𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 — feeding time

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 "𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 you have twenty pounds of Alabaster coal." Were the first words Arken muttered, his grubby and sweaty hands clamping down on Jesper's boney shoulders; clearly he didn't share the same elation at Jesper's presence as the crows did.

 The lanterns around them were similar to those found on the usual skiffs; pale blue and dull enough as to not attract the attention of the Volcra. Aleksa shivered at the thought, she could already hear their cries, and they'd only grow louder.

 Jesper scratched the back of his neck, twirling a crimped curl as he chuckled nervously. He could almost feel Kaz's disapproving sneer burning a hole into his prized tweed jacket, "Slight snag in the plan," he removed the coat, hoping it'd relieve him of Kaz's stare. It didn't. "Turns out the kid who was helping me buy the coal didn't exactly know how to... uh... buy coal."

 The end of his sentence sounded more like a question than a statement; Jesper was as bad a liar as he was a gambler and drinker. His words did little to convince any of them, even Cas gave an indigent caw at the boy who shuffled through the train, craning his neck to refrain from headbutting various pieces of very sharp metal.

 "We know you gambled it away," Kaz stated, his voice lowering with each word yet Jesper still wouldn't meet his eyes. It was never the rage that repelled Jesper from meeting Kaz's bitter stare; it was the disappointment. The reminder that he would see the very same thing from his father if he ever grew the balls to see him again.

 "I lost some of the money." Jesper sighed as he slumped onto one of the makeshift seats, his tailbone throbbing almost immediately. He looked at Kaz then, and his lies got caught in his throat... Worst of all, it wasn't just the look on Kaz's face that was in his view, but Aleksa's too. Her lips were tugged down more in concern than anything else, and that was enough for guilt to begin to bubble in his gut, "Alright... I lost all of it. I gambled it all, okay?" He drew his eyes to the ground, "I'm sorry."

 He didn't meet either of their eyes as he nodded to the cream-coloured sack that was streaked with mud, "I managed to steal twenty pounds of Alabaster coal, though."

 Aleksa, who was closest to the bag, plucked it from the ground and tossed it haphazardly towards Arken who fumbled to catch it, he frowned as it landed in his sweat-slicked palms, "No, no, no. This is sixteen pounds."

 Jesper shrugged, "Sixteen pounds of Alabaster coal."

 Aleksa let out a heavy sigh as she stalked closer to the makeshift metal seat that Inej was perched upon. The wraith had withdrawn one of her knives, the one with a black hilt. She twirled it expertly with her fingers as a distraction from the disaster around them.

 Aleksa wished she could reach out and manipulate the shadows as a source of comfort, but Arken would likely either have a heart attack, throw her from the train, or try to stuff her into the sack and sell her to the highest bidder. The relief she had felt from using the shadows to cloak Jesper was indescribable.

 It felt comforting to use the only thing that had been by her side throughout her entire life; it made the skin buzz and glow with a soft sheen as though she'd spent the day basking in the heat of the summer sun. It made her feel stronger, energised. Now, sitting in the dull blue light of the train, she felt drained.

 The Fold and what it housed petrified her, and now they didn't even have enough coal to make the damn journey.

 "Can we do it on sixteen?" Kaz questioned the conductor, as ever he was willing to scrape the very bottom of the barrel to accomplish this heist; he just didn't know when to quit.

 Arken pottered around the train, his grubby fingers tweaking and turning dials, pushing buttons and checking every inch of the creaking contraption, he spared Kaz a meaningful glance, "It's never been done before..." He almost seemed ready to call it quits, but with a stern look from Kaz, the Conductor deflated and pointed to the space bedside Jesper, "Sit here. Never shift your weight."

 Aleksa remained as stiff as a statue, her eyes clamped shut as her head lolled back, resting against the cool side of the train. Her heart was thudding a mile a minute and for a second she very much contemplated warning Kaz that it might jump out and slap him in the face.

 She remained silent, however. There was too much to ponder; would they get torn apart by Volcra? Would Aleksa have to sit idle as she watched people get torn limb from limb, only this time, it'd be people she cared for. Would they make it on just sixteen pounds of coal or would they stop short of the edge of the fold and have to make a run for it?

 It felt as though she was underwater; her ears unhearing as everything became muffled. She needed to get a grip; this wasn't her, even Kaz had said as much and yet here she was trembling like a child who had awoken from a nightmare.

 Something poked at her calf and as the sound slowly thrummed back into her ears, she cracked an eye open only to see Kaz retracting his cane with a disgruntled look as Cas settled on his shoulder. Their eyes met and she could feel her chest heaving as she brought herself above the surface.

 Kaz, on the other hand, recognised those tell-tale signs of somebody spiralling beneath the harsh waves that threatened to beat and drown you. He could recall the copious times where skin had brushed against him and bile had risen in his throat, times where he'd wake with a start whilst the morning sky was still as dark as the Fold, his chest would heave with raspy and uneven breaths. He would choke and cough as though water had filled his lungs again. He knew how it felt to drown.

 He nodded at her, and she nodded back, though it was not without a heavy bob of her throat. He could see her fingers trembling still, her nails digging into her knees, but she was afloat, and that's what he needed.

 He found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her own wide ones, almost as hard as tearing Jesper away from a table still stacked with cards and coins. He watched Arken move about with interest, memorising everything the rotund man did, just in case.

 The Conductor stood and wiped a heavy bead of sweat from his forehead before he moved to roll his sleeves. The skin of his wrists was marred with almost a dozen lines that had each scarred over; a telltale sign that he'd crossed the Fold multiple times and lived to tell the tale.

 It should have been more comforting, to know that the man who was escorting them across the Fold had done it successfully numerous times before; and perhaps it would have been... Had Jesper provided them with the correct amount of coal. In all honesty, as Aleksa stared at the furnace Arken slumped beside, she contemplated stripping down and offering her clothes up as a sacrifice, anything to get across the damn Fold in one piece... Though Kaz would likely puncture her lungs with his cane if she destroyed his coat.

 "You've crossed that many times?" Inej asked in utter disbelief as she stared at the bumps on his arm, each scar glistening in the dull blue light.

 Arken shrugged, his pointer finger trailing over the raised lines, "It's a numbers game. Cross this often and you get nightmares."

 Aleksa slumped further; she had crossed just once and had nightmares, she couldn't possibly imagine the monsters her mind would create had she crossed a dozen times.

 She almost vaulted out of her skin as an earth-shaking BOOM! thundered from outside their metal death trap, but it was the screams and shouts of terror that made her bolt upright once more, her eyes plunging to Arken who met her stare and spoke with indifference, "Landmines."

 Kaz's eyes hardened, "You said they weren't real."

 "I said nothing of the sort. I just said that I put the sign up myself."

 Aleksa met Kaz's eyes and she knew that he was thinking the very same thing as she; I don't trust him. It had just been a feeling at first — an off-putting one.  Arken had refused to meet their eyes, only begrudgingly doing so with Kaz. He'd tried to opt out of the heist multiple times, and once Kaz had joined Aleksa and Inej at the memorial, he'd filled her — just her — in with some information.

 The Bastard of the Barrel had stayed behind after catching sight of Arken moving through the crowd with purpose. People of all shapes and sizes had gathered after a General from the West had begun to preach and praise independence; that the Fold had done them a favour.

 Kaz had muttered that Arken had followed behind the General with a sly smile alighting his plump cheeks; he hadn't heard their conversation, but what on earth did a Western General want with a man that smuggled Grisha from the Little Palace?

 Now it seemed as though Aleksa's off-handed joke about being blown up might not have been all too far from the truth. Neither Summoner nor Bastard trusted Arken as far as they could throw him... Then again, Aleksa wasn't all that sure that Kaz Brekker trusted anyone, even her.

 "We're all going to die," Aleksa murmured to herself; if the lack of coal and the frightening Fold wasn't enough to secure such a fact, then the lack of communication from Arken — who seemed to delight in keeping life-threatening information from them —was.

 The first fragment of coal was tossed into the furnace, and with a jolt, the train sparked to life and immediately began to move. It creaked and groaned with every jolt and Aleksa dug her nails even further into her knees, sure to draw blood.

 Her skin began to buzz, though not in the way it did when the shadows bowed at her feet, this was like the stinking of wasps rather than the caress of electricity; like poison was being flooded into her veins.

 The others had easily noticed when they had finally disappeared into the darkness of the Fold, but Aleksa became paralysed by it. The feeling of dread washed over her as though someone had tossed a bucket of ice water onto her pretty head of hair.

 The hairs on her arms stood on end, and though the sensation made her skin crawl and made goosebumps erupt, she still had to carefully pluck Kaz's coat from her body as her forehead erupted with a cold sweat.

 She felt like she was going to pass out, or vomit... Or both.

 Kaz had kept his eyes on the Shadow summoner the entire time. He had noticed every flex of her fingers and the way her rings glinted with every jolt of the groaning train. He had watched as her lips parted to suck in fresh mouthfuls of air, the way her chest rose and fell with every harsh breath.

 Her eyes had been clamped shut the entire time and her long coal-coloured lashes rested on her high cheekbones that lacked their usual flush of pink. Her skin had paled considerably, and beneath the dull and pale blue light, she almost looked sickly; the keyword being almost, for even Kaz Brekker didn't think it possible for Aleksa to ever look sickly.

 Her clunky boot tapped against the metal grating that covered the floor, each noise sent a jolt through Jesper who twitched at his side.

 It seemed that whilst Aleksa had been insistent on burning holes into his pale skin back in the carriage, it was his turn. He convinced himself that it was merely a means of precaution, that he could simply be ready to shoot her a glare or smack her leg with his cane if she dared to move... But he had been lying to himself.

 His gloved fingers tapped lazily on the gleaming crow-headed cane, the one Aleksa hated so damn much.

 She had to have noticed his stare, it wasn't subtle nor light, hell even Inej had cocked her head in question yet never uttered a word as she continued to spin a knife in her hands.

 She had noticed, and though Aleksa wished to crack her eyes open and offer her Bastard a lopsided grin, she couldn't bypass the churning of her stomach and the feeling of dread trailing the length of her spine. The holes burning into her face were a distraction and she didn't want to risk him stopping; she lavished in it.

 It was almost like a game of cat and mouse between Dirtyhands and the Barrel's living Shadow; Aleksa loved to irritate Kaz in the ways she knew best, she would flirt and flutter those damn lashes of hers until he had to turn away and feign irritation.

 He would curse his beating heart and the flesh that covered his body for betraying him in such a manner as a shade of pink spilled on his cheeks; it was easy to play off. It was easy for his voice to lower or raise in falsified anger, a justification for the flush that liked to erupt here and there.

 She adored draping herself over his chair, lounging in his clothes that she'd somehow manage to pinch. But the times he seemed unable to hide or deny the craving in his heart was when she'd simply perch upon the window seat of his office with a book held in one hand, whilst the fingers on her other hand twirled in the air, twisting the shadows like a spoon through fresh tea.

 It was... Enthralling.

 She was the only person who made Kaz wonder whether he was the cat, or the mouse.

 "Oh, Saints." Aleksa breathed; her voice finally jolting him out of his thoughts.

 He almost cleared his throat, but instead settled for blinking away his dazed and rolling his shoulders back, sure that there was apt room between himself and the Sharpshooter who had yet to remove his hands from the pistols at his waist.

 A metallic clang had rung throughout the train and Aleksa couldn't help but further push her nails into the fabric of her trousers. She had switched from her knees to her palms and now her thighs; she was going to have crescent moons branding the entirety of her body if they didn't get through the bleak hell soon enough.

 Kaz asked the question she was too busy assaulting her legs to ask, "What was that?"

 "I've erected a system of timers along the line," Arken began, though he made no effort to lift his eyes from the book he was flicking through, instead he waved a dismissive hand, "Bits of metal hung on a pole to keep me apprised of our pace."

 "How did you know where to put the poles?"

 "Physics and engineering account for most of my success," Arken spoke, finally lifting his head from the pages of his book, though one finger remained firmly planted on the page, twitching slightly as though he wished for nothing more than for them all to fall into silence.

 Aleksa didn't really want the answer to her question, but she was nothing if not curious, and utterly relentless. Her voice was starkly different compared to how she usually spoke; the once loud and bright tone that often held a teasing edge had been replaced with a meek, trembling and hoarse mutter, "And the rest of your 'success'?"

 "What we might call divine intervention," He was enjoying this, that much was certain of his lips twitched at the sight of Aleksa slumping further into her seat whilst muttering something along the lines of 'great, we really are dying here.' Jesper's hands were firmly grasping at his pistols and Inej was clinging to the hilt of her knife as though it'd magically transport her to their destination.

 Arken shrugged and lazed back whilst his voice darkened, "After all, the Fold is thick with Volcra —" Kaz didn't miss the way Aleksa's breath hitched, "and the tracks are not complete. Coal, please..."

 "Excuse me?"

 "I'm sorry. Did you say the tracks weren't complete?" Both Aleksa and Jesper chimed at once whilst Kaz threw a chunk of crumbling coal towards Arken who tossed it into the crackling furnace, watching as the flames swallowed it whole.

 Aleksa really wished she hadn't heard the man correctly, but when Jesper had bolted upright in his seat, she knew she had heard him perfectly; the mere mention of Volcra had her leg bouncing faster and her heart thudding louder, but knowing that the tracks they were travelling on weren't even finished? She really was going to vomit.

 "No, I said the tracks aren't complete." Arken corrected Jesper who blinked once, twice and then a third time before he moved to stand.

 "What — "

 "— No moving," Arken snapped and Jesper at least had the sanity to listen to the man as he slumped back down, hands gripping onto his pistols as though they were a lifeline. Arken nodded to himself as Jesper scowled in his seat, and he directed his attention to Kaz, "We're a tad late. More coal."

 Aleka was of the same mind as Jesper, though she didn't dare make a move to stand, "I'm sorry, what's the point of coal and timing cues if we aren't even on complete tracks?"

 Her voice had risen at the end, her usual self shining through as something more akin to anger finally flushed her cheeks.

 "Yes there's a gap but —"

 "— A gap?" Jesper cried as he planted his head in his hands, peeking between his fingers to offer Arken a nasty scowl, "How much of a bloody gap?!"

 Even Kaz who did his best to remain calm was slowly losing his patience with Arken. he neglected to share so many details that Kaz was beginning to wonder if he should give Aleksa the go-ahead and let her shadows swallow him whole, "You said you could get us through."

 "I built slats on the car. They roll into place under the wheels and the turbine generates enough wind to push us all the way to the eastern track. As long as we don't shift our weight." Arken directed a pointed look towards a very twitchy Jesper whilst he tossed his book to the side and checked his watch, "Now, the noise may attract Volcra but it's the only way across."

 Aleksa seized at the mention of the Volcra, her side erupting in a mind-numbing pain as she exhaled a shaking breath; only to realise that her lungs refused to take new oxygen. Her heart was pounding, her mind was growing fuzzy and she felt like she was suffocating.

 Her hand darted out blindly, and her finger caught the edge of Inej's knife yet she felt nothing more than a dull sting as she grappled to hold Inej's hand, "I can't breathe."

 Inej lowered her voice as she tightened her hold on her friend. She ignored the stickiness of the blood that slipped from Aleksa's finger as she muttered, "We'll be fine."

 "That's what everybody else thought last time."

 Inej didn't know what she could say to that; for while Arken was the one with the most experience regarding the vast black expanse of the Fold, he was not the only one to have persevered through.

 Aleksa felt as though with every stuffy breath she took, the screeches of the Volcra grew louder; as though sensing her and the power at her fingertips. What was it Aleksander had always said? Like calls to like.

 No amount of reassuring whispers could soothe her, though she certainly did praise Inej for trying. Even the Wraith's hands shook; both girls sat with hands intertwined, shaking like leaves, and Jesper was no better off.

 A particularly loud growl echoed into the train and chilled their bones; his hands shot to his hair, tugging at the wonderfully messy curls in pure horror. Kaz's hand tightened on his cane, and with a swift movement, he shrugged his shoulder and the feathery beast that had perched on him fluttered its wings and soared towards Aleksa and settled into her lap with a single caw.

 The Summoner's hands shot to his feathers, soothing the ruffles until each raven feather laid flat.

 Another rattling shriek echoed through the cart and Arken visibly paled, "Well, now we've got a problem."

 The man darted to and fro within the train; apparently his rule about staying absolutely still and never shifting weight wasn't as important as he claimed it to be, and Aleksa was reminded that she really hated the man. He was nothing short of a fool. He left out details, he held his cocky self on a pedestal and thought himself better than the lot of them... And he clearly hadn't planned for Volcra to come and claim their dinner.

 "How exactly do you fight them off?" Inej muttered, her hand tightening on Aleksa's as her eyes remained firmly clamped shut.

 "I outrun them. Open the throttle and toss in all the coal... Which works when there's twenty pounds of it!" Arken yelled, his face a vibrant red — eerily akin to a tomato — as he spun to point a grubby finger at Jesper who was far too busy panicking to care.

 It was the worst day of Aleksa's life, she had decided as yet another horrific screech tore at her eardrums; though this time everything was made even worse — something she hadn't thought possible — when a loud thud shook the entire train.

 None of the crows needed to look to Arken for answers; it was easy and terrifying enough to put the pieces together themselves; a Volcra had managed to impale itself whilst swooping down at its prey. Aleksa had to hold back a shudder as blood spilled into the train, missing her arm by a mere hair.

 "The stupid thing had impaled itself on a spike!" Arken called out.

 "Yes, we got that, thank you." Aleksa muttered harshly, wishing for nothing more than to slap the man, or perhaps watch him get eaten by one of the Volcra.

 Kaz shifted in his seat, yet didn't make a move to stand as he narrowed his eyes on Arken, "Get it off, the others will stand on it!"

 "More coal!" Arken yelled and Kaz dipped his hand back inside the sack of coal, only to come up empty.

 "We're down to fumes! We won't make it with this extra weight!"

 Arken snatched the bag from him, not quite catching the withering glare that Kaz sent his way as he tossed the bag into the furnace. The flames swallowed it whole and billowed for a moment before steadily growing smaller; light dying in the train.

 Jesper, face slick with sweat and pure terror, whispered to himself, "This is how we die?"

 His eyes were dazed, as he stared into the flickering flames within the furnace; he almost wanted to jump out and see if they'd be able to sprint the rest of the way; he had long legs, he could do it. 

 A Volcra screeched and he sank into his seat. 

 He couldn't do it.

 Aleksa was beyond panic at this point; everything was blurring and merging into one. The flames were too bright, the train too dark. Her palms were covered in sweat and unbeknownst to her, tears trailed down her cheeks. She couldn't even feel Inej's crushing grip on her hand anymore. Everything was numb and silent.

 She'd never get to return to the Little Palace and see her brother again. She'd never galavant in the streets of Ketterdam as though she were going mad again. She would never be able to charm drinks out of Joe, or coins out of Dimitri. She'd never see Inej's wonderful face again, or walk arm in arm with Jesper as they cackled at something silly. She'd never get to see that rare flush that caressed Kaz's magnificent cheekbones ever again.

 "Jesper grab the goat!" Arken bellowed.

 Jesper recoiled as though he'd been shot with his own pistols, "I'm not throwing out the goat!"

 Aleksa, though she had most definitely come to adore the fluffy little thing, couldn't help but put her selfish thoughts forth; better the goat than us.

 Arken looked about ready to toss Jesper out, "Grab the damn goat!" He snapped as a bead of sweat slipped down his cheek, "It's not bait, it's for you! I need you to calm down. Hug the goat, shut the hell up!"

 The PING of another mark rippled through the carriage, and for a short second, the crows deflated, only for Arken to still as he faced them "We should have hit that mark twenty seconds ago..." He began to pace, fingers twitching, Aleksa was sure that his eye did too, "My timings are precise to get us outside. Even twenty seconds behind means the train stops inside the Fold... and that means... we die."

 The train continued to creak and groan as it trailed along at a slower pace than it had been, only this time, the horrific sounds of claws or talons scraping into the metal that shielded them from above permeated through their senses. The screeching of the Volcra had almost morphed into laughter as they continued to tear at the shell their prey was hiding within.

 Arken slumped back, utterly defeated. His face was red raw and had a terrible sheen of sweat soaking it. His clothes were sodden too, yet he paid no mind as he flung his head into his hands.

 There was nothing else they could do; no plan they could come up with, no lock for Kaz to pick. This is where their heist would end, and they'd die alone.

 Faraway shrieks could be heard, and Arken with a voice so dull and meek it could have come from poor old Alexei, said, "There's more coming..." He trailed off and brought his sights to Inej who clung to Aleksa just as hard as Aleksa clung to her, "You may want to make your peace."

 Inej brought her hand to her chest, it was still intertwined with Aleksa's but the mere thought of dropping each other's hold made them both shudder; they had always brought comfort to one another. They wouldn't stop now.

 Aleksa finally parted her eyes from her knees as she trembled, "No mourners..."

 Kaz wanted to move. He wanted to stand and trail over to her side, cling to her hand just as Inej was; yet there it was again, that thick feeling in the back of his throat that made him want to vomit. He couldn't do it, so he did the only thing he was capable of and opened his mouth ready to finish the motto of the crows.

 Only his words died on his tongue as the sound of footsteps echoed from beside him. Jesper had climbed to his feet, an utterly clueless goat still tucked under his arm as he twirled a pistol in his free hand. They had only ever seen such determination on the Zemeni boy's face when he first sat down to gamble.

 Jesper fired and each shot ringed loud in their ears, yet each hit its mark just as always. Volcra screeched and screamed as the bullets sunk into them, drawing more dark blood from their horrific bodies. His shots had knocked the impaled Volcra from the spike and with a grin, Jesper swapped his pistols and began firing once more.

 The swarm of shrieks steadily lessened until all fell silent and Jesper, as though he had simply knocked down a measly target, dropped the squirming goat onto the ground and sucked in a heavy breath.

 None of them spoke, only basked in the silence until Inej drifted her gaze skyward, hoping to peep through the holes Jesper had left behind, "Are they all dead?"

 Gunpowder swam in the air, and there was a slight haze around them as they left Inej's question unanswered, hoping that a beat of silence would answer for her. For a moment, their silent prayers were answered, that is, until a loud shriek shattered the silence like a brick to frail glass.

 The metal that encased them all from above was torn open with ease as one of the Volcra snapped its jaws, teeth glinting even amidst the dark. Aleksa was certain she'd soon be sporting more gashes on her skin, log black lines that oozed with blood that, tinted with the colour of wine... that is, before she would find herself in pieces floating within the Volcra's stomach.

 She wallowed in her nightmares, and it seemed that Arken was doing the same; his piercing scream rattled through her bones as he coward further into the darkness of the train; all the while his eyes lingered with terror as he stared at the towering beast.

 But once more Jesper proved himself to be the best sharpshooter they had ever come to know, for even despite the erratic thudding of his fear-stricken heart, he rose his pistol once more, inhaled a single heavy breath, closed one eye and fired. The bullet was shot from his gun, searing through the air at breakneck speed and intense precision until it collided with the Volcra's skull, sending it back into the darkness it had crawled from.

 It felt as though Inej's Saints really were looking down at them with pity, sparing them from the jaws of the Volcra and allowing their minds to rest when a familiar PING! sounded out. Aleksa released the breath that had been trapped in her throat, her heart was still pounding and her head truly felt as though it would explode... But that sound broke her free of her nightmares for just a second as she looked to Arken for confirmation.

 The Conductor caught her stare as his eyes parted from the low tick of his watch. He nodded and before any of them could say a word, the train was flooded with light, as though the Sun Summoner herself had stalked into the Fold to retrieve them.

 Aleksa slumped forwards, her head landing in the palms of her hands as her heavy and shaking breathing echoed around her. The day she had left the Little Palace had been unnerving and filled with second thoughts, her first trip through the Fold was doused in terror and blood, but what they had just accomplished? That was a nightmare.

 She peeked through her fingers, eyes softening as she glanced at Jesper as a means of thanks, knowing that Kaz would likely keep his own praise well hidden and silent and the sharpshooter winked, his cheeks flushed and skin sodden with sweat.

 "This has been the worst day of my life, and I hate you all." She muttered breathlessly, though each of the crows knew her well enough to know that her statement was a jest, free of malice and harshness.

 Inej teetered to the side, her forehead landing upon Aleksa's shoulder as she let a small bout of giggles free whilst Jesper cackled like the witches the Fjerdans believed they hunted.

 As for Kaz Brekker, even the Bastard of the Barrel allowed his spine to slump and his jaw to relax as a short smile graced his sharp features; if only for a moment.

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18-06-2022

don't forget to let me know what you think; and remember that i now require a particular number of comments and feedback before i consider releasing the next part (this is just to ensure people remain engaged and supportive, as well as to allow me to see what you all enjoyed most!)