a fallen star

prideful chapters || star & gretchen

dr-grundler

"Me? No," Gretchen snorted, shaking her head.

She had no problem standing in front of a crowd. There was no stage fright to her. Nothing scared her.

But--she didn't like being vulnerable in front of other people. There was nothing more vulnerable than reading poetry. She had never really been a creative, but she enjoyed reading, when she had a spare moment (extremely rarely) and poetry was easy to drop in and out of, take a quick nibble of it and flit off again, like a bird feeder.

"I like all sorts. Making my way through some of Rumi's stuff right now. What about you?" It was only polite to return the question.

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ prideful chapters ❞#❝ of passion and science ❞ — gretchen

Not here to recite poems, guess she was more interested in listening. Star could understand that! Xe were bound to find some new writers to check out here—like right now! With this ‘Rumi’ person!

“Sounds cool! I’m going through some of Sappho’s works right now,” ey replied. That was what humans called a ‘classic’, right? Or so the section she’d found it in was called. So! The other probably knew about it, maybe.

“What’s Rumi’s poems typically about?”

The ones they’d read of Sappho’s had a bit of a theme—love, if they were interpreting things correctly. It was interesting how love was portrayed, she couldn’t quite grasp the feeling just yet but! They were getting closer for sure.

⋆˚✰ @dr-grundler ⭑.ᐟ

windy paints || star & luca

As soon as Star handed over the phone, Luca shifted where they were standing so Star could easily see what they were doing.

"See, we can go into this section called Contacts. I'll put in my name and phone number, and then I can send a message to my phone. That way we can see what your phone number is, and I can add your name and then we can message each other whenever."

As they spoke, they easily matched their actions to the words. There were probably other ways to figure out her phone number, but this was the easiest.

As soon as the message came through to their phone, they held it up with a victorious expression. "See! Now both our phones show the message and we can keep talking that way. That way we can make plans."

After handing the phone back, they held up their own. "Oh, and I got a phone case for my phone. It helps a lot with keeping it safe and stopping it from cracking."

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ windy paints ❞#❝ of curiosities and droplets ❞ — luca

They leaned in slightly to look at the phone better. Luckily, it remembered not to block Luca's view while doing so. Woah... it's so strange! And if it could whenever and wherever... well, it was no wonder why humans abandoned letters! Even if it kinda wanted to try its hand at writing one.

A bright smile on hir face, ze matched Luca's enthusiasm. "Yay! So, it's always that quick? And ooo, what do all these buttons mean? The smiley face one and the..." what are those called? "... symbols?"

Star took eir phone back with joy, pressing the buttons ey mentioned. Woah!! So many faces!! Ooo, a tech-sticker? It sent a tech-sticker that said 'HI'.

"A phone case? Oh! Can I get a sparkly-starry one? And can I add keychains or stickers?"

⋆˚✰ @lucathedreamer ⭑.ᐟ

jump for the trees || Open

thepirateprince

Antonio’s demeanor quickly changed, finally he was connecting the dots. Xhey were a Hocus Pocus after all, just like he expected.

The hate towards Magicks was etched into his brain before he could crawl. With insults hurled about them repeatedly. It led Antonio down a dark path of poaching for decades.

Poaching gave him gratification, something he chased on a daily basis.

Although his poaching days were over his hatred still reigned over his mind.

In retaliation he gave off a few huffs and a some muttering under his breath.

“ How about you, use your disgusting little magic powers and fix it…” he spewed before looking around. “ It’s what you Hocus Pocuses are good for…”

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ jump for the trees ❞#❝ of pirates and treasure ❞ — karnage

It blinked, tilting their head. Why was he speaking so quietly? It felt less like words they might understand and more like… oh! The grumblings of a thunderstorm! Or so he’d heard. Lucky for em, he began to talk, loud enough for the star to hear.

There was a strange kind of animosity in his words, strange because neither of them knew each other. What’s a ‘Hocus Pocus’?

Maybe it was just confusion, though? Star got frustrated sometimes when they read a mystery that was too confusing… maybe it was the same thing! Best thing to do, then, was clear stuff up. Xe shook xer head.

“Oh, I can’t. My magic doesn’t work like that—it’s all about wishes! If you don’t know how to either, that’s okay! Maybe we can ask around? There might be someone who can help?”

⋆˚✰ @thepirateprince ⭑.ᐟ

jump for the trees || Open

dr-drckken

@starfellwisher

"Oh!" the receptionist said as soon as she saw the bird. She quickly pulled a walkie talkie from the desk, lifting it to her mouth as she continued looking at the bird, "Anyone available for a walk-in?"

After a second of silence a somewhat muffled voice answered back over the little radio, "What've you got?"

"A bird," she replied.

"I'll be out in a jiffy," the voice said.

The receptionist smiled, setting the walkie talkie down and turned around to get a clipboard from a stack of them. Then she got a pen, clicking it, and putting it to the paper. "Can you tell me where you found the bird? And if you saw what happened?"

#starfall #thread — ❝ jump for the trees ❞#❝ of robotics and world domination ❞ — dr drakken

For a moment, Star was only focused on how things were happening. The unspoken systems beneath the surface of… the vet’s! It blinked at the question but quickly spurred into action.

“Oh, we found them at the park—in one of the nests of the trees! Don’t know what happened to cause the injury but we got them down by using a ladder!”

Quick and simple! The best way to make sure everyone knew what happened. Still, the fallen star glanced over at their doctor (not animal doctor)/partner in crime. Just in case there was more to add. Xer gaze returned to the receptionist after a few too many seconds.

“Will they be okay?”

⋆˚✰ @dr-drckken ⭑.ᐟ

English Country Garden || Jar

Jess let out a delighted and amused laugh at the tumble of questions that spilled out of the young person next to her at the idea of the lantern festival. It was a lovely one, but she hadn't realized she would have landed so perfectly.

"It's any kind of wishes people think of. The lanterns are made out of paper, and everyone decorates them with symbols of their specific wish before lighting it and releasing it over the lake. The lake doesn't have any specific wish granting powers as far as I know, but the festival itself is beautiful and its a great time for people to come together. You'll see the posters around town as we get closer to it, so you'll have to make sure to come."

As they spoke, she finished settling the mulch in around the plants and sat back on her heels. "There, that should be enough to get the garden set up for a little while."

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ english country garden ❞#❝ of misunderstandings and performing ❞ — jessica

Any kind of wish... The fallen star listened carefully as if the words held enough weight to last a lifetime. And to em, it sure felt like it would. Still, there was one part he'd gotten hung up on.

Did no one have wishing magic here?

That thought tumbled into many others—why the lake specifically? Did people share wishes? Was it symbolic for something—

But, of course, before any could reach the other's ears, she moved on. A return to why xe'd actually popped up here.

"Really? Yay! What's the next step? Is it fun?"

⋆˚✰ @notbad-justsungthatway ⭑.ᐟ

windy paints || star & luca

There was a moment where Luca blinked in confusion at the question. After so long surrounded by humans, constantly hiding their own questions and gaps in knowledge, they'd nearly forgotten how strange so many things could be.

But almost instantly, they felt a rush of pure affection for Star. Star wasn't an elf, they knew that much. But he'd come from somewhere else and was now here and figuring things out.

It was hard. It was amazing. Luca only wanted to be her friend even more.

"Oh, I can show you! Basically its a way for your phone to talk to my phone and only my phone. I can show you? If I can borrow your phone for a moment?"

@starfellwisher

There was a way to do that? For phones to communicate with each other and only each other? With just a number? Now, that sounded like magic! Nodding along, it quickly took out its phone from its pockets. The thing was a few models behind. Maybe some more than a few, actually…

“Yeah, okay! Show me. Oh, also, are there any tricks to keep the mirror-thing from cracking?”

Luckily, Star hadn’t dropped the thing yet or stepped on it or sat on it or—point was! It was the same as before. But it felt too much like a mirror, which meant it definitely would break if dropped and that was bad. Probably. Maybe?

“Here!” A click signified the ‘unlocking’ of the mirror-thing (she learnt to add some words as the magic opening spell!) and with that, the phone was ready for Luca to do the phone magic. Number magic? Cool magic!

⋆˚✰ @lucathedreamer ⭑.ᐟ

princess-ting-ting

Moo Moo, Where Are You? || Open

princess-ting-ting

Matilda nodded.

“Moo Moo eat… Moo Moo grow!”

She threw her hands up in the air to really emphasize her point. Ting recognized the words; she told Matilda the same thing when she wanted Matilda to eat her vegetables. Matilda was usually not a fussy eater, but sometimes she was just more interested in everything else going on.

One thing about Matilda was that she was actually quite good with new people. She seemed to find them endlessly interesting and plodded after this stranger with ease.

Ting-Ting followed closely, offering the new person a smile.

“Thank you — I appreciate the patience with her.”

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ moo moo where are you? ❞#❝ of responsibility and cleverness ❞ — ting ting

At the child’s words, Star nodded with utmost seriousness. Cows did need to eat to grow. Just like every living being on the planet! Wasn’t that so cool?

And that seemed like enough to get the child and her parent to join them! In the search. It glanced over at her with slight confusion but his usual smile remained in place.

“You’re welcome! She’s nice and very caring! Looking after Moo Moo like this.”

Even if she’d lost the poor cow, she was making up for it now. Xe hummed as xe scanned the area. Nothing. Hm, hm! She crouched down to see if Moo Moo was playing hide and seek here…

⋆˚✰ @princess-ting-ting ⭑.ᐟ

English Country Garden || Jar

"Mostly they are more formal dances, but some people will hold cultural dances if they get inspired. It's up to the people in town to decide what they wanted to hold.

She'd thought about doing something to celebrate the food and culture of Brazil a little bit more obviously, but she always backed own. It didn't feel ike there were enough of them around to make it worth it. She'd rather use her limited celebrity to get people back into the Court of Miracles over separate a country she'd never seen.

"Some of the events in town might be themed around plants, like the opening of our new community garden here in town. My favorite is probably the Lantern Festival in July. Everyone comes together to decorate lanterns and make a wish before releasing them over the lake. It's lovely."

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ english country garden ❞#❝ of misunderstandings and performing ❞ — jessica

Depends on the person, huh… How would you know what was a cultural dance and what wasn’t? “Have you done a cultural dance to any of them? What culture?”

While questions continued to buzz around in the back of hir mind about dances and such, they quickly came to a halt at the description of the lantern festival. A festival of wishes!! In July!! Well, of lanterns but! You made wishes in the lanterns! So kind of a wishing festival!!

His excitement was almost like seeing a switch flip in eir mind. Sparkles danced around eir eyes as questions began flowing without sign of stopping.

“A wish? What kinds of wishes? Do they ever come true? Is it only one wish or as many wishes as you can come up with? Does the lake have any wish-granting properties? What do the lanterns look like? Do you put your wishes inside the lanterns—”

Eventually, their breath caught up with the questions and it was made to pause. Though the questions never stopped whizzing around in their mind.

⋆˚✰ @notbad-justsungthatway ⭑.ᐟ

prideful chapters || star & gretchen

dr-grundler

The person started yapping at her.

Gretchen tried not to feel too perturbed about this. Clearly they were just friendly. And if you were sitting with someone at a table, it was only polite to strike up some kind of conversation. She was from the South, and despite her best efforts, she was used to unsolicited yapping. It made her relatively decent at idle conversation.

Though--

Why was this person here if they didn't know what it was?

"It's a poetry reading..." Gretchen said. "People are going to read poetry." She tried not to say it like this person was stupid...but tried is the operative word in that sentence.

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ prideful chapters ❞#❝ of passion and science ❞ — gretchen

The tone the other had with her answer flew completely over Star’s head and they only nodded with a bright smile. So that was why those kind ones had pushed them inside! Who knew finishing a poetry book (an anthology or so the title claimed) would get it a fun event too.

“Ohhh, I see! Are you going to read poetry—like in front of everyone? Out loud?”

Star didn’t have very much to offer the reading, but maybe she could read out some of the anthology. There were a few poems that stood out to me so maybe…

“What poems are you into?”

⋆˚✰ @dr-grundler ⭑.ᐟ

windy paints || star & luca

"A crackle...that's a good word for it," Luca said thoughtfully, giving a small nod.

After all, things didn't really crackle under the ocean. If they did, it meant something was very wrong and everyone should clear the area if there was any time to do so. On the surface, it was a much more common experience. Wouldn't it be fascinating to find out why?

They giggled a little bit at the idea of winning a prize. They didn't really need a prize. They'd already had a good time today, much better than they'd thought, so why would they need a prize?

Except..."Do you, um, want to trade phone numbers? So we can hang out again? That feels like a good prize."

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ windy paints ❞#❝ of curiosities and droplets ❞ — luca

Their smile didn’t quite falter when Luca decided upon a prize. Somewhere closer to being like a blink of confusion. That wasn’t the first time that word had come up and, by now, it had learnt a bit more about the book—er, device. Wasn’t difficult to find but difficult to figure out.

So many types and so many buttons… unluckily, money was a bit of a problem. Luckily, there were these things called ‘pawn shops’. Didn’t have any chess pawns but selling things there was easy peasy. That had been, like, a few days ago.

“Sure! But where do you find a ‘phone number’? Mine doesn’t have any numbers on it—except for the calculator and calendar things. Is that what you mean?”

⋆˚✰ @lucathedreamer ⭑.ᐟ

prideful chapters || star & gretchen

dr-grundler

Gretchen didn't have plans for her day off, but she hated sitting around. If she was at home, she was studying. The day had been nice, so she'd wandered the farmer's market, noticed the advert for the poetry night and decided to check it out.

She liked the bookshop at once. It was cozy and smelled like old books. All the chairs and books were mismatched, clearly all mostly secondhand. And she even liked seeing the occasional floating book as a ghost moved back and forth. It reminded her of home. (Charleston was very haunted.)

Gretchen sunk into that homesickness--

Until someone spoke and turned her head. "Oh, uh--yeah, sure," Gretchen said. She would've preferred to sit alone, but it was pretty crowded and she didn't need to be a dick.

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ prideful chapters ❞#❝ of passion and science ❞ — gretchen

It seemed like Star had woken her up from some daydream. What kind, they weren’t too sure. The other’s reaction didn’t give much away in that regard. How unfortunate!

“Thanks! So, do you know what’s going on here?”

It quickly took a seat at the table, looking ahead at… whatever was happening. Ze had never seen anything like it in hir however many months since getting here. It’d be fun figuring it out, though! Everything else had been so fun so far! This was sure to be the same, mhm!

“It looks cool, wonder what they’re getting ready to say on stage…” she mumbled, more to herself than the other, but it was more than loud enough to hear. Xe hadn’t quite figured out the appropriate volume level for this place. Humans had so many rules about that sorta thing.

⋆˚✰ @dr-grundler ⭑.ᐟ

jump for the trees || Open

dr-drckken

@starfellwisher

Drakken kept his arms outstretched as he continued to hold the bird as far away from himself as he possibly could, eyes locked on it to see if it was going to start trying to peck at him or something. He'd seen the Hitchcock film! He'd been to the beach with food! He'd been in the home of an older woman with a parrot that only liked her and hated all other humans! He knew the evils birds were capable of!

Puddles jumped up, leaning his front paws on Drakken's leg in an effort to try and get a better look at the bird, nose sniffing the air.

Thankfully the stranger was quick and he was more than happy to let them take the bird back into their custody.

"Yep, this way. It's a bit of a hike," he said, leaning down to scoop the poodle into his arms. As much as he loved the dog, Puddles' little legs didn't make for as fast of a pace as the bird probably needed.

Drakken led the stranger and bird through Swynlake and to the farmlands to the vet, who looked after the small animals of the town and the larger animals of the farms. He held the door open to the front office for them, and then stepped in after, greeting the receptionist with the familiarity of a man who had been there a few times. Of course he had, since Commodore Puddles had been a patient of the practice for a while now.

"Got a live one," he said making her dark brows arch.

"What?" she asked, standing from her chair to peer over the desk.

Drakken motioned to the stranger and the bird in hand.

#starfall #thread — ❝ jump for the trees ❞#❝ of robotics and world domination ❞ — dr drakken

Oh, a hike! Star had read about those. They nodded along, though, his eyebrows furrowed with concern. Would it be too long? No, no, it was fine! Just get to the animal doctor and then the bird would be alright. No time for doubts!

“Alright! Lead the way!”

With renewed vigour, the fallen star followed the other to the vet. It stuck by pretty close, occasionally going ahead before slowing down again to let the other lead. The vet, as described by the ‘hike’, seemed far away. Too far, really. Did no one else want to be a vet living closer by?

The reception was strange. It didn’t feel half as nature-like a place for animals should be. Or, xe guessed, xe assumed it’d be. In a bit of a daze looking around, it almost missed the signal (motion?) to step forward. Right! More important things!

“Please help!”

Ae lifted up the bleeding bird for her to see. Just a glance would be enough, right? Unless they were busy… with other injured animals??

⋆˚✰ @dr-drckken ⭑.ᐟ

English Country Garden || Jar

"No, we didn't. It was a small apartment, so there wasn't space for a garden. That's part of why I wanted to move here - so there would be plenty of space for flowers of all kinds."

As her mother had struggled to leave the house more and more, having a good place for her to be had been important to Jess. Finally being able to afford it had felt like a minor miracle and she never stopped being grateful for the way her life had changed. Her mother might be gone, but the garden was still here.

"I don't know if this counts as a place, but we hold a lot of fun events around town. Picnics and dances and events at the cinema, all kinds of things like that. If you want to meet people, the events are a wonderful place to start."

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ english country garden ❞#❝ of misunderstandings and performing ❞ — jessica

A small apartment… the concept made sense but what was ‘small’ exactly? Small like only one bedroom? Small like two bedrooms but everything else so cramped it felt like a cage? There were so many possibilities—why was language so specific but also so vague??

Still, the fallen star nodded along. The conversation had moved on way too quickly, before she could really figure it out. Oh, well, a new puzzle was just as fun.

“Dances? What kinds—is it a…” what was the word again? The one about different human societies… started with a k? No, wait, the other letter that made that sound, uh— “…cultural thing? What are your favourite events? Oh, have there been any with plants?”

Before he could break the ‘less than 5 questions’ rule, they clamped their mouth shut. Okay, good! Four questions total. The rest would have to buzz around in its brain for a bit longer.

⋆˚✰ @notbad-justsungthatway ⭑.ᐟ

prideful chapters || star & gretchen

#starfall #thread — ❝ prideful chapters ❞#❝ of passion and science ❞ — gretchen

Star wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten here. One moment they were reading a book outside like usual, the next a few residents ushered them inside here. Something about there ‘still being room’ and ‘no need to wait outside’? Either way, it sounded like fun so ey didn’t really do anything to stop them.

Now that they were inside, though, it was kinda really, super surprising how it had missed this beforehand. How nice of those strangers to show him inside! Now… oh, right! They said it was starting soon. Whatever ‘it’ was.

A table to sit at—oh! That one looks kinda free.

There was another person sitting there but everywhere else had at least three so close enough, right? Yep! That sounded about right! Besides, the fallen star wasn’t exactly planning on doing whatever this is alone anyways!

“Hi! Can I sit here? Everywhere else is pretty full.”

For good measure, Star waved at her with its biggest smile. That was sure to work, right? It had to!

⋆˚✰ @dr-grundler ⭑.ᐟ

windy paints || star & luca

Luca loved to watch other people paint. They loved to watch people do most things if they were entirely honest, finding joy and fascination in all the little differences that made one person unique in how they approached any problem over anyone else.

Paint bloomed over the canvas in an explosion of colors that managed to be both joyful and just a little bit wild. It was almost never the colors Luca chose, but that only made it better.

"It looks amazing! I love it!" Luca gushed instantly, staring at it with a grin.

"Um, joy? Excitement? Something like that? It feels like a very happy painting and it has lots of energy." Which matched the little they'd seen of their new friend so far.

@starfellwisher

#starfall #thread — ❝ windy paints ❞#❝ of curiosities and droplets ❞ — luca

It was pretty easy to see the joy return to their friend’s face after the painting was done (maybe during it too? Star wasn’t really paying attention). Was painting their emotions that scary? Must’ve been… wonder what emotion it could’ve been… No, no, Star! No getting off track!

“Thank you! It was very fun!!”

Maybe ae should try painting this again sometime. Oh but where would ey keep everything… hmmmm… Questions for another time! Xe turned back to xer friend and their guesses. Hmm, it felt more like a ‘crackle!’ to me, but that’s not an emotion, is it?

Instead, it nodded along. “Yes! Crackle of excitement!” That sounded most right. “You win the game—hm, games have prizes… what prize do you want?”

⋆˚✰ @lucathedreamer ⭑.ᐟ

jump for the trees || Open

dr-drckken

@starfellwisher

Drakken took a few steps back after the stranger had climbed back up, bag in hand, to get a better vantage point and watch what they were doing. At his feet, Puddles peered up at his owner and then sat down to mirror him, though his attention flitted around the park, drawn to one movement to the next as they happened.

As soon as the person started to descend Drakken's eyes squinted, bracing for something to go awry as they tried to carry the animal and hang on to keep their balance. Before he could comment on their attempt, wanting to correct their obvious mistakes, they were telling him to come take the bird from them.

He frowned. Why did he have to do that? Why couldn't they have put the bird in the bag and carried them down that way? An annoyed breath left him through his nose.

"Fine! Fine, fine," he said eventually, and walked forward to stand beside the ladder. Drakken held his hands above his head, as high as he could get, and waited for them to pass the little creature along.