Fiction - Blog Posts

Give me ideas to fill the plot holes.

Remus has a secret: he's a ghostwriter, and he writes about the dirt he finds on the rich and wealthy, and he started in school after his mom passed, leaving him with his father's debt, and his dad left after Greyback's attack on Remus, where he killed Greyback, a member of a local gang.

Remus is rich as a 25-year-old who lives like he's poor to not draw attention and doesn't even tell his friends his secret.

Alphard Black's will stipulates that Fleamont and Euphemia Potter are to manage the inheritance for Sirius, ensuring he is financially secure. However, when the Potters fall ill, Remus Lupin is appointed as the new trustee due to James Potter's struggles with borderline personality disorder.

Remus and Sirius are not the closest in their friend group, but when Remus gets put in charge of Sirius's money, they end up becoming roommates, and Remus has to try to keep Sirius in control.

While Sirius is battling with his mental health, the Black family is trying to find the money they lost track of when Fleamont and Euphemia died so they can try to get it back.

This will be a Wolfstar-centered fic with a side of James/Regulus/Lily and others… Give me your thoughts and ideas on how to fill the plot. I need some reasons for arguments. Between Sirius and Remus, Sirius and James, and Sirius and others, he is going through it, and his friends are sick of his shit. James Sirius and Remus POV Also help me with giving James a realistic BPD experience and give me thought on what Sirius has. Oh, and fair warning, Remus is a bit of an asshole; he judges everyone. Also just your thoughts and ideas, like what you think the jobs of Sirius and James are, things like that.

⋆˙⟡Cigarette. Pro Hero!Izuku Midoriya x Fem!Detective!Reader⟡⋆˙

Warnings; mentions of violence, smoking, swearing, death, arguing.

I’m just feeling creative today ig! Anyways, here we go! .~•*

Masterlist

🌸🥀

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You’d been driving around in your black car, dressed in your black blazer with your white button up and tie. Your radio had been very quiet recently, and with the new number one hero, it wasn’t surprising.

Your stoic expression remained that way, even with the peace that settled over your area, your features stayed stern.

You were enjoying the quiet, and the sunset. You glanced out your window, your mind racing with several thoughts as you did so.

Your moment was cut short, however, when your radio went off.

“Lieutenant L/n, there’s been a homicide. Can you meet on 32’nd street ‘n Ridge? Pro hero Deku called it in.”

A sigh left you as you grabbed your radio, responding with your firm and tired voice “I’ll be there. I’m in the area” you sighed as you put your radio on its hook on your dash.

Annoyance twitched at your eye and you grabbed your pack of cigarettes laying on the center console “of fuckin course he did” you mutterwd as you put a cigarette between your lips and grabbed a lighter, sparking the flame to light your cigarette.

.~•*

It didn’t take long before you pulled up on the scene. Cop cars and pro heros littering the yard with ‘CRIME SCENE’ tape lining the perimeter.

You stepped out of your car with your cigarette between your lips. You took a long drag, savoring the burn of the nicotine against the back of your throat.

Your shoes meet the grass as you walk up to a group of officers and the damn hero himself. Ignoring the bitterness for the mop of green hair and tall physique, you turn to the officers.

“What’s it looking like?” You mutter, placing your pack of cigarettes in the inside pocket of your blazer.

The officer sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. By her distraught appearance. You can tell she’s a rookie. “U-uh..I-it’s a kid..ma’am” she manages to choke out over the nausea in her throat.

Your expression remains the same, but you feel a sickening anger in your stomach. “Right.” You turned to Deku, your expression stoic as you removed your cigarette from your lips. “And you called it in?”

Deku’s expression was tense, a bit distraught, like the officers. “Yeah. I responded to the call from my agency, but by the time I got here, the perpetrator was actively leaving. His quirk let him get away..” he gave a tentative nod to finish his statement, trying not to seem as down as he felt.

You sighed, cigarette smoke leaving your mouth and nose “right. So you didn’t get here fast enough?”

Your comment caught Izuku off guard. His shoulders stiffened and he opened and shut his mouth for a second, before his shoulders slouched and he looked down “No, I didn’t, lieutenant.”

You hadn’t meant to snap at the pro hero, much less the number one, but when there was the death of a minor you were dealing with, it made you more irritable than you already were.

You sighed and turned “alright, whatever. ‘M goin in.”

“Hold on a minute, Y/n” you heard a gruff, familiar voice speak to you. You almost groaned out loud as that chuckle approached “Now’s not the time, chief.” You turned to view the chief of police, Saiko.

Saiko smiled at you, he’d given you a lot of training before you decided on homicide for your field. He was almost a father figure to you. “You haven’t even heard what I have to say, not very different than how you were as a rookie.”

His electric blue eyes rested on you, and you finally turned to look at him. He was a tall, broad shouldered man with deep brown hair and bright blue eyes, worn slightly by time but with an old man’s humor in them.

You sighed and flicked the ashes off of the tip of your cigarette “yeah well, I’ve definitely got the head on my shoulders to warrant such actions” you commented, not really serious.

Saiko chuckled gruffly “Cmon kid. I need you to hear me out on this. Deku here said he saw the perp, you need him.” He said as he placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, who’d been standing there awkwardly, very much sensing your animosity towards him.

Your eyes widened ever so slightly “What? You want him to help me?” You asked incredulously, almost dropping your cigarette.

Saiko only nodded, grinning with his scruffy mustache “that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

The three of you stayed in silence before you opened your mouth to protest, however you were quickly shut down by Saiko’s warning look.

You clammed your mouth shut and gritted your teeth together. Great. Now you had to work with the big crybaby of a number one hero. Lucky you.

“Fine.” You mutterwd as you grabbed Izuku by his arm “Cmon Deku.”

Izuku stumbled as the two of you walked into the house. His stomach churned with the smell of blood in the air.

The two of you walked through the house, your cigarette sligjtly masking the smell of blood and stale dust. The house was messy as all hell, clothes, food, furniture, news paper- it was all strewn about like a hurricane had gone through the whole damn house.

Your eyes flitted about the room, and Izuku cleared his throat “s-so uhm..Mrs. L/n, ri-?”

“Ms.” You corrected sharply “and its Lieutenant to you. Or detective.”

Izuku stiffened, correcting his posture as you napped at him. He felt a bead of nervous sweat prick his forehead. He cleared his throat and nodded “Lieutenant L/n” he mumbled.

You sighed and shook you head before turning to walk down a hallway.

This was gonna be hell.

Some weeks later .~•*

It had been roughly a few weeks since you and Deku began working the homicide case Saiko put you two on.

It hadn’t been as bad as you thought. It wasn’t great by any means, but it definitely could have been worse.

You and Izuku often met in quiet diners or ended up in your car, looking over evidence and going over suspects and family of the victim. He was even there for some interrogations, acting as an intimidating figure.

The case was moving along as it should, collecting tips and information and going over everything throughly.

However, what you didn’t know, was how amazing Izuku was with you. You were beautiful. So strong and intelligent with a stoic demeanor that made his heart flip in his chest.

He knew it was stupidly since you had some weird thing against him, but he couldn’t help it! I mean, had you even seen yourself!?

He saw how hard you were working to solve this case. The bags under your eyes giving you away, and it did worry him. How could your mind stay so sharp if you were always so tired?

Today, the two of you were going to spend an entire day together. Izuku’s heart raced at the prospect. He shook his head as he stood in line at the coffee place, his cap on along with his glasses, with his head tucked down so no one recognized him.

Izuku grabbed two coffees, leaving and getting in his car. He places the cups in the cup holders and drove out of the parking lot.

As he drove, he thought. It wasn’t just you that was propelling him every day. He wanted justice for the victim. Izuku had always had a very strong sense of justice for what he thought- no- knew was right.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he thought about the girl whose blood had been shed and he frowned.

The two of you were going to solve this case.

.~•*

Izuku walked into the police station, a small smile on his face as he warmly greeted the officers. “Y/n is in her office” one of the officers called, making Izukus cheeks flush as he smiled “great! Thank you!”

He walked down the hall, before spotting your open door. Izuku lightly knocked and peeped his head in the door. “Hey” he greeted softly.

You looked up, cigarette in one hand and files in the other “Deku.” You greeted with a nod. Your eyes eventually landed on the coffee cups in his hands and you raised a brow.

Izuku looked down at his hands before brightening “oh! I brought you coffee! I hope you like it!” He walked over and placed one of the cups on your desk.

You looked at the coffee with slightly raised brows. He thought of you? You looked up at him before taking the coffee “thank you” you mutterwd before sipping on it.

Izuku waved off your thanks, muttering something under his breath shyly. Internally, his heart was racing. You hadn’t given him any sass or a bad attitude like you usually did! Was this progress?

You glanced up at his face and sighed “Sit”

Maybe a little progress?

Izuku nodded and quickly sat in front of your desk, to which you sighed “not there, how are you gonna read files like that?” You muttered. You gestured to the spot next to you “over here”

Izuku’s eyes widened and he felt an embarrassment crawl up his cheeks in the form of a blush. “Oh- right- sorry” he quickly scooted over to you, moving his chair to sit next to yours.

His heart fluttered a bit as your cologne hit his nose. It wasn’t perfume, it was cologne. Musky with a hint of citrus.

You began to talk about some potential suspects, gesturing to different pictures. He nodded along, trying his best to focus, but his eyes did flick over to your lips every once in a while.

You glanced over, your lips parted as you locked eyes with him. Izuku hadn’t realized how much he’d been leaning in until he saw how close your lips were to touching his.

The both of you lingered, before you looked away and he leaned out of your space “sorry! Sorry-“ he quickly stuttered, fully expecting you to snap at him.

You however, sipped your coffee and blushed a little, hiding it from his gaze as you looked away “it’s fine.” You mumbled, feeling a bit docile today.

Huh..

Weird.

.~•*

Later that day, the two of you were driving in your car. You had Izukus window down a bit, and your elbow on the lip of your car door. Your slender fingers on the wheel as you drove.

“I think we’re on the right track. Just like with-“ your speech was cut off by a stomach growling. You looked over to Izuku, who was red in the face.

“Oh- crap-“ he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and you didn’t know if it was his sheepish rambling he did after his realization, or if you were just in a good mood, but you glanced over at him, not only did you smile a little, but you laughed.

His eyes widened at your chuckle, and his heart pounded in his chest.

He’d never seen you smile before.

Never heard you laugh before.

But he could really get used to that sound.

.~•*

Time seemed to fly by, and day by day, you warmed up to Izuku, even regarding him as ‘Midoriya’ every once in a while. The two of you had grown further in the case as well, and you were so close to solving it. You’d narrowed down the list of suspects to 2 men, and the evidence was wracking up.

You and Izuku had been busting your asses to solve this case, and things were going smoothly despite the setbacks- and there were a few.

Both of you started to spend more time together, grabbing dinner, lunch or coffee more often. You really lightened up to Izuku, and he you. Except, you kept getting this weird pulling feeling when you were around him.

You didn’t understand it, he just looked so different to you know. His sense of justice and determination to solve the homicide on your hands, his curls, his laugh, smile, his boyish cheeks with freckles and dimples..

What was this feeling..?

.~•*

As of now, it was dark, the two of you in your car parked in the parking lot of a closed down gas station. You each had take out in your laps. You were telling some random story from high school, the window open as you smoked lazily with your cigarette.

“Christ- yeah. His name was Danny, and he was a total ass.” You chuckled, a sound Izuku could never get enough of.

He smiled and laughed a bit, some rice stuffed in one of his cheeks “yeah! With what you told me, he sounds like it!” Izuku agreed with a bit of a mouthful.

You gave him a look and snorted before rolling your eyes “Christ, swallow your food.” You glanced at the sauce on his lip and sighed “you’re so messy”

He blushed and quickly wiped his jaw, chuckling after he swallowed his bite of rice. “Ah! Sorry!” He smiled sheepishly. Damn that boyish smile and his stupid cute curls and-

You shook away those thoughts before sighing.

Izuku hummed before smiling softly down at his take out that you bought his mind pacing in his head as he tried to think of what to say. “Thanks for buying dinner, lieutenant-”

“Y/n”

Izuku blinked as he stared at you for a second “e-excuse me?” He mumbled, his brain a bit lost. Were you correcting him?

“Just call me Y/n.” You said calmly, though your hands were clammy. Your eyes glanced over to Izuku. He was red in the face and smiling softly.

“Got it..Y/n” he murmured to you with a gentle tone.

You looked over at him, and he looked over at you.

The streets were silent..

The world seemed to stop as the two of you gazed into each other’s eyes.

Izuku placed his elbow on the center console and leaned in closer. You followed suit, not in control of your actions as you cupped his cheeks and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

You and Izuku stayed in that kiss for a moment, his hands coming up to gently cup your cheeks.

As your lips parted, your eyes slowly fluttered open and your hands gently moved down to his neck.

The two of you just sat there, before you looked away from him. “Sorry..I don’t know what came over me” you muttered, to which Izuku shook his head and smiled softly down at you “d-don’t apologize.”

You glanced at him, before the two of you pulled away.

Oh boy..

More months later.~•*

Since the kiss in the car, the two of you had been less professional outside of work. Using first names and being a bit affectionate with your words and actions.

That wasn’t all of the good that had began to come from him..

.~•*

You had been in the courtroom with Izuku and the rest of the prosecution team. It’d been months since the two of you had been paired together for this case, and now you were sitting in the courtroom about to convict the two men who took a life of a teen girl.

You were tense, Izuku noticed. You’d been so worried about gathering the evidence, organizing everything perfectly to lock them up for life with no possibility of parole. You’d been smoking so much more recently.

He gently placed his hand on your bouncing knee, making you look at him and his soft smile.

You sighed softly and looked up as the judge and jury came back to the room.

The judge sat down and let out a sigh. After a bit of talk, he cut to the chase.

“For the murder of Sakiea Kento, the two of you will be serving each a life sentence, along with 37 years for destruction with evidence, with no possibility of parole.”

A weight lifted off of your chest and you smiled softly, clapping with everyone else in the courtroom.

Izuku smiled and gently gripped your knee “you did it.” He whispered over to you.

You simply chucjled and shook your head, standing with the rest of the crowd and Izuku. “We did it” you corrected.

He smiled softly, his chest swelling with affection and relief.

They brought justice to the victim.

.~•*

The police station was holding a party to celebrate the long case coming to an end. Izuku however, couldn’t find you anywhere.

He stepped out onto the roof and hummed softly as he saw you standing there. “Y/n..?”He called out.

You looked over and sighed, fatigue and something else in your eyes “Midoriya. You should be down with the others.” You mumbled.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly “ditto. So what are you doing up here?” He walked over to you and leaned against the railing next to you.

“Thinking” you replied softly, your hair fluttering gently in the breeze as you spoke. “About the girl…I wish there was more I could do.” You admitted.

Izuku nodded and rubbed his arm “you did everything you could. You couldn’t prevent her from being killed..but you brought her justice..that’s all that matters in the end.”

You glanced over at him with a tired look “she was a child” you muttered, a tear slowly welling in your eye.

Izuku stiffened before cupping your cheek “hey- hey hey hey- don’t cry..” he thumbed away your tears with his calloused fingers, sighing softly.

You let out a shaky breath and looked up at him.

Your eyes told hin everything. He leaned down and softly kissed your lips.

You gently cupped Izukus cheeks and let out a soft sigh into your kiss, a soft hum of pleasure leaving her throat.

Once the two of you broke from you kiss, you smiled. You turned and looked away from his face, before pulling back. “Damn you and your lips.” You muttered.

He smiled as he watched you grab your pack of cigarettes. He put his hand over yours “you should try and quit smoking, you know.”

You glanced down at his hand, then at the cigarettes. A warm feeling rose in your chest as you sighed and smiled.

“Yeah..you’re right.”

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IM SO DAMN TIRED ITS 12:37 AND IVE BEEN GONE SINCE 7:00 AM AAAA

I genuinely need to know if there’s a transpecies term for fictionkins, cause damn, I godda turn into Shigaraki you guys 💔

I keep seeing sad edits of Shigaraki/Tenko and it’s hurting my fictionkin heart 😭

Skipping Stones

Chapter 1: Seeing Ghosts

“Are there any spirits here with us?”

The rain fell, as always, pattering against the windows, droplets sliding down the panes. Lightning flashed in the ink black sky every so often, followed closely by the low rumbling of thunder.

Six hands placed firmly, determinedly, fearfully, with uncertainty on the planchette on the ouija board, surrounded the group of three. The flame of the slowly melting candles around them reflected their mixed emotions in which the darkness of the mansion would’ve hidden otherwise.

The trio tonight consisted of a small-looking, timid boy, whose thick brown hair curled in front of his eyes, quite literally covering them, though not covering his quivering hands. A girl with the sparkliest hairband, her eyes equally shiny with tears that were still kept at bay. Lastly, a girl with the boldest red hair with a shine of determination and adventure in her eyes. The three look to be about seventeen to eighteen years of age, with the bold red-haired seeming to be the oldest of the group. 

“Can we go back home please? I don’t like this!” The timid boy squeaked. The hairband girl said nothing but nodded quickly.

“Oh come on, y’all agreed to this! We’re not going till we have a sign, you said so yourself!” The bold red-haired scoffed, pressing her hands firmly on the planchette, looking up to the grand chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling, the patterns on the white alabaster shades long obscured by the layers of dust.

“Is there anyone here with us tonight? Please give us a sign.” The bold red-haired repeated, louder, her voice echoing slightly in the empty mansion. 

Of course there was someone, they just could never see. People come and go, hoping to see something, expecting to see something, only to leave disappointed. Their closed eyes never seeing, never noticing. Even when they set candles to light up the dimmest of nights.  

All focused on a board and a planchette. 

Oh well, I couldn’t care less anyway. So what if they couldn’t see, I’ll send them running. I always will. And this group was no exception. 

“Oh my god! The front door! It opened by itself!” The timid boy screeched and jumped up to his feet. The bold red-haired shouted a warning but the damage was done as the timid boy stumbled, knocking over a nearby candle. The candle rolled over to the sparkly hairband girl, frozen in the confusion, the flames flickered to her skirt and caught fire. The girl screeched, swatting at the growing flame singing her skirt. 

“Get it out! Get it out!” She kicked and screamed, knocking more of the surrounding candles to the ground. Scrambling to her feet, she rushed towards the open front door, under the falling rain into the thick fog, with timid boy following closely and hastily behind. 

“Hey! Come back! What the hell!” The bold red-haired girl called out after them in protest, her voice muffled by the rain. The two that ran could no longer be seen. 

The bold red haired girl sighed in dismay, holding her head in her hand. She got up and cleaned up the mess, putting out the fire of the fallen candles and gathering them with the ouija board and planchette. Then, finally sat back down, back against the railings of grand stairs, a hand running through her red hair that fell messily on her shoulders.

Silence fell again. The darkness returned. I blended out of the front door, which was still wide ajar. Rain was entering the mansion, splashing slightly onto the marble floors. I went up to the girl, approaching closer to her. 

I thought she looked small. Smaller than I thought. Smaller than she was before.

More rain seemed to have splashed in. She shivered slightly, bringing her knees to her chest. So, I made myself small. As small as her. Just for a bit. 

She mumbled something inaudible, resting her head on her knees, soft red hair spilling onto the floor.

“It’s warm here.” She said softly. “Maybe there aren’t any ghosts here.” She said, staring past me. Into the foggy rain. 

Chapter 1: Seeing Ghosts _end_

Nightmares

“Hey! Wake up!”

I felt a sharp poke on my arm. My eyes flew open and I instinctively scooted away.

“Whoops, sorry. Was that painful?”

My eyes met hers. Those glittering black eyes shone brightly in the sun’s rays from the windows. Middy smiled apologetically, a smile that could make anyone forgive her for anything. 

“Forgive me, Kate?” She pouted like a child. A 29 year-old child. 

I sighed, ruffled her silk auburn hair and cupped her face in my hands, rubbing the little butterfly shaped birthmark on her cheek. Middy was like a child in an adult’s body sometimes, or maybe more than sometimes. A ball constantly full of energy, an energy that I didn’t have. 

“All right, Middy. All right.” But it’s worth it. 

Middy giggled and kissed my hand. She bounced up to her feet, towering over me. 

I could already tell, without her having to say anything, that she was absolutely brimming with adventure. I couldn’t help but smile at her child-like excitement. Middy loved adventuring, exploring, and dragging me along with her. 

And I would follow. Willingly.

I got up and started tidying up the bed. 

“So? Where are we going this time?” 

Middy chuckled.

“Remember the cave we found yesterday?” 

I froze, and clenched the blankets in my hands. I looked up at Middy to see her smiling evilly.

“The dark and scary one?”

“Yep.”

“Oh no.

“Oh yes.”

--------------------

It was a good day. The kind of day where it wasn’t too bright or hot that it was scorching your skin, nor was it too dark or gloomy. The kind of day I would spend feeding the horses fresh carrots, dancing around the house, and falling asleep under a shady tree with Middy.

Oh hell no. Instead I stand at the entrance of a black hole. The entrance was huge, making it hard to miss during our previous exploration. We had shone our torch into the cave from the entrance, but the light showed nothing in the murky darkness. 

Yet, the cave seemed… alive. 

Well I’m just glad we didn’t decide to go at night. I shifted the quiver on my back and tapped a finger on my bow, assuring myself that I would be safe. 

Middy rummaged through her backpack and pulled out two lanterns. She placed one at the entrance and one further into the cave. She stood up, proudly putting her hands on her hips. 

Then I thought I saw her finger twitch slightly, or maybe her arm shaking a bit, or maybe her smile falter a little. I reached out a hand to see if she’s alright. But she whipped around and picked up her sword and backpack. “Alright, let’s go!” 

“Ah!” The only sound I could muster, and then I clamped my mouth shut when Middy turned to look at me. She seemed completely fine now. 

“You okay?” Middy asked. Should I ask? I took her hand, unsure of both questions. I smiled, and nodded.

“Let’s go then.”

--------------------

“It’s so… empty.”

We had left a trail of lanterns every 20 or so steps we took, but it was useless, since the cave’s darkness swallowed up more and more of the light. Without our handheld lanterns, or the glow worms scattered sparsely throughout the cave, we would have been in the suffocating darkness. 

“Yeah,” I responded. “The darkness isn’t exactly comforting either.”

Middy collapsed onto a huge rock, setting her lantern down on the ground. I joined her. 

“A big, dark, silent and empty cave.” Middy sighed, disappointedly looking at a glow worm crawling on her finger. “How depressing, I was expecting something more.” She flicked the glow worm away. She sighed again, leaning back with her hands on the rock.

While Middy moped around, I waved around my lantern, reaching out as far as I could. Besides the glow worms –even then there were very few of them in such a huge cave– there wasn’t a single living thing residing here. No insects, no creeping vines, nothing. This whole cave was not only dead silent, it felt dead in general. 

I lowered my lantern from the cave ceiling, down along the cave walls in front of us. 

Then suddenly, the cave wall disappeared into the darkness. I shifted my lantern to the left. The cave wall appeared again, only to disappear into darkness once more. What the heck?

I got up to take a closer look. Middy questioned, but followed closely behind me. 

Turns out it was actually two pathways, a wall separating them in the middle. There was an ‘X’ scratched out on the wall, with an arrow pointing to the right side. 

Middy traced it with her finger, “Someone’s already been here.”

Just as she said that, a high pitch screech came from the right pathway, vibrating off the cave walls. I winced as it rang in my ears, my hands halfway to my ears.

“Middy, you hear–” I paused when I saw the look on Middy’s face. She was frozen, almost like a statue, her hands in fists, gripping her sword tightly. Her eyes, wide and unblinking, fixed on the darkness leading down the right pathway, as if there was something there.

I’ve never seen her like this before. I gently rubbed her shoulder, and she blinked rapidly, as if I broke her out of a trance. 

“Don’t worry, I’m okay.” She smiled, but it was a different smile.

“We don’t have to do this, we can just go, and maybe do this another day…” 

“Kate.” Middy said firmly, “You worry too much! It's probably nothing, I just got a little shocked that’s all.” She ruffled my hair and turned towards the darkness, raising her hand and pointing to the darkness in a confident pose. “Let’s go!”

But I could tell she was still shaking.

--------------------

We ventured down the rocky path. This time, the cave seemed both alive and dead at the same time, and also somehow even darker than before. Or maybe it’s just me. We tread carefully, shining our lanterns around the walls. There was this uneasy feeling that there was something hidden in the darkness, just out of the light, just outside of our vision. It was unsettling.

“Woah!” Middy exclaimed. I whipped my head around just to see her catch her balance. “I think I kicked something?” She crouched down. It was a grey backpack. A worn out picture of a white crescent on a purple circle was printed on the front. Below it was a name badge.

“Martin Ward.” I read it out. “Is he still here? Why would it be just lying around here?”

Middy zipped open the backpack. A couple packets of bandaids, a water bottle, an empty lunchbox, an energy potion, and a book and pen with the title, ‘Martin’s Journal’. A dagger was in the side pocket of the backpack.

“This guy packed extremely light for a trip down a dark cave. Not even a single lantern.” 

We picked the backpack up and walked forward a few steps before finding a stray arrow abandoned on the ground, the shaft had another name engraved on it: Ekina Salters.

“Huh, is there another person here?”

Middy kept talking, but I started to tune out when I heard a quiet scuttling sound, like metal tapping on the ground. I placed my lantern on the ground as gently as possible. “Middy, do you hear that?”

She stopped talking and got to her feet immediately, her sword drawn and lantern raised, on guard immediately. The scuttling got louder and slower. We stepped back. I nocked an arrow, alert, scanning the ground.

It got closer.

And closer.

And then it stopped. Near my lantern, right outside the light. 

Suddenly, the same high pitch screech broke the silence, but it was so much louder. My ears rang, and my eyes started to water but I held my ground. A black figure launched towards us, the source of the scream. I raised my bow and immediately released the arrow. I heard a wet thunk and thud following quickly. The screech reduced to a gurgle and everything went silent. 

“Yins.” I recalled Middy saying to me one night, pointing to her drawings in her journals she had shown me as I was wrapped in her arms. The picture she pointed to looked like a beetle. It had black, slick and slimy oval body. The legs were shiny metal, the ends sharp. They have small, beady red eyes that could stare straight into your soul and instantly know all your darkest secrets. 

“They’re quite rare, but if you do encounter them they would always arrive in clusters. They would latch onto you, and dig into your skin.” Middy flipped to another page. A sketch of a Yin clinging onto an arm. Its metal legs dug into the skin, blood seeping out of it. “Many others will join and it’ll be hard to get rid of them, so you’ll either die of blood loss or sustain serious injuries.”

“Have you met any Yins?” I had asked, tracing circles around Middy’s arms. 

“No.” Short, curt answer. No “Nah I wish I did though.” or “Man I wish.” Just a cold “no”.

“No?” I echoed.

“No, I just heard these from a traveler during one of my travels.” 

“Anyway, you can get rid of them and just stab them, but there’s a catch.” Middy flipped to another page. A drawing of a dismembered Yin, an arrow pointed from it to a reconstructed Yin. 

“You can’t actually kill them, they’ll just keep coming back.”

“After all, you can’t kill what’s already dead.”

--------------------

“We have to run Middy!” I could barely hear my own voice over the screeches of the incoming Yins. There had to be hundreds of them, clustering around us, metal legs scratching against the rock floor, threatening to dig into our skin till we bleed.  

I tugged at Middy’s arm, but she was stiff. I looked back and saw the same expression on her face from earlier. 

Except she was absolutely petrified. Her hands were shaking, covering her ears, and she had dropped her sword.

Something clung onto my ankle and I kicked it away. The Yins were surrounding us at a rapid rate, I felt a sense of growing panic in my stomach. Middy wasn’t responding the way she usually did and we were going to get consumed at any moment. 

I slammed down my bow on a Yin creeping up to Middy’s feet. 

“Middy!” I screamed. And she came to life. I looked her directly in the eyes. It was the first time I had ever seen Middy’s eyes filled with so much fear. I grabbed her arms, squeezing tightly so that she stayed with me, “Snap out of it, please!”

Middy gulped, and nodded her head. 

“We have to run, understand? Grip my hand tightly and don’t stop running until I say so.” I grabbed her hand, and she grabbed her sword with a shaky hand. “Run!”

I kicked the grey backpack up and caught it with my hand which also held my bow. 

Middy and I ran as fast as we could, deeper into the cave. The light from Middy’s lantern swayed violently as she ran, our pounding footsteps combined with the neverending screeching from the Yins that chased us down echoing off the walls made my head pound along with our feet. It took my every will not to collapse right there and let the Yins consume me. Middy was with me, I had to make sure she was safe.

“There’s a hole there, big enough for us to crawl into, we should be able to hide from them!” I slid to a halt, Middy nearly bumping into me. I helped Middy into it, and crawled in after her.

Middy extinguished the flame in her lantern and we held our breaths. 

The screeches and skittering of metal against rock grew louder.

I shut my eyes tightly, a hand tightly over my mouth, another even tighter around Middy’s hand. Her head buried into my neck. I could feel her shaking slightly.

The screeching stopped, but they got closer.

My chest burned, aching for air. 

They were right in front of us. 

The Yins were slow, like dogs sniffing out its target. I pressed myself against the wall behind me, as if the distance between them and me changed. The sound of metal scratching, dragging, against the ground so near us was unnerving, like a train screeching to a halt on train tracks, like chalk on a blackboard, sounds that I wish didn’t exist. 

The Yins scuttled past, lingering in the same place just right outside of where we hid.

Middy was shaking even more, I squeezed her hand. It felt like a flame was lit in my chest, burning painfully.

Then, silence. LIke time had frozen. Then, time restarted again. The Yins started skittering again.

This time, however, they were all in sync, like soldiers marching in a line. And they were crawling away. They got quieter and further, until there was just silence. 

Middy and I let out our breaths, the silence broken by our ragged breathing. Middy clinged onto me, her breath hot against my neck. I’ve never seen her this terrified before. “It’s alright. They’re gone now.” My shaky hands found her lantern and turned it on. 

Two huge, green glowing eyes stared back at us. Middy muffled her yelp by clamping a hand over her mouth and I stiffened up. 

The three of us stared at each other for a good while. He had red, long and unruly hair that nearly covered his eyes. His eyes, now that I took a closer look, were like a cat’s eyes, his pupil a narrow slit, staring warily at us. He wore a black turtleneck and jeans, which were torn in a lot of places. His olive skin was filled with scratches and dried blood. 

Poor kid. “Are you, perhaps, Martin?” I spoke up first, gently as possible. 

Martin’s eyes widened for a second, surprised, then squinted cautiously at us again.  

“Hey, we got your backpack! Here.” I slid his backpack towards him. Martin snatched it and checked its contents. He took the dagger out and hugged his backpack like a teddy bear, the dagger ready in his hand.   

Martin looked a bit more relaxed, but I could tell his guard was still up, understandably. 

I put down my bow and surrendered my hands in the air, moving slower than a turtle. Middy put down her sword, showing her empty hands. 

“My name is Kate and this is Middy. We have plenty of food and medical supplies back at our house. It’s quite near this cave. It’s safe, and I promise that neither of us,” I pointed to Middy, who nodded, and then me, “Will hurt you.”

Martin’s expression stayed the same.

“I’m sure you’re a very brave kid, having made it this far. This girl’s been through worse and she’s shaking like a cowering little puppy.” I nudged Middy and laughed, who rolled her eyes and pushed me back playfully. Martin let out a breathy laugh.

“We also do need your help to guide us back out of this cave, since it’s, well, incredibly dark.” I nodded at him, at his night vision eyes. Those with green, cat-like eyes had night vision, which explained why Martin didn’t bring any sort of light source with him. “In exchange for your help, we will give you food and something more than those bandages.” Martin hugged his bag tighter, I smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry, we were curious.”

I crossed my legs and extended a hand towards Martin, a sign of trust and peace. Martin looked at my hand and then up at me, at Middy at my hand and then at both of us again. Martin reached out a hand, a long scar that seemed to have been there for years already ingrained across his entire palm, and grabbed my hand. It was so small compared to mine, very firm too. 

“Alright, let’s go then.”

But he didn’t let go of my hand, he held on to it, and pulled a bit, as if he wanted to ask me something. 

“Yes?” Martin squinted his eyes, thinking for a moment. Then he rummaged through his backpack to produce his journal. He started to write, taking quick glances at us. He turned the book and showed us what he wrote: “I have a friend. They’re somewhere in this cave and I lost them and I need to find them, please help.”

Middy and I looked at each other in silent agreement, and I turned back to Martin, “We will help, where do you think they are?” 

Martin looked down at his book and wrote again, but he didn’t show us. After a few moments he shut his book and packed it quickly. He gestured us to come and crawled out of the hole, with Middy and I in tow. 

Middy and I followed closely behind with our lanterns. We didn’t run across a single Yin, as if they had all disappeared in thin air, like someone had snapped their fingers and made them all vanish in an instant. 

We ran till we reached the place before the paths diverged. Martin looked around frantically, but there was no one that we could see. 

I was suddenly pushed back by an invisible force. I stumbled back, Middy catching me from behind. The air in front of us rippled, and a person appeared in front of us, holding a bow, arrow pointed right in front of my eyes, Martin behind them. I noticed the arrow shaft had a familiar name on it: Ekina Salters.

“Hey… Are you supposedly Martin’s friend?” Ekina’s face scrunched up even more and stepped forward, the arrow’s tip ever so close to my eye. I felt like if I breathed my eyes would end up at the back of my head immediately.

Martin yanked Ekina’s sleeve, catching their attention. I felt Middy wanting to step in but I held her down. Not now. Martin signed something with his hands and Ekina paused for a moment, glaring back at us. Then Ekina sighed, putting the bow and arrow down. Middy and I sighed in relief. 

I extended my hand, and smiled as kindly and friendly as possible, “Hello, my name’s Kate and this is Middy. We’re sorry for startling you but we found Martin alone, and he wanted to find you.” Ekina looked at my hand and scanned me and Middy, then shook my hand briefly. 

Ekina looked at Martin again as he signed something. “What– why?, we can go back home now.” I was slightly taken aback by Ekina’s voice which contrasted with their dark-looking appearance. It was soft, gentle, and mature.

Martin looked at Ekina with puppy-dog eyes, pleading, the same way Middy would do if she really wanted something. Ekina sighed and said, “Fine, only because you trust them.” Ekina turned back to the two of us. Middy stepped beside me, squeezing my hands. 

“Martin here wants to follow y'all, and I will follow too. Y’all seem like nice folks but one wrong move and we are gone, understand?” Ekina’s face softened, just slightly. “My name’s Ekina Salters.”

I grinned. “Yeah we know.” Middy said, causing Ekina to raise an eyebrow. 

“The arrow.” I interjected quickly. We smiled. 

This is gonna be awkward. I readied myself.

--------------------

“You really like strawberries don’t you?” 

Martin nodded vigorously, his red hair bobbing up and down as he scarfed down a second plate of strawberries like no tomorrow, while Ekina nibbled on their second. 

The atmosphere in the house was odd, but the good kind of odd. There wasn’t any awkwardness I was expecting. Middy chatted away like she always did, and Martin took in every word she said silently but eagerly, like a plant taking in sunlight in the afternoon. I patched up Martin’s wounds, while feeling Ekina burn holes in my back, watching everything I do. While it was slightly uncomfortable, I understood that they were only being protective. After all, we were still strangers. 

“So…” I decided to strike up a conversation on my own for once, “How old are both of you?”

“19.” Ekina said bluntly. Martin showed one in his left hand and six in his right hand. 

“Wow, 16 and you’re in that cave. You’re so brave!” Middy exclaimed, and Martin shook his legs in excitement. I chuckled, asking him to keep still as I applied the last plaster. 

“I’m done patching you up. Let them heal for a few days and then you can take them off, okay Martin?” Martin nodded, licking his strawberry stained mouth. He seemed so much more alive now, a cheerful twinkle in his eye, completely different from the boy in the cave we met not long ago. 

Not only Martin, Middy too.

Ekina took a tissue from the table and wiped Martin’s mouth gently, as I put away the medkit. Martin stuck his tongue out at Ekina and let out a breathy giggle. Ekina smiled, the first time I’d seen Ekina smile. Small and sweet, loving, caring for Martin. Middy noticed it too.

“So… are you two siblings or something?” Middy asked casually. Martin nodded, but Ekina looked hesitant. Martin signed something to Ekina and Ekina looked back at me, and then at Middy, and then back to Martin. 

“Yes we are siblings, but not really at the same time. Do you want to explain, Martin?” Martin jumped off his chair and ran to his backpack, taking out his journal once again. He placed it on the table and flipped to a blank page. 

Middy huddled closer to look, Ekina’s eyes fixed on her, but less guarded, more… trusting. I took a seat next to Ekina as Martin started writing. 

“Ekina and I are siblings, not related by blood though, but I still consider them family.” Ekina smiled again, a bit wider this time. 

Martin continued writing, “We also have another sibling, his name is Fredrick, and he’s like, way older, 21 years old.”

“Wow he’s only like, 4 years younger than us!”

“Y’all are 25? You seem so much younger, except you Kate.” Ekina said suddenly. Middy burst out laughing and I raised an eyebrow jokingly, pretending to look offended. “I-I mean that you look more mature, so I thought you would be a bit older.” Ekina stumbled over their words. I laughed.

It was Middy’s turn to be offended, “Are you implying I’m not mature?” Then she burst in fits of laughter again. Martin was kicking his feet, smiling so hard we could barely see his eyes. 

Ekina, though flustered, looked much more relaxed, now sitting comfortably, hands no longer a fidgeting mess. 

In some way, Ekina reminded me about the time I met Middy. I was so much more closed-off, but somehow Middy’s charm drew me in. She may seem immature, but she was lovable, didn’t mind when I was too tired, or when I wanted to be alone. Middy always made me feel warm, made the rainy days feel better, taught me that you could also enjoy the rainy days even before the sun comes up. She opened my eyes to so many things, so many new experiences, so many new… feelings. 

That’s how I realised what love is. 

I snapped back to the conversation. “So do all of you have powers?” Middy asked, a question Ekina and Martin probably get asked a billion times. Humans with magical powers aren’t rare, but they aren’t the most accepted most of the time, despite the situation getting a bit better these past few years up till now. I never saw the reason why we hated or were scared of them in the beginning, they were just humans but a bit different, but I guess most people are scared of what they don’t know.

Martin tapped the sides of his cat-like eyes and wrote, “Nightvision!” Ekina looked reluctant to say anything. I gently tapped their hand. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” Middy nodded in agreement. 

Ekina shifted their legs close to their chest, eyes wandering over to the side. “Yeah, Frederick, Martin and I all have powers. I don’t think it’s much of a surprise, but people don’t really like us. It’s not like they will beat us up or anything, but they act like we are the most dangerous beasts or something. Like they haven’t seen something more terrifying or disgusting than us.” Ekina’s voice reduced to a mumble at the last sentence. The room fell quiet. Martin shifted his eyes to his book. 

I wanted to say something to lighten up the mood, but didn’t know what. This was what I feared, the awkward silence, the moment when we step into a territory filled with landmines, every step will send us to our immediate death.  

Thankfully, Middy knew exactly where to step.

“Yours is camouflage, right Ekina? I met a person who had the same powers too. She kept messing around with me.” Middy laughed, a lighthouse on a stormy sea, “We would play tag and I would try to chase her, but she would disappear, and I wouldn’t be able to find her. Oh! And she would disappear sometimes and pour water on my head, and I would think it was raining!” Martin already had a smile on his face, letting out short breaths in amusement. Ekina chuckled softly too. “So in retaliation, I poured water on her head! Then our parents would scold us for playing with water.” 

Middy told them story after story, listening attentively, curiously, intrigued. Martin would chime in on his own stories, writing furiously in his journal. Middy and Martin threw stories back and forth, laughing and widening their eyes in awe. Ekina watched and listened, their head propped on their hands, smiling fondly. Middy showed her scars on her hand, telling how she got them one by one, describing each adventure in vivid detail, every creature she’d met, every person. 

I noticed Ekina kept eyeing a music disc on the table. A music disc with the picture of a cartoon girl lying comfortably on green grass, the reflection of clouds in her glasses. I picked it up. “Do you want me to play it?” 

Ekina nodded slowly, “If it’s alright?” 

I smiled. It was my favourite song, “Of course.” I put it on the player. Soft, comfy piano filled the air, as the familiar tune played out. Ekina closed their eyes, and their shoulders relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Even Middy stopped talking to listen, even though this was the umpteenth time I have played it. Martin bopped his head along to the beat and played an imaginary piano. 

The song played on loop as the sun started to shyly hide behind the tall trees, like a shy child hiding behind their mother. Soon it was time for Ekina and Martin to leave, unfortunately. Middy never stopped chatting with Martin, not that he minded. Those two had formed such a strong bond in just a few hours, which wasn’t surprising to me. They radiated such similar, chaotic, thirst-for-thrilling-adventures kind of energy I’m surprised they hadn’t met sooner.

Whereas Ekina and I, we were more of listeners than talkers like Middy and Martin, I think we shared that similarity. 

I handed Martin a container of fresh strawberries, and his eyes lit up in an instant. He snatched it out of my hand and waved it at Ekina as if Ekina wasn’t right next to me. Ekina smiled, this time bigger and brighter, “Yes, we will share them with Fredrick when we get home.” Ekina went and stood next to him.

“Speaking of home, do you know where to go? It might be dangerous.” Middy asked before I could, startling me. 

“Yeah, the woods look familiar, if not we can always contact Fredrick. Oh and speaking of contact.” Ekina nudged Martin. 

He rummaged through his bag and fished out his journal. He opened it, but this time to tear out a page. Martin and Ekina pressed their thumbs onto the corner of the page, creating the imprints on the page and wrote down their names below it. Martin took Middy’s hand and my hand and we did the same. Our thumb imprints appeared on the paper and he wrote both our names below them. Martin handed the paper to Middy.

“That paper,” Ekina explained, “Is a messaging paper, used to contact anyone whose thumbprints are on that paper. Write anything on that, and it’ll appear in Martin’s journal.”

“Wow, thank you.” I said, as Middy turned and flipped the piece of paper, examining every inch of it, as in awe as I was.  

Ekina suddenly hugged me, and I blinked in surprise, “Thank you for making me, us, feel normal.”  Ekina whispered. I patted their head, it was then I realised a small scar, on their forehead underneath their long bangs. 

“You don’t have to thank me, Ekina.” I said. Ekina looked up at me.

“Please,” Ekina looked at me and Middy, “Call me Eki. It’s what my friends call me.”

“Group hug!” Middy shouted and threw her arms around us, Martin followed suit, burying his head into Eki’s side. We laughed. 

Good things always felt like a dream. I relished the moment, just in case it was.

--------------------

The moon rose, a full moon, bright in the starry night sky. I took out the messaging paper Martin and Eki gave us, with Middy over my shoulder, tapping her foot in anticipation.

“Are you two back home?”

I sat back and waited, Middy’s hands fidgeting on my shoulders. 

Then, below our message, a word was written out, like an invisible hand holding a pen. “Yes!” Then both messages disappeared.

I felt Middy’s whole body relax, her forehead resting on my head as she muttered out a “Thank god”. 

“Aww were you worried about them?” I cooed at her. Carefree Middy was worried? Middy scoffed in response. 

I got up and wrapped her hands around me, staring up into her eyes, black as the night sky, but brighter than the full moon. I could get lost in them. She grinned her silly, special little grin. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, are you alright?” Middy cocked her head to the side, as if she had never heard of the question before. 

“I mean, I have never seen you so… awfully terrified before, back in the cave. I was just.. You know… wondering if there was anything you wanna talk…” Middy pulled me closer, her head over my shoulders. I was on my toes, but I felt like I was floating, felt like the whole world fell away and it was only us. 

Middy’s soft breathing and heartbeat was all I could hear, not even the sounds of the night could reach us. 

“I’m fine, I really am.” She and I sat on our bed, but we never let go of each other. “It’s just a shock to the Yins again–”. She cut herself off, letting me go. “I mean, yeah those Yins look incredibly freaky haha.”

“Again?” I was confused. “I thought you said you’ve never met any before?”

Middy remained silent, not looking me in the eye. I felt an invisible wall between us. 

I took a deep breath, “Why would you lie about something like this?”

The silence grew thick, suffocating. 

“Middy…” I didn’t want to fight, I didn't want this silence to go on. Please talk to me.

“Do you promise not to laugh at me?” Middy finally said, in a small voice. 

“Of course I won’t!”

Middy clutched her legs close to her chest, and leaned against my shoulder. 

“It was a few years ago, before you and I even met. I had a few close buddies back then, and they would always compliment me for being brave.”

“One day, they dared me to go down this cave, and of course I did it. I went down, it was dark, extremely quiet. I only had one lantern with me, and my sword of course. I went deeper and deeper. And then I saw them. There was one at first, I thought there was only one, suddenly so many more came.” I thought back to our encounter in the cave.

“I fought and fought, but it got too much, I was getting exhausted, and they were relentless, they were so loud, I was reaching my breaking point. Then I dropped my lantern.” I suppressed a gasp. I could see she was shaking, hand clenched so hard it turned ghost white. I rubbed her hand, letting her continue.

“It… was… dark. So awfully dark. It felt claustrophobic, like it wrapped around my neck, squeezing it. Everything was loud but I couldn’t see anything. So I ran. Blindly. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know where to go. The screeching sounds from the Yins were gone but they echoed in my head. I was hurting all over, too.” Middy rubbed her neck.

“Eventually, I heard the sound of rain and followed it, and I got out. When I got out, I cried. More than I would like to admit. My friends had left but I figured it was because of the rain. I ran back home and told my parents about it, but they didn’t really believe me, they were more angry at the fact that I came home late and wet.” I shook my head. I never liked Middy’s parents, and the hate was mutual. 

“I told my buddies the next day. I thought they would comfort me, because I was still very shaken. Instead, well… they laughed at me and called me a coward. Worst thing was, I believed them.”

A few drops of rain fell, reflected by the moon. Then more, and soon the rain was beating against the windows, like they were trying to get in.

“Do you still talk to them?” I asked.

“Oh, no. Never again. I tried not to let their words in my head, but it’s kinda hard sometimes.” Middy traced the scars on her hands.

“I’ve met and fought things and creatures, many creatures, none scared me as much as Yins. I’ve thought about going back to the cave I went into a few years ago, but everytime I think about the darkness and what I felt.” Middy shuddered and shook her head. “Didn’t know they’ll appear here though.” She chuckled dryly.

The wind sighed in the branches of trees. The silence was no longer suffocating. But I didn’t know what to say, even though I wanted to say something. It was the first time Middy opened up to me like this, so vulnerable.

“Well, I bet if they were dared to do the same thing they wouldn’t even follow through.” I don’t know who Middy’s ‘buddies’ were but thinking about them made me fume, “You know, I bet the moment they even step into the cave, they’ll come running out, wetting themselves!” Middy laughed, a genuine one. I missed it.

“They don’t know who you are, they don’t know the Middy today. Yes, you froze up today, but tomorrow, you will rise up and fight, I know it. You’re braver and stronger than you think you are.” I tapped her forehead. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.” 

Middy leaned back to look at me. She leaned back in and kissed me. I kissed her back, tasting strawberry. Then, she rested her head on my shoulder, her face warm on my neck.

“Kate?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” Middy tilted her head up and smiled. Warm, full of love.

I kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”

--------------------

We went back to the cave, to the two pathways that we found. We had asked Martin and Eki if they wanted to come with us, but they already had some other plans. 

Middy placed a lantern at the entrance of the left pathway, and lit another lantern of her own. I stood by her side, gripping my trusted bow, the familiar weight of my arrows in my quiver, slung over my shoulder. Yet it could not calm the uneasiness that grew like a seedling inside of my stomach. The right pathway was scary in a way that something might jump out and attack. But the pathway we were about to go down, it had an eerie vibe, like something was crawling in there staring at us. They can see us, but we can’t see them. 

Which somehow felt much, much worse, I shivered, though it wasn’t cold. 

“Hey.” I felt a warmth spread around my body, like the warm morning sun shining through our bedroom windows when I wake up. Middy had her hands around my stomach, her chin over my shoulder. “You okay?”

I let out a held breath, and put my hand over hers, “Yeah I’m fine. This place just gives me bad vibes.”

“Breaking news!” Middy joked, and we both laughed, which faded into silence once more. I felt that Middy was more silent than usual ever since we left. 

“Did you pack the mana potions we got? Just in case.” Her voice barely over a whisper. 

“Yeah, you told me multiple times to pack it.” I took out the glowy liquid encased in the glass flask, secured to my waistband. It was only to be used during emergencies when we were extremely weak. “What’s with you huh?” Her face was warm in my hand as she nuzzled it in the palm of my hand. 

Middy grabbed my shoulders and twisted me around to face her. The yellow glow of the lantern made her eyes look like there was a flame ignited in there. Being a little over half a head taller than me, her stance felt intimidating yet comforting and safe at the same time.

Her face softened, “Nothing, nothing at all. I just wanna say…” She hugged me again. “I love you, and I would never be able to do this without you by my side, not in a million years.”

I cupped my hand on her face, “Let’s do this then. You and me.”

--------------------

There were thousands of Yins. On the walls, on the ceiling, on the floor next to our feet. Middy and I stayed close together, our backs literally stuck together, our guards up and weapons drawn.

What was strange was that none of them were attacking. All of the Yins travelled in the same direction, organised in single lines close together. They weren’t tripping or climbing over each other trying to get us. We couldn't even hear the tapping of their metal feet against the rocky surface. 

In fact, it seemed like they weren’t even acknowledging our presence. 

They were everywhere, trapping us in a tiny space in the middle of the pathway, shuffling us forward with the fear of accidentally stepping on a Yin and having all of them attacking at once, from every direction. 

Just thinking about that made my knees weak.

“What the hell is this?” I nearly tripped when Middy whispered, her voice like an explosion in the pin drop silence, she even stiffened up a little. 

The Yins did not react in the slightest. 

“I don’t know. Do you think this is a trap?” I winced at my own voice, a mere whisper vibrating off the walls. 

Middy didn’t answer, which I’m glad. I don’t think either of us wanted to know the answer. 

Middy tried to lift her foot over the Yins crawling just centimetres away from her feet. They didn’t budge, or even bothered to look up. Just kept on crawling. 

Middy and I had no choice but to keep shuffling forward, anticipation level high up. The thick silence was suffocating, only broken by my heartbeat thumping in my ears, so loud I thought Middy might be able to hear it.

Thump Thump.

Thump Thump.

Thump Thump.

Thump- 

Thud. 

My foot connected with a wall in front of me. I was so focused on the Yins around me that I didn’t notice that we had reached the end of the path. The Yins skittered away, behind us. 

“Kate?” I touched the wall as the Yins began to disperse, trailing my lantern up along the wall. Walls in front of us, to the left and right. 

“Kate, they’re all gathering in one place.” Spider-web cracks spreaded across the rocky walls. I felt something light drop onto my head, like the first drops of rain at the start of a thunderstorm. 

But it wasn’t water, instead tiny pieces of rock fell from above. I looked up. 

“Middy, what’s going on?” Thick green vines slowly snaked out of the cracks of the ceiling, towards the ground around us. The ground started to shake like an earthquake. I bumped into Middy and finally turned around. 

All the Yins were starting to merge. Their slimy bodies stuck together, metal legs digging into the black void of their body to form something bigger. Middy swept her arm in front of me and both of us stepped back, my hand subconsciously on an arrow behind me. 

The Yins grew and grew, and suddenly light from our lanterns went out, and we were plunged into darkness. Middy gasped, and a loud clang reverberated around in the dark.

--------------------

I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see anything. Not a sliver of light, no silhouette, nothing. It was darker than the darkness when you closed your eyes. A lump formed in my throat as I blindly fumbled in my pocket for my matchbox. The darkness was incredibly claustrophobic. 

“Kate!”

Come on. Come on. I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the box for the rough patch and struck the match.

“Oh god!” Middy was pinned against the wall, holding off a black metal crab-like claw that was as big as Middy herself. The claw was just centimetres away from her face, the only thing between them was Middy’s sword, but the distance was closing more and more. I quickly lit up my lantern on the floor.

“Shoot it!” I shot, the arrow landed into the goopy black arm with a wet squelch and ended with a loud ‘clang!’, like it connected with more metal. The claw retracted, and another appeared out from the darkness to yank the arrow out. It threw the arrow to the side.

I shot another arrow into the darkness, but all I heard was a loud snap as it fell down into two pieces. Middy roared as she ran forward and connected her sword with one of the metal claws. It barely made a dent, and it sent her flying back against the wall. 

“Middy!” I lunged out for her to cushion the fall. Middy recovered surprisingly quickly and was on her feet, sword raised.

“Stay away!” Her voice wavered slightly, but her stance didn’t. She stood in front of me, her empty hand swept to the side as if to cover me. My heart pounded in my ears, adrenaline and admiration pumping through me. I grabbed her hand, and stood by her side. 

“Well… well…” The voice boomed, or rather, voices. It was as if dozens of different people all spoke in unison, bouncing off the walls. I could feel a headache starting to form behind my eyes. 

Then, it stepped into the light. 

A monster stepped into the light, though it seemed as if the light was consumed by it. It was like a Yin, only it was the size of the entire cave. The slimy body was a black void, which looked like it could consume and trap anyone in eternal darkness. Four, large metal claws attached to appendages protruding out of its body, like some weird hybrid of an insect and crab. 

I would have laughed at how ridiculous it looks if it weren’t for the fact that it can slice my head clean off with one swing of its claw if it wanted to. 

And it certainly wanted to. 

“How does it feel to be so tiny and insignificant faced with something so vast and great?” Deep voices, high pitched voices, taunting whispers, banshee shrieks and hateful cries were all I heard say back. I never wanted to rip my ears out so bad until now. 

“Even the mightiest of elephants cower at the sight of mice!” Middy’s voice was like an angel sent from the heavens, the dove among a murder of screeching crows. She gripped my hand tighter, and I mentally gave her all my support. 

Six, red beady eyes similar to that of six lava pits in its void of a body met ours, burning holes into our faces. 

“Such bravery and ferocity.” A claw crashed into the wall right beside Middy and she sunk her sword into the slimy flesh, hitting the metal skeleton underneath. 

“Down!” Middy pushed my head down as the claw dragged along the wall right above our heads, bringing Middy’s sword along with it. Bits of rock rained down on us. I pulled out another arrow and shot it directly in one of the eyes. The arrow sank into the eye and the monster roared, louder than the thunder. 

Middy took this opportunity to grab her sword and ran it against the metal hidden under the flesh of the arm, making a horrible screeching noise, searing through my head. Sparks flew and Middy yanked out her sword and rolled away.

The monster made a sound similar to thousands of dying horses. Then I saw why. The sparks had made the flesh on the arm melt, exposing the metal skeleton underneath, which was slightly melting as well. A long scratch etched into the metal from Middy’s sword. The black goopy flesh dropped to the floor and disappeared into smoke, and the arm did not repair itself. 

Middy’s eyes met mine, reflecting my surprise. I nodded. I knew she was thinking the same thing.

We’re not letting it take our lives away!

I threw her my matchbox and grabbed my lantern. “Hey you!” I called out to the monster. I swung my lantern and let it fly into the air towards it, though short lived as the lantern was immediately smashed onto the ground with an unsatisfying crunch by the monster’s claws. The same asphyxiating darkness fell again, but not for long. The light in Middy’s lantern came to life and sank into the monster’s flesh, exploding into flames. 

Earsplitting demonic screeches echoed throughout the cave, so deafening it could bring the whole cave down to a rubble. My bow slipped out of fingers as I clamped both hands on my ears tighter than ever, my eyes grew hot, my ears rang. I opened my mouth but whether I screamed or not didn’t matter. 

I felt myself hit the ground, and the last thing I saw was Middy thrown to the ground like a ragged doll.

--------------------

I couldn’t tell if I was alive or not. My limbs were stiff as glue, my mouth dry as sandpaper. My eyes were open, staring up at the cave ceiling. Like my body was a corpse but my conscience was still there. My ears no longer rang, leaving a dull throb. 

Silence. Then a muffled sound of distant shuffling, as the ground below me shifted ever so slightly. A soft crackling noise above me. My hearing slowly came back to me, and I realised the warmth I was lying on wasn’t the ground. 

“Hey. You’re awake.” Middy’s exhausted eyes met mine, but her voice filled with relief. Multiple scratches littered her entire face, some reaching down to her neck. An especially large gash reached down her cheek like a tear streak. The gash red as the monster’s lava-like eyes. Her clothes ripped in some areas. She held a match in one hand, holding mine in the other. 

“I know right? My red hair compliments my face very well.” Middy joked when I stared for too long. Playing fun, even in such a dire situation. I sought to scan our surroundings with no energy or voice to tell her off.  

From the looks of it, it was the same cave we fought the monster in. Except thick green vines encircled around us like a cage, firmly planted to the ground from the ceiling. Thorns littered around each vine, making escaping infinitely more impossible if we didn’t want to poke our eyes out. 

“It knocked my sword out of my hand,” I squinted into the darkness of the cave and saw a glint of metal. “I don’t think your arrows are sharp enough to cut through.” My arrows lay scattered across the cavern floors, some in the cage with us and others outside the cage. The ones outside the cage were all broken into pieces. 

“Don’t worry, your bow is right here.” That’s the last thing I’m worried about right now. 

My lips felt like they were stuck together with dried glue as I pried them open to see if I had lost my voice. It was as if all the fluids from my body had evaporated, leaving me like a dried raisin, a wilted plant deprived of water. Middy raised her water bottle to my lips and I gratefully relinquished it. 

“Fire…” I tilted my head to the matchstick Middy held. 

“I tried, but it’s gonna take a lot more than just matchsticks to burn our way out” I got myself to sitting position, my limbs stiff and sore. But I’m sure Middy was feeling worse.

“Hey, don’t get up so fast, you’ll get a headache.” Indeed my head spun and purple dots floated in my vision, but I didn’t care. I collapsed at the slightest loud sound and Middy would fight till she was dead. 

I was disappointed, mad. Mad at myself. I didn’t do enough. Maybe if I fought longer we wouldn’t be trapped in the first place, maybe  Middy wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

I didn't realise I had been crying until Middy touched my cheek and I realised how warm it was. “Hey now, why’re you crying? I’m fine, I swear!” Middy patted my face, a weak attempt in calming me down. “It’s just a little cut, nothing major, I have had lots before!”

I didn’t know what to do, so I just babbled out my mind, “I’m sorry, I should’ve done more- You got hurt because of me, I didn’t do anything-” I choked between sobs. 

Weak.

Middy threw her arms around me, careful of the match in her hand. Her body was warmer than the tears rolling down my face. I’ve never cried this hard in front of anyone, not even Middy. My whole body rocked, and I could barely breathe.

Pathetic.

Middy pressed her lips to the side of my head, and breathed out next to my ear. I breathed out along with her. When she took a breath, I breathed in.

She breathed out. I breathed out.

She breathed in. I breathed in.

Breathe in. 

Breath out.

Middy’s entire sleeve was drenched with my tears by the time my sobs were reduced to quiet sniffles. It was also then I realised how tight I was clinging into Middy. I tentatively leaned away and wiped my face with the palm of my hands.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, unable to look at Middy, my face hot. I heard her laugh, a pleasant, honey giggle that made my heart flutter. 

“This,” I flinched when she touched the long red gash, even though I didn’t experience it. “This might heal into a scar.” Will heal into a scar. 

“But you know what?” Middy grinned. The goofy grin. The grin that made my heart throb when I first met her. The grin that told me that everything was alright. That everything was going to be okay. 

That you can also enjoy the rain before the sun comes up. 

“I think that this will be my favourite scar. My favourite story to tell.” Middy took my wrists into her hand and held them against the sides of her face. My fingers tentatively brush the skin beside the cut, feeling the warmth of her skin on my wrists. 

“I’m not touching it, I might infect it.” I placed my hands on her neck and bumped my forehead against hers. Middy chuckled.

We stayed like that for a while, and I wish we could stay like that forever. Ignoring the dark, dangerous cave encasing our fate and demise. 

Just the two of us, together, a pleasant silent air between us. 

“We’re definitely getting out of this place, alright?” I nodded back, wiping away the last of my tears. Middy got up, helping me up to my feet. 

I heard a rustle, and caught a glimpse of something falling out of my pocket. A paper lay at my feet.

Not just any paper though. It was the messaging paper Eki and Martin gave to us.

“You had it in your pocket?” Middy asked.

“I must’ve put it in unknowingly.” 

Then it was like something clicked simultaneously in both our heads. 

“We don’t have a pen though.” Middy said, looking around as if a pen might drop down from the cave ceiling. I glanced at the thorns on the vines, small but sharp, and pondered for a bit.

“Maybe we don’t need a pen.” I hovered my finger over one of the many thorns, thinking aloud. 

Middy immediately grabbed my wrist away from the thorn. “Woah now, let’s think this through. Both Martin and Eki are incredibly strong and resilient, don't get me wrong, but we have seen them before in this cave. You really want to call them here again? They might not agree to come back. They’ve also only met us once.”

I blinked, surprised yet again by how much Middy thought this through. Past Middy probably would’ve just jumped on into it immediately. I smiled, proud.

“Well, I was thinking that they could bring their brother Fredrick? He’s only a few years younger, and he has fire powers, which is the monster’s only weakness. And,” I stepped forward, closer to Middy. “Martin and Eki won’t be alone this time.”

“Do we have any other choice?” 

I shrugged. Middy sighed, “At least let me do it then.” She said softly. I let out a short breath of amusement, and pressed her palm on my cheek. 

“You have already done so much, it’s time I also do something.” I released her, “Besides, I think it’s also time I get my own scars.” 

Middy laughed, “I don’t think that alone will leave anything.”

“Well, next time I guess.”

I pressed my thumb down onto the tip of the thorn, wincing as the blood flowed out. I pressed my bloody thumb against the paper. “Let’s hope they don’t get too freaked out.”

I wrote, Danger, help, trapped, in the cave. Not at all ominous.

As I wrote, my thumb the quill and my blood the ink, I thought I heard a voice. A tiny squeak somewhere around the cave. Footsteps too. 

“Did you hear that?” I tore a bit of my sleeve off and wrapped around the cut on my thumb. Middy was already peering out into the darkness of the cave, but that was all there was. Cold darkness. 

“Actually wait. Look.” Middy pointed to the darkness. I squinted, then realised it wasn’t just darkness.

 A spark of light, then two, then three, bobbing in the darkness. Then voices, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

I see something move on the messaging paper. Words formed on the paper.

“WE ARE COMING!”

And then they appeared in the light.

Eki and Martin ran towards us. “Over here!” Eki shouted out. 

“Careful, there’s thorns.” Middy said as they reached the vine cage. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. 

“How did you know we were here?” I barely sent the message before they found us.

“We heard an incredibly loud sound coming from here.” Eki explained, as Martin ran back to another person who came out of the darkness. “We remembered y’all said y’all were going back into the cave and got worried. We brought Fredrick along too.”

Fredrick, the new person Martin came back with, was tall, maybe taller than Middy even. He had dark hair and fiery eyes and walked up to us in a casual manner. 

“Stand back.” His voice was deeper than I thought. He cautiously slipped his hands between the thorns and gripped one of the vines tightly. His eyes glowed brighter than the sun, and though I wasn’t him, I could feel the heat surge through his arms, to his hands, to the tip of his fingers. A spark, and then fire, eating hungrily at the vines, turning the bright green to mere ash in seconds. The greedy fire spread further to other vines, eventually leaving a whole large enough to let us through. The fire, having satiated its hunger, dissipated into smoke. 

The boy with fiery eyes extended a hand, an amicable grin greeting us. “Name’s Fredrick, but I think you two know.” I shook his hand, followed by Middy, an excited and shocked twinkle in her eye.

“Thank you, I’m Kate and this is Middy, but I think you know that too.” I shot a knowing look at Eki, and they smirked. 

I saw Martin hand Middy her sword, and Fredrick burning more of the vines, weakening it and pulling the still green bits to the ground from the ceiling. Seeing more people, despite only being only a few more, filled me with a sense of comfort, security, and hope. 

The cave seemed so much livelier and brighter. Gone was the dreaded, suffocating darkness. 

It didn’t seem so scary anymore.

I felt a sudden poke on my shoulder, startling me. I whipped around but saw no one. But I knew who it was and I rolled my eyes. The air rippled and Eki appeared, smirking at me. “Cheeky.” Eki laughed in response.

Eki handed me my arrows, but I noticed that there was an extra arrow that stood out from the rest. It’s arrowhead was red as fire. “Here, use the red one wisely by the way.” I nodded, only half understanding.

Martin kicked some stones on the ground. One of the stones skidded and hit the wall beside us. Then I saw it.

“Hey there’s a hole here.” A hole that looked slightly similar to the one we had hid in the first time we went into the cave. Middy crouched in front of it. 

“I think this is where the monster went.” As soon as she said that, she immediately jumped back and swung her sword, cutting off a screech. We ran forward to see a small Yin, body sliced clean in half, but was slowly putting itself back together.

“Bleh. I’ve heard about these creatures but never seen them up close, I’m disappointed, safe to say.” Fredrick said. 

I turned to Fredrick. “Could you maybe set this on fire Fredrick?”

“Can do.” He knelt down and placed his hands just above the dismembered Yin. A small fire came to life, and the Yin let out a fading squelch. It melted and disappeared into the air. Everyone except Middy and I widened their eyes in awe, a few ‘woah’s whispered.

I carefully picked up the thick green vines that were left, the wheels in my head turning. 

“Are you able to control your fire, as in which direction it goes and what it burns?” I asked.

“Yep. Trained for a long time.” Fredrick said proudly.

Middy had a knowing look in her eyes, and I could tell she was thinking exactly what I was thinking about. We turned to the three of them, looking at us attentively in anticipation. Middy’s hand in mine, gripping firmly, by my side.

“We have a plan. Listen carefully.”

--------------------

The monster was expecting us.

But we were expecting it too. 

“Well, well, well…” Its million voices boomed. “About time you escaped. I’m rather disappointed it didn’t take longer.”

“So sorry, you were just so unimportant we almost forgot about you.” I said sarcastically. 

The monster stood tall, the height of the cave. Two of its claws dug the ground, the other two dragged against the walls, producing a horrible screeching noise. 

The noise seared through my head, grating against my ears. 

I held my ground, and felt Middy’s shoulders brush against mine, a comforting touch. A sense that I will be safe, there’s help and support on my side in a face of such monstrosity. 

“You think you can defeat us that easily?” I surprised myself, speaking up at it. I felt the seed of bravery growing, sprouting and blossoming inside of me. Middy raised her sword, the blade brandishing in the monster’s red eyes. Its evil gaze did not waver us.

Suddenly, an arrow flew from beside us, and struck one of the monster’s eyes. Then another arrow struck another eye. My bow stayed by my side. 

The monster plucked the arrows out, confused. Just what we wanted.

“Now!” I shouted, only then shooting an arrow of my own. 

Martin and Fredrick ran out from behind us with the vines, quickly wrapping it around the claws that planted it on the ground in the midst of the monster’s confusion. Eki appeared from thin air beside us, releasing one last arrow before running after Martin and Fredrick, nearly getting hit from the monster’s claw as it descended onto the ground like an asteroid.  

Middy seared her sword against the claw, and the monster let out a shrill screech that shook the cave ceiling, threatening to collapse on us.

Fredrick slammed his hands on the floor. Cracks formed on the floor, inching its way to the monster, sending the heat towards the monster. Flames burned bright, melting off the inky flesh, the metal skeleton was no longer hidden. The monster howled, sounds that came from the deepest depths of hell. Adrenaline pumped throughout my entire body, my thumping heartbeat overpowering the screams as I shot more arrows into the monster’s eyes, trying to distract it from the others.

The monster couldn’t move forward, as Martin and Eki were holding it back, but I knew they could only hold it down for so long, we had to act quickly. 

Frederick melted the rest of the flesh of the monster’s head. The shiny metal skull exposed the six eyes, which now looked like six fragile red tinted glass instead of lava pools. He finished the job and quickly ran back to Martin and Eki to help them.

I leaped back to aim better, and shot an arrow into one of its eyes. The arrow flew through the air, shattering the first eye with a satisfying crunch, and the light went out of it. 

The monster let out a shrill screech. 

“Kate watch out!” Middy screamed out as a claw hurled towards me. I couldn’t avoid it fast enough and the next thing I knew, the wind was knocked out of my lungs and my arm scraped against the floor, burning. My hands covered my head to protect it. 

I quickly got up, trying to catch my breath. I checked my arm. The gash, like a long, ugly and bloody red river reaching from my shoulder and flowing down to near my elbows. It stung so much, like a thousand thorns poking at it. 

But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I grabbed my bow off the ground and shot directly into another eye. The monster screeched and swung its claw again. This time however, Middy jumped in front of me and blocked it with her sword. 

“Quick, destroy the rest of the eyes!” I nodded and ran, preparing three arrows. 

Middy dodged the thrashing claws of the monster so well it was almost graceful, like a dance of some kind. She grabbed the last vine and wrapped it around one of the two remaining claws, took out a dagger and pinned it to the ground. The monster only had one remaining claw left. 

“Your efforts are useless, you might as well stop trying.” It snarled, tugging at the restraints that once trapped us. 

“As if!” Middy shouted, creating another scratch on the monster’s metal skeleton. 

Two eyes left, lit up, the rest like broken spotlights, the light blinked weakly before fading away completely.

I shot another arrow. Missed. 

The monster was growing weaker, the one free claw it had was nowhere accurate to hitting Middy, but it still fought hard. The more scratches and dents Middy put on the monster’s thrashing claw, the more difficult it was to hit the remaining eyes without killing Middy, and I could tell it was getting harder to hold the monster down for the three of them. The monster was sliding forward ever so slightly, threatening to crush me against the wall that was behind me.  

I could hear the vines slowly starting to rip apart. 

My last arrow flew through the air. 

It hit. Stray pieces of glass clinked onto the ground. The light in the fifth eye flickered and died off. 

“One more Kate! One more!” I fumbled for another arrow in my quiver, my arm shaking. My hand only felt cloth instead of the wooden shaft of my arrows. I panicked, a lump starting to form in my throat.

My quiver was empty.

“Kate! Over here!” Middy had stopped fighting to pick up a stray arrow from the ground. The arrow with the head as red as fire that Ekina had given me. It must’ve fallen out of my quiver when I got hit earlier. 

“Catch!” She threw the arrow at me, but I saw a black blur heading towards her. 

“Duck!” I grabbed the arrow and lunged for Middy, knocking her to the ground. I could feel the claw miss my head by a hair.

I pushed myself off Middy and scanned for the claw, the red arrow in my hand. 

 I ran towards it, possibly the same speed as it rushing back towards me. 

Closer. The claw gnashed open and close. Threatening to squish my head like a stuffed toy. 

Closer. My feet and my heart seemed to pound at the same time, the air whistled through my ears. 

Closer. I could see my reflection in the monster’s claws. 

Jump. I jumped onto the monster’s claw, running across it. I could feel the monster pause for a moment, as if surprised by the sudden bold action, but immediately lifted its claw up, lifting me up at the same time.

I leaped into the air, and suddenly it was as if time had slowed. I felt light in the air, above the monster, above everything. The red arrow was nocked into my bow, the head aimed directly at the last eye, which burned holes into my soul.

I stared back at it, daring it. 

“Good-bye.”

I released the arrow.

And everything burst into flames.

--------------------

“Hey! Wake up!”

I feel a hand gently slipping through my hair, playing with it. My eyes blinked open to see Middy’s face bathed in the sun rays. Her deep black eyes reflected the morning sun, but her smile was warmer and brighter than the sun.

“Morning kiss?” Middy puckered her lips, and I scoffed and rolled my eyes, lightheartedly. I pressed my lips against hers, which tasted very strongly of strawberries. 

“Were you eating strawberries? Without me?” 

Middy laughed, “It’s not only me that’s eating them.”

Middy and I went out into the dining area, where Martin, Eki and Fredrick were eating strawberries and strawberry jam sandwiches, chatting between mouthfuls. They waved at us.

“Good morning!” Middy ran up to Martin and lifted him into the air, giggling, as Martin kicked his feet in the air, a half eaten sandwich in his hands. He ate the rest and signed at Middy. 

“You want to go play in the cave? Sure, wash your hands and let’s go!” She put Martin down and he ran to the bathroom, and soon was out the front door. 

Eki got up and gave me a cup of tea, “Strawberry tea, wakes you right up.” And ran out with Martin.

Fredrick started gathering the plates and cups left on the table. 

“Go join the others Fredrick, I’ll clear up.” Middy said, and Fredrick immediately ran off, leaving Middy and I the only ones in the dining room.

We went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. A comfortable silence between us, broken only by the sounds of water and the clinks of plates and cups. Middy hummed a tune of no particular song. 

It was a good day. A perfect day even. It was a beautiful day. The kind of day where it wasn’t too bright or hot that it was scorching your skin, nor was it too dark or gloomy.

We put away the clean utensils and walk towards the front door. Middy’s hand sneaked into mine, kissing my cheek over and over again. I couldn’t help but giggle. “Come on, let's go meet them.”

Middy stuck out her tongue playfully, and raised her hand which was intertwined with mine. The rose quartz stone on our rings glinted in the sunlight, sparkling like the shiny pebbles in rivers. My sleeve rucked down and exposed my scar, from when we fought the monster. My first scar.

Middy and I walked towards the cave. The slight breeze whispering through our hair, in our ears. Though it happened a year ago, I still remember when both of us walked the same path, a time before Martin, Eki and Fredrick knew us, a time that seemed like a dream and a nightmare combined.

We arrived at the entrance of the cave. It wasn’t dark and ominous anymore, like when we first came. Flowers of many different colours adorned the sides of the cave, lanterns rested amongst the vines, giving a soft and welcoming glow.

We ventured down the left pathway and they were there, frolicking around in the soft grass. Frederick and Eki danced around in the grass that grew through the cracks on the cave floors. It was no longer barren and dead. Grass, flowers, planted and grew on the walls and floors. Fireflies flew around in the air. Middy joined them while I went to Martin, who sat in a corner writing.

“You know it’s not good for your eyes to be writing in such dim lighting.” I sat down next to him. 

“Nightvision dummy.” I chuckled.

Martin looked around the cave, taking the atmosphere in. It was peaceful, lively. We could read books, tell stories together and sleep under the fireflies. 

“Funny how this place used to be where the monster lived, where we fought and defeated it.”

“I know right.” I ran my hand across soft grass, tickling my fingers. “It’s only been about a year, but it was crazy. I still remember how I felt when I shot it and it burst into flames.” I mimed shooting an arrow with a bow. 

“It seems so much like a dream.” Martin wrote, flicking his pen in his finger afterwards, deep in thought.

I closed my eyes, “More like a nightmare, but it’s worth it.” I gestured to our surroundings. I watch Middy try to pick up Fredrick while Eki laughed at her efforts. “Seems like a dream now.”

“Good things always seem like a dream.” Martin smiled, proud of himself. I raised my eyebrow, impressed.

“That’s why you need to enjoy it while it lasts.” I got up and pulled him to his feet. We ran up to Middy and the others. I jumped up onto Middy’s back and she spun me around, and I laughed like a schoolgirl.

Eki plucked a flower from the ground and gave it to Middy. She held the flower and brushed some hair out of my face, putting it in my hair.

“There.” Middy kissed me, her smile contagious as I felt my lips curl up.

Everything felt like a dream.

I cupped Middy’s face, warm in my hand, and touched her forehead against mine, closing my eyes.

But it was definitely a dream come true.

~End

Inspired by: https://youtu.be/DnGhWMKAur0

Please go check Static-P and Lilypichu’s music! They’re amazing :)

It was late at night, you had your bags packed, and you were ready for his signal. That was when you saw him pull up to your window.

You opened it and shimmed through, dropping yourself into the back. You quickly moved to the front of the car.

"Eds!" A smile grew across your face.

"Y/n!" He gave you a hug, well as much of one as he could.

He started the car, it was loud as hell. You heard a door fling open and there your parents were, standing there shouting at you to come back.

You and Eddie drove off.

"Where are we going?" You asked.

"I'm taking you far away from here." He told you, "How does South Carolina sound?"

"South Carolina?! Wait, what about you?"

"I'm gonna stay in Hawkins, it's not safe for you there, so I'm taking you somewhere safe."

"But I don't want to leave you!"

"I promise I will visit, maybe we'll play some DnD once you find a good place to stay. I just want you to be safe, away from your crazy ass parents!"

You sat in silence for a lot of the ride, he stopped by some drive thrus to get something to eat. You willing ask some fries, and stole some of his.

You were five hours in and you had to take a piss.

"Eds, can we stop by a gas station real quick?" You pleaded. He turned into one.

"I need to get gas anyway, go get some snacks for us!" He called out as you ran off inside.

You picked up snacks, two slushies, and some water. You paid and ran out to the truck.

You and Eddie hit the road, he thanked you for his slushie with a kiss on the cheek. You both talked, laughed, and flirted.

"You know I love you, right?" He said out of nowhere.

"And I love you too.." You couldn't help but stare at all of his little details. His demin jacket, hellfire shirt, rings on his fingers, and his tattoo that you can just barely see.

You had fallen asleep during the ride and when you woke up, you and Eddie were cuddled up. You looked around, you were inside the car and parked inside of a lot.

You counted the cars driving by until you realized there was a police car driving near. You ducked your head into Ed's shoulder.

"Eddie, we need to go." You whispered.

He woke up, startled at how close you were.

He turned on the engine and began to drive.

The cop was following behind the truck.

"How far are we?"

"Just two hours."

"Let's lose him in traffic.'

He began to weave in and out between cars. When traffic cleared, the cop car was gone.

You both cheered as your trip came to a stop.

He stopped in front of a runaway shelter and gave you his number.

"I love you, I'll visit whenever I can!" He shouted before he drove off.

Your heart was pounding in your chest.

A/N-

Basically I'm pumping out Eddie fanfictions cause I'm on a road trip of my own. So sorry if this was rushed.

I love a good Friends With Benefits scenario where the guy is all aloof like, "I hope you don't plan on getting attached" and then he's the one that ends up fully, irrevocably, pathetically in love.

This picture is me trying to convince you to read my blog!!:

When (not if) you read my analysis, you will REEEAAAALLLLYYYYYYYY see how passionate I am about my silly little characters.

This whole blog will just be me yapping a lot :/

Hope you enjoy!!

Do whatever the fuck you want with your art and body forever and ever, until you die.

Chapter 3: Answers and Change of Plans

Content Warning: This chapter contains mentions of death, health-related distress (migraines/passing out), themes of isolation, and discussions about mortality. Reader discretion is advised.

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I woke to the sterile scent of bleach and the muted hum of fluorescent lights, the weight of my own skull pressing down like stone. My limbs felt waterlogged, heavy as if the bed beneath me was slowly pulling me into its core.

Hanari's voice reached me before my vision fully returned, muffled and sharp at the edges, her tone caught somewhere between anger and fear. "You should've told me."

I blinked against the ceiling, pale and cracked, a spiderweb fissure directly above me that seemed to throb in time with my pulse. "Are you done moping?" My voice came out raspier than expected, irritation curling through my words—not because I was angry at her, but because I needed something to feel other than dread.

Hanari folded her arms, her posture defensive, but her eyes too wide, too soft. The mask didn't fit today. "Dramatic sigh" barely covered the shaky breath she let out as her shoulders rose and fell. "You're such a dick."

The glass door creaked open, and Ms. Renée stepped inside, her reflection warping in the glass like something unreal. The setting sun behind her fractured into shards of light, cutting her figure into pieces. In her hand was a mug—coffee, dark and bitter from the scent that followed her in.

"I'm glad to see you awake," she said, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Headache's gone..." I answered, but the relief felt fake. "What did you do?"

Her face flickered with something unreadable before she folded her arms, considering her words too carefully. "Focus on resting first. Your health comes first."

"Don't patronize me. I want answers." The words ripped out of me before I could soften them, sharp and uneven. Something burned inside my chest, a simmering panic I couldn't name.

Renée sighed, long and tired. "Kids these days. Always so hungry for ruin."

Beside me, Hanari leaned in, whispering through a half-smirk, "You're stubborn too."

"Listen closely." Renée's voice lowered into something quieter, colder, like she was telling us a ghost story we were already trapped inside. "Hanari, when you found Hagarin, I mentioned the headaches. They aren't migraines. They're symptoms."

"Symptoms of what?" Hanari's voice broke slightly. The cracks were showing.

"Time travel."

The word alone made my stomach twist. Time was no longer a concept or a lesson or even a power. It was inside me. A disease eating through the walls of my skull.

"The headaches, the blackouts, the visions—they're your brain trying to reconcile past, present, and future all at once. Your mind wasn't made to hold infinity." Renée paused, letting the silence soak in. "If you don't learn control, time itself will drown you."

That's when the word hit me like a knife to the chest: Death.

It was no longer a distant concept. It was here, sitting beside me, breathing on my neck. I had always wondered—would it be a void? Would it hurt? Would I even notice when I crossed the line between existing and not?

My head spun, nausea curling deep inside me.

"Can you..." My voice barely worked. "Can you explain what happens? From experience?"

Renée's smile was brittle. "Of course."

She leaned back, eyes drifting to the ceiling, where memories seemed to stain the tiles like watermarks.

"The visions never stop. Past, future, alternate versions of now—they whisper constantly. You'll hear things that haven't happened yet and things that already did but differently. You'll see your own death a thousand times over in a hundred different ways. Your brain will try to split itself into pieces just to make room." Her fingers traced the edge of her chair like she was touching a grave marker.

"When I first realized what I was, my parents locked me in a room for months. I was dangerous, even to myself. They thought isolation would save me—but it just made me a prison of my own mind."

I could see her now, a younger version, curled up in a corner, knuckles white, vision flickering between every timeline where she lived, died, ran, stayed. A thousand lifetimes trapped inside one skull.

"So how did you survive?" My voice sounded small. Fragile.

"I ran." She didn't sugarcoat it. "I ran until I couldn't hear them screaming my name anymore."

Hanari and I exchanged a glance, that unspoken what the hell? hanging between us.

"It's survival," Renée said with a shrug. "Messy, desperate, survival."

Golden light sliced across her face, painting her like a portrait half-burned at the edges.

"I was thirteen when I learned to lock most of it away. I got into this school. They transferred me to the time traveler department, and I stayed hidden there until I understood how to breathe without choking on centuries."

She stood abruptly, shaking off the weight of her own story. "Anyway, I run a library five blocks from here. Visit sometime."

"Will you actually be there?" I asked, half hopeful.

Her smile was half a ghost. "No. I'm a history teacher, not a prophet."

She left before I could answer, the door swinging shut behind her.

Hanari's shoulder pressed into mine, warm and real in the empty room. "Woah...quite the announcement."

I stared at the tiled floor, letting the information sink in like water through cracks. "Yeah."

"It'll be fun," Hanari said, too bright, too forced. "You'll have a hell of a story to tell."

"Consent would've been nice," I muttered. "Ms. Renée never even asked."

"Maybe the admins will do an official talk. They have to, right?"

I didn't answer.

"Have you decided?" Her voice softened.

I stared at my hands, at the faint tremble I couldn't hide. "Dunno."

Hanari leaned her head against my shoulder. "You have a death wish."

The words should've been funny, but they weren't.

We sat there, shoulder to shoulder, while the room darkened around us. Just two silhouettes against the fading light, floating somewhere between fate and fear.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air inside the counselor's office clung to my skin like cold sweat. The silence had weight—like the room itself knew secrets it couldn't say aloud. The printer groaned in the corner, coughing up a consent form, each page landing like a death sentence.

"You're early," Maria Tess said, voice mildly surprised. "I haven't even prepped the files yet."

I glanced at her nameplate, gold edges catching the flickering fluorescent light: Maria Tess. Funny how official names always felt like gravestones.

"Wanted to get this over with," I said. "So I can sleep after."

"Even Ms. Renée isn't here yet. Relax."

Relax. In a room where my fate hung from a single sheet of paper.

The doorbell chimed, and Ms. Renée stepped inside, her coffee steaming, her smile distant. Maria Tess handed me the form, paper still warm, ink still drying.

"We're all aware of your situation," Maria Tess began, words too rehearsed. "When students discover dangerous powers, we relocate them. For safety. For survival."

Time travelers didn't get to choose. Time itself chose them, and all they could do was keep breathing until it didn't want them anymore.

"Without control," she said, "your mind will fracture under the weight of the past and future. And it will kill you."

The word wasn't metaphorical. It was bone-deep, absolute.

"Sign here."

"This is how you stay alive." "Hagarin." Ms. Renée's voice cut cleanly through the silence, slicing apart the fog of my thoughts. "This will benefit you — if you want to keep living."Maybe I needed that bluntness. A reminder that this wasn't just a choice between two doors, but between survival and collapse.

I blinked, my gaze still locked on the consent form. My hand hovered near the pen, fingers curling and uncurling like they couldn't decide if they belonged to me.

"...Would this damage me financially?" The question tumbled out before I could think it through, my voice quieter than I meant."Not at all," Ms. Tess replied, her tone brisk and assured — at the exact same moment Ms. Renée answered too, her voice overlapping in a soft echo.  For some reason, that made me smile. Just a little.

 I exhaled slowly, letting the air drag out all my hesitations with it. 

 "Alright." 

 The pen felt heavier than it should as I picked it up. With each stroke of ink, the page drank my consent, sealing my fate in writing.My name rested there, small and sharp in the sea of legal language, and though my heart felt like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest, the signature was already drying.

 It was done.

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1,512 words.

Hi guys, I plan to write more than 1k words.  Every chapter gets worse and worse, hang in there, Hagarin will be insane soon.

Next chapter

Best Monsoon Monday gift ever

☾ The Porcupine Dilemma ☾

Pairing: Samsoon (Samuel Rodrigues/Monsoon)

Author: Yours Truly (CrescentMon) Word Count: 29584 Rating: E

Summary: (Post-MGR, taking place several months after the events of the main campaign. Samuel and Monsoon respectively survive their inevitable excursions, but are left with an unrelenting, sorrowful desire to isolate. However, the cold will prove to be much less forbearing than the inevitable.)

Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character

[large text: Where to Start Your Research When Writing a Disabled Character]

So you have decided that you want to make a disabled character! Awesome. But what's next? What information should you decide on at the early phrase of making the character?

This post will only talk about the disability part of the character creation process. Obviously, a disabled character needs a personality, interests, and backstory as every other one. But by including their disability early in the process, you can actually get it to have a deeper effect on the character - disability shouldn't be their whole life, but it should impact it. That's what disabilities do.

If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;

[large text: If you don't know what disability you would want to give them in the first place;]

Start broad. Is it sensory, mobility related, cognitive, developmental, autoimmune, neurodegenerative; maybe multiple of these, or maybe something else completely? Pick one and see what disabilities it encompasses; see if anything works for your character. Or...

If you have a specific symptom or aid in mind, see what could cause them. Don't assume or guess; not every wheelchair user is vaguely paralyzed below the waist with no other symptoms, not everyone with extensive scarring got it via physical trauma. Or...

Consider which disabilities are common in real life. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, cataracts, diabetes, intellectual disability, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, thyroid disorders, autism, dwarfism, arthritis, cancers, brain damage, just to name a few.

Decide what specific type of condition they will have. If you're thinking about them having albinism, will it be ocular, oculocutaneous, or one of the rare syndrome-types? If you want to give them spinal muscular atrophy, which of the many possible onsets will they have? If they have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which one out of the 13 different types do they have? Is their amputation below, or above the knee (it's a major difference)? Not all conditions will have subtypes, but it's worth looking into to not be surprised later. This will help you with further research.

If you're really struggling with figuring out what exact disability would make sense for your character, you can send an ask. Just make sure that you have tried the above and put actual specifics in your ask to give us something to work with. You can also check out our "disabled character ideas" tag.

Here are some ideas for a character using crutches.

Here are some ideas for a character with a facial difference (obligatory link: what is a facial difference?).

If you already know what disability your character is going to have;

[large text: If you already know what disability your character is going to have;]

Start by reading about the onset and cause of the condition. It could be acquired, congenital, progressive, potentially multiple of these. They could be caused by an illness, trauma, or something else entirely. Is your character a congenital amputee, or is it acquired? If acquired - how recently? Has it been a week, or 10 years? What caused them to become disabled - did they have meningitis, or was it an accident? Again, check what your options are - there are going to be more diverse than you expect.

Read about the symptoms. Do not assume or guess what they are. You will almost definitely discover something new. Example: a lot of people making a character with albinism don't realize that it has other symptoms than just lack of melanin, like nystagmus, visual impairment, and photophobia. Decide what your character experiences, to what degree, how frequently, and what do they do (or don't do) to deal with it.

Don't give your character only the most "acceptable" symptoms of their disability and ignore everything else. Example: many writers will omit the topic of incontinence in their para- and tetraplegic characters, even though it's extremely common. Don't shy away from aspects of disability that aren't romanticized.

Don't just... make them abled "because magic". If they're Deaf, don't give them some ability that will make them into an essentially hearing person. Don't give your blind character some "cheat" so that they can see, give them a cane. Don't give an amputee prosthetics that work better than meat limbs. To have a disabled character you need to have a character that's actually disabled. There's no way around it.

Think about complications your character could experience within the story. If your character wears their prosthetic a lot, they might start to experience skin breakdown or pain. Someone who uses a wheelchair a lot has a risk of pressure sores. Glowing and Flickering Fantasy Item might cause problems for someone photophobic or photosensitive. What do they do when that happens, or how do they prevent that from happening?

Look out for comorbidities. It's rare for disabled people to only have one medical condition and nothing else. Disabilities like to show up in pairs. Or dozens.

If relevant, consider mobility aids, assistive devices, and disability aids. Wheelchairs, canes, rollators, braces, AAC, walkers, nasal cannulas, crutches, white canes, feeding tubes, braillers, ostomy bags, insulin pumps, service dogs, trach tubes, hearing aids, orthoses, splints... the list is basically endless, and there's a lot of everyday things that might count as a disability aid as well - even just a hat could be one for someone whose disability requires them to stay out of the sun. Make sure that it's actually based on symptoms, not just your assumptions - most blind people don't wear sunglasses, not all people with SCI use a wheelchair, upper limb prosthetics aren't nearly as useful as you think. Decide which ones your character could have, how often they would use them, and if they switch between different aids.

Basically all of the above aids will have subtypes or variants. There is a lot of options. Does your character use an active manual wheelchair, a powerchair, or a generic hospital wheelchair? Are they using high-, or low-tech AAC? What would be available to them? Does it change over the course of their story, or their life in general?

If relevant, think about what treatment your character might receive. Do they need medication? Physical therapy? Occupational therapy? Orientation and mobility training? Speech therapy? Do they have access to it, and why or why not?

What is your character's support system? Do they have a carer; if yes, then what do they help your character with and what kind of relationship do they have? Is your character happy about it or not at all?

How did their life change after becoming disabled? If your character goes from being an extreme athlete to suddenly being a full-time wheelchair user, it will have an effect - are they going to stop doing sports at all, are they going to just do extreme wheelchair sports now, or are they going to try out wheelchair table tennis instead? Do they know and respect their new limitations? Did they have to get a different job or had to make their house accessible? Do they have support in this transition, or are they on their own - do they wish they had that support?

What about *other* characters? Your character isn't going to be the only disabled person in existence. Do they know other disabled people? Do they have a community? If your character manages their disability with something that's only available to them, what about all the other people with the same disability?

What is the society that your character lives in like? Is the architecture accessible? How do they treat disabled people? Are abled characters knowledgeable about disabilities? How many people speak the local sign language(s)? Are accessible bathrooms common, or does your character have to go home every few hours? Is there access to prosthetists and ocularists, or what do they do when their prosthetic leg or eye requires the routine check-up?

Know the tropes. If a burn survivor character is an evil mask-wearer, if a powerchair user is a constantly rude and ungrateful to everyone villain, if an amputee is a genius mechanic who fixes their own prosthetics, you have A Trope. Not all tropes are made equal; some are actively harmful to real people, while others are just annoying or boring by the nature of having been done to death. During the character creation process, research what tropes might apply and just try to trace your logic. Does your blind character see the future because it's a common superpower in their world, or are you doing the ancient "Blind Seer" trope?

Remember, that not all of the above questions will come up in your writing, but to know which ones won't you need to know the answers to them first. Even if you don't decide to explicitly name your character's condition, you will be aware of what they might function like. You will be able to add more depth to your character if you decide that they have T6 spina bifida, rather than if you made them into an ambiguous wheelchair user with ambiguous symptoms and ambiguous needs. Embrace research as part of your process and your characters will be better representation, sure, but they will also make more sense and seem more like actual people; same with the world that they are a part of.

This post exists to help you establish the basics of your character's disability so that you can do research on your own and answer some of the most common ("what are symptoms of x?") questions by yourself. If you have these things already established, it will also be easier for us to answer any possible questions you might have - e.g. "what would a character with complete high-level paraplegia do in a world where the modern kind of wheelchair has not been invented yet?" is much more concise than just "how do I write a character with paralysis?" - I think it's more helpful for askers as well; a vague answer won't be much help, I think.

I hope that this post is helpful!

Mod Sasza

Supernatural Romances make NO sense - A Random Opinion

Here's the thing: As much as I enjoy these concepts or tropes, they don't make sense when you take the time to think about it. Don't believe me? Let's go down the list then.

Vampire romances: The concept of a vampire romance really doesn't make sense when you take just five minutes to add all the aspects together.

Sure, it can be intriguing or whatever (especially if there’s a unique way in which the premise is handled), but let's really boil down the contents of its true implications here.

A vampire is a creature that feeds on human blood. Vampire romances USUALLY (not all the time, but usually) involve a vampire falling for a human rather than a vampire falling for another vampire.

Let me say this again. Vampire, which eats humans---then has stories where they then fall for humans.

That's like a chupacabra hooking up with a goat. What sense does it make for a creature to fall in love with something it usually tends to eat?

Even if the said predator of this relationship has no intention of eating their mate or harming them---would you, as a rational person, feel comfortable knowing that your partner has to harm YOUR species and eat them for their own survival? I highly doubt it.

"Oh, I know you kill people and drink their blood, but I know you won't kill ME! I'm just DIFFERENT--"

It literally makes no sense.

Zombie romances: Zombie romances make even less sense to me. Because now instead of a creature that simply wants your blood, it’s a creature that quite literally wants to rip your stomach open and eat your intestines like Twizzlers.

At least with a vampire, you could just have IV blood bags for them to drink to put off their thirst for a WHILE. But when it comes to zombies, they literally rely on eating the WHOLE entirety of the human.

Once again, it’s like a chupacabra dating a goat. Oh, but what if the zombie doesn’t want to eat or harm their partner?

Well, then we get into even more ethically concerning details on the human’s part. Because aren’t zombies walking corpses that eat people? And if a human is willing to date or become uh…'entangled’ with a zombie, isn’t that a form of necrophilia since the zombie is literally just a man-eating corpse? 

Sure, we could argue whether or not zombies are living or non-living. But let's be honest here: the majority of the time, zombies do not look cute. They are rotting parts of their bodies, they look dead, they smell horrible, they’re covered in blood, and sometimes missing a limb or two. If you’re unironically attracted to that in real life or something (not including those who JUST like the stories for the stories), you are mentally ill—there’s no way around it for me. You are attracted to something that looks like a corpse. That in itself is necrophilia and it’s honestly gross from an incredibly literal standpoint.

Even if the zombie were to look like some cutesy/idealistic anime character or something, it still doesn't change the fact that this thing's practically DEAD.

Sure, like vampire romances, it could be interesting depending on the intricacies of the story. But it still makes no sense when you write it down on paper. Wow, you’re dating a creature that looks dead and has to fight off the urge to eat people every single second they're on this planet. How quirky. 

Ghost romances: Ghost romances also don’t make sense on paper. Now, this one is a bit more loose in my opinion since ghost archetypes are often experimented with in terms of what they can do or not do. It’s just one of those things where it really depends on the story world and the premise it's placed in. However, from the very cultural and general stance of how ghosts work, they can’t touch anything (except when it's to conveniently scare people, so even then, their intangibility is transient) and they can’t age. 

I’m sorry, but aren’t the driving points of a romance being able to see the characters display affection and/or get old together? And if a ghost can’t touch anything, what’s the point in being romantically involved with someone you can’t kiss? I get there’s long distance relationships, but if they’re in the same room with you—why would you want that? 

Even if the subject of physical intimacy wasn’t an issue, there’s still the prospect of aging. Because if your boo (pun intended) died young and is a ghost, that means they’re physically stuck at that age forever. Even if they were to be centuries older than you, wouldn’t it be weird to see some elderly person smooching on a young looking supernatural?

Let me put it like this. A human woman at 25 years old is in a relationship with a male ghost. The said male ghost died at 30. Sure, she could get away with dating him for another five or ten years, but eventually, the human woman ages in appearance physically and looks older than her ghost partner. And if she lives long enough, she’s gonna be 80 while her boo still looks 30. You’re seriously telling me that DOESN’T look weird from the outside? Wouldn't you be weirded out if some super old person was smooching up with someone decades younger than them?

At that point, to avoid any oddities, you’d be better off killing yourself in whatever spot they’re stuck to so you wouldn’t have to worry about aging out of proportion in the relationship (and if not aging, then to touch them). That sounds like a lot more work than it’s worth.

Werewolf romances: Werewolf romances are the only sort of supernatural romance I could possibly get behind—and even then, it’s still highly dependent on how the said story chooses to handle the workings of lycanthropy. 

At least with this partner, they most likely can turn humans who won’t HAVE to kill you out of survival. You don’t have to be sorry about some super weird complex age gap. And you can touch them. Sounds like a pretty decent basis so far. BUT there’s always a catch.

A werewolf is (duh) a person who can turn into a wolf (or wolf-like monster). When it comes to these beings, it really is a roll of the dice. Because some versions will make them seem they have no thought process or control at all—whereas others give them complete control. So to call a werewolf automatically dangerous to the well being of their human partner is rather tough to say off the bat. Though, I do know that all of that fur that sheds off of them will be annoying to deal with (and that’s not even counting all of the things they might chew up---like your shoes).

And while I would be inclined to agree that being in a relationship with a werewolf could most definitely be a form of beastiality, at the very LEAST a werewolf can revert back into a human the majority of the time. So as long as you’re only doing stuff with them as a human, you should technically be fine, right?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still don’t find much appeal in becoming romantically involved with someone who can become some giant creepy wolf abomination, but at least there’s SOME things in there you COULD manipulate depending on which universe you land into.

Overall, while I do think supernatural romances are indeed a fun concept (and I DO tend to enjoy some of these stories), there’s no way in HECK I think they’re ACTUALLY plausible (unless you add some major--MAJOR--plot armor).

The perfect description of the daily balanced diet of readers, and the personal responsibility they have to vet their own meal choices free of charge (barring time and energy of course).

Saying “this niche, properly tagged, warned, and rated piece of fiction could theoretically hurt someone” is not a good argument. This properly labeled cookie with the allergen information at the bottom that contains gluten could theoretically harm me very badly, but only if I consume it. Tags are like nutrition labels, and warnings are like allergy information. If you know you have an allergy to something, the logic is to stay away from it. It is the same with fiction. I’m not running through stores yelling at people to take all the products with gluten off the shelves just because it could hurt me. Instead I ignore it and go to the gluten free section and find cookies that are right for me. And if running through a grocery store yelling sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. Stop doing the same with fiction.

Preciso desesperadamente que alguém escreva uma fic onde o Bryan e o Rogério são aquela dupla que, só tá lá, em qualquer lugar, qualquer mundo de herói ou etc, eles só estão lá, e ninguém sabe dizer de onde vieram, ou porque, e quando eles somem, ninguém nunca mais os vê, como se evaporassem de existência.

[Link do último vídeo dele: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMBXEh2Qw/ ]

Apartir daí vejam os outros vídeos para saberem como eles são maravilhosos, divos divonicos perfeitos🧡

Surprising what you can dig out of books if you read long enough, isn't it?

—Robert Jordan, The Shadow Rising

So I’m doing a short novel inspired by MDZS and other artwork. However I need some help to keep it together and respect the Xianxia genre while doing the same for the Chinese culture. If some ppl could help me on this please contact me on instagram: @itsjastyqbitch 😭🫶🏽

Hi...

would anyone be interested in a Taishi Gotanda fic (oshi no ko)

and another on Sanji (one piece)

Nature is designed in a smart way so as to not destroy itself right? This means there are certain limitations to what we can do, for example

Assuming we live in a world where time travel is possible:

The Grandfather paradox (or something alike) will be created no matter how careful we are if we were to be able to time travel. But since physics is a well functioning logical model, there must be a system or mechanism to ensure otherwise.

For example, like in Avengers Endgame it’s stated that you can’t change the present or future by changing the past because the past becomes the present you’s future. This means that the grandfather paradox is not possible (basically the entire last season of the umbrella academy 😌).

So it must mean that every time we travel into the past, and change something, a new timeline or new universe with a slightly different detail is created, which must be the reason the series “Loki” had so many time-lines?

🤔I know there’s controversy over Lily and Herman Munster having a werewolf kid. Since Herman is made up of other people’s parts, maybe he got a werewolf’s junk🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyway, that’s what is keeping my brain from thinking other things tonight

First line of my new idea “Charlie was dead and it was all my fault.”

If you ever want to freak yourself out, go someplace that you normally go but at a different time or day

Thinking about a sapphic dark academia retelling of Sleepy Hollow

There is a path into the woods at the edge of town. Some say it glitters like starlight, some say it’s welcoming like a path to grandma’s house, the rest of us will never see it at all.

Apparently the heat wave is thanks to my customer who told me she was praying for the ridge of high pressure that is keeping the heat in because it’s also keeping hurricanes away. I’m not saying there were virgins sacrificed, but the way she said “I’ll do just about anything to make sure we don’t get another storm.” makes me think there was at least one😳

So I had this dream that someone asked me to watch some hamsters but they were free roaming so I kept losing them. Then one had babies🤔

Salad

This was a bit of an experiment. I’m sure the grammar nazis will have much to say about my punctuation. I’m still one week behind my weekly challenge… “Omg girl, where have you been?” “You’re not going to believe this. So, I was having a salad at that sidewalk café on Main St,” “Oh, did you have that one with the kale and quinoa?” “No, I like the one with the spinach and strawberry vinaigrette.”…

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