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yugirl · 3 years ago

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Day 29: “Frontline Base”

Even heroes need some downtime. Show us what the schoolyard crew gets up to when they’re not saving the world or studying for finals. Sleepovers perhaps?

@gxmonth

((Oh, I have been WAITING to write this story. I’m excited.))

Aster didn’t plan on doing anything special during the day off school. Just sleep, eat, and maybe look over his cards or information on his dad’s kidnapper if he was in the mood. He liked to take his days off slow.

What he had not expected was for Jaden to be knocking on his door.

“Aster! You awake?” he called out.

Aster groaned; why did he have to bother him today?

He opened the door to see Jaden wearing a thin pink T-shirt and an ankle-length floral print skirt, a usual goofy smile on his face.

“….do I want to know?” Aster asked, giving the elevator eyes.

“I like to wear skirts when it’s hot. The wind feels nice on my legs!”

“Not that. Why are you on my yacht? Leave!”

“I just wanted to ask if we could borrow your tv. You have one on the yacht, right?”

“…. Why do you need my tv?”

“We’re doing a group hangout in Chazz’s room, and Chumley and Zane are gonna be there, but I want everyone to see them!” Jaden explained.

Aster frowned. He did owe Jaden after everything, but he wasn’t too keen on just giving him the tv. Knowing him, he’d break it.

“Fine, but I’m supervising to make sure you don’t break it!” He huffed.

“Sure! To be honest, I wanted you to come to the hangout, but I wasn’t sure if it would be your thing!”

“What do you mean? It’s just hanging out?” Aster asked confused

Jaden laughed it off, and the two walked back to the Chazz’s room, carrying the TV.

They managed to get the TV sorted out and plugged the laptop in. Jaden and Syrus were excited to see Zane and Chumley again, especially the former after he had mellowed out a bit. It had been a while since the group hung out like this.

Zane had to admit he had been secretly looking forward to this. He missed playing this game with everyone; it made his last year at the academy just a little bit more memorable.

Hassleberry, however, was a bit nervous. “I’ve never played this game before, Sy? What if I mess up? What if I cause us to lose?”

“You won’t, Ty!” Syrus assured and held his boyfriend’s hands. “Chumley will go easy on you since it’s your first time.”

First time? What the heck are these guys playing!? Aster wondered.

Eventually, Bastion, Alexis and Atticus joined the group, and they all sat in a circle with books, paper, and bags containing many coloured dice.

“You guys play Dungeons and Dragons?!” Aster asked, shocked.

“Surprised?” Jaden grinned, adjusting his skirt.

“A little, I knew you were nerds, but I didn’t realise you were… big nerds….” Aster mumbled.

“Alright, we’re all set!” Chumley grinned “everyone remember their character sheets?”

There was a mix of responses giving the affirmative.

“Do you wanna play with us, Aster?” Jaden asked, “I don’t want you to feel left out.”

“But I don’t know how to play, and I don’t have any dice or a character sheet.”

“That’s ok! I made one for you!” Jaden held the pieces of paper up to him. “I made you a cleric because we needed another healer on the team. I hope that’s ok!”

Aster was a little stunned but touched by the gesture. “… thanks…”

“Here, I have some extra dice. Why don’t you borrow them for today? Pick whichever set you like!” Syrus grinned, offering a collection of containers holding dice sets.

“Oh… thanks…” Aster smiled softly as he took a set of Gray and white ones.

“Here’s the player’s handbook if you ever feel lost”, Bastion smiled as he handed Aster the book “, but don’t hesitate to ask us if you have any questions!”

“Oh! Ok!” Aster smiled. He was a bit overwhelmed by how friendly everyone was being. He admittedly hoped the Dino nut was given the same courtesy. It was his first game, too, after all.

“Ok, guys, introduce your characters, and we can begin the session!” Chumley announced.

“Aw, can’t we introduce them in the setting like last time? That was so fun!!” Atticus whined

“I have to admit I enjoyed that last time too. It was more immersive,” Zane blushed.

“Ok, we can do that. Let me set the scene!” Chumley smiled before putting on a narrator's voice.

Aster smiled and read through his character sheet quickly. Noting there were a few spots left blank, most likely to give his character his name...

“Our story begins in the kingdom of Arasion, in the humble township of Goblin Fang. In Goblin Fang, many gather at the Drizzling Dragon, a large tavern home to many seeking a grand quest or something of the sort. This is where three of our travellers have just arrived. Jada, would you like to introduce yourself?”

Jada? Who's that? Is that meant to be Jaden? Aster wondered.

Jaden nodded, and suddenly his eyes became large and doe-like. “The leader is a young human woman, her raggy clothes looking nothing like the ball gown it used to be, a scorned princess forced to flee her kingdom to protect its legacy. She carries a talisman signifying her pact with the great archdemon. She looks to her companions, her loyal guards and asks, “do you think we will find the answers we seek here?””

Aster was surprised at how invested Jaden got into his performance, but he was certainly intrigued about how this would go.

Alexis coughs

“Alexandra, a water genasi paladin and Princess Jada’s bodyguard, coughs and says, “I can only hope that is the case, your majesty”” Alexis put on a British accent. Aster couldn't help but think she had to have been taking lessons from Bastion. “What do you think, Charles?”

“I knoweth not, Alexandra.”

Wait, was that Chazz?

Chazz seemed really engrossed in his character and performance. “Charles, a half-orc fighter and another bodyguard for the princess, seems unconvinced that a lowly tavern will help them, but he will take any chance he can get. “This way, your majesty, my dear Alexandra,” he says as he opens the door for them.”

Wow, he did get into character! Aster chuckled.

“The three of you enter the tavern, and there is an assortment of patrons in the tavern from all walks of life. They take a look at the three newcomers, and all seem to be judging you. Would anyone like to take the opportunity to introduce themselves?”

“I will!” Zane spoke up.

Now, this would be interesting, Aster thought. He didn’t know Zane liked these things, so he was curious to see how he went.

“A drow rogue going by the name of Zennia is observing the newcomers. She takes a piece of food from her plate and offers it to her husband, who is resting his head in her lap.”

Aster wasn't expecting that. He didn't think Zane, of all people, would play a female character. Who was her husband?

Atticus smirked and purred, “I say “thank you my dearest” and eat the food.”

Of course, it was Atticus.

“Isidore, a tiefling bard, adores it when his wife feeds him. He doesn’t take notice of the newcomers as he only has eyes for the love of his life.”

Jaden, Syrus, Bastion and even Alexis couldn’t help but let out an “aaaaw.”

Zane blushed in high definition on TV; it brought a smirk to Aster’s face.

“At a table on the other end of the tavern there's a halfling and dragonborn arguing” Chumley explained “there is also a half elf desperately trying to pretend they’re not with them.”

As if on cue Syrus pointed to Hassleberry and scoffed. “What do you mean I’m paying for everyone’s meals!? You’re the one who has all the gold we gathered, Tyran!”

Hassleberry was confused at first but then clicked “well you’re the one who got us into that mess with the goblin horde, Paulo! The least you can do is take some responsibility and pay for everyone’s meals!”

“Same rubbish as always…” Bastion sighed.

“SHUT UP SEBASTIAN”

The two proceeded to bicker in character some more until Bastion silenced them.

Chumley chuckled before turning to Aster “do you want to have a go?”

Aster nodded and took a deep breath. “In the back of the tavern there is a human cleric, he looks way too finely dressed to be a regular of the establishment. He has a glow of holy radiance about him as he leisurely drinks a pint of mead. His golden eyes take notice of the three new comers and approaches them. Taking a knee, he takes princess Jada’s hand and graces his lips across her knuckles.

“My princess… I am Astaroth… and the gods have told me it is my define mission to be your aid and protector” he says”

The rest of the room is struck silent at Aster’s performance, causing him to blush. “W-was that too much?”

“No way Aster, that was AWESOME!!” Jaden grinned. “I can’t wait to get to know your character!!”

“If you have any backstory or plot ideas in mind Aster send me an email after the game!” Chumley smiled “now we’re all introduced let’s go!!”

Aster smiled and settled in. He had no idea what was going on but everyone was being so nice… he couldn’t help but look forward to the rest of the game.

#yugioh #yugioh gx #jaden yuki #aster phoenix #chumley huffington #gxmonth #gxmonth2021

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bestbouy · 3 years ago

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Okay so I just got some wax melts from this person I think they're named chem? virgil? idk but here's where I got them: https://chemcandles.indiemade.com/ AND I SUGGEST YOU GET SOME TOO (here's why)

sinofdjsdf THEY'RE SO GOOD

like the moment I opened the box I just smiled like it was Christmas morning-

You may or may not know I love dice, casual dice enjoyer here

and theY HAD DICE MELTS

I've never needed something so much in my entire life

Anyways, they came within two days and dANG that's fast for where I live! I loved the little note, and they even gave me some extras!

if you do choose to buy some, I'm sure they'd really appreciate it! if not, that's alright as well, I just wanted to help them out however I can :)

Here are some pictures

Sorry about the horrible quality lol They smell so good and I love them so much I'm gonna put them in a bag so they stay good

And!!! The tiny!!! dinos!!!

all and all, best 14 bucks I've ever spent

Oh! and they've also got candles inspired by sanders sides! as of me posting this, they've got Roman inspired candles and Patton inspired candles

please go check them out if you're in the market!!

(It's so sad I need to melt them but I don't want to-)

this one's missing some of his tail but I love him anyways

and whoops! almost forgot their tumblr account: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/chemcandles

#sanders sides #small creator #dice #patton sanders #roman sanders #ts #roman ts #patton ts #I LOVE THESE THINGS OMG #tiny dinosaurs #chemcandles #wax melts #candles #dice wax melts

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radramblog · 3 years ago

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AFR Precon Commanders

Look I literally did this last week, but also, I haven’t really thought about Magic since then, so I don’t have any particular ideas about what to write other than just another long list of cards. I had an idea for an Ebondeath dech tech, but I’m going to put that on the backburner for a day where I have a bit more time.

Besides, there’s a reason Set Reviews and the like are so popular among players. They’re fun to make, and they’re fun to read/listen/watch. And for whatever reason, WoTC has opted to give us effectively two full Commander sets this year, with AFC having just as many precons and almost as many new Commanders as the 2016 precon offering. So there’s a lot going on, and a lot to talk about.

With only 12 new cards to talk about this time, and them being actually designed for the format, I’ll try to spend a bit longer on each one. And the first one is….

Catti-brie of Mithral Hall

There’s a lot going on here for two mana. Catti-brie is Selesnya’s second Equipment Commander, with her compatriot Nazahn being a bunch more impact, but also triple the mana cost. This is besides the part where Nazahn is not that good outside of finding his absolutely bonkers hammer.

I think Catti-brie has a lot of potential. With the right build, she can get very large very quickly, and considering she costs two whole mana, that’s fairly impressive. With no ramp and just Grafted Wargear, she’s swinging for 6 commander damage turn 3, and only getting bigger from there- literally a 3-swing clock with the extra counters.

I literally cannot envision you ever using that last ability unless someone snipes her mid-combat. But you probably don’t need it? I like her either way. Bit awkward she releases the same day as fellow two mana Selesnya Commander that gets bigger for (deckbuild mechanic), Trelassara.

Galea, Kindler of Hope

…eh?

Okay, so it Future Sights, but only for Auras/Equips, and it gets the Sigarda’s Aid ability for Equipment, which is kind of gross- you get the card and mana advantage at the same time there. As someone with a Gruul topdeck deck, I know that Green doesn’t really offer much to that pie, but I know Blue absolutely does- not gonna be super hard to manipulate and chuck the swords you want on top of the deck.

But like…eh? This commander doesn’t excite me. They’re obviously powerful, but I just don’t care that much. There’s nothing they do that other things don’t, you know? Bant already has topdeck in Amareth, Auras in the three commanders from the Bant Enchantress deck, and arguably Voltron in Rafiq. I guess this is Bant equipment, but…Rafiq………..

Karazikar, Eye Tyrant

Goad is such a fun mechanic, and I’m so happy to see it every time. Not only does this basically Edric in Rakdos, it also helps you force the issue? Yeah okay, that’s a solid commander. 5 mana is awkward, especially since they can’t really swing in safely themselves that often. With that in mind, the tap ability is deceptively strong, especially combined with, say, Menace.

There are currently 372 Kardur, Doomscourge decks, which is way, WAY more than I expected. I’d imagine a lot of those are switching to Karazikar, considering it’s basically the same but better. Not that I ever really care for “just better” cards, but not everyone sees things the same way I do.

Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient

What if we made Savage Ventmaw a legend? Okay, cool, but also we fixed it so you can’t go infinite. Wait no stop don’t put Ventmaw in the deck anyway noooooo-

Whoever decided this should have Haste deserves a raise, as the card would be nigh-unusable without it. As it is, this is going to basically let you doublespell constantly, especially if that first one has Haste. Ramp, Beaters, and X-Spells are going to abound. It’s hardly the most unique Gruul commander- Radha 2 exists, after all- but it’s still a solid one.

Lorcan, Warlock Collector

I think I’ve played D&D with this guy before.

Lorcan is basically Grave Betrayal in the zone. Upside: Grave Betrayal is a bonkers card, and this doesn’t have the end step clause. Downside: 7 mana in the zone is huge, and the life cost will add up very quickly. Upside: Unironically the exile clause is good, since it means you get to effectively grave-hate with this guy. Downside: some good cards, like Marshland Bloodcaster, are Warlocks, and you don’t want to be exiling your own things.

Lorcan is probably a very fun commander, because Grave Betrayal is fun and cool. It’s probably not actually a very good one. I like it in the 99, though? Might pick one up for Gonti.

Minn, Wily Illusionist

Okay I don’t care if this card is good it’s so fucking cool. Finally, Illusion Tribal! Get out your Krovikan Mists and Lords of the Unreal! Blue has no trouble drawing extra cards, even on your opponent’s turns, so she’s going to be pumping out a bunch of these tokens.

Oh, also that second ability is bonkers. It doesn’t say nonland, you can ramp with this! Very solid for a more permanent-based Blue deck. There are also just a bunch of random Illusions that this greatly benefits- Murmuring Mystic and Mordenkainen and Meloku all make tokens, and Draining Whelk and Fathom Seer have the type. Not a huge number of sacrifice outlets, but Drowned Rusalka is probably the best it has ever been here. Very interesting card.

Nihiloor

Mx steal-yo-girl here is certainly a unique effect, but not the most interesting one. The second effect benefits Theft tribal, but not, like, well? Though I suppose ganking creatures is a strong enough effect already.

And yet, on this one it’s really awkward? Esper isn’t known for bigboy creatures, but that’s something this deck wants, apparently. It has a lot of potential, but also, there’s a huge amount of setup and a huge potential to get blown out, since blowing them up gives all opponents their guys back immediately. I like what they were trying to do here, but it’s a tad naff.

Prosper, Tome-Bound

Ah yes, the one everyone’s hyped about. And for fair reason, this card is cool as fuck. It’s a unique effect in the colour, and it’s both card advantage and ramp in one card, and it’s in Rakdos of all combinations? Also, it’s a Tiefling, so surely people are horny for him. There’s a good reason this is the most popular commander from the set, including the main set cards.

This is not the only cast-from-exile matters commander in existence- Laelia came out this year too, but she’s weaker and also not black. The extra colour adds a bunch more to this- theft effects mostly, but also more Cascade cards like Bituminous Blast, things like Dream Devourer, and fucking Valki babyyyy. Add in the black Artifact synergy and you’ve got a both flexible and powerful general.

Sefris of the Hidden Ways

This is probably the only commander that’s going to see any play with the Venture mechanic, so get it while it’s hot. “From anywhere” is a huge line of text, and I suspect Syr Konrad is going to find his way into a lot of Sefris decks.

I’m sure there’s a combo this can do or something, but at the end of the day: Do you like the dungeon mechanic? If so, you’ll probably like this card. If not, you probably won’t. Also, since they are surely not going to make more Dungeon cards any time soon, and maybe never again, this deck is going to look very the same for a very long time.

Stormvald, Frost Giant Jarl

Sheesh, Bant kinda lost out on this one. Storvald is so incredibly eh.

Ward 3 is, like, juuust on the edge of not really doing that much, where it makes removal cost 4-5, so it’s awkward, but you’re still going to do it if the target is threatening enough. What I’m saying is that it isn’t actually an especially good protective ability on your 7-drop, even if you are in Green.

Making creatures big is decent enough- I’m of the opinion that Gigantomancer is an underrated card, and this gives more colours for things to embiggen. Making things small is slightly less relevant, especially since your 7/7 commander and beater are likely to be crunching through most things anyway. The card is fine, but unexciting.

I like Bant well enough as a colour combination, but like, none of the commanders are my jam. Maybe one day.

Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients

Iiinteresting. Look, let’s not beat around the bush, dice-rolling isn’t really a thing unless you’re silver bordered- yeah you could get a few of the better things in there, but you’re probably better off just playing ping effects. Pyrohemia this fucker up.

Enrage was a funky mechanic that didn’t actually get a commander, aside from just the Dino tribal ones. But now we have a proper one, and they’re a Dragon to boot. Also, this is probably the easiest its ever been to generate a bunch of Dragon tokens, so getting triggers from them is real easy, even if they are one-shot-pops. Keep in mind that doesn’t say Combat Damage, so Scourge of Valkas and Dragon Tempest are kind of a nonbo.

Gruul obviously already has Dragon Tribal options, but this is still a good thing to have around.

Wulfgar of Icewind Dale

WoTC apparently decided to throw everyone a curveball on this one. Because from my recollection, everyone on r/custommagic assumed we’d get this effect at some point, now that technology like Panharmonicon exists, but they and I assumed it would be, you know, Boros. The colour combo that probably needs it more. Gruul, really? Come on Gavin, you’re a great dude but what the fuck is this.

Sigh. That’s not especially fair.

This combos with like half a dozen things to make mana and probably triple that to make damage. And there’s surely ways to draw cards, and blow things up, et cetera, et cetera. I’m just salty. This isn’t the note I wanted to go out on!

Fuck it, at least you can still double a Drakuseth trigger. But my Aurelia……..

#ramble #adventures in the forgotten realms #mtg #commander #edh #mtgafr

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nataliedanovelist · 5 years ago

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GF + OH - Fallen Owls pt.1

Summary: What happens when the milf of The Owl House meets the dilf of Gravity Falls? Find out in this multi-chapter crossover fic.

pt.2

~~~~~~~~~~

Episode Placement:

GF = after finale (S3?) OH = between S1E5 and E6 It was late, passed the gremlins’ bedtime, but it was summer, meaning the term “bedtime” had very little meaning unless Stan was tired and needed to make the kids quiet. But as of right now he was content sitting in his old armchair, boxers and undershirt and slippers and all, munching on popcorn with his family, sitting around telling stories. Stan and his twin brother, Ford, had just finished telling Dipper and Mabel more about the sirens they had faced a few months ago. While sailing around the world was a dream come true, it was nice to take a break to spend the summer with the niblings.

Dipper, having just heard how Stan had been charmed by the sirens’ song, chuckled and asked, “So, did you ever have any luck finding ‘babes’?” Stan rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “Nah, but there’s always next year.” “Yeah, don’t worry about it, Grunkle Stan.” Mabel said as she popped some popcorn into her mouth. “You’ll find some pretty girl that is everything you deserve!” Stan, turning red, waved the subject away. “Thanks, sweetie, but it’s fine.” Ford, sitting on the dino-skull, elbowed him lightly and teased, “He’s still heartbroken over Carla McCorckle.” Mabel blew a raspberry. “If I ever find her I’m gonna give her a left-hook and break her nose!” Stan laughed and ruffled her hair. “That’s not necessary, kid. I’m over her.” “And it only took you forty years.” Ford added, earning him a punch on the shoulder. “I’ll have you know I’ve been with plenty of gals after Carla!” Stan quipped. “Heck, I was married once when I was traveling the country!” “Wait, what?!” The whole room gasped at the same time. Ford blinked like a confused owl. “I… I didn’t know that.” “Me, neither.” Mabel said and leaned on Stan’s knee. Dipper, meanwhile, was silent, a memory coming to mind. “Truth is I’ve been divorced once and slapped more times than I can remember.” “What happened? GASP! Do I have a secret Graunty you never told me about?!” Stan barked a laugh. “Hah! No, sorry pumpkin. I was actually married for less than a day. Vegan situation. We reached for the same slot machine handle and it was love at first sight. Marilyn. Had hair like a airline stordis and a neon pink shirt that said ‘Over thirty and very flirty’. Man I was, I was putty in her hands.” Stan said lightly, recalling the most romantic evening he ever had. “You should’ve seen the way she threw dice. One time right at my head. Turns out she only married me to distract me while she stole my car and my winnings. I guess her name was fake and, hair was fake. But ya know, the love was real.” Stan added with a casual shrug. “She was really the one that got away. Like, literally, it was a proper get away. She was chased by cop cars for a mile out of Vegas before ducking out of a door and into a canyon and making off with my loot. Sometimes I still think of her.” The old conman admitted. “That pale bingo hall skin. That one weirdly sharp tooth.” Stan’s face dropped at the sight of his family and he quickly said, “Sorry, I’m getting nostalgic.” “More like love-sick.” Dipper teased. “AW!” Mabel squealed. “That’s so sweet! Maybe you’ll find her one day!” Stan laughed and shook his head. “I doubt it, sweetie, but hey. Who needs stealing babes when I’ve got you three, right?” Mabel yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Ford chuckled and stood up, popping his back. “I think you two should head to bed. It’s getting late and we’re going camping tomorrow, remember?” Mabel gasped happily and stood. “You’re right!” She hugged both her uncles and wished them goodnight and then walked with her brother up the stairs for the attic, then Ford left to go finish packing, leaving Stan alone. He leaned on his knuckles, elbow on his armchair, and he remembered Marilyn. ~~~~~~~~~~ Mabel was grinning from ear to ear as she skipped ahead on the trail in the woods. “Finally, a real family camping trip!” Grunkle Ford, Dipper, and Grunkle Stan were right behind her, the Pines family heading back to the Mystery Shack after a fun night sleeping under the stars around a campfire. They were all smiling and happy to be reunited for the summer. While some things drastically changed and some things hardly changed at all, the Pines in appearance changed a little since Dipper and Mabel and turned thirteen. Mabel had always been nothing but smiles in the past, but if it was even possible she grinned even more now, proud to show off her braces-free white teeth. She still sported amazing sweaters with colorful headbands and skirts, today wearing a brown skirt and a yellow headband with a light-brown sweater with an owl on it, claiming she wanted to match the woods and her Grunkle Ford; he only proved her point when he blushed. Dipper and Wendy switched hats again when they saw each other when the twins came off the bus, but over his orange t-shirt he wore a green flannel unbuttoned and he matched it with blue jeans. No longer out in the freezing Arctic, Stan left behind his long coat, but he kept his white t-shirt, dark pants, red beanie, and water-proof boots for the hiking trip. Ford, the easily cold twin, still wore red turtleneck and dark pants and boots, but his smile was much more genuine and the crack in his glasses was gone. Grunkle Ford patted his niece’s shoulder. “It is nice to have some quality family bonding.” “Next time I say we go fishing.” Stan injected. “Not as many creepy spider-fires or whatever.” “Scampfires.” “I still say whatever.” Dipper chuckled and continued to sketch in his pinetree journal, shading in trees of his drawing of the woods. But he was pulled from his pleasant thoughts by his great-uncle. “Seriously, kid, you’re gonna walk into a tree and then I’m gonna laugh. You need to get your head outta book and see the rest of the world.” “Grunkle Stan, how do you think people shared the world back in your day? You know, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth?” Dipper quipped. “Oh, ho! Wise guy, huh?” Stan wrapped an arm around his neck and rubbed his knuckles on the top of his head. “Alright, Poindexter Jr…” “No! No nuggies!” “Yes nuggies!” “Ford!” Dipper laughed, calling for backup. Mabel, meanwhile, was slowly being pulled away mentally from the touching scene of guys being dudes as the internet would have called it. Distracting her, a tiny brown owl with cute round eyes was hopping. Not just hopping, appearing from behind one oak tree to the neck, but hopping with a sack clamped by the beak. Mabel watched it with wide eyes, hoping for another look, and the second glance she got of it was so brief she didn’t know how much faith she should have in her eyes, but it looked like that sack had things like a Cubic Cube, a newspaper, a floppy disk, a basketball, and other items that could be classified as junk. Mabel decided not to wait for another glance at the owl and to go look at it for herself. Mabel wandered off the path animals had made and moved in between trees and bushes quietly. Her brown eyes eventually landed on the little owl and she followed it; the clattering of the owl or it’s determination to finish it’s job must have been the reason why it didn’t hear Mabel and try to hide or lose her. The young Pines lady watched, walking farther and farther away from her family, and the owl hopped behind a tree and never emerged. Mabel smiled, thinking she was about to find an owl’s nest in the tree or a stash of human things by the tree’s roots, but when she turned to look behind the tree, she gasped to find a doorway that glowed white. Mabel looked around her for anyone that might have an answer or for any clue as to why this doorway was here, but she was alone. Gravity Falls certainly was where this sort of thing might happen, but that did not guarantee that this was safe. Maybe she should have the guys look at this thing. Mabel turned around, her back to the doorway, to leave, but she saw something above her and took in a sharp breath. Stan had Dipper pinned on the grass now, both of them laughing, with Ford shaking his head and scolding lightly. “Stanley, that’s enough.” “Don’t worry, Grunkle Ford, I promise not to break such an old man.” Dipper teased as he lightly fought back, “Old man?!” Stan repeated in pretend offense. They were interrupted by a blood curdling scream that made their hearts drop. Stan immediately got off of his nephew and stared ahead, terrified. “Mabel…” And he ran for the direction he heard the scream with Ford and Dipper at his heels. Mabel pulled her grappling hook out of her hiking-backpack and tried to calm down, but it was hard to with the dangerous anomaly liking it’s chops at the sight of her. It was like a gray lizard, but ten feet long, including the tail, and only on it’s four legs it was seven feet tall. It’s eyes were red and narrow and cold, and it had long sharp claws like a dragon’s and a long snout like a crocodile. Mabel shot her grappling hook at the monster and it hit it on the snout, tossing its head back. The lizard hissed but did not back down. It advanced, getting closer to Mabel, and she wanted to back away, but she was careful not to touch the spooky doorway. Stan saw the scene first, appearing out of the corner of Mabel’s eye. “Mabel!” “Grunkle Stan, what do I do?!” She asked, her eyes glued to the giant lizard. Ford and Dipper caught up. The younger moved to jump between his sister and the monster, but Ford stopped him with a firm six-fingered hand. “No! Listen to me, Mabel. That thing is called a Stone-Reptilian. They're excellent at camouflaging into mountains and can hang onto a one-hundred-and-eighty degree wall for hours, waiting for its prey. It actually has two tongues: one for licking its eyes since it doesn't have eyelids, and one for paralyzing it’s dinner and dragging the meal into its mouth.” “So what do I do?!” Mabel begged, shaking a little at the idea of being paralyzed and then eaten alive. “Mabel, stay calm, it’s alright.” Ford soothed with a voice as soft as silk. “Stone-Reptilians have excellent eyesight, but they’re deaf. Notice how it’s isn’t reacting to us. Now, I want you to…” The Stone-Reptilian suddenly whipped out it’s long, thorn-covered tongue to paralyze Mabel, but she was too quick and leaped through the doorway to survive. As she did, it disappeared, and the Pines men were left to scream and then fight for their own lives. ~~~~~~~~~~ “Whoops, can’t have another stowaway, can I?” A voice said, and then before Mabel knew it, her way back home was gone. She observed her new surroundings. Misfit things like a refrigerator, a grandfather clock, an old mattress, and cardboard boxes full of items cluttered what looked like a big tent, judging by the cloth walls and such. Mabel smiled with wonder at the things. “Wow. What a collection.” She whispered. Her eyes landed on a small glass ballerina on top of a music box. She turned the ballerina around with a finger to catch a few music notes. Mabel smiled, but was once again distracted. “Right, let’s see here… Nope. Garbage. Garbage. Another one of these? Oh, well. Good thing the potions have been selling. I should really thank Luz for helping me take out that competitor. Or not.” Mabel covered her mouth with both hands to keep from snorting; that sounded like something her Grunkle Stan would say. Her heart sagged a little and she turned to look back at where the magical doorway once was. Despite what he might pretend, Mabel knew Stan would be really worried about her. She needed to find a way back home. She crawled on her hands and knees out from under the tent and then got up to explore. “Okay, let’s see…” Mabel looked around to find herself outside in the open air. She raised an eyebrow. “The… Crawlspace? I thought it was underground? Maybe there’s more to it! Won’t Grunkle Ford be surprised!” Mabel cheered and looked around for anything familiar, but the longer she looked, the more she realized nothing was like back in Gravity Falls. She stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking an odd city of some kind. Giant monster hands with no body stood like trees. Smoke rose from chimneys of medieval-looking houses. A small herd of cat-sized dragons flocked by the clouds. A mammoth roared like a lion and then walked into the ocean. Something resembling an orange nun was selling bags of oozing red stuff to tiny red monsters with teeth and fangs for a face. People were riding a giant caterpillar from inside its mouth and then kissing it for a toll. Mabel’s heart was racing from excitement and fear. Nothing here was familiar, but she was familiar with the unfamiliar. She grasped the straps of her backpack and took a deep breath. “Okay, Mabel, you’ve obviously discovered another rift and came to another dimension. Just remember what your grunkles taught you. Don’t touch this dimension's version of yourself or everything will explode. I just gotta live long enough for them to find me. Easy.” Her stomach suddenly growled. Mabel clenched her stomach on reflex, but then remembered her bag of marshmallows, pulled them out, and began to munch on her fluffy sugar pillows. She turned around and walked away from the tent she had left, saw she was in some sort of market, and walked down the street to explore calmly. ~~~~~~~~~~ “And remember to apply it twice a day for the best results.” Luz said friendly to a blue monster made out of goo as she handed her the small bag of dust and the customer closed the door on the human. Luz wiped her sweaty forehead with her wrist and groaned. “Man, it’s so hot today. Ready to head home, King? King?” She looked down to find that the king of demons had found the perfect spot on the porch to nap in the sunshine. Luz smiled, scratched his back, and scooped him up one-armed while her other hand carried the empty sack. “Eh?” King woke up, angry and cute. “Luz! I was having the perfect dream!” “About what?” “What could be more perfect than sleeping?!” “You were dreaming about sleeping?” Luz clarified with a confused smile. “Don’t you?” Luz snorted a laugh and walked through Bonesburrow. Compared to the rest of the Boiling Isles, the apprentice had learned that this was the quietest neck of the woods. King’s nose caught a delightful scent, but the demon was unsure if he should believe it. He sat up in Luz’s arm and smelled the air. “What is it?” Luz asked. “Hm, it’s sweet. Really sweet.” King commented and shivered. “Like, really sweet. So sweet it’ll put anyone in a sugar-induced coma.” “Well, why don’t we just go home and we can have some of Eda’s strawberry jelly instead.” Luz suggested as they turned a corner. She immediately saw the one really really weird thing in the Boiling Isles, apart from her. Another human. After being away from home for about three weeks, Luz didn’t think she would be so happy to see another human girl or see human food that wasn’t red, but here she was, eyes sparkling with happy tears over the sight. Mabel’s eye eventually landed on Luz and the two stared at each other, a good twenty feet away from each other. After a few moments, however, they both shouted, “ANOTHER HUMAN!” And ran towards each other, King clinging onto Luz’s arms in order not to fall. “Wait,” The brunette said and looked worried. “Is this your first time seeing another human here? How long have you been trapped here?!” She apparently had drawn the conclusion that there was no way out of this place. “Oh, no,” The Latino smiled and shook her head. “I’m not trapped here; I can leave whenever I want, I just choose not to.” “Oh. Cool! Hi! I’m Mabel!” “Hi, Mabel.” Luz greeted. “I’m Luz! So… how did you get here?” Mabel’s face dropped a little and she looked around. “You know, I’m not really sure. One minute I was camping with my family and the next I’m falling through a door that disappears and takes me here.” Luz giggled and shook her head. “You must have fallen through Eda’s door. Don’t worry, I can get you back home.” “You can?!” Mabel hugged her tightly, squishing King in between the two girls. “ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!” Luz, who was quite the hugger but lived with two hug-haters, grinned and relished in the hug, until a high-voice yelled, “AH! What is with you humans and this tight holding ritual?!” Mabel’s eyes got wide and she jumped away, looking around wildly; that voice sounded too familiar for comfort, but when she saw the king of demons, she gasped with a huge grin and shining eyes. “OH MY GOSH! How cute!!!” She squealed. “Thanks.” Luz giggled and rubbed his belly. “This is the King of Demons.” “This little bundle of joy?” Mabel asked, happily smoothing over his skull and scratching his back. “That’s what I said!” “Hey, hey, easy with the merchandise!” King complained. “What makes you think you can… oh! Oh! Right there, yup, right there.” Mabel had found the right scratching spot, just between his shoulder-blades, and King relaxed in Luz’s arms, almost asleep he was so comfortable. Mabel giggled and asked, “So, how can you get me back to my family?” Luz gave it a moment’s thought and said, “Well, I guess we could take you to Eda and have her send you home, but she’ll be going home soon and it’s kinda…” The girls screamed as a huge guard jumped in front of them. He glared down at the humans and said, “Human previously associated with Eda the Owl Lady, you’re hereby under arrest!” “Not today, sucka!” Luz yelled, threw down one of Eda’s smoke bombs, and grabbed Mabel’s wrist. “Come on! I know where to go!” “Crazy monsters, criminals, smoke bombs, demons… I LOVE IT HERE!” Mabel cheered as she was fleeing with her new friends. ~~~~~~~~~~ Stan huffed, catching his breath, with his hands on his knees. Ford helped Dipper up cautiously, scanning him over for broken bones from when the monster swung his tail at the boy and slammed him against a tree, but apart from being shaken up, he was fine. Now that the Stone-Reptilian was gone, the Pines men were free to worry about the most important thing in their whole world. “MABEL?!” Stan screamed and looked around wildly for the rift that took her away. “MABEL! MABEL, SWEETIE!” “Mabel!” Ford called out. “Mabel, can you hear us?!” “MABEL! MABEL!” Stan screamed and ignored his stinging eyes. Dipper’s own brown eyes were aching, too, but he refused to be seen as weak and he powered through. “Did… did that thing… g-g-get her?” “No.” Ford said firmly. “I saw it. She fell through… some sort of door, or a rift.” “A-A door?” “It was rectangular like one, but it was hard to tell.” “The Crawlspace!” Dipper gasped and slapped his forehead. “Don’t the entrances change randomly through Gravity Falls? What if she fell through and is down at the black market?” “What, you mean she’s probably surrounded by dangerous monsters in some freaky market?” Stan asked. “It’s a likely possibility.” Ford speculated, holding his cleft chin. “Scour the area. If it was an entrance to the Crawlspace, one will show up again soon.” The three men split up, relatively close, and searched for an anomaly. Maybe a hole in a tree or in the ground, what might have been passed as a bird’s nest or a groundhog’s home could actually be an entrance. Stan was checking some bushes when he thought he heard a strange noise and he looked ahead. A rectangular white light appeared on an oak tree and soon an owl with an empty sack in its beak hopped out. Stan gasped and thought that this was the doorway that took his little girl. Ford saw his twin run out of the corner of his eye and then disappear through the hole. “Stanley, wait!” He called and ran towards him, disappearing, too. Then the doorway was gone. Dipper looked around nervously. “Hello? Guys?” He paused, letting it sink in that, once again, he was alone. “I swear if she’s at MAB3L again…” ~~~~~~~~~~ Stan had stopped. Ford then accidently ran into him and they both fell forward. “Sixer, get off!” “Shh!” Ford slapped a polydactyl hand over his brother’s mouth, which made him grumble, but before Stan could lick his hand in response, he heard what Ford was hearing. “I’ll give you fifty snails for the whole lot.” A laugh-filled snort followed. “It’s seventy-five, kid. Take it or leave it.” That voice… something was familiar about that laugh. There was grumbling and what sounded like items being collected. Stan and Ford exchanged looks and slowly got up. After looking around the tent, they peered out of the crack in the curtains to see an odd market. They awed at the sight of dozens of weird creatures. One looked like a turquoise hairless-cat. One looked like a pig with green eyes and it breathed fire on a piece of meat on a stick to cook it for a snack. A kid with pointy ears dropped a basket full of eyeballs and scrambled to pick them up. Ford grinned excitedly like a dork while Stan winced at the sight of an ice-cream eating a customer. Stan glanced to his left and he had to hold his breath to keep from gasping and blowing their cover. Wearing a tight-fitted, torn maroon dress and matching boots, gold on her chest and ears and fingers and a sharp tooth, her eyes sparkling like gold coins, a woman with big gray hair and pointy ears leaned against a table full human things and flicked through a Gold Chains for Old Men magazine with a skeptical look on her face. Stan was nearly as pale as she was when she snorted another laugh and flipped a page. “Hah! Not a bad read. Better than that kindling Luz keeps around.” She mumbled and made herself comfortable in her chair, waiting for another customer, one leg crossed over the other and she lightly kicked it as she read. Stan swallowed. There was no way. No possible way… then again, given everything weird that’s happened to him, from freaky portal, to demon triangles, to gnomes and unicorns and sirens and krakens, even to a full-blown Weirdmageddon, should he really be all that surprised that faith would bite him in the butt like this? Ford glanced down at his twin and found he could read him like an open book. “Stanley…” He hissed. The lady straightened in her seat and looked up from the magazine, listening. Now it was Stan’s turn to cover Ford’s mouth. They were still, waiting for the ady to find them, but she shrugged casually and continued to read. The men backed away, out of sight, and were each on one knee, facing each other, as they whispered. “Sixer, where the heck are we? The Crawlspace?” “I’m not sure.” Ford hissed. “I have never seen these types of anomalies before. I suppose it’s possible they hide here during the day and I had never seen them at night, but… this place feels off. To summarize, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” “Fine, but when what do we do about Mabel?” “Our objection is still the same. Let’s just keep a low profile and try to find her.” The twins froze when the curtain was thrown open and the lady stood before them. She immediately sneered down at them. “If you amateur pickpockets think you can…” But then she stopped, for several reasons. One: these creatures were clearly old, about her age, and so unless they had a sudden career change, they were not amateurs. Two: as a human expert and a teacher and hostess of a human, she instantly recognized these two big-eared creatures as humans. Three: something about the one in the white shirt and red hat was very familiar. “No… way…” She narrowed her golden eyes. Stan was now confident that his memory wasn’t flawed; the way she reacted to seeing him, recognizing him, confirmed that he knew her. Before he could do anything, she grabbed each twin by the ear and pinched; they were at her mercy and receiving flashbacks from when their mother was angry with them. “You two got some explaining to do.” The lady sneered. “Gah! Let us go, crazy old bat!” Stan barked as she dragged them out from the tent and made them sit on barrels for stools. “Who are you calling old, human?” The lady sneered and crossed her arms over her chest. “Just tell me what you think you’re doing here.” “Begging your pardon on our introduction,” Ford said coldly, but then softened as he and his brother did have an important mission. “But our grandniece is missing. We believe she came through here.” And he pulled out a picture of Mabel hugging a stuffed-penguin from his wallet and showed it to her. The lady peered down at the photo and said, “Sorry, old-timers, I haven’t seen anyone like that around here.” “Now, how can we trust you, Marilyn.” Stan sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. Ford’s eyes widened as he pocketed his picture. He was rendered speechless for a moment. “Oh, like you’re one to talk about honesty, Stan.” She deride. “You two know each other?!” Ford gasped, looking from his brother to the stranger rapidly like a game of tennis. “She’s your ex-wife?!” The lady snorted a laugh and sighed happily. “Ah, good times, huh?” “Not really.” Stan sneered and stood. “You still owe me five hundred bucks!” “At least you got your car back, Grumpy.” The lady teased and patted his cheek; he swatted her hand away in response and growled like an angry pitbull. “If you want my help finding your girl then play nice.” “So, you honestly didn’t see her.” Stan repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, I may be a conwoman, a pickpocket, and the most powerful witch you’ll ever meet, but I wouldn’t lie if it was gonna endanger some kid.” The lady snapped her fingers and all of the human collectibles floated and gathered into a green cloth, tied up like a hobo’s luggage. She pulled out a staff and put the bag through it, making it easy to carry. Eda whistled and the little owl flew to her and landed on her staff and turned into wood. “Come along, humans, we’ll find your niece and get you two home.” Ford followed the lady and decided to be the “nice” one since Stan was obviously too salty to be one; someone had to be nice to the lady that was going to help them find Mabel. “Thank you, Marilyn.” “Oh, right. That’s not my real name…” “Knew it.” “... you’re a fool to give your real name to a casino in Vegas. It’s Edalyn, but just call me Eda. Or your worst nightmare.” “Whatever you say, toots.” Stan growled as they walked down the street. “So, Eda,” Ford cut in to try to cut the tension between the two. “What exactly is this place, and what are you?” Eda stopped suddenly and turned around, wearing a proud grin. She stabbed her staff on the ground with a small bang, making the owl come to life, the sack hanging by her fist, and she proclaimed, “I am known as the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch here on the Boiling Isles!” “A witch?” Stan laughed. “More like a b…” “I am a feared, respected, vigorous force to be reckoned with!” Eda went on and let go of the staff so it floated like a witch’s broomstick. “Come on, old-timers, let’s get a bird’s eye-view to find your girl.” They each grabbed the staff when Eda sat upon it and yelled with fear as she had them fly up in the air, leaving the old twins to dangle in the air. “GAAAAAAAH!” “EDA!” Stan yelled. “Put us down!” “That can be arranged.” Eda said cunningly and swooped down quickly. With the air drying Eda’s eyes and forming tears and the brother holding onto the staff (and each other) for dear life, all three were yelling, one with delight, two with fright. “STANLEY!” Ford shouted. “PLEASE try not to piss off your ex-wife!” Eda laughed and at the very last second, right before the men would crash into the ground, she flew them up into the sky. “Ah, don’t worry, I won’t let you two knuckleheads get hurt.” They flew softer and calmer above the Boiling Isles and the humans awed at the scene. In the carcass of a monster, by the sea, the Bones of the Isles sat snug in the midst of chaos. Eda floated to allow the men a moment to take in the scenery, smiling down at their round brown eyes. “It’s beautiful.” Ford admired. “Yup, not too shabby.” Eda commented casually. “It’s not much, but it’s home.” “We know what that’s like.” Stan muttered. “Speaking of which,” Eda said casually. “Where did you two say you were from?” “We didn’t. Gravity Falls, Oregon.” Ford answered, keeping an eye out for Mabel. “Oh, I’ve heard rumors about that place.” Eda said as she flew calmly over the town. “My door has a bad habit of appearing there way too often. I need more variety in my human collectibles.” “So, you steal our junk and try to sell it for a great price?” Stan asked; he sounded a little impressed. “That and I sell potions on the weekdays. When I’m not mentoring my student. Enough chit-chat, see your girl down there?” The men took a few more minutes to look, as well as Eda, but there was no sign of her. “No.” Ford’s voice dripped with concern. “Eda, what are the chances she was kidnapped or hurt?” “Oh, that probably didn’t happen to her.” The witch said calmly. “If she’s not safe she probably got eaten or taken by Warden Wrath.” “WHAT?!” “Relax, Sixer,” Stan said, confident in his pumpkin. “She’s our little fighter, she’ll be fine.” Eda snorted. “Sixer?” “It’s Stanford, actually.” His face was a little red over the fact that he couldn’t hide his six-fingered hands, too busy holding the magic staff to keep from falling. “Meh, I’ve seen weirder.” Eda looked like she truly didn’t care how many fingers he had; Ford appreciated that. “Well, I’ve got a great tracker at home.” The Owl Lady said and started to fly towards the red forest. “Why don’t we go pick him up and see if he can help us out. Got anything the girl held?” “Yes,” When the men landed on their feet and Eda hopped next to them, Ford pulled out his wallet again and took out a folded-up, hand-drawn picture of Stan and Ford on a boat, a gift from Mabel while they were apart that she had mailed to them. “Aw, that’s so cute.” The witch cooed. “Who knew all Pines men were putty in girls’ hands.” She laughed at her own joke and shook her head. “Ah, keep moving, boys.” Stan hurried to catch up and he walked next to Eda with narrow eyes, ignoring the way her odd golden fang sparkled, how her eyes gleamed with spunk, how she held herself up high with pride. “So, you’re gonna answer some questions for me…” “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.” “If you’re a witch, what were you doing in Las Vegas?” “Hey, a witch’s gotta make some gold, too.” Eda shrugged as she smiled. “I haven’t exactly kept a clean record here so making a living takes a bit of extra effort, but it’s much for fun and unpredictable, the way life's supposed to be.” Stan raised an eyebrow at two things: the fact his ex was a criminal in this world too, and her philosophy. “I can respect that, seeing how I was there for the same reasons.” “I know.” Eda rolled her eyes teasingly. “You wouldn’t shut up about how you were gonna make it big and show the world what this big lug could do.” And she elbowed Stan, which he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Heh. Yeah, what can I say, I’m a real loud-mouth. Say what’s on my mind.” “Hey, nothing wrong with being brutally honest to make up for lying, am I right?” Eda said with a shrug. “So, was your hair fake back then, or…” “No, no, it was real. I was really proud of my hair back in the day, flaming red and wild.” “Looks pretty good now. Love it, in fact. Big and bold, hard to miss.” “Hey, you aged pretty well yourself, handsome.” Ford smiled as he watched the exes tease and pick on each other. If a compliment was given, it dripped with sarcasm and there was no guarantee that it was sincere, but they must have seen a gleam in their eyes or felt a “vibe” that Ford didn’t experience, because the conversation progressed well as they walked through the forest. Ford was happy to see Stan get along fairly well with this woman and wondered if this would go exceptionally better than the whole McCorkle incident. They emerged from the woods and found a large house standing by some cliffs leading to an ocean. It was about as far from the seas as Pines Pawns was all those years ago. The house was big, maybe bigger than the Mystery Shack (probably not if counting the basement-floors) with a big stain-glass window that reminded Stan of a cat’s eye and Ford of Bill’s eye, but then they both individually remembered Eda’s title and realized it was probably representing an owl’s eye. A weather-vane with an owl sat on top of the house, a broken-down tower stood behind, and an owl’s head was on the door. The humans were startled, but they quickly recovered, again having experienced much weirder than a live owl-head on a door. “Girl knows how to keep a theme going.” Stan commented as they approached. “Oh, boy!” The owl on the door hooted. “More company! Maybe they wanna hear some of my stories!” “Not a chance, Hooty.” Eda quipped. “Is King still home? We need his help, and we might want Luz’s too while we’re at it.” “They’re both telling stories to that new human. The one with the pretty owl sweater.” “Wait, what?!” The three old people asked and Hooty swung open the door. Luz was holding King on her lap on the couch, sitting with Mabel as all three were laughing. Even King was rolling around and holding his little fluffy body with glee. Mabel’s back was to the door and she resumed her storytelling as she wiped a tear under her eye. “So then I look down at Dipper and see that he’s still got his socks on!” Luz cackled a laugh and held her head one-handed, her other arm still holding King, but it was to no avail as the demon fell off from all the laughing. Eda, Ford, and Stan smiled as the girls were having fun. They had no idea how they found each other, but it was better for them to be here, safe and happy, than to have the newbie be someone’s meal. Luz fanned her reddening face and finally noticed the company. “Hi, Eda. Sorry, but she was lost and needs our help.” Mabel turned, on her knees on the couch, but grinned with a gasp. “GUYS!” And she hopped over the arm of the couch for her grunkles. “Mabel!” They opened their arms and got on one knee for their girl. Mabel ran into their hold and they hugged her tightly, relieved to be with her again and to find her more than okay. “What did I tell you about scaring me like that, pumpkin?!” Stan asked as he held her with all of his might. “You didn’t tell me, Grunkle Stan.” “Oh, right.” “We’re just so happy to find you alright, my dear.” Ford loosened his grip just enough to look up at Luz, who was smiling admirably at the reunion. “And I see you’ve made some friends.” Mabel let go and nodded. “Yeah! That’s Luz! Luz, these are my grunkles! Stan and Ford!” “Nice to meet you guys.” Luz said and waved politely. “Mabel said you’d come, but how did you two survive out there?” “They nearly didn’t.” Eda lied easily. “Were in the mouths of a giant giraffe when I saved their butts.” “Yeah right!” Stan barked a laugh. “Anyways, we’ve been through worse, kid.” Luz gasped excitedly. “Worse than giant bugs and centaurs with eyes on their chest and man-eating slugs and fire-breathing eye-less fangs and jealous witches?!” “Worse. I’ve punched a pterodactyl in the face and a few zombies, fallen down a Bottomless Pit, lost my hands to a witch, fought off eagles and explosions, survived giant man-eating spiders…” “Stanley, that is all impressive, but have you fought a talking chair, battled in four wars, conned an abominable snowman, outran a volcano, examined floating eyebats, been turned to gold…” “I find that hard to believe.” Eda snorted. “I believe them.” Luz said with a shrug. “You always said weird stuff leaks from this world into theirs.” “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Ford said, stepping forward. “What exactly is this place? I’ve heard rumors of a place called the Boiling Isles, but I just thought it was a little hiding place like the Crawlspace, not an entirely new dimension.” “Nope!” Eda corrected happily. “This whole world is the Boiling Isles, a world full of despair, monsters, gross-stuff, demons, and magic.” “This place sounds so cool!” Mabel cheered. She looked at Luz and said, “No wonder you wanted to stay here. Wait! Do you have your own room?!” “Yeah! C’mon, I’ll show you!” And the girls ran off with Luz scratching King’s tummy and leaving him to nap on the floor, tired from laughing. Eda plopped down on the couch and gestured for the men to do the same. “I’d offer refreshments but all we have is apple blood and some disgusting beverage Luz likes called orange juice.” Stan looked up at the wanted poster of Eda and the reward promised for her capture. He smiled, impressed and interested. “We’re okay, thank you, Eda.” Ford said. “If you don’t mind me asking, our niece said something about Luz choosing to stay here?” “Yeah, that’s right.” Eda reached under her couch-cushion and rummaged as she spoke. “Kid came through my door when Owlbert brought over some little treasures to sell. Sweet girl. Kinda naive and gullible, but clever in her own right and she’s a fast learner. Stubborn with the forces of positivity.” Stan snorted. “Heh. We know someone like that.” “She said she didn’t fit in at home.” Eda finally found what she was looking for and pulled out a wrinkled, crumpled up pamphlet at read, Reality Check Summer Camp: Think Inside the Box. “Don’t really understand some of this human stuff, but I figured it must be pretty bad if it made a kid not wanna go home, so I read over it and this place sounds awful! Totally squandered any creativity or individualism! Her own mother was sending her here!” Eda let Ford look it over and she shrugged off the rant. “Anyway, she said she wanted to stay and she was willing to work for it, so I took her in as my apprentice for the summer and now she’s learning how to be a witch.” “Hm, sounds a lot better than kidnapping.” Stan approved with his arms crossed over his chest. “This place is completely horrible.” Ford commented about the summer camp. “They teach kids how to appropriate public radio!” “AM or FM?” “Both.” “Ouch.” “So, what exactly are you doing with such a cute girl, Eight-Ball?” Eda asked, getting Stan’s attention. “And what is a grunkle?” She snorted with a smile. “She’s our grandniece.” Stan said proudly, puffing out his chest. “We’re her great-uncles. Her grunkles.” “Aw, who knew you were such a softie?” “I am not!” “You watched over five hours of video-tutorials on how to braid hair.” Ford said behind the pamphlet. “She asked me to braid her hair and it bothered me that I couldn’t do it!” Eda cackled and touched Stan’s shoulder. His eyes followed and he smiled at her cute laugh. “Aw, you’re worse than King.” King peeked an eye at her and sneered, “One more passive aggressive comment and I’ll…” “That’s not a passive aggressive comment.” Eda said as she picked up the little goofball. “I can do better than that.” “Huh, and here I was thinking that was just one of Luz’s toys.” Stan teased. “Hey!” King stood on the couch by Eda’s side and pointed a bony paw at the old man. “Since you’re a human, I’ll let you walk away with a warning, but have it be known that I’m the King of Demons and shall one day drink the fear of those who mock me!” Ford folded the pamphlet and observed King cautiously. He didn’t like… his voice. His voice sent shivers down the old scientist’s spine. Stan snorted. “Sorry, pipsqueak, but I’ve faced worse demons than you.” “Oh, yeah, like what?” King asked. The girls came back, smiling and holding hands, and Luz asked, “Eda, can we please please PLEASE have a sleepover?! I want to show Mabel the new light spell I learned and show her how to properly scratch a demon’s tummy.” Ford chuckled and stood. “I’m sorry, ladies, but we really should be heading back. I’m sure Dipper is worried sick.” Mabel gasped with horror. “Oh, NO! Dipper!” “Oh, hey, don’t worry.” Luz eased. “You two are totally welcome here anytime you want.” “Aw, thanks, Luz.” Mabel hugged her and said, “I promise I’ll bring Dip-Dip next time. He’d love it here! And he could tell you all about the Manotaurs and the weird copy-machine.” Eda and Stan stood up, too, and the Owl Lady had her arms crossed over her chest. “Well, looks like we’ll be seeing each other again pretty soon. You okay with them hanging out?” Stan shrugged and pocketed his hands in his jeans. “Yeah, sure. Good friends are kinda rare these days. Gotta hold onto ‘em and never let ‘em go.” “Agreed.” Eda said and saw them exchanging those odd codes on their glowing rectangles. “Well, have your girl tell my girl when to open the door and I’ll see what I can do.” And she held out a hand to Stan. He hesitated (not just because of whose hand it was, but because shaking hands always seemed to lead to something bad, but maybe this time will be different), but he took it and shook it gently. “Yeah, and if your girl never needs a break in the human world, have her tell my girl.” Eda smiled at Stan and shook Ford’s hand, as well. She pulled the key out of her hair and unlocked the door, making it appear and swing open. Mabel skipped to her great-uncles and waved goodbye to Luz, who waved back, and she went with Ford through the door for home. Stan stole one last look at Eda, who winked at him, and he disappeared with a pink face.

~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note: OKAY, first things first, when it comes to fic, I personally don't really like crossovers. Crossovers can be a fun NON-CANON crossover for animation or actors. I get more enjoyment over fun fanart than I so of fics, because I like mine more plot-driven and it's hard to get a good story going just because you wants certain characters to mingle. HOWEVER, I find Gravity Falls and The Owl House just fit so well together! Why? #1: Alex Hirsch and Dana Terrace (the creators) are dating and Dana Terrace is responsible for the awesome Ducktakes reboot (season 1, anyway) AND the famous Not What He Seems scene. So having such a strong connection creativity wise of the shows is very apparent, more so than the other shows. #2: Evidence that supports these connections. Both shows have referenced each other and a theory goes that Eda and Stan were once married for less than a day. (plz check this video for more) And #3: ... I ship it pretty damn hard, okay? So I hope you guys will enjoy this fun little crossover as much as me! And thank you so much for reading!

#gravity falls #the owl house #eda the owl lady #stan pines #luz noceda #mabel pines #ford pines #dipper pines #king of demons #crossover #fallen owls #fanfiction #oh boy #plz don't hate me but i had to #im shipping trash #its official #remember bitches love comments #and yes i am taking suggestions #what trouble should these silver foxes get into?

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millimillimochi · 5 years ago

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alright, anon time babey

@smpblr-hospi you just so happen to be a wonderful fuckin person whom i love with my entire heart. you were one of the first people i interacted with, and i never wanna lose that friendship. ty for being so wonderful

@smpblr-dino listen bitch, as much as i joke around, im so glad i got to know you, and im still glad i get to consider you my friend. im glad i get to fuck around with you. those stupid ass conversations will always be some of my fondest memories. i genuinely did cry when you "died" lmao. and im still proud of stealing your bones

@smpblr-heart LISTEN SIMP, ily lots man! seeing you being chaotic on my dash or in the anon server will always be one of my favorite things. even though you bully me for being short, thank you for quite literally bringing fun to my life.

@smpblr-dice the one and only mystery king! while i wasnt able to help with the mystery stuff as much as i wanted to, i was watching the mystery gang figure things out right up until the very end. it was a fun experience and im so glad i got to watch it happen

@smpblr-galaxy galaxy, you are literally the cutest anon ive gotten the pleasure of interacting with, and im always down to talk more. thank you for being so absolutely wonderful. you always seem to bring pure positivity to my dash or my inbox, and i love you for that

@smpblr-snail alright fucker. youre absolutely wonderful and sometimes i wonder where all that positivity came from. im sorry we dont talk as much, but i only have myself to blame for that one. thank you for being amazing

@sparkle-anon-aku yoo!!! the anon who inspired me to create my blog! thank you so much for being so, so sweet and caring about others so much. youre genuinely amazing, and i love you so damn much.

@smp-grape-nonnie wow! an amazing artist and the anon i figured out a little bit too slowly. i genuinely felt dumb when i finally figured you out lmao. but thank you for being as wonderful as you are, both on and off anon, youre someone i genuinely look up to as both an artist and a person. so again, thank you.

@smpblr-si yo! while i know you havent been active on your anon in awhile, id like to say this anyway. on anon, you can be genuinely scary, but seeing as youve dmed me about how awful english is, its a bit funny seeing that formal style and knowing that youre struggling with it lmao. but no matter what, youre always absolutely wonderful to talk to and im so glad i get to know you

alright, im gonna stop with the emoji anons because this post is already getting long as hell, and at this rate it would need a part two lmaoo

for the letter nons, i literally cannot tag all of you, but youre all absolutely amazing. thank you for being your chaotic selves, both on tumblr and in the anon server. yall always seem to have something going on when im not at my best, and that helps. all of you are cuties n ily lots!

so if i didnt tag you here, my apologies. im going off the top of my head and this post is long as hell already. but know that all of the anons hold a special place in my heart. im so glad that ive gotten to interact with the majority of you at one point or another. yall are the honest to god reason ive been happy and having fun the last few months. thank you for that

#god i HATE getting sentimental in post like these but i fucking love yall #thank you #really #yall are the best #🌱 plant time babey!#theres a lot of fuckin anons i cant tag all of them #general nons #SAW #long post

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cuthie · 5 years ago

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Omru: Dezar’alor RP 2

(( The second half of the short discord rp. Archive purposes. ))

As he pointed out her charms and trinkets, she nodded and beamed a big grin at him.

“Yea I do! And each one has a cool story, of course. Like this one..”

She pointed to a tiny golden rabbit hanging on a leather strap around her neck.

“This one I got in the most epic game of dice ever. I say epic mostly because it was played through the bars of a cage with a couple of slimy Faithless turds. Crazy right? When I won they ‘gave’ me the prize to hold onto just for funsies, thinking I couldn’t go anywhere with it anyway. You know, just to taunt me? Little did they know I was just the bait and biding my time until dark when I knew our crew was showing up. That was one of my first jobs working with these horde folks, nice people. Some goblin girl with the whitest hair I’ve ever seen was asking for a volunteer to help them locate the camp of the jerks that had been causing trouble for us. Told her that’s what I do so she strapped some little doodad under my shirt, told me to go get myself caught and off I went. Wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I volunteered but hey, they had my cousin Oji and a handful of others so of course I’m gonna help. Oh! And best part is it’s chanted up for a quick speed boost in a pinch. Pretty cool right?”

She lifted her hand and tugged at one of her bracelets. What appeared to be a wide, flat strip of scaly grey leather.

“This one doesn’t do anything special but I thought it was cool. My dads helping out over at Camp Lastwind, you know over near Port Zem’lan? A few of them have Sethrak tent flaps as a sort of warning. They have a good chunk of help there luckily but get hit a lot, heh. Anyway, he gave me a little piece off his. Told me to remember that even our enemies can be put to use. Just kinda sentimental, you know.”

She smiled, running one clawed finger over several others on that wrist then tossed him a shrug.

“Eh, we could be here all day if I try and explain all these. Some other time maybe, let’s get you to someone that can help with that soggy guitar.”

She stepped around the fish funk mess as they padded off, tossing one more glare up at the bird.. which continued to eye her. Nodding as he spoke about the city’s recent attack, her bright amber yellow eyes flicked around, taking everything in. Though she didn’t necessarily -need- company, being in a place so huge with so many unfamiliar faces, races, noises and so on had made her feel a bit isolated. It was nice to have a little familiar company, even if she didn’t know the guy.

They walked for a while longer, pausing to get out of the way of an enormous, slow moving dino that carried several rowdy looking orcs. Finally, Noh ducked behind a worn looking hide curtain and motioned for Om to follow. The narrow entryway descended into a dimly lit hallway that lead to several doors ahead. The heavy scent of potent herbs and smoke immediately assaulted their sensitive nostrils as they entered. Each inhale somehow left an odd metallic aftertaste in their mouths. Irony, and not unlike the taste of blood. Passing the first set of doors, Noh made for the 2nd door on the left and knocked. Though her posture appeared confident and at ease, her eyes darted about as if nervous.

After a long moment, the door finally swung open. A Zandalari woman filled the doorway, towering over the two Vulpera. Though the wrinkles in her face and skin advertised advanced age, her expression and gaze suggested a confidence and power. Grey hair hung rolled and tied and braided about her head and shoulders. Bits of bone, claws and long tusks decorated not only her hair and attire but the myriad of piercings on her face and ears. She stared down at the two of them, the demand for them to state their business clear with no words spoken. From behind her, fire light flickered and the scent of herbs and spice wafted out. Noh shoved a smile onto her face.

“Uh, is Heke here? How’s he doing?”

The woman leered down at them for a long moment. As if judging them, their motives.. their souls.. Noh couldn’t help the slight chill that ran up her spine, especially after her last visit when she had first met the woman. The fur along the top of her tail and the back of her neck lifted slightly. She tried to cover the reaction by clearing her throat and adjusting her pack. Her intense, glowing, turquois eyes shifted to Om then. Taking in the strangers attire, equipment and then landing firmly on his face for what felt like forever. The silence was too awkward, Noh hated it. Silence itself wasn’t bad but in such a setting it was agonizing. She cleared her throat again and spoke up, trying to move things along.

“Omru, this is Ja-row-kah. She’s Heke’s mother and uh, one of the city’s healers.”

She looked up to the woman, hoping she had said the name correctly.

“I don belong to da city, little Noh. I jus be ‘ere, healin ma son. Now get in ‘ere before someone else be seein da door open an come buggin me fa sometin.”

The woman moved aside just enough for them to enter the room. Her eyes only leaving them to make a quick scan of the hall before closing the door behind them. The place was small and lit only by a small open fire place and a few candles. A single room that seemed to serve as temporary living quarters. Ja’rokah moved to a side table covered in miscellaneous herbs and pouches where she began busying herself with something. Something burned in a low, wide bowl that seemed to fill the small space with an unnecessary amount of spicy smoke.

Noh waved a hand in front of her face, as if to clear it somehow and made a beeline for the cot near the fireplace. A large, mostly naked troll lay on the cot. His already thick, corded muscles were accentuated even more by the dance of the flames and the accumulation of sweat on his deep green skin. In contrast, bright golden tattooing covered a fair amount of his chest and upper arms. The patterns typical to much of the artwork around the city. Did it have meaning? Was there a language to it or were they just picked on what looked cool? For all she knew, it could say ‘mom’ for these guys, who knows. His head turned towards the two and a wide grin spread around enormous curved tusks.

“Ah, de little hero returns. Good ta see yu, Noh.”

His eyes shot to Om then and it was easy to see the resemblance to his mother in that intense look as Om was sized up. A single nod was offered Om’s way after a moment.

“Dis ain’cha boy from before. Where be Vondo? Yu too bossy ta keep’im round?”

He chuckled, the sound deep and rich but then winced, a hand coming up to hold the left side of his ribs. Ja’rokah appeared behind them then, offering the two each a mug of some steaming liquid. Noh took it with a smile, then as the woman padded off, gave a not so subtle shake of her head to Om and set the cup on the end table near Heke.

“Uh, yea.. Let’s just say he and I are really only good for short jobs, you know? Different motivations. Anyway, this is Omru, I’m helping him find a place to get that soggy guitar fixed up. Some girl punted him out into the ocean because she didn’t like his playing or something. Rude, right?”

She poked a finger towards Om and the guitar he carried.

Omru was always eager to hear about a person’s stuff. Their trinkets, nicknacks, weapons, jewelry, books, armors, whatever. Back and forth the pair of Vulpera seemed to sprinkle conversation with, ‘Ooh, and I have one of these’ or ‘Did you hear about the blah-blah’. It was a much welcomed experience for Om, in stark contrast to his initial arrival at the docks.

Exploring the Zandalari capital hadn’t been something on his to-do list. He had met more than his fair share of Trolls, and had heard all about the nefarious politics of the city. Dozens of different troll clans, stabbing one another in the back, constantly using dark magicks called voodoo, and worst of all, cannibalism. Trolls could and would eat anything. On more than one occasion he had heard stories of desert trolls stripping the fur from the vulpera and roasting them over fires. He had actually spoken to one such person. She said she only ate her enemies, however. Funny, the city-folk sent their criminals to the dunes as punishment, but for the hundreds of vulpera living within the sands, the city was the worser of the two.

As they walked along the streets, turning this way and that, Om took in the sights. The dinosaurs, mostly. The large reptilians weren’t exactly unseen in Vol’dun, but never in such numbers. Some were impossibly tall, taxiing people around the city in long albeit slow strides. More impressive than the giant lizards, however, was the giant dung left behind. Holy dinosaur shit were these turds big. Om had expected them to be as long as his arm, for some reason, but they were five feet tall. Five feet! Of course, the city’s sanitation department would get to cleaning that up, eventually. They had been busy for a while, taking away dead bodies, scrubbing the blood out of the floors and walls.

Thinking back to the bodies, the Horde and the war, Omru put two and two together. Every third stall was stocked full with armors in red and black. At first the little fox boy had thought merchants were capitalizing on the Horde’s presence. Then he realized why the armors and weapons were so plentiful. The tough leathers he was presently wearing weren’t simply ‘hand crafted’ by the Zandalari. They were used goods.

Unfortunately, Omu hadn’t come to said conclusion until after he had followed Noh inside. Some half naked troll on a cot had been talking to them. The red furred Vulpera had just pointed a finger Om’s way when he said, “I’m wearing some dead guy’s clothes.”

Bright orange eyes blinked up to the Joker, or whatever her name had been, then back to Heck. “Not that I’m opposed. We make due with what we have in the dunes, I just didn’t think someone had.. You know, bled, died and shit themselves in this outfit, likely in that order. I traded good stuff for this. I should have got a discount.”

He wasn’t necessarily disgusted by the notion. The Troll merchants had taken the armor from the bodies, patched them up, gave them a cleaning and sold them full price. Ugh. Bartering was always in the details. He should have been given -two- sets! Two!

Two long tusks turned towards the red furred vulpera, “Is ya friend ‘ere okay?”

Omru’s thought-cache caught up to him, refreshing his mind. Everything that had happened in the last minute or two came flashing forward in a brief four seconds. Input lag. “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna need my guitar fixed. I have a ship leaving tomorrow morning that I need to be on, sooo. How long would this process take, and how much is it gonna cost me?” This was followed by a sincere smile.

Heke seemed to ponder the question for a moment, then nodded.

“I do know someone dat may be able ta help yu. Da names Am’ika, she should be playin’ down by da docks t’night, if she ain’t der already. Likes ta hit up whateva fresh blood be comin’ in on da ships and da full pockets dey be bringin.. Her an her group be playin da drums mostly, but she can play a bit of everyt’ing so likely yu best bet fa dat ting. Best musician I know. Hmmh.. Best musician any be knowin I bet. Well, unless yu count Ol’ Bwonsamdi..”

He glanced to Noh as she shot him a confused, disbelieving look. He laughed, again the sound loud and deep. The kind of rich laughter that could be heard across a room and contagious in social settings or.. might illicit goose bumps if heard echoing in a dark alley. Again he winced, holding his side as he played out the last few chuckles of it.

“What? Yu never heard he can play, little Noh? I hear he play da bones like yu wouldn’t believe..”

His eyes narrowed as he grinned her way, the turquoise glow of them thinning into erie slits. Her brows furrowed as she blinked back at him. Was this guy just screwing with her or was he serious? Bones… Seriously? She scanned him up and down, then deciding it was a joke, rolled her eyes.

“Yea yea, sure sure. Plays the bones with little skull capped sticks and makes the jaws flap about like they’re singing along right? And let me guess, next you’re gonna tell me he plays the bone flute too? Like I’m gonna fall for that pervy joke?”

Heke’s eyes widened and he let out an uneasy half chuckle. He shot a look to his mother, who had turned to glare at Noh over her shoulder. Following his glance, Noh looked back and saw the woman’s nostril flaring expression. Sssshit. Had she read the situation wrong? Weren’t they just joking? What if they weren’t.. and she had just insulted one of the baddest bad ass Loa these people knew?

“Don’t get me wrong here, that insult was for you, not Bwonsamdi. I thought you were joking. Not that it was really an insult, just, you know.. friendly teasing. I actually think Bwonsamdis pretty awesome. If I had to pick a Loa to follow like you guys, it would definitely be him. I mean, taking the shape of beasts and being in charge of the hunt or the sky or garbage or whatever is pretty cool and all but death? I mean, pfft, how do you beat that? Absolutely everything dies, even other Loa right so he’s gotta be the biggest badass ever. Imagine having him on your side in a bad spot? Vision going dark, you know it’s over and then bam! He shows up, tells you it ain’t your time yet then ‘bloop!’ pokes the reset button and you pop back up to finish off the turd that tried to take you out?”

Scratching at the back of her head she offered a shrug, hoping she wasn’t simply digging the hole deeper. She honestly meant what she said buuuut wasn’t exactly fluent in all the Loa or what they do exactly. As was the case with most of her knowledge, the bulk of it came from stories that were shared and eavesdropping. Still, it made sense in her head and should be seen as a complement right?

“Not that it probably works that way though I’m sure. I mean, we’re all just like sand fleas in the never ending desert called life. Why would our time be worth his, right?”

She looked back to Ja’rokah, hoping this had cleared things up. The woman had her back turned again and was furiously grinding away at something in a stone bowl. She watched as the old Zandalari woman carefully dumped some of the ground up powder into a mug then dropped in a pinch of something she couldn’t identify and filled it with hot water. She turned and stepped toward Noh then, the look on her face hard to read. She was smiling, technically, but if the look in someone’s eyes could choke you out.. Well, she was always a bit intense so Noh did her best to offer a smile of her own when the mug was offered. She took it, despite not having touched her other one yet and nodded, waiting for the woman to go away so she could set it somewhere like before. Unfortunately, Ja’rohak simply stood there, staring. When the young Vulpera didn’t immediately take a drink, the woman reached down to nudged the girl’s mug filled hands towards her face.

“Drink. I be makin dat one special just fa you.. Ta help wit yu travels..”

Noh blinked down at the cup, sniffing at it since it was nearing her nose anyway. It actually didn’t smell horrible but the vibes rolling off this lady made her skin crawl. A flash caught her attention and she leaned out to look behind Ja’rokah, eyes widening. Whatever was left in the stone bowl had caught fire and was threatening to catch fire to several of the dried herbs the woman had hanging above the table. Ja’rokah turned, cursed and flew into action trying to smother it. Though initially covering the bowl seemed to work, the moment she removed the bit of hide, flames bellowed out, quickly catching the herbs above.

“Shit! Here!!”

Noh bolted forward and threw her arms out, flinging the cups contents over the flames. It's just what you do when there’s a fire that gets a little out of hand. You throw water on it. Sometimes it's tea or juice or soup or whatever else. Heck, she had even seen a couple people pee it out once. Liquid, that’s all it takes. So when this ‘tea’ exploded into a flaming wave of liquid on contact her jaw dropped, her eyes bugged and she was dumbstruck. Most of the top of the table was now on fire and the cursing woman flailed to gain control. She slapped at the few flaming droplets that hit her arm, tore the rack of dried herbs from the wall, throwing it into the fireplace then grabbed and dumped the boiling pot of water over the entire thing.

The room filled with a mix of smoke and steam. Mixes, tincture bottles, containers and other components were scattered about and washed off the edges of the table. As the flames disappeared and the steam cleared, one item sat unaffected near the edge of the table. A small, golden pocket watch. Ja’rokah stared down at it for a moment, then reached for it. As her wrinkled and pocked fingers closed in though she jumped as the thing’s lid popped open, knocking it over the edge and to the floor. There it sat facing up, its ‘tick tick tick’ somehow seeming louder than it should be. Ja’rokah watched it for a moment then lifted her gaze to Noh, her expression a mix of annoyance and suspicion. At the look, Noh jerked from the dumbfounded, frozen state of having just watched that shit show and threw her hands up defensively.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know your tea would catch fire! Tea isn’t supposed to.. Wait, why were you trying to make me drink something like that anyway? Wouldn’t that hurt?”

With a slight sneer, the old woman dismissed Noh’s question with a flick of her wrist then bent to pick up the watch. Apparently clumsy though, as she stepped forward the biggest of her two fat toes kicked the little thing, sending it sliding across the rug. It bumped up against Noh’s foot, its lid closing with a tight snap on impact. Ja’rokah practically snarled at the thing, then stood up straight again and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Fine.. Ain’cha time, just take it an get outta ‘ere.”

She flung one long finger towards the door then turned her back on them to begin cleaning up the mess. Confused, Noh looked from the watch to Heke, to Om and back to Heke.

“…What…”

“GO!!”

The woman’s raised voice made Noh jump and if she wasn’t mistaken, it had even made Heke jump too. She searched his face for clues, having no idea what exactly had just happened. He winced a little and shrugged, nodding towards the door.

“Yu got what info I could give. Seems yu best ta get goin’ now. I’ll be up an about in a few days. If yu still around, I’ll come find yu fa dem stories I promised, eh? If not, den take care of yu’self little Noh and I be owin’ yu.”

He offered a warm smile then pointed to the watch.

“Take it wit yu. It be good luck to yu now. Or bad.. Dependin’.”

His lips curled up around his left tusk into a mischievous smirk and he motioned for the door, though less pointedly than his mother.

“What the hecks that supposed to-“

“Go..”

He said it softly but it was clear the visit was over. Flashing Om a quick awkward look, she snatched up the little watch, stuffed it in her pocket and headed for the door.

Omru furrowed a furry brow, “Uhh, Bwon’samdi worship isn’t as prevalent in the dunes. From my understanding of the capital, there are a half a dozen Loa being praised in the city of gold, and the Loa of Graves isn’t even in the top three. Not that there’s anything wrong with picking him to be your patron saint or whatever. Fear of death might be a great motivation. I’m not particularly religious. Not sure what comes after death for those unpledged to the Gods, but if I -had- to pick, maybe Akunda? I wouldn’t wanna change my identity though. Oh wait, Sethraliss! She’s a good one. Loa of Lightning. Yeah, if I had to enter a pact with someone, it would be her. I mean, yeah she’s a Setherak and all, but the bad ones are very very anti-Sethraliss. Faithless is what they call themselves, and anyone they’re opposed to is probably a friend worth having.”

Om sat down his tea and began rummaging in his pack for a few moments, his little fingers working buttons and pockets and zippers within his bag of bags. Eventually he pulled out a yellowed rolled parchment, unfurled it and read, “In the densest jungle of darkest green.. Ahem, that was Vol’dun once upon a time. Anyways, continuing! - Rules the mother of many, but rarely seen. Warm and lush and full of life, iron will and without strife. Her mind unfurls, envelops all. Her faithful ever heed her call. See? Faithful, not Faithless. Anyways, across the ages her eyes do see, seeking the best for you and me. Through darkest night and brightest day, she will ever find her way. In her, your haven will be found. Her all for us, her care profound. Love unsurpassed will surely be, when Sethraliss you truly see. Isn’t that sweet? Like a Loa of love.. And electric sparks. But mostly love. And snakes.”

The little black fox had just picked up his drink, bringing the mug of tea up to his snout when the room exploded in a rush of heat and flames. Jaw dropping, Om looked from Noh to Joker and back again. Clearly while reciting his Loa scroll he had missed the flames in the bowl. Hearing the accusations of Joker spicing the tea with something flammable, Om very quickly dumped the contents of his own drink off to the side, away from the flames. What was more interesting than the contents of Noh’s cup, however, was the little pocket watch. Flame retardant. Interesting.

No longer welcome in the smokehouse, the pair of Vulpera retreated, Om shutting the door only to reopen it and poke his head back inside, “Thanks again for the help. Sorry abou the-”

“GO!”

He closed the door behind him, then hurriedly chased after Nohko. “Seems like you’re about as welcome in this city as I am, judging by your friends back there. I wonder what was in that tea. Something sinister or just booze?”

It took little more than an hour to figure out that the drummer Heke had been referring to happened to be the same one that had kicked Omru into the ocean. The band had a music shop they owned, complete with a stage for performances. It turned out those were for special occasions, where the shop would work with local restaurants and bars for a night of celebration. Primarily the band just played the drums and performed on the streets, raking in enough coin in tips to keep their business afloat. Through very little investigation, the vulpera learned of the process required to fix Om’s guitar. It would take a few days, having to dry then sand down the wood, restring the instrument and retune it. A few days that Om didn’t have.

“Hey, I gotta get going, people to see before I take off. I have a huge favor to ask of you, though. Would you mind getting my guitar fixed for me? I can give you the coin with a smidge extra for your trouble. Just get it back to me if you ever come to Durotar? Or I might could track you down here.”

Being the reasonable type, Nohko agree to help Omru out. After submitting it to the music shop, he even bought her lunch. Zandalari kingsteak with zeb’ahari kiwi and southsea breadfruit. After parting ways, Omru made another trip to the music shop. Sun was coming down but it wasn’t quite dark yet. That didn’t stop the little fox boy from slipping into the shadows.

It was always a chilling sensation, beginning at the base of his neck, wrapping itself around his enter body from his head to his tail. Some folks called it shadow magic, some called it voodoo, he called it sneakiness. It wasn’t a hundred percent foolproof, especially for people looking for invisible creatures. There were traps that could be set, potions that could grant enhanced vision, gadgets that could expose him. None of those were present in the little shop, and in under three minutes, Om got in and got out. With him was a fancy little lute, made of some kind of white wood with purple strings. It wasn’t his flamenco guitar, but it would suit his purposes. Besides, those jerks shouldn’t have assaulted him at the docks. Eye for an eye, that kind of thing. He could always return it when he got his father’s instrument back.

That night he stayed at the cheapest inn he could find. The place was rundown and a bit dirty, but he honestly slept great. He was used to roughing it, so any commodities were welcome. When morning came he was back at the docks, paying his fee for a special little boat to take him to the fabled jungles of Durotar. He gave up his enchanted troll dagger, and judging by the captain’s face, the whispers had taken hold of the blade’s new wielder immediately. Whatever, it was his problem now.

The End For Now? -

#wrarp #WRA RP #Warcraft Roleplay #zandalar

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