#I'm 20 next month epic

[eightstarr]

at the count of three — ellie williams.

summary: how do you tell your best friend you’re in love with them? ellie has an answer! just be cool and wait for the right moment— and the next. and maybe another one, just to be sure. if you get impatient, you can always take a deep breath and count to three! (years, that is)

warnings: slow burn (childhood friends to lovers <3), little bit suggestive but no smut!

notes: born from a piece of dialogue i wrote like, a year ago and completely forgot about but somehow a week later it's 4k words? idk you're welcome or i'm sorry!!! also yes they do spend almost every scene sitting together on a couch but that's what lesbianism is all about...

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・。.・゜✧・. ────

ONE!

A movie plays on the TV, a slightly tarnished DVD of an 80’s action flick starring some oily guy and the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen— Ellie doesn't remember much other than an obnoxiously epic soundtrack and lingering shots that made the plot twist too obvious about 20 minutes in. 

She's freshly eighteen; you’re ahead only by a couple months. It's a warm Friday night, Joel and your dad in the kitchen putting scraps together for a mildly healthy dinner, Ellie sitting on the very opposite side of the couch from where you are. It’s hot, she'd said, looking away from your comically insulted face that grew with every scooch she made from your side, a lame excuse to save her from the newly found (and fucking torturous) fluttering that sparks in her stomach whenever she sits too close to you.

From the kitchen comes the sound of a can hitting the floor, followed by Joel’s 'shit!' and then quickly, 'sorry, girls'. You chuckle, turning to Ellie and catching her staring at you. A wrinkle forms between your eyebrows at the same time a pink warmth floods her cheeks. “Dude, you’re not even paying attention.��

“I am,” a scoff, her eyes now strictly committed to the screen. “The noise distracted me,” she adds, knowing it didn't even make her flinch from the careful study of your side profile.

“Scaredy cat— ow!” a pillow crashes against your cheek, sudden enough to shock you, too soft to do any real damage. “What the fuck?”

Ellie raises her eyebrows and looks at you from the corner of her eyes, a smirk half hidden by her hand. “Don’t be rude, you're missing the best scene.”

You throw the pillow back and scoff when she catches it, your lips slightly pursed, the signature sign to tell you’re annoyed. It's almost identical to the replica of that gesture that sits at the end of her last journal entry, an overly dedicated sketch born from a wandering thought. She could make it more accurate, she thinks now, soften the line of your jaw, take the scar on your cheek a little more to the left.

The sound of water splashing from the TV catches her attention and Ellie snaps her head forward (lest she get caught staring again), just as the blonde haired love interest is walking out of a fancy looking swimming pool.

“She’s hot,” you say, fingers pulling absentmindedly at loose threads on the rip of your jeans. When Ellie doesn't say anything, you turn to look at her, “You don't think so?”

Her voice comes out a higher pitch than she’d like. “What—” she clears her throat before continuing to mumble, “I don't know, I guess.”

You laugh. “You guess?” 

“Yeah, I— I don't know, dude, I wasn't thinking about that.”

You watch the nervousness on her face, the gulp that passes her throat, the red under her freckles. Fondness tugs at your chest and your voice softens just slightly, a smile playing on your lips. “Oh my God. Ellie, it’s okay,” green eyes find your face and she sees you hesitate for a second before you shrug. “Who cares? It's just me.”

You make it sound easy. It's the most distinct thing Ellie remembers about this moment, how suddenly safety felt like the most obvious thing. TV light on your face, your arm over the back of the couch, the same eyes she's been looking at since she was fourteen. Of course it's okay. Everything else with you is easy, why wouldn't this be the same?

Ellie shifts on the couch, the distance between you turning quickly ridiculous— offensive, even. She’s embarrassed to have let her flusteredness get in the way, but the urge to be closer doesn't feel right either. Everything she does feels like too much, everything she says too intense. “How long have you known?” she asks.

You tilt your head, less of a question and more of a guidance, “Known that you…”

Ellie parts her lips, unsure of whether or not she’s gonna say it or how, trying to will the words to come out. And they do, she remembers it well, because it was the first and maybe the only time she was this direct about it. “That I like girls.”

The smile on your face is teeth-rotting sweet, but she only gets to bask in it for a second before you widen your eyes and lower your voice to a scandalized whisper. “You what?”

Ellie rolls her eyes, cheeks burning, “Oh, fuck you.”

Your laugh fills up the room and the fluttering in her stomach feels absurd at this point, like she would actually be able to feel those annoying little butterflies flying around if she were to press her hand against her abdomen. “Sorry, sorry,” you say, and for a terrifying second Ellie thinks maybe they're loud too, and you’re able to hear them. But then she looks at you and forgets about it, easy easy easy. “It’s really okay. You know that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says. For once, there's not a glimpse of doubt about it to be found.

You watch another ten minutes of the movie in silence before your dad's head peeks out from the kitchen to call you both to the table for dinner.

Ellie has a habit of eating like it's her last day on earth. When you were both new residents of Jackson, hungry and scared and not at all used to the idea of a full plate of food twice a day, she couldn't help it. And you were the same, hence why your dad thought it would be good for you and Ellie to spend time together, which quickly turned to being around each other basically every minute of every day. But as the weeks passed, you seemed to be learning to adapt faster. A younger Ellie found this frustrating— especially after that time Joel complimented your table manners.

You’re just… nicer, she remembers saying, a stressed frown on her still childlike face, fiddling with a box of marbles she’d found under her new bed. She remembers how you pulled one out, your fingers brushing against her own for the first time ever, and held the clear crystal with green stripes next to her eyes, a satisfied smile at a practically perfect match. You’re nice too, Els, you’d said, shrugging your shoulders, the marble shoved inside your pocket, I think I just lie better.

Until that moment, Ellie had never thought about it that way; the fact that you could be pretending to feel more confident and comfortable than you really are to make yourself safer, to get people to like you. But when she asked, you swore you had never lied to Ellie. She used to drive herself mad thinking about that, a strange, confusing worry gnawing at her chest— she likes that you don't feel the need to lie, but what does it say about how you see her? Is it that you don't care if she likes you? Or worse, is it that you know that she already does?

You sit in front of her today at the same dinner table, four years later, and watch her practically inhale her bowl of pasta like no time has passed at all. You let out a snort and Ellie wonders if you can see it even now, if her constant thoughts of you are obvious even when she looks this busy.

"What?" she asks, an immediate frown on her face, though she's done you the honor of swallowing her mouthful before speaking.

"You're so gross," you say, chin resting on your palm, tilting your head like you're looking at some thought provoking art piece. Ellie thinks you'll leave it at that, but then you reach over and swipe your thumb over the red spot of sauce next to the corner of her lips, so soft she barely feels it. You watch her frown soften for a second before it becomes even deeper.

Ellie feels like her whole body is exploding with warmth, too hot under the hoodie she's wearing, too pink across her face. It's so obvious, she thinks, it's so— fuck, pull it together. Her gaze follows your finger as you bring it to your lips and lick off the sauce. “You’re disgusting,” she retorts lamely, her hand rough when she brushes it over her mouth, lest you notice another stain and she has to watch you do that again.

You are familiarly not deterred by her meanness. Or her attempt at it. "And you eat like a five year old,” you shrug. “I guess we both have our issues."

Ellie catches herself staring at your hands for the rest of the meal, certain that she's never noticed them in the same way before. How much time has she been wasting? You both have your issues, you'd said, but Ellie thinks she has you beat. Yours can't possibly be anywhere near this dangerous.

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

TWO!

Someone's knocking on her door. Ellie sniffles and lets out a groan as she gets up from the couch, sore throat, her limbs heavy and tired. She knows it's you because it's always the same three knocks; the first two firm and loud, a pause, and then one tiny one that sounds almost like 'sorry'. You’re impatient but still painfully afraid to be rude— if she loved you a little less, Ellie thinks she would make fun of it a lot more. But alas, she's cursed to smile at it every time.

She opens the door and the breeze that slips in makes her fall immediately into an embarrassing coughing fit. “It’s fine,” she mutters, at the same time you’re saying jesus christ, Ellie. “Shit. I’m okay,” she clears her throat and finally gets a moment to look at you, all pretty and put together in your best shirt and a freshly showered scent, the sun setting behind you like a perfect frame. Ellie prays her lungs don't betray her again and tries to make the brush of her hand over her messy hair look casual instead of desperate.

“Well, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come to the party with me for just a few minutes, but… I’m not sure you should be out of bed,” your worried frown is pretty, too. What a cruel fate. “Is Joel home? I can stay—”

“No, no, you’re good,” Ellie shakes her head, arms crossed over her chest like maybe it’ll cover up enough and you won't notice she was wearing the same long sleeve the last time you saw her. “He’ll be here in like, five minutes. I’ll be fine, ’m not a baby.”

You’re both nineteen by this time, Ellie remembers because you wore the same pretty blue shirt that you're wearing now for her birthday, and it was the day she realized her crush was no longer deniable. It's easier to act like nothing’s happening when she feels like she's alone in it, like there's no universe where you could love her like she loves you so she might as well let the fantasy die— but then you put on your shirt that's reserved for special occasions just to come over and bring her the cupcake you made, and suddenly Ellie can picture herself with her hands on each side of your waist, pulling you close, saying thank you with her lips brushing against yours before she kisses you. She can see it so clearly that it startles her, changes everything. Her birthday comes with a punch to the gut and a hunger she wants to tell you and only you about.

“You’re not gonna be bored? I really don't mind staying until he gets home.”

Ellie thinks (dramatically, extremely nineteen—) that if she lets you take care of her, she might actually die. It felt like she almost did last time you visited, your face serious with concentration as you pressed the back of your hand against her forehead. ‘You're warm’, you said, ‘do you feel sweaty?’ Ellie stared up at you, eyes glossy and heavy from sleep. ‘Not really’, her fingers sneaked out from under the blanket to wrap themselves around your forearm, a moment of bravery or delusion, ‘your hand feels nice’. You chuckled, ‘okay, keep it’.

She’s less feverish today, but not yet recovered from the greedy voice in her head that begs her to keep you close. If you don't go to the party now, she thinks (knows) that she’ll let herself casually talk you into staying the rest of the night. “Nah, don't miss your party,” she says. “I’ll be okay, Joel’s gonna teach me how to play that old card game.”

You raise your eyebrows. “So you're gonna argue all night.”

“No— what?” Ellie scoffs. “It’ll be good, I learn fast.”

“Yeah, because you make up your own rules.”

“I have questions about the rules, that's not the same thing.”

“It is if you cheat—”

“I’m not a cheater!”

You hum, a curious tilt of your head, and Ellie rolls her eyes before the words are even out of your mouth. “No, I guess you’d have to have a girlfriend for that.”

You watch her run her tongue over her teeth, her shoulder against the door frame. “You know I could say the same to you, right?”

“Too bad I said it first,” you shrug, pretty smile stretching your lips. “I guess I'll go, then. I’ll come over when it's done so you don't miss me too much.”

Ellie tries to maintain her composure. You know, she thinks, do you know? You must know. You can't know— “Right. Also so you can steal my food and crash in my bed, I’m guessing.”

“When you’re all vulnerable and weak? What do you think of me, Ellie?” you frown sadly, a hand over your heart.

“I think I know you,” she says, the corner of her lips lifting just a little, inescapably.

You walk to the gate and turn around as you close the lock, your hands on either side of your mouth as if she’s miles and miles away. “I’ll take the couch!”

“Yeah, sure!” Ellie yells back, her voice pretty even when it's hoarse, knowing she’ll hold on for just about ten minutes before she insists you take the bed instead.

Joel stays awake with her until around 10pm, when his yawns become too many to hide and he’s already let Ellie win three games, his smile genuine and wide while she chuckles and pretends she doesn’t notice. He leaves her with a tupperware of soup for tomorrow’s lunch and a deck of cards. To teach your friends or— I don't know, keep on the coffee table, he’d said, make you look cool. Ellie’s not sure you would find a box of cards ‘cool’, but she’s not above trying.

Ever since she moved out to the garage, she’s discovered a new type of stress at the notion of having you over. At Joel’s house, all she ever did to prepare for guests was pick up the dirty clothes from her bedroom floor and put her books in a (wobbly) single pile. Now things are different. The garage is small, but it's all hers— her floor, her living room, her kitchen. She can't have you thinking that she can't take care of things on her own.

She spends the next hour moving things around until finally, two loud knocks. A second passes; Ellie looks at the cards and considers shoving them inside one of the drawers on her desk. By the time the one quiet knock comes, she shrugs and decides to leave them on the coffee table, lest Joel was right and she misses a chance to have you start thinking she's cool and mysterious. “It's open,” she says from the couch, tiredness soon catching up with her after all that time rearranging things.

The door opens and you come in, quickly closing it behind you, a relieved sigh at the loss of that crisp, cold breeze outside. “Did Joel forget those?” you ask, bent at the waist as you take your shoes off, your chin pointing at the deck, the only thing on the coffee table. Maybe she should've been more subtle with it.

“Uh, no,” Ellie scratches the back of her neck, her legs stretched across the couch. “They’re a gift.”

She's not sure you hear her over the groan you make as you stretch your arms above your head, her legs moved to the side automatically to make space for you to sit. You fall down with a sigh and both forget about the cards— you, distracted by the warm tingly feeling of a couple drinks, and Ellie by the new jacket you’re wearing.

She lets a million different scenarios spin around her head for a couple seconds before she blurts out the question. “Whose is that?”

“What?” you turn your head away from the movie playing on the TV.

“The jacket.”

“Oh,” you look down at yourself as if you’ve just remembered it’s there. “Maya was leaving too, so she walked here with me. It’s hers.”

Ellie hums, her back sliding a little further down the couch, legs spread. “Stinks like it’s hers.”

You chuckle before you can help it, her animosity ridiculous and charming— Ellie’s better with actions than she is with words. “I don't even know what you're talking about,” you shake your head, not quite slurring, but not too far from it either. "She smells like strawberries."

Fuck Maya and her strawberry shampoo. Ellie could get some if she wanted to, maybe if she traded— what the fuck is she thinking about? She rolls her shoulders back and pushes the thoughts away, gluing her eyes to the screen. “Sure,” she says, less because she agrees and more because she doesn't wanna hear what else you like about Maya. “You had fun, then?”

“It was alright. You didn't miss out on too much,” the end of your sentence stretched out by a yawn, you cover your mouth lazily and rest back fully against the couch. “Jesse was drunk. They had to stop him from getting up on a table.”

Ellie chuckles. “I don't know, maybe he had something to say. I think I would’ve let him.”

“That's what I said,” you smile and let your head fall to the side, your cheek against the cushion. She feels you staring, enables it for a while by acting oblivious, falsely over-invested in some movie she can't remember the title of. She hears you move closer before she feels it— the shuffle of your clothes, the stupid jacket rubbing against her couch, so easily forgettable by the time your temple falls on her shoulder.

Ellie's about to fall asleep when she hears the little noise you make, something like a sniffle. For a worrying second she thinks she might’ve given you her cold, but then she feels the tip of your nose brush against her shoulder and she realizes you’re trying to breathe her in. 

“You always smell nice,” you whisper, half asleep.

Ellie swallows and prays to keep her body completely still, scared she’ll make the wrong move and have you pull away, scared you’ll lean closer and be able to hear the fast beating on her chest. She sounds breathy, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you say. “Like fresh rain.”

Slow like the roll of credits playing on the TV, Ellie feels how every muscle in her body settles down, relaxed, content— fucking cocky. She wraps her arm around your shoulders and hopes the scent will rub off on the jacket and remind Maya of a cloudy autumn night, rain over her garden.

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

THREE!

"Do you think we would've liked each other?" you ask, your legs resting on her lap while she fidgets mindlessly with the ruffled cuff of your socks. Every patrol lately ends the exact same way, a quiet walk home and a joint on Ellie’s couch. "Back when the world was normal?”

Ellie turns to look at you, blinking lazily, a reddish hue over her green. You’re not sure if she's more tired or high, but either way you're not doing much better— everything you’ve said during the past hour is the kind of thought you have when you're alone at night and your brain wanders, moments away from falling asleep. It's a meaningless question, but Ellie lets out a soft hum and thinks about it like it's worth considering. You're not sure if anyone you’ve met in your whole twenty years of life is as willing to indulge you as she is.

"Yeah," she says decidedly, in the same tone with which one would say duh. "We—" a yawn cuts her off, slender hand rubbing one of her eyes. "We would be friends, like, in college."

"I wouldn't be in college.”

Ellie frowns, takes one last inhale and discards the joint to the ashtray on her coffee table. "Why not?"

"'Cause I'm not smart like you," you shrug.

The fold between her eyebrows deepens. "You're smart," she argues, with enough conviction that you almost believe her, insisting, "You are."

"In other ways, sure—” Ellie opens her mouth to interrupt but you get ahead of her, “I’m not trying to talk badly about myself, I just don't think college would be for me.”

You’ve never been the most disciplined. It’s hard to imagine yourself staying up late to study, taking diligent notes in class. It feels ridiculous.

“I’d be working somewhere, I think. Making coffee for people or something.”

Ellie pauses before she nods, adjusting her daydream to what you’re saying, strangely committed. "Then we would meet there,” she makes it sound like the easiest thing in the world, a natural equation. “I'd go get coffee from you."

You chuckle. "You don't even like coffee that much."

Ellie shrugs, soft pink lips curved in a smirk that tells you she's sleepy and serves to warn you of the horror that's about to come out of her mouth.

You groan. “Don't—”

"Maybe I like the pretty girl that's making it."

“Awful,” you push her shoulder away, barely any force behind it, her giggles swimming comfortably around your head. “Never speak again.”

"Not my best work?" she asks, her fingers wrapping lazily around your shin. Too much, her brain warns, but then she remembers the pad of your finger over the back of her hand last night, the cursive lines with no purpose other than to be touching her— and it feels right, or like it's not enough. Too much soon turns to coward.

"Possibly your worst.”

She might be going crazy, but lately Ellie feels like you’re looking at her differently. In your eyes there's something gentle, awaiting, a tracing of your eyes over her face that says please. She chews on her lip, her eagerness painful. “We would like each other,” she doesn't think there's a world where you wouldn't, and if there was… "I'd make you like me."

You raise your eyebrows, teasing, "Oh, so like now?"

Her lips part with genuine surprise, more amused than offended. “...I made you, huh?” 

You regret the joke as soon as it comes out of your mouth, immediately brought back to your fourteen year old self, lonely and admittedly captivated by the auburn haired girl from next door. Flashes of you rushing to catch up with her, untied laces on your too tight sneakers, Ellie, do you wanna be friends? The sound of pages shuffling and her voice reading in whispers in the dead of night because you asked, can you talk to me until I fall asleep? Infatuated from the beginning, obsessed. Even now, on her couch, after spending a whole day together— do you like me? Would you like me, always?

A pillow crashes against the side of her face, her laugh almost louder than the embarrassed pounding of your heart. You pull your legs from her lap and lie back, fold your arms over your face. “You're so annoying.”

A lie so obvious it makes Ellie smile. She shifts to crawl closer, one knee on either side of you. “C’mon, I was joking,” she leans forward and you feel her knuckles tap your arm like she’s knocking on a door. The power to make you shy is still foreign to her, makes her feel drunk, thrilled. She doesn't remember having it before, but of course it was there. In little ways, in daily, simple things. Your eyes always looking for her first in any room, lighting up even after an especially bad pun, tracing her arms when the day becomes too hot to keep her jacket on. You like her, of course. How much time has she been wasting? The breath she lets out feels like it's been waiting to be let go, years spent stuck in her lungs. Ellie wraps her fingers around one of your wrists, her voice sweet, achingly soft. “Want me to tell you why I know I’d like you?”

You lower your arms just slightly, eyes peering up at her.

“Yeah?” she tilts her head.

You nod, arms coming down, unusually quiet.

Ellie grins, victorious. “Okay, but fair warning— it's worse than the coffee thing.”

You chuckle. “Is it?”

“Very.”

“Hm,” you hum, pretending to think about it, distracted by the vision of her practically sitting on top of you. Freckled face framed by the hair that's escaped her usual bun, softly lit by the warmth of the lamp on her desk. “Alright,” you say finally.

It takes Ellie a second to respond, momentarily dazed by the thought of being pretty enough for you to ogle like this. She clears her throat. “You ready?”

You tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and away from her eyes. “Sure.”

Ellie waits for the nerves to come, but even as she parts her lips to speak, they never do. What a kind fate. “I know I’d like you because nothing’s ever made more sense to me— I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. I like you enough for a million lifetimes.”

You look at each other, bask in a moment of understanding. Your eyes on her lips, a hand on her waist that pulls her closer. “That was worse,” you agree.

Ellie moves to rest on her forearms, cages you in, her nose brushing against yours. “I told you.”

She waits, feels herself count once again, a final time, one, two—

A hand against the back of her neck brings her in and the quiet noise of her surprise vibrates against your lips, makes her smile into the kiss for just a second before the hunger takes over. Her hips readjusting over yours, knees pressing against your sides, Ellie kisses like it's a need rather than a whim. She takes and takes and swallows every sigh you make like it's a gift, four, five, six seconds of a messy trail of kisses down your neck to say thank you before she resurfaces again.

“Love you,” she breathes out, because suddenly all that talk about ‘like’ feels stupid— immature, incomparable to what she actually feels for you. “Need you.”

You moan against her lips and it's her favorite sound in the whole world, immediately, as quick as realizing she would fall in love with you the day she met you. “Love you, Ellie.”

A kiss to your clavicle, your hands pulling at her shirt and her thigh between yours. She makes you say it three more times.

[taringill]

GUYS, I FINALLY WENT TO SONIC MOVIE 3!!!🎉

It's me with Amy Rose:3

This is my little brother with a Tails:3

It was yesterday, January 18th. Why is it so late? Because I live in Russia-_- The premiere in Russia took place on January 16, 2025💀 Although the premiere in the CIS is on December 26, 2024. But it was the Russian Sonic fans who were unlucky...

Why is the premiere so late in Russia? Because our distributors wanted to make room for our domestic films, so that Russian films would earn a lot of money, and not foreign ones. And they chose the New Year holidays because it is a very profitable period. Yes, it looks pathetic😂 That's how uncompetitive Russian cinema is. Instead of making normal films, they take the place of foreign films🤡 If you've been wondering why I haven't posted anything about the movie for a long time, then here's why...

In short, I LIKED IT!❤️ I was experiencing different emotions and didn't notice how quickly time flew by😭 There were cringe moments and jokes that needed to be cut out... I like that the film has a constant plot and epic! Literally the first 5-7 minutes and there are chases, fights, actions and a plot! There are few unnecessary moments compared to the previous parts. In short, a well-deserved 8/10🫶 At the moment, in my opinion, it's the best movie in this franchise! ABSOLUTE CINEMA!🙌

Sonic movie (2020) - 6/10

Sonic movie 2 (2022) - 7/10

Sonic movie 3 (2024) - 8/10

IT'S JUST MY OPINION!🙏

Today, on January 19th, I watched the movie because I couldn't hold back. But I watched the original movie for Keanu Reeves as Shadow and IT'S PERFECT!

And also😃 Next to my brother and me was a girl, about my age, with a medium-sized stuffed Sonic:3 We looked at each other and laughed. It's funny and fun😅 Sonic fans think the same way😌 At the beginning of the movie, everyone and we both admired Shadow, and when the song "Leave and Learn" started at the end of the movie, she and I were in awe of shock. She took her Sonic and moved his arms as if he were dancing😁 It is very cute🥹 It was funny to watch her violent reactions😂 God, my dear, I understand how you feel🫂 And coincidentally, we sat down together:)) This is clearly fate!😭

My brother said to me, "Do you see, Vika? We are not alone"😂 It was a lot of fun! I will remember this day for a long time and I really want it back!🥲❤️‍🩹

For me, this trip to the movie is really important! Why? It was with the first movie that my acquaintance and immersion in the Sonic franchise began, and I liked the movie so much that I wanted to go to every new movie. And I thought that nothing would stop me, but a war broke out, followed by sanctions😞 I watched the movie at home in poor quality... The Russian dubbing of the film was shown in Kazakhstan. I was so upset then😭 It's only the second movie, and I couldn't go. I prayed that this would not happen with the third film. And I showed the greatest willpower in my life!💪 After the world premiere, I waited a MONTH for the Russian premiere so that the first viewing would be in the cinema. I'm also a fan of going to the cinema😃 I avoided everything related to the film as much as possible. The only spoilers I got against my will were the post-credits scene where Amy and Metal Sonic appeared. And if I was expecting Amy, then I was shocked by the appearance of Metal Sonic!😧 Personally, I didn't expect it...🫣

My younger brother and I will definitely go to Sonic 4 in the spring of 2027😄 I hope nothing's bothering us, PLEASE...😭🙏 When part 4 comes out, my brother will be 12 years old, and I'll be... 19, almost 20🥲

Thanks for reading!<3 Wait for more posts on Sonic movie 3.

[tremendouskoalachild]

Does the Batman Epic Crime Saga (they better come up with a better name fast) chronology make sense? well, no. am i gonna write a rambling tumblr post about it? you know it!

spoilers for The Batman (2022) and the first 4 episodes of The Penguin (2024)

The Batman is set during Bruce's second year as Batman, and takes place over one week: starting at 8 pm on Thursday, October 31, and ending on Wednesday, November 6.

The Batman was originally filmed as though it is set in 2019, and the days of the week in Bruce's journal match that year's calendar. the shooting was put on hold due to the pandemic, and once it resumed the movie's setting was moved to 2021 (some other dates in the film match that year, and it can be extrapolated from graphics shown on screen). The Penguin takes place firmly in 2022, retconning this.

according to his diary, the Riddler got the idea for his grand plan to reveal corruption in Gotham on Friday, July 16 (of that year, meaning 2021, presumably; the day matches the 2021 calendar). that would mean he spent 3.5 months (107 days) planning and setting it all in motion. he likely intended on using the election's date from the start.

The Waynes were killed 20 years prior to Don Mitchell Jr's murder (October 31), to the week, during Thomas' mayoral campaign (this corresponds to 2001, as seen in the Riddler's video).

here we run into my lack of familiarity with DC lore, but i believe the implication is that Mitchell became mayor in 2001, served 4 consecutive 5-year terms (and was up for reelection in 2021), and Maroni was taken down due to Carmine Falcone's information shortly after Mitchell first took office (the timing of the Maroni bust is very tenuous; i'm largely going by the various claims that Falcone has been the top dog for 20 years, and that removing Maroni was what got him there. there is also Annika's confused recollection of Mitchell telling her Falcone was the informant on that case, and that that's how Mitchell became mayor, even though we know the bust happened during his term. however, Oz was supposedly involved, as alluded to by Sal in The Penguin, and he was merely Sofia's driver just 10 years ago, before moving up in Carmine's organization and gaining control of the drops operation, which was already controlled by the Falcones at that time.)

The Penguin starts one week after Carmine Falcone is killed and the flooding starts (on Election day, November 5), so November 12, 2022.

Oz kills Alberto at night, and spends the time until his next shift securing an alibi and hiding the body, with the help of Vic. Oz takes Alberto's phone and looks through his calendar app, which is showing the current day as November 13, noting he has a shipment scheduled for the evening of Monday, November 18 (this day matches the calendar for 2024 and 2019, but definitely not 2021 or 2022).

The next day (November 13, assuming Oz checked the phone after midnight - seems likely, he went in at night, had a long discussion with Alberto, killed him, dragged his body to the car, and "recruited" Vic before this), Oz reunites with Sofia, recently out of Arkham thanks to her father's death. He is told to move the drops operation to Robbinsville by the Falcones within 48 hours, visits his mother's house, as well as Salvatore Maroni in prison, and frames the Maronis for Alberto's murder.

Presumably the next day, November 14, he visits Sal again, planning their heist. Luca Falcone has arrived to take over the family by then. We see the move to Robbinsville being ambushed by Maronis at night, likely 14 to 15 November (i doubt Oz organized the move he didn't want to do the same day he was ordered to do it, while coordinating with the Maronis; i also doubt Viti would let him get away with missing the 2 day deadline without a fuss). Sofia recruits a detective within hours to find the mole.

Alberto's funeral is on the following day, November 15 (not that it's particularly useful, but we know it isn't a Sunday from Francis mistakenly trying to go to Mass. if we accept the Monday is the 18th, then it must be Friday). After the funeral, Luca suggests to Sofia she leave for Italy. That night we see Vic bury Castillo and Ervad, and Sofia team up with Oz.

In the evening of the shipment, so November 18 according to the calendar, Sofia and Oz start putting their plan in motion. Graciela tells Vic she is leaving the next night, November 19. Johnny Viti confronts Sofia, telling her she has two days left in Gotham before either leaving for Italy or being disposed of, and gives her a boarding pass with the date Thursday, November 20, 2022. (in case you're curious, no, November 20 2022 is not a Thursday. more bizarrely, we know it was Monday on the 18th, so November 20 has to be a Wednesday. the last time Nov 22 fell on a Thursday was 2018, before even the original scrapped setting of the movie.) the boarding time is in the evening, so Johnny seems to be counting the next day, November 19, and the day she's supposed to leave, November 20, as her two days.

The next day, November 19, Sofia and Oz go to the Triads to negotiate, then blackmail Johnny to secure an audience and trial run for that night. It goes well but the Maronis arrive, and a dazed Sofia calls Dr Julian Rush for help after Oz abandons her.

She wakes up at his place the next morning, November 20, and mentions she is supposed to be on a plane to Italy by the next day - not that evening, as it says on the ticket her family bought her. Maybe she's confused after her traumatic incident, or is ignoring the ticket and choosing to interpret Johnny's ultimatum differently.

Julian says she has been out of Arkham for only a few weeks (she was exonerated through Alberto and Julian's efforts after Carmine's death, November 5th - 16 days earlier, so it appears that process was quick). She crashes a family dinner that evening, implies she is leaving the next day, and kills everyone in the mansion except for Gia and Johnny Viti during the night. She wakes Johnny up in the morning of November 21, where we end episode 4.

as for the flashbacks:

Vic's takes place in the hours before the flooding starts, not only confirming that it happened in the evening on November 5, but also that it was Tuesday. This date works for either 2019 or 2024, and matches the day of the week from Alberto's phone in episode 1.

Sofia's flashbacks: 10 years prior to The Penguin, in 2012, reporter Summer Gleeson approached Sofia Falcone with information about several women working for Carmine Falcone strangled over the last decade, so roughly 2002-2012. she herself was killed in the same manner shortly after, and the murders got pinned on Sofia. Sofia was arrested on Carmine's birthday, September 5, and she was held responsible for the murders of Summer and 6 other women (presumably the same ones Summer told her about, as her murder was made to look like Sofia trying to shut her up).

from The Batman we know that Maria Kyle was also strangled by Carmine during this period, in 2004:

while we're looking at tombstones, the Falcone family's plaques in The Penguin episode 2 are the source of Carmine's birth date:

Alberto's body is recovered the day after his murder, and the date November 13 is used on his.

some random tidbits about different characters' ages:

Bella Reál is 28 (said on the tv broadcast in the opening of The Batman).

Bruce Wayne is around 30/was around 10 when his parents died (not said in the film but mentioned in interviews).

Edward Nashton's fake ID under the name Patrick Parker has his date of birth listed as 03/30/1985, which would make this persona 36 in 2021. the ID under his real name appears to list 1984, which would make him around 37/17 at the time of the Waynes' murder, or 1994, making him around 27/7 at the time of the murder. the second interpretation is supported by the Riddler: Year One comic miniseries, written by Riddler actor Paul Dano, showing Edward as a little boy meeting Thomas when he announces his mayoral campaign (and appears to fit better with the speech Edward gives in the film).

Annika Kosolov was born on January 1, 1998, making her 23 if the film takes place in 2021. she is also Estonian. neat.

Selina Kyle was 7 when her mother was killed, which happened in 2004 according to Maria's tombstone in The Batman, making Selina around 24 if we use the 2021 setting (25 for the retcon timeline, birth year around 1997 either way).

Sofia Falcone was 9 when her mother was killed, which happened in 1994 according to her plaque in The Penguin, making Sofia around 37 in the show (birth year around 1985), around 27 when she was arrested and taken to Arkham.

edit: we actually do have Sofia's birth date, thank you @thevoidstaresback93! she was born on January 3, 1985, making her 27 at her arrest and 37 in the show.

from the above we also know that Carla Viti was 28 at Sofia's arrest and must be around 38 in the show.

similarly, we know Johnny Viti, which is apparently his legal name, was 43 in the flashback and must be around 53 in the show.

from his plaque we know Alberto was 38 when Oz killed him, and is a year or two older than his sister Sofia.

Carmine Falcone was 65 when the Riddler finally killed him.

his victims were mostly young women whose exact ages we don't know, long dead before the present day events; we only know that Isabella Falcone was killed at 34, and Maria Kyle at around 28.

Victor Aguilar is 17, since his ID shows his date of birth being April 23, 2005. his girlfriend Graciela is probably around the same age, since they go to school together.

revelations from the Riddler video:

Martha Wayne's parents were killed in 1981 (her mother killed her father and then herself), and her father was 36 at that point.

Wayne Enterprises sent the cease and desist to the journalist digging into Martha's family history on February 16, 2000, over a year and a half before the election in October/November 2001. what a dramatic period of time for everyone involved.

one last hilarious thing: this date in the canon comic released in October 2022, in the same year as the film, fits with the 2020 calendar.

[elisartstuff]

Sorry if this looks like crap uhh last night was ROUGH so like I made this to calm down yay comfort ship save me /nav (I'm doing WAY better now) IGNORE THE TREE I THOUGHT I COULD MAKE IT LOOK COOL WITH PAINT MARKERS AND THEN I PANICKED FOR 20 MINUTES so much for stress reliever drawing /silly I have not drawn a scene traditionally since last year sighh

(epic divider)

Anyways a small ramble time. I know fall equinox isn't until another 20 days here in the States but I like fall, comfort season. Cause my birthday is next month yippee!! (I'm gonna get a pin press and make so many astrobio pins it's gonna be insane) (Next month will be insane and I will talk about it in the replies!! /pos) Also halloween and pretty colors. Love fall. Ghrhrrr.

Wanted to do this with my gijinkas but again last night was gjrhrr I do not wanna struggle two hours. I have smth planned tho. Mwahhaha dies epicly

Reblogs appreciated!

[nailamoonsi]

Writeblr intro (open to mutuals)

Hello again @ writeblr...! I'm Naila--Bangladeshi-Am (South Asian), sapphic, neurodivergent, they/them, incredibly nerdy about certain media like Revolutionary Girl Utena, and someone who has been very, very focused on their LGBT epic science fantasy for several years.

Fun fact is that for 5 years as a child I lived in Japan and only spoke Bangla and Japanese. I forgot both by the time I was 6 to 11, though I can understand spoken Bangla (and am fluent in English). 💦💦

I'm pretty much in love with my LGBT epic and multimedia science fantasy verse, once called Another Sky WIP and now called Blue Horizon! It's about three generations of alchemy-oriented mages upon a faraway planet obsessed with ancient Earth (our era) and their troubles across thousands of years!

I'm planning on releasing the first epic science fantasy novel (and side light novel/novella) at some point in the next months!

I'm both an artist and a writer, so you'll get art and writing topics from me! A lot of it is in my Blue Horizon tag.

Despite that, I feel like I haven't gone all-out to make mutuals here on Tumblr. I'd love to make more mutuals who are 20 and older and interested in fantasy fiction (especially featuring BIPOC and LGBT characters)! 18 and older is fine too, but I won't mutual people who are younger than 18. (I'm 32.)

My main warning is that my novels are aimed for adult demographic and even my art can contain blood TW and cursing. Sometimes older Blue Horizon characters will have sultry/sexual implications, too, and not just romantic! (However, despite the main novel being an epic science fantasy and very romance-oriented--as far as I understand, it doesn't perfectly fit people's idea of Romantasy due to particularly intense and serious topics at times. I think of it as a epic science fantasy with a lot of gay, sapphic and LGBT romances and implied romances.)

I'm open to tag games. ^^ If people are open to being tagged, feel free to mention it in this post, my pinned, or message/ask box me!

Hope to connect with more people here! 💗

[e-rated-beardo]

✨ New fic ✨

(Just a little guy, climbing around where he shouldn't be)

I've embarked on something overambitious again! 😃 I'm 85k words and 20-ish chapters in on my gdrive - enough to dare to start posting before pride month is over. (trans angel trans angel trANS ANGEL—)

It's a supernatural murder mystery/ineffable husbands romance/love letter to the City of Aberdeen/project to besmirch every building of my alma mater. Crowley and Aziraphale are human (and subtly different from their "regular" selves—but that's for readers to wonder about and characters not to notice, yet) and meet as academics. Cue bickering and romantic tension. Then, someone is found murdered on a summoning circle.

Scorn and the Saint-Maker (rated E, no warnings)

Tags: Murder mystery, Temporarily human, Romance, Smut (some skippable), Demon summoning, Canon universe, Trans Aziraphale 🏳️‍⚧️, Cis Crowley, more tags on AO3

Summary, excerpt and art stuff™️ below the break⤵

Summary:

Doctor Crowley has turned truancy into an art form, lecturing only under sufferance. Doctor Fell has signed up for his undergraduate course and has no plans to let him slack off. When a faculty member is found dead, our heroes start forming uneasy suspicions. What was the occult symbol drawn next to the body? Why does it feel like they’ve known each other forever? How is Crowley supposed to tell police that he thinks the murderer is a demon he summoned 35 years ago? And what about that statue that’s the spitting image of the victim?

Read the first two chapters on AO3 ➡️

Excerpt from chapter 2:

The bloody man… was… cute. He was cute, and damn him to hell. Anthony Crowley didn’t like cute. He didn’t even like people. Crowley had barely looked twice at another man in a decade. He’d already given that part of himself up as a bad job at about the same time that he abandoned his last attempt at making friends. He just wasn’t a friendly sort—he had too many sharp edges, too little patience, and too much of a penchant for rubbing people the wrong way for sport. But then here came this waistcoated, tartan brolly, sarcastic eyebrow, bitten-back smirk, Doctor-of-Information-Sciences oddity, strolling right into his lecture theatre where he didn’t even want to be, and all of a sudden Anthony J. Crowley, doctor of mathematics and advanced bastardry, found himself improvising a class about the very core of mathematics and trying to sodding impress. It was embarrassing, really.

✨ Art stuff™️ ✨

I wanted to sketch the building whose epic clock tower appears about five sentences into the second chapter (the first is a prologue, so it barely counts), so I found the prettiest reference photo with the most exciting perspective situation I could find. (The second point was a consequence of the first.)

Just look at this bullshit:

Then, well.

Things went a comfortable amount of overboard about as soon as pencil touched paper

Isn't she gorgeous, this granite orgy in gothic overkill? 🖤

Bonus: This fic contains maths (CW?), and there's going to be some blackboard drawings here and there. Here's the first. Gold star (maths nerd star ⭐️) if you can tell me the problem we're discussing without reading first.

Start reading "Scorn and the Saint-Maker" on AO3 ➡️

ping @goodomensafterdark ❤️ @harlotofupdog, this is the fic where Crowley draws 🍆s on students' homework 😄

[bestanimatedmovie]

Welcome to Revenge of the Underrated!

Some of you asked me to put a "haven't watched both" to be more fair to the more unknown movies, but I've seen other tournaments doing this and I think it limits too much who can participate in the polls. So what I decided to do is a double elimination!

What does that mean? That means a movie has to lose twice to be eliminated. In other words, there will be a sorts of losers bracket that'll be part of main bracket. I'm undecided on whether to do this for only one round or the whole bracket, as it would make the tournament very long. Do let me know if you have any opinion about it.

Anyway, Revenge of the Underrated, Round 1:

Miss Hokusai vs Happily N'Ever After

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children vs Tiger and Bunny: The Rising

Ballerina vs Book Girl

On-Gaku: Our Sound vs Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie Part 1

Cats don't Dance vs The Flight of Dragons

Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge vs The Girl Without Hands

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix vs Flatland: The Film

Felidae vs Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West vs Unico in the Island of Magic

Rock and Rule vs Rock-A-Doodle

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning vs Freddie as F.R.0.7

The Plague Dogs vs The Magic Riddle

Pokemon Heroes vs The Pebble and the Penguin

Strange Magic vs Sea Prince and the Fire Child

Help! I'm a Fish vs Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

16.Azur and Asmar: The Prince's Quest vs Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

17.Titan A.E. vs Ico, the Brave Horse

18.The Adventures of Mark Twain vs A Troll in Central Park

19.The Case of Hana and Alice vs Once Upon a Forest

20.Underdogs vs Long Way North

21.Mars Needs Moms vs The Twelve Months

22.Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Candace Against the Universe vs Blinky Bill

23.Robot Carnival vs Revue Starlight: The Movie

24.One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island vs Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom

25.Ruben Brandt, Collector vs Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie

26.Lupin III: The First vs Pippi Longstocking

27.The Three Caballeros vs The Legend of Manxmouse

28.Princes and Princesses vs The Snow Queen

29.A Letter to Momo vs Seven Days War

30.The Wild Thornberrys Movie vs The Rabbi's Cat

31.Night on the Galactic Railroad vs The Boy who Wanted to be a Bear

32.The Swan Princess vs Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

33.Patema Inverted vs Bartok the Magnificent

34.Next Gen vs Padak

35.Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods vs Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

36.Thumbelina vs Catnapped!

37.Early Man vs Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island

38.Junk Head vs Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

39.Charlotte's Web (1973) vs The Princess and the Goblin

40.Shaun the Sheep Movie vs Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

41. Redline vs Balto

42. The Addams Family vs Inu-Oh

43. Epic vs Mary and the Witch's Flower

44.The Girl Who Leapt Through Time vs Vivo

45.Barbie: Princess Charm School vs Kronk''s New Groove

46.Waking Life vs The Transformers: The Movie

47.Barbie in the Nutcracker vs Barbie as Rapunzel

48.Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back vs Cool World

49.The Land Before Time vs When the Wind Blows

50.The Secret of NIMH vs Summer Wars

51.The Black Cauldron vs All Dogs go to Heaven

52.The Red Turtle vs FernGully: The Last Rainforest

53.Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas vs Ron's Gone Wrong

54.The Boxtrolls vs Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

55.Arthur Christmas vs One Piece Film Red

56.Barbie of Swan Lake vs The Rescuers Down Under

57.Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole vs Secret of the Wings

58.The Castle of Cagliostro vs Pokemon: The Movie 2000

59.Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust vs Arthur and the Invisibles

60.Tinker Bell vs Barbie as the Island Princess

61.Mind Game vs Tekkonkinkreet

62.The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh vs Dragon Ball Super: Broly

63.Mirai vs Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

64.The Lion King II: Simba's Pride vs Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase

[donteverblameash]

SMALL SPOILERS FOR EPIC THE ITCHA SAGA!!!!!

Wow! Golly! Just listened to the Ithaca saga, and why does my throat feel weird and my eyes feel watery?

I got into EPIC, like, the week after the Wisdom saga and it has been the best few months of my life waiting, waiting, for vengeance and Ithaca saga and they did not disappoint. This musical has blood sweat and tears put into it and it's just beautiful.

I was kinda scared that this musical would end in tragedy and Odysseus wouldn't get home. But no, he got to see his boy and say "I love you" to his wife. He did it. He got home. And I'm just so happy and want to cry.

The ending is so satisfying and open ended so you can just imagine for yourself what happens and I just love the thought of doing that, Odysseus adjusting to his family and new life back at home, safe in Ithaca

Jeorge had created something insanely beautiful and he's such an inspiration and cool dude and I'm just so excited to see whatever comes next 😭

Epic the musical 20/10. Listen to it!

[three--rings]

You know what the OFMD fandom experience reminds me of?

My Hannibal fandom experience.

A show I really, deeply love, but reading other fans meta takes on it made me want to fucking throw things.

Hannibal fandom was the reason I joined tumblr in 2013, and I left six months later in a fit of rage when tumblr decided the show was homophobic for having a queer woman (not lesbian, unspecifically queer) sleep with a man once in order to get pregnant. Also when they pretended to kill a female character and people were ranting about the show's misogyny and I was like you idiots she's gonna be alive next week and then she was, cause that happens like 20 times in that show.

I spent the rest of the show's run on twitter, following only cast and crew accounts and like 2 RL friends and only using twitter to liveblog the show.

The way it shook out was all the inane discourse topics of Hannibal fandom were forgotten after the show was finished mostly because people didn't need to make up things to be angry about for a week between episodes and could just focus on fic and stuff. And the angry people moved on to some other show, probably.

And that's what ofmd fandom feels like for me. Do you know how tired I am reading about who is really to blame for Izzy's toe being cut off: him or the man who did it? How tired I am of arguments about morality that totally ignore that the characters under discussion are pirates who have killed like, a lot of people? The arguments with clear ax grinding agendas?

I'm dreading the discussions that are coming and to some extent already happening. I feel like we need a trigger warning for arguing about who is Evil Actually In This Situation. #toegate?

But I'm far too invested in tumblr to ragequit again. And fuck twitter. It's not better there, even if I don't follow anyone.

But yeah, morally complicated shows have shitty meta discussion. And that's too bad because that's what I ENJOY. I desperately wanted people to analyze Hannibal with because god there was so much to talk about, but then people would just pull out some shit like "that queer female character is homophobic because she's too pretty." Yes this is a take I read.

Hannibal is also the fandom where I learned about the curse of S2 in fandom, where fandom declares a new show PERFECTION based on S1 and then S2 comes along and doesn't live up the the perfection they've built up in their mind and then they get mad and tear it apart for everything they can possibly twist into a flaw.

If anything I have a little hope that that won't exactly happen with ofmd because of how toxic the fandom has already been in variously attacking most main characters for their Low Moral Fiber or whatever. Just gotta hope no one's unproblematic faves get complicated, though, or the hell to pay will be epic.

[r4v3nr0s3]

HELLO!

SEPTEMBER 22 is my B-day, I am trying to get my completed series THE EMERALD FORMULA, published.

So I’ve started a GoFundMe! Please check out my story below and if you could like, share, or donate it would mean everything to me.

LEARN MORE BELOW

I'm Raven Rose a queer, Latino, chronically ill, and disabled author and artist. Welcome to my journey as I get ready to be on my own for the first time in 15 years, go back to school, try to get on federal disability in the United States, and get my first novel published. September 22 is my Birthday month so if anyone is feeling extra festive, in lieu of gifts, I'd appreciate help here!

I’m restarting from scratch after a near decade of health problems, and despite great efforts to re-etner the workplace, 6 months time doing what I used to love, put me back in the hospital. For more about me visit my web page !

My lifelong dream has been to become a writer, but I can't do it alone. You can help me reach my goals and achieve my wildest dreams, and I could not be more grateful! Please do whatever you can do - like, share, and/or donate. I'm finally investing in myself and I believe my ideas and this story deserve investment too, so that's why I'm asking for your help.

Now for the goods!

THE EMERALD FORMULA is a series I've been working on close to 20 years.

The Working BLURB for novel 1 is as follows:

Renata Salcedo has never made a wave in her life. In the last few years though, she's broken up with her long term boyfriend, moved into her own place, and was diligently working towards the career of her dreams: a spot at the Smithsonian.

Fine... Adrenaline Junkie, Renata was not. She learned to stay small and figured out how to move quietly enough to stay unnoticed and survive. But it wasn't like she was unsuccessful. Her carefully planned path of baby steps lead her to exactly where she wanted to be: living her boring life and people leaving her alone to do her job. If anything, the job provided her all the excitement she needed. Unearthing old civilizations? Cataloguing the past through objects and art? Thrilling stuff! All done from the safety atop of an orthopedic pillow from behind a desk.

There was only one teensy problem with Renata's goals.

An entire world she knew nothing about existed right under her nose, and it's going to disrupt her boring little life whether she's planned for it or not. And really she can't complain too much, as it all starts with one of her absolute, most favorite things...

A Book

(Story EXCERPT at the bottom too)

REALM OF MATTER is the first novel in a complete 3-Book series called THE EMERALD FORMULA. At this point, the series needs refinement and editing, so both developmental and line editing. Funds will go towards paying the editors. Whatever is left over will go towards my publishing goals, and my intent to get an art degree and start doing marketing and making book covers. The three mock ups below were all created by me in Vector and Photoshop.

This Epic tale is a paranormal adventure with elements or horror, humor, fantasy, and an underlying slow burn human/humanoid monster romance. It features a diverse cast of human characters who break the mold of the Hero's Journey, and reject its sanctity all-together.

Its universe is heavily based on the History of science, magic, and folklore, focusing mainly on Pagan and Catholic mythology to give this Hero's journey a darkly poignant and comedic edge that digs in and punches up. The magical system is highly elemental, and dives deep into Alchemical and Spiritual theory from thousands of years ago. All of the artwork you see was done by me, a self taught artist (thought I'd like to go back to school next year).

I created my own language and phonetics system, also an alphabet.

All so I could make these transmutation circles based on sacred geometry.

YOU CAN READ CHAPTER 1 HERE

THE EMERAD FORMULA: REALM OF MATTER is a snarky thriller that features a bunch of traumatized, relatable saps often thrust into magical and extraordinary circumstances with not much but found family and magic on their side. But if they can't find hope in a hopeless situation against the ultimate evil, no one can. If you vibe with sacrilege, and enjoy flawed, funny characters, family antics, awkward slow burn romances, complex but accessible lore, legacy heroes, ancient monsters, chaos, magic, and mayhem? You've found the series for you.

Please do whatever is accessible to you: liking, sharing, and donating are all extremely important to make this project a reality. This means a lot to me and I greatly appreciate your support.

Thank you for your time,

Raven Rose

[caribeandthebooks]

January 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

I read 5 books and got 5 Kindle/Goodreads challenge achievements this month!

Now lets look at the breakdown :)

Reading Challenge Progress: I committed to reading 20 books in 2025 so currently I'm ahead by 3 books!

Top Genre read as at January 2025: Classics/Literary/Fantasy

My first read for the year was Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Rating: 3/5

January 2nd is Science Fiction Day and while this book isn't exactly science fiction I figured celebrating it with an Octavia Butler read is decent call. This book was a heavy read but at a point it started to feel like things just happened to push the plot along. I am not currently interested in reading the second part of this duology but it might do it to complete a challenge, who knows.

Parable of the Sower helped me earn the Fresh Start Kindle Challenge achievement.

Book #2 was The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Rating: 2.5/5

One of my reading bingo prompts was to ask a family member what book has made a lasting impression on them then find and read that book. This book traumatized my mother so much she has never touched another science fiction book again. Which is hilarious because it's the horror element that scared her off.

I finished this book in 2 days powered solely by the curiosity of what in the story scared my mother so. If you're interested, look up some the alternative book covers for this; they're wild!

Book #3 was Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. Rating: 3.75/5

Two of the Goodreads challenges for Jan to April has this as a qualifying book so I figured why not get in on the 2 for 1. For all the fantasy I've read I don't think I've ever read a book that was purely about fae. The encyclopedia part mostly wrapped up half way thru the book and then the latter half was wrapping up all the other things that happened in the first half. I enjoyed it but I’m not compelled to read the next book in the series so it 3.75 stars it is.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries earned me the Buzzy Books & Epic Quest Goodreads Challenge achievements

Book #4 was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Rating: 3.5/5

This book has been in my TBR jar for a while and between the Kindle price dropping dramatically and it being a valid pick for the Era Explorer Goodreads Challenge it seemed like now is as good a time as ever. I liked this story about colorism a lot more than I expected I would. I liked that all the characters ended up doing relatively okay for the decisions they made.

The Vanishing Half earned me the Reading List Kindle Achievement & the Era Explorer Goodreads Challenge achievement

Book #5 was The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin. Rating: 5/5

One of my reading bingo prompts was the read a book where a character or author has the same name as I do. Thankfully I found a book by a familiar author that did the trick, the spelling has an extra letter but I'm certain it sounds the same so it counts. I enjoyed this read as I usually do books from Jemisin and I will definitely be reading the second book in this duology.

And that's it! If you stuck around for the whole thing, thank you so much! I try to keep my review's spoiler free - be the good you want to see in the world, right?

See you next month and Happy Reading!!

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: The Game!

Hey, all! As part of an effort to further potential with my Tumblr project, I have a huge announcement to make for you all. Introducing...

An official game adaptation of Sonic: Into, Across and Beyond!, and boy, will it be a treat to behold, huh?

The game has started development today, and you'll be able to look forward to:

Each of the stories in gameplay form

Over 20 playable characters

Plenty of cutscenes to enjoy

Interactive environments to explore

Epic boss encounters with many rogues from the Sonic multiverse

And so much more!

I really hope you're all looking forward to-!

OMT!Tails: Woah woah woah! Hang on a moment.

Huh?

OMT!Tails walks into frame.

OMT!Tails: The story's barely 6 months old yet, and you're seriously pitching a game for it?

Ah, right. I forgot.

CR!Sonic and CR!Sally show up.

CR!Sonic: You okay, Tails?

OMT!Tails: You guys might want to look at this.

CR!Sally: A video game of all our endeavours? Seriously?

CR!Sonic: Looks like it. How would it even work out, though?

OMT!Tails: I doubt it'd ever see completion, though. I mean, over 6 quests to fill out into gameplay form? That'd take AGES, and it's likely going to risk cancellation partway through the process.

CR!Sonic: Yeah, you got a good point there, kid. I mean, can't people just enjoy the stories as they are? They're not meant to be "played".

OMT!Tails: Yeah, exactly. Especially after what I've been through...

CR!Sally: I get you, Tails...

CR!Sonic: Into, Across and Beyond! is meant to be a story project for free and for fun! Pico doesn't have the time or energy to dedicate part of his life to making a game. I bet those children and hate band-wagoners on Twitter would just jump at any opportunity to hate on it for petty reasons. And that's why they have so much-!

D-Sides Mighty enters.

D-Sides Mighty: What's going on here?

OMT!Tails: Oh! Hey, Mighty.

D-Sides Mighty: A game, huh? Don't people have enough Sonic fan-games to play?

CR!Sonic: That's what I've been trying to get at, bud. I mean, the story here on Tumblr's satisfactory enough.

OMT!Tails: Wait, "Tumblr"?

CR!Sonic: Hmm?

OMT!Tails: I thought it was called "Tumblelogs".

CR!Sonic: It was! Well, used to, anyway. I'm guessing it's still called that in your dimension?

OMT!Tails: Mhm.

D-Sides Mighty: Yeah, we don't need to go for a game of this, considering the Spider-Verse IP is copyrighted.

OMT!Tails: Hmm... Give me just a moment!

OMT!Tails spins around the lower text, tweaking it a bit.

OMT!Tails: There! Better?

CR!Sally: Much better! Well done, Tails!

D-Sides Mighty: Well, that's one situation we can finally close the book on, wouldn't you say?

CR!Sonic: Yep. Come on, Sal. Let's head back now.

CR!Sally: Good idea, Sonic.

The couple headed off.

D-Sides Mighty: Wanna go grab a bite at Burger Monarchy, Tails?

OMT!Tails: Sure thing!

They left too.

Well, that's that, then. You're NOT getting that game. In the end, it was a cleverly-veiled April Fools' gag!

Happy April Fools' Day, folks! You've got all there is so far of the story to enjoy here from the comfort of Tumblr. Plus, I've been generous enough with each post to compile links to every post for this project on a Master Post that you're more than welcome to view on my profile. Well, see you around in the next post!

...

...

...

...

???: It's all the same for your heroic delusions. That is, until you finally meet ME. I already won because I was two steps ahead and found a way to tap into what I desire most. You think a hero of Mobius, let alone a type of Sonic, always has a chance against Dr. Eggman? HA! Don't make me laugh. I ripped that hope to pieces for my Sonic long ago. And soon, with the power of MY Chaos Emeralds, all other universes will follow... Now, you'll all see how big a man I can be. It's time to say goodbye to humanity, heroes...

???: And hello... to the NEW NORM! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The reveal of the final main antagonist... coming soon.

[sagesilentfire]

I FINISHED A SKETCHBOOK! Every page is drawn upon. It only took me... eight years. Wow. I only started working on it in earnest about six months ago, though, so... yeah. 

TO CELEBRATE: I want to take one of these sketches and develop it into a full rendered digital painting. I will make a fun little quiz and we'll narrow it down to one drawing. Quiz and logistics coming later, but will be posted here.

A lot of this is me figuring out designs for characters I haven't even written about yet, so look out for that. I'll elaborate one every sketch if you're interested, so keep reading if you want to know who's who. The sketches are generally in reverse chronological order from top to bottom.

1. Alice, a new character in Star and Marcie and the Forces of Evil, my latest project. She's fighting. She's a fighter. She's a love interest, but I hope I make her interesting on her own.

2. Cinder, wearing a shirt Kowari and Kultarr got for her. He will never take it off.

3. Various faces for Iako, a character in my next project that I'm 90% sure on the design for. She lives in a world of kitsunes who accidentally got addicted to gaining their nine tails through murder. Also magic powers are cursed. Iako wants to make magic better, so she goes on a trip to a mysterious island that holds the key to ending the curses... and their lives. Also it's based on the original premise of Lightlark. Hehe. Prologue can be found here. It's part 2.

4. lorge Sílthéy and small derg. 

5. Practicing SilkWings and playing around with dragon faces, plus their defining attributes.

6. ANCIENT Sílthéy expression practice. This is years before the eye redesign, but you can still get the essence of her character and how she's born out of my religious trauma.

7. ANCIENT Sílthéy expression practice cont.

8. SilkWing practice with face shapes.

9. Alice fullbody. My second drawing of her, getting her design down.

10. a. Evelyn, the protag of a story I'd like to tell someday. I can't say much more than that, except that it's a tragedy of epic proportions. b. Human Sílthéy

11. Alice and Shinjai. Shinjai is a main character in SAMATFOE, and she and Alice have an almost-thing going. 

12. Iako and a still unnamed... side character? They're studying the book Iako gets in the prologue.

13. This is [NAME REDACTED]. They're from a universe inspired by Star Wars, but if it was animated and also deeply weird. [NAME REDACTED] is [TOP SECRET INFORMATION]

14. First drawing of Alice. Figuring out her cheekmarks, and what I wanted to keep in her show design (she's based on a one-off background character).

15. More Iako drawings. Left out her hair in a, can't remember if it was intentional or not.

16. A dragon from a Wings of Fire inspired sci-fi world.

17. RPG species. They're aliens who are eusocial, and females are split into four "genders"/roles in society. This gender is soldier, distinguished by their massive claws and size. Their job is everything that requires strength.

18. An early Tethalaos, and also an entirely plausible form for them to take.

19. Above mentioned RPG species. This gender is gatherer, distinguished by their small body and delicate hands. 

20. Another dragon from above mentioned Wings of Fire inspired sci-fi.

21, 23-26. More sketches of [NAME REDACTED]. As you might guess, I quite like them. I just think they're neat, and I wanted to get their design down solidly.

22. Wasp friend :D

27. Shinjai's new crown, as seen in the latest chapter of SAMATFOE.

28. Funny Christmas Carol-inspired AU of SAMATFOE that I drew after being bludgeoned over the head with Christmas music for hours in a holiday sale I was working at.

29. Sílthéy being big mad.

30. RainWing. Not sure who this is.

31. Toffee's Mewberty wings.

32. More Evelyn.

33. LunarWings, but in my sci-fi world.

34. Yet another species in my sci-fi world.

35. Star and Marcie from SAMATFOE

36. Espina, a character from an urban-fantasy boarding school story about being bonded to animals people often find disgusting and repulsive. Espina controls wasps.

37. All the they/them nonbinary characters in SAMATFOE at the time of this drawing. From left to right: Nova, Toffee, Necahua, Dr. Edevane, Mayhem and Miette Maizley, Higgs, and of course, Tethalaos. Drawn at a nonbinary people meetup.

38. Sílthéy again

39. The oldest drawing in the book, Darkstalker from before we even knew what he looked like. An old doodle, but it proves how dedicated I was to Darkstalker being a good guy back in the day.

40. A design for an old idea I had of a hollow mountain filled with outcasts from society. Might revisit it, there's enough there to make at least a novella.

41. Toffee fashion sketches.

42. An old drawing of Sílthéy in her Wings of Fire dragon form, a hybrid named Liminal (nicknamed Lin). I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, honestly.

43. Sílthéy even BIGGER mad

44. More from the hollow mountain. The outcasts are protected by these guys, and in exchange they're cleaned and fed.

[achillean-knight]

Nearing the end of Mettamay! Recap and thoughts :D (This is just for fun lol)

I think this is the part where I drop off of drawing for Mettamay AAAA But hey, I did really good though! (imo ofc!) The number of days I did and how much I drew MTT himself was insane 👀👀👀

In total I accomplished days: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27! So in total, 21 days! Holy shit LMFAO VERY proud at my commitment yo, I kinda wanna do this again next year if it's on! >:D (just remind me bc I WILL forget probably)

I've mostly dropped off by now, just bc I can't think of what to draw, and my motivation has moved to updating oc's for Art Fight BAHA But the fact I made it so far--- bonkers, bro, absolutely bonkers. This was INCREDIBLY fun and got me through pretty bad burnout, so yah! It was honestly very relaxing to just draw Mettaton for 21 days JHSDGHSD

Also, shout out to Mettamay for getting me to experiment with art aswell! Notably, I've become more comfortable not fully rendering with a painterly style, rather, just using a single pen brush in my software and doing pretty decent cell shading(?), which is epic as bc painting takes... SOOOO long JHDF

And honestly, imo to end off Mettamay for MYSELF Imma rank my favourite pieces I've done for this month, just to look back on and just for funsies KEKEKE

VV - UNDER THE CUT! BC THIS POST IS LONG AS HELL - VV

TO RECAP FOR MYSELF, My favourite pieces were these:

FIRST:

Mostly bc I am so SO happy with the rendering and colours JKSDHGFSD

SECOND:

First siting of me doing decent rendering in the whole of this challenge 🫵 This one was specifically a blast. The pose- not too great, but for me who is pretty shit at poses, I'm VERYYYYY happy with it >:D Very epic to see I also accomplished kinda comic-like background graphics, dunno how I did it JKHJGHSFGSDJ

THIRD:

i'm kinda insane about my AU MTT. Salty I forgot the weird cape banner wing things but I love this piece nonetheless ;;w;;! I'm so happy with the design, and getting the chance to draw it for Mettamay was a blast.

LASTLY/SPECIAL MENTION The amount of ghost MTT's I drew have to get their own spotlight. I had so so much fun drawing his ghost form, and honestly? NEW COMFORT CHARACTER UNLOCKED KJSHJHFDG

Who knew a hot pink ghost of my design would become a comfort PFFT Very happy at his design development since the first one LMAO Bro got edgier hair JHGGFJS thanks to my AU ghost MTT also having edgy af hair KJHJHSDJKDDHSDSJ

BUT YEAH Overall, Metta May was a BLAST And now that I experimented with drawing Mettaton, I think I'm comfortable drawing more of him now >:3 Just--- when motivation hits me LOL

[margridarnauds]

wicked and epic the musical

Wicked

Oh...God the complicated relationship I have with this musical. Was obsessed with it when I was 12, but it kind of died down as I got into other musical theatre fandoms. By the time I had kind of developed as a musical theatre fan, I was kind of over it, so I was never really into looking into bootlegs as much. I didn't and don't DISLIKE it, but. It's there. It has some nice songs.

When I saw it live, I was kind of disappointed because the cast wasn't at its best (the danger with touring productions where, depending on the day, you can get some very tired performers) and the audience wasn't at its best (disruptive high school class several rows ahead of me), with both Glinda and Elphaba overacting.

Do I blame the musical as a whole? NO. I still want to get tickets the next time around because like the Bourbon kings of France, I never forget and I never learn, but I still wouldn't put it into my Top 10...or even my Top 20. There are some really impressive technical elements seeing it live, but if you have an Elphaba or Glinda who aren't putting the work in, it will REALLY show -- the show is really riding off of the hope that it has actresses who are willing to fill in the gaps. (Also...I have never been part of the fandom because I've NEVER liked the way that they talk about Fiyero especially since, imo, he has the character arc that a lot of people wish Glinda had.)

Still living in hope the movie will actually be good! Let's form a prayer circle! Should have been a proshot.

Epic

The best musical that should absolutely never become an actual staged production.

Wonderful music, you can really tell that Jay has put a lot of heart and thought into every single line and every single musical choice, I'm always amazed at the sheer RANGE and the characterization and the way that it tweaks the Odyssey to better convey the themes he's going for, I love the take on Athena in particular (she also gets the best songs), "Warrior of the Mind", "My Goodbye", "God Games", and "Dangerous" have been on my repeats for MONTHS. This musical really gave me hope for the world of musical theatre, at a time when I was really...doubting the future of the English language musical theatre scene in general. I'm always blown away looking at his behind the scenes videos because it's so clear how PASSIONATE he is about the project.

...but I am begging the man to not try to actually stage it because I think it would destroy him. It's a marvelous concept album but I do not see any way of staging it that would be less than tens of millions of dollars.

[aromantisk-fagforening]

1, 9, 19, and 20 for the end of the year asks please :)

Thanks for the ask Snowy!

1. Song of the year?

well definitely not my top song on Spotify lol. No that one is basically just from the first months.

I'll say knife in the coffee by car seat headrest. It's so wonderful, I've probably posted like 20 posts about it. (from the album nervous young man)

9. Best month for you this year?

Either may or june

may because I was at the library all the time, I was really hyped about reading the Scythe trilogy. Although I was a bit stressed I think, it's like the end of the schoolyear with all sorts of exams and stuff.

June because I was at the library 24/7, I had just gotten lots of treatment so my physical pain was low. (can't say the same for December RIP). I read tons. Although it was really light outside so hard to sleep and no walks in the dark of night. (I love my dark walks).

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

better grades lol. No ok. I don't know what I'll be up to. Oh actually! I'll be going to Oslo and most importantly: the Deichmanske library!! Everyone says it's amazing, and I'm a big Library fan. So yeah :D

20. What’s something you learned this year?

the true impact pain can have on your ability to uhm exist, participate , etc, in society. it really sucks to be in moderate to severe (or even mild) pain chronically, wouldn't recommend.

ok but yeah on a more cheery note. I learned a decent bit of Russian. I learned about mastodon's existence (big epic). I learned more about international politics (arguably not that cheery idk). I learned about queer history in Norway. And yeah, lots of stuff :)