#how high we go in the ark

[literary-illuminati]

Starting How High We Go In The Dark and getting absolutely slapped in the face with the tonal jump from 'grounded, melancholic cli-fi about grief both normal and preemptive, climate anxiety and atlas complexes' to 'exaggerated apocalyptic social satire about a prison converted into an amusement park for sickly children's last day before they're euthanized'

[athenalvss]

NOAH'S ARK ( Jason Todd!)

Summary: For Jason, it's normal that his house is like Noah's Ark, he even loves some of the little animals his girlfriend brings.

pairing: Jason todd x animals lover! reader

a/n: I'm watching Young Justice and I really want to write things related to them, I have an idea for a Dick Masterpiece post

open request — Jason todd masterlist

Jason was already more than used to you coming home with any animal you found there, or bringing home animals from the vet where you worked, finding a stray cat, an injured pigeon or even a raccoon in the bathtub was nothing strange, and when he walked through the door the first thing he would hear from you was an justification.

"Don't ask, Jason. It was raining and he looked at me with those little eyes."

"I just hope you have that compassion for me when you get angry."

But Jason had his limits, although it was hard for him to say no, he had a black list of animals.

No roosters, once after a long night of patrol he had barely been able to close his eyes to sleep when he woke up to the loud crowing of the rooster at 5 a.m.

“Are you kidding me?” he growled, his face buried in the pillow.

You, standing in the doorway with a cup of coffee and the bird tucked under your arm like a baby, simply replied, “It was cold. Besides, it’s singing because it’s happy to be alive.”

Jason mumbled something about how he'd be happy if he could sleep, too, but didn't argue further. The next day, though, the rooster "miraculously" disappeared. You still swear Jason left it on the rooftop on purpose so it would fly away.

The second no come thanks to a goat you found tied up in a vacant lot and, for some reason, you thought it would be a good idea to bring it back to the apartment "just for one night."

She ended up eating his boots, a gun magazine, and urinating on the hallway rug.

“This thing is the devil” Jason said as the goat stared at him from the couch.

“Don’t call her that! Her name is Daisy.”

“Well, Daisy kicked me!”

“Just because you scared her with your presence!”

Despite everything, Jason has a soft spot. And that's dogs. Especially the big, old ones with sad eyes. They reminded him of a dog he once had. Once, you came home with a huge, dirty mastiff with a torn ear.

“I couldn’t leave him there, he was drooling like you do when you sleep.”

Jason became so attached to him that he ended up buying him a new collar and taking him out for walks with a face that said, "I have to," while talking to him as if he were a child:

“Come on, Bobby, don’t bite the mailman… again.”

Plus he likes the look of the dog, no one would go near you with that big dog by your side, that is until they realized Bobby has the personality of a dachshund.

Despite secretly caring for them, there were times when he truly hated them. They broke things, interrupted intimate moments, and constantly reminded them that they were no longer alone there.

One night, after a long day, Jason held you quietly while you were washing the dishes. It was one of those rare moments of calm: his arms around your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder, his raspy voice murmuring something like, “I could get used to this.”

You were about to turn around to kiss him when a high-pitched bark echoed from the hallway. "What's up with Bobby now?" you sighed.

Jason shrugged, still holding your waist. "Maybe he saw his reflection again."

Bobby burst into the kitchen as if he'd detected a national threat, skidding across the floor with his massive paws. He planted himself between the two of you with a soft growl, his head pushing between Jason's legs as if to separate you.

"Seriously, Bobby?" Jason looked at him in disbelief. "Are we doing this now, mate?"

The dog responded by sitting right between you, staring at you, and leaving a pair of Jason's socks with holes in them as an offering.

Sometimes your rescues would sneak in right in the middle of their missions. One night, Jason showed up covered in blood, his helmet tucked under his arm, his expression utterly exhausted, like every night, but he didn't come in alone this time.

“Is that… a cat?” you asked, looking at the backpack that was unzipping from the inside.

“He followed me. He kept meowing. He was giving me away where he was.”

“And you brought him home?”

Jason shrugged. “He has eyes just like yours, okay?”

They called him Ghost, because he was so stealthy. Although he did knock over a television once, so the nickname is still debated.

Even though Jason complains… he also spoils them. You've seen him carrying the three legged dog like a baby, or talking softly to some parrots playing in the kitchen. He'd never admit it, but he has secret names for all of them.

Although what he likes most is coming home knowing that there is someone waiting for him.

Sometimes he comes through the balcony window, silent as a shadow, and from there you can already see the scene: warm lights, a half-empty cup of tea on the table, and you, asleep on the sofa with a book on your chest and Bobby curled up next to you.

Other times you're awake, sitting on the carpet with a blanket over your shoulders, surrounded by creatures like an urban version of Snow White. As soon as they see him walk in, everyone reacts as if they've seen the Messiah.

As soon as they see him cross the window frame, the invasion begins: the dogs jump happily, the parrot screams his name, and you wake up with a smile that he feels is more his than anything else in the world.

"Hey, you're back," you whisper as you walk over to hug him.

Jason grunts something unintelligible, drops his helmet, and holds you close as if he could become one with you. In your arms, surrounded by animals he now considers family, he feels something he never had.

Peace.

"I'm home," he mumbles, more to himself than to you.

And in that moment, Jason remembers why he always comes back.

[sonadowwiki]

The Intimate Relationship Between Sonic and Shadow

In the ending scene for Sonic Adventure 2 in Japanese, Sonic sadly says on his own as he looks out to Earth from the ARK: "疲れた... きゅうきょくせいめいたいか?" Which translates to: "Worn-out... Ultimate Lifeform?"

疲れた = Worn-out

きゅうきょく = Ultimate

せいめいたい = Lifeform

Though there are no subtitles for this scene, if you listen closely, you can hear Sonic say: "tsukareta," which means worn-out like you're exhausted. Sonic asks this sadly to himself as he looks down before he is interrupted. After brushing his sorrow aside so that it's not seen by others, before Sonic leaves the ARK, he says: "Adiós, Shadow the Hedgehog..." which means good-bye in Spanish.

This scene doesn't get translated correctly in English and the true meaning of this scene was lost in translation.

If we think back to previous scenes in the game, when Sonic was shot out of the ARK in a capsule, he was able to use a fake Chaos Emerald to Chaos Control into the ARK before it exploded. How Sonic got back into the ARK after defeating the BioLizard could have been the same or he flew back with what little energy he had left. Before Sonic told Shadow about how he used a fake Emerald to Chaos Control out of the capsule, Shadow watched as the capsule exploded and said to himself that it ended up that Sonic was an ordinary hedgehog after all due to thinking he died in the explosion. After seeing Sonic again and he was told how he escaped the explosion, it surprised and intrigued Shadow.

This scene can be seen as a parallel to not only when Shadow was also shot out of a capsule by Maria, but also the ending credits when Sonic looked out of the ARK while he waited to see if Shadow would also do the same as him and Chaos Control into the ARK after the battle. Once he saw that he wasn't going to appear, Sonic became extremely saddened and realized that Shadow was too tired to Chaos Control back and make a surprise appearance. But even if Sonic knew that Shadow might have not made it beforehand when giving his limiter to Rouge, he still hung onto a small sliver of hope that he would make a surprising comeback like he did.

With this knowledge, the ending lines saying for heroes to rest easy makes more sense since Sonic states that Shadow was too tired/worn-out. An image of Shadow even appears after the phrase to show that the words were for Shadow.

Another scene to take into account is the time they both turned Super. When they turned Super, it can be assumed that the Chaos Emeralds connected the two in a way that can only be seen with one's heart. This can be assumed because it was only after they turned Super together that the two became extremely concerned for one another (in the battle with the Final Hazard), fought as one, were in sync, looked out for each other, saw each other in high regard, and believed/trusted in one another with all their heart. Perhaps at that moment they turned Super, their hearts were connected and they both saw each other as equals and for who they are inside. It's possible that their hearts were so connected that when Shadow heard Maria's voice while they were Super, Sonic could have heard her too through Shadow. This can be assumed due to the slight turn of Sonic's head as if he's listening and how he waited until she was done talking to tell Shadow that now was the moment to use Chaos Control together.

At that moment when Shadow decided to help, perhaps the Chaos Emeralds helped Sonic understand who and what type of person Shadow was because even if he was manipulated to destroy the world at first, Shadow was willing to sacrifice himself to save the very people he thought deserved to suffer. And with that, Sonic gained a newfound respect and care for Shadow since he saw what a pure and good person he was deep down. This was the case so much so that the Emeralds responded in kind with their miracles and accepted in making Shadow Super as well.

Another thing to take into account is how after this game, it makes more sense as to why Sonic constantly looks for Shadow or tries to get his attention. Because Sonic saw Shadow seemingly die once despite seeing how capable and strong he is by being an equal to him in Sonic Adventure 2, he looks out for Shadow to make sure that it doesn't happen again like it was mentioned in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story.

"Only the [moon] overlooking the bustling city seemed to be watching over that shadow forever and ever."

This can also explain why the two constantly rival each other at times since Sonic could be checking on Shadow's well-being, just like Shadow watches over Sonic's (Sonic Colors DS, Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story).

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Mission 1]

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Completing Mission 1]

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow worried for Sonic's well-being after completing the mission]

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Mission 2]

[Sonic Forces - Shadow Protects Sonic at Sunset Heights]

[Sonic Forces Episode Shadow - Shadow concerned for Sonic's safety]

[Team Sonic Racing - Shadow saw that Sonic was capable after racing him, so he says that he can join him in defeating Eggman]

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story - Shadow tests Sonic but also tries to get him away from joining him in his mission]

[Sonic doesn't listen or adhere to Shadow's wishes and goes to find what Shadow could be doing in order to help him]

[Both work together in sync to neutralize the bomb threat]

It has been stated and shown that Sonic and Shadow are the ones who understand each other the most. Though the both of them understand each other the most since their fight together as Supers in Sonic Adventure 2 and understand that they're capable, they both still look out for each other because of that understanding and care for one another. Perhaps it is due to the event of when they turned Super together, that they share an intimate relationship with each other as stated in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story. And from that event, also gained understanding, respect and care that formed from the events; from the Chaos Emeralds' miracle. At that moment, the Chaos Emeralds responded to Sonic and Shadow's wishes, which proves that both their thoughts, hopes and wishes were the same. Therefore, it is then that Sonic and Shadow knew for sure, that the other was like himself and that they both shared the same vision and beliefs. The Emeralds created a miracle and it is through that miracle their relationship was formed; their relationship is a miracle.

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story - Bottom Description]

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story]

[Explanation of the phrase "懐に入って来られる稀有（けう）な関係" used in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story Description that states their relationship is intimate]

After Shadow defeated the BioLizard with Sonic, in Japanese, Shadow asks if "this is enough" before falling to Earth and giving up/deciding to rest. Because Shadow ended up giving up and did not return to the ARK, along with Sonic being able to use a fake Chaos Emerald to do Chaos Control, perhaps that's why Shadow always thinks that he is below in capability to Sonic who never gives up and is capable of doing more than him, despite also knowing that they are equal in strength and speed.

Perhaps what Shadow finds himself inferior with is from thinking that he is not as good of a person as Sonic since he has made mistakes or didn't have the same drive as him. Therefore, perhaps that is why Shadow always tries to test to see if Sonic is up to par or is strong enough to take care of himself so that he stays safe and continues being alive as that good person. This also explains why Shadow was so concerned for Sonic in Sonic Forces when Infinite was going to go hurt Sonic. If Shadow couldn't take Infinite on despite being Sonic's equal and knowing that, that's why Shadow got concerned for Sonic's safety. It can be assumed that perhaps one of Shadow's missions in life is keeping Sonic safe or alive since he is a good person and someone he cares about deep down.

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story]

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow implies that he leaves it to Sonic since he believes that Sonic can do better, even if they are of equal strength and speed]

But despite always checking up on one another, they don't only test each other's strengths when meeting each other. Sometimes, they seem to also play, like in Team Sonic Racing. This can be implied since Shadow said to Sonic that he didn't have time to play with him/entertain him/have the spare time/to be concerned for his well-being at the time due to having an important mission to uphold with Emerl. But perhaps even when they play, they still test each other's strengths in a certain manner, like with their driving skills in Team Sonic Racing.

[Sonic Battle - English]

[Team Sonic Racing - Sonic went to talk to Shadow and when asked about him, he laughs a little as he implies that he got Shadow to play with him through racing (which was on his top priority to think of since he mentioned that before what he learned about Eggman)]

[Team Sonic Racing]

There are times that Shadow tries to steer Sonic into the right direction of defeating the main threat, but he still in a way, gives Sonic a choice and Sonic readily accepts like in Sonic Colors DS when he tells Sonic to go fight Eggman and in Team Sonic Racing when he reminds Sonic about the main objective in defeating Eggman. Sonic also does this for Shadow, such as in Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 where Sonic tries to steer Shadow onto the path of good when he lost his memories. Even at the end, Sonic was willing to protect Shadow and the world by asking for the Chaos Emeralds from Shadow, though Shadow ended up being able to defeat Black Doom on his own despite not remembering everything.

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow reminds Sonic to take care of Eggman]

[Team Sonic Racing - Shadow reminds Sonic about the threat of Eggman, even if he wants to play]

The both of them make up a whole like two sides of the same coin. Sonic and Shadow know this, but it is Shadow who is not ready to close that gap between them since he still sees himself as inferior to Sonic. But even so, Sonic continues to watch over Shadow, talk to him and wait for him until Shadow also accepts that he is the same as himself, that they're equal and that they can be on the same level/stage together as one. This is also why Sonic hints to Shadow that he is already his equal and is also a good person too in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story. So when Shadow still tries to shy away or run away from being unable to accept that, Sonic gets disappointed, but he still continues to wait for him, watch over him and help him come to accept that he doesn't have to think of himself as an inferior to himself.

[drowning-in-your-moonlight]

I'm not too sure how many diabetics we got in Fandom, but I can't stop thinking about Shadow being similar to those diabetic alert dogs.

Shadow's whole thing was being a cure for Maria, but we know that he was also her emotional support and physical support around the ARK, so the idea's been stuck in my head of him being really supportive/helpful of your disability. I just have T1D so that's the focus here ^_^

Shadow sensing your blood sugar dropping or going too high before even you do, and pushing you to check your blood sugar for yourself. Or grabbing you a snack—a juice, if needed. He's pretty attached at your hip, and might often wake you in the middle of the night to let you know you need more insulin.

But also Shadow being a caring, attentive partner. You don't feel like refilling your pump because it's too early in the morning? He'll do it for you and he will be gentle as possible when laying on a new injection site. He always helps you replace your sensors, especially if you use the one that's supposed to go only on the back of your arm. Keeps you on a schedule, etc etc.. he's happy to fulfill this type of role again, I think.

[misscherry-26]

I saw you were taking requests for Bellamy Blake and I haddd to send one in!! Could you please write a lil spice fic, where they’re in the woods and get in a fight or sum n he js suddenly kissss her. Thank you twin!!

Unspoken Feelings

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x Reader

Author's Note: Hi!!! Thank you so much for this!! My first request for Bellamy Blake. Oh the things I felt while working on this...👀 By the way I had to make a few changes, this is my most polished draft, haha. I'm so excited to share it, though I don't know how good I did with the spicy. I hope you like it!! Thank you for requesting. ❤️

There could be grammar mistakes, English isn't my first language.

He really thinks he’s the leader, the king of the earth. Self-centered egoist of a man. He can go fuck himself. You think as you walk through the woods in search of the plant that Clarke needs for Finn, who was attached by the grounder that kidnapped Octavia.

They managed to get him

to the ship, but now he was struggling for his life. The problem was that the knife he was

stabbed with was infected. Bellamy and his group got the grounder and tortured him to get information. Of course he refused to give it, that until Octavia threatened him to harm herself with the poisoned knife. Finn would live, but Clark needed more medicinal plants for him.

But of course, Bellamy Blake had to give his ultimatum that no one would leave the camp, no

after realizing that you aren’t the only survivors of earth. He could care less about saving people, but you for sure didn’t. You don’t know Finn completely but, he deserves to live.

Since the ship landed on Earth, You and Bellamy have been at each other’s throat every single

moment. It’s like you are locked in a never-ending battle, a constant clash of wills. Every decision he makes seems to deliberately oppose yours, every step he takes is a challenge to your very presence. He thrives in the chaos, you can see it in the way he strides trough camp, shoulders squared, head held high, daring anyone to question him. His motto—whatever the hell we want—rings in your ears like a taunt, a reckless mantra you can’t ignore. He embodies

it with every decision, with every command he gives without caring for the consequences.

When he encouraged the others to rip off their bracelets, you felt the sting of frustration

burning through your veins. To him it was a bold declaration of independence from the Ark, but to you, it was a hasty move to those above thinking Earth wasn’t livable.

And then, there was the Grounder. The way he’d dragged the man into camp, beaten and

bloodied, as if his very existence was a crime that needed punishing. You left the room when he ordered the torture, convinced that brute force was the only answer. The look in his eyes

then—cold, calculating, determined—was a look that left a bitter taste in your mouth.

He’s always there, hiding on the edges of your vision, challenging you. It’s infuriating, the way

he dismisses anything resembling compromise or collaboration as weakness, how he scoffs at your attempts to hold onto something resembling order or morality.

Yet, there’s something in his attitude —something in the way he glances at you, a flicker of underdetermination, a tension that thrums between you like a wire. It’s in the way he

steps closer when you argue, his body taut, like he’s gearing up for a fight he both craves and dreads. You feel it too—the tightness in your chest, the burn of frustration that’s more than just anger, something deeper, more complicated. You don’t know whether you want to scream at him or—

But no, you won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he gets under your skin.

You take a look at the sky losing its light with each minute that it passes.

Taking a deep breath, you continue.

After what feels like hours of searching, you finally spot the familiar shape of the plant you’re

looking for. You remember the details Clark gave you. Crouching down you carefully pull a

small bag from your pocket. You work quickly, plucking the plants and stuffing them into the

bag, your movements precise and purposeful.

But then—a sudden rustling, a low whisper of movement through the leaves nearby. Your

heart stutters, and your breath catches in your throat.

Instinct takes over. You drop low,

pressing yourself against the cold ground, hiding behind the broad leaves of the plant. Grounders, maybe.

They could be watching, waiting.

You squeeze your eyes shut for a moment, listening for the sound of footsteps, for the snap of a twig or the rustle of leaves that would betray their presence. But instead, you hear a low chuckle—soft, mocking, and far too familiar.

Your eyes snap open, and you whip around, breath catching in your chest.

There, arms on his waist, is Bellamy. His eyes, dark and sharp, are fixed on you like a predator who has found his prey. His brows are drawn together, the muscles in his neck tense, and there's a fire in his

gaze that blazes hotter than any annoyance you've seen before.

“I see you like to test my patience, Princess.” His deep voice cuts through the silence, pulling

your gaze upward. He's standing right in front of you.

You get up immediately, your breathing and muscles relaxing at the notice that you are not in

danger.

“What are you doing here?” You ignore his previous comment, turning around and continuing on getting more plants.

“I remember telling everyone to not leave camp, and that includes you too, you know? There’s no special treatment here.” You hear him from behind.

“I wasn’t going to sit around. Clark needs this for Finn.”

“He’s stable enough; we don’t need anyone else getting hurt over this.” Bellamy insists, his

tone sharp.

You clench your teeth and turn. “Look, I couldn’t care less what you think. I don’t go by your

rules.”

Bellamy scoffs and grabs your arm. You let go of his grasp as soon as he starts walking.

“Don’t touch me!”

Bellamy watches you, wondering why you are being stubborn right now. Hell, he even wonders why he came here for the first place. Was he worried about you? Why did he come here? He questions himself. Bellamy’s mind races, battling with the tangled web of his feelings. He’s been fighting to keep everyone safe, to enforce rules that seem cold but necessary, and yet, here he is, breaking his own rule because of you.

Truth is, you have been nothing but a burden to him every single day since they put a foot on earth. Your defiance, your refusal to follow orders, your reckless bravery—all of it has been a

thorn in his side. Every day, you challenged his authority and decisions, and yet, despite all the friction, despite the constant arguments and the resentment, there’s something about you that pulls at him.

He can’t quite distinguish it, but it’s there—a magnetic pull that makes him question his own

motives and feelings. It’s in the way you stand up for what you believe in, even when it puts you at risk. It’s in the fire and determination in your eyes, something that resonates with him

on a deeper level than he’s willing to admit.

The frustration he feels is braided with an

unspoken admiration, a bittering respect that complicates his emotions even further.

Bellamy is torn between his duty and the sudden impulses of something else—something he can’t easily define or control. It’s a vulnerability he hasn’t allowed himself to explore, and it confuses him.

All he knows is that despite the danger and the defiance, he can’t seem to turn his back on you. His frustration is laced with a deeper, more complex emotion that makes him question why he’s so determined to keep you safe.

He thought you would be this scared of everyone and everything type of girl, but you prove

him all the opposite.

“Let’s go back—”

“I won’t.” You cut him off, not giving him a chance to say anything. You turn again and continue with your job.

Of course, you hoped that he would go and leave you alone. You hoped.

Next thing you know, your feet aren’t touching the ground and you are being lifted up by him. A few leaves escape your grasp, so you make sure to close the bag.

“Let me go!” You protest.

“Stop screaming, you are putting us in danger” He doesn’t listen to your request, instead he walks back to camp.

You scoff, moving frantically. “If you cared so much about safety, you wouldn’t be carrying me

off like I’m just another pack to you!”

Bellamy's jaw clenches, and he stops abruptly, eyes scanning the surrounding woods.

“You’re

the one making noise,” he retorts, setting you down but not releasing his grip entirely. “Keep

quiet or—”

You hear it then—a rustling of leaves, far too close, far too deliberate. Your breath catches in your throat. It’s not just the wind. Bellamy stiffens beside you, his grip on your arm tightening reflexively.

For a split second, your eyes meet, and you both know: the Grounders.

“Run,” he whispers, urgency dripping from the word.

But there’s no time to argue. You both take off, feet pounding against the damp earth, adrenaline coursing through your veins. The sounds behind you grow closer—footsteps, which makes your heart race even faster.

Up ahead, you spot a dark opening—a cave, half-hidden by foliage. You yank Bellamy toward it

without thinking, and for once, he doesn’t resist. Both dive inside, pressing against the cold

rock. The cave is narrow, suffocating, but it’s cover.

Outside, you hear the murmurs and footsteps of the Grounders drawing near. You hold your breath, every muscle tense. Bellamy’s hand is still around your wrist, and you can feel his pulse racing just as fast as yours.

“We’re not going anywhere until it clears. We need to stay inside.” he mutters, barely audible.

Bellamy presses a hand against the small of your back, steering you deeper into the cave, his touch firm, almost commanding. You feel the heat of his palm through your shirt, and it sends a

jolt of anger through you.

“Get your hand off me.” You snap, jerking away from his touch. But the cave is too narrow, and he doesn't give you much space to maneuver.

His jaw tightens, and he steps even closer, his eyes dark and unreadable. “I’m trying to keep you from getting killed.”

You dig your heels in, resisting just to spite him. “I don’t need you to save my life, Bellamy.”

He laughs, but there’s no humor in it—just a sharp, bitter edge. “You think I want to be stuck here with you? Trust me, Princess, this is the last place I want to be.”

You whirl around, stepping closer, your chest brushing against his, both of you too angry to care. “Then why are you here?” you fire back, your voice louder than you intended. “Why do you always have to control everything? Who made you the boss of me?"

His hand, still on your back, clenches into a fist, pulling you closer instead of pushing you away.

“Maybe because I’m trying to keep you alive!” he spits out, his face inches from yours, his breath hot. “You are always doing this—taking risks, getting in my way. Do you have a death wish?”

Your heart pounds in your chest, anger flaring into something more intense. “No, but maybe you do,” you whisper fiercely. “Coming out here, risking your life for someone you supposedly

can’t stand. What is it, Bellamy? Why do you even care?”

He grits his teeth, and you see something flicker in his eyes—a momentary crack in his armor. “I don’t!” he snaps, but his voice lacks conviction, faltering on the last word.

“Liar,” you accuse, stepping even closer, your forehead nearly touching his. “If you didn’t care,

you’d have let me go. You wouldn’t have come after me, wouldn’t have—”

His grip tightens on your arm, and his other hand moves to your waist, his fingers digging in

just enough to make you gasp. “You think you know everything, don’t you?” His voice is low, almost a growl. “You think you’ve got me all figured out?”

You tilt your chin defiantly, eyes blazing. “Why don’t you just admit it? All this, you’re not really

angry. You’re scared. Scared of what might happen if you lose control. Scared of what it means

if something happens to m—"

But he doesn’t let you finish. In the blink of an eye, he’s on you, lips crashing against yours with a force that takes your breath away. The kiss is rough, almost bruising, a mixture of frustration

and something deeper—something desperate. You freeze for a moment, caught off guard, before the shock melts into anger again, and you shove against his chest.

He doesn’t pull back. Instead, he presses you harder against the cold, cave wall, his body flush against yours. His hands move up, one sliding to cup the back of your neck, holding you in place while his mouth claims yours with a furious intensity, like he’s trying to silence every word, every

protest.

Your heart is racing, your thoughts a tangled mess. You should push him away again, should

shove him back and yell in his face, but instead, you find yourself kissing him back just as fiercely, your hands fisting in his shirt. It’s like all the anger, all the arguments have boiled over

into this—this raw, heated clash of mouths and tongues.

When you finally pull apart, both of you are panting, breaths coming fast, and his forehead

rests against yours, his eyes still dark with emotion.

“Why do you care?” you whisper again, but this time your voice is softer, less certain.

His thumb brushes your cheek, and his gaze is intense, almost searching. “I don’t know,” he mutters, but there’s something vulnerable in his tone, something that makes your heart ache even as your anger simmers beneath the surface.

“Maybe I’m frustrated…so damn frustrated

because—” He hesitates, a half-smile tugging at his lips. “—because you’ve got a way of getting under my skin, and it’s driving me crazy. But yeah, there it is. I’m worried. Happy?”

His lips are so close you can feel his breath on your skin, and for a moment, it’s like the whole world has narrowed to just the two of you, trapped together in this cave, trapped by something

you can’t name.

"Bell..." you start, but he silences you again, this time with a softer kiss, one that seems to ask for something instead of demand it.

His hands slips down to the curve of your waist pulling you even closer, and you feel a shiver run down your spine, heat pounding low in your belly.

Your hands find their way to his hair, fingers locking on his dark strands. The kids deepens, growing more urgent, desperate, as if both of you are trying to pour all this unspoken feelings into a single, shared breath.

And you know that whatever this is, you are not ready to stop it. Not yet.

[ireadyabooks]

Books That Make You Feel Less Alone 💚

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, our community at I read YA has compiled some of our favorite books from this year that make us feel less alone. This list includes important and moving novels that speak honestly and powerfully about mental health. We recognize that sometimes all it takes is just a few words to make us feel like we are not alone, so we encourage you to spend some extra time with these special reads this month. 

What are some books that make you feel less alone? 💚

One Last Chance to Live by Francisco X. Stork

What would you do if you had one last chance to live?

Nico has always believed in his dreams. Especially the dream he has of becoming a writer; it's the reason why he started taking a creative writing class his senior year of high school. But then Nico has a dream about his own funeral. A dream that feels too real to ignore.

In it, Rosario is beckoning to him. Rosario was Nico's neighbor, his best friend's girlfriend, and his inspiration. She was also the girl that Nico was in love with. And Rosario died last year.

Nico becomes obsessed with figuring out what Rosario was trying to say to him, and how she died. Surely if he can make sense of her death, he can find a way to prevent his own?

But at the same time, Nico's mom is sick, and his brother is falling down a bad path with a local gang. Nico knows it's on him to step up and take care of his family -- but how can he keep it together when, like Rosario, he sees how easy it might be to just let go of it all.

Start reading One Last Chance to Live now!

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

For Angel Rahimi life is about one thing: The Ark -- a boy band that's taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark's fandom has given her everything she loves -- her friend Juliet, her dreams, her place in the world. Her Muslim family doesn't understand the band's allure -- but Angel feels there are things about her they'll never understand.

Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark. He's their frontman -- and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing, even if it only amplifies his anxiety. The fans are very accepting that he's trans -- but they also keep shipping him with his longtime friend and bandmate, Rowan. But Jimmy and Rowan are just friends -- and Rowan has a secret girlfriend the fans can never know about. Dreams don't always turn out the way you think and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together, they find out how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.

Start reading I Was Born for This now! 

Rainbow! Volume 1 by Sunny & Gloomy

Teenager Boo Meadows has pink hair and a very vivid imagination -- she has trouble separating from the real world. In her daydreams, she dances beautifully at balls or fights monsters as a magical girl. In reality, she has a complicated home life, work stress, school stress, and a wicked crush on the girl of her dreams. When a new student, Mimi, arrives at school, Boo starts exploring a side of herself that she never considered before. As she grows closer with Mimi, it may finally be time for Boo to face reality . . . Who is the real Mimi? The one in her dreams? Or the one in real life?

Start reading Rainbow! Volume 1 now!

Rainbow! Volume 2 by Sunny & Gloomy

Teenager Boo Meadows's story continues in this second volume! With pink hair and a very vivid imagination, Boo has trouble separating from the real world. In her daydreams, she dances beautifully at balls or fights monsters as a magical girl. In reality, she has a complicated home life, work stress, school stress, and a wicked crush on the girl of her dreams.

After life became too toxic to endure, Boo has moved out of her alcoholic mother's house. Can Boo and Mimi stick together? And is dealing with Mimi's unapproving mother any better than Boo's mom?

Start reading Rainbow! Volume 2 now! 

Your Final Moments by Jay Coles

Hakeem goes to Narcotics Anonymous meetings to keep his addictions in check. But when his best friend Miles kills himself, Hakeem finds the days harder and harder to get through. He loved Miles -- maybe even loved loved him -- and he's haunted by the fact that there might have been something he could have done to ease his friend's pain. He meets a girl named Eliza in his NA meetings, and she is there for him when something truly out-there happens... Hakeem calls Miles's old phone number. And Miles not only calls back from beyond the grave, but has news to share: He didn’t kill himself. He was murdered.

Finding out the truth about Miles might end up helping Hakeem find his way to his own truth... and further strength to stay alive himself. But as his relationship with Eliza grows, other cracks begin to show... and holding his world together may be even harder than he thought it would be.

Pre-order Your Final Moments now!

[tinydefector]

Rut Cycle- Jazz

Jazz x human

Word count: 2k

Masterlist

Rut cycle masterlist

Jazz masterlist

Warnings: Smut, Size difference, Alpha/Omega hinted, Heat/Ruts, creampie, Oral

Other info: I've got a vote going for who you guys want next but this is a full on Gen 1 ones hot series I'm making.

__________________

The whole autobot base is on high alert due to everyone's rut cycle hitting. The multiple meeting between the Autobots and Decepticons over a ceasefire truce for Rut cycles. Jazz's Engine lets out a churn of noises as he leans back against his berth, he had decided it was for the best he retire after the meetings, it meant he was less likely to have problems with the scent of the human allies that also roamed the Ark, most of the humans had been asked to go home for the next week and a bit but a few still hung around. 

The soft sound of knocking breaks Jazz out of his thoughts as he moves towards the door to see who it is. Jazz’s visor flickers as he sees his favourite little human standing at his doorstep with a cube of energon on a cart for him. They smile as they look up at him. “Boss bot said you'd be back here, thought I'd drop you off a cube and come hang out if you're up for it” they state while pushing it into his room. 

 Primus they weren't helping the situation despite how much they tried to assist the bots, how close they came To nearly being snatched up by starscream in their meeting early, he knew it was just the rut and how sweet their scent was to the bots but even he was getting close to his limits with how much he could handle before he eventually succumb to the old coding. 

He cycled a deep ventilation, savouring the sweet crystal high grade smell wafting from their form. It makes his sensors ache and his engine whine in need. “ thanks Lil’ Bit. Yer always lookin’ out fer us bots.” He hums as he leans down to grab the Energon Cube. Primus, they stirred circuitry like nothing ever had. 

“Reckon ya better skedaddle now, ‘fore things get outta hand round here. We’ll be right as rain once this wave passes... but it ain’t no place fer a little sweet thing like yerself,  while tension are High with the Cons.” Most of the Bots hadn't Told the humans the reason as to why they had been asked to leave, many believed it was because of the Decepticons, and the Autobots not wanting any harm to come to them, in truth that was only part of the reason, the other part was how their scent made the cybertronians Rut worse and many of them weren't willing to risk hurting any of their allies Due to it. Didn’t stop Jazz from wishing, though, just for a taste, but he knew it wouldn't stop at just a taste.

Slight worry crosses their face as they look up at Jazz.  "Robo flu?, you didn't get that static bug again, or that little critter the Cons made which caused so much issue in the base last time" They teasingly inquire as they press a hand to his plating as if to check him for a fever out of habit. 

a ragged vent of air leaves him at their touch, joints locking to steel against surging charge and wanting to grab them. Plating heated beneath their hand. His visor lit with barely-restrained longing as azure optics peered down at their concerned face. "Ain't no bug, cher," he lamented softly. "Jus' a bit of a... condition we bots get sometimes. Nuthin' t' worry yer pretty headplate 'bout." 

Gentle digits itched to trace the curve of their cheek, taste their skin against glossa sensors gone mad with need. But he'd offlined his hardsuit protocols, locking down his traitorous system until after they left the room. His frame grew hotter with each passing breem. 

"Ya best skedaddle now, sweetspark." His field pulsed bittersweet promise of a raincheck, "And leave you by your lonesome while Prowl's even more foul?, could keep you company and get you energon when you need it, plus don't need you having a short circuit while i'm gone, cant have my favourite DJ sick can i?" The sweet scent on their skin has Jazz nearly drooling as they offer to stay with him and keep him company. 

Jazz cycled a shuddering vent engine whining loudly in need, grip creaking upon his half-empty cube as lithe form crossed their arms as they moved to make themself comfortable on his berth that was now piled with Blankets, tarps, polish clothes. 

His systems flashing warning as the magnetic field begged surrender to baser instincts, he desperately wanted to interface or at least let off some steam before he lost his mind and control. "Gonna hafta refuse that favour, li'l sweet. Y'got no idea ... th' things ya do t'me right now." His digits flexed, aching to caress them, claim. He walks to the other side of the room as if an injured animal that's cornered.  

Optics linger over their temptin' outline, memorising every curve as if famine-struck. "Please, lil' spark. F'r both our sakes." His Field pulsed apologetically for cutting their visit short, but he couldn't risk them. They stand up on the berth as he walks around in circles. 

Worry lingers on their face as they try to calm him down. “Jazzie talk to me, you're walking around like a cornered animal and you're worrying me” they state as he stops in front of them, his frame stiff as he holds off one last attempt to let them leave before he does something he would regret. Jazz nearly purrs as they cup his face looking up at his visor. Their hands feel divine against his faceplate. 

 The last shred of Jazz's ironclad control sheared away as they ran their fingers across his faceplate holding his face as they stared into his optics as sparked couples would. Tender servo curls around their waist as he uses a digit to lift their chin as a rumble resonated from his cracked spark.  "So sweet t'care... but ya jus' don' understand, li'l sweetspark." Trembling digits traced the fragile line of their face, unable to withstand their pull any longer. 

A deep, subsonic field pulsed from his frame. “I think I've got enough of an idea” they state while pressing their lips to his. A thundering roar leaves his engine as he grabs hold of them pulling them up against his frame as his lips desperately move against theirs. Tasting the sweet yet sinful flavour that is their skin. 

 He cycled his systems,warnings flashing critical. but Primus, how he ached to finally seize what haunted his every fantasised line of code...They whined loudly against his lips, his name muttered between breaths.

All of Jazz's fraying restraint snapped like cheap cabling. A strangled keen tore from his vocalizer as delicate grip yanked them flush against Plating as he eagerly pressed them down against the berth. 

He seized their jaw in a trembling servo, glossa delving past yielding lips with a starved groan. They taste like ecstasy and Rust sticks. Another rumble left deep from his frame. 

His other servo scoured down their back in rapture, digits aching to rip through their clothing and discard it across the floor. "Cher..." he gasped against their mouth. Name spilled like prayer as his interface panel snapped open his spike snaking out, straining against their covered form. 

Whimpered moans leave them as his servos grip thier clothing, dragging it off their body as he throws it across the room, glossa tracing down their form as he eagerly laps against their skin. 

At their little nosies Jazz’s Optics flared, visor blazing, Trembling servos gentled spead their thighs, pressing gentle kisses along them before he bites down and sucks a mark into the skin. “H-hold on t’ me, li’l one,” he rasped out as his glossa traces along their sex “Jus’ hang on tight. Lemme take care’a ya...” 

Slowly, with far more grace than rationality warranted, Jazz began to rock his Glossa against their pulsing warmth with aching care. A loud groan and engine roar leaves him at the taste of them. His optics drank in every flicker of pleasure stealing across their face as the arch and rock against him.

 His spike aches and leaks against the bedding as he slowly works his little human open with his glossa, preping and readying them.  

Jazz burrowed his faceplate between their quivering legs, purrs interlacing pleasured moans dragging from his vocals. His servo curled beneath their legs, hitching them higher. "Primus, babydoll.. so perfect..." He gasped prayers and profanities, they arch and grip his helm as his glossa continues to drive into them. Their gasping cries, have his engine roaring louder.

He pulls away for a moment as he flips them lifting their hips up as he grinds his needy spike against their back, a guttural moan leaves him before he snarls, gripping their waist firmly. Jazz shuddered out a keening groan as he slowly presses his spike into them, stretching them to accommodate his size. 

so tight - so hot and sweet he feared offlining upon first plunge into their sweet little form, their scent driving him wild as his field lets out pulse of energy.  

He curled his servos around their fragile hips, grinding slowly into them, helm tilted back as he clenchs his denta from how tight of a fit it is. "Frag, yes!" he bellowed, slowly picking up pace as he drives into them. Their hands grip onto the blankets as needy moans and cries fall from their lips each time Jazz thrust back into them, grinding his spike into their Smaller form. 

" So beautiful, so perfect...mmm, my Lil mate..." He gasped brokenly, intake clenching.

His thrusts turned feral, spike swelling. He dragged their joined frames up. Holding them to his frame as he goes into frenzy, slamming brutally home again and again.

"Mine," Jazz snarled ferally. "Gonna overload ya so fraggin' good, li'l cher..."

Another savage buck of his hips sent them keening, body pulsing and bucking as they cry out from pleasure. “Jazz oh God!, Jazz!” They claw at his plating desperately trying to grab hold of his arm as he drives into them as feral snarls leave him. A guttural groan echoed from Jazz's intake as their clamp and fluttered wildly around his spike, 

"Frag, li'l bit-, that it, mmm so good" he moans, His spike throbbed mercilessly within their small channel, Another ragged groan was wrenched from depths of his frame as their orgasm hits, his name falling from their lips as if it were a prayer.

He tenses, another guttural moan leaves him and he presses them back down onto the berth, frantically griding into thier tight body. spike pulsing frantically. With a static-laced keen, Jazz finally tumbled over the edge, filling their much smaller body to the brim with bright pink transfluid. Jazz threw back his head with a roar as their tiny frame rolled back to meet each piston in desperation as he pumps more and more into their needy hole. "Frag, yes sweetspark - take it, take m'transfluid, take it all!" 

He rolled deftly within, overload ripped through wiring in a cascade. Transfluid spurted from them as it rolls down their  thighs onto the berth as Jazz holds them close, smaller whines leavign his intake as he grinds into their shuttering body.  

With one finally thust he settles, fan systems on full blast as his frame desperately tries to cool down as he rolls to his side, cradling their body against his, holding them close, his other servo piles the blankets around their exhausted body as he keeps them plugged with his spike. Little whimpered whines leave them as he leans his helm down to press a gentle kiss to their forhead. His systems are slow to reboot, but one thing was for certain,  he wasn't finished with them and he would be damned to the pits if he let them leave his berth until after everyone's rut had subsided. “don't move Babydoll, ain't done with ya yet” he mumbles voice still static laced as his optics shutter behind his visor. 

___________

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[littlestpersimmon]

I really just want to fucking vomit when I see other Jews denounce us and curse our names to be forgotten, knowing that this kind of insult is reserved for literal nazis- just because we have, principles.

Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba b’alma di-v’ra chir’utei.

I don't know, I feel like I am going insane, living my life under the fascist duterte regime, I know my own kind can be depraved, cruel and brutal. I also have lived my life as someone who was more "jew-ish" rather than "actual jew", and I've been excluded and denied for my appearance and upbringing. I know Israel banned Yiddish and Yiddish literature but when put in scrutiny then suddenly the shoah is brought up multiple times. I've known Israel to treat white converts so much better than they treat Ethiopian Jews and other Jews of color, but when a white convert was kiIled, she was not allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Ultimately, apartheid relies on Jews knowing only one monolithic and artificial identity rather than the rich and diverse cultures we have in diaspora- Israel depends on Jews being afraid and clinging to it as indoctrinated cash cows to continue to remain beneficial to the global north, whom are funding their military.

I'm in tears thinking about how Israelis have told me I had no right to wear my magen David for having the audacity to fucking weep over the ark of bodies left before the world to see. How can so many call this bastardization judaism. How can so much of jewry turn up their noses over this. I've seen Israel do literally the same things that the duterte regime has done to fellow filipinos, I've seen both deny human rights and try to get any forces that work for human rights decommissioned, I've seen bodies pile up high because their families were too much in danger to claim them and give them proper burials, and I've seen both filipinos and israeli jews say "where is the proof that this brutality is happening" or "not nearly enough have died.", n the fact that people who have literally argued with holocaust deniers still have the audacity to say "hm! This sounds like a conspiracy! It must be fake!" When human rights watch themsleves have confirmed that idf forces left literal babies to melt into their mattresses, when the American government themselves bragged about sending exploding meat grinders to Israel, when random journalists keep having to find someone else from Gaza to be interviewed because the one they were supposed to talk with died from carpet bombing or whatever else. And so much more. Your own can do depraved and immoral things, and judaism says that you cannot stand for this cruelty. You must not!! Judaism is and will always be the antithesis of inaction!!

I know people from Egypt and people from Lebanon feel complicit just from not being able to do enough, how can so many Jews say nothing to a genocide literally being done in our names, by an ethnostate that ultimately will not care about us. Why HaShem, why is this happening!!

Y’hei sh’lama raba min sh’maya, v’hayim, aleinu v’al koi yisrael, v’imru amen.

[skimmingmilk]

Summary: When in the position to do Tails a small favor, Shadow finds himself immediately regretting it when Sonic shows up and goads him into what should have been a simple game of chess. But things are never simple when Sonic the Hedgehog is involved. Shadow should really know better at this point than to ever involve himself in the shenanigans of Sonic and Tails; they know all too well how exactly to get under his skin.

A/N: Since this is Shadow's big movie debut week, I wanted to post a little something in his honor! Congratulations, Shadow!

This was inspired by combining one of the answers from the most recent Sonic Twitter Takeover (for Sonic x Shadow Generations) with my own headcanon regarding Sonic, Tails, and chess :3

Please enjoy!

Fried Liver with a Side of Emotional Indigestion

Shadow didn't make a habit of stopping by any of Tails's workshops. In fact, he could confidently say—barring the times where Central City's had been used as the headquarters for the Resistance—he'd never once stepped inside. It might've been a mild jog from his apartment, but there was never a reason to go out of his way.

Except Tails had called him, asking for a favor. He wanted to study the design of Shadow's air shoes and get his feedback on a prototype he'd been developing for himself. Something more shock resistant to high falls with a quick recovery time that would lessen the fatigue on his tails.

"I haven't seen anything of a similar size that can utilize the power and intensity of five jets without overheating in a matter of minutes. And I'm curious to see how they manage their intake to avoid compressor stall in the turbocharger despite the rapid throttle changes when you move at high speeds. They're a mechanical wonder, as much as it pains me to say that about something the late Dr. Robotnik created… aside from you, of course! Obviously, heh…"

"The professor didn't design them."

"Oh?" Tails's voice cracked as it jumped up an octave, his surprise audible. 

"He oversaw their construction, but their initial conception was… someone else's."

"Of course. I should've known better than to assume. There were a lot of scientists aboard the ARK, weren't there? Distribution of assets amongst the team was likely instrumental for a quick turnaround," Tails chuckled to himself. "Well, whoever did design them was a true visionary! I'd love to pick their brain about any of their other ideas for improving aerospace technology—"

"That's impossible," Shadow interrupted.

"Right… sorry. I didn't mean—I just wanted to give them credit where credit's due." Tails paused to clear his throat, but it didn't quite clear the awkwardness in the airwaves between them. "But even though I can't discuss their design choices with them, getting to see their thought process by studying their design would be the closest to a conversation we could have. I completely understand if you'd rather leave the past in the past, though. It's your call, Shadow."

Shadow could've said no. He'd certainly thought about it.

And yet he showed up on the doorstep of the Central City workshop two days later, looking just as put out about it as he possibly could.

[Continue at AO3]

[bigassmoonchild]

The Hearing

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

The first four parts give context, but may not be required for this read.

Summary: Being stuck in hearing sucked. Especially when Price revealed things about yourself you hadn't even known, and now Ghost was unsure of the choices he'd been making.

Content Tags: Separation, Mentions of Violence, Mild Storybuilding, Scenting, Mentions of Possible Pregnancy, Ghost Walking Out, Ghost being Unsure, No Use of Y/N, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha! Ghost

A/N: This took me half of The Wolverine, 16 minutes of Hamilton and 12 episodes of Bluey to get through. No sex yet, but if y'all don't want the pregnancy ark do let me know. This series may be coming to an end soon, but that doesn't mean Doc is going away forever. As always, content under the cut and requests are open <3

P.S: I was going to adjust part of this, but I've figured out a way to extend this story a little further, so I'm removing it from being privately posted. My apologies!

Part 1 | Previous, Next | Headcannons, Masterlist

This keeps fucking happening. It took four months before you and Ghost got in trouble again. Instead of having each other, now you were stuck without the other. The rest of the 141 was busy smuggling items between yourself and Ghost, it finally having gotten out that the two of you were mated.

That you were an Omega.

You were removed from training your squad for the time being, currently being investigating for the incident that had happened. Too many times you had seen the same people for hearings. Too many times you were stuck sitting in the same room and looking among the same people.

"Can you explain to us how no one knew that Michael wasn't taking his suppressants?" Was the question posed to you.

You adjusted in your seat, smoothing down the pair of nice pants you'd thrown on and smelling the thick perfume you'd put on to block the distressed scent you'd been throwing off. "No one in the compound is capable of scenting other people, those abilities are blocked with the military grade suppressants we are given. Scents are also dulled with the suppressants, so no one would've been able to tell," you explained. Short and simple, not nearly as scientific as it should've been.

"And you couldn't tell? Being mated means off of suppressants, which means you should've been able to scent him."

"It takes a minimum of two days off suppressants for a scent to begin coming back and another week before the androstenone in an Alphas body to increase dangerously high. I was on leave for three weeks prior to the incident, so I had to have returned back to base at nearly the two week mark," you wanted to see Simon.

You each had a babysitter, swapping out in shifts so neither of you were unattended for more than five minutes. You'd began self-soothing, rubbing the gland on your wrist aggressively against your neck gland, the clothes you were receiving weekly from Price wasn't doing enough.

No matter what, you were still stuck in this god damn hearing. Until you could smell Simon. You spun in your seat, searching the general room for him, watching as he was led forward, taking a seat across the aisle from you.

"Now, Mr. Riley, what caused you to attack Michael?" You were still watching him, only his balaclava to protect his face from those around you. You could just barely see his side-profile, his hardly blinking eyes as he stared down the person questioning him.

He glanced briefly at you. "My Omega was being attacked, I could smell her distress from a few halls down so I was going to find out what was happening. I heard him screaming at her and threatening her life, so I did what I had to to protect her," he answered, no hesitation. They hummed and nodded, glancing at you before looking back to Simon.

God, he smelled so much better than his clothes.

"Doctor, please try and pay attention," you looked down into your lap, giving a small sorry before the hearing proceeded. "What caused Michael to attack you?" At this you had to pause. It all happened so fast and you'd shoved the memory to the back of your head.

"He wanted to get out of the squad, he didn't want a Doctor ordering him around. I assume Mr. Riley said something to him, as he was causing problems with the soldiers covering my squad while I was on leave. He tried to press for information regarding my relationship with the Lieutenant, but I wasn't going to allow him insight he didn't need to know," they were writing everything down, clacking of keyboards and scraping of pens and pencils against paper.

"Do tell us what happened next,"

Looking away, you had to take a deep breath. You could feel the panic setting back in. "I told him that he wouldn't be able to remain in the military or find a new branch if he left. He had too many infractions and I pulled his file to show him, and he lunged for it. Michael was trying to take his file from me, and he could smell I was an Omega. That's when I realized he was going feral," you picked at your fingers, not looking at the group of people as you tried to remember what happened.

They glanced back at their notes, speaking with each other for a moment. "How would you know he was going feral?"

"I have medical documents of my squad. I know when their last heat or rut was, and I decide when they go on leave to ensure they aren't on suppressants for too long that it becomes dangerous, such as what occurred between myself and my Alpha. The androstenone inside an Alpha increases, albeit being dormant, the longer suppressants are taken without a natural rut occurring," you explained. This was the easy part, the things you knew exactly the ins and outs of.

They nodded along with you, fingers still clacking on keyboards as you explained.

"Once someone stops taking suppressants, the androstenone becomes active again. The longer they go without the rut, the more that become active. If they don't rid themselves of the androstenone, it'll force them into ferality to keep the increasing hormones from severely hurting them," they interrupted you for a moment.

"What does ferality do for the Alpha?"

"It ensures that they mate with the nearest Omega in or out of heat to naturally expel the androstenone. If they don't, their rut gets worse and they begin to have different areas of the brain shut down until they are no more than an animal, looking for the next thing to breed," you explained. "Most cases are euthanized, to ensure they don't suffer for long," you added, ensuring they would understand why it was so dangerous.

You had zoned out once they began talking with Simon again. His scent was washing over you every now and again as the AC unit blew cooler air into the room. This room had no windows and was in the middle of the building so they installed AC's for the stifling summer, which meant scents were wafting around with each other and mixing.

But Simons? It was amazing, being able to get it damn near straight from the source. You were waiting for all of this to be over so you could crawl into your nest with Simon. Your heat had been due a week ago, but with the proceedings dragging on you had been far to stressed for your body to allow it to happen.

And you could feel it building within you. You were exhausted all the time, eating more and building a larger nest, moving things in your room around. Now that you had your Alpha near you, you could feel your mind slowly slipping away from you.

You had to think harder, trying to remember how long ago your heat was and when you had to expect it. To be honest, you didn't really want to think that hard right now. You were still exhausted, you didn't get much sleep, considering you'd been without your Alpha for weeks now.

"That should wrap today up, we'll reconvene tomorrow. Same time and location, we'll review what we have learned from you two and Michael and give you our final decision in one week. For now, you two will stay separated and we'll have people watching to ensure you don't meet up," you wanted to argue. So badly, you wanted to tell them that he was your Alpha and he was supposed to be with you.

Even then, you knew that they wouldn't rescind their decision. You watched as Simon was led out, giving you one more look before leaving.

"Listen, kid, I'm really sorry," Price leaned in next to you, whispering as you waited for Simon to get far enough away that you could leave as well without possibly getting in trouble. "I know another week is going to be hard on you," he looked away.

You sighed, leaning back. "It's no harder than the first few weeks mated to him. The only problem is my heat isn't coming and I'm past due," he gave you a weird look before nodding with you.

Standing up, he gestured for you to follow him. You stood and followed him out, allowing him to lead you back to your room. It stayed quiet between the two of you, you figured he was deep in thought and you were just thinking about the nap you were gonna take in your nest.

Quite the exciting life you held now, being stuck back in hearings. You could only do paperwork and most of the work for the week you'd finish right away. It was so boring, the task force only being able to come by every now and again.

When you walked in, he handed you a bag. You looked down and back up at him, brows furrowed. Price gave you a smile and walked back out, the door shutting behind him. You sat on your bed, running your hands down your face and sighing deeply.

You reached into the bag, pulling out another of Simons hoodies. The amount you had at this point made you wonder if he had any left, just about the entirety of your nest was made out of his shirts and hoodies. The scents on some of them were fading, but you didn't remove them just yet.

Without him to be in the nest with you, the scents were fading quicker and quicker. You hated it. You had grown accustomed to having him scenting you at night and before he had to leave in the morning, him remarking your gland every now and again when you were able to.

Moving to throw the bag in the bag of bags, you felt something move inside it with your movements. Setting it back down, you opened it to look inside.

A pregnancy test.

"Price!" You shouted, his office door slamming open. You were heaving, having run straight to his office after finding his last little gift. "What the hell?"

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was talking to my own Omega and they mentioned giving you one. A lot of the symptoms you'd been mentioning had lined up with their own pregnancy. You don't have to use it, obviously, I just figured you'd want it," you stopped to think.

How had you been exhibiting all the signs of a pregnant Omega and yet you'd been unable to recognize it? You were a bloody biologist, so you'd already known exactly what the signs were. Intense nesting urges, increased eating, increased amounts of sleep.

Jesus, were you pregnant? Maybe you should take the test, just to be sure. Price opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head and going back to his paperwork. You were going to pester him about what he was going to say, but you didn't.

"You could get this hearing pushed off if you're pregnant. They'll consider it an Alpha protecting his pup. You didn't hear this from me,"

The next day Simon was back where he'd been sitting, in the back of the hearing room waiting for them to call him forward. He could see you, some rows ahead of him. Your scent had become more delectable to him over the last few weeks, even if he hadn't been able to smell you directly.

The rest of the task force was playing a dangerous game, smuggling items between the two of you. He knew that, if caught, they could be put on a probationary leave and investigated to figure out if it was more than just items.

Simon watched as you stood from your seat, hands folded in front of you. He could smell you better than when you'd been sitting, the scent sweetening to something he couldn't explain.

All he wanted to do was scent mark you and hold you in your nest, maybe find you some food and feed you. What the hell was up with him? He'd been stalking as close to your room as he could get, snarling at every Alpha who walked near.

"I haven't made you aware yet, but I have been in for a pregnancy test," everyone went silent and Simons eyes widened. "The results should be coming in another day or two, depending on who will be finalizing them. I'd like to request that the current predicament be pushed back so my mate and I can speak about possibilities," he watched as the group leading the hearing leaned together to speak and his eyes never left you.

He could smell your distress from where he was, and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Pregnant? He thought you'd been on birth control, even if it you'd still gone through your heats.

To be honest, Simon was terrified. A father? Him? All he could do was walk out, even if he heard his name come from you and your scent changing sharply. Winding through the halls, he found himself walking outside with a cigarette lit, the slight burn as he inhaled the smoke.

Neither of you had talked about this. You'd been mated for a few months, not even hitting a year yet and prior to that you'd only spoken professionally. He knew you, but you hadn't even shared a room yet.

Was he wrong? For biting you, when neither of you had agreed upon being mated. For getting the two of you in that situation in the first place, he should've been the one who had gone and swept the building to make sure everyone was safe.

Simon knew exactly where his life would be had the two of you not been stuck in that situation. He'd never imagined his life moving this way and it terrified him. He was almost... regretting the choices he'd made.

Regretting mating with you.

Next

[mama-qwerty]

Not sure how deep a dive you can go for this one but one scene I haven't really seen discussed much is Ivo literally getting dropped by Gerald and then the epic save by Tails & Knuckles. And everything that follows on during that brief time where we get redeemed Robotnik + Tails and Knuckles. It was kind of adorable watching them team up. Goes from the lowest low to a new high with Robotnik.

It's the old "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing.

All Ivo ever wanted was to be accepted. He wanted a family, to be loved. The more he denied it, the more he tried to declare himself better than everyone, the stronger that desire burned.

He surrounded himself with robots because he could program them to obey him, to stay with him and not abandon him, no matter what he did. He could tell himself he was fine, this was fine, he was happy because he could control the bots and feel like he was important.

Stone was just another bot to him, someone to order around and converse with if he was feeling particularly chatty. But I don't think Ivo really saw Stone as anything more than a sycophant for the longest time. The toady he kept on to do the menial tasks that Ivo himself was 'too important' to do.

Ivo isn't someone who's what you would call 'in touch' with his emotions. He's spent his entire life keeping others at arm's length, because he'd always been picked on and hurt because of his intelligence. He's got this wall built around him, and he always told himself that was good, that was fine, he didn't need love, didn't need to form attachments to any other person. The bots were all he needed, because he could 'love' them, and they would 'obey' him, and they wouldn't hurt him by walking away from him.

Enter Gerald.

Suddenly here's this blood relative, a grandfather who was also a genius, also someone with a good dose of animosity toward the human race, also with aspirations to teach the world a lesson.

And suddenly Ivo's walls came down.

He threw all his hopes and desires to be loved, to be accepted, onto Gerald, and for a while it seemed like Gerald actually did love and accept him. They worked together to break into GUN hq, had a nice little dance number, and reveled in their upcoming victory.

Until Gerald revealed his true intentions.

And even Ivo thought it was insane.

He never wanted to destroy the planet, he never wanted to kill every living person, he just wanted them to love and respect him, obey him, like his bots did. But Gerald didn't want to hear it, didn't want to listen.

Because Ivo was no Maria.

And that crushed Ivo's heart.

You could see that it did. He thought he'd found someone who was like him, who loved and accepted him. But it was all a trick, and he couldn't even measure up to his dead cousin in his grandfather's eyes.

And maybe he realized in that moment how Stone felt when he'd kicked him to the curb. Maybe he remembered how Stone had tried to warn him, but Ivo had been so excited to be with his grandfather, he didn't listen.

So he turned on Gerald, and even in that last moment, right before Gerald sent him to his certain doom, he wanted so badly for Gerald to love him.

And maybe he saw Tails and Knux on their way up. Tried to buy some time so they could reach the ARK. And when Gerald sent him falling, he likely had a moment when he wondered if they'd catch him, or if they'd let him fall, because of how he'd treated them.

But they caught him. They helped him. His enemies had been kinder to him than his own flesh and blood.

So he helped them.

And he made amends with Stone, in a way only Ivo Robotnik could, before he (seemingly) sacrificed himself to keep the world safe.

Ivo Robotnik, at his core, is a little boy who just wanted to be loved. Gerald saw that, and used it against him. And it wasn't until the end that Ivo saw Stone had cared for him all along.

Ivo saved the Earth not because he cared about all the people on it, but because he cared about just one.

~~~

Check out my other Sonic 3 analysis posts

[matt0044]

RTD 2.0's weird finales... were a package deal.

I feel like this was inevitable. Like I remember Journey's End. I remember The End of Time and how while I enjoyed them, I also knew that their resolutions were... narratively iffy.

Like the DoctorDonna technobabbling the Daleks into defeat while flipping switches was... weird, right? It's fun but hearing her rattle on made up words like she just swapped bodies with a Star Trek Technician was... weird.

The Master being revived and Lucy suddenly interfering with something out of left field.

To say nothing about the second Tenth Doctor (hey, so that's where Bigeneration came from).

Before that? "Last of the Time Lord" had Martha seemingly on a quest for a special Time Lord killing gun only for it to be a ruse and she was using the Ark Angel Psychic Network to restore the Doctor. He's all Space Jesus and it gives them the chance to destroy the Paradox Machine to restore everything to normal in a flash.

"Parting of Ways" and "Doomsday" are a bit better with how their resolutions were a bit more built up without it coming in a flash. Even still, RTD still had Rose basically go Thanos on the Daleks and the "Void Stuff" that helps suck away the Daleks along with the Cybermen was thinly built up to.

Suffice to say, he likes playing fast and loose with hasty resolutions to high tension. Things looks bad, the Doctor's about to buy the farm and then... BOOM! All is well.

And RTD's second run has been a similar case. Not the same but the finales have been big moments leading to shocking resolutions that redefine "Dues Ex Machina." It's only thanks to retrospect that we appreciate his first run more but let's not pretend this wasn't in the cards.

BUT! I think a missing component was the lack of caveats to these resolutions.

Rose destroys the Daleks but Nine has to take in her Vortex Energy lest she burns up and regenerates for it.

"Doomsday" has Rose trapped in another universe for her efforts. "Last of the Time Lords" has Martha leave due to the family needing to heal from the Master and the Doctor loses the only other connection to his race. Donna is mind-wiped to keep the mind of a Time Lord overwhelm her human brain.

As such, the Classic Who method of companions walking off with RTD's tendency for weird resolutions doesn't mesh for too many. You could say Fifteen regenerating is a caveat?

I actually do wonder what RTD is... trying to say with these types of finales. Hate him or not, he's not the sort of writer who does whatever and tends to have a method to his literal madness. It does feel like he finds... hope in these sudden resolutions, like the moment is right there in plain sight.

What do you think?

[vulpixisananimal]

[A:4 C:66.5] (Siffrin) {Mal Du Pays} <Null> |Asterion| +Rosmarinus+ [Loop] [(Saffron)] 

(Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa you felt so sooooooore.)

(It was late evening, and you, Isa, and Alex just got back from visiting Ark at her watchtower. She offered to help you train, and Null really wanted to. And he went hard with it! Pushed yourself to learn every little thing you could! Unfortunately, he dipped out right as the pains and aches kicked in.)

(Luckily Isa helped you home, and by helping you meant you had to beg him not to pick you up for the whole trip. This was not helped by Alex, who had very, very quickly learned the best ways to tease you, and was quickly rising in the ranks of “who’s the best at bullying Siffrin.”)

“Tea for you!” (You open your eye, Isa’s placing a cup next to you.)

“Mmm thanks, Stardrop. . .” (You giggle softly as Isabeaus face turns a deep shade at the nickname.)

“Y-you’rewelcome-!” (He sits down next to you.) “L-love you, Sif.”

“I love you too, Isa.” (You take a sip from the cup.) “Mmmmm. . . What kinda tea?”

“An herbal tea, I strained it and everything!”

“Hehe, thought so.” (You stuck your tongue out.) “It’s really helping with my muscle strain.”

“HAHA! HAHA! YES!!”

+. . . PFFTHehehehe.+

(??? Who- Oh! Rosmarinus? I-is, that you? Taking a peek at the favor tree, there’s another person here. A bit like you, but not really, dark clothes, a loop-like star chest, and stary hair.)

+O-oh! Uh, right! We haven’t met! Yeah I’m, Rosmarinus. I showed up. . . I think a few days ago?+

(Seems about right. You take another sip, then put the tea to the side so you could lean on Isabeau. Uh, well, welcome!)

(Isa leans down and kisses your head, speaking softly.) “Oh cute little wish, what’s going on in that cheeky head of yours.”

(You smile up at him.) “Meeting the new not-guy-”

+not-girl+

“-Not-girl.” (You correct. Right, they/she, right?)

+Mmhm! It felt, more right?+

(Haha, that’s fair. Isabeau strokes your hair as he talks.) “Oooh! Right, you told me about that the other day. Hi Rosmarinus!”

+Hi Isabeau!+

“They say hi.” (You stick out your tongue.) “It looks like you have more eyepatches to make, Stardrop~”

“F-for you all? I’d do anything.” (He kisses your head again, and you blush.) “. . I-is Rose okay with that ki-”

“Yes! Isabeau.” +You roll your eye, reaching up to pull him down for another kiss, and holding it for just a second.+

(You shudder, then let him go, you felt very, very hot. S-stars. .) 

(Isabeau covers his face with a hand, before mumbling out,) “Y-you’re all, so, cute. . .”

“H-hey!” (You reply.) +You reply.+ “Y-you are too!”

“Sorry, you guys out number me. So you win!” 

“That’s not how that-”

“Hey, lovebirds.” (Alex interrupts, poking their head from around the corner.) “Do you k-”

“Odile’s out with Nille Bonnie and Mira.” (You give them a Look.) “You’ll have to wait, lovebird.”

“I wasn’t-” (She starts, before huffing and heading upstairs.)

(You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Altiare had spilled the beans a day or two ago and you were STILL riding high off of it- oh stars you forgot to ask them about the cloak again.)

+It’s alright, Asterion asked them the other day.+

(Oh thank stars. Isabeau kissed your head again.) “Someone’s gotten their teeth back!”

“Maybe~” +You sit up and stretch.+ “A taciturn I am; no longer!”

“Huh?” +Isa scoots next to you.+ “Taciturn?”

“Someone who doesn’t speak up very often.” +You say almost automatically.+ “First floor, right side, second door on the left. Openphrase is “stostorage roomoom.” there's an open dictionary on the table.”

“Oh! You remember the specific room?” +He chuckles.+ “I’m always surprised you can remember specifics like that.”

“I can do better than that, ahem.” +You wink, and speak in an exaggerated rendition of your family's voices.+ ““Taciturn, What does "taciturn" mean?” “It's someone who doesn't speak up very often, Boniface.” “Oh, like Frin, okay.” “Yes, just like Siffrin.””

“YOU REMEMBER THE WHOLE EXCHANGE?!?”

+You do a sitting bow.+ “I’m here all week! Or until someone else takes over.”

(Stars, showoff. How do you remember that?)

+I just. . . Do?+

(That’s weird. Isabeau looks at you, amazed.) “Wow that’s, amazing!”

(You smile softly at him, and rub your neck.) “W-well, actually uh, Mari remembered most of it. It was really weird actually!”

“Because you remembered something?” (He’s smiling smugly at you)

“Shut uuuup.” (You whine.)

+Speaking of, Journal!+

(Oh right! You sit up and dig around your endless pockets for your journal.) “Whaaaat day of the week is it again?”

“It’s friday!” (Isabeau hands you a pen as you find your journal.) “Has that been helping? Writing stuff down?”

“Mmhm!” (You open the journal and flip to today.) “I-it really has! It’s really hard to keep track of how fast everything goes by b-but, but I think I’ve been remembering a lot beeee. . .”

+You’re staring at the entry from the other day. Oh, I didn’t tell you?+

(NO!?!!?? You squint at the entry from the other day. It was just one line, short, and a bit messy. “VERY GOOD DAY!” - Socks.) “. . . Who, uh, who’s Socks?”

“Socks?” (Isabeau leans over your shoulder.) “. . . Oh! That explains it.”

“Explains what?” (You turn and give him a suspicious expression.) 

“W-well uh, the other day, you were, uh. . .” (He sinks down into his shoulders.) “R-really, really, really cuddly.”

“H-HUH?!?!?” (HUH?!? WHAT?!?!?)

+Hehe, alright alright g-gimmie a second. You shake your head and close your eye for a second, drift to your room, step inside. . .+

+You walk across your room, a stage, and to the rows and rows of plays. Drifting to one, you pluck it out. Ah yes, here's the memory. With a motion, it was shared. Oh don’t worry, Sif, it’s not THAT embarrassing.+

(You shake your head again, that was- WH- Memory, you, cuddling Isa, being pat, no cloak, wrapped in blankets, puh-PURRING?!?!? a-and- o-oh stARS ABOVE--)

“. . . U-uh, you, alright Sif?” (Isa asks, putting a hand on your shoulder.) 

(Your face feels so hot.) “I-I, just, R-rosmarinus just shared the m-memory a-a-and.”

“Awww.” (Hair pat.) “W-well I guess you got a kitty in there now!”

“Hhhhhhh. . .” (You rub your face, and take a deeeeep breath in, and, out.)

(Looking through the rest of the entries, there weren’t any other surprises. But there was one entry from Saffron from a few days ago. Saffron never writes in the journal, never wants to be seen, never wants to talk, even. He’s a persecutor, an embodiment of all the pain you’ve gone through. But that entry. . .)

(“PLEASE DON’T LET THEM FORGET ME.”)

(Loop refused to talk about it, but they saw it too. Whatever ‘it’ was. You and Null talked about it, that maybe Saffron finally snapped. Or maybe Loop had someone new. Or Saffron just had a nightmare.)

(The front door opened as Mira, Odile, Nille and Bonnie came in from visiting the old Wolworth keep. You smile and wave.) “Welcome home!”

“Heya Isa, Siffy!” 

“Hello!! Did the training go well?”

“Very!!” (Isabeau beams.) “Ark knows her stuff!”

“Oh good!!”

“Excuse me,” (Odile interrupts.) “Do you kn-”

“Upstairs~” (You stick your tongue out, but Odile was already heading up.) “And there she goes.”

“Off to do some very important research I imagine.” (Isabeau pulls you back into a hug.) 

“Oh very important.” (You chuckle.) “How was the keep?”

“It looked so cool!!” (Mirabelle beamed.) “Ooooh I want to go back as soon as I visit here again!!”

“Yeah it was alright.” (Nille shrugged, she had a bag over her shoulder that she took to the kitchen.)

(You were turning to ask something else before Bonnie interrupted.) “Hey.”

(You turn back.) “Yeah-?” 

(Bonnie shoved a tiny, lightless, toy crown into your hand. It was a novelty thing, meant to be pinned in your hair, if worn at all. You look at it, then back up at Bonnie.)

“. . . Still don’t wanna talk to him, but he’s. . .” (They grumbled.) “. . . He’s ok. I just, ‘snot his fault, ‘m just, being. . .”

(. . . You tilt your head, curious.) “Y-yeah?”

“YEAH!” (They yelled, and started running off to the kitchen.) “JUST GIVE HIM THE STUPID CROWN! STUPIDFACE!!”

(You watch them go, Mirabelle sits down, she and Isabeau start talking about winter clothes. You look down at the tiny crown in your hands. Cute, harmless, a copy of the original. You close your eye. . .)

(A copy of your greatest enemy, a shadow of yourself, a copy from a play, a guide, and the person they used to be. A part of you who remembered, a cat, and now, maybe, a sadness. . .)

(And. . . You.)

(Who even are you, anymore. Are you still Siffrin? You are, and you’re sure you’ve been the same Siffrin for a long time, but. . . But who were you before that? Who were you before meeting your family? Who were you before washing up on Vaugarde? You don’t even remember that anymore, you just, know that it happened.)

(. . . You flip back a few pages. A few weeks ago. An entry marked with a star. You made sure to mark important entries with a star. This entry was a rare day where you remembered something, remembered running away.)

(. . . Who was that little Siffrin who wouldn’t eat their veggies? Who took a boat and ran from home? Who memorized each star and constellation and where they were? Who slept in the day and looked to the stars at night. Who wanted to. . . . .)

(. . . You hurriedly flip back to today's date and scribble that down. Stardust, that’s what you are. What’s left, a piece of a whole.)

(Or, maybe. . . Maybe you’re just one of the many pieces that formed this protostar named Siffrin. . . Will you still be here in a few years time? Or will it be another Siffrin holding Isabeaus hand. Eating Bonnie's food. Listening to Mirabelles rambles. Going on secret trips with Odile. Will it be another Siffrin going fishing with Nille? Or another Siffrin teaching Ramos and the other Groundskeepers about the stars?)

(. . .)

(That’s a problem for future you. But for now, you close the book, and put your head in Isabeau’s lap.)

[e-vay]

My In-Depth Review of Sonic X Shadow Generations (Spoilers!)

I completed Sonic X Shadow Generations so I'm ready to talk about it! Remember, these are just my personal opinions about the game, so don't take this review as me saying that my opinion is "right." I'd hate to accidentally spoil the game for you, so all my thoughts are below the cut:

Did you mean to click "Keep Reading"? I warned you, there's gonna be spoilers here! One last chance to back out...

🖤

❤️

🖤

❤️

Okay here we go!

THE SHADOW PORTION

Let's start with what we've all been hyped about: the Shadow portion of Sonic X Shadow Generations. If you single out the Shadow story of this game, I think it is an absolute masterpiece! Everyone who worked on it gave it their all, and it clearly shows. I'd give it a 9.75/10.

THE GRAPHICS

The visuals of this game are STUNNING. These new models for Maria and Gerald Robotnik are perfection! I am so glad they went with the more 'cartoon' style for the human models, similar to what we saw in Sonic Unleashed. They feel like they belong in this world among these peculiar looking anthropomorphic animals, but they aren't so odd looking that they feel goofy. They found a perfect balance and I couldn't be happier with them. Speaking of character models, to see all the bosses throughout the years in this new high definition was a sight to behold! Though I do feel nostalgia for the lower-poly version of the Biolizard, it was great to see it as the creators originally envisioned. It went from this loveable (and admittedly silly-looking) salamander to a truly intimidating and disturbing looking beast. The animation is superb. The characters move so fluidly and the poses are dynamic and striking! The frame rate makes everything look and feel fast and smooth which is exactly what you'd hope for in a Sonic game. I also appreciated the variety of poses/animations even just for the different stage ranks. I found myself purposely replaying stages to get different ranks just so I could see the different animations Shadow had regarding his "performance" evaluation. That really adds to the replay value! I am a graphic designer for a living, so of course I have to gush about the design, too! The graphic elements that appear before, during, and after each stage are straight up BADASS! I love the 2D animated flame that appears along the stage name and the color scheme and sharp lines are so appropriate to Shadow, and are a very strong contrast to Sonic's graphic elements that are colorful and round in shape. These are small details that most people might not outright notice, but it really enhances the overall aesthetic of the game.

THE STORY

LOOOOORE! Sweet nectar of the gods, we were given so much more lore with this game! Even though the Shadow portion of this game was fairly short, they jam-packed a ton of information and I am forever thankful for it! If you didn't do so while playing, I highly recommend playing again and talking to the NPCs regularly for little nuggets of lore. I was initially worried that this was going to be a rehash of the same 'origin' story we've heard a dozen times already, but that was not the case! Instead of focusing entirely on the tragedy that happened on the ARK, we got to learn what life was like on the ARK while times were still good! Learning that Shadow didn't used to be confident at all, to the point where Maria basically doesn't recognize this confident version of him that we've all known him as. And that Shadow never did his homework??? HA! I loved the confirmation that yes, Maria WAS INDEED the person who gave Shadow his name, and the meaning behind it was EVERYTHING TO ME! (Also works so well for my my AU. IYKYK hehehe) Plus all the Robotnik family history?! MARIA HAD A LITTLE SISTER?!?! She'd be old now, if she's even alive, but will we ever meet her? Will Shadow ever meet her (and would he even want to, or does he feel like that chapter of his life is closed now)? What was she like, and how did Maria's death impact her and her parents??? I hope we'll find out some day! Plus getting to learn a little bit more about Gerald's sons was exciting too. Will more Robotnik family members make appearances down the line? What do they think of Eggman's misdeeds? I'm so curious for more! It was heartbreaking in the best way for Shadow to get to interact with Maria and Gerald again, especially knowing he can't do anything to change what will inevitably happen to them. His sense of desperation paired with the growing affects that Doom's powers were having on him really had me worried about what was going to happen to Shadow's state of mind and overall well-being. It was amazing to see the toll it was taking on his body and his mind. In particular, I'm thinking of the scene where Shadow goes to fight Sonic and you see him having to actually restrain himself and go easy on Sonic. I thought it a great scene to demonstrate how easy it would have been for Shadow to just give in to the rage and take Sonic out without hesitation, but his willpower was able to win in the end. I have heard some people saying they're disappointed that Shadow lost his Doom abilities by the end of the story, but I think it made complete sense for the story. Black Doom is insistent that Shadow isn't 'complete' yet and he has to be more like him in order to be 'perfect.' But that isn't true! Shadow is already the ultimate life form, especially because there's more to him than his Black Doom DNA. By rejecting Doom's influence in the end, that was Shadow's true evolution. He's perfect as he is. Obviously I could gush forever and ever about all the Shadow and Maria scenes, but words aren't going to do it justice. It was just so moving to see how different he is when he's with her. In fact, at the end of this game I believe this is the first instance we ever see a true, genuine, heartwarming smile from Shadow and it DEVASTATED ME! We are used to his smirks, but when he's trying to reassure Maria that everything's going to be okay, we get to see him truly smile and we aren't seeing Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform or Shadow the Destroyer/Weapon, we are seeing Shadow the Brother and it felt like the warm embrace of a security blanket. God bless the writing in this game.

THE ACTING

The acting in this game is incredible from a visual and auditory performance. The animators really pushed the acting of the character models and you can feel Shadow's transformations throughout the game and the toll it's taking on his body. The emotions are cranked up to the max and they didn't pull any punches. In the past, Shadow was often limited in his portrayal of emotions, but that wasn't the case in this game at all. We saw anger, we saw resentment, we saw panic and sadness, and affection. There was so much thought put into the shaking of his hands, the gritting of his teeth, the shrinking and dilating of his pupils, all to show what's going on in his head without even resorting to words. SO MUCH ATTENTION was put into how these characters moved and interacted with each other and it truly tugged at my heart strings. There were too many wonderful moments for me to break down, so I will just single out one for now and applaud the creative direction and the animators for these scenes as a whole. There's this moment right near the end of the story, when Shadow is trying to stop Gerald and Maria from disappearing for good. His gestures are wild and panicked, his pupils and irises are small due to fear, but then Maria simply frames his face and rests her forehead against his. It's subtle, but Shadow's eyes widen and then return to their regular size and everything from his stance to how his shoulders fall show what a calming presence Maria has and how she helped (and will continue to help) him find his inner piece. Those performances are going to stick with me forever! Mike Pollock as Gerald Robotnik was truly *chef's kiss* MP is such a fantastic actor with great range. Though his voice is easily recognizable, the manner in which he speaks as Gerald is so different compared to Eggman, that you couldn't mistake the two characters even just by listening. We have been so used to only hearing from the angry, driven-insane-by-grief Gerald that it was so refreshing to get to see and hear the calm, brilliant, caring genius that created The Ultimate Life Form. P.S. I'm going to be crying over hearing Gerald call Shadow "son" for the rest of my life, thank you very much. I don't care about the future crimes he commits, we got to witness Shadow's father in this game and I'm weeping. Kirk Thornton is not my favorite Shadow. That being said, he really gave it his all and I was pleasantly surprised by what he accomplished. One of the performances that surprised me the most was Mephiles! This is a credit to the writers as well as the voice actor. The sense of wild desperation in his voice as he fights to even 'exist' in this timeline was so visceral and terrifying. Sure the other villains had their "I'm the best, this world belongs to me" lines, but Mephiles' voice lines were on a completely different level to me. What a treat! Lastly, if you can, please replay the game in Japanese! Kōji Yusa's performance is STUNNING. Ooh I'm getting shivers just recalling his voice lines while you're playing through the stages. I don't mean to discredit the English voice actors, but I think this game is even better when listening in Japanese. Give it a try yourself!

THE MUSIC

This is a Sonic game we're talking about, of course the music is going to be fantastic! The score did not disappoint one bit. It was great to hear all the callbacks to songs in the past as well as new tracks that were catchy and enjoyable even after playing the stages several times. "All Hail Shadow" has always been one of my favorites, but the new instrumental version used for majority of this game was so haunting and eerie. It was a delight to my ears as well as my emotions.

THE BOSSES

I loved the chosen bosses for Shadow's story. It was great fun to revisit some of the more iconic baddies throughout Shadow's history, and even though some of the gameplay was the same, the battle would then shift and offer the player something new. However, it's actually the boss fights where I dock the game a few fractions of a point. The boss battles were far too easy to defeat, and I actually found them easier and easier as the game progressed. I beat Mephiles and Devil Doom so quickly that I didn't realize their fights were over already. One could argue this was intentional by design. After all, throughout the story Shadow is evolving more and more into the 'perfect' killing machine. It would make sense that the more Doom Abilities he acquires, the weaker these bosses would seem. Still, as a life-long gamer, I appreciate when I have to actually work to achieve the ending of a game. I would have liked more of a challenge.

OVERALL GAMEPLAY

Whether you're roaming about White Space or you're actually playing through stages, the Shadow portion of this game is an absolute blast. Even having played the Shadow the Hedgehog game (which I'm a fan of, btw), I feel like this game really gave you a better feeling of what it's like to be Shadow. I LOVED that I got to use Chaos Control way more than ever before in previous games. If you had the ability to stop time, wouldn't you take advantage of it every chance you could??? The opportunity to use Chaos (and Doom) Spear as frequently as you wanted and Chaos Control almost constantly really shows how formidable of a character Shadow is and just how different it is to play as him compared to playing as Sonic. I loved the 'free-roam' aspect of White Space compared to the 2D version in Sonic's story. Hunting for rocket parts or figuring out how to unlock collectibles was a lot of fun and let the player really explore these new Doom abilities to the fullest. I'll admit that I struggled with navigating some of the Doom abilities, but even so I still had a ton of fun. I already mentioned replay value, but before you even have to go about replaying the game, there is SO MUCH to this portion of the game! The amount of stages, challenges, collectibles within stages, FINDING the unlockables USING the collectibles you obtained from stages, even the mini challenges available AFTER you've completed the key challenges (I'm talking about the bell that's located above the challenge portal), all of it made for a ton of opportunities for play. I found myself wanting to take on every quest instead of begrudgingly going through it just because I'm a completionist.

My biggest gripe is that the game was too short. Am I greedy for wanting more? Probably, but I can't help it. The developers gave us a ton of content in the Shadow story, but I still would have loved to have a full length game of just this gameplay. I managed to complete the Shadow portion in a few hours, and that was even with me leisurely taking my time to get collectibles and get S ranks for stages before progressing through the story. I miss the days where games took much longer to complete. But hey, I'm a nostalgia-prone 33 year old, so I guess that's to be expected of me haha.

THE SONIC PORTION

Here is where Sonic X Shadow Generations loses more points for me, which is a shame because I think it's a great game overall. Admittedly, I was disappointed when I first learned that the Sonic portion of the game was just a remaster of Generations. I had really hoped we were going to receive something new to help elevate SXS Gens as an entirely new game, instead of just "Sonic Gens + Shadow DLC".

Don't get me wrong, the stages in Sonic Generations are fun to play. However, when you go from playing Shadow's story to Sonic's story, Sonic's side drastically pales in comparison in my opinion.

My other complaint is that for a remaster, they really didn't improve Sonic's portion of the game significantly (at least from what I can recall, as I haven't played the original Sonic Generations since it first came out in 2011). This was a missed opportunity to correct more of the drawbacks of the original game. However, I will admit there are some minor changes that were made that I was thankful for. Let's start with the positive before I point out some of the negatives.

THE STORY

As mentioned earlier, I acknowledge that Sonic Generations is just a remaster so it makes sense that the story didn't change much. That being said, there were some small changes that I did really appreciate and helped improve the story. One of the things that always bothered me about the original Sonic Generations was how indifferent/annoyed Sonic was regarding his friends. I mean, the story is about time being erased! His friends and home are literally getting removed from the fabric of time and Sonic seemed more inconvenienced than concerned. In more recent games, the writing has really focused on the value Sonic finds in his friendships and found family. He always has his signature cool, aloof attitude, but I think the writers in recent years have successfully showed just how much he cares about his group, whether the games were serious (Sonic Frontiers) or silly (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog). The story wasn't drastically changed for Sonic X Shadow Generations, but some altered dialogue and blink-and-you-miss-it edits helped to cut that jackass attitude from the original and gave him more realistic reactions. Especially by having him respond when he rescues everybody this time! It never seemed right when Tails was first rescued and he's trauma dumping on Sonic about how awful the experience was and Sonic just sits there in silence haha. At least in the new version, Sonic reassures Tails that he's safe now. Also, huge kudos to whoever decided to alter that scene where Sonic is shoving Amy away by the face. I always hated that. Ship or not, you don't treat your friends like that when they're throwing you a bday party!

This is me getting nitpicky, but there were a few things I had really hoped they were going to improve, but remained untouched:

THE GRAPHICS

I was never happy with the visuals of this game outside of the stages (the visuals within the stages are great!). The colors are extremely oversaturated and the characters are way too intense and some are even off model (ex: Amy is so blindingly vivid magenta in this game instead of her signature blush pink. What the heck?!). What's worse, the cutscenes during the birthday party scenes are SO GREEN. The light bounces off the neon green landscape and reflects onto the already oversaturated characters, giving them an unappealing green glow. I get that the Sonic world is not realistic, but it felt like the scenery in these cutscenes made it look like we were watching a bunch of toys interacting on a playset instead of characters living in their world. Sure the visuals during the levels are great, but it's a real disappointment when I'm specifically not looking forward to the cutscenes in a game. I wish they would have tweaked that.

THE ANIMATION/GAMEPLAY

I have zero complaints when it comes to Act 1 (the "Classic" version) of the different stages. These look great, play great, and if you've played classic Sonic games then you can appreciate how identical the map of the level is compared to the originals. The issue for me lies in Act 2, aka Modern Sonic's gameplay. For the most part these levels are good, but there were a couple of small things that always bothered me that I was sincerely hoping they'd fix (and they did not). There are portions of Modern Sonic's gameplay that is SO. SLOW. I'm referring to when you are jumping from one Grind Rail to another, or when you are sliding under an obstacle. These animations are so bizarrely slow and make absolutely no sense when your character is running blindingly fast. I don't understand why they didn't use this opportunity to fix those animations. When you're playing the Shadow side of the story, his animations are constantly fast moving and appropriately paced. Why wouldn't they apply these physics to the Sonic side?

As a whole, the Sonic portion of Sonic X Shadow Generations is still a fun game, but I think it could have used a little more attention to help it feel more balanced compared to the Shadow portion.

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This game also has some notably fun DLC and the promise of more DLC in the future! I have my Sonic side of the story set to the Sonic Adventure Legacy skin and Sonic Jam Legacy skin and they are so CUTE! They win all the nostalgia points! I'll be honest with you, I have never been a fan of Terios' design hahaha. BUT! I love that they made a Terios skin for this game so players have the chance to play as him if you choose and we get to see how he was intended outside of the initial sketches we've all seen. (Still, y'all can keep your Terios skin. I won't touch it LOL!). And I am OVER THE MOON ECSTATIC for the upcoming Movie Shadow addition to the game! I still can't believe they got Keanu Reeves to voice lines for it! I'm sure it will be a small thing, but I am on the edge of my seat to see what that will be like.

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Overall, I'm super happy with the game as a whole and I enjoyed every minute I played of it!

If you read all of this, thank you for reading! Again, my opinion isn't fact and if you disagree with what I had to say, that's totally fair. And if you haven't played the game yourself, please go play it and see what you think for yourself!

[elendsessor]

okay didn’t mean to make a follow up post so soon but in thinking about how the hunter is treated in wilds and the shadiness behind the guild’s actions in that entry specifically, i also started thinking about the actual importance of the forbidden lands on a lore standpoint going beyond just the guardians.

there isn’t really a true concrete timeline except for sequels to dos, but the common theme throughout each dos-adjacent game is legends coming back and things meant to be forgotten, well, not being forgotten.

lunastra returning is one thing, finally properly introducing the ancient civilization beyond fatalis stuff. 4u sees an entire shift of the environment. while not explicitly stated to be a sequel, sunbreak does mention the frenzy virus outbreak and a rough estimate as to how long it might’ve been going on for. frontier is still debatably canon, but with acknowledgements of mezeporta existing in mainline and the diva in wilds offering stat buffs like she did in frontier (keo and/or inagami are just waiting to come back), we can at least assume the possibility of certain lore concepts and maybe even monster lore yet to appear being canon. heck, valstrax becoming more common at least around the point of rise and them being symbols of disaster speak volumes.

wilds is the biggest deep dive we’ve gotten on ancient civilization lore in a long while, but man is it huge.

the fact that the forbidden lands are called the forbidden lands to begin with is a major red flag. the people living there don’t call it that, meaning the guild is what gave it the name. and with tasheen mentioning some of the remaining citizens of wyveria left to go elsewhere means there’s no way the guild didn’t know about what was going on there.

and i think that’s also where the zoh shia assignments are better put into perspective. the guild wasn’t helping nata because it was the right thing to do, rather they wanted to erase the existence of the forbidden lands altogether because they’re potentially on the verge of another dragon war.

i mainly say this because of how olivia is portrayed. she’s loyal to a fault, and the lack of a handler proves that. but it’s also interesting how adamant she is to have the dragontorch be shut down despite experiencing not only an entire ecosystem thriving, not only a civilization thriving, but especially because a hunter’s job is to preserve that very ecosystem no matter where it is.

this is further supported by the high rank zoh shia assignment. verner’s surprised to hear her be against the dragontorch destruction. she wasn’t there to experience the fight nor showed any doubt in the hunter’s capabilities at any point. say what you will about monster hunter writing but she definitely isn’t the type to change her opinions on a dime. i do think all along she wanted to keep the dragontorch standing. so why so adamant?

for one is that loyalty. she’s the perfect mouthpiece for the guild.

the other is what that destruction brings. the people will suffer and so will the monsters, but the guardians? gone. easy to be cleaned up. the keepers don’t have a purpose anymore and the secret of wyveria’s unethical activities would eventually be forgotten. there would be no reason to go to the forbidden lands. wiping out an ecosystem is a small price to pay for peace.

but everything persisted anyways. the guardians are shown capable of becoming semi-organic, at least with g ark.

zoh shia can’t be the only edw-adjacent monster i’m sorry. you can’t tell me no civilization thought the same thing. heck, wyveria isn’t THE ancient civilization, rather it was a part of it. for them to be preparing for war despite no clear opposition could be because they anticipated something. why else would they demand dominance over an entire ecosystem? why would they make biological weapons instead of the standard super weapons everyone can have? they knew they were pushing it. there was a matter of time before something fought back. the only hope they had to keep dominance was to play by enough rules. even if they were somehow the only society capable of such a feat, it wasn’t just them who suffered.

with a bunch of elder dragons reawakening, premonitions of disaster and ecological changes, the guild has every reason to fear another war. perhaps they felt like they did something wrong, and they believed the only way to fix it was to pin it on someone. what happened to keep standing? the forbidden lands. the wyrmway. one of if not the last active remnant of the ancient civilization.

ngl i’d love to see capcom follow up on these implications. maybe we won’t get a dragon war 2 electric boogaloo but i’d love to see how letting the dragontorch remain impacts the entire world. hear me out-

[countrymusiclover]

1 - The Day Everything Changed

Part 2

Star Crossed Enemies

@severa-kane @100foreverfiles @ocappreciation @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @lover-of-books-and-tea

2 years ago

“Get your hands off me. I haven't done anything wrong!” I screamed and kicking my legs about while having guards drag me down multiple hallways until we got to one of the pod launch bays. “What the hell do you think you’re doing to me!”

Footsteps came up behind me and the guards where I sharply turned my head around seeing my mother Dr Abigail and father Jake Griffin coming up to us. “Remove your hands from our daughter now please.”

“Counselors. We are just following your orders that you sent us Dr. Griffin.” One of them spoke, removing their hands from my forearm.

I elbowed the other guard in the stomach and he stumbled backwards into the nearest wall. “Orders. What orders have you told them?”

“Cassiopeia, honey there isn’t another way to ensure they won’t kill all three of us. I’m sorry, but we are sending you to the ground.” My mother explained beginning to take steps towards me till I harshly slapped her hand that reached out to touch me.

“You kicked me out of the house at sixteen to lower suspicion of you possibly having two kids but now you’re saying that isn’t enough!”

My father went around the corner escorting someone by the arm where it took me a minute before I recognized who he had alongside him. “Jake! We can’t let anyone else know what we are doing.” My mother gasped seeing my best friend.

“Cass! Why are they sending you down there? It isn’t safe yet. It hasn’t been a hundred years yet.” Glass Sorenson came running to me with her blonde hair and blue eyes, flinging her arms around my neck and began to cry.

Wrapping my arms around her I sobbed into her shoulder not wanting to be forced to leave her. “I don’t know why they’re doing this. I don’t want to go, Glass.”

“Dr. Griffin, please don’t do this. She’s my best friend.”

Mom sniffed through tears that were welling up in her eyes. “Glass, it’s family business-“

“Oh for god sake. I have a sister. Her name is Clarke and we are twins and nobody knows about us. That’s why they are sending me to the ground without knowing if it's survivable or not!” Throwing my hands up in the air I shouted getting frustrated that she was avoiding the truth.

Glass grasped my hand closest to hers. “Can I at least say goodbye before you send her down?”

“Yes. You can say goodbye, Glass.” My father nodded with a very weak expression.

Glass spun around on her feet, throwing her arms around me a second time. “I’m going to be praying that you make it. Because you are so much stronger and tougher than anybody thinks you are…may we meet again.” She sniffed back some tears once she had broken the embrace.

Squeezing her shoulders underneath my fingers I wiped away falling tears. “I will see you again, bestie. May we meet again.” From that day forward anyone else that came from the Ark couldn’t be trusted in my eyes.

I was born in space, but I became a Grounder.

Two guards drew the tent curtain opened on either side of me as I strolled inside with my shoulders back and head held high knowing who I was standing in front of at this very moment. The woman I now considered to be my Commander was seated on her throne of trees spinning a dagger in one hand until I paused in my step directly in front of her presence. “You summoned me, Heda.”

“I have an assignment for you. You are my best tracker and fighter in the ones up to take my place when my fight is over.” The Commander began speaking.

Brushing some of my loose hair from my eyes I had twisted one side of my hair into a braid and left the rest of it completely loose. “How have you chosen me to serve you today, Heda?”

“Anya has informed me that one of her scouts has stopped reporting the number of the sky invaders on our lands. I want you to set up camp near their camp and find out all you can about these sky people.”

Nodding my head in understanding I bowed my head down to her. “It will be done, Commander.”

“When you landed in our territory years ago I had many of my advisers tell me I should have just killed you right then and there.” I spun on my boots about to leave till she called for my attention again making me peek over my shoulder back at her. “I’m very proud that I made my own decision and kept you alive. You may have come from the sky but you’ve proven to be a true Earthborn, Warrior Cass.”

“I appreciate that I have your respect, Commander.” I smirked back at her spinning on my feet leaving her tent and heading off onto the assignment I had been given.

Days later I had moved into one of the nearby caves not too far from the sky camp. I sat on one of the middle ground branches hearing a small group of them coming in my direction. Wearing a pack of knives that were attached to a leather strap I scanned the area seeing a group of four guys running from one of the traps Lincoln had set up to catch reapers.

One of the guys that was wearing goggles on his head was screaming in the direction of some clan members that I knew about. “They can kill us whenever they want. Then they should get it over with! Come on! We know you're out there!”

“You want to kill us…” The second guy with long black hair grabbed the goggle wearing guy and slapped his hand over his mouth trying to shut him up.

“Bellamy!-“ The other sky person hollered to the one I was guessing was the leader of the group. I leaped down from the tree drawing out a flute with multiple darts inside of it, blowing into it I shot the other three in the neck and they collapsed out cold.

Raising myself up from my knees I bolted towards the last standing guy with curly raven hair. He tried to run at me but I twisted one of his arms around his back shoving him against the nearest tree. “I wouldn’t bother trying to call for help if I were you.” I whispered a warning in his ear, pressing a dagger to the back of his neck.

“You don’t scare me, grounder girl.” He growled back, doing his best to not show me any hint of fear.

Spinning him around pushing his back against the tree I soon realized that he was slightly taller than I was so I had to angle the blade up more than I originally thought I would have to. “I’m guessing you're their leader. I’ll give you a bit of advice, don’t put yourself out in the open unless you have a death wish.”

“Like I’ll ever take advice from the enemy.” The guy I heard them call Bellamy spat in my face. His dark brown eyes locked onto my green gaze.

Stepping away from him I tossed the dagger in my hand downwards towards his boots hearing a foghorn from somewhere else off in the distance. “Keep the blade you’re gonna need all the help you can get, Bellamy.”

“How the heck do you know my name? What the hell is yours, grounder?” He raised his tone, shifting his gaze from mine then down to the dagger at his feet.

I smirked hearing the horn noise getting louder telling me it was time to go. “I can’t give you the answer right away. Otherwise that gives away the game. See you around, Sky Boy.” Twirling on my feet I bolted into a run through the terrain leaving him too stunned in shock to chase after me.

It had been a few hours since the acid fog had cleared, meaning I could leave the entrance of Lincoln’s cave when I wanted to. Quietly entering the rest of the way inside Lincoln’s cave I saw a girl with dark black hair beginning to wake up. Hearing other footsteps running in I slipped behind the available space in the wall, making sure she or Lincoln didn’t see me watching them. The sky girl had managed to grab the keys and the group of boys that were with Bellamy helped her off the cave floor. She jumped into the goggles guy's arms. “How did you find me?”

“Followed him.” He chuckled in relief, hugging her back.

The girl broke the embrace and ran into Bellamy’s arms until he saw a spear laying beside a passed out Lincoln on the stone floor. “We should go. Now. Before he wakes up.”

“He's not gonna wake up.” Bellamy picked it, gripping the spear tightly in his hands.

The girl attempted to grab his wrist. “Bellamy, stop. He didn't hurt me. Let's just go.”

“They started this. Finn. Move.” He ignored her.

The guy that was bent down by an unconscious Lincoln noticed the horn he was wearing on his hip before Lincoln woke up and stabbed him in the belly where he collapsed onto the ground. “Foghorn.”

Bellamy raised the spear about to hurt Lincoln until I leaped out from hiding and up onto the older boy's back. “Argh! Get her off me-“ He struggled to grab a hold of me where I made him drop the weapon before he gripped my thighs throwing me off and onto my back harshly.

“Stop! That's my brother!” The young girl cried out moments after Bellamy and Lincoln went fighting over the spear till my friend grabbed it. He knocked the sky boy down pushing the weapon against his throat until she screamed.

I gasped sharply but wasn’t fast enough before the other guy hit him over the head and he fell unconscious. “Lincoln! - uhh you son of a bitch..” Scrambling to my feet I attempted to rush over to him but I felt a dart go into my neck making my vision blur, seeing Bellamy holding the dart flute up to his mouth seconds before everything went black.

Comments really appreciated ❤️