#aster is amy's name for him

[myymi]

45👀

wings or tails

"Take my wings!" Amy screams out suddenly, desperate. She didn't fully process her words until she had shouted them, but she didn't even think about taking them back. She meant it when she promised to do anything to keep Aster safe.

"What?" The bandit asks, eyes narrowing as he turns around to look at her. His grip on the kitsune's scruff tightens as he watches the half fairy's movements closely. Skeptical.

"It's money you want, right?" She asks, taking a breath before pointing to the crystal wings on her back. "Fairy wings are worth a lot, especially two in perfect condition. Maybe even more than a baby kitsune, I don't know. Just— give him back and take my wings. Please."

a bit of context: this is an au im calling woodland. amy is a half fairy/half mobian while aster(tails in this au) is a full kitsune

x

[friendship-got-faster]

Decided the ponies of the AU need some alternative names better fit for the world of Equestria!

(and so they they can bs properly identified separately from the original sonic cast)

Here's a master list of all the names for everypony:

• Ponies

– Sonic Boom (Sonic)

– Twisty Tails (Tails)

– Ace Rose ("Ace") (Amy)

– Creme brulee ("Creme") (Cream)

– Bulky Catch ("Bulk") (Big)

– Mareroon ("Roon") (Rouge) batpony

– Shadow Sparks (Shadow)

– Silver stardust (Silver)

• Other Creatures

– Buckles ("Bucks") (Knuckles) Zebra

– Tenochtitlan ("Teno") (Tikal) Zebra

– Blazing Aster (Blaze) Kirin

– Mareef (Marine) Hippogriff

– Espionage (Espio) Dragon

– Scorcher (Vector) Dragon

– Hamuli (Charmy) Changeling

• Machines

– Timber Omega (T-123 Omega) (Omega)

– Metal Boom (Metal Sonic)

(this list will be updated if I think of any additional characters I'd like to include )

╰┈➤ Tags––––––––––

Some character are still referred to by there original name, so for tags I'll be using

The original name of that Character (e.g. Amy)

The original, fullname (e.g. Amy Rose)

The AU name (e.g. Ace Rose)

→ Explaining the nameing ––––––––––

• Ace Rose ––––––––––

→ Card pun

• Creme Brulee ––––––––––

→ Creme Brulee is a type of dessert which primarily uses cream!

• Bulky Catch ––––––––––

→ a play on his size but a hint to his love of fishing! (and because he quite the catch himself, we love big in these parts)

• Mareroon ––––––––––

→ since "Rouge" is a color, I decided to pick another color as the alternative name. Maroon not only works for the pun, but is also a color associated with bl*od, which felt appropriate for a bat pony

• Shadow Sparks ––––––––––

→ he's a dark figure, illuminated only by the sparks of his own magic

• Buckles ––––––––––

→ Horses (or Zebras in this case) don't have hands, so they don't have Knuckles, so they can't punch. Horses do however, have hooves, and can kick, this Buckles, Bucks!

• Tenochtitlan ––––––––––

→ Tikal is named after a temple, so I figured her AU name should be named after a temple in Equestria, and I landed on the Tenochtitlan temple, not much is actually known for this temple in universe, so writing will be required.

• Blazing Aster ––––––––––

→ the Kirin have plant/nature related names. Aster is a kind of purple flower so I figured it fit best!

• Mareef ––––––––––

→ "Marine" is in reference to general Ocean life, which is very prominent in Coral Reefs.

• Espionage ––––––––––

→ Dragons usually have short names that list off a specific trait, Espio is short of espionage which refers to spying

• Scorcher ––––––––––

→ A hint at his fire breath (or fire tunes if you'd like)

• Hamuli ––––––––––

→ the changelings tend to have names that reference bug anatomy or topics, "Hamuli" are a structure found on honeybee wings.

• Timber Omega ––––––––––

→ Omega is a term used for wolf rankings in some cases, so perhaps it's used for Timberwolves as well! Omegas design will reflect that aspect as well as what powers him

[tshortik]

My random comic Recs #1

I've been reading more comics lately, so I wanted to share my love for them in the hopes that someone might give this medium a chance!

Note: I am not a fan of superhero comics, because I simply don't like that genre, so don't expect superheroes below. Gonna make these posts every now and then and they will always include 4 recs. 1.) The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Death got demoted and sent to earth as a mortal! Some boy is going to figure out how to cheat death in the future, and our girl Death really doesn't appreciate that. The entire graphic novel is only 5 issues long, so it's VERY digestible and easy to get through.There is something so light and playful about the art style, and the vibrant colors really sell it.

For people that are completely new to comics as a medium, I imagine that this is actually an A+ book to start with for the reasons I just mentioned. The way paneling and the flow of time is done in here, is a great example as to why comics are so unique as a medium and why they should be looked at as its own art from, separate from movies or books.

2) Mécanique Céleste (Or "Mechanica Calaestium" in the German translation, or "Aster Of Pan" in the English translation)

An absolutely breathtaking French comic. Aster lives in Pan, a post-apocalyptic France where she scavenges for wreckage with her friend Wallis. After their people come under a threat by the Federation of Fortuna, they are given a choice —submit to Fortuna’s rule or beat them in a weird Hunger Games-esque version of Dodge, called “Celestial Mechanics”.

The detailed art pieces in each panel, the careful line work, the lively way the characters move and the stunning watercolors captivated me from the first page. This graphic novel (now 2 volumes) is one of a kind and truly unique!

3) Something Is Killing the Children

Note: Comic contains a lot of gore and violence!

Children are starting to disappear in Archer's Peak. The ones that come back tell impossible stories that no one seems to believe. Only one stranger trusts these tales - a mysterious girl named Erica Slaughter who seems to be able to see these creatures too. And she's here for business.

I loooove Something is Killing the Children. I haven't finished reading the ongoing volumes yet, but I am super fascinated at how well the pacing goes in this story. The rough art style with Erica's freaky large eyes is SO fun, and you start appreciating it even more the longer you read.

4) Mon Ami Pierrot ("Mein Freund Pierrot" in German, "My friend Pierrot" in English)

Another fabulous French comic! Cléa is to marry soon - a young man name of Berthier. Right before the wedding she meets the fascinating magician Pierrot though, who completely changes the course of her life. Entranced by his whimsical nature that makes her feel "free" for the first time in her life, she follows him and leaves her previous life behind. During her stay with Pierrot, questions arise, though. Who is he really? All the while her betrothed sets out to find her again.

The Ghibli influence both art- and storywise is easy to make out, and I personally really enjoyed that. I particularly love the colors and the facial expressions the characters are drawn with. Everything feels very whimsical and playful and I had a good time going through this chonker of a graphic novel!

No spoilers, but I expected toothrottingly-sweet wholesome stuff, and ended up surprised on several occasions. I think the colours and art style really help give those moments wham, because you don't expect it.

[trans-queen-administrator]

One of my friends asked what some of my favorite moment in Worm are and I've narrowed it down to just a few but how am I supposed to choose between "they seem like good people" I lied, or the second lung fight with the caterpillar in the eye to win, or Taylor breaking out of the burning building Coil trapped her in, or her terrorizing people while drinking tea, or when Taylor tries to 1v1 Leviathan to save people and gets her back shattered, or when Rachel saves her afterwards, or when we learn Rachel carved the names of her dogs into the monument, or when Taylor almost kills Triumph with bees, or the Mannequin fight, or running through the streets to warn people about Shatterbird's scream, or the fridge, or cutting Noelle in half, or just how hopeless the Noelle fight seemed before that with Eidolon caught, or Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine's fight with Scion, or Phir Sé's time bomb engulfing Behemoth and just obliterating him only for Behemoth to keep going, or Chevalier's interlude where he goes out to fight Behemoth alone despite being injured, or String Theory, or the wards therapy interlude where Lily can't get over how Taylor's words are stuck in her head, or Labyrinth and Burnscar reuniting, or Legend looking at the lie detector after the meeting, or Taylor hovering over the ocean knowing she doesn't have the battery in her flight pack to get back, or Aster getting shot, or the oil rig fight when Taylor crawls back up as a monster after being cut in half, or the horror of Alec's interlude, or Bonesaw having a crisis because Contessa said like 4 words to her and oh hey that parallels with you needed worthy opponents I never noticed that, or Taylor telling Eidolon and Scion to fuck off and leave, or Scion's entire interlude, or Number Man's interlude when he thinks about what it means of powers if Jack Slash's loves how he does stuff, or Kevin Norton, or Taylor ruining the chili, or the cafeteria scene where she's outed but talks her way out, or maggots in his eyes monday, or her turning herself in, or her talk with Dinah when she realizes that there's a solid chance she becomes Coil and keeps Dinah around because it's useful, or her killing Coil, or her killing Alexandria and Tagg, or the Cauldron raid where she swings a death knife through a crowd to hit one guy, or her requesting Lung cauterize her arm, or when Piggot is kidnapped and she fucks up the Undersiders just by talking, or Taylor's attempt to become besties with the Simurgh, or the Simurgh singing a lullaby to Lisa and Taylor, or the tea party with Nilbog, Taylor, Jack, and Riley, or the moment she reunites with her team post-timeskip, or when Glenn shows her a video of her being horrifying and she only thinks about her passenger moving her in it, or when her passenger makes her choke on a cockroach to save her, or going shopping with Lisa for fun, or when she helps Rachel at the shelter, or when she goes home with Brian and meets Aisha, or when we see Dinah for the first time and it's fucked, or when Taylor has Amy fuck with her brain knowing she won't come back from it, or when Lisa finally opens up and tells Taylor about her trigger, or when Taylor goes blind, or when Clockblocker keeps asking her questions in the car ride to Echdina, or when Scapegoat takes her injuries and freaks out, or when Sundancer tears off her costume and walks through the portal after killing Noelle but the pavement is cooling around her because she'll never escape her power or what she just did, or Fortuna's interlude, or Rachel stepping into Khepri's range because she trusts her, or Lisa tearing into Taylor with words after she sees what happened, or the realization she can't read anymore, or the fight with Dragon where she thinks she killed her, or all of the fight with Scion where she's controlling thousands of people while her brain deteriorates, or "finally, everyone was working together," or the talk with Contessa at the very end? How am I supposed to choose?

[pacifistcowboy]

so i’ve made some sol-dimension versions of the characters from sonic’s dimension, in the same way that blaze is a sol-dimension version of sonic (and sorta knuckles) and marine is a sol-dimension version of tails. these two are the sol versions of shadow and amy!

i haven’t quite decided on the colours for sol-shadow, so i have a few designs for her. any opinions on which colours are best would be appreciated!! i can mix and match different parts of these designs, since i explored different things in each.

i’ll explain a bit more about them below

sol-shadow is a cat with cryokinesis, which is ice powers! and since the sol-dimension versions seem to have opposite personalities but still have the same core values n kinda ‘roles’ as their original counterparts, sol-shadow is friendly, upbeat, and social. all she wants is to belong somewhere and constantly wants to do things with people and never alone. in order for her to still have an anti-hero vibe, i’ll probably have it that she’s willing to do anything for someone if she thinks they’ll be her friend for it. she trusts people too easily and tends to unintentionally be a bit too lighthearted and playful in most situations. sol-shadow also struggles a lot with her identity and knowing if she’s a good person or a bad guy due to her dramatic backstory that i had to give her ‘cause that’s a big part of og-shadow’s character, but i’ll talk about that after i talk about sol-amy, ‘cause it’s gonna be a lotta words.

i haven’t settled on a name yet but so far the options are: glacier, frost, crystal, and floe

sol-amy is a bobcat (not too sure if that’ll change or not) with a giant sword instead of a giant hammer!! he’s got a crush on blaze, since that’s og-amy’s ‘role’ with sonic, but since his personality’s the opposite of og-amy, he pretends he doesn’t like blaze, or anyone, or anything. he tries way too hard to be a mean, uncaring recluse, yet everyone can tell it’s a façade and that he truly loves and cares so very much for people and the world and everything. he acts like he’s forced to work as a team and help save the day, but literally nobody forces him to hang around or help. his grumpy, complaining, pessimistic persona stems from the fact that he’s actually a really anxious person who’s scared of being close to people and failing to save the things he cares about.

possible names i have for him are: sabre, ash, thorn, spike, aster, and fern

onto sol-shadow’s backstory which i’m still working out n kinda experimenting: many many years ago, the sol empire was overthrown by sol-shadow’s family. they either inherently had cryokinesis, or sol-shadow’s parents were rejected by the sol emeralds when trying to harness them and as an unintentional consequence both sol-shadow and her older brother were born with cryokinesis. sol-shadow’s parents ruled but they were apathetic towards the citizens and power-hungry. they were loving towards their children and sol-shadow’s a bit naïve, so she didn’t see how awful they were. but sol-shadow’s older brother, pierce, did, and he was against their cruelty and secretly helped plan a revolution for the citizens. when the uprising began, pierce escaped with sol-shadow and lead her into a deep cave or something hidden like that. he told her to stay there and that he was going to go back to help, and once the fight was over he would come back to her. sol-shadow refused to let him go alone, so pierce froze her to keep her from getting into danger. when pierce went back to the palace, he ended up getting killed by someone working for their parents. the revolution was a success, and the citizens chose to put blaze’s family back on the throne.

so sol-shadow was stuck frozen in a cave (or maybe not a cave idk) for many many years until someone finds her during blaze’s time, and thaws her. and once she wakes up, all sol-shadow knows is that her family was attacked by the citizens, and that she wants to find her brother, which is gonna lead to a lot of misunderstandings and self-reflection and discovery.

any criticisms or input n such is appreciated! this is an interesting but tricky concept to make :)

[bah-protocol]

hey! could we req a transmasc creators choice stardew valley introject?? preferably a memory holder and/or soother, if you don’t mind :]

thank you soso much!

A New Hire; Transmasc Stardew Valley Introject

>Name/s: Aster, Abel, Gabriel, Harlequin, Sparrow

>Nickname/s: Gabe, Harley, Aro/Arrow

>Age: 25

>Gender/s: Transmasc Boything

>Pronouns: He/Him - Vey/Vem/Ver - Cli/Click - Cry/Crys/Crystal - Ame/Amy/Amethyst - Vi/Vio/Violet - Cri/Crit/Critter - 🪈/🪈s

>Sexuality: Bisexual

>Species: Human

>Source: Abigail - Stardew Valley

>Role/s: Memory holder, Soother, Scout

>Descriptors: Intrepid, Daring, Jolly, Rebellious, Free-spirited

>Emoji/s: 🪈,🪺,🔮,💎,💜,🍄‍🟫

Transmasc-ing your Abigails !!

We uh. Got tired of making the little userboxes so not doing them anymore! lmao

[silkchiffon]

some of my simmosa headcanons:

amy does the aster flores thing where she has a look for whenever she wants to be kissed.

jonah has letterboxd. he also runs an account for amy (named “my girlfriend amy” which appropriately gets changed to “my wife amy” once they get married) that blows up because she has funny things to say about films but no patience to document them. meanwhile his account has the patron tier, over a thousand films logged, and cleverly articulated reviews with meticulous ratings but only 9 followers.

amy wore the ring that jonah stole to get her measurements a lot while she was in california. mostly as a reminder of the mistake she’ll inevitably understand that she made but also because it’s strangely comfortable to have on.

jonah started a podcast right after the breakup. he stopped recording episodes after accidentally letting marcus move in with him and i’ve got no idea what it would be about but i think he would set up the stupidly costly mic that he bought online in front of amy’s plants and pretend they were his audience.

amy gets super into video games again over the pandemic. in between binge watching shows and attending corporate meetings, she becomes a real acnh woman, much to the dismay of emma. when she and jonah get back together, she forces him to play lovers in a dangerous spacetime. they kill it at that game in spite of whatever argument might ensue.

a list of some shows i think jonah has watched: succession, severance, the west wing, the wire, lost, black mirror, charmed.

the recall room stayed even after they converted cloud 9 into a fulfillment center since no one else knew about it, so amy and jonah still sneak in there sometimes for the fun of it. when they visit dina and the others for the first time, they disappear after ten minutes and everybody thinks they either got lost or crushed by some packages. (let’s be honest, they’re having another town hall moment.)

couples costumes they would do: elizabeth and philip jennings, climate change (she’s a polar bear and he’s a melting ice cap), romeo and juliet (specifically from the baz luhrmann movie obviously, though this is based off an original script of the pilot that has a nod to the fish tank scene, even though it was actually between jonah and dina but that is not important.)

so they’ve both always absolutely been bi to me. it’s an unspoken thing at work for jonah, so amy is the first person he actually tells, voices aloud that this is who he is a person, and that’s what she’s signing up for when they finally start dating. and it gets gears turning in her head. this is a lot of projection on my end but i think amy looks back at the women she filed away as formative role models in her head and wonders whether there was something more there. remembers how she always thought someone like missy jones looked so gorgeous but thought that had more to do with being blinded by her talent. jonah helps amy figure out her feelings for women once he finds out she thought staring at them all the time was a normal thing to do.

they have the same taste in people. i have a whole episode made up in my mind about them figuring this out and the discovery spiraling to the point that they have everybody in the break room naming truly anyone to see if they both have a crush on the person or not. they have multiple whiteboards with the most complicated system ranking countless celebrities and the whole thing ends when jonah asks amy if she actually finds him attractive but she successfully avoids giving him an answer by making out with him. she does btw but she would never tell him because it would go to his head immediately and he would never let her live it down.

amy wearing name tags with different names every single day is her way of playing around with gender but nobody is ready for that conversation yet.

[murder-senpai]

F A N F I C T I O N

Oh, hello there!! My name is Murder-senpai! I’m new here to tumblr sooooo don’t mind me being awkward n’ stuff. So this is gonna be like, what fandoms and characters I write for sOoooOoOo

AU’s and other stuff I’ll do: ABO, genderbend, hanahaki, soulmate, supernatural/power, soft yandere/ stockholm syndrome, coffee shop, modern, fantasy, baby/kid versions of characters, babysitter, neko, inu, kitsune, post apocalyptic, zombie, flower shop, book store, dragon, fairy tale, high school/college, mafia, pregnant, steampunk, merpeople, pirate, pirate/merperson, prison, reincarnation, famous, vampire, werewolf

There is more shit I’ll do but I can’t really think anymore so just request

(reader insert crap)

I will NOT do nsfw. This is a christian minecraft sever 

You CAN request multiple character/poly and platonic stuff

If your not specific, I will choose between headcanons or a fic/drabble

If you request angst, I will give it a fluffy ending unless requested otherwise

Please be specific in your request   ex: reader gender (fem, male, gender neutral)

Edit: I will now take character x character, character + character platonic stuff, aus (like, medevil bnha, or a story about friendship or enemies to friends or adoption, anything really), and stuff like that

Current hyperfixation (aka, what I will probably write better for/ do more): dream smp

Will probably put the scenario in a non specific arc

Fairy Tail:

Natsu

Gray

Loke/leo

Laxus

Sting

Rouge

Gajeel

Zeref

Jellal

Jackal

Lucy

Levy

Juvia

Guildarts

Freed

Erza

DBH:

Connor

Hank

Markus

Gavin

nines

ATLA:

Aang

Zuko

Sokka

Katara

Toph

mai

ty lee

azula

BNHA:

Izuku

Katsuki

Shouto

Denki

Eijiro

Tenya

Toshinori

Shouta

hizashi

fumikage

neito

mirio

takami

hitoshi

inasa

Enji

keigo

rumi

momo

mina

ochaco

dabi

shigaraki

overhaul

sir nighteye

kurogiri

toga

twice

Inuyasha:

Inuyahsa

kagome

naraku

miroku

koga

sesshomaru

sango

BNA:

michiru

shirou

nazuna

alan

marie

pinga

Sherlock:

Sherlock

john

moriarty

mycroft

greg

molly

Harry potter:

harry

ron

hermione

draco

cedric

Black Butler:

ciel

sebastian

bard

finny

ash

claude

alois

triplets

william

grell

ronald

undertaker

joker

dagger

agni

soma

pluto

beast

lizzy

mey-rin

ran-mao

edward

aleistar

vincent

real ciel (I refer to him as astre tho)

snake

charles grey

charles phipps

gregory

cheslock

joanne

maurice

herman

clayton

lawrance

mcmillan

edgar

blavat

seiglinde

MLB:

Marinette/ladybug

adrien/chat noir

gabriel/hawkmoth

nathaniel

marc

luka

alya

nino

felix

bridgette

chloe

TPN:

emma

ray

norman

don

gilda

leslie

Undertale:

sans

papyrus

frisk

toriel

chara

asriel

asgore

grillby

gaster

mettaton

blooky 

AU’s- underfell, mafiatale, mafiafell, underswap, swapfell

Beastars:

legoshi

haru

louis

juno

gouhin

melon

Gravity falls:

dipper

mable

ford

wendy

robbie

bill

AU-reverse falls, monster falls

SVTFOE:

star

marco

tom

toffee

Hazbin:

alastor

angle dust

charlie

husk

vaggie

lucifer

val

vox

Pokemon:

Gladion

ash

clemont

serena

james

jesse

zeraora

lucario

mewtwo

zacian

zamazenta

literally any pokemon but those are my fave(and human versions ofc either is fine)

guzma

kukui

alain

lysandre

bede

hop

leon

milo

allister

raihan

marnie

piers

ACNH:

tom nook

raymond

lobo 

kabuki

lolly

marshal

Isabelle

redd

fang

Avengers:

tony

steve

bucky

clint

natasha

dr. strange

thor 

loki

peter

Voltron:

lance

keith

shiro

hunk

lotor

pidge

Aggretsuko:

tadano

haida

hyoudou

The hobbit:

literally JUST smaug

MLP:

twilight

pinkie

apple jack

rainbow

fluttershy

rarity

discord

Maid sama:

takumi

misaki

shoichiro

the three idiots

aoi (totaly gives off a ciel/lizzy vibe don’t even lie)

sotaro

tora

kanade

kuga

koma

yujiro

shosei

Naruto:

naruto

sauske

kakashi

itachi

gaara

neji

shikamaru

kurama

kiba

OHSHC:

tamaki

haruhi

hikaru

karou

both twins

kyoya

hunny

mori

kasanoda

nekosawa

Cells at work:

white blood cell

red blood cell

killer t cell

Little witch academia:

atsuko

diana

sucy

lotte

amanda

andrew

louis

frank

Pucca:

pucca

garu

tobe

abyo

Glitter force:

emily/Miyuki

kelsey/Akane

lily/Yayoi

april/Nao

chole/Reika

ulric/wolfrun

rascal

Glitter force doki doki:

ira

maya/Mana

rachel/Rikka

clara/Alice

mackenzie/Makoto

TMNT(2012):

leonardo

raphael

michelangelo

donatello

splinter

april

ROTG:

aster bunnymund

north

pitch

sandy

jack

tooth

Soul eater:

death the kid

soul 

black star

maka

stein

Aot:

levi

eren

armin

mikasa

jean

erwin

IT(2017):

pennywise

richie

beverly

eddie 

stanley

ben

bill 

henry

patrick

victor

belch

bowers gang

losers club

kamisama kiss:

nanami

tomoe

mizkui

kurama

otohiku

mikage

jiro

The outsiders:

dallas

darry

ponyboy

johnny

two-bit

steve

soda

Diabolik lovers:

shu

reiji

ayato

laito

kanato

subaru

yui

karlheinz

kou

azuza

carla

ruki

richter

yuma

shin

Hamilton:

alex

john

king george

george washington

lafayette

hercules

philip

aaron

thomas

Venom(2018):

eddie/venom

Tokyo mew mew:

ichigo

zakuro

tart

pie

Kisshu

Fran bow

Fran

remor

itward

mr. midnight

Steven universe

steven

connie

pearl

amethyst

larz 

sadie

garnet

lapiz

peridot

spinel

Haven't you heard i'm sakamoto

sakamota

Shou

Gargantia on the verdurous planet

ledo

amy

Animaniacs

yakko

wakko

dot

Over the garden wall

wirt

beast

Sonic

sonic

tails

knuckles

amy

shadow

Snow white with the red hair

Shirayuki

zen

obi

The sacrificial princess and the king of beasts(manga)

Leonhart

Sariphi

Lanteveldt

Anubis/Sirius

Jormungand

Fenrir

Nir

Joz

Ilya

Beetlejuice(musical)

beetlejuice

lydia

Creepypasta

Jeff the killer

slenderman

offenderman

trenderman

splenderman

ticci toby

masky

hoodie

BEN drowned 

eyeless jack

laughing jack

homicidal liu

zalgo

clockwork

Jason the toymaker

puppeteer

Yu-gi-oh

Seto Kaiba

FNAF

Freddy

bonnie

chica

foxy

golden freddy

toy freddy

toy bonnie

toy chica

mangle (male and female ver pls specify)

marionette ^

springtrap

william afton/ purple guy

baby

funtime freddy

ennard

nightmare freddy

nightmare bonnie

nightmare chica

nightmare foxy

nightmare mangle

fredbear

nightmare fredbear

Cuphead

cuphead

mugman

devil

king dice

Bendy and the ink machine

bendy

boris

alice 

Duck tales

Scrooge (aged down tho)

webby

della

donald

louie

dewey

huey

launchpad

lena

Dream smp

everyone (all platonic. Will do reader stuff, but would prefer more character +character interactions, specifically, SBI. PLSSS give me sbi stuff, ill marry you)

[n0wornever]

Is It Really Me You’re Missing? (pt. 2) - Luke Patterson x Reader

Read Part 1 Here

It had been a few weeks since she had last heard from him. She blocked his number in her phone right after she got home that night, and she had deleted him from all social media. They still lived in the same city, but in a place as big as Los Angeles, she wasn’t worried about bumping into him any time soon. 

She grabbed her book bag and her keys and raced out her apartment door. As she turned to lock it, she found a small note sitting on top of her welcome mat. Grabbing the tiny envelope, she flipped it over and saw her name written in red ink. She knew that chicken scratch writing anywhere.She sighed before opening the top flap. She pulled out a piece of notebook paper. "The One Where Luke’s a Total Dumbass” was written on the top of the sheet, and she couldn’t help but giggle at the reference. 

“I understand why you had to leave. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I hope that we can at least be civil at some point. - Luke”

She slipped the note back into the envelope before walked toward the door. 

She bounced into the coffeeshop that she worked at with a smile plastered on her face. Her coworker Aster glared at her from the cash wrap. Y/N ignored her eyes as she wrapped her apron around her waist. She took her position behind the espresso machine and took a look at the first ticket. 

London fog latte with a cinnamon muffin. She thought about that order for a second. She shook the intrusive thought out of her brain as she started to steam the milk. 

As she finished the order, she yelled over to Aster to see what table ordered it. The emotionless girl pointed to a booth in the far right corner. A boy sat with his back toward them. Y/N walked over to the table, tea in hand and a smile on her face. She set the drink down, reciting the order back to the patron. 

“One London fog latte and a cinnamon muffin!”

“Thanks,” a groggy voice replied. 

Her eyes met his dark green ones and she let out a soft gasp. He gave her a small smile. 

“Don’t show up at my work,” she said plainly.

She rubbed her hand against her apron before turning on her heels to jog back to the bar, not saying another word to him. 

She went right back to work, taking several orders during lunch. She tried to ignore the fact that he switched seats, his eyes wandering over to her now that he could see the front counter properly. Her eyes flashed over toward him a few times, but they never held for long. As the rush slowed, Y/N moved to cleaning some of the front tables. She saw his shoes walking toward her as he moved to put his cup in the dirty dish box. 

He stopped slightly, trying to catch her eye, but she kept hers focused on the table below her as she scrubbed for her life. She heard him sigh before he walked out the front door. She felt like she could actually exhale again, taking deep breaths as she leaned against the chair near her. 

She saw Aster actually smile as she leaned over the counter to talk to her. 

“Did something happen between you and lil mr. rockstar?” She cocked an eyebrow at her coworker. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Y/N spat, eyes stabbing into the other girl’s.

Aster put her hands up in defense before walking back toward the register. Y/N looked down at her hand and realized she was clutching the towel tightly like a stress ball. She let go, shaking out her fingers before picking it back up and walking back to her station. 

At 9 p.m. she locked the front door, like she always did, and started her walk to her car. She looked around her, anxious as she rounded every corner. She got to her car, opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat, staring at the brick wall in front of her. She let her chest heave as she felt tears start to fall silently. She let them for a moment, before putting her car in drive. 

She turned on the radio to clog her racing mind. Her favorite song by Amy Winehouse played, and she tapped along on the steering wheel. As she turned into her parking spot, she turned off the car and sat there. Her hand sat on the handle, but she couldn’t get herself to open the door. Her finger tapped on the cool fabric for a moment. She moved her hand back over to the ignition and restarted it.

She couldn’t think straight as she drove quickly down the highway. The flashing lights and bustling nightlight dimmed as her eyes tunneled toward her destination. She saw quaint with and pulled into the lot across the street. She looked up at the corner room and saw the purple and blue lights flickering in the distance. She put her hands in her pockets and ran across the street. She stared at the building for another moment, before pulling out her phone. She wrote rapidly across her keyboard before shoving it back in her pocket. 

Her leg was bouncing up and down as she waited on the sidewalk, her brain fighting the urge to sprint to her car. She saw the front door start to open and began to turn around. With her back toward him, she heard him call out her name softly. 

“Y/N?” 

She stood in place, her hands coming up to cross at her chest. She heard his feet walk across the grass, moving toward her. As he approached her, his hand came up to rest on her shoulder. She felt her neck chill at his touch. 

“I don’t know why I’m here.” 

He didn’t respond, staring at the back of her head with furrowed brows. He let his hand fall down her arm, lightly grazing her skin before grabbing her hand. She didn’t interconnect her palm with his, but he continued to grip hers to stabilize their contact. 

“This is stupid, and I’m making the same dumb decision I always do.” 

He still stayed silent, biting down on his lip as he heard her voice weave in and out as she began to cry. Her hand shook in his as he held it, and he squeezed it lightly. 

“Luke, I don’t want to keep coming back to you.”

“So why are you here?” He finally questioned, voice in a low octave. 

“I....I don’t know.” 

He let go of her hand and let it fall to her side. She grabbed her right wrist in her left hand and finally turned to face him. He almost fell apart just looking at the state of her eyes. Their normal bright hue tainted in red, swelling at the edges. He crossed his arms and walked back a step, keeping his distance as he looked at her. 

“Why did you show up today?”

“I missed you.”

“Bullshit.”

He laughed at her almost growl that the last statement rolled in with. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. 

“It’s true. Do I deserve to? That’s a whole other question.”

She stayed silent as she listened to him. 

“Y/N, I’ve messed up enough for like 50 people combined, but none of my faults hurt as much as the fact that I lost you.” He walked forward toward her, eyes never leaving hers. “I’m sorry that I never realized what I really lost out on. That I wasn’t present with you. That I never realized how lucky I was.”

Tears spilled out of her eyes as she watched him cry in front of her. He drew closer to her, his hand reaching out for her cheek. He stroked it softly as he drew her forehead in for a kiss. As he pulled away, he pressed his lips together in a frown.

“I guess I should have been more honest with you too....”

“No, this isn’t on you,” He shook his head. “I refuse to let you take ownership for my mistakes. I knew we were great together, Y/N. I missed you every single time you left. I just didn’t take us any further, because I wasn’t ready to give up my love life and it’s chaos.” 

The last words stung her chest as he said them, but she knew that internally she had always knew they rang true. 

“The second you left I knew I ruined the only thing in my life that was worth chasing. Y/N you deserve so much better.” 

He shoved his hands in his pockets as his eyes rose to meet hers. She shook her head, moving close enough to touch him. Her hand landed on his upper arm and she rubbed her thumb against his skin. She leaned her head to the side as she took in his face once more. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. 

“Thank you Luke. You’re still so important to me I- I just need time to figure out what that means.” 

He nodded, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips, planting a soft kiss to her knuckles.

“I’ll be here if that time ever comes.” 

.

.

.

.

Tag list: @xplrreylo​​​​​ @lovesanimals​​​​​, @anythingandeverythingfandom​​​​​, @crybabyddl​​​​​, @oswin05​​​​​, @themaddies-obx​​​​​, @lukeys-giggle​​​​​, @bumbleberry-pie​​​​​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​​​​​  @marinettepotterandplagg​​​​​, @lolychu​​​​​, @bathtimejish​​​​​, @dasexydevitt13​​​​​ @musicconversedance​​​​​, @txrii​​​​​  @bestdressedandstressed​​​​​ @daisiesforlacey​​​​​  @epikskool​​​​​  @bookfrog247​​​​​ @carleywhittaker​​​​​ @princessvader15​​​​​ @rudysbay​​​​​ @spooky-season-bitch​​​​​  @kcd15​​​​​  @meangirlsx​​​ @itz-jas​​​ @whatever-happens-imma-stand-tall​

[daincrediblegg]

2, 4, 28, 30, and 33 for the film questions!

2.Favorite director(s)?

Oh god there are so many to list and I know I’m going to forget so many but here we go- I’m also gonna include some showrunner directors in here bc honestly there are way more talented female directors making shows than there are those who make feature films and I need to give them credit for how much they inspire me too. Some of these may be painfully obvious and others not so much but here we go:

Guillermo Del Toro, Mike Flannagan, Peter Jackson, Hiyao Miyazaki, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Lily and Lana Watchowski, Todd Phillips, Wes Anderson, Robert Eggers, Bong Joon-Ho, Mel Brooks, Taika Watiti, The Coen Brothers, Jon Favreau, Terry Gilliam, Makoto Shinkai, Jim Henson, John Hughes, Chris AND Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Noah Baumbach, Sergio Leone, Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, Jonathan E. Steinburg, Sam Mendez, Kenneth Branagh, Vince Gilligan, Spike Jonze, Spike Lee, Rian Johnson, Tarsem Singh, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola and begrudgingly Quentin Tarantino (bc even tho he is way overrated in the film bro community he does make some fun movies it has to be said)

4.What’s a movie you watched over and over again as a child that you still love?

Another that I remember watching a LOT is legally blonde. When I started sleeping by myself at night my parents let me keep a tiny DVD player in my room and I used to watch movies on it to go to sleep (also bc I was afraid of the dark for a long ass time) and I distinctly remember Legally Blonde was the first one that I put on every night to sleep to lmao.

28.Recommend three completely different movies.

Aight. First if you haven’t seen Top Gun Maverick you should bc it’s all practical and that’s fucking insane to do and nobody else has made a flight movie like this ever. The original looks like fucking tinker toys in comparison I mean like literally but it walked so this film could fucking SOAR so… yeah. There u go.

Next is a deep cut: Bicycle Thieves. Italian Neo-Realism at its finest (which basically means none of the “actors” in it were career actors- just normal people, and no extras either- nothing is staged it’s all 100% just footage from the real world, and also probably the best child actor I’ve ever seen playing the kid in this ever. Also this was Sergio Leone before all the spaghetti westerns and frankly I think this might be my fave film of his to trump them all).

Another deep cut but since we’re thinking about star wars and obi wan kenobi I can’t help but mention The Hidden Fortress by Akira Kurosawa. If you want to know where Star Wars comes from? Thats it. In its entirety. And Toshiro Mifune essentially plays the original Obi Wan Kenobi (and god what a perfect world that could’ve been if he had but this is a great window into that- also I think he’s a better sword fighter than Alec Guinness for sure). I might have to even re-watch again for further parallels to the Kenobi series man.

30.Favorite movie with a pet/animal as an important aspect?

I mean god where do I start. First that comes to mind is Babe bc I watched that so much as a kid it’s burned into my head now. Then I thought Okja because jesus that fucker got dark (but god damn important as a film for sure)… but fuck all that we’re gonna go with Balto because that was my fave as a kid I even had a wolf stuffie I named Balto after him so there u go.

33.Name a film you could write an entire 10+ page essay on. (If you’ve done it, what was the focus?)

Well I mean I have written many 10 page papers on many films lmao. My first was on LOTR and it was focused on Merry and Pippin but in hindsight it wasn’t the most well thought out theme or execution (but then again whose first college paper is?) but WITH that hindsight it’s really a think piece about the vitality of side characters to the movement of plot- using both the book and the films as examples to how Merry and Pippin shape the story of LOTR way more than they’re given credit for. Yes I have always been a slut for them.

Another one I wrote more recently was a comparison of horror director methodology to edgar allan poe’s essays on writing structure in which I of course used GDT and crimson peak as my prime example- given time I would’ve delved more into mike flannagan and robert eggers films and shows too as examples of the grander cinematic gothic revival, but alas, that’s a whole ass thesis and it was only a 7 page assignment and I didn’t have that kind of time. Also I did a critical analysis about the ending of Apt Pupil once that correlated the nazi imagery to the american male teenager that earned me a handshake from my professor and an A for the course but like y’know no big deal. And of course y’all know how bad down I am about midnight mass I mean Y’all have seen the meta posts that are somehow still circulating. I have so much about that series living in my head and never enough time to put it to paper lmao. In fact thats true of a lot of things I literally have so many essays in my head happening all at once and I am always looking for some kind of excuse to write it but never getting one lmao

FILM QUESTIONS

[alexsfictionaddiction]

10 Non-Binary Books Everyone Should Read This Pride Month

There is a lot of debate around gender issues right now and what it means to not conform to the gender assigned to your biological sex. Non-binary people feel that their gender falls outside of the male/female model. This is not to be confused with the term genderqueer, which is ever so slightly different. Genderqueer means non-normative gender expression and many people who identify as genderqueer also hold some kind of binary identity i.e. ‘genderqueer woman’ or ‘genderqueer man’. This is not the case for many non-binary people who predominantly use they/them pronouns and are not bound by any pre-conceived notions of gender. As a cisgender woman, I don’t pretend to know too much about the nuances between the two identities but I do know that they have different histories and connotations and that some non-binary people don’t wish to reclaim the slur ‘queer’. Gender is a topic that continues to fascinate me and therefore something I’m always looking for reading material on. Let me know if you have any recommendations! -Love, Alex x

1. I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver.

When they come out as non-binary, Ben is thrown out of the family home, moves in with their sister and starts a new school. It gets tricky to slip under the radar when the brilliant Nathan befriends Ben and feelings begin to grow. It’s a beautiful YA story with excellent depictions of anxiety as well as being a celebration of love and hope.

2. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu.

Nova Huang helps out at her grandmothers’ bookshop and in the investigations of supernatural happenings. When her childhood crush, non-binary werewolf Tam Lang returns to town, an evil force is hot on their heels. I know I’ve recommended Mooncakes before but this cutesy graphic novel is full of whimsy, inclusivity and stunning artwork.

3. They/Them/Their: A Guide to Nonbinary & Genderqueer Identities by Eris Young.

Reflecting on their own experiences as a non-binary person, Eris Young’s manual is the perfect read for anyone wanting to learn more about non-normative genders. It talks about the history of non-binary genders, healthcare issues, neutral language and smashes misconceptions as well as touching on how gender is perceived in non-white cultures, which is vital to the discussions of today.

4. An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon.

Aster is eccentric and queer, living a life of oppression below the decks of a spaceship bound for the Promised Land, while trying to figure out what really happened to her mother. Although female pronouns are used for Aster, she explicitly states that she feels neither male nor female, much like many other characters in the lower decks of the ship. It’s an action-packed sci-fi that also manages to explore trauma, poverty, identity and so much more.

5. Sphinx by Anne Garréta.

Essentially this is a simple love story following a theology student and DJ who falls for a nightclub dancer within a heady, queer, party world. No first names or gender pronouns are used at all. Originally published in 1986, Sphinx is a literary experimentation by Garréta, who decided to take on the heavily-gendered French language and throw the rulebook out of the window.

6. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab.

Kell works as a smuggler who can travel between the four Londons but on one mission, he is robbed by the brilliantly ambitious thief Lila Bard, who forces him to take her on a magical adventure. The Shades of Magic trilogy is a fantastically diverse, pulse-racing series. The reason it’s on this list is because of Lila’s unmistakeable blurred gender. Schwab has previously said that should she have lived in our time, Lila would almost certainly identify as non-binary.

7. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson.

Part memoir, part essay, part love letter, The Argonauts tells the story of the author’s relationship with non-binary Harry Dodge and their journey to raising a queer family. It’s unflinchingly honest, sensitive and touches upon several legal issues that non-conforming genders come up against as well as celebrating love without boundaries.

8. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi.

Ada is a young Nigerian girl, housing multiple selves which grow and blossom as she grows into a woman. While it isn’t explicitly about being non-binary, Emezi is non-binary themself and they have described Freshwater as semi-autobiographical. It’s beautifully written, incredibly strange and illustrates a life that contains multitudes, so I can see how non-binary readers could easily relate.

9. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

The mind inside the woman called Breq used to be known as Justice of Toren, a powerful AI system that controlled a battleship but now Breq is reduced to a single body and is out for revenge. This immersive sci-fi trilogy doesn’t have language for gender and there is no real importance in pigeonholing anyone, which makes for a wonderfully refreshing reading experience.

10. The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta.

When Teo’s mafia boss father is poisoned, they enlist the help of Cielo who can effortlessly switch genders to help unlock the truth of their own magic and save their dad. Both Teo and Cielo are non-binary as well as Teo’s true coming-of-age and acceptance of themself all wrapped up in a thrilling fantasy adventure.

[kevrocksicehouse]

With actors like Florence Pugh, who turns 25 today coming up the future looks bright ahead.

Saraya “Paige” Knight in Fighting with My Family. D: Stephen Merchant (2019). In a sports movie that’s quick-witted about it’s clichés, (“You’re a Knight. Wrestling’s in your blood.” “That’s not good. That makes it sound like hepatitis.” “Yeah, it is. We’re riddled with wrestling.”), Pugh is a teenager from a small-town wrestling family who gets a shot at the WWE that she thinks her brother (Jack Lowden) should’ve had and she’s not sure she wants. Despite the movie’s relentless cheerleading for the wrestling corporation, Pugh gives a credible portrayal as a girl who realizes that attaining her family’s dream may tear her away from that family. She might be trying to come up with a stage name and a catchphrase better than “Dick me dead, bury me pregnant” but she’s actually growing up.

Dani Ardor in Midsommar. D: Ari Aster (2019). Even before Aster’s movie begins its story of Nordic sunlit weirdness, Aster has subjected Pugh to a horror that would be any other movie’s climax, and the actor has embodied an extreme of grief and loss that permeates her performance and suggests that the planners of the pastoral festival with a high body count were looking for someone who had faced so much trauma that she would, under a mind-breaking combo of hard drugs and terror, jettison everything she knows (including her sanity) for a brave and horrifying new world. As Pugh plays her, that’s exactly who they get.

Amy March in Little Women. D: Greta Gerwig (2019). Pugh’s portrait of Amy, the rival of Jo (Saoirse Ronan) gets the most benefit of Gerwig’s decision to split the classic novel into two timelines and alternate between them. Instead of being the immature brat who slowly grows up, Pugh gets to play her for half the movie as mature and pragmatic, helping her to frame the decision, between her love for Laurie (Timothee Chalamet) against the prospect of an advantageous marriage, in protofeminist terms (“Even if I had my own money, which I don’t, it would belong to my husband the minute we were married. If we had children they would belong to him, not me. So don’t sit there and tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition, because it is. It may not be for you but it most certainly is for me.”).

[tomaturtles]

Ten facts about Yarrow?

1) Yarrow's birthday is on September 3rd (which is just around the corner i just realized-)

2) September 3rd is also when he was first created, along with Lilly, Snap and Melon (Lilly technically existed as her og purple amy design before that, but she was only a nameless self insert at the time and only became an actual character on that day)

3) Yarrow doesn't mind sweets but prefers savory snacks for the most part. His favorite is Doritos (when it comes to sweets he prefers sour candy)

4) Yarrow is taller than Lilly (very slightly) and Melon, but shorter than Snap. He and Garin are around the same height

5) The only kind of gaming youtuber he likes are the ones who posts let's plays with no commentary

6) Another name I was strongly considering for him when renaming him was Aster! Both are flower names but I settled on Yarrow cause I thought it matched better with Lilly (i didn't intentionally plot out his character arc to match yarrow flowers' meaning of healing but it was a nice accidental bonus)

7) Yarrow got his fire powers from his mother, who had hoped he wouldn't take after her in this regard. She's believed their powers are dangerous since she was young, having passed that on to Yarrow, and she's gotten very good at supressing her emotions - to the point she's far too used to it. Though she cares about Yarrow, she's not a super affectionate mom

8) He's pretty decent at math and helps Lilly out with math homework because math is the bane of her existence (Snap and Melon both are also good at math but Melon is terrible at explaining math and Snap and Lilly WILL get immediately distracted if left to their own devices)

9) His default body temperature is warmer than average due to his powers. His body heat also shoots up if he's angry or stressed

10) Yarrow can be pretty judgemental and is prone to being mildly rude if he thinks someone is stupid. His most used emoji is ":/"

[eddiespagheti]

Hey can you do a fix about Boyle being the Peraltiago fanboy that he is and him maybe interacting with their kid? Or just him being a fanboy would be cool, I just want fanboy Boyle

Thatnight when that baby girl raises her eyes up at her, everything in Amy’s lifelines up. The sight of her in her arms warms her chest and nothing in her lifewill ever compare to this moment of pure bliss. It is a moment pulled out ofthin air, bright and momentous. Like the morning after her wedding, when sheawoke to Jake’s sleeping face and she thought, finally,here it is. 

She reads herdaughter’s face like astronomical charts. The slight freckles on her cheeksthat will grow more prominent with time are interconnected by her eyes. Shedraws up Pollux and Castor, Ursula, the Big Dipper, but in her heart she knowsthat the cinnamon color of her daughter’s marks are far more beautiful thanthose shiny asterisms.

She wants to bury herface into the chubby parts of her wrists, wants to compare her chocolate eyesto the dark night. As she gazes down, her daughter’s eyelids droop and then, inher arms, she falls asleep. 

She wasn’t planning toget pregnant so quickly after the wedding. She had a life plan and Jakerespected it, respected her. But, how could she ignore his eyes like warm sunson Nikolaj, on  Ava, on her new niece. At first, she convinced herself itwas just a bug and took three Advils, went to work and pushed away all thoughtsof late periods out of her mind.

But, the thoughtspersisted, stinging her mind like relentless hornets and she gave in. So, onher lunch break, she went to the pharmacy and bought a test, hiding deep insideher purse. Thirty minutes before her shift ended, she locked herself inthe empty stall. 

What proceeded wasthirty minutes of anxious pacing, three almost-puking and four full-fledgedfreak outs. But, she finally built her confidence and took the test. 

Jake was waiting forher downstairs when she went down almost an hour later. She waited until theywere in the car before handing the test over to him. Then, his eyes likelighting sparked and burst. Hers quickly followed. Finally, her heart.

They’dbeen married three months then and the thought terrified her. She was barely awife and now, she was going to be a mother. There was no thoughtmore terrifying than that; as her stomachgrew, so did her terror. When she didn’t see her feet anymore, she cried, butnot because of that but because it was all drawing so close.

But, the nine monthsquickly melted by and now, here her baby is whole and wonderful, full and heavyin her arms. Here she was, the smell of her skin molding her heart like softwax. 

And here she was, soperfect and calming and not at all what she was expecting.

Because, she isn’tscared, she’s ecstatic. She’s a mother to this tiny human in her arms and she’sso ready to teach her everything she knows. As her little mouth puckers as shesleeps, Amy knows she will never lead her wrong. However, the urge to protecther heightens, the urge to wrap up her heart in a crystalline wrap, lightincense to scare away the demons. 

For nothing to evertake any shred of happiness from her daughter.

She doesn’t noticewhen her husband walks in, his tiptoeing walk as he makes his way over to them.

“She’s still asleep?”he asks, settling down beside her. His hand reaches over and grazes the baby’srosy cheeks.

“Mhm.”

“Have you looked atthe list?” he asks, voice still quiet. She wants to laugh, remembering thefamous list.

“Jake, half of themare names of sport cars and the other half are Die Hard characters orlocations.”

“Gwyneth Paltrow namedher daughter after a fruit.”

“Well, yeah, but she’sfamous and we’re not naming our daughter Mazda.”

He sighs and thensmiles at her, her favorite crooked smile, the one that pinches up noseslightly. She wants to kiss him. She settles for squeezing his arm.

“How about Astrid?”

She thinks it over,fingers trailing down to his hand, where he tightly wraps her hand aroundhis.She scours her brain for any Die Hard references with Astrid or any carsnamed like that. All she remembers is old Viking myths referring to Astrid andAstrid, queen of Norway and princess of the Swedes.

With a name likeAstrid, with a heart of stone, daughter of the vikings and queen of Norway, sheshould be protected.

“I like it.”

“Good.” he grins widernow and leans in. “It’s from that show on the History Channel.”

She sighs, sheshould’ve known. Still,she leans into him, bringing their daughter closer.

The door opens with astart and they jump away, Amy hugs Astrid closer to her chest, startled.Astrid’s little eyebrows furrow in her sleep.

 But it’s justCharles, with Rosa trailing after him. She should’ve known she wouldn’t be ableto keep him away much longer. She could hardly keep him away during herpregnancy but now there was an actual being that shared half her DNA with Jakeand half with her.

Charles was nevergoing to stay away.

She’s surprised as histiptoeing and but his big grin does not surprise her. The door closes afterRosa, quietly.

“Hi,Charles.” Jake greets, the hand holding hers loosening and rising tostroke the baby’s head. Newly-named Astrid fumbles in her sleep, eyebrowstwisted up together. Amy wonders what she’s dreaming about. Are her dreamsfilled with Amy’s eyes or Jake’s smile?

 Perhaps, she’sdreaming of being inside of Amy’s womb, the warmth and the calamity gone forchaos and wide blinking faces over hers. Dreams of how she was thrown intoEarth like a tidal wave throwing her onto the seaside, brine and seaweed stuckto her legs, tangled like entrails.

“Hey.” Rosasays, holding a bouquet of assorted colorful flowers awkwardly in her arms.Charles walks over to the edge of the bed, stares down at Astrid.

“How’s my littleniece?”

“Sleeping.”

“Here. These are yours from everyone.” Rosasays, handing the roses to Jake, who takes them in his arms and sets them nextto the big teddy bear her brother dropped of earlier. Charles’ face is asbrightly lit as a star.

“You want to carryher?” Amy asks, knowing the answer. Charles nods widely. With the help of Jake,they slowly leave her in his arms and his smile grows even wider. Amy knowsthat there’s another person on Earth that will never steer her wrong.

“Wow, I can alreadysee that she takes after you Jake.”

“How?” Rosa asks fromthe edge of the room, arms crossed. “She’s like twelve hours old.”

“She has good hair.”Boyle says grinning widely. Amy rolls her eyes at the slight snub. “And, I’mher uncle, I can kind of read these kind of things.”

“Right.” Amy replies.After a moment of Boyle carrying her, Amy gets antsy for the feel of her in herarms. She quietly squirms on her bed, watching as she lies in Boyle’s arms. Inthe twelve hours of Astrid’s life, she’s spent ten of them in her’s or Jake’sarms. Now, her arms call out for her weight.

Jake notices the lookon her face, the pinch of her brow and the discomfort on her face.

“Here, I think Amyshould hold her.” Jake cuts in, transferring her from Boyle’s arms into hisown. His eyes don’t leave her tiny face as he hands her over to Amy.

“She’s cute.” Rosaadds, slightly surprising Jake. Jake, who nods and clears his throat. She cansee the thinly veiled emotion in Jake’s eyes and she urges to kiss him. She’snever felt so close to him more than she has in this moment.

Amy feels whole againat the touch of her daughter’s blanket touching her arms and she nuzzles hercloser. 

“Told you she takesafter Jake.” Boyle sing-songs.

“Have you chosen aname?” Rosa asks.

“Astrid.” Jake says.

“After the Swedishqueen.” Amy adds before Jake adds she’s named after a TV character.

“Cool.” Rosa adds.“Also after that character from that show?”

“Yes.” Jake saysproudly. Amy hides her smile.

Boyle clears histhroat, hands clapping, making Jake jump from his wide-eyed gaze onAstrid. 

“Okay, Jake. So nowthat you’ve joined the ‘dad club’ I have some things to teach you…”

Jake nods along asBoyle speaks, his nods not encouraging, eyes glued like magnets to hisdaughter. Astrid awakes then, eyelids drooping open. Amy wants to play thismoment forever, being the first thing her daughter sees, being the one thatholds her in her arms. 

In this world filledwith hardship, Amy craves to keep her here, wills her not to grow up and gether heart broken, cry, feel any pain.

Jake drifts away fromBoyle, knowing his daughter to be awake, despite the absence of noise. Boyle’svoice slowly drifts and his eyes soften. Even Rosa draws close, the scowl onher face now slight annoyance with a fleck of emotion.

Two dark heads, Jakeand Amy, crowded together in vast wonderment at their daughter. Two sharedlives, now impacted by this tiny twelve-hour old being. Two souls, intertwining and living within Astrid.

Rosa looks away attheir shared emotion, as if a flashlight was lighted in her face. Even thestars hide in the night sky.

Boyle,however, shakes his head and softly says, “Well, what are you listening tome for? You guys are going to be great parents.”

[thethrillof]

i was going to write something specific, but instead i wrote shadow being sad abt maria. okay.

Maria has no grave.

Not to herself. The government took all of the ARK's dead and put them in the same place, left to rot beneath the earth in a graveyard filled with nameless headstones. The largest monument isn't a grave at all, just a pillar with some false sentiment. Something along the lines of "To honor the brave scientists that gave their lives for the betterment of humanity".

Ultimate Life Form Shadow may be--but even if his memory were perfect, untampered, he doubts he would remember the exact phrasing. He only read it once before he left, the sonic boom he left behind rattling the leaves from the surrounding trees clear off. He knew that's what happened, as the leaves caught in his trail of wind and stuck to his quills once he coasted to a stop.

It was cowardice, but he could never go back there. The thought left him physically ill to the point he couldn't move.

Lingering guilt and self-disgust aside, even if he found which one was her, if any one was her in the first place--she didn't die down here.

He knew the ARK's orbit. Perhaps it was some instinct, perhaps it was something programmed in, but it never took him long to pinpoint it after the sun set. When he thought of Maria--spoke to her, honored her memory more truly than the Guardian Unit of Nations ever could--it was with his eyes on the glint that most would mistake for a star.

"I brought you something," he says from atop a hill, miles and miles from any city or town. No civilization's light would interrupt him here. "I still can't remember everything about you, Maria. I'm sorry. I can remember you were...worth more than that. But I remembered something new a few days ago, something you used to draw."

He holds the stems of his gift gingerly, as if he would kill them if he held them too tightly. These flowers were already doomed to die; he plucked only the ones he saw that were already snapped from the wind, or wilting from the changing seasons. Perhaps those would be unsuitible for most...Shadow didn't think Maria would want him to kill more for her memory, no matter if they were only plants.

And...of course, Maria was dead. It was his own heart that told him to continue to speak to her when he could. The world's legends of some sort of afterlife were too massive and varied for him to swallow, but if there was one, then it would only be sensible to give gifts that would reach it.

"I don't know what most of these are. I'm sure you could tell me about most of them," he says, holding them in front of his face. Not enough to hide his eyes, still fixed on the ARK. "I know the white ones are daisies. These pink are called carnations, this yellow one is a tulip. This other pink one...is a rose."

Would she appriciate only facts? No, she'd wanted to know everything. How, why, when--he could read it in her face and tone, though her voice speaking exact questions was still beyond his grasp. He hasn't been able to speak with her in some weeks like this, and work isn't something he can verbalize, not yet.

"I...the rose was given to me. The faker had plenty from Amy Rose, a girl who always follows him. He caught me--" no, 'caught' implies some sort of guilt or wrongdoing; for once, this mattered. "--found me holding the daisies. He thought I would 'appriciate' it." He shakes his head. "You do more, I'm sure. It isn't your favorite color, though, is it?" A question, not quite a guess. She was never wearing pink.

He moves a cluster of light purple forward, each with long, narrow petals. "These were being given away by a rabbit. Her name is Cream. She's not as sharp as you, but you would get along with her. She loves the world nearly as much as you, Maria."

His throat catches. Cowardice, again, when he holds the flowers even in front of his eyes until he can blink away the burning.

The world is so quiet. Grass stretching out every which way, rippling over knolls with occasional whispers of wind. His last word, her name, is swallowed by the soft darkness.

With a physical shake of his head, Shadow pulls himself together. If she is there, she doesn't need to see him like this. Not right now. He needs to tell her more. Confess, even, and he pulls the flowers away to hold them towards the sky.

"I...don't stop and see the world often enough, Maria. I know you'd want to see it all. I remembered that recently, too. There are whole festivals of flowers that exist, not only with these, and I'll bring you more when they come around again. I won't miss it so easily next year. And I'll learn the names of these, so I'm sure. So we know the same things again."

It takes some gentle fumbling to untangle the last few from the stems of the rest. "I found these, too. On the way here. They're small, but I think you'd like them the most."

They're a tiny sprinkling of blue, the color she wore, the color of the sky--too light to be her eyes, but Maria wouldn't care.

"They're the first I found, Maria. Growing in a field with a dozen other kinds, but these were the only I picked before I thought you'd like to see more. They reminded me of you."

The edges of the sky aren't as dark as they once were.

High above, the empty ARK seems to blink.

"I will visit the spacy colony again, Maria--this I vow. Soon. I'll bring as many flowers as I can carry. I won't forget them. And with these in the ARK, in our home, I will always remember you," he says, clenching the fist without flowers.

It won't be an empty promise. Flowers were never allowed on the ARK; it could be dangerous, for Maria, for the experiments. 'Foriegn contaminates'. If he sees them there...he'll know something's wrong. If something ruins his memory again.

"I vow," he says again, stepping back, allowing the bouquet to fall on the flattened grass. "Maria."

A flash of light, and Shadow is gone.

-

He keeps more than one part of his promise. He has few free moments, but he makes them for this. Daisy he knew, rose, tulip--the purple were called 'asters', and--

Shadow should have guessed.

"Forget-me-not," he murmurs.

Maria...good choice.

[the-connection]

While many saw it as a more subdued festival than usual, this year brought a promising set of female film-makers and another breakout horror hit

Sundance 2018

Sundance 2018: what did we learn from this year's festival?

While many saw it as a more subdued festival than usual, this year brought a promising set of female film-makers and another breakout horror hit

Amy Nicholson

Tue 30 Jan 2018 14.50EST Last modified on Tue 30 Jan 2018 19.27EST

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Sundance favorites: Laura Dern in The Tale, Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You and Toni Collette in Hereditary. Composite: PR

Every January, the Sundance film festival feels like fresh start to the year. Its Hollywoods resolution to find and celebrate the stories it hopes will define the next 12 months. After a rough stretch for the industry, Sundance attendees went hunting for optimism. They found it.

Here are the five big themes, and talents, that will shape the cinema landscape in 2018 and beyond.

Consciousness matters

Garrett Hedlund and Usher, who star in Burden. Photograph: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images

Since the first Sundance audience award was presented to sex, lies and videotape in 1989, the trophy has tended to go to fictional crowd-pleasers like Hustle & Flow, Spanking the Monkey and Love Jones. But for three straight years, audiences have been most moved by a films message. Like 2016s Nat Turner slave rebellion drama The Birth of a Nation, and 2017s Crown Heights, the true story of an unjustly incarcerated inmate, this years winner, Burden, is a real-life reenactment of racial struggle in America, here the retelling of an uneducated North Carolina man (Garrett Hedlund) trying to leave the Ku Klux Klan. A Sundance film used to mean a quirky dramedy. Clearly, audiences in Park City now think it should mean more.

The future is female

Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Kindergarten Teacher. Photograph: PR

In the same week Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman nominated for a best director Oscar, four female film-makers The Kindergarten Teachers Sara Colangelo, On Her Shoulders Alexandria Bombach, And Breathe Normallys sold Uggadttir and Shirkers Sandi Tan swept the Sundance jurys four directing prizes. (And Nancy writer-director Christina Choe scooped up the Waldo Salt screenwriting award while the grand jury prize went to Desiree Akhavans The Miseducation of Cameron Post.)

The indie festival winners of today become the major voices of tomorrow. Expect to see this years victors, and the artists inspired by their success, to use their award-winning clout to reshape the future. Meanwhile, other films in the line-up from Laura Derns wrenching performance in The Tale to the teen-girls-with-guns midnight smash Assassination Nation, which sold for a staggering $10m, show that film-makers are redefining what it means to create a strong female character plus Ophelia, new spin on Hamlet starring The Last Jedis Daisy Ridley, and Lizzie, a reframing of the axe murderess as an abused daughter who literally slays the patriarchy, insist theres also more to tell about female characters we already know.

No one dominates indies next wave

Assassination Nation, one of the biggest purchases of the festival. Photograph: Sundance Film Festival

For the first time in three decades, Harvey Weinstein wasnt at Sundance. His Miramax used to steer the Sundance brand before studio wings like Fox Searchlight decided to follow his model and outbid him, snatching up indie hits and potential Oscar winners. More recently, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have been the biggest buyers at the fest, last year purchasing a combined 14 films. This year, Netflix bought one, and Amazon zero. All the former titans left their checkbooks at home or in Weinsteins case, didnt dare show up at all. Theres a sudden power vacuum at the center of indie cinema, which means theres room for a punchy, eccentric personality like 21-month-old Neon Films to acquire four flicks thrillers Assassination Nation and Revenge, the police brutality drama Monsters and Men, and the quirky doc Three Identical Strangers and a chance to steer this years conversation.

Its time to take horror seriously

Last year, Jordan Peeles $5m horror flick Get Out was simply the fun ticket Sundance-goers wanted to score. This year, its a quadruple Oscar nominee. Sundances midnight movie section has been building its reputation as the festivals buzziest programming for the last several years, launching hits like The Babadook and It Follows, and accelerating the careers of future Marvel directors Taika Waititi and Jon Watts. The big ticket in 2018 was Ari Asters Hereditary, which stars Toni Collette as a grieving mother haunted in her own home. Collette gives an unhinged, terrifying performance that critics are calling one of her best she literally climbs the walls. Before Get Outs success, floating a low-budget horror performance as a major awards contender would have been a stretch. But Daniel Kaluuya is now a best actor nominee. And Collette, whos yet to win a statuette herself, could chase after him.

Behold the next generation of superstars

Kiersey Clemons, whose performance in Hearts Beat Loud won her plaudits. Photograph: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP

Another best actor Oscar nominee no one knew last year: Timothe Chalamet. In 12 months, the 22-year-old actor went from unknown kid in Call Me By Your Name to Gary Oldmans biggest competition. Sundance is where film lovers get introduced to the next major stars. Besides Chalamet, last year the favorite face was Lakeith Stanfield, who acted in three features and one short while performing his own music at parties on Main Street. Yet, Stanfields lead role in Crown Heights didnt make an impact outside the festival, and his supporting part in Get Out got overlooked amidst the films other acclaim.

This year, the prince-in-waiting of Sundance scored a wacky star part people cant miss as a telemarketer who sells his soul in Boots Rileys outstanding satire, Sorry to Bother You. Its finally Stanfields opportunity to shine outside the confines of Park City. Other rising names to watch include Kiersey Clemons, who co-stars with Nick Offerman in the musical-comedy Hearts Beat Loud, Hamilton performer Daveed Diggs, whose buddy comedy Blindspotting opened the fest to glowing reviews, trans model Hari Nef, gifted the best zingers in Assassination Nation, and barn-storming Arkansas guitarist Benjamin Dickey, hand-picked by Ethan Hawke to play the lead in his country-rock biopic Blaze. Trust Hawkes taste: hes the king of Sundance, whos been coming to the festival for 27 years and he knows the future when he sees it.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us