My dear friends, it's time to bid our final farewell to Stanuary.
I truly can't thank you all enough for how incredible these past 10 years have been. From the creators who inspire us all every year with their boundless imaginations, to the commenters who always leave such sweet and thoughtful messages in the notes, to the ever-reliable followers who show their love and support with silent likes and reblogs, you have all played an invaluable part in making Stanuary something special, and it wouldn't be the same without you.
When I first dreamed up the concept of Stanuary, I really had no expectations that anyone would notice it or join in. I'd only been into Gravity Falls for about 6 months, and still considered myself a newbie to the fandom. On top of that, I had such debilitating anxiety that actually trying to reach out and talk to other fans was terrifying.
In truth, having that first Stanuary take off completely blew my expectations out of the water, and shot my anxiety through the roof. I don't think I slept more than 3 hours a night for that entire month! But being forced out of my comfort zone that way was one of the best things that happened to me. Everyone I interacted with was so kind and helpful and excited for the event, it went such a long way towards putting my anxieties to rest both online and offline.
With each passing year of running this event, I've felt myself grow more confident, watched my art improve by leaps and bounds, and built friendships with so many wonderful people that I hope will be part of my life forever. I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that Stanuary has changed my life for the better, and I'm eternally grateful to you all for your piece in it.
As a reminder, @forduary is also in the midst of celebrating its final year, so go give them some well-wishes to send them off right!
Though this chapter of Gravity Falls history may be coming to a close, I hope everyone will continue to nurture the creative spirits burning within ourselves and each other, and keep this fandom alive and kicking for many more years to come.
Stay curious, stay weird, stay kind, and thank you so much for everything. ♥
WELCOME TO THE FINAL (seriously this time) MONTH OF MAY-BEL!
Like @stanuary and @forduary, this month is dedicated to Mabel, when we take the time to show our favourite pig and sweater loving girl that we do care.
Now, I have said this before and every year we end up redoing it. But for real this time...THIS IS IT! This is the final year for various reasons. Mainly, I am not as invested in the concept and wanting to move on from May-bel month. Plus, I feel we have succeeded in it's goals of Mabel appreciation as the fandom perception of her now is far better than in 2020 when I first hosted it. Plus, with Stanuary and Forduary over too, I figured, why not end alongside them too the month of May-bel.
The rules are the same. This is a free for all event where you can do anything. Just be sure to follow each week's theme, keep everything SFW and tag your post with #MonthOfMaybel2026 so that we can find it. Also tag me if you would like.
So, what are our themes? Well, we have quite some fun ones to end the May-bel month era off on!
Week 1 is Carefree: Show Mabel in a carefree way as she is in the show. Full of life and always herself!
Week 2 is Family: Show Mabel with her family and/or found family.
Week 3 is Iconic: Show Mabel in one of her most iconic moments!
Week 4 then ends the era with Your Pick: This is a free for all where you can do as you please to celebrate Mabel.
With that, let’s show Mabel that this fandom still very much cares for her! Week 1 starts on May 3rd. Good luck 🙂
Art, image description (in alt), and following farewell by @fexiled
It was such an honor to be invited to help out with Forduary back in 2018, and my feelings of gratitude have only grown over the years. Though I was often too busy with Stanuary to fully participate in Forduary itself, being able to contribute my art to the promo posts and help out with organizing was a special kind of participation that I wouldn't trade for anything. My fellow mods have always been a delight to collaborate with, and I wish them nothing but the best in life! It makes me so happy to know that we, and everyone else who has followed this event over the years, were all brought together by the desire to show our love and appreciation for our favorite six-fingered scientist. :') Thank you all for being you. ♥
Love,
Mod Fex
Colors and following farewell by @rum-and-shattered-dreams
Honestly, this is so late because it's hard to say goodbye! How do you put into words how wonderful this has been and how grateful I am to this community? Well, here's an attempt, at least:
Thank you so much to everyone who has celebrated this adorkable nerd with us for so many years! Whether you submitted creative works only once or multiple times or reblogged, every addition brought this community together. It's been such an inspiration to see all of your passion and creativity. Working with my fellow mods has been a pleasure and I hope for happiness for you all in the future.
And just... Just look at this blog! Look at everything you all did! Sharing and drawing and writing and collaborating and collecting and musing.
Go forth and keep being your amazing selves, everyone! And, of course, stay weird!
As excited as I was for it, I almost skipped posting anything for Stanuary this year. I have had no energy for drawing for several months, and I haven’t even set up Clip Studio for my current computer. But considering that this is the final Stanuary, I can’t just do nothing when this event has had such an impact on me these past three years. So here’s a quick sketch to say thank you @stanuary! It's not a prompt fill, but it felt nice to finally shake the rust off and draw something!
As a bonus, I figured I’d also share some of the sketches I drew while I was preparing for my first Stanuary in 2023. One of the main ways I learned to draw in Gravity Falls' style was by eyeballing screenshots, before moving on to drawing with references and from scratch. (Not pictured are the many pages of Stan heads I drew when transitioning from eyeballing to complete scratch ^^;)
In under the wire! And a bit shorter than I usually do for these, but I'm happy with how I ended it. Thank you Stanuary for the years of inspiration and prompts and celebration of Grunkle Stan. It's been great and I've been so glad to participate in it.
(By the way, this write takes place in my Stanley McGucket AU. Figured it's good to end my final Stanuary on my original AU. Enjoy.)
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Stan leaned against a post in the barn, watching Lute demonstrate something with a bale of hay.
“Now, it’s heavier than it looks,” Lute said. “Keep that in mind and remember to lift with yer-”
“Knees, not my back,” Stan said, rolling his eyes. “I know.” Lute looked at him in surprise.
“I wasn’t sure you’d know how to lift stuff. Yer learnin’ all these chores fer the first time, after all.”
“Dude, I was a boxer. I had to do weight training twice every week. Of course I know how to lift things.” Stan pushed away from the post and went over to the bale of hay. He lifted it onto one shoulder, quickly hiding his surprise at how heavy the hay was. “My coach didn’t want me throwing my back out when I was in high school, before I had a chance to really get my career going.”
If all of Pops’ complaints about his back weren’t just bellyaching, it’s only a matter of time anyways.
“So, that was what you wanted to do fer yer adult job?” Lute asked, lifting a bale himself with seemingly no effort. Stan raised an eyebrow.
He’s a twig. How the hell did he do that? Though now that I look… Stan could see Lute’s arms were corded with lean muscle. Farm work, I guess. He abruptly remembered Lute had asked him a question.
“Uh, not- well, sorta.” Stan felt his face flush a bit with embarrassment. Not over the idea of being a professional boxer. He was confident enough in his abilities that he could do it. No, the embarrassment was at what he and Ford had planned on doing. Looking for treasure sailing the world on a boat they rebuilt by hand didn’t seem like something the practical McGuckets would take seriously. Luckily, he’d always had boxing as a backup in his mind, in case he needed to make extra cash in between treasure finds.
“Is that a yes or a no?” Lute asked playfully.
“I keep my options open,” Stan said vaguely. Lute began to walk. Stan followed. “Which, yeah, includes boxing. But obviously it wouldn’t be something I’d do my entire life.”
“Why not?”
“Boxing is a young man’s game.”
“I dunno, I feel like I’ve heard of some boxers still goin’ at it when they’re older,” Lute said slowly.
“Yeah, and have you seen ‘em?” Stan said. He shook his head as they walked out the barn. “I don’t wanna mess up my pretty face.” Lute let out an involuntary snort. “I also don’t wanna ruin my body. Or my head.” Stan grimaced. “I don’t wanna even think about what’s going on in their minds after that many hits.”
“Fair point. Yeah, I s’ppose boxin’ would be pretty tough on the body. I mean, I do track and field. That’ll wear yer body out, too. And it’s just runnin’! Not gettin’ punched!”
“You do sports?”
“Not the kind you do,” Lute said quickly. “But…yes.” They reached a pile of hay bales stacked in the corner of a pasture. Lute set his down and sat on it. Stan followed suit. “Huh.”
“What?”
“I reckon most sports are fer young folk, ain’t they?”
“Yeah.”
“The trainin’. The competitions. Those just beat up yer body.” Lute shot Stan a small smirk. “Even if yer not beatin’ someone up fer it.”
“Yep.” Stan sighed. “I’ll need to find a nice, cushy job when I get older. I’ve already messed up my body a bit with the boxing I’ve done. And working here as a farm hand.”
“What?” Lute looked scandalized. “You shouldn’t be breakin’ yer body doin’ chores! Why didn’t ya say anything?”
“I’m fine, just getting used to doing them, y’know?”
“Well, yes,” Lute stammered, “but if yer chores are too much fer ya yet, you should’ve let us know! We can handle it until ya work yer way up.”
“C’mon, Lute.” Stan met Lute’s eyes. “I’ve been here like, a month. You should know by now that I don’t ask for help.”
“Even when you’ll just hurt yourself without that help?”
“Duh.”
“Lord above.” Lute shook his head. “That’s somethin’ we need to work on.”
“Nah.” Stan stook up and stretched. “I’m fine.”
“Are you?” Lute asked, sounding doubtful. Stan shrugged.
“Right now, I am.”
“Don’t sound like it. You just admitted you’ve been overworkin’ yourself!”
“Eh. That’s a problem for Future Stan.”
-----
“What chore is this one from?” Lute asked dryly as he massaged Stan’s shoulder.
“Uh.” Stan frowned, trying to remember. “Oh. When I dislocated my shoulder gettin’ the horses to calm down.”
“Lord.” Lute sighed. “And how long ago was it?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“Well, from the sound of it, it was when you were our farm hand, which was over fifteen years ago.”
“Why’d you bother askin’ if you knew when it was from?”
“A rough range ain’t the same as an exact year.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Stan said dismissively. “I don’t think it really matters when it happened so long ago.”
“Are you the physical therapist?” Lute asked pointedly. Stan didn’t respond. “That’s what I thought.” He moved his hands down to Stan’s bicep. “Tense here.”
“I’ve got four kids. All of me is tense.” Lute let out a soft snort. “…That feels great.”
“It better! A large part of my job is givin’ folks massages!”
“I’m lucky that you gave up on runnin’ to do physical therapy, huh?”
“You sure are.” Lute grinned at him. “What with all the problems ya left fer Future Stan to solve.”
Yes, I'm getting these in under the wire but BY GUM I AM GETTING THEM DONE. For this one, I wound up going with my Tooth and Nail AU, aka the AU where Ma Pines takes her boys and leaves New Jersey after Filbrick knocks out one of Stan's teeth. Naturally, they wind up in Gravity Falls, where they start their new lives with little more than the clothes on their backs. Here's the thing. Enjoy.
———————————————————————————————————–
Stan dropped his duffel bag on the bottom bunk of the bed he shared with Ford. Relief surged through him that they had returned to New Jersey. Sure, it meant he had to deal with Pops again, but he was willing to put up with Pops to be here.
Glass Shard Beach was home, not Gravity Falls.
“So. You came crawling back,” a voice drawled menacingly. The hair on the back of Stan’s neck stood up. He slowly turned around. Pops stood in the doorway, arms crossed and facial expression harsh enough to put the word “stony” to shame.
“Well, Gravity Falls wasn’t-” Stan started. Pops talked over him.
“I’m surprised. Usually, cowards keep running instead of facing consequences.”
“It wasn’t my choice,” Stan argued. Pops took a step into the room. Stan shrank back as his father loomed over him.
“No, you had a choice! You always have a choice! But you made the choice to be a sniveling weakling that hides behind his mother’s skirt and lets his brothers pull the weight for him!” Stan felt smaller and smaller, Pops bigger and bigger.
“Pops, I swear, I didn’t-” Stan begged. Pops loomed even larger over him. “Please, I-” But it wasn’t enough. His apologies were never enough. The fist was already coming for him and he closed his eyes, praying he wouldn’t lose another tooth, that he’d just get a black eye this time and-
-----
“Stanley!” Stan jerked awake, panting, drenched in sweat. They hadn't gotten curtains for the living room yet, allowing light from the street lamp outside to faintly illuminate the face of his mother over him.
“Wh- Ma?” Stan slowly sat up. He rubbed his eyes. “What's- what's up?” he asked weakly. Ma frowned at him.
“Me, because I heard you screaming!” she scolded in a stage whisper.
“Just a crazy dream, that's all,” Stan mumbled. Ma gestured for Stan to scooch. He did so, and she sat on the couch next to him.
“Was it about him again?” she asked quietly.
“No.”
“You can't kid a kidder, honey. Don't bother lying to the best liar Jersey ever produced.”
“How'd you know it was about him?” Stan asked, his voice subdued. Ma sighed.
“Gut instinct, mostly. And knowing that you've had nightmares about him before.”
“What? I've never told you-” Stan snapped his mouth shut, but it was too late.
“A mother has her ways of knowing.”
“Ford told you.”
“Not on purpose, but yes.” Ma hesitantly poked at the curlers in her hair. “I had nightmares about my parents when I was a teen, so I decided to keep my head in the sand and act like it wasn't concerning. Shoulda known better at my age.” Stan knew the response expected from him.
“You don't look a day over twenty-five, Ma.”
“Hmph.” Stan stared at her. That wasn't right. She was supposed to laugh and kiss his cheek and tell him he was the sweetest boy. Not let out a soft grunt. “Wanna tell me what happened in the dream?”
“Hell, no.”
“Did it have something to do with…the incident?” Ma pried. Stan crossed his arms and looked away. Sometimes, it seemed like she really was psychic. Stan knew she wasn't. She was just good at reading people and connecting dots. But it was still a bit unnerving to be read like an open book. “I'm calling the dentist in the morning. The sooner we get that gap taken care of, the sooner you can leave the whole moment behind.”
“We can't afford it,” Stan muttered. “I'm fine waiting.”
“Are you?”
“Yeah.” A tense silence fell. Stan broke it quickly, uncomfortable in the quiet. “I'm not lying, you know. I don't need all my teeth to pick up girls.”
“Oh, I know that. Every one of my boys is a catch.” Ma hesitated. “…I’m sorry, Stanley.” Stan’s jaw dropped.
I’ve never heard her apologize before. I didn’t think she knew how.
“Why?” he managed to croak. Ma looked at him like he was an idiot.
It was almost reassuring in its familiarity.
“You lost a tooth,” she said in her you’re-smarter-than-this voice.
“I was just in the wrong place when Pops started swinging,” Stan said quickly. “Usually, it’s fine. And I talked back. I- I deserved it.” Ma’s expression changed to one of devastation.
“I failed as a mother if you really think that.”
“Huh?”
“You've always had your head in the clouds,” Ma whispered. She stroked Stan's cheek with her thumb. “I loved that. My little free spirit with big, hopeful, optimistic eyes. A dreamer. But I have to bring you back to reality sometimes. You didn't deserve it. None of you boys deserved any of the things your father did.”
“But-”
“I should’ve stepped in way sooner,” Ma sighed. “Maybe if I did, you wouldn’t have wound up thinking your father’s punishments were reasonable.” She paused. “Well, some of ‘em were reasonable, but most of ‘em weren’t.” She met Stan’s eyes. “I was in a dreamland of my own, I guess. Keeping my head in the sand, denying the truth of what you and your brothers were living with.” She reached for Stan’s hand and squeezed gently, lovingly. “It’s time for both of us to wake up.”
“Ma…”
“I didn’t protect you or your brothers, but especially you,” Ma continued. Her gaze, soft, hardened to the fierce expression she usually reserved for the most difficult of customers. “That’s what this whole new life is about. Protecting you the way I should’ve from the start.” She rolled her eyes at the doubtful look on his face. “Look. I know how you feel about my trustworthiness. You’ll never believe I’m not lying. But…” She managed a small smile. “You also know I love you, right?”
“Yes, Ma,” Stan mumbled.
“Good. And you know that when you love people, you take care of them, right?” she prompted. Stan nodded hesitantly. “I can work with that.” She leaned in and kissed his forehead. “I know I just talked about waking up, but you need your sleep. We both do. We can talk more in the morning, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good night, Stanley Danley.”
“Night, Ma,” Stan said quietly. With one last kiss, Ma got up and went to her room. Stan didn’t lay back down. He stayed sitting on the couch, looking out the window at the sleeping street below.
Wondering if, maybe, for once, his compulsively lying mother was telling the truth.
I was asked for lineart of the Mystery Pirate Trio to be used as a coloring page, so I thought I’d make it widely available. Feel free to download, print it out, bury it, or whatever your heart desires.
At this point I'm sort of determined to post these out of order. But here's week 4, taking place in my Avatar Stan AU! Given how I've been diving back into ATLA lately, it's not a surprise I went with this AU for this prompt. Enjoy~
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Stan snapped his fingers. A golden flame came to life hovering over his thumb and forefinger.
“Look, all I’m sayin’ is that if fire is an element of warmth and life, and heat helps ya get better after yer hurt, firebendin’ should be able to heal.”
“Next thing yer goin’ to say is that ‘cause mud soothes the skin, earthbenders should be dermatologists.”
“…I didn’t say it, you did.”
Stan spread his fingers, watching the fire dance across them.
“Only to beat you to sayin’ it!”
“I just think it wouldn’t make sense fer there to be only one element what heals, when there are so many ways to heal and so many kinds of injuries.”
“Healin’ with waterbendin’ involves sensin’ energy pathways, it ain’t somethin’ fer a rock thrower.”
“I sense things all the time with earthbendin’!”
“Tellin’ whether there’s a cave under us or someone approachin’ don’t count.”
“Why not?”
Stan slowly turned his hand over. The flame settled in his palm and grew larger, flickering in rhythm with his breath.
“It just don’t!”
“Well, I sense things still! Like through the banyan-grove tree. I sense all sorts of energies and connections. Just like what yer talkin’ ‘bout.”
“Everybody senses things in the swamp!”
“Yer just provin’ my point.”
“Next thing yer goin’ to say is that airbenders should heal.”
“Air is literally a necessary part of bein’ alive.”
“All right, that’s it. Stan, what do you think?”
The flame in Stan’s hand flickered out of existence as he turned to face the debating siblings. They were sitting on a rock bench (courtesy of Angie) outside the McGucket farmhouse, waiting for the Fire Sages to arrive. But to Stan’s frustration, the Fire Sages were notoriously prone to lateness. They were supposed to be there at sunrise.
It was almost noon.
“What?” he snapped irritably.
“Angie’s tryin’ to claim that every element should be able to heal,” Lute griped. He jabbed a thumb in his sister’s direction. “Tell her she’s off her rocker, will ya?”
“I dunno.”
“I think you’d know if it was possible,” Lute said confidently.
“Why?” Stan asked.
“Yer the Avatar, duh!”
“So?”
“Yer sort of the element expert.”
“I’ve only bent fire and air. And the air was just a few puffs mostly.” Stan scowled. “I’m not even an expert on my native element! They want to test me more before they decide I’ve mastered firebending.”
“They’re just bein’ cautious,” Angie assured. Stan sighed. Angie cocked her head. “Uh oh.”
“What?” Lute asked. Angie narrowed her eyes.
“Stan’s been thinkin’.”
“Uh oh,” Lute echoed. Stan glowered at them.
“What, I can’t think?” he snapped.
“We encourage you to think,” Lute said. “But when you’ve been just sittin’ ‘round thinkin’, well…”
“That ain’t a good sign,” Angie finished. Stan merely grunted, not dignifying the siblings’ conclusion with a verbal response.
“What’s on yer mind?” Lute asked. Stan grunted again. A pebble hit him in the left temple.
“Ow!”
“Talk to us,” Angie cajoled. “We’re yer team, right? Yer Team Avatar? We need to be able to talk ‘bout things!”
“I don’t really talk about things,” Stan muttered. Another pebble hit him, this time on the back of his neck. “Cut that out!”
“No, no, she’s got a point,” Lute said, standing up. “If yer not willin’ to talk, maybe we should get some sparrin’ in.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“We are a bit behind on our pro-bending practice,” Angie pointed out. A rock flew into her hand. She tossed it from hand to hand playfully. “It’d stink if we lose our next match…” Stan looked down the road in the direction the Fire Sages would be coming from. He sighed.
At least it’ll keep my mind off things.
“Fine.”
-----
A plume of dirt hit Stan in the face.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Stan coughed, waving the dust away. All he got in response was snickers from the siblings. “You can’t just throw dirt at me!”
“Yer the Avatar,” Angie teased. “Dirtbending is well within yer abilities.” Stan scowled at her. He punched a quick burst of flame in her direction. She dodged it easily. “Not a lot of heart in that one.”
“I’ve still got dirt in my eyes, sue me.”
“Really?” Lute asked. “I can wash ‘em out fer ya.”
“No, that’s- it’s fine.”
“Y’know, you could always give me a taste of my medicine,” Angie said slyly.
“Oh.” Stan crossed his arms. “I see what this is. You’re trying to get me to earthbend.”
“Or airbend, which seems more likely, given you’ve done it once ‘fore,” Angie admitted with a shrug.
“This is pro-bending training, not Avatar training,” Stan snarled.
“It can be both,” Lute suggested, preparing what Stan could tell was a water whip attack. He dodged it easily.
“You said pro-bending. We’re supposed to be training for pro-bending,” Stan insisted.
“I agree with Lute, it can be both,” Angie said.
“Fine, fuck whatever we were supposed to do,” Stan burst out. Angie and Lute’s eyes widened. “Nothing goes the way it’s supposed to anyways! Not for me!”
“Stan…” Angie said softly. But Stan was on a roll.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” The rock hovering in front of Angie and ribbon of water suspended by Lute both fell to the ground. “I wasn’t supposed to have the weight of the world on my big, dumb shoulders. I didn’t learn the- the diplomacy or have the fancy tutors. I’m not supposed to be the Avatar. I’m supposed to be the Avatar’s no-good brother.” He sat heavily on the ground. “And don’t try saying that I’ve done it before or whatever. It doesn’t fucking help. It’s not like I can contact any of my past lives. Look at me, you think I’m a spiritual guy?”
Angie and Lute exchanged a nervous look.
“Rhetorical question,” Stan mumbled. He put his chin in one hand. “I just…” He sighed. “The firebending, I can handle. It’s everything else that’s the problem.” He groaned as he remembered something. “Dammit, that’s right, I never really finished my firebending training. Guess I don’t even have the firebending down.”
“What do you mean?” Lute asked.
“Lightning,” Stan said glumly. “That’s the only part of firebending Ford could do better than me. You need to have a cool, logical mind to do it. I can’t do that. My tutors would tell me I’m too hot-blooded for the cold fire.” He looked down at the ground morosely. “It wasn’t a problem before since you can’t use lightning in pro-bending. But now…”
“Yeah.” Angie sat on the ground next to Stan. “It's a lot. Especially when you didn't think it'd ever be your responsibility.” Lute sat on Stan's other side.
“Luckily, we're here to help!” he said brightly. Stan eyed him suspiciously.
“With lightning?”
“No. The other stuff you said you didn’t know how to do.”
“You guys don't know this stuff either. And you're not exactly diplomats.” Stan suspected having a swampbender for a parent had impacted Angie and Lute's social skills. They were good with people, but very honest. In Stan's opinion, too honest for the sort of socializing Avatar business called for. Ford's tutors had taught him a sneakier mode of communication, which got extensive use at events where Ford had to be there as the Avatar.
“Then we'll learn alongside ya,” Angie said. She grinned at him, smile brighter than the Spirit Lights. “Studyin' together is more fun and more effective than doin' it alone.”
“Don't know if I agree.”
“You had tutors,” Lute said, rolling his eyes. As the Avatar's twin, Stan was schooled privately for safety reasons. “Your school experience is atypical.”
“The point,” Angie interjected, “is that it's a heavy burden to bear. But yer not doin' it alone. You've got folks willin' to shoulder it with ya.” She leaned against him. “We’ll help ya carry the weight of the world.” Lute leaned against Stan’s other shoulder.
“What she said,” he said softly. Tears unexpectedly pricked the corners of Stan’s eyes. He cleared his throat.
“That’s- that’s good,” he croaked.
“Yer not gettin’ all choked up on us, are ya?” Lute teased.
“What? No! It’s- it’s the dust your sister threw in my face,” Stan said quickly.
“Excuse me, Avatar Stan?” a voice said from behind them. Stan jumped to his feet and spun around. The Fire Sages had finally arrived. Stan hurriedly bent into a passable bow. The Fire Sages bowed as well. “We’re here for your next test.”
“Yer Honors,” Lute said, “could ya tell us how many more tests Stan has to pass ‘fore he can move on to his airbending trainin’?”
“Only a few more,” the Head Sage said. “We feel the need to be thorough, given that the Avatar before him…well, you recall what happened.” Stan winced. Even he remembered learning about the previous Avatar’s loss of control while performing a major act of firebending. Calling it a disaster was putting it mildly. “But he’s been doing well so far. We don’t foresee him failing.”
“That’s good!” Lute said cheerfully.
“Yes.” The Head Sage looked at Stan. “Go get ready for your next test.” Stan nodded. He looked at Lute and Angie. They each gave him a thumbs-up.
A little late to the punch -- January be rough -- but I did manage one angsty Stanuary contribution a little under the wire. Enjoy a Pines twin beachside conversation with Ghost Town Jersey
