The Past Month, Part 1

Don't worry, I'm still alive and fine.

I've been pretty silent lately. I'm sorry for that. I've been stepping away from the blog a bit to get my mind off of things. We've all been trying to get some R&R since we killed the Rake (or, more honestly, maneuvered the Rake into a position to be killed), and it's always nice to have the mental break that not blogging about the hell all our lives are provides.

Anyway, the past month has been mostly uneventful in terms of our assault on the Fears. Still, there have been thirteen people (though Gabe's usually at his own place) under the same roof for a month. There have been at least a few events worth mentioning.

The Aftermath

There's apparently been a fair amount of excitement over the fact that the Rake is dead. For some people, it's stayed dead. For others, not so much. When I mentioned that to Last, he told me to stress this the next time I wrote a post: there is absolutely no guarantee that the Rake is dead for you. Maybe it never died at all. Maybe it just died temporarily. And maybe it did die. Dimensional bleeding is really weird like that, and it can be really indiscriminate.

Anyway, in celebration, Med sent us a little gift: medallions. Thirteen medallions arrived in the mail, one for each of us. They're metal, with these holes in the middle, like a washer or some sort of Asian coin. On one side, there's something that's a sort of a take on the "three hares" design, only it has the Rake, the Black Dog, and the Manufactured Newborn instead of hares. On the other side, it reads "TRIUMPHARE TIMORE." In all honesty, I have no idea what that means, though I'm guessing it has something to do with triumph. So thanks, Med. They're beautiful.

Also, apparently our raid on the Maenad compound lead to them eventually being massacred. I feel really guilty about it. I mean, they were our enemies, and I didn't know them, and this is war now, but...it seemed unnecessary. Last doesn't share the same sentiment. "The best Maenad is a dead Maenad," he said. "That's how it goes for all of them."

"Even people working for the Slender Man? People like you and the Masks?"

"Yes. But we're different, Kenny. Never forget that. This is only temporary so that we can kill him. I don't want you to dare compare us to the rest of them again."

Janie

I finally got to meet Gabe's daughter. She came over a few days after we got back. Apparently he brings her along sometimes when Last calls a meeting and he can't get ahold of a sitter, though I think he's been bringing her more frequently for my sake. She's a cute little girl with a really rounded face and black hair. The first time she came over it was pretty long, but she must have gotten a haircut because every time since it was pretty short. I can see a bit of Gabe in her, and I wonder every time I see her what his wife must have looked like. I've been afraid to ask him, though. I get the sense it would have been a sore subject.

Apart from Gabe, Crimson and I seem to be the ones who spend the most time with her. Crimson's really good with kids. He's really fond of them, and he told me that one day, if we manage to succeed and he finds a guy he wants to spend his life with, he'd love to adopt. After seeing him with Janie, I'm sure he'd be a great father. 

She's a really big fan of animals and has all sorts of these animal toys. She really likes My Little Pony, The Littlest Pet Shop, and Pound Puppies and has a lot of toys from there. Crimson and I have played with her enough to pick up on what toys act like what. I already had a vague sense of her pony toys, but I prefer playing with the others. It was Jenny who showed my My Little Pony, and her name even sounds really similar to Janie's. It sounds stupid, refusing to play with pony toys because of that. But they remind me of Jenny, and by extension, Ryan and Dumas and everyone else I failed.

The Plan

At this point, I think I'm going to just leave you with the course of action we're going to be pursuing. Last says we're not strong enough to take down the Four Horsemen or the Fantasy Triad, and we're still using the Magi's help. He's also got plans for a lot of other Fears. Right now, the biggest options are looking like the Mother of Snakes, the Smiling Man, or the Unnamed Child. So I guess that any information anyone has on any of those three would be absolutely great.

There's more to write about the past month, so I'll see you soon.