A/N And I'm back! This time with another one-shot. While working on "Unwavering Bonds" this idea came to mind, and since I couldn't get it out of my head, I decided to write it out. R&R!

Moonlit Dreams

The bright moon glows over the quiet town of Royal Woods, its soft glow illuminating the dark night. Around it are the millions of stars floating around the sky, giving their soft light for the world to see.

A young boy gazes up into the night sky, his soft brown eyes gazing into the wild, moonlit sky. "I can feel the sands of time, passing through the hourglass."

He holds his head against his soft knees, as if trying to find solace in the adventure that is his life. For a moment, he finds a calm, openness in the quiet, as if knowing that maybe the only thing he needs to feel alive and well is the fact that he is alone. "Though I'm only a crack, in this castle of glass, hardly anything else I need to be…"

"Lincoln?"

The young man turns and looks up, at his eldest sister, her short, blonde hair glowing in the late summer moonlight.

Wordlessly, he looks away and curls his body up tighter, with his knees pressed against his soft chest, as if attempting to hide a shame that he wishes to forget.

The woman turns without another word, before sighing in defeat. "Things just haven't been the same ever since I got that acceptance letter…" She thinks, the pain of having to leave her family behind as she moves onto greater worlds burns in her chest, "But they understand, don't they? After all, they all seemed happy for me, no matter how much it hurt that I would have to go a few states over…"

After that day, the bright warmth that usually filled the Loud House began to fade, leaving a much calmer, albeit depressing, mood in its wake.

The woman silently steps over, across the small hallway and over to the across from her own, careful not to wake her resting roommate, lest the entire neighborhood awaken.

Her heart begins to beat faster, as if the night's silence hid a deeper meaning. It is as if the bonds she had created between herself and her siblings had begun to buckle and weaken. For a moment, she hesitates; she feels like a stranger to the people she calls her sisters.

Yet, with a defeated sigh, she pushes passed her fears and quietly steps into the cozy room.

"Hey, Lori." The joker cheerfully greets, her joyous demeanor is a stark contrast to her calmer older sister. Then, with a flirtatious tone, she continues, "You come here often?"

Yet, rather than answer the obvious joke of a question, the eldest sister just motions for both of them to stay quiet and follow. For a moment, it seems as if the room begins to heat up, as if the hopes and dreams of the two siblings had been reignited. Their hearts begin to beat faster with the uncertainty of the nighttime and for a moment it seems as if they would deny her lone request.

The Joker nods and places her dummy on her bed, followed by the musician carefully placing her own electric guitar in its stand, before pulling her acoustic from the one next to it. It is as if the sisters know what is about to happen.

The eldest sister breathes a soft sigh of relief, despite the disconnection that had grew over the past few days, she and her sisters still held a bond, the link that unites close-knit families.

Quietly, the trio step over the few short feet to the next room, the room of the Goth and the athlete. Once again, as she stands before the hard oak door, the woman takes a silent breath, her nervousness readily apparent to the untrained eye.

Once again, she pushes passed her fears and grabs hold the aging doorknob.

For a moment she prays that it snaps, that some insurmountable roadblock comes along to stop her. Yet even the universe knows when to relent. With a slight turn, the eldest sister enters the room of dichotomy.

It's air breathes of an eerie tranquility, of a life lived to the fullest versus a life based around endings. A normal person would not know how to deal with the conflicting thoughts, the feelings of torment and fear, as well as determination and hope.

Yet, this woman was no ordinary person, she had to live with these two children since their birth.

The two young women flinch at the arrival of their eldest sister. They stare at her for a tense moment, before the athlete speaks up, "Lori? What's going on?"

The woman does not speak and instead motions for the two to come and follow her.

Despite the long black hair covering her eyes, the Goth looks upon the athlete with begging eyes, as if waiting for her elder sister's approval before following the order.

"Ok Lori." The athlete responds, before hopping out of her bed and grabbing a small ball off the floor; a simple orange one, not unlike those that you would give to children.

The Goth follows wordlessly, and grabs a pen and some loose papers from her bedside, as if expecting to receive inspiration from the night, no matter where she would be led.

With four of her sisters in tow, the woman silently leads them to the next room, that of the home's true dichotomy, the room of the young twins.

As she had done before, she silently steps into the room. She half-expects for the two to still be up and awake, yet from their age she knows that they would both be asleep.

And so she scans her sisters' room. To her left is the more masculine of the two, the tomboy. She, surprisingly enough, sleeps soundly in her small bed. In fact, the eldest almost chuckles when she realizes that her young sister was not making a sound, but the animals she slept with did!

Yet, her desire for control trumps her desire to laugh.

To her right is the more feminine of the two, the princess, resting in a luxurious bed that by design alone may have cost more than most of the sibling's beds combined.

She is daddy's favorite all right.

The princess snores almost as loudly as the animals do; yet for some reason her rather cute demeanor seems off-putting to the woman, almost as if the child had terrorized her since birth.

Though it does take the woman a moment, she turns to her left, and faces the tomboy.

Despite her numerous pet's protests and snaps, the woman is able to shake the young child awake gently, her eyes open slowly, as if she had used up her day's supply of energy and being woken up was the last thing she needed to happen. "Lori?" she whispers, her heart starts to race, "Why are you here? You never come in here…"

All the woman does in response is motion for the tomboy to get out of bed.

After a moment of hesitation, the young girl pushes her animals aside and calmly pulls herself out of her rather filthy bed. She stretches when she hits the floor, before silently stepping over to the other sisters.

At this point, the growing group begins to whisper in curiosity,

"What is Lori doing?" The musician asks.

"Why are we awake so late?" The tomboy yawns tiredly.

"What's going on?" The joker wonders.

"Why isn't she talking?" The athlete whispers.

"Are we being quiet enough?" The Goth asks, if she were any quieter she would have to be a ghost.

The woman turns to her anxious siblings with a hard glare, effectively silencing their questions for the time being.

With that, she turns to the younger twin, the princess. Her pink clothing and clean bed give a strong contrast to her twin's rather filthy resting place. For a moment, she considers the gentle approach, just as she had done with the tomboy, yet a better and much easier, not to mention much more amusing, idea came to her mind.

She steps over to the unlocked closet and silently opens it. Her eyes come to rest upon the numerous pageant dresses that fill the closet in its entirety. No wonder the tomboy used the dresser for her own clothing.

After a few moments, the woman's eyes come to rest on a single article, a beautiful pink pageant gown, decorated with ribbons and glitter. The eldest could do a thousand actions to get her younger sister to awaken from her slumber, yet all she needed to do was touch her favorite dress, and after putting some of the tomboy's dirt on her hand, that is exactly what she does.

Almost immediately the young girl springs awake and angrily shouts, "Lori?! What the heck are you doing with my dress?!"

However, she quiets down once she notices the other sisters waiting by her door. The elder motions for the princess to follow, and she does.

The siblings part ways for the woman as she makes her way to the final room, that of the scientist and the infant.

The air in her room breathes of innocence and insanity, of the moral grey that exists within all humans… but mostly of insanity.

The scientist stands off to the side, experimenting with a vial of silvery liquid. No doubt she had not thought her experiment though or else she may not have decided that her room, with an infant mere inches away, would be a good place to conduct research during the witching hour.

The woman silently approaches the young scientist, her bare feet shuffle quietly across the bedroom floor for a few short moments, before she simply taps the young girl.

However, because of her silence, the woman causes the scientist to flinch, causing her drop the vial and spill its contents onto her containment hood. The silvery liquid wastes no time eating through her workstation… and the floor under it… and the kitchen floor below that.

"Lori! What the heck are you-" She angrily shouts, but relents when she notices her other sisters waiting for her by the door. She looks at them with annoyance, as if they had just ruined her life's work once again. "This better be good Lori, you just made me spill Fluoroantimonic Acid and I'll have to clean it up later!"

The woman, after she processes what the genius had said, simply nods, before motioning her to follow. With the eight of her siblings awoken and the tenth sleeping peacefully in her crib, she leads them to her room and allows them entry with her permission. The eldest quietly steps over to the bed of her slightly younger sister, the designer, and shakes her awake.

"Lori?" She whispers tiredly, "What's going on?" Yet, the eldest just motions for the designer to get out of bed and join the rest. After a moment of hesitation, she does so. "And why is everyone here?" Her booming curiosity is a welcome sight, especially with the nervousness the siblings feel currently.

The woman does not answer and instead motions for each of the sisters to follow her.

An air of solemnity forms around the siblings. It is as if an unknown force has begun to descend upon them, hoping to give them guidance and determination in whatever challenge came next.

The usual dichotomy of the room is broken, instead replaced by the hope of respect and honesty in whatever is to come.

Silently, the woman steps over to her open window and looks out, into the abyss of the night. The cool late summer air rushes into the room, and yet the sibling's are able to keep warm with ease. It is as if the heat of the bond is more than enough to keep them safe, despite what nature and life has decided to throw at them.

She wordlessly steps out, onto the cold, hard wood tiles of the roof. For a moment she shivers, the cold late summer air punishing her for her lack of cover, yet she does not care.

For a moment, she stands tall, letting the cool wind engulf her unprotected body as she stares out into the distance, into the vast array of lights and colors that define Royal Woods.

Nearby, she can see the busy I-75, the red and yellow and white lights are more than enough evidence to prove that even now, there are still people who have to be on the roads. For a moment she chuckles, in a few short months the Michigan weather would take hold, making sure that none of those roads would be passable for several months.

She turns and looks passed the busy roads created by urban sprawl and lets her gaze rest upon an amusement park.

On clear night just as this, one can see as far as their eyes would allow. After all, there are no overtly tall buildings around to block the gorgeous view.

The amusement park glowed with energy; no doubt the crew was celebrating their partial closure as well as the end of another successful season of fun and adventure. The woman never understood its allure, but felt no need to, after all who was she to judge?

A few miles to the park's left, passed the numerous homes and stores along highway 85, rests the soft, white sand beaches of Aloha Beach. On any given summer day, that place would be packed by the town's folk unable to afford a trip to a better beach. Tonight though, she could see a lone glow emanating from the beach center. Most likely from the annual bonfire the inn owners throw to get tourists to stay for just one more night.

After all, who wouldn't want to see the last day before Lake Michigan decides to fall apart and begin its stormy spiral?

Eight of her ten siblings stand behind her, unsure of whether or not to follow her onto the fragile roof of their home. On any ordinary night, she would turn and order them to leave her room immediately.

Yet, tonight is unlike any other night.

Instead, she turns and motions for her siblings to come and follow her, before turning back to the young man waiting at the roof's edge.

His mind is filled with random, uncertain thoughts while his shy demeanor speaks at volumes only those with an eye for detail can notice. His silvery-white hair seemingly glows in the late summer moonlight. If she did not know any better, the woman would mistake the young man for a ghost or her own grandfather.

However, despite the near-perfect blend with the night, the boy's, the Link's, orange clothing provides more than enough contrast to give the boy an unsure and fearful vibe.

In times like these, the eldest knows that all siblings had to be involved.

And so, she quietly strolls over to her young brother, each step is soft against the rigid tiling, as if she is holding back to prevent a cave-in. For a short moment, her heart beats faster, with adrenaline coursing through her young veins. Her mind races with the fear that at any moment she would have to recoil.

Yet, her fears are unfounded and she is able to sit down next to her brother, with her eyes fixated on his soft, brown, tear-filled eyes.

"Oh Lincoln…" She whispers before wiping one of the link's tears.

Wordlessly, she motions for the other siblings to come and join them, and oddly enough, they choose to respect the night's calm silence as one-by-one, they each step through the open window and onto the roof… with varying degrees of gracefulness.

Then, they each take a seat around their distraught brother.

"We're here for you…" The woman whispers, her soothing voice giving off a heat unknown to the siblings.

The link stirs for a moment, before looking up at his eldest sister with begging eyes, as if hoping to be treated with a solemn respect only given on special occasions.

"I know you feel alone…" The woman's voice meekly trails off, "And I may not know exactly what you're going through right now, but just know that we want to help you in any way we can." Her voice fills with soft determination, as if begging her brother to reveal his truth.

The link's sobs begin to die down. It is like the mere remembrance of his large family is more than enough to get him to calm down… albeit only by a small amount.

The numerous sisters sit by intently, unsure of whether or not to speak, to intervene, to build upon what is happening before their very eyes.

Then, the woman places her soft, warm hand upon the link's shoulder, "I know that you're hurting and would rather not talk about it…" Then, she rubs his back, before turning and looking at her waiting siblings; she could see their fear and determination in their eyes. "But we want to help you"

The link sniffles for a moment, before pulling his head up, yet continuing to hold his knees to his chest, as if ready to retreat at a moment's notice.

The woman responds by leaning back, against the cold tiling of the rood. She lets her knees dangle over the roof's edge with relative laziness, before she gazes up into the stars; their wild lights illuminate the dark night sky. "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they, Lincoln?"

The link does not respond, though this fact does not surprise the elder sister. They really were beautiful.

"They remind me of when I was younger." She whispers, her calm voice almost welcoming their siblings to speak up as well, and yet none do. Instead they do what they do best quietly.

The musician sits furthest from them, as she strums away at her acoustic guitar, creating a beautiful melody for her siblings to enjoy, while the Goth holds her pen and papers as tightly as she can, as if hoping for inspiration to come from what would happen next. The athlete calmly twirls her chosen ball while the joker does her best to sit by and not make a light-hearted pun. The princess sits up straight, with the tomboy leaning up against her. Finally, The designer and the scientist sit next to each other, as if working together to cancel out a powerful knowledge emission.

"Those hazy days are to remember." The eldest continues, her calm voice gaining a solemnity that could only be compared to a priest during their high ceremony. Her soft gaze brushes upon her siblings, "When we were together, all of us as one. When the whole world seemed like a book just waiting to be opened." The woman continues with a soft fondness, as if her nostalgia was building off her memories, "And now I'm headed off to a college a few hundred miles away. I guess things really do change faster than you'd hope."

Her voice gains an uncharacteristic uncertainty, as if fear was more than enough to overcome the strong and proud leader of the Loud Children. She looks down, away from the beauty of the night above her. "I'm afraid that things are changing faster than I can keep up. After all, it's going to be my first time away from home, away from you guys." She sighs in defeat, "I'm worried that I won't be anyone important without you guys around… that I won't stay on the right path."

"Wow Lori…" The athlete speaks up, politeness exuding from her usually rough exterior. Despite her slightly sweaty jersey, no doubt worn all day, the athlete has rather fine scent, as if she had cleaned up and replaced the shirt but had forgotten to dry it. Her run down hair breathes of a lack of maintenance, a stark contrast to her more refined eldest sister.

The young athlete gives a pained smile, "For a while I thought I was the only one worried about the future." She sits back, against the tiling, before looking away, "I'm afraid that I'll never get anywhere with sports."

"And why is that?" The eldest asks, her curiosity radiating through her voice.

"It's because not too many people take female athletes seriously…" She begins to curl up as well, her voice becoming more downtrodden, "Sometimes I wish I were born a boy… than maybe I'd have a better chance. I also heard that bones get broken frequently in certain sports, but it's the fact people don't take female athletes as seriously that bothers me the most."

The Eldest sister responds by placing a comforting hand upon the athlete's tense shoulders, no doubt built up from years of abuse, "Don't worry Lynn, when the world pushes you down, just remember to get up and push it back." Then the athlete pulls her head from her legs, as if her words gave her hope again.

The eldest continues, "You have the determination of an anime protagonist, and the skill equal to that of the pros. You'll succeed no matter what." She looks her in the eyes and finishes, "You'll do fine at the Olympic games, so what if you're one of the youngest competitors there."

"You mean it Lori?" she asks, her desperate voice cutting through the calm night.

The woman nods, before turning back to her younger brother. The ace had stopped crying and was now listening intently, like he suddenly felt a connection to his sisters greater than any he had felt before.

Nervously, it is the princess to speak up next. Her pink dress sparkles in the moonlight, overshadowing her short blonde hair, though her tiara is more than enough to return the glow. Her voice is unsteady, as if she is even more insecure than her proud, though slightly off, demeanor would suggest, "I've never felt like I was any special." She tugs at her dress. "I've always wondered what I would do after I won pageants and grew up…"

The princess looks up at the stars, "After six years, all I can say is that I've won pageants, and nothing else… anyone who knows me is afraid, and if you guys weren't my siblings, you'd probably fear me too…" she smiles, as if feeling fondly of her life, despite what she believes to be her failings. "Heh, in a few years I'll have to move on or try to be a pageant queen in school."

"Well, I'm not going to lie, those are true." Her twin speaks up. Eliciting a glare from the woman. Yet, she sits down next to the princess and continues, "But at least you can say that you've done something that is at least expected of you."

The tomboy pulls her knees in, and tries to curl up. Her blue overalls are filthy, as if she had been playing in the mud all day. Her blonde hair is a mix of yellow and brown, as was her red cap. "Everyday I count down to the when we have to grow up. I'm afraid that because I am who I am that people will immediately reject me, cast me aside and call me names." Tears start to form on the young girls cheeks, "I'm the girl who likes to get dirty, but if everything I've seen is true, I'm afraid that one day I'll be forced to be something I'm not… That I'll have to ditch all my guy friends for girly girls."

"Lana…" the athlete whispers, before crawling over next to her, "Join the club."

The two look at each other for a moment, before pulling into an understanding embrace, much to the relief of the eldest.

The princess looks at her twin as well, with tear-filled eyes, before joining in the embrace and whispering, "Lana… I never knew."

The joker puts on a pained smile, as if trying to bring a lighter mood to counteract the solemnity that is unfolding around her. Yet, she knows that there are some things that even she cannot put a lighter spin on. So she sighs before continuing where her siblings had left off.

Her yellow clothing is surprisingly bright compared to the night sky, almost as if she is the sun, attempting to show its face in the night. "I guess…" She starts, but cannot finish.

Her voice is uneasy, as if she knows exactly what she wishes to say, but cannot muster the courage to speak. "I guess I'm worried…" Her voice becomes more downtrodden, "I'm worried that people will never find me funny, and that one day they'll be laughing at me." She looks up and stars into the wide-open skies, "I'm worried that, I'll just be some unknown comedian doing amateur night at Gus's games and grub."

Though, she does smile, "Well hey, at least you guys try to laugh at my horrible jokes." The usually chipper young woman speaks with a softer, almost motherly tone, "I guess sometimes you have to make yourself laugh too…" The thought of her new job as a stand-up comedian brings a sense of both dread and hope to the young woman.

"Sigh." The Goth goes. Her jet-black hair blends near-perfectly with the night sky. If the siblings did not know any better, they would assume that she is a ghost or a demon or a spirit of some kind. Her usual monotone voice gains an unusual force to it, as if for the first time in ages, she is trying to show some form of emotion. "I'm worried that people don't like my work."

It is hard to tell where she looks while she speaks, as her long black bangs cover her light blue eyes. She sits back though, and turns to the eldest. "That's why every piece of feedback matters to me. The favorites tell me that the work was good, the follows tell me that readers want to see more, and the reviews tell me how I should improve."

The Goth's voice gains a momentum uncharacteristic of her usual monotone, "There's a reason that I go into a form of self-loathing each and every time I post something new or read a well-received work." If she is crying, then her long black locks do a good job hiding it from her siblings. "One day, I hope to become a great poet, but I guess I will never make it that far." Her thoughts of the publisher she contacted simply ignoring her request burns in the back of her mind.

Though uncharacteristic of her, it is the designer who speaks up next. Her eye cover replaces her usual sunglasses, while her usual dress has been replaced by a long nightgown. She exudes a calming air from around her, as if filling the air with sugar. She speaks with a soft, almost-motherly voice, "I'm afraid that people see me as nothing more than a dim-witted blonde that just happens to be a good designer…"

A hint of despair fills her voice, "then…" she looks upon her eldest sister, "What I am I going to do for college? All the recruiters say that they look at everything you've done, but we all know that those are lies." The designer looks away from her siblings, "All they care about are those stupid grades and I could never seem to get good enough scores!" She gives a soft smile, "I guess it's a good thing that fashion design school offered me a spot huh? It's not a college, but it's something."

A moment of silence passes before the next sibling speaks up, the scientist.

Her nervousness would seem cute to an outsider. She wears her own nightshirt and pants, simple enough to change within moments as well as conduct late-night experiments in if necessary.

Her eyes look away, while she taps her fingers together nervously, "I'm afraid that I'm growing up too fast."

The siblings turn to her in shock. The scientist, the smartest person in their family, who boasted a PHD at the age one four, was worried by something that she would usually put off as wasted time- a childhood.

"I'm worried that while I may have science by my side, I'll never have a true companion like you all do." Then she sighs in defeat, "I suppose being a genius isn't all it's cracked up to be." She then looks up, into the stars, as if trying to experience the same childhood wonder that many other her age have felt. Her voice gains a nervous softness to it, "Sometimes I wonder if I can even experience a childhood like the rest of you. How things would be like if I looked at the world with an open mind rather than cynical facts."

The musician is the last sister. And so she strums away at her acoustic guitar, her callused fingers moving across the strings with a skill unknown to her siblings. Her purple clothing seems to compliment the night's darkness.

With a soft, yet understanding voice she sings, "My fear is that I'll be unnoticed. That I'll just be another failed artist, living on the streets hoping for a big break." She then gains strength, as her notes become sharper, "And though I've seen him, I'm worried that if I do ever make it, that I'll forget about you guys." She gives a fond smile in remembrance of the times they had spent together, "And I'm afraid I'll lose what gave me the inspiration to make music. You guys." The thought of her incomplete family album never being finished fills her nervous mind.

The eldest smiles upon her sisters, each having revealed their own fear just as she had. The feelings of fear, of regret and of hope all thrown into a small soup in the grand scheme of the universe.

"So," The eldest whispers to the link, "would you like to tell us what's bugging you now?" Her soft voice becoming mother-like, as if she had not expected what had happened, but went with it anyway.

The link's body loosens up, reveling his soft brown eyes and his tear-stained clothes. He then turns and gazes upon each of his sisters, before taking a lone deep breath, "I'm worried that there isn't anything that I'll just fade into the background. And that when you guys leave I'll be left with nothing."

He looks at the eldest, "You're leaving for college in a few days Lori, Luna has already been scouted, Luan's got a comedy job, Lynn's going to the Olympics." Then he sighs in defeat, before looking upon his four younger sisters. "And no doubt you guys will move on to other things as well." Then he clutches his heart, "I'm just an average kid who has nothing special to make him stand out."

With that, he turns back and looks up at the stars, their soft glow reflects in his eyes, "Sometimes I just wonder what things would be like if I weren't around, if anything would change."

"Life just wouldn't be interesting then." The eldest responds.

"Yeah Linc!" The athlete speaks up, "You make everything interesting with your antics!"

Then, the musician begins to strum away at her guitar, "You're the link the bonds us together dude!"

"No matter what, you're always her for us!" The tomboy and the princess declare.

The joker cheers, "You bring us more happiness than anything else!"

"Without you, I probably would cause more serious accidents, possibly requiring the government's involvement." The scientist responds.

"Simply put, we love you Lincoln." The eldest speaks, but pulling him into a hug, followed by his other sisters joining in. "And you are more special than you realize."

After a few moments, they break off, before lying back down and just staring off into the night sky. The world seems open, like the hazy days of old. With the world seemingly open like a book. With the roads built for adventure, and though there may be mountains in the way, they rest knowing that they will overcome.

And so, the siblings enjoy their gentle night together, as the musician sings, "Even though the summer's ending, and real life seems so condescending, we'll grow together, you and I. We'll face tomorrow side-by-side. Just you and me and the love, of family."

19-15-6-20 19-11-9-5-19 1-14-4 3-15-15-12 2-18-5-5-26-5-19 19-9-7-14-1-12 1 3-8-1-14-7-5 1-2-15-21-20 20-15 3-15-13-5. 14-15 13-1-20-20-5-18 23-8-5-18-5 20-8-5-25 7-15, 20-8-5 12-15-21-4-19 23-9-12-12 1-12-23-1-25-19 2-5 20-8-5-18-5 6-15-18 5-1-3-8 15-20-8-5-18.

A/N That took way longer to make than expected. Just for reference I wrote the first draft of this in a day, then I edited it the next. I was ready to post it last Saturday, but stopped myself when I realized that this seemed to lack a ton of things... as well as seemed too much like a dangling ending with no details. So then I tried to write a beginning to it... and ended up reading other fanfics to distract myself. That's when I realized that this story doesn't need a beginning, just hints at what was going on.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this practice one-shot (Since I was using this to practice the way I'm trying to write "Unwavering Bonds") and possibly the last non-story based Loud House one-shot for a bit! Also, props to anyone who can guess the four songs I mentioned/used for inspiration in this story. (Their lyrics were worked into the story, everything belongs to their respective owners) And anyone who can figure out where the sisters are going.

Lastly, I think I'm going to have to take a bit of a break from the darkness, seriously, three of the four things I've worked on this week take on darker themes and it's seriously starting to numb me.