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scrumbling her

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Me writing

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Day 6: Peace

A short one this time - 215 words.

Something in the air was different now.

The dust had settled over the battlefield.

Humans, demons, and angels alike could finally breathe.

"So, what now?" Norma mumbled, swaddled up in a thick blanket.

"Dunno," Cahatel, or maybe Courtney, sighed. "It's a big mess."

"Eh," Az tried to shrug, but a big gash on his torso made him wince. Even under a thick layer of bandages, it was still very sensitive. "We'll figure it out, bros. Nothing to worry about."

"How can you say that!" Norma frowned. "Everything is wrecked!"

"Stuff breaks all the time. That's what stuff does." He said, but after noticing her expression he cleared his throat. "We're alive. Buildings and all that don't mean a thing."

"He's right. We can rebuild." Courtney nodded. "Now that the angels are free, they, we can help."

"Hell yeah, brother!" Az roared before gritting his teeth when his wound began to ache again.

"Is it really that easy?" The human stirred in her blanket. There were dark circles under her eyes, brought by exhaustion and lack of sleep. "Can we really just move on like that?"

"What else there is?"

Courtney's response made her exhale slowly. It was true. After all of this, what else could they do?

It was time for peace.

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This week we have two exciting announcements:

We have the first photos of Pugsley's finished prototype

We've found a permanent solution for international packages, so they will start shipping this week, & future ones can ship out immediately

You can find the link to the form here

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Day 5: Sign

My November will stretch out to January at this pace. I'm still doing all of the prompts though - 561 words

Closing was always the best part of the shift. Dead End began to settle down for the night, and with the last guests long gone, they could relax.

"Good work, team." Norma smiled in that special way she always did after a long day of spooking kids. "Courtney, you really nailed those jumpscares today."

"Well, duh, that's what I'm good at!" The demon rolled their eyes with a cocky smirk. 

"Badyah, I can see you have memorized your new script." 

"Aw, I've been practicing in the mirror to get the pacing right." It was nice to hear Norma was watching her. It made her want to try even harder. A faint warmth rose to her cheeks, and she turned her eyes away, feeling somewhat bashful.

"Ekhem, aren't you forgetting someone?" Pauline phased through the wall with indignation.

"Right, you were here."

"Yes, and?"

"Anyways." Norma turned away from the ghost and picked up her bag. "See you all tomorrow!"

"Oh, wait up, I'm taking the bus too!" Badyah followed after her, just a few steps behind. 

Norma stood in the middle of the path in front of Dead End.

It was already evening. The sun slowly dipped behind the thin line of the horizon. It's dimming light tinted the sky with various shades of pink and purple. Right there, with those last sparks of daylight illuminating the clouds, the world seemed beautiful.

"Are you coming? It's going to leave without us." Norma adjusted her bag on her shoulder and turned to look at her. 

Badyah always thought Norma looked good in purple. 

"Hey, what's up with you? If you're this tired, you should hurry up and rest at home." She gave her a curious look before taking the edge of Badyah's sleeve and gently tugging her along. 

"Sorry." It felt like she was missing something. Suddenly, she felt dumbstruck for no apparent reason. 

"I'm tired too. I expected a lot of work, but sometimes it's still too much, so don't worry." Norma talked, clearly trying to reassure her. 

It was nice.

"At least the sunset is pretty," Badyah said absentmindedly once they'd boarded the bus.

"Yeah, it's nice." Norma looked out the window. "It looks just like my pin. Maybe it's a sign." She chuckled as if she said something funny, but Badyah didn't get it at all.

"What does that mean?" 

"Oh, it's just the Bi pride colors." She tapped the purple and pink pins on her bag. "See?"

"You said it's a sign?" 

"Well, you know how I've been hanging out with Zagan?" Norma said and reflexively tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?" Badyah scooted over on the seat and leaned towards her with excitement. "What about it?"

"I was thinking about asking her out. Like, on a date, maybe?" She began to play with the hem of her sweater. "I was overthinking it. I'm going to ask her now." She pulled out her phone and began typing out a message with a focused look on her face.

Badyah glanced out of the window again. The sky had a deep, purple color now. The lilac clouds hang above the ground, casting faint shadows from the last bits of sunlight still peaking from beyond the horizon. 

A sign.

She heard Norma giggle next to her and sighed. Maybe one day she'll see a sign like that too.

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Day 4: Anger

I don't think I'm ever catching up to those prompts hah. 395 words

Anger was a perfectly normal and healthy emotion to feel.

That's what his therapist said.

Anger doesn't have any morality ascribed to it. It's okay to feel angry.

The punching bag swung back on its chain. 

His fists left indents in the thick, weighted foam cylinder. 

His muscles burned, and his lungs screamed for air as he followed up with another series of jabs.

Anger was natural.

He took a swing. His left hook rattled the chained target. 

It didn't make him a bad person. 

He collapsed on the bench and wiped his face with a towel. 

Being angry was better than the things he could only feel when he closed his eyes at night. 

"Nice moves, bro." Az sat down next to him and grinned. "I haven't seen you so fired up in forever."

"It's nothing. Just blowing off some steam." He flexed his fingers. They stung a little despite being covered in sports tape. 

"Yeah, looked like it too." He picked up a bottle of some liquid in a neon pink color and drank half of it in a single gulp. "You know..." He wiped his mouth with his forearm and continued. "You should totally throw in some roars and battle cries in there."

"What for?" 

"It helps with squeezing that extra fury juice right into your punch." He finished his drink and crushed the bottle in his hands before throwing it into his mouth.

"I don't know about that," he said while recalling all of the things he talked about in therapy. "I shouldn't act out because I'm mad."

"What are you talking about, bro?" Az glanced at him with a confused expression. "You're not acting out; you're letting your inner fire burn! Every demon knows that."

"What if my inner fire gets too much? What if someone gets burned?"

"Hey, bro? Real talk time." He shifted on the bench and put his big, and very warm, hand on Barney's shoulder. "I don't know what's up, but I know you've got it. Trust yourself; trust your guts."

"All right." He released the breath he'd been holding for all this time and smiled at his friend. "I can do it. I can use this anger to keep my fire going."

"Brotastic! Come on, show me what you've got!" Az almost roared and pulled him up from where they sat and into the ring.

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This ones my fav so far! :D

Day 3: Crown - 805 words

The confusing scene on the screen in front of her made her want to get up and leave. 

She couldn't, though; she promised to be nice. She promised to do her best and try to be friendly. She had to make it through somehow.

"Okay, so now, after picking up the power-up, you unlock new powers," Badyah rambled while seemingly just mashing buttons on the oddly shaped device in her hands. It must have been a remote of some sort since the character on the screen responded to her actions. 

"Yeah! In different games, there are different powers too! There's one where you can be a cat or a raccoon!" A ginger kid seated on the floor chimed in with barely contained excitement.

"A tanuki, you can be a tanuki, but yeah, different games have different cool mechanics. There are even racing games." She did something on the controller, and the screen changed into a completely different scenery. 

"No offense, but I really don't get how this is fun." Zagan wished she could just call them nerds and leave. 

"That's okay; maybe after you try it yourself?" The kid, who had to be someone's brother or something, smiled cheerfully. 

She already missed those first few hours when he was too scared of her to talk. 

"Like I don't," she grumbled before Norma's "Be nice, please" rang out inside of her head. She clenched her jaw before sighing and finally saying, "Sure, I'll give it a go."

"That's the spirit!" Badyah shouted way overenthusiastically for Zagan's taste and almost shoved the colorful bit of plastic into her hands.

"Hold up, what do I even do here?" 

"Weren't you paying attention?" He scowled at her, but a single, perfectly practiced, mean look made him shut up. 

"It's easy; those are for moving your character." Badyah pointed to the rubber numbs that could move in any direction. "Those buttons here do all sorts of things; it depends on which powers your character can use." She pointed out other buttons with symbols on them. 

"Uh, huh." Zagan pressed some of them and quickly noticed how little force the remote needed to operate. She had to be careful with it. 

"Which character is the most powerful?" She pressed some buttons, following the directions on the screen, and found herself in the character select menu. 

"Well, if you want to play the easiest character..." Badyah said with a small smirk.

"Not what I said," Zagan huffed. 

"Hm, well, you want a challenge, but the character should feel powerful?" She tapped her chin and looked at the kid next to her. "What do you think, Patrick?"

He swallowed loudly and shifted on the floor before responding. "I think Toadette would work. She has balanced basic statistics and can use the Super Crown."

"The what?" Her ears perked up. 

"Yeah, it's a unique buff only she can use. It's almost like she gets to be a princess for a while." He began to speak faster again, suddenly encouraged by even the slightest amount of interest. 

"All right, let's try that." She confirmed her character choice. 

Very quickly, she realized she didn't care about the plot. 

Another problem became apparent almost instantly.

She sucked at this game. 

Badly. 

"Oh, come on!" She growled after falling into another pit.

"It's all about timing. You keep jumping way too early." Badyah pointed out, causing Zagan to grit her teeth.

"Yeah, whatever, it's not my fault those buttons are so damn small." She tapped the button and fell into the pit again. After a few more tries, she finally made it. 

"Yay! You did it!" To his credit, he sounded genuinely happy for her. It didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"Oh, is this the crown thing?" Zagan pointed at the screen after hitting a block with a question mark on it.

"Yeah! Go pick it up!" Badyah almost shouted into her ear.

"Jeez, okay, relax." She picked up the item.

A brief animation played. 

It was, honestly, rather underwhelming. 

"Okay, now what?"

"Well, um, try to finish the level?" Badyah looked at her, clearly confused. "It should be easier now. You can jump way better with this."

"I see..."

She ran into an enemy, got hit, and lost her power-up and her last life. 

"Oh, screw it!" She snarled, and before even realizing what was happening, the plastic cracked in her hands.

"Aw, Zagan, it's okay." Badyah rested her hand on her shoulder. "Just, please don't break my pro controller."

With a frustrated groan, the vampire hung her head and passed the device over. 

"Hi everyone! We're back!" Norma, Barney, and Az walked out of the elevator.

"Oh, dope, are we gaming? I wanna play Mario Cart!" Az sat on the floor with a thump.

"I'm not playing anything ever again," Zagan mumbled, head in hands. 

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@todaysbird is the red-bellied woodpecker i found today!

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Day 2: Flowers - 459 words

"No way; I'm not doing that. It's corny and lame." Zagan huffed and adjusted her vest again. A persistent crease on the front of it wouldn't vanish, no matter how many times she threatened it.

"I think it would fit the occasion." Temeluchus smirked with his borrowed face. "Quit being a baby and ask her out."

"I'm not gonna give her flowers!" She threw her hands up with a frustrated growl. "It's not even a date!"

"Oh? Would you like it to be?" His smirk stretched into a toothy grin, and his eyes flashed briefly with a pale, ghostly glow.

"Never said that." Embarrassed, she pivoted away from him and kept trying to straighten out the stubborn fabric.

"Nuh-uh, you're sooo whipped~" Tem laughed. "You wanna ask her so bad."

"As friends! Totally platonically!"

"Right." He wouldn't drop the subject now, clearly smelling blood in the water. "C'mon, Zag, did the little human leave such an impression?"

"Tartarus forbid, I have friends, I guess!" She growled. "You know what? Screw you, bozo. I'm just gonna text her."

"You're no fun." Tem rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest like a petulant child.

"Dude, I just thought she'd like to see the ceremony. It's not that deep." She began typing out the message.

She deleted everything and started over.

Just to delete it all again.

"Ha!" He almost barked instead of laughing. "I knew it. Gimme that. Big bro will do you a favor, free of charge this time." His hand lit up with a pale glow, and the device slipped out of her metal prosthetic.

"Give it back! I'll kill you!" She swiped at him, trying to get her phone back.

"Nah, lemme take care of it."

"You're soooo dead!" She tried to tackle him, but he just sidestepped her attack and continued to ruin her entire life.

"There! Aaaaand send~ bop!" He chuckled and threw the phone right in Zagan's face.

"What did you do?" Panicked, she readied herself to do damage control. Before she could, her phone buzzed.

"Nothing; I just landed you a date. You're welcome, by the way."

The message read:

"Moms getting married next month. Would you like to be my +1? (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)✿"

"This is so cringe. I hate you." She mumbled, absolutely mortified. To her surprise, the response she got was:

"Demon King wedding?! Ofc! What should I wear? Should I bring a gift? You need to tell me everything!"

"Huh..." Zagan stared at her phone as Norma kept up the barrage of questions.

"See, told ya." Temeluchus put his hands on his hips with a cocky grin. "I've been hanging out with her way longer than you."

"Shut up. I'm still not getting her flowers."

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WHATS UP DEADENDIANSSS i am BACK this year with parkvember but i will be uploading every 3 days instead of daily this time around

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Day 1: Quiet

Something quick to start me off with -298 words

Do you ever miss noise?

Usually, leaving a loud space is a relief. You can clear your mind, think, and see things more clearly.

Noise fills up the air around you and makes the space you occupy feel smaller, suffocating, or even claustrophobic.

With time, you might grow used to it. Some spaces need that sound to feel complete.

A school without noise is just an unsettling, empty building.

A home needs the casual noises made by its residents like woodlands need their birdsongs and crickets.

Like Dead End needed her friends.

Norma fought off a sudden wave of discomfort and kept sweeping the floor of the main hall.

Every now and then, she would stumble upon a leftover bit of crumbled plaster or shattered wood. The renovation crew did a great job. They did fix the place up, but small reminders of what this old setpiece went through littered the corners for all those months.

During the day, the attraction was busy. The noise returned, and for a moment, it was almost bearable again.

It wasn't the same thing, though; it wasn't the noise she knew.

This building was, and still is, very haunted. Not only by ghosts but by something much worse.

Grief.

She wiped her forehead with her sleeve and sighed.

How can a space be so empty and so full at the same time?

She glanced at her phone, and for a second, she thought about unlocking it, finding a name on her contacts list, and calling.

She slipped it back into her pocket. It's not like she had anything to say to him. At least not yet.

So she waited. So she kept sweeping the floor.

Before the opening time, she had about an hour of peace and quiet left.

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I missed you sm, Norma! ❤️

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Happy Anniversary Dead End S2! I made Deadendia pins! I wanna start making more like these for more characters (Zagan might be next) and sell them in the future!

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Here’s some more old sketches! The designs have changed a little since.

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[1894/10977] Buff-fronted quail-dove - Zentrygon costaricensis

Order: Columbiformes (pigeons and doves) Family: Columbidae

Photo credit: Austin Groff via Macaulay Library