BREAKING THE FANTASY

Written by Gwendolyn Frost. The Concept of the Shapeless is a original creation of mine and my intellectual property.

Later that day.

Masha and their human friends gathered around the outskirts of Herlock Woods, out of curiosity. To their surprise, they found an abandoned scene left by the police – who simply placed a crime scene yellow tape around a selection of trees where they found Bret's body earlier in the day.

The scene itself, was haunting to say the least. Not only because of the yellow tape or the strange black splatters of a paint-like substance laying where Bret's body was found – but also because of the empty streets behind them. Still absent of people who were too disturbed to even dare to go out during this time of the day when the sun was still shining bright in the wide blue sky.

The friend with the hair covering his eyes was quick to point out. "Where is the police…? Shouldn't someone be patrolling the site?" The guy asked as he tried to look for a man or woman in blue nearby.

A short orange haired one with glasses took a quick snap with her phone before she got scolded by another friend with long shaggy hair. "Hey! What're you doing? It's very insensitive of you to be taking pictures of this!"

"Calm down…" The orange haired friend said. "I want to post this picture online to blast the police on their socials. The way they've been handling this whole situation has been shady as..."

"You're right." Masha said, catching the attention of all three friends standing behind them. "This is unacceptable. I know Bret is a jerk, and he should have been prosecuted for what he did years before but this was definitely the work of a person, not an animal. Look at how scared people have become because of this. Look at the streets!" Masha said as they turned around to emphasize in the streets void of people. "Gravesfield has become like the set of Haunting Grounds, the only thing that's missing is the vengeful spirit!"

"What do you mean with Bret should have been prosecuted?" The guy with the hair over his eyes asked as he walked closely to Masha.

"I looked online and he and his friends were in a hit and run situation. They caused 'the accidental death' of two people, two bystanders walking on the street. One of them was someone he used to date. There were charges on them at first, because the families believed he did it on purpose, but for some reason they didn't went through. And the rest is history." Masha said as their friends gathered around closer.

"Damn… did he really do that?"

"I don't know, but remember the video?" Masha asked as they took their phone out to play the clip of Bret's stream when he was assaulted by someone in the dark forest. The video started with Bret letting out a painful yelp when he was stabbed before his phone was thrown off his hand to land on the ground nearby. The phone was unable to record much after this, although it did caught a glimpse when that stranger with the smudgy pale face was slashing Bret's arms before he threw a punch and a struggle between them ensued. Finally, the clip ends with Bret confessing a crime of sorts…

"I did it! I did all of it! And they covered it up for me… now I owe them… I owe them so much…"

The whimpering voice of Bret could be heard, but the camera was only able to record the pitch-black forest.

"Bruh, that definitely doesn't looks an animal. That's a person!" The guy friend says.

"Exactly!" The friend with the short orange hair says. "This whole thing is shady as…" The friend was suddenly interrupted by the friend with the shaggy hair.

"What's that smell?"

They all leaned forward while taking their distance from the yellow tape standing just a few feet from them before the orange haired friend with glasses answered with conviction. "It's bleach."

"You sure?" The shaggy haired friend asked.

"Yeah, y'know that my mom works in a hotel. She always brought me to work when I was younger and I'm familiarized with the smells of the cleaning products that she uses on a daily basis. It's 100% bleach." The orange haired friend explained.

The friend with the hair covering their eyes gave their insight: "Makes sense, bleach is often used to erase evidence. Or so Ducktective says."

"Ducktective is a work of fiction, genius." Masha said while rolling their eyes.

"I know that! But that doesn't makes the fact any less true." The guy friend said a bit irritated by the comment.

Masha rubbed the back of their head as they took a look at the scene before them. "Whoever killed Bret would have to be a dumbass to try and clean up evidence with bleach in the woods."

"Well, for instance, there is no blood." The orange haired friend pointed out.

"You're right. But…" Masha leaned over the scene once more, daring to take a step just an inch from where the tape was wrapped around the trees. "Why is there no blood…? Was he dumped here or something? And what is that black stuff? That… that's not blood, right? If they were able to clean all the blood -which I doubt- why did they left this mess?" They asked in pure confusion and frustration.

"Well… blood does turn darker. I believe?" The red haired friend replied. "I remember visiting the hospital once and I peeked into someone's room with a vial of black reddish stuff. It has to be blood, or else why is this here?"

"And why would the whole place be smelling like bleach too?" The third friend pointed out.

Masha thought for a moment before they took a few steps back, leaving their friends proposing theories to each other while they placed their bag on the grass and pulled out a few things. First, they took out a small plastic box where they stored a sandwich for lunch earlier that day. Next they took a large thermos they used to pour water into the box to 'clean' it up. Then they took a old chewed-on pencil before they began to move back the scene of the crime itself.

Their friends reacted to Masha approaching them with puzzled faces as they walked past them. "Wait, what're you doing?" The orange haired friend asked.

"Shush… not a word to anyone. We don't know if the police took a sample of this, but someone at least has to." Masha said while they used the very same pencil they took out from their bag to smear with some of that black ink-like substance lying on the soil and grass within the perimeter of yellow tape surrounding the crime scene.

When taking a sample with the pencil, the group of friends gathered around Masha as they took a closer look at the 'black ink' which dripped in great quantities, it was extremely liquid instead of dense like blood is supposed to, making it harder to take a sample from. It was then that the orange haired handed them a tissue.

"Why don't you use this instead?"

"Thanks." Masha said with a sigh as they placed the pencil inside the box, by now it was no longer wet with the ink-like liquid. Now with the tissue in hand, Masha brought their hand back down and as carefully as they could they cleaned some of the substance from the grass before placing it in the box. Lastly, Masha sealed the box and walked back to their bag laying a few feet away before they were surprised by something that cracked under their foot.

"What happened?" The guy friend asked as the other three friends joined their side.

"I'm not sure." Masha said as they placed that box back inside their bag before they took a closer look at what they stepped on. There, covered by the grass were a few pieces of something white and solid.

"What is that?" The orange haired friend asked as they took a closer look to the piece the larger piece that Masha picked up with their hand.

"Not sure…" Masha replied before they got lost in their thoughts as they examined the piece of white porcelain-like object in their hand. The memory of the video that went viral online when the victim -Bret- was attacked by the unseen dark stranger flashed back in their mind. In a few frames of that video, the pale face of someone was caught by the phone camera. "Wait…" Masha blurted out with wide eyes.

"What? What're you thinking?" The guy friend asked.

"Do you remember in the video you can see Bret fighting back. What if this thing…" Masha said as they held the white shard in their hand closer to their friends' faces. "What if the person that attacked Bret was wearing a mask and this is a piece that Bret was able to chip off when he threw that punch in the video?"

"Whoa, then that could be evidence!" The guy friend pointed out.

"Should we hand it to the police?" The orange haired friend asked before they all three watched as Masha placed the shard inside their bag. "Masha! What're you doing?!"

"Bruh, what you're doing is a crime!" The guy friend said while Masha wrapped their bag around their back.

"Well, if the police wants it so bad, then they'll have it once they care enough to solve this case." Masha said as their friends collectively laughed in pure astonishment for Masha's boldness.

"Masha, Masha!" The guy friend shouted as they caught up to them.

"What?" The goth asked as they moved away from the scene back into the street.

"You're the coolest!"

THE LOOKING GLASS

Chapter 14: The Shapeless.

By the time that Luz and her friends have reached the Noceda residence – the sun was about to set, replacing the bright blue with a dim yellow glow that barely illuminated the house and the rest of the neighborhood. Intensifying the dread that people felt after the events that unfolded during that morning.

When Luz was about to take her key out from her pocket, she stopped midway when noticing the car parked on the entrance.

"What's the matter?" Amity asked as she leaned over her shoulder.

"I got to talk to you guys first. You cannot tell my mom about the Face Snatcher just yet." Luz said as she turned around and gently pulled them away from the door.

"But Luz… she needs to know." Hunter insisted, with the rest backing him up with a nod.

"You guys don't understand…" Luz bit her lower lip as she tried to find the words to explain herself before she choked on her words when Camila herself opened the door to greet the group.

"Oh, thank goodness! Chicos, I'm so glad you're all back!" Camila said oblivious to the conversation that was taking place. "Come in, quick."

"Shhh… not a word. Please." Luz begged with her eyes before her uncomfortable looking friends nodded in defeat.

Just as soon as they did, Luz began to lead the way inside with Camila closing and locking the door shut behind her. "I was worried sick about all of you. I heard what happened. Have you?" Camila asked with worrying eyes before immediately answering her own question. "Of course you did, what am I thinking…" She laughed nervously. "Luz and Vee got phones, you've probably gotten the police's curfew as well."

"What?" Luz asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Have you not gotten the alert? The police have declared for people to stay indoors because of…" Camila gulped. "The y'know what. They believe that there's a dangerous bear lurking in the forest."

"Oh, yeah. Of course, we heard that too." Luz said with her own nervous voice.

"Ok. Good. You're all home now. I locked all the doors, also the windows. We should all be safe now. How about we watch a movie marathon tonight? It could be a fun sleepover! Though, I was not able to bring something for dinner tonight as I promised, but I'm sure I can cook up some snacks for us to last us all night." Camila proposed trying her best to stay calm for the sake of Luz and her friends.

"Sure, mom. That sounds good." Luz replied as her friends began to smile back at Camila.

"I could select the movies for our marathon." Gus suggested.

"That'd be nice." Camila said with a soft chuckle.

"I could help you make the snacks." Vee said.

"Great, I can always count on you." Camila said as she leaned forward and hugged Vee before placing a kiss on her forehead before she faced Luz and the rest. "I know today was… terrible, to say the least – but that doesn't mean we can't make the must of it. We will let all this behind by tomorrow morning. Hopefully, they take care of that wild animal in the meantime. I feel bad for them still, don't get me wrong but…"

"We get it. Don't worry." Luz said as she walked up to Camila and gently hugged her alongside Vee before Camila gestured the witches observing from a feet away to invite them to join in – which they did. All of them were extremely grateful to Camila for what she has done since they became stranded in the Human Realm. The human adult has always made them feel welcomed and part of the family, which made it all the more difficult for them to betray her trust.

Once they parted ways, Camila forced another smile back on her face before she clapped her hands together. "Ok, we should get this sleepover started. Vee and I will make the snacks while you guys relax in the basement."

"That sounds great. Thank you." Luz said with her own forced smile upon her face as Camila and Vee moved away into the kitchen before she faced her witch friends once more. "Guys… please. You got to promise me you won't tell her anything just yet."

"Don't make us promise you that, Luz." Amity said with a very saddened look on her face.

"I'll take full responsibility. But please, you have to promise me." Luz said with a serious face as a frown drew itself on her face. "You probably have guessed why she's doing all this sleepover thing. She's oblivious to what's happening and thinks she's the one who should be protecting us when it's the other way around. Other than Vee, she has absolutely no experience dealing with the paranormal. Besides… there's something else you should know too."

"Luz, the more you wait to speak with her about this – the harder it'll become for her to understand what's going on…" Hunter tried reasoning with Luz before he got interrupted.

"Listen!" Luz sighed with tears watering the edges of her eyes before explaining. "Long ago, when I was in the in-between. She made me promise I would stay with her once I was back in the Human Realm. We've not talked about that since then… and I don't know if things have changed. Sure… she loves all of you. But… I fear that if we keep exposing her to all of this she might… she might demand me to keep that promise."

"Luz… I…" Amity was about to say something before Luz reached for her hands, squeezing them tightly.

"I do not want to leave you guys behind. But… I do not want her to force me to choose. I don't want to choose."

Amity squeezed her hands back as she fought back some tears of her own. "Ok… I promise."

Hunter, Gus and Willow sighed in defeat as well, frowning uncomfortably. "Yeah, us too." They said in unison, making Luz to bring them into another group hug.

"Thank you." Luz said as she broke the hug and cleaned her face, while Amity did the same – wiping some tears off her face with some sniffling as she did.

"Now what…?" The pink-haired witch asked, trying to force a smile back on her face. "What about the book? Shall we read it now?" She asked as she raised the book they brought from the library.

"No." Luz said with a faint smile. "For the sake of mom, let's forget about all of this for tonight. Let us hope that everything becomes less tense tomorrow morning."

"But what if that thing comes while we're distracted?" Gus asked.

"Well, we could leave that to Flapjack." Hunter said as he looked at his palisman sitting on his shoulder. "Buddy, you think you can keep a watch outside?"

Flapjack flapped his wings and chirped enthusiastically.

"Great. Thank you. If you see something suspicious outside, you come back down from the chimney and alert us in the basement." Hunter said with his large tooth-gapped smile.

"Ghost. Would you stay in the living room and keep an eye on those doors?" Amity asked her cat palisman as she pointed at those sliding doors closed shut by the curtains where Luz saw the Shape the night before.

The feline meowed in agreement as she made her way onto the couch, sitting on it as if she was a statue guarding the outside of a building.

"You make her company." Willow told her palisman -Clover- who buzzed in agreement.

"You as well." Gus said to his own palisman -Emmeline- before she dropped off his shoulder to join the other two.

Luz smiled and lead the way downstairs into the basement where they awaited for Camila and Vee to join them with the snacks for the sleepover movie marathon.

For the rest of that night, Luz and the rest had no other choice but to put their plans of confronting the Shape on hold – not wanting to get Camila involved and simply tried the best to relax from the stressful day they all had.

Unbeknownst to them that while they distracted themselves watching movies down in the basement, a certain group of people delved themselves into the dark forest that very same night…

Deep in the woods, a pair of witch hunters traversed forward with night vision goggles on their faces while only armed with a shotgun and a harpoon.

"So, why are we doin' this Mister Hogan?" The man armed with the shotgun asked, the guy was shorter than the other and slender in appearance. He wore a sweater under some blue overalls.

"The mayor and Mrs Greene wants us to kill a bear. So we're gettin' them a bear." The larger man with the harpoon on his right hand said in response. Tall, large and muscular in appearance, with a big mustache on his face and a small hat over his shaved head.

"No, I get that. But why us? Shouldn't they be lookin' for the services of… the more mundane types of hunters?" The man asked before he heard a soft chuckle coming out of the larger man's well-kept mustache.

"You're still new and I understand your curiosity, but we do these kind of things all the time 'ere." Hogan said before cutting through a large branch on his way with that large harpoon he held. "We're not huntin' for rarities all the time, sometimes we need of people like the mayor and the Greenes to fund our resolve."

"You mean… like the thing the Professor is doin' in the theater?" The man asked while crouching under a few branches.

"Precisely."

"Ok. I'll be honest… it's very suspicious hearin' the police blamin' a bear for today's dead body. And now these people want us to hunt for a bear…"

"Word of advice, mate. You should not be makin' those kind of assumptions in Gravesfield. Best keep our head in one piece, know what I mean?" The larger man said rather ominously.

"Yeah, hehe. Dun mind me, partner."

"Now you get it. Say, Dumphrey – where are ya from, boy?" Hogan asked as he cut through some branches once more. "Think we've not gotten the pleasure to get to know each other."

"Oh, I'm from Oregon, sir." The man said with a soft gentle chuckle.

"Oregon, eh? Which part?"

"Gravity Falls, sir."

Hogan pondered on the name for a short minute. "Never heard of it, what's it like?"

"It's a peculiar place, sir. As a matter of fact, I hardly have any memories of it other than interactin' with the most dense people in America. Sometimes I feel as if my mind had been wiped multiple times. It's a strange thing to say… but I honestly feel there's holes in my memory."

"I see."

"I moved out once I had a strange encounter with some…" Dumphrey held those words down on his tongue while he thought of whether it was a good idea to share those thoughts or not.

"What is it?" Hogan grew curious, keeping the pace forward.

"I don't know if you'll believe me…"

"Try me. I've seen my share of things. We're witch hunters after all." Hogan said with a soft laugh.

"That I know, sir. But my experience may be too whacky for you. But ok, 'ere it goes. You see, one day during a walk outside, I was attacked. The next thing I saw when I woke up was a bunch of little fellas. They were an inch tall, but there were plenty of them. They tied me to a tree and they all seemed strange. Their heads were huge and their bods too small. Their heads in particular looked like golf balls… I was able to get myself free rather easily but that was just the beginning. A cosmic entity took the town hostage for a while and everyone decided not to speak of it ever again. But me on the other hand… all I wanted was to get as far away from that town as possible."

"I see." Hogan smirked under his large mustache. "Fella, why did you joined the Witch Hunters in the first place? If you wanted to never run into a cosmic entity ever again then ya chose the wrong town to move into."

"I know." Dumphrey laughed softly. "But when the Professor heard my tale and shared with me everything he has seen… my whole perspective changed. I'm never recovering from my trauma, but if I could help anyone else from ever seeing these things in the light of day, it may just be worth fighting them."

"Well said."

"So, sir. You mentioned entities, plural. Are there more things like the triangle man I saw in Gravity Falls 'ere in Gravesfield?" Dumphrey asked, knowing he is going to regret hearing the answer to such question.

"There are. The Professor knows more of 'em more than I do. But, right now. The Professor is building the machine in the theater so that we can open a bridge between us and one of those entities." Hogan cut through some more branches.

"What is it exactly?"

"The Professor calls it a Yokai." Hogan said. "It's a spirit from Japanese folklore. It has been taking people from Gravesfield for a while now. It opened a tear into our reality through a cursed object that is kept in the Ledger Manor."

"What is one of those yohai thingies doin' in this side of the world?" Dumphrey asked with a soft chuckle.

"Yokai. And the reason it's here is because of the man who built the Manor in the first place. That guy was obsessed with cursed objects. There's plenty of 'em in the Manor. But that one in particular is the one that some dumb kids messed with during a break-in for a stupid video on the internet. Since then, the entity has been pissed and has been takin' people ever since."

"You think that the Professor will succeed?"

"Only time will tell. For now… this as far as I can accompany you, my friend." Hogan said as he make an stop a few steps from Dumphrey who turned back to face him. "You know the drill. I know this is your first time and it's so dark right now. But we all have our designated areas. You look for a bear, if you find one – if you feel capable, shoot 'em. If not call me on the radio and I'll move up to you. Now, if you happen to run into the wanderers…"

Dumphrey took over. "I stay still until they're gone. If I run into a civilian, I lead them out of the forest. But if it's a witch, I call you and say the words 'I'm bringing in a guest' right?"

"Perfect. I'll see you in half an hour tops. There's something I feel that I'm forgetting about tho… eh, you'll be fine."

"That I'll be, sir." Dumphrey said as they both parted ways. Hogan going back in order to keep searching within the area they walked through and Dumphrey walking into his own designated area further inside the forest.

For the most part, Dumphrey's journey was uneventful. Even with the night vision goggles, it was hard to follow any tracks of any potential bears in the area. For a while, the sounds of the wild animals around made him company until they all suddenly… stopped. It took him a few minutes to notice this, becoming much more alert once he did.

Out of a sudden…

"Help me! Someone please help me!"

Dumphrey raised his gunshot when hearing the scream in the far distance.

"Help me, please! Someone!" There it was once again.

Dumphrey stormed off towards the sound of that voice screaming, becoming louder and louder while his feet stomped on the ground tearing apart any branch lying on the ground. His breathing becoming heavier and heavier until…

"Someone, please…!" The voice stopped mid-scream when the hunter fastly approached them.

Once Dumphrey was able to see with his night vision goggles the shape of a woman standing in the middle of a clearing, he turned on the flashlight installed above the goggles to shine light on the stranger lost in the woods.

"Oh, sir! Thank you, thank you so much…!" The woman with long brown hair said as she covered her eyes from the blinding light on her face.

Dumphrey lowered his weapon and got a laugh out of his system. "No worries, deary. What's a lady like yerself doin' in the forest so late at night?"

"I'm sorry, sir." The woman began to explain as Dumphrey removed the goggles off his head so that the woman would be able to see him clearly. "I was hiking in the woods before I got the alert that the police had found a dead body in the forest. I tried to get back… but I somehow got lost and I couldn't find my way back. Please, sir. Will you help me get back home?"

"Of course." Dumphrey said with a soft laugh. "But first, I will need ya to uncover your ears."

"Excuse me?" The woman's smile of relief was replaced by a look of confusion before she watched the man lifting his shotgun.

"I'm gonna need you to show me those lovely ears of yours ma'am." When the woman failed to comply to his request, his friendly voice turned into a threatening one while raising the shotgun a bit more. "Now."

"Ok…" The woman, fearing for her life began to slowly uncover her ears to show off they were rounded.

"Round." Dumphrey sighed of relief and let out a short laugh. "I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry. I honestly didn't mean to scare ya, deary." The man lowered his gunshot once more. "I thought you were someone else, let's leave it at that." He explained vaguely.

The woman let out a nervous laugh, still sounding confused. "I see… who were you expecting, sir. A witch?"

"Yeah, haha! As a matter of… wait." Dumphrey's laugh came to a stop, looking straight at the woman who was now grinning towards him.

"Still looking for wicked ones this late at night, sir?" The woman said… her voice distorted.

Dumphrey brought his shotgun back up to point it at her.

"Who are you?"

"Honestly… I don't even know this one's name. But if you mean who I am underneath…" The woman chuckled eerily before she tilted her head. "You don't know who I am?"

"Tell me what are you or else I'll shoot you!" Dumphrey pointed the gun straight at the woman's face before she grinned back at him.

"You have no idea." She chuckled some more. "That's good. It'll make this easier than I thought." She said before she walked closer to Dumphrey before she grabbed the shotgun and directly placed it against her forehead. "Take your shot or else…" Some large bone-like spikes began to pierce through the woman's fingers, tearing the skin apart as she kept taunting the man. "I'll use these and I'm going to rip you into pieces, and I'm gonna have such a wonderful feast until there's nothing left of you for…"

BANG!

Dumphrey took his shot before the woman was able to finish her sentence. It destroyed the top of her head and her body was thrown a foot away from him while the echo of his shot died shortly.

Panting heavily, Dumphrey looked at the lifeless body in horror before he was startled by the sound of his radio.

"Dumphrey! What was that?! Over!"

The disturbed hunter took a second to compose himself before answering to Hogan on the radio. "I shot somethin'… I have no idea what it was. But I think it's dead."

"What do you mean by somethin'? Explain, over."

"I thought it was a civilian after I asked them to show me them ears but it then… started to talk to me, it's voice… it was all whacked up. I panicked… this wasn't human. But it's dead now… over." Dumphrey took a deep breath while Hogan replied.

"It talked? That's strange… the only thing capable of intelligence speech is… oh no."

"What was that? Over."

"The only thing that's capable of intelligence speech is the Shapeless! And you just shot it! We had a truce with it!"

"What? What do you mean by truce? It is very dead now." Dumphrey said as he kicked one of the body's feet before moving away from it.

"It isn't dead!" Hogan's voice sounded in a hurry as Dumphrey could tell he was running. "The Shapeless only allows a fraction of its mass into our realm. What you shot is a small portion of it's true density! It's not dead! You can't kill it with gunfire! It's alive!"

"What?!" Dumphrey was suddenly pierced by the Shapeless' long limbs that were tearing the body lying on the ground before lifting itself to face its victim now impaled on its long bone-like spikes.

"Push the button and let me talk to your boss." The distorted voice in the dark said.

Dumphrey coughed up some blood and complied to the request as he tried to speak to Hogan. "Sir… it wants to talk to you…"

"Speak…" The distorted voice demanded Hogan who's voice became heavier and heavier with each step he took.

"Don't kill him, I'll take full responsibility of his actions."

"Hm… nope. I think you all messed up now."

"We had a deal!" Hogan screamed into the radio.

"Deal's off. Get out of my forest!" The Shapeless said before the screams of Dumphrey were heard until the radio was thrown off his hand.

Hogan ran as fast as he could, nearly stumbling several times while released a bunch of expletives along the way to reach Dumphrey's last location recorded on the GPS he held in his hand. "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Please be alive! Be alive, buddy! Please!"

But once the tall muscular man have reached the spot, there was nothing left of Dumphrey but the radio lying on the grass as he tried recovering his breath in the unnerving silence of the forest which darkness has swallowed completely.

While panting heavily, he used his phone – calling not 911, but a private number.

"What is it?" The man on the other line replied.

"Sir… pant we got a problem! The Shapeless pant Dumphrey shot it! It took him! It's mad pant it said the deal is off…!"

"What?!"

"What do I do?!" Hogan asked in a state of panic.

"What do you think you should do! RUN! Get out of there! Tell the others!"

"Right!" Hogan practically screamed as he turned around and ran as fast as he could in the direction he came from. "Everyone!" He screamed on the radio he glued to his face. "The Shapeless is loose! I repeat, leave the forest! It will kill anyone on sight. Leave. NOW!"

End of the chapter.

Note: I want to say first that I'm grateful for anyone that's reading up to this point. I've been having a blast writing this and I wish to keep writing, I've been working hard to be more consistent with updates but irl has been so troublesome sometimes. I apologize for that. I kinda lost access to my writing and editing software, but I promise you that won't hold me back. I hope you all have a good day. I just wanted to say that! Thank you!