#The Sphere Hunter

[mysticdragon3md3]

Source: https://  x.com/TheSphereHunter/status/1792994010920890535?t=Hh9wxxNhnxX8pa6JwfeOIQ&s=19

Omgomg🥳🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🥳

[thetimbrown]

Some of my favorite people online ✒️

[itsalwaysgarytime]

Vampire Night Suzi (TheSphereHunter) Saw the costume SphereHunter shared. Wanted to draw what popped into my head when I saw it.

[pyramidgirl]

i swear my Sphere Hunter plushie never fell off when it was sitting next to my Wii. i can only conclude that the plushie has been possessed by the spirit of Scott the Woz

[rednether]

I'm concerned about Sphere Hunter, ever since that FFXVI post it's like something changed. I don't want to say she snapped because that's inaccurate, but it's just way too sudden a shift in opinion for me

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Happy Anniversary Sara Pena and Hunter Richardson! I subbed to the commission tier on Drawfee's patreon to get some new art of my favorite girls to celebrate. They're on a cemetery date 🥰🥰🥰

Thank you Jacob Drawfee for making such beautiful art! I love how cute and textured they are

Also, I wrote a fic okay goodbye

[jube-jube-bird]

The Threads that Bind Us PART 2

Darkness, with careful fingers, enveloped him, singing a song long forgotten by humans but this was not cause for fear, in fact it was highly comforting. Nothing mattered. Nothing ever had. Existence was merely a flicker of a candle against the background of the universe.

He...was weightless. It felt as if waves of warmth were lapping over his body, cradling him, just like the way his mother used to when he'd had a nightmare. He hoped he could see again. Apologise. Move on. Everything blurred, time and space did not exist, they merged and diverged in a never-ending waltz. He did not exist,. All he did was drift, floating among tethers of light, memory and mystic galaxies. Never had he seen so many colours nor could he truly describe them. This did not matter to Jinu however. As, for the first time in centuries, he had peace, he had quiet. He was free from the shame and guilt that had been his shackled companion since he'd spent his first night in the palace, a weight on his shoulders that'd never really left and he'd grown used to. Now that he was free, he wondered how'd he'd ever dealt with the crushing howls and screams of his past transgressions that'd he'd held onto like a drowning man does a plank of wood. Since letting go of his soul he'd been pulled out of that storming sea and onto a boat, navigating the stars and hopes of every person that exists and existed, past, present and future. He catches glimpses of all, but retains nothing.

"Jinu"

There was that voice again. It was pretty. It made everything around him glow and warm up like a crystal in the summer sun, casting rainbows over his existence.

"Jinu"

Was that his name? It felt about right, like a worn jacket from an era gone-by and left behind, comforting in its familiarity but interwoven with the regrets and painful memories of the past. He's not sure if he wants to wear it again, but that voice calls for him almost every night, not that time holds any weight over him but it calls him out of his slumber often. Each time he draws closer to it, unsure of the purpose behind his nearing but unable to resist. For within the threads of regret and pain, there is hope, joy and...love, possibly, maybe, it'd been so long since he'd felt anything like it that he'd forgotten what love even was, let alone what it felt like. But there'd been...desire. That he knew, he knew desire

RRrmriiiuuwdjRuuuRuuRRmirmriiiuuwdjRuuuRuuRRmiiiiumiiumirumirumiRumi

"RUMI!"

For the first time in an eternity but also only a few moments, he opened his eyes and he had to relearn how to breathe.

He was in some in-between realm. Everything was so...bright. He honestly struggled to comprehend what was going on around him. The forms of the figures passing aimlessly by him slipped from his mind as water would through fingers, despite how hard he tried to retain them. It had him longing for a pen and paper but he doubted he could describe them with words, let alone try draw them but it would help him cope. It'd been centuries since he'd drawn anyhow, who knew if he still could. Ha! Centuries! Time was a directional flow again, the dance was disrupted, now he had to get out of here before he was noticed. He had to hold himself back from breaking out into a run, that'd get him spotted for sure, he matched the wandering pace everything else seemed to have, heart pounding.

'Where are you Rumi?'

•~•

In the penthouse of the Huntrx Industries high-rise, Rumi snored, splayed like a starfish, groaning as the sun bothered her sleep. She was still so tired

She cracked open her eyes. Wait. What? It was still nighttime, her room dark and the sounds of her friends getting ready for the day not heard. Then...what had woken her? She rolled over and promptly scrambled back, falling off the other side in a mess of limbs and hair. Her sword was still there and floating , encased in a ball of sparkling light

"What the heck?"

[mcyt-cats]

Connor’s got a few new (I think) Bumper pics!

https://x.com/connoreatspants/status/1701730560635511248?s=46&t=NfW4lWVfqqEssGdZoY8RlQ

(Connor is not escaping mcyt allegations)

Yes, these are new! Connor will never escape the mcyt allegations because I think Bumper is cute and will always post him. That's how it works, right? Once a mcyt-cat, always a mcyt-cat? Anyway look at his little face-

[jessequinones]

Stop Using Slurs in Children Stories!

I bet that caught your attention. You might be thinking, what stories use the N-word, or the F-word, well...none that I found. However, there are two slur words that are often used in writing mainly in children's literature because I don’t think enough people know them to be slurs. Those words are cripple and savage.

Before I begin, I need to address a few things. First, I'll only use these words in full for educational purposes so nothing gets confusing. Secondly, I’m not hating on any of these authors. I genuinely think these people might not know cripple and savage are slurs. However, I still need examples of what I’m talking about to explain how common these words are used in writing as well as explaining why it’s a bad idea to use them, so I’m using these authors, not as targets but as examples based on the books I have.

Both of these words (cripple and savage) have a lot of history behind them, and while I strongly suggest, not using them, if for some reason, they have to be used, you need to hire a sensitivity reader who’s a part of the communities that has been affected by said words before you publish your story.

Cripple:

Before I begin, please understand I’ve consulted with a disabled person who’s well knowledgeable in this topic to help smooth out my points. I’m not apart of the physically disabled community. As I’ve been told there’s a big debate going on within the disabled community in regards to if mental disabled people are allowed to use the word cripple or not. This is beyond my understanding of the word, and the community so when I mention the word cripple, I’ll be referring it to the physical disabled community and not the mental one. Everything I’m about to say has already been said by the physically disabled community. I’m not adding anything new or talking over them. If you would like to know more about the language of disability, please read Cy-Cyborg’s article on the matter: https://writingwithcycyborg.blogspot.com/2024/02/LanguageOfDisability.html

Cripple is a world that’s defined one of three ways, to either describe someone who can’t function properly, to describe a situation that’s overwhelming, or to describe an object that isn’t working.

Example one: DragonFire: Sphere of Eternity (book 1)

“I mean, this morning, no offence, you were crippled.” (Describing a person.)

Example two: “The economy was crippled.” (Describing a situation)

Example three: DragonFire: Age of Legend (book 3) (describing an object)

The word cripple, even when it was used in a medical sense has always been a word to punch down and insult the physically disabled community. It was used to attack them and point out their disabilities. It became a common replacement for the word injured because it has a more of a punch. Instead of calling someone “severely injured” use cripple instead, it’s shorter and a lot punchier of a word. Over time it became part of normal vocabulary to use it while describing something as severe, despite it still being used as an insult at the same time. Let’s look at an example of how it’s being used to describe an injury in Robert Vane's A Dragons Chains: Book one of the Remembered War

“I moved my three non-crippled legs…” In this example, the dragon has an injured leg. Why did the author use the word cripple instead of injured? I think it’s because of shock value. Is it cheap shock value? Yes, but shock value for the reader is still shock value. Tell me, what’s the difference would be if the author replaced the word cripple with injured? “I moved my three non-injured legs...” Does using the word cripple add to the sense of urgency? Add to the sense of how injured that character's leg is? Or was it merely just a place for shock value?

But how often is this word used? Let’s take a quick look at the DragonFire series. There are currently four books in this series at the time of writing, and the word crippled is used twelve times throughout four books. Knowing it’s a slur...that’s a lot.

Some of the examples in which it was used are in things such as DragonFire: Fallen Star (book 2) where it reads:

Or

“...he yelled, his scythed tail coiling round, only for the far less crippled dragon to kick him off.” DragonFire: Order of Enishra (book 4)

It’s not just the DragonFire series which does this, other examples include, The Last Monster on Earth by LJ Davies

Which uses it four times in one book with examples such as “Lock these two in the truck with the cripple…”

Warriors: Forest of Secrets (book 3) has this line. “As Fireheart said goodbye to Yellowfang and went back to hunting, he felt a new surge of determination to bring Tigerclaw’s guilt into the open. For the sake of Redtail, murdered; for Ravenpaw, driven from the Clan; for Cinderpaw, crippled...”

And even Wings of Fire, one of my favourite book series uses it.

Here’s a question for you. Is it ok to use that word if the impact is meant to be insulting? In the Wings of Fire example, Queen Scarlet defeats Dune in combat, and is about to kidnap the main characters. Dune, still breathing can barley move upon which Scarlet killed him. Scarlet is one of those pure evil types of characters, this is something I could see her saying, but let’s take a step back and put your eyes in the eyes of a disabled child.

Here you are, a disabled child. You already know what the word cripple is, and it’s been used against you (don’t act like this doesn’t happen). You read Wings of Fire and you come across that sentence. What is the intent behind that sentence in the eyes of a disabled child? Are you supposed to be scared of Scarlet? Angry? Or are you upset, because even in a fantasy book with talking dragons, you can’t escape from real life or that word?

Some of you might say, “What if only the villains use that word?” While I can see Queen Scarlet calling Peril a stupid retarded motherfucker. It’s not something you want in a children's story, so why does cripple get a past?

I hope you’re getting the picture, it’s a very commonly used word, one which the disabled community has begged able-bodied people not to use. The word injured gets the same point across and it doesn’t have a history of it being a derogatory term. While replacing the word cripple with injured or severely injured isn’t a perfect fix, it’s at least getting rid of the other word which is a start at least.

Now before I continue with the other slur, I can hear some of you say you’re aware disabled people are using cripple to describe themselves. Why can’t able-bodied people use it? Here’s the thing. Not everyone in the disabled community is doing this, and it’s not a monolith. The word cripple has been used as an attack against the disabled community for decades. It targets them, puts them down, and it’s only used against them. You only use the term to refer to something as injured so there's no reason to use it on an able-bodied person. The community in which it was used against is taking that word and trying to empower it amongst themselves. You’re not gonna complain if someone who’s black uses the N-word, so why are you upset when disabled people use the word cripple to describe themselves but are saying you can’t? That word belongs to them and their community, not yours. Also, one more thing before I go, not everyone in the disabled community uses this word or wants to hear it. There have been plenty of disabled people who are fine using that word to describe themselves but won’t say it around others if other disabled people express they don’t want to hear it. So be mindful if you’re gonna use it and please hire a sensitivity reader.

Savage:

This word...I have a lot of history with it because it’s a word that’s used against my community, (indigenous) people. And yet, just like the word cripple, it’s used all the time and while it’s a very common occurrence where indigenous voices aren’t heard, we’ve been telling everyone to just drop this word. Unlike the word cripple, we aren’t trying to claim this word, we just want it gone.

The definition of this word is an easy one to understand. It’s to describe a person, object, or an action as barbaric, wild, aggressive, unintelligent, or barely even human.

Example one: “They’re savages, savages, barely even human” Disney, Pocahontas (1995). (Used against people)

Example two:DragonFire: Age of Legend (book 3) by LJ Davies

“I opened my muzzled to respond, but another savage roar drew our attention…” (Used as an action)

Example three:

(Used against a group of people)

Example four: “Savage weaponry” (Use to describe an object)

I’m gonna be using the series DragonFire a lot for my examples, because out of all the books I got, that series uses the word 19 times throughout books one, two, and three. It was used twelve times in book three and I guess someone told LJ Davies about this problem because it doesn’t appear in book four. But it DOES appear in the spin-off series “Tales of DragonFire: Rebellion” twice, and THIRTEEN TIMES in “The Last Monster on Earth”. Overall, that's THIRTY-FOUR TIMES in the course of five books, all meant for children.

LJ Davies isn’t my only example. Chester Young, used it nine times throughout books 1 and 2 of the Celestial Heir books Rowan Silver, used it once in Eyes of Silver: Dragons and Skylines (book 2) And Robert Vane, used it once in the Remembered War series in book 4

Let’s start by showing off some examples and the impact they have and please note, that this might be something you’re just not experienced with. So just like with the disabled child, try to imagine yourself as an indigenous child. You’re fully aware of the word savage, it’s been used against you, and your people. So when you read a text like “Trade with the savages...they wouldn’t understand the concept!”

It feels awfully familiar to lines you read in your history books about your people. Keep in mind, that you wanted to read a story about dragons so you could get away from real life.

(From the Last Monster on Earth by LJ Davies)

I know the United States called the Native Americans savage monsters while stealing their land, it was used as a way to justify their actions, make the natives appear barley even human or in most cases, not human at all, let’s not forget, for a good majority of the building of the United States, those founding fathers didn’t see anyone other than themselves as humans. Reading text, asking how people became savage monsters overnight should remind you how people labelled indigenous people in the past and still do today.

"To confirm the princess’s words, yes, there is an army out there whose numbers vastly exceed our own. Nevertheless, they are a crude mockery of the noble kind they once were, and they are now nothing but savages….There was a series of grunts and nods at that statement...” (DragonFire: Age of Legend, book 3)

I think, this text is a great example of what I’ve been trying to say. In this text, the character who is speaking and the grunts and nods are all dragons with human-like intelligence. They're a stand-in for us. The Elder (who spoke in said text) has been seen and viewed as one of the good guys. He calls his kind noble, and he’s working with a princess, (let’s not forget our history books on how the royal family treated indigenous people). He calls his attackers “nothing but savages”. In translation, their monsters, who are no longer noble or righteous. There’s an agreement with his statement, as if what he says is right and we should be agreeing with him.

In that sentence, understanding everyone is of human intelligence and is a stand-in for humans. We have an old white knight, calling the enemy savages while the royal family are the heroes who are trying to protect their land from those filthy, disgusting, savages. You can kind of see why I’m saying we really shouldn’t be using this word.

“Yellowfang will be allowed to stay here until she has recovered her strength. We are warriors, not savages…” Warriors: Into the Wild (book 1)

Savages...indigenous people, they aren’t warriors, they would’ve killed Yellowfang, and left her to rot in the wilds, Thunderclan is better than those monsters. Am I making my point clear enough when it comes to the history of this word, who it’s targeted against and how it comes across when reading in children's media?

You might’ve noticed I’ve mainly been using examples when it refers to a group of people, not necessarily showing off how commonly it’s used as either an action or an object because honestly...those are just kind of dumb. A savage roar? What does that mean?

Ah yes, because we really needed the use of the word “savagely” to get the point across that Misuk just destroyed a person's skull. The “turning his head into a bloody pulp” wasn’t enough on its own. Without the use of the word savagely how else could we get the aggression and power across? When savage is used as an action it’s mostly because said character loses control of their humanity. They become savage when they attack and the end result is a bloody mess because that’s the only way indigenous, I mean, monsters, I mean barbarians, I mean savage people know how to fight. You often see these kinds of moments when the good guy who’d never hurt a fly loses control and unleashes hell, they turn into something that’s not themselves, they turned into a savage and these moments are meant to be shown as shocking as the character forgets who they are for a couple of seconds.

Indigenous people were savages, with savage strength, and a savage kind of culture. They scalp people, beat them to a bloody pulp, and ate your children. Those monsters needed to be killed. Whenever you use the word savage, it circles back to a group of minorities who were just trying to survive. This word has been used so much, that I don’t think many people realise the history behind it, which is why I said I’m not hating anyone who uses it, but please try to get a sensitivity reader. Get disabled and indigenous sensitivity readers, even if there’s no indigenous or disabled representation in your books, the words you use, still affect us and it’s a good thing to be aware of the words of which you speak and write.

Please be aware of these words, especially if you’re writing stories meant for children because the more children see these words, the more normal they’ll think it is and the more often they’ll start repeating it. I think there’s a time and place for these words, but saying them as an excuse to make something more shocking, isn’t the time or place.

[icwasher]

I've recently decided to take my Star Wars modern AU and give it a plot and as I've been thinking about it I wrote a short scene that takes place somewhat close to the beginning middle-ish. Unfortunately, I do not want to spoil the story so this scene is without context, but I'll post it here anyways for anyone who wants to read it.

There were no lectures in the Fett car that night. Only silence, though it was sometimes interrupted by the crunching of rocks on the asphalt road against the car’s tires. Omega huddled in the back seat, trying to ignore the glare Crosshair was giving her from the rearview mirror. Out of all her brothers, he was the angriest, which was not really very surprising. Crosshair tended to be like that. His anger was like ice—cold, hard, and long-lasting. Omega knew it could be months before he stopped being mad. She could even be done with her sentence—three months of grounding plus an extra month of chores—before Crosshair even began to stop being angry. Sometimes she wished he wasn’t like that. But it was just a testament to his loyalty—loyalty that kept him with Omega and her brothers instead of letting him roam off around the world like Omega knew he wanted to.  She hoped someday he would get to travel. He had told her once, in the strictest confidence, that he wanted to visit every country. So far, he had only been to three. Omega had been curious after he shared that with her, and she had snuck out his passport while he had been sleeping. Two stamps. One to Afghanistan, and the other to Costa Rica. The former had been to visit a recovering Echo. The latter had been for his never-spoken-of time working for the Empire. Omega usually liked Crosshair’s loyalty. But not now. Now it would mean holding onto his anger. There wouldn’t be any late-night movies or conversations between them for a while. Omega curled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees. It would be fine. She’d get through this.

[feeling--pink]

Day 9 (red) - Sphere ❤️

I’ve never drawn them in their original fits so I thought that would be fun to do today!! :)

[gravesung]

thought dump: demons and hunters around the world

STEEPLING MY FINGERS TOGETHER. so this came about because chiaki has taken over my brainspace but i want to interact with the Many Many kpdh muses my mutuals have picked up....... it just felt like. weird. to insert her and geto into a situation that's directly expressing korean folklore, given everything japan did to them. so, since we have some blank space regarding the rest of the world, i thought it might be interesting to zoom the lens out, so to speak — if there are demons here, there are likely demons in other places too right??

i'm thinking like. large settlements and gatherings of humans either create the concept of hell via collective belief, or they thin the veil between reality and the Bad Place because there are so many souls clustered together

constants: souls are food. mmyumyumyum. i feel like it's a pretty widespread concept that demons feed on human souls, flesh, or life-force. also, they are usually ruled by some sort of monarch, maybe a demon oligarchy, maybe a bureaucracy, depends on the belief system and historical events (coups, etc)

variables: the type of demon, the barrier used to hold them back, and what kind of people evolved to be hunters or protectors. maybe the magic system is always voice-based, or maybe there are different types of powers depending on the crossover we're building!

going down the path of "it's always music": hunters always evolving out of the most popular genres of music throughout history in that region?? imagine??? jazz and blues hunters in early-1900s america?? indigenous hunters???? OPERA HUNTERS??? LMFAO

maybe there isn't always a barrier — more fractured nations like the USA are more 'every bitch for themselves' in their hunting practices, and their regional demons can move freely between planes as long as they're within the borders of 'where people know they exist' whereas more unified countries only ever evolve one or two groups of hunters per generation, because that's all they need. their barriers (such as the honmoon) are stronger because they actually have their shit together. they have a barrier at all.

would not be surprised if america turned it into an Economy

i'm thinking.... most places and their hunters don't know about, or aren't connected with, other countries' hunters. which was never an issue, because they only ever knew about, and only ever needed to protect the world from, their type of demon. kpop is a DOMINANT force across the globe,

BUT THEN, ALONG CAME THE INTERNET. suddenly everyone knows about everyone else. folklore is studied across the globe. which means demons from one area can leak into others. which is a problem when your barrier is meant to keep out one type of demon but won't protect against creatures from an entirely different afterlife / belief system

it seems like huntr/x is the first post-internet hunter generation in korea, soooo it could be fun to play around with

[hardcoregamer]

As gaming continues to evolve, food has become more than just fuel for the character. It serves as a window into the environment, enhancing the emotional depth of the experience. In this list, we’ll explore the best games where the food looks so delicious, you’ll wish you could taste it yourself.

[littjara-mirrorlake]

Daily Life in the Phyrexian Spheres (Maze to Bays)

Previous: Facade to Furnace

The Maze is a thick tangle of coppered greenery and savage beasts shielding loyalist Phyrexia from the outskirts of the plane, posing a significant challenge to attackers moving in or rebels moving out. In theory, the domain ruled by Vorinclex and Glissa is loyal to Elesh Norn and stands ready to serve the Orthodoxy. In practice, most Maze denizens don't discriminate between Mirran or Phyrexian, loyalist or rebel. All are prey unless they can prove their worthiness to survive, and many an Orthodoxy enforcer realizes too late that their authority provides no shield from the dangers of the wild.

Though the Maze's savage reputation is well-earned, areas of tranquility remain, shielded by dense growth. Bubbling ichor wellsprings, nexuses of mana, and meadows of rare and exotic flowers await those with the skill to find them. Pockets of relative civilization also exist, such as the living quarters of priests, aspirants, and commoners, woven or grown into the landscape's coppery scaffolding. Common roles include the upkeep of local plant life and the study and augmentation of predators, carried out by Phyrexians known as stewards.

Not all Maze residents subscribe to Vorinclex and Glissa's ideology of weeding out the weak, though, and many form communities and care for those close to them. They are reluctant to aid outsiders, usually more out of self-preservation than an idea of social Darwinism (though many justify it with the latter). Luckily, no one is enforcing their obedience or ideologies--all Maze-dwellers must do is survive. Though predators run rampant, actual policing and enforcer presence is almost nonexistent here, making the Maze a suitable location for canny rebels to hide. In particular, the border between the Maze and the Furnace is a hotspot for illegal activity--another region that praetors consider beneath their notice.

The Bays are the heart of Phyrexia's surveillance state. Every feature of the landscape, from buildings to "trees" and the great skylights themselves, is studded with ever-watching eyestalks. The cameras' ubiquity reminds residents of their duty to obey--after all, you've got nothing to fear if you've got nothing to hide. Mind magic is heavily used, and memory redaction is common. The infrastructure of the sphere itself is also carefully micromanaged, down to local climate patterns. Control centers are overseen by ranking officials but staffed by commoners, who desperately beat back the unseemly Tangle growth that reaches down here.

Religion takes a backseat here in favor of hard science, and some researchers brazenly deny the Orthodoxy and claim experimentation as Phyrexia's truest way ahead. After all, the Progress Engine's primary export is research, and its titanic labs demand a steady influx of talent, raw materials, and captive test subjects (both Mirran and Phyrexian). Compleat creatures that fall short of their duties are often "repurposed" this way. Vast amounts of information are stored in archives of glistening oil and quicksilver.

Even in this sphere of eyes, however, dissidents carve out bubbles of secrecy. Drones and cameras can be covertly hacked, and mental defenses are meticulously constructed to mislead. Spy networks infiltrate nearly every level of Gitaxian academia, pilfering research and weaponry to aid the rebellion's cause.

A quirk of Surgical Bay life, which bleeds over into the other spheres, is the tendency of tools and inanimate devices to be replaced by living Phyrexian creatures known as skites. From syringes to chests and telescopes, even the most mundane items skitter on their own accord, and railings for them to walk on are built into most rooms. These simple creatures are roughly equivalent to trained animals, and variants are employed by both loyalists and rebels to spy on their opposition.

[hansatorium]

deer hunter orb

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Ohhhh we are popping the biggest bottles, it only took writing 25 fics (plus a small number of fics from other talented writers) but Sara and Hunter are FINALLY a recognized relationship tag on AO3

To celebrate, please enjoy:

Sara and Hunter are Two Rats

Hunter was exhausted after a long day of overseeing funerals. It was a stressful job, because mourners don't always behave tactfully and also because most funerals were for crows and crows tend to eat rats.

Her parents had had a much more friendly relationship with the local birds, but they'd been lost in a tragic rat poison incident and now Hunter was left running funerals for creatures that could eat her if they decided they didn't like the flower arrangements.

So she was a little on edge at the end of the day. All she wanted to do was collapse in her little hole until she had get up and go to work for the next murder victim or piece of roadkill that deserved a touching tribute.

The second she got comfortable and closed her eyes the hole filled with noise. She didn't have to open her eyes to find the source, she knew it was Sara.

Sara had acquired a zune from the humans and so everywhere she went she had background music. It was weirdly endearing- when you didn't have a skull splitting headache from a day of hard work.

“Hey! You want to go to the rat rave?”

“The what?” Hunter asked, which was a mistake. Responding meant confirming that she was awake.

“It's a rave for rats.”

“I should have known.”

“It doesn't get as crazy as the bat raves but those are pretty exclusive. I mean I can get in and I'd vouch for you, you do fit their aesthetic… Do you want to go to a bat rave?”

“Mmph.”

“How do you feel about being upside down?”

Hunter cracked an eyelid and looked at Sara. She loved Sara's enthusiasm and obscure party knowledge, but she couldn't match her energy on a good day and this one had been especially bad.

“Look, I almost got eaten today, so I don’t really feel like going out.”

Sara's eyes seemed to glow with anger at this revelation, “Who?”

“No one you know,” Hunter said quickly.

“Tell me their name and I'll hunt them down to the ends of the earth and make sure they never party in this city again.”

“Or,” Hunter suggested gently, “you can come over here and snuggle.”

Sara thought about it for a second, turning off her zune right as it was in the middle of “I Am” by Bon Jovi.

She came over and lay protectively in front of Hunter, so that any predators that found them in the night would have to go through her first.

“I'll keep you safe.”

Hunter nuzzled into Sara, “It's enough for you to keep me company.”

“I can do that, too.”

“Thanks for skipping the rat rave for me.”

“There will be other rat raves. But there's only one you.”

As she was falling a sleep Hunter kind of smiled and mumbled, “Yeah, I love you too.”