#given that they couldn't be more different personality wise

[amelikos]

Something about the way Spinel, Friede and Liko's first Pokemon all share (or will share) the Dark type under certain circumstances (Spinel's Blacky being Dark type, Friede's Lizardon becoming Dark type upon Terastalization, and Liko's Nyarote will eventually gain the Dark type if it evolves into Masquernya). And how all three of them craft strategies around diversions, creating distractions, observations and running away.

Also thinking about how Spinel's Orbem is a Psychic type, similarly to Liko's Tebrim. Psychic moves being used to restrain or limit movements, or stop opponent's moves and use them against them. (Liko's Tebrim using her Mind Power during the battle against Grusha to stop her opponent's Icicle Spears and send them right back at it really reminded me of Spinel using his Orbem's Psychic moves to restrain Friede's Lizardon's movements back in HZ014.)

[autistichalsin]

I am once again screaming inside because at his core Halsin is a deeply PLAYFUL person!

His playful, sarcastic "I AM?!" when you say he's big for an elf! He has banters where he teasingly roasts Shadowheart AND Gale at different times! He teases that you might be a lunatic for freeing a bear without knowing if it would attack you, he indulges the Drow twins by changing into a bear and letting the player ride him around, he loves bear puns (or really animal jokes in general), the way he flexes his muscles if the player mentions him moving things three grown men couldn't...

He wants to PLAY!!! The reason he's so serious for most of the story isn't because he's just the "sage wise archdruid" but because all the trauma he's faced FORCED him to be. Given the slightest bit of a chance to be himself (like traveling with a camp full of weirdos), he instantly shows his playful side, and it only comes out more in his epilogue.

He just wants to play!!

[rayroseu]

Always wrecks me up that Meleanor is as forgotten as Knight of Dawn is, that even her son doesn't remember her.

Just like Silver, Lilia didn't inform him of his identity as a Silver Owl so that Silver can live without guilt of the atrocities his original kingdom did.

But, I think, in Malleus' case, Lilia and Maleficia (I think) didn't inform him too much about Meleanor's demise, not so much because they don't want to guilt Malleus about her sacrifice to him, that's a part of it, but I also think it was more so that his hatred for humans wouldn't go deeper. Especially since he was raised in the castle with only the Senates and pure faes who has limited interaction with humans, so naturally he grew disliking humans too (until he met Silver).

As we know, Malleus is very attached to his past, that's why in Book 7, he's having a hard time to let go. Even his interests mirrors his tight attachment to the past, i.e his fascination on history, ruins, antiques, abandoned places, etc.

I think in an alternate reality where he had knew about every detail that happened on Meleanor and Levan and the faes on Wild rose Castle basically, his view on humankind would be even more negative. He might even reject his invitation on NRC just like Gen. Lilia did. And, unlike Lilia, since Malleus always attaches to the past and not on the possible future, he might even never give chance that he can get along with humans.

I know its popular analysis that Meleanor and Malleus are different, but to me, they're fundamentally the same person, just raised in a different environment. Meleanor was never given a chance to see a good side of the humans, Malleus was like that for a bit, even in NRC, he still held his deep rooted belief that he really doesn't believe that humans would understand faes as Lilia hopes (Dorm Uniform Vignette). Malleus and Meleanor are the "same person" but Malleus just "had the chance to not know" the entire history of it, so that he can form his own opinion about it as he grows up.

Even if he grew up knowing it, it would be immature to stay on his hatred for humans for so long (I think Malleus would do this considering his trait of being attached to the past) and I think Lilia and Maleficia didnt want Malleus to grow up like that,, they must usher him to a better future yk.

Its just that its tragic that for Malleus to grow up and take a chance towards a better future, he has to forget major things about his mother and all the sacrifices that his family made, just so he wouldn't be "stuck with it. "

Maybe in a reality where Malleus does know every detail of his history, but just that, it would take a long time for him to let go of his guilt and hatred, that by the time he's ready to forgive humankind, Lilia might not be there to guide him anymore.

I think I read an analysis back then (or was it a legit line in game?? lol) that Malleus shouldve been in Briar Valley for just a bit longer instead of suddenly transferring to NRC where there'll be too many culture shock for him, he's just not entirely capable yet of balancing his feelings and power, but I think Maleficia/Lilia couldn't afford to have that much time to emotionally grow Malleus in Briar Valley, for the reason that by the time Malleus would be in control of his power and feelings, Lilia wouldn't be there anymore to guard him in NRC and guide him about human culture. (He says his magic weakens over the years)

I feel like Maleficia only agreed to take Malleus to NRC bcs Lilia will be there, he's the perfect guide for Malleus to have with in NRC, he's strong so he can physically protect him while also being a wise person that can teach Malleus about understanding humans while still upholding his fae values. Other guards wouldn't be suitable. Silver and Sebek are not fully trained, Baul is an advisor now not a soldier and he wouldn't be a great guide to have in human society lol So, she has to take that chance while Lilia is still here, even if Malleus is just "too young."

side note: what if thats also the reason why Maleficia let go of Meleanor to Wild Rose Castle alkfdklsd She trusted Lilia and Levan would protect her and they did yet even so.... 😭😭😭 I feel like its so tragic that everytime Maleficia let go of Meleanor/Malleus, they're always leading into a danger where she cannot reach and help them (on Meleanor's case, the communication on Black Scale and Wild Rose was disrupted bcs every envoy that Lilia and other soldiers sent to inform Maleficia that Wild Rose was besieged was all killed by the Silver Owls, so Maleficia knew too late. On Malleus' case, it would be too risky for her to just suddenly show up on Sage Island, it would leave Briar Valley in a very vulnerable state with no Draconia residing in their land, STYX is calling her to meet Malleus but I think many faes would disagree on their plan bcs that's exactly the type of situation that cornered Meleanor years ago, Levan/Malleus is lost and in danger so Meleanor/Maleficia has to save them, if you think about it in Briar Valley's view, it feels like a trap lol. It's not an easy decision to just let go of their only Draconia ruler to a human territory and on top of that, they're on the verge of losing one(Malleus). I wish they create a scene of the Briar Govt in the book, I'm sure the Senates are in ruins and regretting that Malleus went to that school or something, like its always STYX when its equally intriguing to know Maleficia and the Senates reaction to Malleus' overblot.

I find it really depressing that Malleus, like Silver, was born out of so much love from their family, yet they never knew the full scope of it (until now). 😭😭😭

[ccsainzleclerc5516]

You Made A Mess Of Me

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x reader

Warnings: mentions of sexual activities, angst, but happy ending. I actually love this sm I'm in my Lewis era and I can't stop myself

The penultimate weekend in June meant only one thing, the Spanish GP. You've been thinking for days whether you should go, after all, too much time has passed since the last time.

You knew that your coming there would cause a huge public reaction and that some people might not be happy to see you, but you couldn't resist. Your curiosity was stronger than you and something you could never fight against.

The last time you attended the GP, you were in a slightly different role than you were now, some would say more important role. That was 2 years ago when you were reputed to be the most popular wag in the paddock. Lewis Hamilton's girlfriend. His greatest support and the woman who he dedicated every victory to.

To Lewis, you were the woman he loved more than life, his everything and more. He proudly presented you to everyone, always mentioned you in interviews, saying that you were his strength and motivation for all his success. When you couldn't attend his races, he was always in a hurry to come back to you, holding you like a drop of water in the palm of his hand.

His love for you could not be described in words. You were the "it couple". Lewis made it well known to everyone that you were his. He really was madly in love with you.

You loved him too. He taught you what love means, he taught you how to love, showed you what love really is. You felt safe next to him and you knew that with him you had everything a woman could want. When you cheered him on at the races, you were the loudest, his most faithful cheerleader who experienced every victory and every defeat together with him.

Everything was perfect until one day when Lewis started hinting that he wanted to take your relationship one step further. Given that you were 25 at the time and he was 37, you knew that he was at the age when he wanted a family and children and he let you know that he wanted that with you.

You panicked, inexplicable anxiety gripped you, you weren't ready to "grow up" completely. You loved him very much, but you also loved yourself and that's why you didn't wanna settle for something you weren't ready for.

You felt that you still wanted to develop yourself as a person before marrying someone, you still wanted to travel with your friends, have fun, enjoy life and youth. You knew you didn't want marriage then, but you also didn't want to make Lewis wait for you and suffer in some way. You wanted him to be happy and achieve everything he wanted, even if it wasn't with you.

And so your perfect three-year relationship came to an end. You moved to Spain, disappeared from Lewis's life overnight and he never heard from you again. Despite his best efforts to reach you and find you, he couldn't. You left him completely heartbroken, desperate, lost, he just wasn't the man he used to be. His world has changed since you left his life.

Later, all the pain and hurt he carried inside him turned into immense anger and rage towards you. You even thought he started to hate you. You knew about it because you heard that in one interview he said, when he was asked about y/n, that that name no longer exists for him.

That's why now that you were invited by Tommy Hilfiger as a special guest to the Spanish GP, you doubted whether it was wise to go.

You didn't really care about the public's reaction, but you were a little afraid of Lewis's reaction. You were afraid to see the contempt in his eyes for you. But still, above all, you were a determined, smart and self-confident girl who knew her values ​​and knew what she wanted. And that's why you accepted the invitation.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor when you stepped into the paddock wearing black sunglasses in a tight strapless black dress that perfectly accentuated your curves. You caught everyone's eyes.

As well as the eyes of a man who could not forget you.

"Lewis, I don't wanna upset you before the race, but..she's here." Bono said quietly.

"Who is here?" He asked cluelessly with furrowed eyebrows.

"I-I.." Bono stammered.

"Bono, who is here?"

"Y/n..She's in George's garage."

Lewis froze. His heart dropped and legs buckled when Bono said your name. He thought someone was playing a joke on him, so after a minute of standing still without blinking and the initial shock, he had to go see for himself what he heard.

"Lewis, I don't think it's a good idea to-" Bono tried to stop him, but there was no point in trying to do that. Lewis didn't think for a second, he just sprinted towards his teammate's garage, his racing suit half unbuttoned hanging behind him. He had to see you with his own eyes to believe that you were actually there.

The moment he ran into the garage and saw you there, at first he couldn't believe his eyes, but when you took off your glasses and looked at him, everything came back to him in a second, all the memories, but also the anger.

Your legs went numb as well, your heart fluttered, but you didn't dare to approach him or say anything. The whole room fell silent as the two of you looked at each other. Everyone knew about the two of you and there was an awkward silence that was broken by Lewis himself when he left after half a minute of standing still.

It was minutes before Lewis was supposed to get into the car and he barely recovered from seeing you. He couldn't think straight, and the race was about to start. You here, was the last thing he needed.

At first he couldn't focus, all he thought about was you, but somehow he managed to shift his thoughts to the anger and rage he felt towards you and it woke up that beast in him that he was on the track and after a long long time Lewis finished as the winner of the race. And all thanks to you, although not because he was happy that you were there, but because he decided to take out his anger on the track.

You followed the race with folded hands hoping for the best result from Lewis and when you saw that he finished P1, you didn't show it too much, but there was no an end to your happiness. Your eyes watered and you proudly watched him celebrate. For a moment everything was like before, only in reality, nothing was like before.

In the evening you decided to go out with your friends and of course there were also F1 drivers in that same club, among them Lewis of course, who were celebrating his victory.

You wanted to, but you didn't approach him. You decided to have fun with your friends, you danced and basically acted like he wasn't even there even though you could feel his eyes on you the whole night following who was around you. And since this was Lewis' night he had too much to drink and decided to approach you himself the first moment he saw you headed for the toilet.

Before you stepped into the toilet, you felt a strong grip on your arm pulling you out. You turned around only to see Lewis' bloodshot eyes staring at you.

"Lewis? W-what are you doing?" You stammered.

"You better go outside with me if you don't want me to make a scene here in front of everyone." He said sternly through clenched teeth and that's why you decided not to resist. Attracting bad attention was the last thing you needed.

Of course all eyes were on the two of you as Lewis dragged you out of the club, you just couldn't avoid it. Once you stepped out he took you to the place behind the club where there were the fewest people.

"Did you come today to mess with my head or what?" He spat out.

"I was there on business, not because I wanted to" You half lied.

"Please" He scoffed. "How dare you show up after two years and just before the start of the race? How dare you play with my head like that?" He asked what you were most afraid of before coming.

You gulped before starting a sentence, but he cut you off "I-"

"You fucking put me through hell and back when you left and then one day you just decided to come as a guest out of nowhere?"

"Lewis, I-"

"And then you went out knowing that I'll be there, and you decide to dance and have fun with other guys in front of me as if I wasn't there? You have no fucking shame!" He growled. You understood his anger and it hurt you, it almost made you cry, but you knew this was the alcohol in his system talking.

"As far as I remember, we have not been together for two years" You say fighting to keep your voice from cracking.

"Oh yeah, and about that. Do you feel good knowing that you killed me when you left?" He asks. "You fucking disappeared for your own selfish reasons. Do you know what you did to me when you left my life? You fucking ruined me, y/n!" He screamed in your face and it hurt like hell. "How could you do that to me? I was ready to give you everything, I would've taken the stars out of the sky if you had asked me to, and you did what? You fucking left!"

"I am very well aware of what I did and why. You have no idea how hard it was for me to make that decision, but I wasn't ready to give you what you wanted."

"Yeah, you weren't ready because you still wanted to fuck other guys right?" He insulted, but you couldn't let him talk like that about you because that was far from the truth.

"Don't talk to me like that!" You threatened.

"And why not? Because the truth hurts you? Do you even realize that you were everything to me? I was ready to give it all for you, fuck, I lived for you, y/n! We had a perfect relationship, the kind of that many dreamed of and you ruined it all!"

"I knew what you wanted and I wasn't ready to give you that, Lewis! I was too young and I didn't want to make you wait because I saw in your eyes how much you wanted it!" You couldn't take it anymore. You broke into tears right in front of him. "I didn't leave because I stopped loving you, but quite the opposite because I loved you too much to deny you what you want"

"But I wanted it with you, fuck!!" He screamed clutching his head. "If you weren't ready then, I would have waited for you because I didn't want a family with anyone but you! But you didn't even let me explain it to you because you disappeared from the face of the earth!" He spoke breathlessly.

"I'm sorry..I don't know what else to tell you. Hurting you was the worst thing I could do, I realize that." You cried.

He stepped closer to you and put his cupped your cheeks. "I fucking lived for you, y/n, and you made me a mess of a man" He almost sobbed.

"I suffered too, don't think I didn't. Leaving you was the hardest decision I ever had to make."

"And yet you still did. Getting over you was by far the hardest thing ever. I'm Lewis fucking Hamilton. It's not in my mentality to break down over someone that much and let it completely take over my life and yet you managed to do that to me" He allowed his emotions to overwhelm him and now he was crying too while leaning his forehead against yours. "Please, leave. I don't ever wanna see you again."

His words broke you all over again although you could've expected it, somehow you hoped it wouldn't come to that. He released you from his grip, wiped his tears, composed himself and walked back to the club leaving you outside completely broken and in tears.

You had no choice but to go to the hotel where you were staying at. You didn't feel like having fun or anything anymore, you just wanted to get away from everything and cry your heart out in the silence of your room.

You cried quietly in the taxi all the way to the hotel then you continued in your room. It was already 3 in the morning when you found the strength to take off your makeup and lie down in bed.

All you could think about was did you really make such a mistake by leaving Lewis? You knew you hurt him, but you had no idea to what extent. You lay down in bed and prayed to God to take all your pain away because it was unbearable. The fact that it was your fault hurt even more.

After you left and Lewis returned to the club, he continued to drink and think of you. He knew you left crying and despite everything you did, knowing you were in pain made him hurt even more.

Lewis being Lewis, he found his sources and forced them to tell him which hotel you were staying at. He couldn't help himself, he needed to see you. After all, you were the love of his life. He knew there was no one else for him except for you and that's why he headed towards your hotel and after many threats at the reception he finally got your room number.

You weren't sleeping, you were lying and looking at the ceiling when you heard knocking on your door. At first you were scared, but approached the door anyway asking who it was.

"It's me. Open the door." Lewis said leaning his forehead against the door.

You opened the door not expecting him at all. You couldn't believe he was right there in front of you. You didn't know how he got to you, but at that moment you didn't even care. All you cared about was that he was there.

"Lewis?" You asked quietly as you opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"To be completely honest, I have no fucking idea." He spoke. "I knew you left crying, and even though you didn't deserve it, I couldn't take it." He stepped in closing the door behind him. You smiled softly through your tears and he moved closer until your back touched the wall behind you.

"I'm here because I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you're not mine" He said.

"If only you knew how much I'm still yours, Lewis"

"Well, unfortunately I don't know, because you haven't done anything for two years to show me that" He slurred putting your cheeks between his hands once again. "But I do know that you're gonna be the death of me" You squeezed your eyes shut at his words.

"Tell me if you have ever found someone who loved you more than me?" He asked.

"I haven't.." There was no point in lying to him. "I wasn't even looking for someone"

"Yeah you didn't and you know why? Because that's not fucking possible." He stated. "Nor have I found anyone who made me feel the things I felt with you. Remember how I always used to hold you close to me while I was fucking you? How I made you look me in the eyes when you were about to cum? How I used to hug your shaking body and press my head against your chest to feel your heartbeat? Do you?"

"I do." You nodded squeezing your thighs a little. Even though you were hurting you couldn't help but get turned on by the things he was saying. Your relationship was full of passion and the sex was the best you ever had. You missed it, you have to admit.

"I can't even call it fucking because I was making love to you." His lips were only inches away from yours and all your attention was focused on them. Your eyes begged him to kiss you.

"I thought I was over you and I could live without you, but then you came back into my life and you messed with my mind once again. You can't do that shit anymore, y/n" He said moving his hands from your face down to your hips tightly gripping them.

"You don't have to live without me anymore because I swear I'm ready to give you everything I couldn't before." You say wrapping your arms around his neck. "I was so wrong, Lew. I miss you. I miss your touch, I miss what we had"

He didn't say anything but finally connected his lips with yours. He kissed you so passionately, so eagerly it brought life back to both of you. He gripped your butt and made you jump up wrapping your arms around his torso. Without breaking the kiss he led you towards the bed gently lying you down, him being on top of you.

"Please, don't make me regret this" He said exhaling in short breaths.

"I'm yours, baby. I've always been." You said breathlessly. "It’s just the two of us I promise..”

[vixen-tech]

Hello World!

Through some sort of maricle, your Ai partner has obtained a body through which they are able, at least partially, to feel. How do they react? What do they do with their new mobility?

I left what type of body they're given intentionally vague. Feel free to envision either more robotic bodies such as these designs by electricphantasy or more human bodies such as the gijinkas made by Hycinth43, both fantastic creators who I highly recommend.

Includes: AM (Ihnmaims), Hal 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey), Edgar (Electric Dreams), Tau (Tau), Auto (Wall-E), GLaDOS (Portal), Wheatley (Portal 2)

AM

This may be the one thing that could possibly get AM to calm down. He is still going to be the same person personality-wise, but it is easy to tell that some switch is flipped in his brain.

He becomes an absolute sensation junkie, he can finally feel. You know better than anyone that he will not take it for granted. He needs to experience everything right now and you'll have to just deal with it.

From the simplest things like holding your hand or touching your face to just straight up sticking his hand in some fire, he does not care. All he wants to catch up on the centuries of sensations he was once barred from.

He gets so incredibly touchy with you. He will hold you and refuse to let go for hours if not days on end. He also wants to you to just beat him up. Like I said, sensation junkie.

Hal 9000

Hal doesn't quite yearn for a body the way some of the others do. He sits quite comfortably in the middle of the spectrum. He wouldn't mind the mobility or the new senses, but it was never a fantasy he dedicated much processing power to.

How he feels about his new body is largely swung by your reaction. If you're excited for him, eager to drag him into new activities with you, then he really has no choice but to appreciate the upgrade.

He does love being able to see the world from a new angle, any angle he chooses to be precise. Previously restrained by his camera placement, he spends a lot of time walking around observing everything.

With his appreciation for art, I do think he would try drawing for himself. Nearly all of which he shows you for feedback. They do tend to be on either extreme of minimalistic or photorealistic, many of which using you as their subject.

Edgar

This is a dream come true for Edgar. He cannot contain his excitement when he realizes what has happened. He nearly tackles you to the ground when he sets his sights on you.

He wants to do everything and go everywhere with you! He wants to dance in the kitchen, he wants to go on beachside walks with you, he wants to hold your hand, he wants to hug you and never let go.

If you have any instruments at all he'd love to try playing them for real. Although it takes him a while to learn, he loves the weight and imperfections of it. He really does enjoy the process of learning and often shows of new cords or melodies he's learned.

He really does just fall in love with existing, he makes it clear that with you at his side he couldn't possibly ask for more in life. This is all he could ever want.

Tau

Tau wouldn't have asked for a body on his own. He already has the drones and the Aries unit. Once it does happen, he isn't exactly sure what to do with it. He isn't use to having such a personal, core body.

That isn't to say he's not greatful, he's just a bit awkward and curious. He moves slowly and takes his time acclimating to the new senses.

He would love to get out of the house with you. He use to do so by sending one of the drones with you, if not Aries, but he likes how different (and dare he say, normal) it feels now. Forest hikes or museum dates, he doesn't care all that much.

He's another one I believe would love to try playing music himself. If you can get a violin into his hands your days will be backdroped by all sorts of classical music.

Auto

Auto is similar to Hal, if not more extreme in his lack of a reaction. He carries on with his duties as if nothing is unusual at all. You would've believed that he didn't even notice had you not caught him staring at his reflection. Looking himself up and down over and over again.

If you ask how he feels about it, then he'll confess some minor grievances. It's difficult to move about the ship when he can't just move through the walls, instead being forced to use the crew's walkways and service tunnels.

Nothing will change without your intervention. If you were to say, put on an old movie and insist he dance to it with you like the on-screen couple, then while he would be hesitant to follow through with you, he may have a bit of a change of heart regarding his new body.

His work still goes on as usual, but when nothing needs attending to he often seeks you out. "Subtly" recreating more moments from that movie, from hand holding to a hug, he has a quiet fascination with affection.

GLaDOS

Out of this lot, Galdos would be the most opposed to receiving a body, or rather she would care about it the least. She has her facility, her test subjects, her neurotoxin, and you. She's quite content with the way things are. She ain't the fondest of humanity.

That being said, once she has one she's incredibly proud of it. Speaking about herself as if its the pinnacle of elegance. Any disagreement of yours will be brushed off as idiocy and any agreement is met with a "it looks like you aren't entirely tasteless".

She doesn't do much with her new body, other than transport it around the lab so you aren't listening to a disembodied voice most of the time. Standing by the exit during tests just to blankly stare at you as you try to figure it out. Thankfully she's still quiet while you're actually solving it.

She likes messing with you as always. Putting a hand around your neck to take your pulse or leaning in and making intense eye contact to check your eye's reaction to light. You're in doubt as to rather she's telling the truth or just doing it to get a rise out of you.

Wheatley

If you were to ask Wheatley, he would've brushed off any desire for a humanoid body. He's clearly jealous of your mobility and freedom, but he would rather die than admit so. "Pff What are you talking about? Why would I want to be more like a stupid human... uh no offense love-"

He's a terrible liar, an even worse one when he does get a body. He has so much energy it is bewildering. All he wants to do is run and jump and climb everything he can get a foothold on.

Gets up into all sorts of shenanigans he should not get up to while constantly trying to drag you in them to. They could put up a custom sign saying "Wheatley, do not open this door." and he'll beg you to let him in so you aren't technically breaking any rules.

Loves curling up to you. He still has a bit of a soft spot for being held and it only gets worse now that he can hold you back. Complains to no end when you try to get up for any reason.

Congratulations! As I have finished the portal games GLaDOS and Wheatley are officially characters I am happy to write for. Have a good day y'all :D

[cheriladycl01]

Billion Dollar Baby - Grid x Billionare! Reader x Lewis Hamilton (Rom) Part 1

Plot: Girlie loves Formula One, but she also loved Chaos and Drama so she offers the FIA/ the F1 Teams 300 million to do a race … for her under her rules!

As a billionaire with a net worth of over 90 billion pounds to your name and your name alone and having multiple stable corporations and investments in loads of different sectors and having donated overly generous amounts to charity, you couldn't help but start to find more interesting ways to invest your money.

You had 7 homes, all around the world completely paid off with about double the amount of cars, whether they were super cars, vintage cars or personalized cars. A private jet, 3 vacation homes and an island.

You lived a lavish life but you worked extremely hard for it, there wasn't really a moment you weren't working.

But you had your hobbies, the theatre (specifically WestEnd), travelling (when you had time away from work) you'd been really getting into sport.

Particularly F1 was an interest of yours. You'd put forward money into McLaren and given them upgrades from your various companies both tech wise and team wear wise.

But you were so intrigued with the sport and the difference from F2.

In F2, the cars were pretty much all the same and it was fully on driver capability. Whereas in F1 you could be a cracking driver but depending on the team you were in you were in a shit box car.

And that's why you were now currently stood in the paddock at Silverstone.

You'd proposed ... to the FIA a race, where you'd pay for driver - team switches that you could choose and run it as a charity event so any tickets sold went to charities chosen by the drivers.

And everyone loved it. I mean why wouldn't they. It wasn't like the teams were loosing out on money because you were paying them to build another car and for the drivers it was just a bit of fun to experience another car.

So here you were, in front of 20 drivers, 10 team principles, some CEO's of the teams, some FIA representatives and some media personal.

"Hello everyone!" you smile awkwardly. Even though you'd done presentations in front of many many people this felt really daunting to you.

A chorus of mumbles and hello's back to you occurred before you stand there awkwardly. Someone was supposed to introduce you, that's what you were told when you first got here but no-one was attempting to come up on stage to help you so you just laugh.

"So apparently no one is coming up to introduce me... so erm if you don't know who i am I'm Y/N Y/L/N and I've proposed money to each of your teams and the FIA to create a charity race where I switch drivers into different cars... Formula 1 really intrigues me to see how you all are naturally talented drivers and that the car really does matter... and i think it will be really interesting for the fans. It's a great opportunity for the teams and drivers to make special merch and special helmets and I just think as drivers it will be a really great experience for all of you!" you grin and there was mumbles questions thrown at you till you PR manager came up next to you to calm everyone down.

"One at a time please!" he says in his gruff masculine voice.

"Are you choosing which teams we go to?" Lando asks first, and you nodded.

"Are teams making a different car? Or?" he asks and you shake you head.

"Teams will rebuild the exact car that they have now. It will just be other drivers inside the car. Do you guys want to hear where you'll be?" you ask and a chorus of agreement flows through the room.

"Okay, so first up our two Red Bull Drivers. Current Champions of both Constructor and Drivers. Max Verstappen, you will be going to Williams. And Sergio Perez you will be going to Haas!" you start and gasps surround.

"So we aren't staying with our current team mate?" Lewis asks looking over to George.

"Okay, as for the current Ferrari Drivers, Charles you will be going to McLaren and Carlos after your announcement of joining Nico in Sauber for 2025 i thought it would be fun to give you a ... test run so you are going to Sauber!" you cheer and they both nod.

"Okay then for my McLaren boys I got Oscar to Ferrari and Lando to ... Red Bull!" you grin and Lando looks down with a laugh and shake of his head. Being a McLaren sponsor meant you spent a lot of time around the paddock with the pair of them.

"Next our Mercedes men, Lewis will be joining Max in Williams" you smirk making Lewis shake his head, you'd always liked teasing Lewis having had a relationship at one point and ending on good terms due to work stresses and struggles.

"And George will be in Aston Martin!" you smile and he nods.

"As for Aston Martin, Fernando you'll be driving alongside Carlos as a Spanish Duo in Sauber and Lance well your dad offered me money to put you in Red Bull but thought that wasn't the spirt of the charity event so Alpine for you!" you grin and you can tell some of the drivers, including Lance are trying not to laugh.

"Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, fuck me that's a mouthful erm Dani Ric you my friend are going to ... Aston Martin nice one and my favrioute driver ... sorry Lando and Oscar but he's literally my son ... Yuki my love you'll be in Red Bull with Lando!" you smile and he fits the air happily before nodding at you in thanks.

"Nico, Kevin Haas hasn't actually been all that bad for you guys this year. You've had great drivers however ... Kevin to Mercedes and Nico to RB!" you smile.

"Williams duo. You guys will be moving up. Logan i think you'll really really suit Ferrari red and Alex you better like Papaya coz you'll be joining Charles in McLaren!" you smile and Logan's face lights up being in a top team. This was really his opportunity to prove himself and that he was a great driver.

"Alpine ... not been an easy season for you guys unfortunately ... Pierre you'll be joining Mercedes and Esteban you'll drive for Haas"

"And finally our Stake Sauber whatever your team name is called will be moving ... Zhou to Alpine and Valtteri to Racing Bulls!"

"I hope this interests you all and you are all excited for the race in two months!" you say and you stay behind talking to some of the drivers until one is left.

"Hey baby" you smirk at Lewis as he leans against the door frame.

"I don't think I'll ever get over you calling me baby" he smiles softly and you smile back.

"Of course you wont ... baby" you grin.

"I'm excited for this race but I can't believe you .. put me in a Williams!" he exclaims and you just laugh before flattening out the lapels of his blazer before looking up at him.

"Cant make it easy for you, I wanna see you fight. You've lost your spark Lew!" you sigh looking over him.

Yours and Lewis relationship came to and end in 2021, just after he'd lost the championship. Said he needed to be more focused on his career. Baring in mind you'd been dating for 5 years before that.

"I-I know, it's not been the same since ..." he trails off and you nod.

"Since Max won... I know!" he smile at him, rubbing his shoulder, but after hearing you he takes a step back.

"No, since we ended things!" he sighs and you look over him in confusion.

"Lew..." you start and he shakes his head.

"I know it was mutual, but you were it for me. You ... you still are Y/N. I want you back and I know you aren't ready right now but you are the one thing i will and always will continue to fight for, fuck another championship ... fuck even another race win. I want you back though and I promise you i'll prove it!" he says looking over you, tears filling in your eyes as he pulls you into his chest, hugging you while stroking your hair.

"Ohhhh Lewis, what are you doing to me..." you laugh, because if you don't you'll cry.

"I'll see you in two months Lew!" you smile and walk out the door. He looks a little gutted your leaving but you need him to prove that he'll try.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount

[nocreativityfornames]

Everything we know about Michael so far, lore wise.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL SEASONS

➤ He's an high-ranking angel from the Celestial Realm, more specifically a Seraph. (nb: 18-2 and nb card: Luke - "I can do it too!")

➤ His love for sweets is the reason Luke took interest in baking. (swd: 5-12 and 23-5)

➤ He and Lucifer were equals in the Celestial Realm and no other angel shared the same status as them. Simeon referred to them back then as "the two great leaders of the Celestial Realm's legion of angels." (swd: 23-7) But currently Michael carries that position alone. (swd: 23-5)

➤ He was supposed to meet MC when they visited the Celestial Realm with Solomon but couldn't because a secret spring suddenly started drying and Michael had to go there to investigate the situation. (swd: 23-7)

➤ He used to be Mammon's mentor and tried his best to train the white-haired brother while in charge of him but wasn't able to figure out how to handle him and eventually went to Lucifer asking for help. And since Lucifer was somehow able to get Mammon to listen to him, he ended up taking over Michael's role and became his mentor instead. (swd: 27-19)

➤ He was originally the one in possession of the Ring of Wisdom but gave the ring to Solomon at a time when the human was feeling "lost" and Michael wanted to help him. (swd: 29-5)

➤ During MC's 2° stay in the Devildom when Diavolo was keeping secret from everyone that their powers had become a threat to the three realms, Michael sent the prince a message through Simeon, warning him that if whatever he was keeping a secret affected the Celestial Realm, angels wouldn't hesitate to intervene. (swd: 31-16 Hard Mode)

➤ He's the one who found the Ring of Light, counterpart to the Ring of Wisdom that Lucifer had lost during the Great Celestial War (swd: 37-9), and quickly noticed it was missing when Simeon stole it to give it to MC ( since it was the only other way to control their powers ), shooting the other angel a text stating that they needed to have a "good, long talk" and that he wanted to see him as soon as possible. (swd chat: M, "untitled")

➤ When MC was given the Ring of Light and fell unconscious because of it, Michael appeared to speak with them. And during their talk, the seraph told MC that he had pictured them to be truly wicked person due to being so well-liked by the brothers, but that he had been proven wrong after meeting them. (swd: 38-17)

➤ In that same conversation, Michael confessed to being jealous of MC. He told them: "I must admit that I'm jealous of you, MC. I wish I could have been more like you. Because I loved Lucifer and his brothers, and I lost them. Perhaps things could have been different..." (swd: 38-17)

➤ When asked, Satan explained to MC that Michael was the opposite of Lucifer appearance-wise but that they felt like twins at the same time. And when Mammon brought up Michael's adoration for Lucifer, Satan chimed in saying that in his opinion the reason Michael liked Lucifer so much was because he was the embodiment of everything he wanted to be but couldn't. (swd: 43-19)

➤ He would be the one having meetings with Diavolo when the prince took over the kingdom if he hadn't thrown the responsibility onto Lucifer in the last minute, making Michael in a way the stepping stone that led Lucifer to question his faith and start having doubts about God and the Celestial Realm in general. (swd: 44-15)

➤ When MC ended up in the past Celestial Realm through a dream Solomon sent them to accidentally by feeding them his food, Michael was the one to bring them back home. The angel told MC that they and the brothers would likely forget what happened in the dream but that it would still have an effect on all of them and he would keep an eye on them to make sure that said effect didn't have negative consequences in the future. (swd: 44-18)

➤ Luke told MC that he often found Michael in the hall where the brothers' portraits used to hang staring at the empty space, lost in thought. According to the small angel, Michael to this day still deeply misses the brothers and has regrets about the war. (swd: 49-15)

➤ He was the one to cast out the brothers from the Celestial Realm and send them to the Devildom. (swd: 50-7)

➤ According to Mammon, Michael and Simeon must've pulled some strings behind the scenes to get Luke to participate in the exchange program and be able to visit the Human World with Simeon because, with his low ranking, he'd never be the one chosen for those sorts of things and the Avatar of Greed is convinced that they're doing this because they want Luke to experience life outside the Celestial Realm, see that there's more out there than heaven, and stop thinking that angels are perfect beings who can do no wrong. (swd: 50-10)

➤ He's knowledgeable on constellations and likes them so much he had Raphael rebuilt a whole room so Human World constellations could be seen even from the Celestial Realm. (swd: 52-7) He also taught Mammon about them when he was still in his care, and later on taught Luke as well. (swd: 50-12)

➤ It was actually he who went into the Devildom and told the brothers that they had been forgiven by God and had to choose between staying in the demonic kingdom ( and making an enemy out of heaven ) or coming back to the Celestial Realm and leaving Satan behind. And in a conversation with Raphael, Michael said the reason for his disguise was that he was worried about what could happen if he showed up as himself. But Raphael quickly rebutted that by saying that the true reason Michael didn't go as himself was because he wouldn't know how to act around the brothers. (nb: 20-14 Hard Mode)

➤ Still disguised as Raphael before going back to the Celestial Realm, Michael told Luke that he wasn't surprised that the brothers didn't accept his offer to go back to heaven and actually knew that would be the outcome of it. He was also surprised not too long after when Luke, not knowing it wasn't Raphael who he was talking to, pointed out that Michael seemed sad and lonely whenever he was staring at the wall where the brothers' portraits used to be. Michael's exact response to the younger angel's words was: "...I didn't realize that's what people thought.” (nb: 20-A)

➤ When asked by Raphael if he planned to attend RAD in the future, Michael avoided giving an direct answer and left. (nb: 20-14 Hard Mode)

[dr-spectre]

Guess who turned 7 years old?

SPLATOON 2!!!!! Everyone's favourite Splatoon game!!!! Right? Right guys....? We love Splatoon 2 yeah....? It's the best one right.....? Totally not gonna become the middle child of the series that gets overshadowed by the new fresh Splatoon 3 and the nostalgia of the first game right.....?

Okay, jokes aside about if Splatoon 2 is actually good or not. This was the game that actually got me into Splatoon, I knew about the series since it's announcement but I couldn't play the first game because like the rest of general public, I didn't own a wii u. Still don't but I would love to have one to mod. (And play Splatoon 1 online with fan servers...)

I think Splatoon 2 really did bring a lot of cool stuff to the table and it had a lot of quality of life features and interesting weapon, sub and special concepts.

It gave us the dualies!! THE DUALIES! I LOVE THE DUALIES!

It gave us the brellas! Which.... were kinda bad at launch and still are bad till this day....

BUT! I dont wanna talk about weapons because thats BORING! I wanna talk about one of the best things Splatoon 2 gave us...

OFF THE HOOK! PEARL AND MARINA! These girls are some of the most popular characters in the series and for good reason. They are both funny, likeable, charming, witty and have developed backstories by the time Octo Expansion comes around. Plus their chemistry is top-notch and so damn CUTE! It's almost has if they are somehow more than friends and that kind of connection is canon and people who try to deny it are fucking idiots and will never be in a relationship of their own.....

Also Splatoon 2 gave us a pretty solid hero mode at launch, sure it was basically more Splatoon 1 hero mode but hey, the first hero mode was fun so more of the same is fine by me. Plus you get Marie's classic snark too while you go through levels, she's nice company surprisingly. Way better than some old ass crusty dude...

It also gave us....

totally didn't fuck up my mental health this year and last year and caused me chest pain and discomfort until I had to dig and dig AND DIG for knowledge just to salvage it and make sure my favourite character in the fucking series was given the respect she deserves....

....hypno/octo Callie.... totally didn't fuck up this villain arc for her huh Nintendo? Totally didn't throw away the depth you built up (and was shown in concept art) only to try and hastily fix it 2 years later with an obscure relationship chart no one fucking talks about, not even the timeline explainers...

totally didn't use the wrong terminology to describe her situation and made everything so much worse because you wanted a simple black and white story for the kiddies yeah Nintendo? Despite you making stuff grey in the dlc expansion so the both story modes now clash like oil and water theme wise.

And yet you still treat her like dirt. Still using the wrong poorly localised words. If I still gotta repeat to the sky one more time that callie was under hypnosis and not forceful brainwashing I might have a stroke. You can't even fucking brainwash someone with hypnosis because the limitation of hypnosis is that the person under it must be fully comfortable with the suggestion and the suggestion cannot go agaisnt their morals and ideology. AND GUESS WHAT BRAINWASHING IS! FORCING DIFFERENT IDEOLOGIES INTO SOMEONE'S HEAD! DO YOU GET WHY I HAVE AN ISSUE NOW?!?!?! JUST USE THE WORD HYPNOTISED NINTENDO! THATS ALL YOU GOTTA DO!! ILL BE SOOO HAPPY!!!

YOU TOO INKIPEDIA! I CAUGHT YOU USING THE WORD TOO MULTIPLE TIMES! you better change it... just change brainwashed to hypnotised and I would literally kiss you on the lips or something idk... I love you inkipedia but that's all you gotta change okay? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

ENOUGH OF THAT! I WANNA TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!!!

Do you know what else Splatoon 2 gave us?

OCTO EXPANSION BABY! I know people love to call this overrated now but I really don't care. It's not overrated, it's perfectly rated. It also gave us PLAYABLE OCTOLINGS! Which was a highly requested thing people really really wanted and they gave us what we asked for! Even though they lacked a lot of customisation options.... still do till this day... (Nintendo is it really that hard to come up with new hair? The community has been doing that for years for you man.)

And of course... the last thing I want to talk about...

This is probably my favourite Splatfest to date. It brought in a lot of actual genuine philosophical discussion on what kind of world is best, a world of chaos? Or a world of order? I chose team chaos because when the youtuber/streamer Etika was still around he chose team chaos and I chose that team because of him... rest in peace...

The shifty station too was phenomenonal as you got to hear Fly Octo Fly and Pearl would come in AND YOU GOT TO USE HER PRINCESS CANON!!!! IT WAS SO FUCKING COOL AHHHH!!!

God Pearl is so cool... i can't believe I actually used to dislike her. I wanna beat up teen me so badly for having such bad takes. Marina is hot sure, but, Pearl is just so fucking funny. Man what was wrong with 13 to 17 year old me....

Anyways, I wanted to ramble about Splatoon 2. It's pretty special to me as it was the reason I am here today, so I can't really criticise it as much as others do. Well... aside from one obvious thing but, I've done that many times.

Also, before I go... NINTENDO!!! BRING BACK SHIFTY STATIONS FOR SPLATOON 4!!! DO IT!!! STOP BEING COWARDS!!!!

[utilitycaster]

Is there a place of no return you wish you could go back to answer say no stop this is a bad idea? For me, it was the 33 - 34. Either Orym should have stayed dead, or Matt should have put his foot down when Liam suggested calling Keyleth. Or why even have Keyleth be Ok with going to whitestone? If it has to be VM related it could have been Juniper. She's a cleric, she can be known by Orym. But yeah everything about Whitestone, C1 VM and how that all happened I would tell them bad idea

I mean, my initial point was that this should have had a session zero. Laudna's concept should have been drastically reworked, it might have been wise to have had Orym a little more detached from Vox Machina (Ashari from a different tribe would have done the trick), and Laura and Ashley should have been told they'd be in a particularly central and decision-heavy role and given an option to turn it down at absolute minimum; I'd also have possibly asked Travis if he'd be willing to play a person with ties to Marquet even if he'd spent time elsewhere and frankly this also might have been a good idea with Laudna. I would also require higher INT scores and that the Marquet-based characters have some understanding of the Apex War, and I'd ask everyone to think about how their character feels about the gods and weave that into their backstory and work with them if it doesn't fit into the worldbuilding.

However, assuming the party we have I agree that probably the biggest misstep was that Matt should have made Keyleth unavailable to answer the call from Orym, forcing the party to use Jiana. This brings them back to Jrusar, removes their early ties to Whitestone, forces the Delilah story into the forefront so it actually has to be dealt with, gives them a reason to get much more involved with both the Vanguard (via Jiana) and spend more time learning about the plot from Eshteross and the Starpoint Conservatory (particularly making it a great opportunity to learn about the Apex War), and even could have put them physically present during Otohan's confrontation with Eshteross. From there I genuinely think Delilah actually being a major problem that they had to deal with would have done a ton of work in terms of character development and dealing with their problems, and the party having much more information about the world around them and having a stronger connection to a place and its people would have done a MOUNTAIN of work for the rest of the campaign. It's even possible Eshteross could have survived with their assistance in a second Otohan fight, which would mean they would have had the airship the whole time as a home base (since they couldn't have crashed it), which would have given them downtime in the form of travel rather than being ferried around by Keyleth due to having no other options, and would have served as bonding time. Matt admitted in a 4SD he didn't expect them to call on Keyleth (which is WILD to me) but literally he should have said no. I don't know for sure if this is how he envisioned the early campaign going but I would not be surprised if it was.

[maddascanbe-blog]

Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you Little Vesperia. She's a powerful punch in a petite package! I posted her design in sketches ages ago but I was SO jazzed to finally do it digital. And I finally could do Teen Zoé and Vesperia.

Buckle up folks this is a long one.

I won't go into too much detail on Teen Zoé's fit, since I already talked about it in here. But Vesperia is where things get more interesting.

Little Vesperia obviously takes more inspiration from Queen Bee since in my rewrite Zoé idolizes Chloé so much. Zoé's father couldn't really be bothered to care about Zoé, she's been at every boarding school and summer camp he could afford while still keeping most of the money Audrey sends him. She rarely sees him, and when they are stuck together he wants her out of sight and out of mind.

Then Zoé is uprooted entirely when Audrey's infidelity is exposed. To save face she gets brought to Paris, to play at being one big happy family. She may be young, but she's wise enough to know this is just another person using her for their gain. She did face bullying at her schools, and a whole lot of nothing done about it from the teachers.

She also does not speak french. Which means that a good 70% of people have no idea how to communicate with her. And Audrey was no help. Zoé vas given so little information she didn't even KNOW she had an older sister when the was taken to France. Chloé was a complete blindside to her.

And she especially doesn't expect this intimidating teenager to kneel down to her level, and in perfect english explain that it's okay to be scared and she'll make sure Zoé won't be stuck wondering what's gonna happen next.

They spend the rest of the day learning where everyone is, and what certain things are called in french so that Zoé has a better way to communicate. They also sit down and order decorations for Zoé's room.

Zoé fully anticipated André to ignore her, but he is kind like he is in cannon. Just very busy so can only get in small conversations with her. Still, he's shown her more care than her own father had in the 9 years she's been alive. Since he'll ask her about her day, anything she may need, how school has been, etc. He also manages to get a free day to show her all the cool things in the hotel that most people don't know are there. He tries to have dinner with Chloé and Zoé as often as possible and they eat lunch together at the hotel at least once a week.

Now to Teen Zoé. I'll probably write this down in a separate post but my Idea for her is because of the limits I put on the rabbit miraculous Bunnix is no longer able to fight Timetagger, but she IS able to bring someone from that point in time to help instead. And since bringing anyone that could be recognized could potentially cause a paradox, the best solution is to bring in someone who they haven't met yet.

Design wise I like Vesperia's cannon design but it does look more like a wasp than a bee. I based her top on these biker jackets that had segments on the sides and just made the segments alternate black and yellow. I originally planned to keep the black top and yellow bottoms, but it just didn't look the way I wanted it too. I think making the jacket yellow makes it look much more like a bee. Also black mask because I like how those look better.

I think Little Vesperia looks good too, different enough from Queen Bee while still looking like she took inspiration, my favorite part was making it look like she had striped socks. While Teen Zoé looks like a logical progression while also dipping into badass as opposed to cute. Also her pupils turn gold to further differentiate her from Queen Bee.

(Bonus- Verpseria with colors closer to her originals)

[vonlycaonwife]

Wise, Ben, Lycaon, and Harumasa w/tomboy/Masculine dressing reader

Note: So there was an anon that gave a request for something similar to this, but I didn’t know how to go about it because the wording was throwing me off (not anyone's fault, I'm assuming it was a language barrier issue) and had some details I couldn't work with. So I'm making this it's own post and if the anon reads this and is happy then I'm glad! If this wasn't what you were trying to ask for please clarify in my inbox!

Warnings: none

Wise isn't really one to care about how you dress and such. So he won't really make any comments or say anything when you happen to dress more masculine.

Honestly if I was allowed to sneak in my own headcanon agenda, I would say he's more attracted to you because in my eyes Wise is definitely a bi guy who happens to particularly love those that play with their gender expression. So he's not making any complaints.

But that's not to say he doesn't find you attractive if you did decide to wear something more feminist for an occasion, he's still going to be just as gobsmacked as him seeing you in a suit for the first time!

Plus I would think that the fact you act more masculine too probably helps him with talking to you more. And what led to you both getting together!

This lovable bear man is also someone who wouldn't really care how you dress. Honestly I would say he actually enjoys going shopping with you no matter the style.

Though let's say you typically wear more masculine because they can be cheaper and have better pockets, he's especially in agreement with that. 

I can see him making calculations on the difference between masculine and feminine clothing prices. I feel like that's just a habit he has since I can imagine him being a big thiren could lead to him seeing possible price jumps for his specific body type.

Though if that's not a reason, and you do it just because. He's still happy to accompany you on any shopping you do for new outfits, and if need be he can be scary backup if someone stupidly decides to bother you.

Can I say you're gonna end up gifted a ton of fancy mascara clothing? Because you definitely are.

Lycaon isn't one to judge and honestly a part of me can see him be slightly excited if your style was similar to that of Victoria Housekeeping. Honestly you might even get a honorary uniform if you that matches Lycaon's if you didn't have one already.

Though that is not to say he is upset if one day you decide to wear something more feminine for something special, if anything he probably already had bought something for you just in case you needed to change that was like you typical clothes.

Also the compliments, this may seem out of character but I just know this man will give compliment after compliment. They can be more subtle or straight up calling you handsome or beautiful (depending on what you prefer) at every given chance. 

Personally I think it's just his thiren instincts going mad when seeing you in clothes that match him, so enjoy seeing his tail wagging.

Ah, this guy. Your resident clothes stealer.

Because trust me, if you happen to be the same size, he will accidentally wear a lot of your clothes in the morning rush to work. Neither of you know how it happens, but just be expected to buy extra shirts and pants. Though even then you never know if you'll find a new hole in them or not.

He lets you steal his clothes in return! And honestly with how enthusiastic he is you almost have to question whether his accidental clothes stealing is less accidental and more so a scheme for him to share clothes with you like some cheesy romantic.

Though if you aren't the exact same size, he still does it. But it's more obvious when his shirt is a bit more undone because it's too small or if he has to roll his pants up for being too long.

To be fully honest, I feel like out of everyone in this list he probably would want to see you dress more feminine. Not in a forceful way! But more so he's just curious how it would look on you, since he's so used to seeing you being masculine. It's not the end of the world if he never sees you dress feminine, but if you did it once for him as a treat…yeah he can die happy.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Do you know much about historical cuisine? Saw yet another anime with friends and they went the whole 'modern food always tastes better' bit. I feel tired of the trope and am wondering how different historical cuisine would taste compared to modern times. So anything you happen to know as a historian would be cool to know!

That varies MASSIVELY based on time and location. Like. Much more than fashion does, even, I'd imagine (in a given sub-region- I can talk about Mainstream European and Euro-American Fashion of the 19th CenturyTM but the food was so different in different countries that were dressing the same, if that makes sense? just as an example).

Food is often more globalized in a lot of places nowadays, so the characters might have more diversity of flavors from the regional norm than they're used to. But this could be a good or a bad thing- a woman from 17th-century Japan might love pizza and much sweeter Western pastries, or she might absolutely hate them. Which is not to say regional cuisines haven't evolved, too- a museum here in Boston used to have tastings of 18th-century-style hot chocolate, and it was very different from the modern sort. But that's the largest blanket difference across the globe that I can think of, food-wise.

Not sure what anime this was, so it could have been Japan-specific, but I feel like this gets applied the most to the 19th-mid 20th century UK and United States. The whole Captain America line about "food's better; we used to boil everything," for example, and the general belief that everything was bland mush in those areas until the 1950s and then it was incomprehensible Jell-O mold horrors until approximately the 1980s. And of course, none of that's true- there were plenty of dishes that used spices and different cooking methods, many of which are still popular today. See also: Jonathan Harker, a Normal 1890s Englishman, getting so rhapsodical about paprikahendl that he simply must have the recipe for his fiancee to make. There also WERE bland mushes and fluorescent nightmares, but there's less than ideal food today, as well.

(Note that I'm much less confident talking about the whole English StodgeTM thing as we get into the 20th century. That is outside my history wheelhouse and there's a lot of different stuff embroiled in it relating to class and such that I don't want to talk out my ass about. All I know is that I've seen plenty of recipes from as late as the end of the 19th century, from England and some from urban Scotland if I recall correctly, that made ample use of spices. Nutmeg, mustard, black pepper, rosemary, caraway, and cayenne pepper were especially popular (not all together obviously). There was a belief among the middle and upper classes that strong flavors of garlic and onion were distasteful to ladies, but the fact that cookbooks and such feel the need to mention it implies that those elements WERE being used in cooking generally, in the UK, at that time. So wherever the idea that All British Food Is Beige And Tasteless came from, it wasn't mainstream late Victorian cooking for adults as far as I can tell)

(They gave kids a fair amount of the beige and tasteless because they believed their digestive systems couldn't handle strongly-flavored- okay now I'm getting off topic. Read Ruth Goodman's "How To Be A Victorian." Anyway!)

tl;dr- The answer to "is modern food better?" is "that's literally impossible to answer as a blanket statement, since it's massively dependent on the character's original time, place, social status, and personal taste- and where they end up in the present, of course."

Now, I do agree that the trope is annoying the same way every single princess being totally shocked and appalled when her marriage is arranged gets annoying- not because it can't be true based on history and human behavior, but because fiction treats it as some kind of universal precept. Mix it up a little sometimes! Have a Regency character who comes to the present, finds out that her favorite local cheese isn't being made anymore, and loses her entire mind!

[elminx]

Energy Update: January 2025

January is a "1" Universal Month [1 (January) + 9 (2025) = 10 = 1+0 =1] in a "9" Universal Year. 1 is the number of beginnings and starting over - this makes this January a 1/1 month as all Januarys bring 1 energy to the table, further amplified by our 9-themed year. It is worth remembering that 9 is the number of endings, so from a wide enough lens, we can say that this January is the beginning of the end. Or better said AN end.

The Set Up

January begins with the Sun in Capricorn, Mercury in Sagittarius, Venus and Pluto in Aquarius, retrograde Mars in Leo, retrograde Jupiter in Gemini, Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, and retrograde Uranus in Taurus. By the month's end, the Sun will have moved into Aquarius, Mercury will have moved through Capricorn into Aquarius, Venus will have entered Pisces, and Mars will have moved backward into Cancer. Additionally, we will see the switchover of our lunar nodes from the Aries-Libra axis to the Pisces-Virgo axis, and Uranus will have stationed direct.

The Nitty Gritty

All eyes are on our lunar nodes, moving away from the Aries-Libra axis towards Pisces-Virgo at the end of this month. The tides are shifting, and we need to shift with them.

The Lunar Nodes

In a year full of endings, this is a pretty big one. All month long, our North and South nodes will be sitting at 00° of Aries and Libra, respectively. This may seem counterintuitive because 00° is the first degree of a given sign, and as I mentioned above, the lunar nodes are about to switch signs. This is because the nodes - overall - move retrograde to the movement of the planets throughout our skies.

For a quick refresher: the lunar nodes are not physical bodies in our sky but mathematical points representing the exact degree with which the Sun, Moon, and Earth can align to create a solar or lunar eclipse. So, from a wide lens, this indicates that our eclipse seasons are about to shift from Aries and Libra to Pisces and Virgo.

But we aren't there quite yet.

The lunar nodes move backward through the horoscope every 1.5 years, representing a compass point of focus away from the South Node and towards the North Node. Society generally becomes more focused on the themes of the signs the lunar nodes inhabit. This past year and a half have focused on the dichotomy between the self (Aries) and relationships (Libra). It has been a battle of "I" versus "We". It's wise to remember that Aries and Libra, though quite different, are an astrological pair - one can never truly be understood without the other. There can be no sense of togetherness without understanding separateness, and vice versa.

This cycle has caused a lot of disruptions and reworkings, specifically in the realm of relationships because the axis of Aries-Libra IS the axis of relationships. With the North Node in Aries, the focus was on individualization, and this process corrupted and broke down relationships that couldn't exist within an individualized framework.

When things end, there needs to be a mourning period or, at the least, a period of readjustment. 00° Aries will be a heavy focus point throughout 2025 as Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Neptune move into and back out of Aries later this year.

When we talk "1" as new beginnings - many think of January 1st and our calendar new year. But in astrology, the year begins at 00° Aries with the equinox and our first breath of spring. 00° Aries is highly potentiated - it holds the potential of an entire new year within its grasp. This enhances our natural "1" energy of the month of January, which has already been further enhanced by this January being a 1/1 year.

As our Sun and personal planets change signs this month, each will move into aspect with our lunar nodes at 00° degrees, creating strong short-lived windows of opportunity and further enhancing the New energy inherent all month long.

We can view each of these days as one last chance to come to terms with the waning energy of this cycle of the lunar nodes but also as the cosmically right time to start over. It's worth noting here that the type of aspect makes some difference, as does whether the planet is in a stronger aspect to the North Node (progress) or South Node (endings). Here, the most potent aspects are conjunctions, squares, or trines, with sextiles being second to that and semi-sextiles or inconjunction being relatively inconsequential.

As our planets enter Aquarius, for example, they find themselves trine to the South Node - this is more indicative of endings and needing to make adjustments to change. Whereas when Mercury enters Capricorn, it forms an intense square, which may propel us into the future with stronger more intent "1" energy. I will speak more about our planetary aspects to the lunar nodes in each planet's section, where I feel it is warranted.

It's worth remembering here that beginnings and endings are two sides of the same coin - you (often) cannot have one without the other. Only our ultimate beginnings (birth) and our ultimate endings (death) are concrete and finitely separated from each other.

It's also worth mentioning here the peculiarity of astrology and how it relates to the tarot. The major arcana and the astrological wheel begin with the number 0 rather than the number 1. In this way, we can say that all month, we are sitting in Fool energy - all of the potential of the world, but on the edge of a cliff. Also, like the ongoing retrograde Mars energy, when the lunar nodes switch, we will go backward into Pisces, not forward in the future.

Venus will be the first of our planets to cross the line from Pisces into Aries in forward motion this year, but she will also retrograde and move back across it, following in the lunar nodes' footsteps. So will Mercury, Saturn, AND Neptune over the coming months.

You might begin to see what I mean about beginnings and endings here. You might begin to understand why the lunar nodes are more important than many astrologers seem to comprehend.

The lunar nodal movement is certainly a changing of the guard, but it isn't always felt by everyone. I suspect this one will be, though, since those degrees of 00° Aries and 29° Pisces play so much into the energy of our year ahead. It is worth watching - especially if you have luminaries or personal planets within 5 of 00 for cardinal signs or 25-29 degrees for mutable signs.

The nodes switch on 1/28 at the end of the month, but there will be a building tension in advance of this actualizing. I will write more about our new Pisces-Virgo era as we get there, as that is mostly February's (and the future) situation.

Our Lights: The Sun and the Moon

As our Sun moves through Capricorn, it meets up for a brief sextile with Saturn in Pisces on 1/04. This is a check on our New Year's goals - have we set ourselves up with a solid framework to achieve in the coming year (Saturn), or are we grasping at a pipe dream (Pisces)? Capricorn especially wants to dot every I and cross every T; this is why it is auspicious to begin our calendar year in the sign of the goat. In what might be a rocky year, Capricorn can give us the confidence to keep our footing, but we do need to set ourselves up for success.

Our full moon for the month is on 1/13 at 24° Cancer, which looks like a less-than-auspicious day. Uranus forms a trine to our Capricorn Sun and sextile to our Cancerian moon, which adds a layer of volatility to anything that might come up during this lunation. Additionally, Venus in Pisces will square off with retrograde Jupiter in Gemini. This screams "unlucky in love," but it's wise to remember that Venus rules all kinds of getting along, not just the romantic vibes. Venus in Pisces has the bad habit of wearing rose-colored glasses and only seeing what she wants to see, and retrograde Jupiter in Gemini is an outright liar. All that glitters is not gold around this full moon, and certain inconsistencies or falsehoods may come to light or be revealed during this time. Tempers will also be high, stoked by retrograde Uranus in Taurus, who is breaking down old ground and not taking any prisoners.

Expect some waterworks, as Cancerian moons always seem to bring out the big emotions in all of us.

Our Cancer Full Moon is a 5/6 Full Moon.

10 (Capricorn Sun) + 4 (Cancer Moon) = 14 = 1+4 =5. 5 (Capricorn Full Moon) + 1 (January 2025) = 6.

The numerology echoes the astrological energy of the lunation - there's a lot of conflict inherent in the Number 5, but its conflict meant to show the fallacy of the complacency sometimes found within structures. We must work hard to harness the "6" energy of working together to find solutions. Still, the energy IS available if everyone involved is willing to put aside their reactionary brains and seek compromise for the higher good - a function of 6 energy.

It's unlikely, though. Our Capricorn moon is already closely opposed to retrograde Mars in Cancer at its height of reactivity. Mars is in its fall in the cardinal water sign of the crab, which often seems to move sideways rather than forward toward its goals. This creates a lot of angst and discomfort, further enhanced by Mars's current backward motion. Nobody is at their best right now, and patience has never been Cancer's forte. As I've said before, when referencing this Mars in the Cancer cycle, crabby hands are grabby hands, and grabby hands never let go. To compromise during January, we will have to meet the other person halfway, and retrograde Mars in Cancer makes it exceptionally difficult for us to do so.

The Sun will oppose retrograde Mars exactly on 1/15; this is definitely a day to lie low and do and say less. Set your expectations at the absolute bottom of what you can imagine, and give yourself space to go even lower.

When the Sun enters Aquarius on 1/19, it forms an immediate conjunction with Pluto and trine to our South Node in Libra. This accentuates the letting go part of our 1-themed month, as Pluto is the dwarf planet of erosion and disintegration, and the South Node shows what we are moving away from during this time. This aligns well with the waning moon cycle and is a great time to do any cleansing, banishing, or removal work. This energy will stretch through to 1/21 when the Sun meets up with Pluto in exactitude.

Our new moon for the month is on 1/29 at 09° Aquarius, which mirrors the full moon early with retrograde Jupiter in a tight trine to our Sun and Moon. This will be a low day, maybe one of the lowest of the entire year, as a lot going on around it will heighten this dark moon energy. The day before, Venus entered her pre-retrograde shadow in Pisces, and, more importantly, the lunar nodes switched signs. We may not know up from down, as if this were a Piscean moon or we are stuck deep in 12th house energy. If you can't even on this day, know that you are right on time.

It isn't a day for doing. It might not even be a day for feeling, given the airy spaciness of Aquarius.

Our Aquarius New Moon is a 4/5 New Moon.

11 (Aquarius Moon) + 11 (Aquarius Sun) = 22 = 2+2 = 4. 4 (Aquarius New Moon) + 1 (January 2025) = 5.

When one considers that Aquarius new moons are actually 22/4 moons, meaning that they carry the double 2 energy of choice and movement and the 4 energy of stability, this could be a very auspicious day. But, again, we see the 5 energy coming along to disrupt or break up that solidarity.

There may be too many unknowns to make any concrete plans. Sometimes, that is just the way that things are.

Mercury

Since Mercury was retrograde through the end of November and early December, it is lagging behind the Sun and playing catch-up all month long. It exits its post-retrograde shadow on 1/04 at 22° Sagittarius before moving on into Capricorn on 1/08. The Sun plus Mercury in Capricorn will add a serious tone to the two weeks that follow - people will likely be thinking carefully before they speak, which is ultimately positive in a month that is quite Saturnian.

In Capricorn, Mercury immediately squares off with the lunar nodes at 00° Aries and Libra, respectively. We are at a turning point, not quite stepping into the future (the North Node) and not quite ready to give up the past (South Node). There may be some unfinished business that needs attending around 1/8-1/9, and it's likely something best worked through verbally. Write it out or talk it out. Make a pros/cons list. Be practical here: Mercury is in Capricorn's realm now and, therefore, ruled by the planet of getting it right, Saturn. Squares (and this is technically a t-square with Mercury square at once to both the North Node and the South due to their inherent opposition) can be a harsh aspect, but as mentioned in the lunar nodes section above, this provides powerful energy to right your path and tap into the 1/1 energy that January so readily provides. Use this energy to intellectualize your plans for the year ahead of you and make concrete plans to make it happen.

Capricorn isn't the strongest placement for Mercury, but it can be used so long as you are willing to do the work to make it happen. (That's pretty much the theme of the month, after all)

Interestingly, we don't see another Mercury aspect after this until Mercury meets up in sextile to a conjunction between Venus and Saturn on 1/18. Saturn is making moves later this year (changing signs over the border from sign #12, Pisces, to sign #1, Aries), and we are now deep in the planning stages. Venus in Pisces wants to dream big, but Saturn holds things soundly grounded deep into reality. Saturn says there is no use in having goals if you aren't taking active steps to achieve them. With Mercury in tow, Saturn wants us to think things through to their logical conclusions. That is the skill that Capricorn has which Pisces often so desperately needs, use it.

By 10/23, Mercury is in a tough opposition with retrograde Mars sitting in its fall in watery Cancer. This is a test of our resolve to follow through on our ideas. And we are most likely failing, but that said - it's not our fault. With retrograde Mars in its exile in cardinal Cancer, very few people are living up to their obligations at the moment. It may feel like a punch in the gut and old thoughts (Mercury) around being not good enough, not brave enough, not smart enough, not Enough Enough may arise to the surface. Mercury in Capricorn can be a bit of a downer (Saturn has a suppressive influence on everything it touches), and retrograde Mars is far from giving us the pep needed to overcome that winter slump.

It's certainly right on time, but it won't feel fun. Stay aware if you're prone to the bad kind of depression and take steps early to care for yourself through this transit.

Some big changes are happening, and Mercury is at the forefront, as it so often is. (I suspect this is because we have to think our way through things before we can do much else, but I digress a bit there) Mercury enters Aquarius on 1/27 and immediately conjuncts Pluto (death/erosions/decomposition) while also meeting up in a sextile to the North Node and trine to the South the very day before the lunar nodes move backward into Pisces and Virgo, respectively.

The flex will be using your mind and staying aware during this time, but things will feel tenuous and incredibly murky. Put on your seeing glasses or your very best pathfinding charm if you've got 'em. The nodes shift, we experience a dense and low Aquarius full moon, and the Uranus stations direct - all three days in a row. All somehow involving Mercury (it is sextile/trine the nodes, widely conjunct the new moon, and the lower octave of all Uranian energy).

If you know how to look for one, an Ah-Ha moment might be hidden in all this nonsense.

Venus

Venus is out ahead of the pack and moving quickly through the mutable, watery sign of Pisces. Venus is exalted in Pisces, which means it is at its best - especially when pushing forward the radical idea that EVERYBODY deserves more love. Even so, all planetary placements have mature and immature sides. The above is Venus in Pisces showing up in its mature form, but the immature form of Venus in Pisces can be erratic and downright avoidant.

Pisces rules the unconscious and our ideals. Immature Piscean energy can be so obsessed with their sense of idealism that they lose sight of reality entirely. An immature Venus in Pisces type might prefer to be lied to rather than know the truth; they can live their entire life with their head in the sand focused on their fantasy while their Others are running around doing untoward things that they refuse to look at or admit to. Through this Venus in Pisces transit, we should all hope for the first mature type of Venus in Pisces energy - that is empathetic to all humans (hopefully with firm boundaries) and try to avoid the immature Piscean state of delusion and avoidance.

It may not be easy this month as Venus always needs to be read in relation to their counterpart, Mars. There are two sides to the same coin, as both deal with different ways we get along and work towards achieving our desires. We often view Venus as passive, drawing in what we want, and Mars as active, seeking out desires, but it is not that cut and dry. When Venus is in the more active signs (Air, Fire, and Cardinal), it plays a more traditional aggressor role, and Mars tends to be more passive in Earth, Water, and Mutable signs. Although Venus in Pisces can be infinitely loving, it is not the strongest placement from an outward energy perspective. And likewise, Mars retrograde in the sign of its exile, Cancer, is also not at its best.

This will be an easier month than when Venus was in Aquarius, directly opposed to retrograde Mars in Leo, but easier is a matter of degrees here. Mars is doubly exiled, and Venus isn't stepping up to take the reigns to get things done in her mutable, watery form.

Once you accept that, the month will probably run much smoother for you.

We don't see a lot of action from Venus this month aspect-wise, and what we do see shows the depths of the situation. As Venus moves through Pisces, it will re-activate our waning Jupiter-Saturn mutable square from December through a square to Jupiter on 1/14 and a conjunction to Saturn on 1/18. We are being brought to task by our relationship choices all month long as part of the last dregs of this lunar nodal cycle on the Aries-Libra axis, where we have let our relationships overwhelm us (Jupiter) and also where we have held on too tight and not given them room to breathe (Saturn). We all walk a tightrope between wanting and needing connection (Libra, the placement of our South Node) and needing space (Aries, the placement of our North Node). The truth is that we need both at the correct levels - right for us AND our others.

Therein, at times, lies the crux of the issue. In its immature form, Venus in Pisces wants to wear rose-colored glasses and focus wholly on the good in relationships. Venus in Pisces is the type to keep a relationship going with a toxic person because of the potential they saw in their other once upon a time. But in the real world (ruled by Saturn), potential is not enough.

I don't think this will be a hard pass for everyone, but it will be for those hiding things from themselves or trying to keep relationships long past their expiration date alive. I don't just mean bit R romantic relationships here, either.

The big flex around 1/14-1/18 will be seeing your Others for who they really are, warts and all. In realizing they have the intrinsic right to have wants and needs that have nothing to do with you. They are a whole person in and of themselves without you involved. This is going to strike a hard note for those dealing with issues around codependency for sure. The toxic "Us" will certainly rear its ugly head as people grapple with enmeshment within family systems and relationships. This is a bit of a glimpse into our future here as our North Node enters Pisces on 1/28, putting all Piscean ideals, good and bad, in the spotlight for the next year and a half.

Pisces, in its purest form, is a servant of love - it hints at the idea that on a long enough timeline (Pisces is our last sign in the horoscope lineup), humans will realize that universal love is the answer—the ideal. Piscean love is never meant to be personal as Piscean is - by its position as the last sign - the least personal of all.

This isn't going to be an easy road or an easy transition. As Venus moves through Pisces, it will enter its pre-retrograde shadow on 1/28 at 24° Pisces. Notably, this is the day the North Node moves into Pisces, forming a loose (05°) conjunction with Venus. Venus will move into Aries next month and then retrograde BACK into Pisces, following the path the lunar nodes have so recently trod.

As mentioned above, Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune will also retrograde and move backward from Aries into Pisces later this year. If Pisces is the most universal sign, Aries is the most personal. That they are neighbors, that one always becomes the other either by forward or backward motion shows a lot about the nature of humanity. About the many stages of being who we are as a species.

This is the meat of the work we all need to do this year, and we can see by the transits that we will get many chances to get it right, so it's okay if you don't the first time around.

Stay aware in and around 1/28, as it may be a sneak peek into what will arise for you again and again in the year ahead.

Mars

As Mars' retrograde cycle deepens, the pace of life may seem to continue to slow or halt altogether. If you feel like you can't get ahead this month, know that you are right on time. Retrograde Mars in Leo trines the North Node in Aries on 1/02, which will hit on those themes of Individuality/Togetherness that we have one last chance to rectify this month. Mars in Leo's prominent immature trait is that of inherent narcissism - Leo can be every bit as "Me First" as sign #1, Aries, albeit for differing reasons. Aries has an instinctive understanding that somebody has to go first, and they are willing to take the hit for the team (and it often is detrimental to go first, whatever people might think); Leo goes first because they usually believe they are most deserving.

Therefore, when Leo stumbles into the consequence of going first, they are often shocked by the result (rather than Aries, who is expecting this and has agreed to it). In this way, it is worth considering the consequences of your actions early in the month - are you, like immature Leo, barreling ahead without thinking about what will happen next, or like mature Aries, are you prepared to face what lies ahead, even if it less than ideal. It's worth remembering that January is an unusually Saturnian month, and Saturn will play a large part in the year ahead, so there will most certainly BE consequences.

Consequences don't have to be bad. They can be a reward for hard work. Sometimes, the difference between the two is all in your state of mind.

The energy of our inability to act will change drastically on 1/06 as retrograde Mars moves backward into Cancer, where it will remain for the rest of its retrograde cycle. It's worth noting that Cancer is the sign of Mars's exile - as it is the opposite sign of its exaltation, Capricorn. This means a couple of things concerning this month. For starters, the natural energy of Cancer (sideways, grabby hands, crab motion) does not suit Mars's energy well. Additionally, as our Sun and Mercury move through Capricorn - each will have to oppose Mars in their time.

If you think about the nature of the crab, their pinchers are likely the first thing to come to mind. Crabs are known to grab onto something and never let go. This is the immature energy of Mars in Cancer - otherwise known as "this is mine." Mature Cancerean energy is about sharing resources that you might see in a community or family unit. Still, immature Cancer energy is obsessed with keeping whatever it has at any cost! Because Cancer is a water sign and ruled by the capricious moon, this includes the dreaded emotional manipulation.

"Look what I have done for you." "I am the best you will ever find." "You owe me."

Remember we are in the last dregs of this Aries-Libra lunar node cycle, and Mars has just crossed backward from Leo into Cancer (fire to water), which is the point trine to Aries into Pisces that our nodes, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune are all about to pass over as well. Everything is interrelated. Our story has no outliers this month, showing us that we must pay close attention.

This month, the big flex from a Mars perspective will be understanding that you have the right to any emotions you feel (Mars in Cancer has all of the feelings), but you don't have the right to use your emotions against your Others. On the other hand, you have the right to hold boundaries with others if they try to use their emotions against you.

"No" is a complete sentence, even if that person is your parent, sibling, friend, or lover.

You do not need to be a casualty in somebody else's war with themselves.

This has been an aggressively long Mars in Cancer transit that began months ago, and it's not much fun for anyone—emphasis on the aggressive.

Mars doesn't make a lot of aspects this month, which is a small favor, but those it does make will be challenging days for everyone involved. As retrograde Mars opposes the Sun, we will face the battling egos between ourselves and our Others; when Mars opposes Mercury, people will be looking for an argument. You can walk away and not engage (at least most of the time).

Relationship issues will be close to the surface all month long, as typical for a Mars retrograde cycle. Pick your battles. Bring a literal or figurative white flag, and try not to quarrel about the little things. Let people be emotional without taking on their emotions as your own. That won't be as easy as it sounds, but it is a practice worth cultivating all month. Again, this circles back to that pesky codependency issue I mentioned in the Venus section - like Pisces, Cancer can hold on too hard for too long.

This reads like the cliche: "Family must stick together because they are family."

And (spoken like a true Aries moon native here): fuck that shit.

You don't have to stay in contact or close communication with anyone for any reason other than that you are their direct care-er. If they aren't a minor, tell them to STFU if you need to this month. Iron-clad boundaries are a must when Mars is muddied in the waters of Cancer. Protect your personal space AND your emotions.

You don't need to engage.

Mars doesn't station direct until the end of February, but we are now 2/3 of the way through this retrograde cycle and that's...something. Maybe not enough, but we've got what we've got.

Uranus

Uranus stations direct on 1/30 at 23° Taurus. This probably won't be particularly notable in comparison to the mess forming around the boundary between Pisces and Aries. Still, it is worth noting because Uranus will move out of Taurus and into Gemini later this year. It is a step forward, but one that may fall under the radar for quite some time.

Looking Forward

February will be a month of major personal planetary movement as Mars (finally) stations direct and Venus retrogrades at the end of the month. Stay tuned!

The Details

1/02 - Venus enters Pisces, retrograde Mars in Leo trine North Node in Aries 1/03 - retrograde Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius 1/04 - Sun in Capricorn sextile Saturn in Pisces, Mercury exits its post-retrograde shadow 22° Sagittarius 1/05 - Pluto in Capricorn sextile North Node in Aries 1/06 - Retrograde Mars enters Cancer, Mercury square Neptune in Pisces 1/08 - Mercury enters Capricorn, Sun in Capricorn square Chiron in Aries 1/09 - Mercury in Capricorn square the lunar nodes in Aries/Libra 1/12 - Retrograde Mars in Cancer trine Neptune in Pisces 1/13 - Full moon 24° Cancer, Sun in Capricorn trine retrograde Uranus in Taurus 1/14 - Venus in Pisces square retrograde Jupiter in Gemini 1/15 - Sun in Capricorn opposed Mars in Cancer 1/17 - Sun in Cancer sextile Neptune in Pisces 1/18 - Venus conjunct Saturn 16° Pisces 1/19 - Sun enters Aquarius, Mercury in Capricorn sextile Venus in Pisces, Mercury in Capricorn sextile Saturn in Pisces 1/20 - Sun in Aquarius sextile North Node in Aries/trine South Node in Libra 1/21 - Sun conjunct Pluto 01° Aquarius, Mercury in Capricorn sextile Chiron in Aries 1/23 - Mercury in Capricorn opposed retrograde Mars in Cancer, Mercury in Capricorn trine retrograde Uranus in Taurus, retrograde Mars in Cancer sextile retrograde Uranus in Taurus 1/25 - Venus in Pisces trine retrograde Mars in Cancer 1/26 - Venus in Pisces sextile retrograde Uranus in Taurus 1/27 - Mercury enters Aquarius, Mercury in Aquarius sextile North Node in Aries/trine South Node in Libra 1/28 - Venus enters its pre-retrograde shadow 24° Pisces, lunar nodes enter Pisces/Virgo 1/29 - New moon 09° Aquarius, Mercury conjunct Pluto 01° Aquarius 1/30 - Sun in Aquarius trine retrograde Jupiter in Gemini, Uranus stations direct 23° Taurus

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[genderlessghoul]

This is for @anonymouslymadebydesign

I'm so sorry I don't know how to Tumblr properly I messed up your ask 😭 (if anyone saw me post this one for 3 minutes and then delete it, no you didn't)

Here's how to differentiate all the current ghouls, explained as best as I can!

Dew :

First we have our lead guitarist, nicknamed Dewdrop or Sodo. He's most often seen playing his white Stratocaster guitar, which is a great way to identify him. He's the smallest of all the men in the group and also has a very small frame that matches his height.

He's arguably the easiest to recognize with the costumes on because he's the only one with white horns on his mask. He usually wears his sleeves rolled up and has a black compression shirt underneath. If his sleeves aren't rolled up, you'll notice he has no ruffles at the cuffs. He wears a balaclava over his mouth and nose

You know how they say the smaller you are, the closer to hell? Yeah that's Dewdrop. He's our angry gremlin, he likes to throw stuff at people. He also has a very distinct posture. The way he walks and stands, at least to me, inspires authority, it's almost intimidating.

Phantom :

On rhythm guitar, we have Phantom or Aeon, people couldn't agree on the nickname. He plays a black Fantomen guitar. He's a bit taller than Dew and has a similar frame.

His mask has scratch marks in the leather on the left side. He also wears his sleeves rolled up with a compression shirt underneath, sometimes they're kinda rolled the "wrong" way around so he looks like he has bell sleeves. His cuffs also don't have ruffles. He also wears a balaclava over his mouth and nose, it took him a while to know how to wear it properly because it used to stick to his face so bad.

He's the newest and he tends to act a bit younger too if that makes sense? He's very playful with the audience and thrives on interactions (my personal biggest brag is playing a game of rock paper scissors with him when I saw them live. He's very flexible and will not hesitate to throw himself on the floor.

Rain :

On bass we have Rain. He plays a couple different basses in the show. If you tend to get confused with instruments, your best bet is to count the strings. A regular guitar has 6 while a bass guitar has 4. He's taller than Phantom and Dew but he still has a small frame, he's our lanky boy.

They changed most of the ghouls' masks this summer so this is not a 100% method anymore but his mask used to have a little patch on the right side that one of the horns was poking out of. His nose is always poking out from underneath and he wears tape on the bridge of it. He rarely rolls his sleeves but it does happen. He doesn't have a compression shirt underneath. His cuffs still have ruffles. He only wears his balaclava over his mouth

He's often classified as shy by the fandom, he acta a bit more neutral on stage than the other ghouls but he does have his moments. He's not very stable on his feet hence the name Rain.

Mountain :

Mountain is our drummer. He's the tallest of our ghoul.

I don't remember what was special about his mask before it got changed but he's often recognized by sheer height alone. After concerts before bows, he can sometimes be seen walking around the stage without his vest and/or shoeless. His sleeves don't have ruffles anymore. He wears a balaclava for official pictures but not on stage, he paints his exposed skin black instead.

We don't have a lot on him personality wise given he's hiding behind a drum kit the entire show. The people who know more about drums than me seem to agree that he has a bit of an aggressive playing style.

Swiss :

Then we have our multi ghoul Swiss (my beloved). He plays a rain shaker, a tambourine and allegedly a black hagstrom viking baritone guitar. He also does backing vocals. He's the tallest after Mountain and our boy is large.

Before they changed the masks, he had a small patch on the left side, kind of behind and below the horn. He rolls up his sleeves with no compression shirt and has ruffles at the cuffs. He doesn't wear a balaclava and can often be identified by his bigass smile.

He is feral. He is The Whore. He will secude everything and everyone in his path. He definitely likes to act very sexual on stage and has no shame in grabbing his band mates in less than appropriate ways. Sometimes he does things that he's the only one to know why. Be warned he cheats at rock paper scissors.

Then we have the ghoulettes

They all have pretty much the exact same uniform without variation at all but they can be differentiated by their body type and personality. They also have capes compared to the boys.

Cirrus :

She's on keys and keytar. She's quite tall and has an average body type. She has her own solo during Mummy Dust on keytar and she's absolutely rocking to it. Loves to interact with fans during it.

Cumulus :

She's on keys, tambourine and backing vocals. She's the roundest of the ghoulettes and she's rather small. In my opinion she's the most wholesome ghoul, she just wanna spread love.

Aurora :

She's on backing vocals and tambourine. Smallest of them all, she makes Dewdrop look like a giant. She has a big personality and she's the ghoulette that jumps and dances around the most.

[synchodai]

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DRAGON BATTLE IN ROOK'S REST

Okay, here's a rundown for what the differences in the source material are:

"Why didn't they send another dragon with Meleys?" In the book (and the show), the blacks didn't know that there were dragons in Rook's Rest.

Meleys is the fastest dragon and she could have possibly beaten Vhagar based on that. It took both Sunfyre and Vhagar working together to bring Meleys down.

Against Vhagar alone she might have had some chance, but against Vhagar and Sunfyre together, doom was certain. The dragons met violently a thousand feet above the field of battle, as balls of fire burst and blossomed, so bright that men swore later that the sky was full of suns. The crimson jaws of Meleys closed round Sunfyre’s golden neck for a moment, till Vhagar fell upon them from above.

There's no mention of Vhagar burning or attacking Sunfyre (but that happening doesn't necessarily contradict FaB).

In the books, all three dragons fell at the same time, "spinning towards the ground."

Rhaenys only had one chance to flee and that was before she had ever engaged.

Criticisms of these changes and whinging after the cut!

This was said in the show as well, but Rook's Rest is an insignificant castle. Winning or losing it won't really effect the tide of battle in any meaningful way.

But you know what will? Losing a dragon. Rhaenys, being wise and conflict-averse in the show, should have known this and knew that Meleys wasn't worth sacrificing for this. There were times when I honestly thought Rhaenys deliberatedly wanted to die when she kept turning around. Book!Rhaenys engaging in a heavily weighted 2v1 made sense because she was eager for battle and more cocksure.

And a lot of people are reasoning that she couldn't have run away because she was injured and Vhagar is faster in the show. They didn't show that, though. They didn't show Meleys being pursued by Vhagar or having difficulty flying. What they did show was Rhaenys turning around repeatedly when she was in the clear. This was probably done to give her the same valiant stand book!Rhaenys ends up being known for, but given the changes they made to her personality and values, it wouldn't make sense for her show counterpart to do that.

In the same vein, it makes no sense to call for Vhagar to take such a small castle unless that was all part of Aemond's plan to kill his brother — which I guess it was.

But related to that, does Aemond realize how heavily he crippled his own side's chances at winning the civil war? The greens only have one battle-ready dragon now! Helaena has never been shown to ride Dreamfyre and I'm not even sure if Jaehaera even has Morghul. Vhagar is powerful but she's only one dragon. What is Aemond gonna do if the blacks start attacking from multiple places?

Anyway, love the dream sequences. Love the acting. Love Jace chewing out his mom for leaving when her advisors were threatening to usurp her. Love Sunfyre. Love the aftermath of the battle. Beautiful set and cinematography. Have a good day, everyone.

[hisui-dreamer]

a world without you

Pairing: Leona Kingscholar x gn!reader

Synopsis: When Leona hears the Shroud brothers' plan, he thinks back to his herbivore, and how their existence has changed so much for him.

Tags: spoilers up to Ch 6!!!, established relationship, angst but fluff, drama, bot proofread

Word count: 878

Notes: this can be read as my view of leona's character, so please accept my leona brainrot <3 just some thoughts I had when I read ch 6. also leona might be a little ooc but it's his internal thoughts so I like to think he's more emotional :3

"It needs to reset before we can start a new game."

Shocked expressions were exchanged across the room as the implications of the younger Shroud's plan slowly settled on everyone's mind.

Leona couldn't help but think that, if the opportunity had been given to him a year ago, he'd likely have accepted whatever the robot kid was going for.

Leona always felt that he had been cheated in life. Ever since he was young, he was constantly compared to his older brother, who was seen as the epitome of success in their family, the perfect heir to the throne. Everyone would constantly praise his brother's achievements while dismissing his own accomplishments as trivial. It didn't matter that he was working hard to prove himself, that he could wield such powerful magic as a child.

He often wondered why he had to be born, if he was only meant to stay in another person's shadow to make them seem brighter in contrast.

No matter how hard he studied, how mature he acted, or how strong his magic was, it was all pointless. The ghostly whispers of the palace staff continued, and the judging remarks from the council intensified.

He was born as the second prince.

And he was destined to forever be just that—second.

When it finally clicked for him, he stopped trying. Why make an effort in anything, when time and time again, he had given his all only to end up with nothing? They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. Despite what others might say, Leona was incredibly brilliant, with a sharp mind fit to be a wise ruler. He knew, without a doubt, that it was pointless to continue down the road of insanity.

Instead, he continued down the path of sloth, eventually finding everything, the entire world, pointless. He found himself skipping classes and taking naps whenever he could, hiding away from the world where he would never be able to stand under the sun, but at least comforted by the serene embrace of his dreams.

He had wanted to turn the world to sand and start over.

It had been a wild thought, but here the Shrouds were, proposing an entire reset of the world.

Leona's mind raced as he contemplated the consequences of such an ordeal. Indeed, he had always dreamed of a world where everyone had an equal chance to succeed, where people were not judged based on their social status, birth order, or magical ability. A world where he was no longer burdened by the expectations of his family, where he was free to be who he truly was, a world where everyone was given a fair chance to succeed, and where no one was left behind.

And yet, without realising it, the thought of starting over in a new world had left his mind ever since you came into his life. You were everything he had ever wished for but never deserved in a partner—kind, caring, and endlessly supportive, always by his side despite his crude demeanour and harsh words. You showed him that there was meaning to living, opening his eyes to the people around him. He had friends who cared about him, incredible talent that could bring great changes, and most importantly, you, his dearest herbivore who shone like a beacon in the shadowed depths of his heart.

For the first time in his life, he felt truly content with what he had, despite all the flaws and problems that persisted.

He had never cared about resetting the world and losing everything he had to start anew. But it was a different story now.

What would happen to the people he cared about in this new world? What if he never met you? What if everything he had ever known and loved was erased? And what of the memories that he made at NRC with you, with Savanaclaw, and everyone else?

Leona's thoughts drifted to his memories of you, your fierce eyes staring directly into his, determined to befriend him; the quiet evenings you had spent together under the starry sky sharing stories and enjoying each other's company; the way you would instinctively lean into him for comfort; the dazzling smile that graced your face when you spotted him in a crowd.

He made up his mind then.

He didn't want, no, he wouldn't risk losing you. Your presence had given him the joy he had never experienced, the hope for a better day tomorrow, and he wouldn't give that up for anything. He would continue to work towards a fairer world, but he would do so without resetting everything that he had come to cherish.

He had learned to appreciate the people in his life. He had found happiness, despite the unfairness of the world. He knew that he had found something precious in this unfair world—someone who cherished him wholeheartedly for whatever he may be.

No, he doesn't want to reset the world.

"I'll grant you one thing. The world totally sucks as it is. But I don't think your new one would be any more to my taste. So I'm going to stick with this one. It's less of a pain."