy and stuttering but the girls were all already high on whatever alcohol they were on, so they were pushing their captain to Yami.

The commotion attracted a lot of people, including some of the other knights because the girls were loud AF.

And suddenly someone in the crowd (probably Zora) was like "just get together already you two!"

And Yami just blurted out "Ya we are??"

And there was DEAD SILENCE. *cues cricket sounds*

Charlotte was about to dig into a hole and hide. She wanted to ask Yami to cut a dimension for her to jump into. She was expecting to announce their relationship in front of a crowd??

And then someone went "Ooohohohhhoohhhhhhhhhhhh"

And everyone starting making noise and a big fuss over this. And everyone was asking questions at the same time until Yami got fed up and told everyone to "SHUT IT."

He just hook his huge arm around his girl and walked off.

Low key he was shy too.

I may or may not consider writing for x reader only ! I don't think I'm good at writing charac x charac? lemme know guys!

[leiakenobi]

Hello dear! CONGRATS on your follower celebration, you're amazing and you deserve all the 💜 and kudos!! How about #25 from the "things fictional couples do that makes me lose my mind + writing prompts" list with our boy Llewyn?

25. when they’re doing something outside, it’s dark outside, and one of them views something pretty in the sky, like a shooting star, or just the stars in general, and they pull their lover by the hand, all excited to watch the shooting star, and their lover looks at them in pure admiration

Hello lovely, I know it took me 2 months to write this prompt but it really is perfect for Llewyn and inspiration finally struck this morning. Thank you for sending it. 🥰

This one clocks in at 853 words and has a gender neutral reader.

——

You had been at the Gorfeins' vacation house for no more than fifteen minutes when you realized that Llewyn was miserable.

He tried not to let it show, of course, all polite smiles and quiet chuckles and his fingers interlaced with yours as the Gorfeins gave you a tour of the whole place. But his smiles were just a little too tight, his chuckles too weak and his grip on your hand tightening as he got a glimpse of room after room.

Luckily – if you could call it luck – your drive out to the Catskills had kicked off later than you planned, and the traffic had been worse getting out of the city than you anticipated, too, so the Gorfeins finished the tour on the guest bedroom and pointed out all the amenities before very courteously saying, "Now we'll leave you to it, we know how tired you must be after your trip."

No sooner had they eased the door shut than you'd turned to Llewyn and said, "You hate it here."

"What? No, of course I don't. Like they said, I'm just a little tired." Llewyn made a point of pulling you close and giving you a soft, sweet peck, and when you pulled away, he was smiling. "Now go on, you were talking about a shower for the last half hour of the drive. I can take care of unpacking."

"Such a gentleman," you'd teased, giggling over the way he scowled as he nudged you away.

Despite the fact that you both packed fairly light, you're surprised to emerge from the shower and discover that Llewyn is no longer in your room—you'd expected him to be lounging in bed with a book, perhaps, or calling his sister to let her know that you made it okay.

Instead, it's only the faint light of a cigarette at first that cues you in to the fact that he's sitting out on the small balcony connected to your room.

"All clean," you report as you nudge the door open.

He hums and looks up at you, offering a small smile that you can only just make out as your eyes adjust to the darkness. "And ready to take the Catskills by storm."

"Only if you are." You let out a soft groan and drop into the other chair, promptly leaning an elbow on the armrest and your chin in your hand. Llewyn is mid-drag on his cigarette, and when he sees you watching him inhale and hold it, he raises an eyebrow, so you continue. "I feel like I shouldn't have worked so hard to convince you to come out here."

Llewyn seems to be on the brink of arguing with you when you return his raised eyebrow, and then he falters, allowing a beat of silence. A beat of frankly wonderful silence, the kind of silence that had made you excited to take the Gorfeins up on their offer to join them for a few weeks: crickets chirping and a complete lack of honking horns or strangers bickering too loud outside your window.

"I don't hate it here," he reiterates, even though you have not actually suggested as much. "I just..."

You reach out and smooth your hand over his forearm, hoping that he'll receive the gesture as tender. From the way his lips quirk up, you think he does. "You just?"

"I've never been out of the city like this. Except for when I shipped out, I guess, but I don't know. It's different. All of that--" He waves the cigarette vaguely in the direction of the house. "--is different."

"Oh yeah, of course it is, sweetheart." You squeeze his arm tight, just once. "Of course it's a lot to take in. And if it's too much..."

Llewyn actually lets out a soft laugh, and you think this one feels sincere. "It's not too much. I'll get settled in. Some things might even be better out here than they are in Manhattan."

"What could possibly be better out here than in the city?"

From the sidelong glance he gives you as he takes another drag, he seems less than amused by your teasing, but he still answers upon the exhale, smoke wafting past his lips and above him. "Check out the lake."

You'd hardly even noticed it when the Gorfeins showed you the room, because night had fallen and you'd been trying to politely get them away as quickly as possible to give Llewyn more space. But looking out at the view now, your breath catches in your throat—over the scattered trees opening out onto the lake, and more trees on the far shore leading to the mountains, off on the horizon, and above it all, so many bright and shining stars.

"Oh, you think that's better than Manhattan?"

Again, you're trying to tease him, but then you look his way again and see just how focused he is on the view. He looks positively enchanted, even if he does only say, "Maybe a little."

You cast your gaze over Llewyn's face as he stares, and softly, happily, you smile.

[thelemoncoffee]

🎲 :]] i'm going to be dropping some banger (i hope) vibes

–

it's late at night, late and cold enough that he can see his breath fog over but he's still outside, the fluttering in his chest is enough to keep him warm.

but it'd be nice if his dear detective opened the window, he throws another pebble, knocking on the wood and finally– finally! his darling Shuichi slides open the window and groggily peeks out.

"Kokichi..?"

"Shumai!" Kokichi whispers, at least he tries to, the dark night makes everything sound too loud despite all the cicadas and crickets chirping their nightly song.

"what are you doing here?" the other fully opens the window once he's confirmed his identity and a surge of affection makes his cheeks flush even more.

Shuichi knew him too well, what with Kokichi already climbing up to the second story.

"careful, you know you could have just used the front door, right?"

"aww, but then it wouldn't be romantic! also, you know you can't see me through the peep hole." and there's that smile he's been craving to see, the very reason for his impulse decision really.

"i take it you just got done hanging out with DICE?" his dear Shumai asks, rubbing the bags on his eyes, clearly the other hasn't slept just yet, the both of them tended to sleep late after all.

looks like it's his duty as Supreme Leader to set a good example then, ah well, if it makes sure his darling detective was happy and healthy, a little responsibility won't hurt.

"why yes, all safe and resting! and i came by to make sure my honorary member was doing the same, which he isn't!!" Shuichi takes that as his cue to huff in amusement but really, whose actually the silly one here when the other humors him, closing the book he was no doubt in the middle of reading before Kokichi appeared.

"okay okay, i'll go to sleep– wait where are you– you're not heading home tonight?" comes the spluttered questions as he climbs onto the detective's bed, turning to the other with a cheeky grin.

"nope! gotta make sure you're not lying, what kind of leader would i be if i let my minions disobey me so? now come on! sleep waits for no one!" Shuichi laughs but obliges, ha, he's got the other boy wrapped around his finger!

"i don't think sleep could wait for anything."

"shhh, sleep now, let me cuddle you, it's cold."

"we have a blanket–?" "shhh, this is good. sleep now."

"you just wanted to cuddle, didn't you?"

"nope, i only came to make sure you'd sleep! but that would be half a lie– so yes, i wanted to cuddle you too hee."

"you could have just asked."

"and where would be the fun in that?"

aaaawwee!! banger vibes indeed, i love that!

Kichi wants cuddles and that's what he's going to get.

[shinygoldstar]

The legend of the Once Human and Future Ghost King (totally crack AU)

Danny Fenton (fully human) got bullied as usual and was hung up on the flag pole by his undies. Ghosts suddenly invaded and everyone on the school grounds ran away/evacuated except for Danny who's still stuck on the pole (guys help? anyone?). Danny's undies were starting to fall apart from his weight. Cue Pariah Dark walking onto the field to claim Amity Park as his. Danny's "watch out!" cries went unheard under Dark's loud booming voice. With a snap, Danny fell, and landed on Dark, knocking him into Fright Knight's Soul Shredder while said knight stared stunned at the unexpected spectacle. Dark got sucked into the sword's pocket portal of fear. All the ghosts paused stunned. *crickets chirp* Then Sidney yelled "All hail king Fenton, defeater of the Bully!" and everyone cheered.

and that's the legend of the once human and future ghost king Danny Fenton.

The End.

[lunarfeat21]

Malevolence

Excerpt

The forest is little to untouched by any negative connotation made from mankind. End of story.

That is until this night, they become a witness to something wicked. Right in this very ravine they’re in as they become silent when a sense of dread approaches.

———————————————————

Chapter 1 - The Finding

Eyes are ahead on the path they’re in, the brightness of the moon shone the way like a giant flashlight in the dark sky with little stars it gives.

A grimace face is what he had, fear and regret had been with him all day.

“Jack” the girl spoke then yawned.

“Yeah Miko?” The fellow Jack replied as he too yawned, must have caught Miko’s yawn or he’s tired as well.

“Do you know where we are at this point? We never ventured into this part before.” Despite being exhausted, she didn’t hide her worry as if she was afraid.

“No.” Jack once more as he expressed his concerns, also acknowledging the fear.

“Good, I was scared to think they’d ever find us after today.”

“Let’s not mention it out here until we find a safe place.”

The sound of rocks crumbling underneath their soles as they hiked on the stony hill, along with the crunching of dead leaves and twigs.

A soft snore from the small boy being carried by the older in his mid teens on his back, Jack chuckled to lighten the drowsy mood, then fell back to silence.

It was usually peaceful in this forest, nothing dark or tragic ever happened day or night. No murder, no missing persons, no strangely activities, no legends, nothing. Just nothing ever happens in Jasper beyond this wilderness. 

Cue to the wind howled above the tree lines as they made their creaky, and wispy talks. Crickets and other nightly sounds recite their traditional songs, like they knew it for their lifetime and handed it to later generations on.

Just then a very loud crack echoed through the forest as the night silence, it sounded very close as both Miko and Jack jumped while Miko let out a shriek which in turn woke the small boy and he screamed.

Miko quickly covered his mouth and the three were dead still, stilled as statues as the crash stopped. They hear their faded hearts pounded as the adrenaline rushed, dreading that the horror might come out and snatched them. However, they synchronized and hid in very dense bushes like scared prey items for an unknown predator out there.

They know deep in their guts that there is more than one predator, and it confirmed the fear when two voices echoed along with a series of beeps and boops.

It sounds like the unidentified trio are arguing by the indication of volume, tone, and aura it gives. Notably the contexts of the voices are from a male and female, the beeps are safely said to belong to another male otherwise.

At first it was a bit hard to decipher what they’re talking, however it grew louder and louder as heavy metallic footsteps were heard just 15 ft away just down the path opposite from where the kids were.

Jack, Miko, and the little boy with them in the thickets watched as a large leg from the femme came in view along with her group. They swear the air became thick to breathe, yet showing no struggle to move when the female spoke rather aggressively.

“You think we ever explain this to the children?! Tell me Bulkhead, why would they understand!?” Snapped a blue female robot at her green much larger male companion.

“Beep beep beeeep!” Another beeped which he was sandwiched between the two.

“I’m not sure about the other two,” inquired the green bot known as Bulkhead, rather in a gruff tone “but Miko does understand unlike your partner on the other hand Arcee.”

To top it off, his optics shifted towards the female in question. Now offended by his attitude, Arcee’s winglets shot up and began retorting back in a sassier way which irritated Bulkhead. Bumblebee, on the other hand, tried it butted in by beeping mid argument.

“Oh really, didn’t I recall one time that you nearly lost Miko in the mines?”

“Beep beep beeeep!”

“Hey now, it’s just a one time thing! There’s no need to rub it in like that time Jack mistaken Soundwave as you!”

“Beeeeep!”

The three children quietly snickered at the rebuttal, it brings such memories, the good and bad. It’s the adventures they won’t ever forget, nor their times in battle.

The light fondness is shattered by the shrill voice from an older woman, making them silent and grabs the attention of the bot trio. Emerging from the path the bots came is indeed an old woman, wearing an old and tattered gown that of a nun. 

The children immediately noted her clothing as odd, traditionally, the nuns wore black gowns with white caps to cover their head except the face. This old prune’s gown is a dusty ugly citrine yellow, and her white cap is extremely dirty that resembles brackish water. Her grayish wiring hair is peaking through the sides of her wrinkled face, her black pupils looked a bit big like she took some unknown substance.

“Oh no…” the small whispered dangerously to his companions.

“I know Raf, it’s her…” Jack muttered as he bats an eye at the mysterious lady.

“You know this lady?” Miko spoke as the little trio watched the lady scowl at the Cybertronians, mostly scowling Acree and Bulkhead.

“Yeah,” Raf began “meet Jasper’s infamous delusional exiled nun, the so-called ‘prophet of the universe’ alright.”

“A nun?” Miko gave the young boy an incredulous look “You must be joking, she’s no way a nun.”

“Yes she was.”

“Okay, what’s her case then?”

“That’s Mary Stoner, a nun supposedly appointed as the next fledged nun.” Jake softly spoke, batting his eyes periodically at the intruders outside of the thickets;

“However things went downhill after she lured and attempted to kill a child, she claimed that ‘God visited her in her dream one night, told her she was destined to be the next prophet, and all she has to do is sacrifice a child.’ You could imagine how it ended.”

Miko gave a hard blink as she sulked back in the thickets, and let her mind wander. Raf and Jack observe as the screaming ex-nun Mary makes hand gestures around, they both zero in to listen to the conversation.

“-and aside of you all yelping around like stupid youngsters! Which reminds me, did you locate the children!”

“No ma’am,” Arcee firmly answered, she can feel the angry tense aura from Mary along her growling in frustration. “However, I firmly believe that the sacrificial items hadn’t gone far. I can feel it in my spark.”

“Let’s pray for that and your spark!” Nun Mary barked “we cannot afford any more mistakes of this ritual, and we hadn’t that much trouble since some green oaf ‘accidentally’ showed the tools and ancient scripture to that loud pink brat!”

“Okay, I made a mistake! There’s no reason for you to flip the fragging lit off Mary!” Bulkhead retaliated, Mary and Bulkhead argued along with Arcee backing the old nun up.

“I’m not a brat.” Miko pouted, returning to her spot to hear the boy's verdict.

“Alright, they are distracted.” Raf quietly announced as the Cybertronians and nun continued to argue “this our only chance to make a quiet getaway.”

Without any further communication as the children silently back away to the deeper parts of the forest, now people like them expected each other to be like one dumb character accidently stepped on a branch or other typical horror senarios; surprisingly, none of them ever hear a crunch of a twig. To be honest, this is a bit too easy of a getaway. “Ha, this is too easy!” Miko muttered while tipping away, and in just any horror scenario when any moron. Saying anything ‘too easy’ can change real quick, and that’s what happened when an extremely loud crash from above it fell. 

An enormous branch clashed down along taking other smaller branches as it made a loud crash, right in front of the kids.

“Shoot.” Miko cursed.

To make matters worse, the heavy metallic footsteps and voices of doom echoed towards where the children are. They clearly heard the crash and Miko’s cracked voice.

“Do you hear that!” Nun Mary screeched as she ran with her bony thin legs  “I heard the loud brat, she and the rest of the items must be near! Catch them before they make a skit!”

“On it ma’am!” Arcee responded as she transformed to her earth alt mode in the form of a bike and she drove towards the runaway prize, in response to an upcoming party that they don’t want part of, but a unifying run from the blue bike. The three headed for any obstacle to buy their time, but ultimately slowed the pursuers. Well it definitely worked for one, it ended the insane old woman’s chase as she lost her breath, Bulkhead and Bumblebee passed by while snickering at the old prune’s misfortune, and it earned Nun Mary a sour attitude.

Weaving between large rocks and twisted trees, it was impossible to make sure none could catch them at the same time diving into claustrophobic spaces to their discomfort. Mostly to Jack in his case, it awfully reminded of that time when getting chased by Arcee’s archenemy Airachnid  just for his head as a specimen and giving her old rival a bitter medicine of Tailgate’s death. He shuddered at the memory of it, and had to remember this moment, instead of Airachnid, but replace her with his guardian.

Disgusting, but sad mental image.

“Jack!” the disoriented voice of Arcee called in his imagination, it sounded like her, but mixed with two other voices he recalled. “Jack!” she called again, this time faded with the other sources clear, it immediately sounded like Miko and Raf. That’s when reality hit him a bit too late as he crashed into the ground, skidding a few meters down then stopped. While he is a bit stuck on his version of switching chase, he fails to pay attention to the fallen tree caused by one of the Bots in the distance attempting to stop the kids in their tracks.

Groaning as pain spiked up, mostly around the necks as he felt small slips of liquid from the cuts when he cupped his hand around the wounds. Skidding beside Jack and helped back on his feet, Miko and Raf both gasped at the wounds then their eyes met Jack’s as a trickle of blood slid down from his forehead. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?” Miko asked while examining the wounds he sustained, while Raf expressed his concerns as he jumped and managed to nap Jack’s collar. “Does anything feel out of place? Are you breathing fine?”

Getting choked while shaked is not what he had in mind, grabbing both of Raf’s hands to stop him from his collar. Now that Raf stopped holding his collar while Jack finally caught breath, he replied. “Hey, I’m alright, besides the cuts and Raf’s grip.”

“Oh you’ll be alright.” came the crack from the Nun appearing out of the fog in the distance, following this unveiled series of the surrounding trees crashing right after another, blasted one by one from the Bots who came close as ever.

“Damn it!” Miko hissed as she and the boys huddled as the Autobots’ shadowed the light provided by the moon, a cackle from Nun Mary overhead.

———————————————————

“Soundwave, did you have any luck pinpointing the humans?” inquired the ever so fearsome, yet short patience of the Decepticon Warlord. It was rather unusual for the silver giant, speaking in some shallow appearance of concern when Laserbeak returned after a quick scouting in the forest where the children were apparently kidnapped. Maybe he should brush off the footage he and the other members saw, but for some reason he cannot ignore the fact how Prime’s warriors acted.

 Especially the rumors he heard about this Nun Mary character, he can’t point a digit why, but she and the children are what he is after. Once he had them in his possession, now the Autobots can’t fulfill the summoning of a sacred event. He and his Cause will summon an evil version of this ‘event’ just for power and immortality to rule Cybertron for eons to come. Oh he can feel Unicron pulsing through the Dark Energon running in his veins.

Now gazing back to his ever loyal friend, disgruntled when Soundwave gave a firm shake, a no is the answer he gave. A growl from frustration then came a sigh, closing his red optics, maybe Megatron accepted this answer. “Alright, you may continue to search.”

And with that while turning to deeper parts of the Nemesis, Megatron left Soundwave to continue his work at the deck. Hearing the loud footsteps faded, Soundwave turned to the direction he left, and after a few head swishes from the empty deck to make sure no one was in the room with him. Once he declared the room is empty for good, Laserbeak detached from her resting spot and immediately plugged her wires to the deck computer, and Soundwave typed away for mere seconds to reveal a red blinking dot on a geographical location somewhere on the mountains not far away from the Nemesis location on air.

These mountain terrains are extremely rough, but are good places for sacrificial ceremonies due to the region's abundance of cave systems. He deeply cared for Megatron as a close friend, but this time he drew the line, he had to mutely lie to him. Soundwave knows this, he knows what happened to those that are getting sacrificed, and he will not let history repeat itself. 

Laserbeak made a soft, concerning chirp for her master as Soundwave balled his servo, shaking violently as a horrid memory flew before Laserbeak detached the wires and returned to Soundwave’s chest to lock her resting spot. After a quick log off and left the deck, venturing outside the moving ship as the winds blew furiously, threatening anyone weak if they fell and being ripped to shreds. Soundwave is not imtimited, he plunges off the ship and transforms to a stealth jet and heads for the exact coordinates where the ceremony is held.

He must save them, he must save the children from becoming the next victims of this dark time. Even if the mission might cost a casualty.

———————————————————

[Chapter 2]

[toothpastecanyon]

We Creatures, Chapter 1

When Alcor felt Mizar calling to him, he came to help. Perhaps, this one time, he should have stayed asleep.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

    Sometimes Alcor the Dreambender was a terrible name, a name spoken by doomsday cults, by grieving widows, by pale newscasters over aerial shots of burning rubble. Sometimes Alcor the Dreambender was a soft name, whispered by children who’d found an unlikely friend.

    And sometimes, it was neither. Sometimes Alcor the Dreambender came out of a bad period, and into a quiet period. He didn’t feel like himself, but he’d gotten bored of the violence, bored of the blood, bored of the world, and for a few centuries he’d just… let it be. He’d sit in the fields of his Mindscape, close his eyes, and rest.

    When he felt like this, only a very special call could wake him from his slumber.

Alcor…

    A wing twitched.

Alcor…

    A brow furrowed.

Help me.

An eye opened.

    That felt like Mizar.

______________________________________________________________

    The smell hit him first. It was rank, wet, and pungent like he was standing knee deep in a sewer - and looking around, it seemed very much like he was. Dirty concrete and trash-filled water was all he could see in either direction, and the ceiling was so low his hat was phasing through it. Alcor wrinkled his nose at the mixture swilling around his leggings; he considered just leaving now, returning back to his comfy rest, but-

    “You came.”

    A voice. Her voice. He turned, and saw her standing beside a rough circle scratched into the curving walls. Her face looked strange to him for a second, but… wow. She looked a lot like Mabel.

    “I didn’t know if you would,” she continued, and her voice sounded like Mabel too, didn’t it? “These haven’t worked in over a hundred years.”

    Alcor didn’t know what to say. Maybe he’d forgotten - it was a long time since he’d last spoken. Mizar didn’t wait for a reply.

    “Listen: you have to help me. There’s these - these elves, they think I killed one of their own.” Her fists balled. “I didn’t do anything, but they’re hunting me. You can’t let them get to me.”

    Alcor blinked slowly. Help. He… he could help. He reached out a hand - and frowned when Mizar recoiled.

    “No, no teleports! They’ll, they’ll track the signal, don’t touch me. Just help me lose them, okay?”

    There was something missing, here. Something he needed. Almost on cue, Mizar started fishing something out of her sweater.

    “Hold on, hold on… here it is!” She opened her hand, revealing a tiny crystal twinkling on her palm. “One pristine elder dewdrop. Closest thing to a soul I could give you - just this much could turn New York into the Amazon.” A grin. “So, we doing this?”

    For a moment, Alcor just stared at her. He stared at her brown eyes, at her long flowing hair, at her bright sweater and skirt. He stared at the freckles on her cheeks, and the jangly bracelets on her arms. He stared at her hand, outstretched to take his, and reached out-

    “Hey, we agreed, no touchy.” She stepped back. “Deal?”

    Alcor parted his lips.

    “D̳̭̹̺̲̠̪̼́e̡̯̮͝a̹̥̜̘ͅl, M̰͝i̞̝z͕̙̞͙a͖̥̮̖̗̯͈͝͡r̜̰̗̹ͅ.”

        The sound echoed down the tunnels, and Mizar wrinkled her nose.

    “Real master of subtlety, aren’t you. Well, a deal’s a deal, soooo…” she turned, and tossed the dewdrop over her shoulder. “follow me, big guy.”

    And off she waded, wet trash piling over her white socks. Alcor didn’t quite float behind her as much as he was behind her; he willed himself to always stand a few feet behind her as she moved forwards, and the edge of his shoes clipped through the concrete as the tunnel took a turn.

    After a little while, Mizar glanced back in amusement. “I take back what I say about you being loud,” she said. “I keep having to check you’re still there. That’s a neat trick.”

    Alcor stared at the shine in her eyes, at the little snort she gave.

    “Not a talker, are you?” She turned back, and stepped over a large mound of filthy tissues. “Eh, that’s okay with me, I don’t need you for talking.”

    Talking… Alcor remembered talking. He remembered sitting with his Mizar for hours, talking about emotions, about favourite shows, about grief, about dinner. He frowned at the back of her head.

    “Mizar?”

    “Oh, great. Shouldn’t have said nothing - what?”

    “What’s…” He paused, and thought. “Why… Do you like…?”

    Mizar waited for him to finish, but when nothing came out, she chuckled. “Jeez, you okay, man? You sound like me when I wake up.”

    “Wake up…” He nodded. “Wake up. I wake up.”

    “Wish I could offer you a coffee.” She chuckled. “Anway-”

    “This is-” Alcor frowned. “We’re… running from elves?” He rubbed his head. “I don’t remember them doing this to humans… hunting humans. Why are they-”

    Mizar stopped. “Hold that thought,” she said, and pressed an ear to the concrete. “You hear that?”

    He listened, and he could hear everything. The trickle of water, the hum of a nearby powerline… the flap of a butterfly’s wing on the other side of the planet.

    “Yeah…” Mizar said, nodding. “That’s the sound of you not talking. I like it.”

Alcor watched as she straightened.

“Not trying to be rude, man. But elves can hear you from the surface, so shut up and keep up.”

______________________________________________________________

It was a couple hours of slow, silent, walking, and Alcor was starting to remember why he’d left this human world. The drudgery, the boredom, the sheer human waste he was literally trudging through… what did he like about helping people, again? And where were they going?

    He’d tried to ask, but the most he’d gotten out of her was a “Zip it.” By the way she was navigating the tunnels, though, they were definitely going somewhere; his omniscience wasn’t cooperating on where, so he resigned himself to finding out when they got there.

    He even closed his eyes a little, letting the tether between their souls take him along for the ride. He thought of the soft grass in his Mindscape, and prayed that he could return to it soon.

    Soon…

    “Wake up.”

    Her voice. Alcor opened his eyes, and saw her climbing out of a culvert. She offered a hand - and then quickly retracted it.

    “Come on, this, this way.”

    Alcor climbed out, and found himself standing at the beginning of a little moonlit creek. From the sounds of it there was a highway not far away, but Mizar was stumbling into the forest.

    “Hey,” Alcor frowned. “Uh, shouldn’t we be going away from the forest? The elves-”

    “Shut up!” Mizar snapped. “Shut up, will you!”

    Her hands were shaking, he noticed. He watched her clasp them together, like she was restraining herself.

    “Sorry, just…” she started, and then sighed. “You’re… a lot right now, I need to - I… Just trust me, okay?”

    Alcor cocked his head. “Are you okay?”

    “Just trust me,” she muttered, hobbling past trees. “Just trust me…”

    Frowning, he did follow her. They seemed to be walking some sort of overgrown trail; ferns had definitely broken it up, but he could see the way it still cut through the trees. It wasn’t long until they came upon a small shack in the woods; this too looked abandoned, but by the way Mizar started forwards, it was where they’d been headed.

    “Mizar-”

    “Wait! Wait there. Wait there.” Mizar was biting her knuckle. “Wait there, please. Trust me.”

    His frown deepened. Something was definitely off about this… but he was letting her go, wasn’t he? He heard the door slam, and stood there a little awkwardly. There was an old firepit in front of the cabin, and two mossy logs opposite each other. They were probably benches, but they were damp and slippery… no one had been here in a long time. He looked up at the black sheets covering the cabin’s broken windows.

    Not to camp, anyway.

There was a noise as the door creaked open. Mizar strolled out, hands in her pockets.

“Alright,” she said. “Sorry about that. Anyway, we better keep going.”

“What was in there?”

“Hmm?” Mizar smiled wider. “Oh, just an old shed. Had to get some supplies.” A pause. “You can take a look if you really want to, but there’s nothing in there.”

Alcor hesitated, and then took a couple steps towards the shack. He noticed the smell as he got closer - sewage - and the wards. They were uncomfortably strong, and kept him from looking in until he opened the door, and saw…

...Not much at all. There was an old table and a bed, but the only truly unusual thing was the two piles of magi-orbs sitting in the corner. There was a small pile of working ones, but the other, larger stack was all defunct; their screen had cracked or gone foggy, and they were covered in grime.

“Find any bodies?”

Alcor glanced over at Mizar, who was waving at him from the trees. He made a face, and then closed the door and floated back over to her.

“Glad you got that out of your system. Now come on.”

“What were all those magi-orbs for?”

“It’s a side business, I fix ‘em.”

“In an abandoned shack in the woods?”

“I like the solitude.” Mizar bared a smile at him. “Speaking of solitude-”

He reached out and grabbed her arm. He felt her stiffen, and then relax… and nothing more than that.

“Do you mind?”

Alcor was frowning as he took his hand away. “You’re… strange. You’re hiding something.”

“If you say so.”

“I know why the elves are chasing you.” He felt the dewdrop in his pocket. “Your end of the deal… you stole that from them, didn’t you?”

Mizar shrugged.

“Why would you do that? How did you do that?” He rubbed his head. “You… I wasn’t thinking about it earlier, but you’re just a human, how on Earth did you-”

“Shh.”

“No, don’t shush me this time, I-”

“Shut up.”

Mizar had gone very still, and that was when Alcor noticed the forest had gone absolutely silent. There wasn’t a cricket to be heard; in its place was something ancient, something angry, something… watching him. He locked eyes with Mizar, and her subtle nod said everything.

They were here.

Alcor didn’t see a knife coming until it opened his throat. He whirled around, and a shadowy figure was there - no, gone, and vines were erupting around his feet. It was strange magic, harder to break, and he gave a roar before incinerating it with a blast of blue fire.

Now he looked for elves, and he could see four souls shining bright as day as they were pinning Mizar down. He launched himself at one and tore its throat out, relished in the gargled cry it made. Oh, this he missed. It was- ack!

Magic… magic that hurt. He fixed his eyes on the elf that had come from, and-

A blade erupted out of its belly. Alcor could see its aura flash with surprise, and as it fell he saw another elf standing behind it. Mizar was standing beside it, smiling.

“Good, you got it. Excellent.” She spoke in perfect elvish, and hefted one of their blades. “You’re bleeding. Stand still, let me…”

And she lopped its head clean off. Its body hung there for a second, then dropped to the ground, spurting and convulsing. Mizar stared down at the body with an unreadable expression.

“Mizar?”

Almost unconsciously, she traced her finger across the bloodied blade, brought it close to her lips. Alcor made a tentative step forwards.

“Mizar?”

“Huh?” Mizar looked up, and saw him. “Oh… some fight, huh?” She tossed the blade away. “Saw what you did to that guy - glad you’re on my side!”

“Yeah…” Alcor traced his eye across the battlefield. He’d downed one elf, there were the two he saw Mizar take out… and there was the fourth one, lying some ways away, still breathing. He could see a deep, sucking chest wound, like a bear had slashed him down the middle, and next to him was a strange shattered visor.

All of the elves had been wearing those - it struck him how strangely… artificial they were, compared to their enchanted bark armour and bone-carved swords. He made to pick one up, but-

“Hey, no time to admire your work, we gotta move!” Mizar glanced over at him. “Oof, is that one still alive? Poor guy.”

Alcor looked at her, then back down at the elf. It… he looked young for an elf, and scared. He was staring up at Alcor with wide eyes, shaking his head, trying to speak through the blood pooling in his lungs…

Alcor closed his eyes. He snapped his fingers once, and when he opened them, the soul had left. It was just a body, now.

Just another petty mortal he’d killed, but it wasn’t quite as fun anymore. The pit in his stomach - was this his conscience coming back? It had been a while, for sure.

There was a hand on his shoulder, and he saw Mizar standing there with him. When he met her eyes, she gave a little smile, and motioned him to follow.

She stepped over his body and continued forwards. After a moment, Dipper stepped around, and followed.