#tree limbs

[g-volcano-photo]

Intruder,

[talltalestogo]

“Door mat”

Door mat Footprints on tree limbs, / winter water reflection: / world view up from down. . . #view #winter #water #reflection #mat #limbs #haiku #poem #poetry #photo #davidebooker #oldnorthknoxville #february #saturday #2022 #020522

[abbeyofcyn]

Krang infection 11

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He was, in fact, not all right.

[rampantram]

The CotL hyperfixation has hit hard (you were warned).

[free-my-mindd]

An orchestration of limbs straining to touch each other.

[thatsbelievable]

[heartsfortwotpot]

random character generator

[david-tennant-in-chairs]

Shakespeare DT just hits a little different, you know?

[wildwolf-fandoms]

In HTF fandom, you can know who to trust and not trust just by listening/reading what they think of some of the characters

"I love Fliqpy and Flippy but the raccoon who implied to be poor and is mentally ill is the spawn of evil for stealing, killing his brother, and `making illogical choices`. Aka when he is being a piece of shit Kleptomanic like the show intended"

"Don't get me wrong I love Handy but I don't understand why he is complaining when Russell has it worse."

"I don't understand why Petunia is always overreacting. Can't she just calm down for once?"

"I don't get why these characters trust Mole/Lumpy/Flippy/Lammy when they are DANGEROUS and SHOULD BE LOCKED UP."

Thanks for proving that disabled people can't trust you 👍

[ordinary-beautiful]

Neural

[spoofyleaf]

Sometimes I remember that my whole house was so obsessed with the show Merlin, that we named the first tree we planted in the yard Merlin.

When it was given to us 11 years ago it was hardly a scraggly stick, and now it looks like a giant bush

Artist rendition

[g-volcano-photo]

[arkos404]

back when the divine tree episodes were just airing out and people were talking abt what if the effects were more physically visible and well here we are

[come-down-that-tree]

Prologue Previous

/!\ ALL ALARMS BLAZING, THIS CHAPTER WILL BE VIOLENT, BE AWARE OF THAT

Warnings in the tags to not spoil

Come Down That Tree! (An aftermare story)

Chapter 22: Does it really matter how many times we fall down if we can count on someone to help us up?

A horrible feeling was swirling inside him as Geno hurried to the village. What if something happened again? What if he hadn’t arrived in time last time?

What if he didn’t arrive this time ?

If something happened, it could be nothing, his mind supplied to him as a way to quench his anxiety.

It wasn’t as successful as he would have liked…

Because what if something did happen ?!!

The first houses came into view and he didn’t slow down one bit, cursing the fact he didn’t know the place enough to blip around easily. It would have cut down time. And he doubted he’d find Nightmare in the same small alley as last time.

Running through the dark was hard and he kept tripping over unidentified stuff, rubbish probably.

Geno hesitated for a second, weighing the pros and cons of summoning a blaster to act as a light. Slightly overkill but, again, what if something happened ?

A hand touched his shoulder on his blind side and he twirled violently, ready to stab whoever it was with a sharp tipped fast-summoned bone in his hand.

Yellow.

Dream.

"Sorry for the scare, follow me, I know around."

No jump, no startled shout, the guardian stayed unmoved and started walking, quickly fading back into the night.

Geno lowered his weapon and took a step forward, vaguely guessing the direction the other must have gone.

He must have guessed wrong because Dream soon reappeared on his left with a furrowed expression.

"I apologize, I forgot you probably can’t see much right now. We’re in the market street, almost only shops and public spaces. That’s why it’s so dark, everything is closed at this hour. No street lights on either on market days..."

The guardian finished his little ramble by putting two fingers in his mouth, as if to whistle, he blew hard, eyes-closed, without making a sound and soon some light started to filter through his clothes and between his bones. Opening his eyes revealed two fiery pits in the guise of eye lights. A warm colored storm with discreet accents of purplish blue swirling in the mix.

"Follow the light !"

And the fireflight took off again. This time followed closely by his darkened shape, chasing the warmth along turns and dashes through unknown paths and detours.

Was the way their erratic trip wiggled and grew made any sense to him ?

Not really.

But he was willing to trust the other’s knowledge on this matter more than his own, not finding the energy and will to debate and potentially slow down the quest.

Better focus on that shooting star guiding him somewhere he hoped Nightmare would be.

Hopefully unarmed.

Soon the chase came to an end in some back alley, far from the few lighted houses they came across in their mad run.

Dream stopped.

The candle was blown out and Geno turned confused at the other.

A gut-wrenching cry tore open the blanket of the night, making his sliver of a soul sending waves of panicked magic through his limbs.

Not a word was shared as they ran, again, to a scene that will join the specters haunting his dreams for many years.

Under the faint light of a summoned light ball laid a scene reminiscent of a past not so far in an uncanny way.

A group in an alley.

Some laughing.

One holding Nightmare.

One getting ready to deal a heavy blow.

One major difference was that the blow was clearly aiming to kill. A foot on the skull, pressing more and more. Nightmare’s face drenched in tears and pain and fear.

Body shaking.

A purple sleeve far too flat.

And dust.

One was blown away in a whiny blast of power, falling to dust before even hitting the wall.

The giant maw of his blaster bit down on another hard, their blood indistinguishable from the usual determination’s red drip along the fangs.

Two were impaled, pinned down like the bugs they were, feeding the stone of a vile mix of dust and blood.

One fled, without a sound, the eyes filled with death and the legs full of terror.

Geno didn’t care, not batting his only eye at the massacre he just caused and walked toward the now curled up shape on the ground.

The monster carefully picked up Nightmare who seemed barely aware anymore and folded the now-empty right sleeve on his lap.

His fingers brushed a damp cheek for a second before Geno turned to Dream who despite looking accordingly distressed by the- by everything, was still here.

« We need to leave, they’ll come back armed. And no doubt they’ll pin it down on Nightmare too. I’m not scared of dying but would you be able to protect your brother if push came to shove ? »

Dream’s eyes wandered to the wall and the ground, to the bits and rest, then fell back to Nightmare and ended up searching for something in Geno’s gaze.

"Dream, I killed these people. They were going to kill your brother. They will do it again. I am not saying I was justified. I’m telling you Nightmare needs to leave right now and I will, as well. What is your decision ?"

The other’s eyes shone with something hard as stone and he took a step towards him.

“We need to go back to the tree before anything.”

Geno couldn’t help but grin despite the grim situation and extended a hand while keeping a strong hold on his precious baggage.

“Thankfully, I know a shortcut!”

And while Dream looked confused, he took his hand and Geno turned a corner, letting the familiar magic wash over him. Next step, they were at the tree.

To his credit, the guardian only stood shocked for a short moment, opening his mouth and closing it several times before glancing at Nightmare and getting back his bearings.

"Put him under the tree and stay on the lookout, I just need some minutes..."

The monster delicately laid down Nightmare in the grass, making sure his head was supported by a thick root. He let his forehead touched the other’s briefly and whispered :

"Hang in there, I still have to say sorry for all the crap I did and said to you."

Once that out of the way, Geno took a few steps away to survey the area and focused on the few lights decorating the village, counting each again and again to make sure no new ones were lit.

He glanced a few times at Dream who was sitting on his knees, eyes closed, hands joined as if praying, the skull barely brushing the bark. He remained perfectly still, assuredly focused on whatever he was doing.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

How had the day managed to slip away so atrociously between his fingers ? His eye fluttered on the ring still sitting innocently on his pinkie.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

Why did he get so mad at Nightmare being hurt badly ? He could still feel his soul’s fragment squeeze and shake as if it still needed to pump more magic his way right now.

One light, two, three, four, five, six. 

Will Nightmare be okay ? He was down an arm but would he recover alright ? Why did he care that much, he thought he’d be less sensitive to people he cared about getting hurt after everything…

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

He cared ? Did he get that attached to the guardian ? Eye on the ring, again. He fidgeted with his scarf, comparing Nightmare to his former family.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

No, it was not the same. Strangely, it didn’t feel any less deep or important than his love for them. Different however.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

...Love ? Geno almost forgot that word had another meaning than « level of violence » and, a bit deliriously, the thought his LV increased earlier wormed its way in his mind.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

Throwing that thought away, locking it with a key and making it melt, quelling the shaking and leaving that new burden on top of his problems for future late nights where sleep would evade him. Going back to the last thought right now !

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

This spectacular backtracking that left him swaying and unsteady landed him right back on Nightmare and… not violent love.

One light, two, three, four, five, six.

The word twirled in his mind for a minute before one sudden realization made him halt his counting, desperately trying to get the sudden warmth that rushed through him to lower before it boiled him or something.

He loved him !

And wasn’t that awkward to realize that now, when the other was unconscious and in pain ! Geno curled down under the kick of feelings, burying his face in the scarf and putting some of the fabric above his head in a makeshift hood (not even trying to untangle his real hood from under his scarf).

Well, that was plain stupid in his opinion. Realizing you like someone after he was put in mortal peril, wasn’t that corny and straight up something he could have found in thousands of cliche romantic novels ???

Could someone come kill his idiot self and let him stay dead this time..?

He did not want to deal with that. Not right now, maybe never if that was an option.

Geno stood back up, slapping lightly his cheeks with both hands, mindlessly noticing how his left  arm didn’t conjure as much strength as the other. Stupid lightning.

One light, two, three, four, five, six...seven, eight, nine, TEN and more and-

Geno wired back towards the tree, ready to shout at Dream that the situation was potentially escalating very fast when he stopped at the sight.

The guardian was crying, leaning on the bark, a bag swung on his shoulder and a hand holding onto Nightmare’s sleeve, trembling and desperate-looking.

Geno ran at Nightmare’s side and frantically checked what he could. Nothing changed except that some fresh tears had once again wet the drying bone of his cheeks. He was still out but he somehow had cried again. The relief that washed over him made him lean and plant a fast kiss on the salted surface and he declared softly, with the sheer hope he really was still out :

"My guy, you can’t die when I just realized I got a stupid crush on you. Do you wanna turn me into a ridiculous tragedy hero ? I love you, ok. Even if you will have all the rights to hate me for what I’ve done at your wakes… Better not have heard that though."

Once out of his chest, he turned towards Dream to at least tear him a new one verbally for making him fear the worst.

He stopped, again, because the other looked like a downright awful agonizing weepy mess.

"I… I know what to do… But it would-will leave us vulnerable and you might have to, » a breath and a sniffle, « like support me and carry Night’ ?"

A muffled clamor resonated its way up there and then, they both knew there was little room left to argue and plan.

As much as he hated those pesky villagers, he was not going to attempt murdering them all…

So Geno nodded and Dream started to prep whatever he needed for his plan.

He watched the other climb the tree, a yellow blanket in his arm, and reached for a dark fruit, carefully putting in the fabric, never touching it directly. He picked a golden one with far less ceremony, hastily burying it in his bag as if it burned his fingers to do so.

The guardian hopped down swiftly and put the bundle of fabric against the injured’s chest as the noise kept growing not so far away.

"Keep the apple there, try your best not to touch it but it should be more or less fine for you. It must absolutely not touch me however, that’s vital."

He hummed his agreement, he was out of his depth, better leave the lead to the expert.

"Pick him up and get back a few steps."

He did.

Dream picked up a lone branch and asked him with half-words getting loose in the wind.

"Could you put that on fire with your weird floating puppy heads ?"

What was he planning… ?

"I could, but that’d put a target on us, they might not have figured out yet we went back here ? Why ?"

He didn’t get any explanation or anything much else but what he got was a simple:

 "I trust you."

And how could he ? A gross killer like him that proved he was truly capable of the worst. With how often Dream was downtown, he might even have known these guys by name. So, how could he ?

But those weren’t eyes that lie. He recognized hurt and fear in there but it was hard to argue that it wasn't genuine trust binding the thing together.

The thin stick was held closer by an unsteady hand and a please hung in the air between them.

The blaster he summoned was as small as he could, half an arm of length at best,  and its maw opened and prepped a blast, the whine reverberating loud and clear in the not-so-still night. He soundlessly ordered it to hold and as he tried to take the branch to light it up Dream all but plundged it without hesitation in the heat himself.

He didn’t have the time to express his dismay before twig became torch and at that point, things started to accelerate.

He will remember it as a chaotic blur, clashing feelings and noises.

Feet pounding up the hill, loud and numerous.

Shouts of anger and hate, illuminated by torches and reflected on the glistening metal of hastily-found weapons.

The rush of wind dampening words that felt too heavy for something said so softly.

"I’m sorry, mom. Thank you."

Dream seemed as ablaze by his light than the now-burning tree behind him.

And then, everything crumpled.

Dream fell as his light dimmed, Geno’s blaster catching him.

The shouts turned to incredulous silence and everything seemed eerie and wrong.

For a single second, nothing felt more important than this burning tree with its fruits turning to slop and dripping on the ground. 

The world was falling at its seams and everything was ringing, again and again.

He couldn’t have been long but that instant was forever, the balance shifted and stood, fragile.

Dream howled a soul-tearing cry, Nightmare cried again in his arms and Geno stood there, lost and alien.

Dream asked him to run soon after.

He did.

Nightmare secured against his chest by his good arm, the weight barely registering as he dashed through the forest, jumping over roots and dunking under low branches.

Dream hurried not so far behind them, supported by the blaster. 

Geno didn’t trust his left arm to support anybody while running with its still lacking strength.

They ran.

They ran.

They ran.

Until dawn’s blood spilled into the black canvas, until the forest stopped and started again, until they couldn’t run anymore.

And they ran again some more to be sure.

They stopped at a spot near a river and collapsed on rocks.

The place seemed so peaceful it made Geno reel.

The calm noise of water flowing between the trees and the soft whispers of nearby animals just seemed out of place, foreign, displaced when all he could hear and see was this brazier they fled from.

Geno stayed there for long, just haphazardly trying to process the day.

It wasn’t a very fruitful attempt and he sat for long, Nightmare on his lap, his head against his shoulder, limp.

And later they’d trudge around and find a circle of grass void of trees, with an old wooden house someone must have lived in once but now stood empty and full of spider webs.

And later they would pick themselves up and the twins would bury the last two apples and from it would grow two plants who’d braid themselves into one new tree of feelings. It would be void of spirit but it would exist.

And later, after they recovered some, they would live and laugh again.

But right now, they sat there. Dream a puppet without strings, Geno a stone statue and Nightmare struggling to wake up to the aching world.

Whispers tickled Geno’s mind, close. 

Barely opened eyes looked at him without any trace of confusion, pained but true.

He held him closer and the now treasure-less guardian buried himself into his chest.

"I love you too."

And while they all sat there, broken and lost, that one tiny thing would allow them the will to continue.

Someone may call it naive or mushy but what better thing than some love to ignite hope anew in one’s soul when everything fell apart already?

One story may have ended but, from the ashes, another will find space to grow.

Always.

The end.

(go to epilogue?)

@dragon-tamer-1 @shinechermont

Geno!Sans belongs to @/loverofpiggies Nightmare, Dream and dreamtale belong to @/jokublog

[rosecoloredtarot]

I feel like I'm the minority here, but I don't think trimming branches off trees and bushes or cutting the grass is actually spiritually significant to them.

Lots of folk like to ask permission of a tree's spirit before taking a limb. Which is good, being polite is always a plus. But I genuinely don't think they care. I feel like they have a relationship to branches and leaves like we do to hair or nails - a part of you that grows but doesn't actually hurt to remove.

I think it comes down to scale as well. Taking a 3in thick limb from an ancient Oak tree is going to be irksome but not detrimental, because it has 15 more. Taking a single leaf from a sapling could kill it.

Idk where I was headed with these thoughts. Concluding sentence.

[moeblob]

I kinda maybe put a lot of my OC plot tag lines on a Wheel and gave it a spin so outta 79 options, it landed on "Cellphone Justice" which is... these two.

Matthew "Skittles" Mouse and Daisy Eddington

Partners in justice (of sorts). They're basically vigilantes and their orders are simply text messages. They don't really know who their bosses are but they do as they are told.

Skittles is a very mediocre guy. Doesn't stand out. The most color he has in his wardrobe is blue jeans. He's amazingly asexual and has zero interest in romance regardless of intimacy and yet he gets partnered with Daisy. The gayest lady he has ever met. Great start. She enjoys calling him fun little nicknames but seeing as they're monitored closely (via cell phones/technology) she is scolded and told to pick a single one. So she does. She dubs him Skittles. The candy as gay as her.

The one thing they have in common is their number one weakness: cute girls.

Daisy turns into a stuttering MESS of a human being. A disaster. At the mere sight of a cute girl. Skittles on the other hand is TERRIFIED of them. When asked, he simply blames his life growing up. Daisy doesn't really push the matter just thinks it's a little weird to be scared of every single cute girl (no offense to the not being afraid of her taken).