#maybe I’ll revisit this when I have more energy

[littlelovelyra]

Now is not the time, nor the place.

Gale x FemTav/Reader(f)

Word count: ~1,914

Warnings: fluff(?) , Fingering, hand jobs, mouth stuff, kinda? C*m shot?

MINORS DNI

Disclaimer: I literally always put a disclaimer that I am by no means a writer, I just day dream a lot to escape my hectic work days and my somewhat chaotic life so I write down my day dreams and revisit them sometimes. Decided to publish them here so its easy for me to find. If it at least entertain one person thats a win for me :'D

Summary:

Having arrived at Last Light Inn several hours ago, your party convened and, following a discussion with Jaheira, reached a consensus to divide the patrol duties to ease the burden. Prior to this decision, after battling Kar'Niss,Gale openly confessed his physical attraction toward you only to immediately extinguish any flame that thought may have produced. Now, as chance would have it, both of you find yourselves on duty, strolling along the docks of Last Light Inn, having determined your partners through a draw of names. Suspicious. 

___________________________

“Now’s not the time nor place.” What. The. Fuck. Gale. Why even bother saying it at all? You curse the foolish wizard in your mind, focusing on the two small pouches placed in the middle of the table where you and your companions are seated, trying not to shoot daggers in his direction. You can feel his side glances as he looks at you.

“Well, as much as I love us sitting around and staring at one another—because who wouldn’t want to stare at me—who’s going to be the first to draw a name?” Astarion looks around the table, taking us all in. We’re all looking pretty tired, and no one wants to take the leap, fearing they might draw “first watch” from the second pouch after selecting their partner from the first.

“Oh gods above, fine, I’ll do it.” Astarion reaches his hand into the first pouch, retrieves a name, and then dips his hand into the second, pulling out a small piece of parchment. He clears his throat. “Well, Shadowheart, I guess you and I are taking tomorrow’s watch,” he says as a slow smirk spreads across his face. Lucky bastard, you think to yourself. As everyone else gathers the courage to draw, the order goes as follows:

Astarion / Shadowheart: Second Night

Karlach / Wyll: Third Night

Lae’Zel / Halsin: Fourth Night

You curse under your breath at the absolute joke that is your luck right now. Though, you feel luck might not have anything to do with it. You suspect Gale has somehow played his magic hand in this. You can practically feel his smugness vibrating across the table from you. As much as you care for him, these past few weeks have been confusing. From his reaction to the moment you shared in the Weave, to his dismissal at the tiefling party when you sought him out. He told you to go “enjoy the festivities,” which led you to a pretty little clearing with a vampire spawn—an experience you note never to repeat. Then, just before entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands, he received his charge from Mystra and accepted it without considering anyone else. To top it all off, he basically admitted his attraction to you and immediately shot it down. All this hot and cold behaviour has been giving you more headaches than the damn tadpole in your head. 

Releasing a soft sigh, you push yourself back from the table and stand up, eventually meeting his gaze. “Come on, Gale, we’re up first. Jaheira has assigned us to the dockside for our patrol.” You keep your tone cool and matter-of-fact. You will not make a fool of yourself chasing someone who clearly does not want to be chased. With all the chaos of dealing with the cultists, you have no time or energy for these petty games of the heart. He either wants you or he doesn’t, and it seems it’s the latter.

Gale follows you as you walk towards your quarters. As you reach your door, you look back at him. “Wait here, I need to change. These clothes are disgusting after killing that drider. I won’t be long. Maybe you should change too—it’s going to be a long night. Meet me back here in ten minutes.” Pressing your lips together awkwardly, you watch him hold your stare for a moment before giving a slight nod. He turns on his heel and heads toward the shared quarters. You’re grateful that your companions graciously agreed to give you the only private room in the Last Light Inn; gods know you need a bit of privacy to collect your thoughts.

In your room, you quickly change out of your clothes, wipe yourself down with a washcloth, redress, and braid your hair back. Looking in the mirror, you can see how tired you are from the journey. Closing your eyes, you mutter a short prayer to Selûne for the strength to get through the evening. A soft knock at the door catches your attention, and you cross the room to open it. Gale stands there with a fresh set of clothes, his hair now tamed, and even a bit of his beard trimmed. His eyes are as bright as ever, always seeming deep in thought, making you wonder what’s going on in his mind. “Stop it”, you think to yourself, “Now is not the time.”

You usher him out of the doorway and lead the way outside, down to the docks. You notice how close he is walking next to you, the silence is loud but every now and then his hand accidentally brushes up against yours and sends a soft shiver running up your arm. Again you wonder if he is using any magic to conjure up that effect on you. 

Walking to the edge of the dock, you scan the perimeter. Everything is quiet; it all seems as it should. You lean over the railing and glance at your reflection in the water, exhaling loudly. You stay there for a moment with your eyes shut, taking in the sounds of the flames softly flickering on the nearby torches and the occasional gentle splash of the water. It’s the most peaceful you’ve felt in a long time.

“Lost in thought?” Gale says as he places himself next to you, leaning down with his arms supporting him on the railing. You turn your head to face him and notice that his face is mere inches from yours. You linger there for a moment, your eyes scanning his face and finally your gaze falls to his lips, you wonder how they would feel pressed against yours. He catches your stare and the left side of his mouth pulls up into a soft smirk.

“Actually, I’m not thinking at all.” You say pushing yourself up you ready yourself to leave this side of the dock and continue your sweep of the area. As you turn to leave, Gale grabs your hand. You turn to him puzzled.

“Let’s stay a moment longer, shall we? It’s quiet, and nothing will happen if we take a few selfish moments for ourselves.” His thumb traces lazy circles on the back of your hand, releasing a flurry of butterflies in your stomach. You watch his gentle movements, marvelling at how hands so powerful can also be so tender. Your thoughts drift to how those very same hands might feel exploring your body, familiarising themselves with your secret places while bringing you to complete ecstasy. Your cheeks begin to flush at the mental image you have painted for yourself and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by him as he offers a soft clearing of his throat to pull your attention back to reality. 

“I meant every word I said, by the way.” He looks at you, expecting a response, but you're unsure what to say. Words elude you, so you remain silent, hoping he'll continue—and he does, simply because he’s Gale.

“I have never wanted you more than I do now. Seeing your cheeks flush just then only made my desire that much more uncontrollable. I keep waiting for the right moment to kiss you, to show you how much I want you. It has to be perfect—you deserve that. But perhaps, just for tonight, we can allow ourselves a bit of imperfection. Or an appetiser before the main course, if you will.”

He raises his hand and gently lifts your face towards his. Slowly, he lowers his lips to yours, tenderly moulding them to fit around yours. A soft whimper escapes your mouth, and you feel your knees shake as if they're about to give way to this moment. Sensing your thoughts, Gale places his other hand on your hip, steadying you and pulling you closer to him. Everything around you seems to disappear, and all that exists in this moment are the two of you, completely lost in each other's embrace.

As he starts to pull away, he leads you to the covered area of the dock—more private, secluded—and you see the intent in his stare. Slow he brings the two of you down onto the deck, gently he lowers you to your back while he positions himself above you. His lips come crashing down to yours once again but this time with urgency. He uses his free hand to roam its way under your clothes exploring your soft curves and taking his time familiarising himself with the shape of you. He delicately rubs the pad of his thumb over your peaked sensitive nipple which causes you to gasp at the sensation, heat pooling in your core. You shift your hips up towards him instinctively and he groans into your mouth while your tongues dance together. His hand slithering down, snaking its way to your heated centre. Slipping under your panties his fingers slide between your folds, you inhale sharply at the sensation. Gods above nothing in your fantasies even compare to what this feels like in real time. Gale lets out a low groan. “Mhm. You are so ready for me my love. I want that to be perfect so this will just have to do for now.” as he finishes his sentence he slides two of his fingers inside you and curls them upward. Slowly pumping them in and out while his kisses become frenzied.

Your hands go exploring on their own and you find him, hard and ready. You can feel it pulsing through his trousers. The growl that escapes his lips is inviting enough for you, reaching in as you pull his length out and begin stroking him tenderly at first and then more desperately as you feel him rocking his hips in time with your hand. His hand is still working inside you and the two of you become desperate as the pace picks up. You lift your shirt up exposing your breasts with your spare hand and he brings his head down as he sucks in the swollen peak of your breast. You can feel it, the two of you are so close. 

“Gale.. Gale.. I’m going to…” You're breathless now. You can’t get it out, your head is dizzying. 

He brings his mouth to your ear, his breath hot as he whispers;  “Let go. Cum for me”. 

That’s all it takes. Your whole body shatters around him as his name escapes your lips in pure unfiltered ecstasy. He comes undone seconds later, you feel a warm splash on your bare stomach and he brings his head down to rest his forehead on yours. Softly he kisses you again before you both straighten out your clothing and smooth your hair. Silently you sit there leaning into him on the deck looking out over the water. 

“I have a confession to make.” He says scattering kisses down your cheek.

“Mhmmm… Let me guess? You rigged the pouches somehow to be partnered with me tonight?” You say looking at him.

He flashes you a wicked smile and kisses you deeply as you both stand up to continue a sweep of the perimeter. You are on duty after all and now is not the time.. nor the place.

[dutifullynuttywitch]

📝 Answer these questions and send to five mutuals! Get to know each other’s writing processes and learn some tips from other writers!

1. How long have you been working on your current WIP(s)?

2. Do you have any tips to beat writer’s block?

3. What is a current fic you’re reading? Is there a fic/writer who inspired you to start writing?

4. What’s the first and last sentence of a current WIP you have written?

5. Do you have a fave OC? (if any?) Why?

Hi Nonny! Thanks for the lovely ask, and apologies for taking so long to respond - xx

1. How long have you been working on your current WIP(s)?

I have a few Choices WIPs, including one for Mal Volari (Blades of Light and Shadow). It explores moments from his and Wren’s childhood, including their mom’s death, being shuffled around orphanages and the Thief’s Guild, and how it shaped who Mal became as a young man. I’m embarrassed to say it’s been on the backburner since last year… It’s nearly done, but there’s something that doesn’t feel right…

My main WIP is my Romance Club Heaven’s Secret 1 Revisited. I started it in April 2024, and one year later, I’ve published 32 chapters, 170k words. It’s my most ambitious project, and I’m pretty happy with how it’s turning out. I’m about 2/3 done.

2. Do you have any tips to beat writer’s block?

I do writing exercises – I’ll picture my characters in various random scenarios and write out how they’d react, what they would say…  it helps me figure out their voice when I’m blocked. I take inspiration from songs (JB got me into Taylor Swift last weekend… I spent all Saturday listening to her lyrics while writing Chapter 32!)

3. What is a current fic you’re reading? Is there a fic/writer who inspired you to start writing?

Dani @storyofmychoices is the reason I joined tumblr to read her wonderful Mal Volari x Daenarya fics.

A current fic I’m reading is from another fandom, Obey Me, Love, Demonic drama, and why am I a sheep?! I love her writing style!

Also waiting with bated breath for the next instalment of Of Cloudless Climes and Starry Skies by the wonderful @loreofyore (Choices fandom).

I’m also behind on the now finished (!!) Lux in Tenebris by @malbontesmrs Had to stop reading it because her Lucifer is So. Good. I mean really!! It was messing with my own headcanons for my fic. I am looking forward to digging back in soon.

4. What’s the first and last sentence of a current WIP you have written?

Ok I’m cheating a bit, this is the first and last sentence of the parts I’m currently working on for Heaven’s Secret 1 Revisited.

His veins feel molten, coursing with an unrelenting fury that threatens to spill over and devour everything in its path.

I thread my fingers in his silky hair, but Lucifer gently pulls my hand away. He exhales my name, gives me one last soft, chaste kiss on my neck and takes a step back.

5. Do you have a fave OC? (if any?) Why?

I have 3 fave OCs

Autumn Nightbloom, my Blades of Light and Shadow MC, you can read more about her here. I like her duality, she’s adventurous and sociable but also needs some alone time to recharge. She’s always felt like an outsider, being an elf raised by humans, it makes her feel a little vulnerable. She's empathetic but has a hard time expressing her feelings. Her composure balances the love of her life Mal’s high energy – particularly as they run their orphanage and deal with a dozen rowdy kids!

Eva Archer has a particularly tough upbringing, having only ever known the zombie apocalypse and the Tower’s authoritarian system. She is fiercely loyal, speaks out against injustices (which of course gets her and her friends in trouble), and will do anything to defend her friends.

Then there’s my Heaven’s Secret MC Vicky – not the RC version, but the one I’m developing through my fic. Maybe I’ll do up a character profile at some point…

[flaylore]

DIRECTORY (2024)

Jan 1, 2024, Red Mecha Pilot Tries Blender To Make Goo Cat!!!!!!

As Flayon’s about to end the stream, he reminds viewers to love themselves… and for a split second, his eyes swirls, telling them to never leave him.

Jan 2, 2024

‘Can you have a late growth spurt in your 18000's???’

Jan 4, 2024

'i cant wash the black strands out of my hair so i guess i didnt dye it WEIRD'

Jan 4, 2024

imo it looks like it's spreading

Jan 6, 2024, The Roons Got Me A Place At Time Square!!! || + Granblue Fantasy

Flayon starts to pan over a fanart of X. The screen glitches as he stares at it, saying nothing. He turns the page and the glitching stops.

MINOR: Jan 8, 2024, 【debut watchalong】o . o

Flayon revisits his debut, occasionally interrupted by glitchy moments, and ends with a brief cameo of the original pilot that got his place taken by him. Please read the summary for more information.

MINOR: Jan 13, 2024, the anxiety of happiness roon

A new Machiroon asset was introduced, which warped into a scene where a figure with swirly eyes appears. Please read the summary for a more detailed information.

MAJOR: Jan 20, 2024, Content Warning|【Machiroon Appreciation+ NEW OUTFIT】AAAAAAAAA

He compares his old outfit and his recent one, lamenting how he has changed from before.

Jan 22, 2024, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes] I Need To Play Kuon Immediately #sponsored #ad

Up until this point, Flayon’s height is 171cm.

Jan 30, 2024

‘there are many me and there are many you’

Feb 7, 2024 

‘THE RUBIX CUBE IS BEATING MY ASS’

‘its a mirror cube its so confusing’

‘apparently pre debut i was able to solve stuff like this so effortlessly’

‘idk what happened’

‘i cant pilot things like I used to either’

‘the memory is so hazy’

‘but maybe its better it stays buried’

Feb 11, 2024

‘Sometimes it feels as if the R-TRUS is going to destroy me from the inside’

‘Oh-oh shut down rtrus sometimes maybe- wait can rtrus be shut down?’

‘yes

if i have no energy then he won't work

or if im too stressed then he wont work

sometimes when im inside, he'll move on his own a bit

it hasn't been happening often but every now and then’

Feb 12, 2024

‘I’m losing apart of me every time I pilot…’

Feb 13, 2024,【POKEMON UNITE】Duo's w/ The Regis ALTARE, Hero of Elysium & Your Heart

R-TRUS was found in Xenokuni and Flayon gets visits from scientists.

Feb 17, 2024, Experiencing The Wholesome Door 2 w/@Octavio_en in【The House in Fata Morgana】| Spoiler Alert!

Flayon does not have a reflection in the mirror.

Feb 17, 2024, Experiencing The Wholesome Door 2 w/@Octavio_en in【The House in Fata Morgana】| Spoiler Alert!

Flayon questions if the person inside your reflection is a doppelganger rather than yourself.

MINOR: Feb 20, 2024, x teaser

This video is best watched in its entirety.

March 4, 2024 

‘Do you wanna know how it feels to be crushed by 100+ tons of reinforced X-metal? Just because the R-TRUS is big doesn’t mean your death will be quick You’ll feel your bones pull apart and slip out Your eyes will leave your sockets ever so slowly and if I aim right I can play’

‘around with you like food. not to mention if I choose to absorb your very life force into the R-TRUS It’s the equivalent of taking out your soil and throwing it into a sea of memories. You’ll experience all the pain of everyone who met their death to me Just when you think it’s’

‘over, the cycle will loop and I’ll use your remains as fuel which I will then have concentrated into energy that flows through my spinal cord Basically you’ll be connected to my nervous system and have to share each and every waking moment with me without being able to leave’

March 8, 2024

‘I’m getting rid of old clothes and there is a lot of oversized shirts/jackets/hoodies from school SLIGHTLY 

Nostalgic but I’m bitter about something when I see it too’

‘I have one green jacket that is made out of fleece and was way too big for me

idk how I wore that and why I would wear green’

Mar 12, 2024

‘japan public transportation so cool IM STILL CONFUSED but I can feel myself getting the hang of it just slowly’

(Someone asked if he parked the R-TRUS somewhere.)

‘i have him on standby at the guild

he keeps moving on his own sometimes

just lil twitches’

April 11, 2024, 【CORPSE PARTY】Nah, I'd Live (Does He Know?) | CONTENT WARNING

Flayon loses a lot of blood when he fights with the R-TRUS overdoing it.

April 12, 2024

‘This pilot is going to go back to sleep, that is a warning from my body that I need more rest 

Hard to understand it without the R-TRUS directly telling me what's wrong with me’

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

This a series of clips where he turns on the red eyed toggles.

He reaffirms that he is a genius.

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

Rudely responding with, ‘What’s your problem?’

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

Flayon with red eyes grumbles as he confirms that the outfit he’s wearing is the one he wore when he attended Elysium Academy.

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

Flayon with red eyes confirms that the TEMPUS members do not attend the Elysium Academy.

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

Flayon with red eyes questions if the viewers actually want to be crushed by the R-TRUS.

April 15th, 2024, THIS CAT IS BANNED IN 44 STATES!!!! (ROON DAY 2)

Flayon with red eyes calls viewers filthy.

April 20, 2024,【UNARCHIVED KARAOKE】LET'S PARTY WITH THE BOYS BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY 🎂🎈【OFF COLLAB】

He turns into particles to teleport in and out of the R-TRUS. The sensations feels like it’s ripping his flesh apart, claiming that he’s used to it.

27 April, 2024

This a series of tweets where he turns on the red eyed toggles.

‘Do you know how painful it is to be the only one in Elysium with this kind of fire power? No other *mechs* except MINE? No one worth my time.. Until now. Do your best or you'll just become fuel for /my/ R-TRUS.’

[responding to a tweet congratulating Flayon, and pointing out his red eyes]

‘Hah?’

27 April, 2024

[responding to a tweet saying that they’re excited to fight him in Idol Showdown, 1st tweet, 2nd tweet]

27 April, 2024

[replying to a tweet of an image of X]

‘why did you send a blank image??’

May 1, 2024

[responding to yatogami fuma, who asked flayon to come over]

‘im afraid senpai

 i want to retreat to the insides. 

while i stay outside’

May 5, 2024

Flayon is referencing a monologue of his first post on Twitter/X, with updated information such as his age being 18433 years old and being put on leave after being questioned over his mental stability. Original monologue

My name is Machina X Flayon. I'm 18433 years old. I currently reside in Japan, an area associated with Xenokuni, with the rest of my guildmates and I am not married. I work as the mecha pilot for the TEMPUS GUILD, but was put on leave after the board questioned my mental stability

May 14, 2024

[responding to someone asking if he gets any weird alerts/updates from the R-TRUS when doesn’t get to use it]

‘his mental state mirrors mine’

May 14, 2024

[responding to someone asking if he’s worried he’d forget to pilot the R-TRUS if he doesn’t get to use it]

[an image of flayon with red eyes looking down disapprovingly, shadow looming over his face]

May 16, 2024, I am Hakumen. THE END HAS COME【BLAZBLUE: CENTRALFICTION】

Flayon has various weapons outside of the R-TRUS. He has his shields where he can propel off them, and his energy drinks that act as bombs that its properties similar to lava.

[soybeeftacos]

Wow, so today is the TENTH anniversary of this little Netrunner blog. And, of course, I only post here a couple of times per year and I have also largely moved on to other games. To that point, the picture here is from last weekend’s Store Showdown for Star Wars: Unlimited, when my son and I got paired in the final round (me on Palpatine blue, him on a mono red Maul). We are prepping today to go out and do it all over again.

Netrunner meant a ton to me, but the energy for that game seems to have fizzled. I’ll pick up cards and try to get them to the table whenever I can, but it’s now firmly in “hey let’s revisit old times with duel decks” territory rather than a game we keep up with. I’ve seen a few things about Elevation — the new product that is replacing all of the FFG-era cards — that sound vaguely interesting, but not a lot of hype for it.

Instead, having a similar-ish game I can play with my son, one that has been releasing 750+ cards per year, one that is about a recognizable lore (and not one being managed by my least favorite person in gaming)… all of these make SWU our game for the moment. And, frankly, it’s kind of fun to be complaining about boneheaded decisions made by FFG again, oddly enough.

I’ll check in with Netrunner again when the new set drops, and I’ll probably never willingly give up this little blog. Netrunner is still a gorgeous and wonderful game, despite any meta shifts I dislike or the issues I have with those managing it now. I’ve recently been unbanned from the Netrunner subreddit (long story; my earlier, acerbic attitude toward the game irritated some of the NSG folks) and will probably be more active there, as well as maybe revive this as a Netrunner blog once the new set is out.

Anyway, happy (?) 10th birthday to Soybeef Tacos!

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Okay so Pokémon Legends Z-A!  What the fuck!  Wow!

One big concern I want to get out of the way first: apparently the game is going to take place entirely within Lumiose City.  And I mean, Lumiose is the biggest city in Pokémon, but what about the whole rest of Kalos?  Also how will we encounter Pokémon?  Surely they’re not all city-dwellers.  I have to wonder if this was a miscommunication, but I guess we’ll see.

Anyway: YES!!  Not only are we getting a new Legends game (PLA was immediately one of my favorite games in the series), but it’s set in the woefully under-utilized Kalos region!  Kalos is a well of untapped potential, and this has the chance to be a very striking way to finally draw it out.  They knew exactly what they were doing when they let that Z linger on-screen.  AND, not only THAT, but the franchise is taking 24 off and saving this game for NEXT YEAR!  Thank God, this is great news for GameFreak’s employees, and if Pokémon of all things sets this precedent it could have a HUGE impact on the industry.

As for why it’s “Z-A”…who knows?  I’m sure at least part of it is the creators wanting to come up with a more unique name, which is fair.  The hyphen makes it seem like a range covering the entire alphabet, which could signify something all-encompassing, and reversing it to go from end to beginning likely plays into the cycle of life and death represented by Xerneas and Yveltal (in this case, death must occur for new life to take its place, or something along those lines).

I’m glad (and amused) that they specifically showed Furfrou in the teaser, as it’s currently one of the last few Pokémon yet to be available in a mainline Switch game.  After this, I believe it’s just Patrat/Watchog and the Elemental Monkeys?  Maybe they’ll toss them all in to finish rounding things out.

Part of me does wonder if the prevalence of Unown in the Presents could be significant…but probably not.  As the world’s biggest Unown fan I adored their sidequest in PLA, but Unown haven’t appeared in Kalos previously and it would make more sense to revisit Zygarde Cells for this sort of quest.

And Mega Evolution!  Honestly it feels a bit weird to say it’s “back” when it’s remained prevalent in everything but the mainline games, but I’ll get over it, I’m still thrilled!  Mega Evolutions in a Legends game!  I have to imagine we’ll get some additional information on it; there’s a good chance the game will feature Kalos’s first discovery of Mega Evolution, too.  On the chance of getting new Megas…I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it would make a lot of sense!  Though I definitely still want new regional forms too.  Maybe I’m being greedy.  But speaking of forms, if the do give new forms to Xerneas and Yveltal, I hope they look better than Dialga and Palkia’s Origin Formes, those still bother me.

I’m personally hoping this one won’t be an isekai.  PLA did end up utilizing it well enough, but I’d still prefer to stay as grounded in this particular time period as possible.  Something about giving you a magic smartphone in ye olde past just feels…I dunno, patronizing?  But since Arceus probably won’t be involved this time and I don’t see any of the XYZ trio opening time portals, I think there���s a good chance of avoiding the isekai angle.  One related thing that brings to my attention is space-time distortions; they’d probably be a poor fit here on a thematic level, so I hope they’re able to come up with a good stand-in.  Maybe Mega energy suddenly flares up in a region and affects the Pokémon?  Will we encounter wild Megas?  Wait, Alphas are still a thing, right…?

Come to think of it, how will the Pokédex be handled?  I really liked the approach of creating the region’s first Dex; perhaps it could be an element of this “redevelopment” process?  I hope so.  Anyway I could list things I want to see for hours but I think this is sufficient to communicate what sort of headspace I’m in regarding this announcement.  Hon hon hon baguette Prism Tower, everyone!

[cosmiccannibalcamille]

YOUR September Horoscope

Somehow we’ve found ourselves in month nine of 2024, celebrating the 9th new moon of the year. That’s right, it is officially September. How we got from January to now, I’ll never know, but what I do know is that this month has its fair share of planetary transits. And there is at least one planetary transit that is guaranteed to shake up your world even more than the realization that summer is nearly o-v-e-r. 

     No, it’s not Uranus retrograde, which kicks off the month. It’s not even the Virgo new moon on Sept. 2 (aka today) or eclipse season, which starts Sept. 17. It’s Pluto retrograde in Capricorn. That’s right, the outer planets—Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, and now Pluto—are all in retrograde motion, meaning the universe is hitting rewind on some unresolved issues. If you thought you had tied up loose ends, think again. This month is all about revisiting the past, making necessary tweaks, and maybe even giving the cosmic middle finger to anything that’s holding you back. 

     These retrogrades have already impacted me! My book release for Jupiter Returns has been pushed back a few days, but it is very nearly finished and I CANNOT be more excited. (Seriously, as we’ve finalizing edits and formatting for the novel, I’ve just fallen more in love with it. It’s hilarious! It’s heartfelt! And it’s soooo much fun!! I’ll be posting another chapter of the novel THIS WEEK). Anyway, that’s the general gist of September. Here’s the actual astrology:

Sept. 1 - Uranus stations retrograde, 27°

Sept. 1 - Pluto Rx re-enters Capricorn, 29°

Sept. 2 - Virgo New Moon, 11°

Sept. 4 - Mars enters Cancer

Sept. 9 - Mercury enters Virgo

Sept. 17 – Eclipse season begins with Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, 25°

Sept. 22 - Sun enters Libra

Sept. 22 - Venus enters Scorpio

Sept. 26 - Mercury enters Libra

     As you can see, I have not gone into great, GREAT detail about each and every planetary transit happening this month; I save such things for the weekly forecast. However, because this month essentially starts on a new week, I’ll go into those details as I explore the major astrology in the works. That said, let’s dive in, shall we?

Sept. 1 - Pluto & Uranus Rx

     On September 1st, Uranus joins the retrograde parade, staying in reverse until January 2025. This pulls focus to the Taurus part of your chart, and all the ways you are still yearning to either shake things up, wake things up, or rebel against the status quo and do things differently. Also happening on Sept. 1, Pluto re-enters Capricorn for one final hurrah before it takes up permanent residence in Aquarius on November 19th.

     Pluto’s last lap in the 29th degree of Capricorn is like a final exam on the lessons of stability, power, and transformation. The 29th degree is a fame degree, a critical degree, and an anaretic degree. You might be reckoning with something BIG. (Your horoscope for Anaretic Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn drops this Friday!)

     Expect some pushback this month, especially when it comes to transformation. The status quo isn’t going down without a fight, so brace yourself for some serious resistance—whether in your personal life or the world at large. But remember, this is the turning point. Are you ready to step into the new world, or are you clinging to the past like a millennial with a flip phone?

Sept. 2 - Virgo New Moon

     Feeling a little sluggish? You’re not alone. The New Moon in Virgo on Sept. 2 is all about getting your life in order, but with Mars in Gemini squaring Neptune Rx in Pisces, it might feel like you’re trying to organize a sock drawer while underwater. The vibe is sober, maybe even a bit blah, so make sure you’re taking care of yourself—physically and mentally. It’s all about balanced living right now, so eat your veggies and keep your energy levels in check. You’ll thank yourself later. Get YOUR Virgo New Moon horoscope here. 

Sept. 7 - 14 - Mid-Month Musings

     September 7th to 9th is when things start to get interesting. Mercury in Leo squares Uranus in Taurus, and the Sun in Virgo opposes Saturn in Pisces. Translation: your curiosity is piqued, and you’ve got the discipline to tackle those big, overwhelming tasks you’ve been avoiding. New solutions might come out of nowhere—be open to them. By the 9th, Mercury slips into Virgo, urging you to methodically sort through whatever insights you’ve just stumbled upon.

     By September 12th, the Sun squares Jupiter, and Venus trines it on Sept. 14. This is your cosmic green light to finally tackle those projects you’ve been neglecting. Want to bring some beauty and harmony into your daily grind? Now’s the time. Just don’t go overboard with the indulgences—Jupiter can be a bit of a glutton.

Get the FULL SCOOP on the astrology of September (including your HOROSCOPE) on The Cosmic Almanac

[theawakenedstate]

3 Spiritual Awakening Beginner Lessons I Would Pay to Know Now

Here are three key lessons that I learned on my spiritual awakening journey that honestly I wish I would’ve known at the beginning.

So, If I was a spiritual beginner or if I was new to spiritual awakening, these are the top three lessons that I wish I would’ve known at the beginning to really propel me forward on my own awakening journey, where I didn’t feel like I needed to trial and error everything.

There’s so much growth that happens when we do trial and error, but at the same time, I really wished there was like a roadmap or a guide or something that was easy to access that would’ve helped me on my journey. Let me save you some frustration, Time, and let’s be real RELIEF – When it comes to the spiritual awakening Journey.

Spiritual Awakening can be Challenging but it doesn’t have to be

Spiritual Awakening can be challenging when we’re first waking up, there are all sorts of discoveries and emotional rollercoasters. It causes a direct Mental and physiological shift on our reality. However, where it can go wrong for many people is when you start listening to the people who keep telling you Ascension is all about suffering and spiritual growth is about Pushing through your pain.

Now of course if you know me i am not remotely about spiritual bypassing anything, Pain DOES lead to growth. In the same way when you start a workout routine, your whole body might be incredibly sore and you want to sit on your ass for the next few days doing nothing – because you’re growing a new muscle you never grew before.

Our negative stories often reveal our positive strengths, and Polarity is a very real thing that universally exists since the beginning of time as we know it. At the same time, living in a Victim Mentality with your Spiritual Awakening and ascension symptoms is of disservice to yourself. It’s a VERY common problem that occurs and people are taught that it’s the only normal way of ‘ascension’. I stand up and CALL B.S.

I’ve met many people out there who are like that, where it’s just like, well, this is just another wave of ascension, so I better buckle down and handle it. You don’t have to live that way! While maybe i’ll get some triggered from this, i find it Ridiculous that it’s almost brainwashed into people especially if you’re NEW to the process.

AND on top of it, if you’re a spiritual seeker, you’ll eat that right up and think that’s the only way, which isn’t remotely true.

You can heal your Symptoms, you can manage your energy and you can also learn how to live from soul alignment so that you can even manifest a reality where you have hardly ANY SYMPTOMS. I know you can, because i’m living proof of it and so are many of my clients.

It lives in understanding your Energy and Your higher self.

There’s a Beautiful, Empowered, and Peaceful side of Awakening

I think it’s important to touch on, there is also a beautiful side of spiritual awakening. When you’re successfully navigating your spiritual awakening, you can start to own your intuitive gifts & your personal power. As you build your relationship to higher self, you begin to strengthen your intuition and your natural inherited manifesting capabilities. There’s so much beauty inside of spiritual awakening, and one of the things I’ve really been doing really just over the past three months is as I’m starting to write this book, I’ve just been really revisiting some of these core foundational concepts.

And it’s interesting how Awakening Has that spiral staircase effect where it’s like, wow, I wasn’t even seeing it like that before, but now it makes so much more sense.

So I wanna share with you in this week’s episode, what are the three lessons that I wish I would’ve known from the start of my journey

If you’re an Awakened Beginner or new to spirituality, these are the 3 key lessons I wish i knew from the start that would of helped me so so much. enjoy!

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

LISTEN ON THE PODCAST

What do you think? What are your own top spiritual lessons? I’d love to know! Let’s get a mass chain of spiritual lessons in the comments! 😼

Subscribe for weekly drops every Friday 🙏

P.S. The Soul Aligned Life Membership will be opening it’s doors this month! This is my monthly membership for learning how to take back control of your thoughts, and learn to navigate your spiritual awakening successfully! Stay Tuned in as a VIP by Signing up for my New series THE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING ROADMAP !

psttt, If you like this Episode, please share on socials (button below) and pin it for others to find! Thanks so much.

https://www.theawakenedstate.net/3-spiritual-awakening-beginner-lessons/

3 Spiritual Awakening Beginner Lessons I Would Pay to Know Now

Here are three key lessons that I learned on my spiritual awakening journey that honestly I wish I would’ve known at the beginning. So, If I was a spiritual beginner or if I was new to spiritual awakening, these are the top three lessons that I wish I would’ve known at the beginning to really […]

[brunettefm]

I feel really good about the ever-expanding universe. I find it fathomable (without effort) that I’m a nanopart of an infinite thing. This truth makes Our World seem smaller, which makes any goodness I am able to offer more meaningful.

Best fact ever: matter cannot be created or destroyed!!!!!! What’s here has always been here and will always be here. My little matter - my molecules and energy - might be solar wind some day, or an apple hanging off a tree. Or the apples on the cover of a newly printed copy of Twilight. Or a firefly at twilight. Or. Or!

This knowledge has carried me through immeasurable grief. And it’s the central thesis of my favorite poem (As Light by Devin Kelly)!

There is also the NOTHING MATTERS aspect of this, which delights me. We get to choose what matters to us! We get to choose how we respond to everything! I think this makes everything that “matters” matter so much more. Because maybe you don’t even realize that you DECIDED what matters to you!!! And despite this, you are revealing so much of yourself - your values and beliefs, your concept of self and your concept of the world, the extent to which you believe you play a part in it all - all the time.

It’s a nano part, sure. But it’s ours.

Wuthering Heights / Kate Bush

She’s dramatic. She’s singular. She’s a witch or maybe a ghost. She’s got me researching the music of her time, all the artists she’s inspired, her whole biography, her whole discography. It was the best thing this week to suddenly and completely GET HER! And LOVE HER!!! Plus the MUSIC VIDEO - I couldn’t have dreamed a better one if I tried! It’s a dream. It’s real life. It’s a girl alone in her thoughts. It’s a girl controlling the world. It’s EVERYTHING!!!!! I crave this song 10 separate times every day and then every time I’m like okay FINE I’ll listen to the WHOLE ALBUM!!!! FINE!!!! I feel like I’ve opened a door I didn’t know existed, tapped into a whole new realm of music, found a whole new side of the universe. This song is why I started writing all this!!! I can’t stop bringing Kate Bush up in conversation in hopes of gushing about her with someone!!!

Pale Blue Eyes / The Velvet Underground

I love this song because it feels like nothing changes from start to finish, even when things are changing. It feels like I have the space to spread out into the song, into myself, into my space. I often don’t realize I’m tightly wound until I listen to a song like this and feel lighter. SO much lighter.

I love that I start relying on the tambourine as soon as the song starts, allowing its presence to ground me while still driving the song. I trust the tambourine and she does not disappoint! In fact, it’s this very tambourine that allows the song to feel unchanging to me, that takes me right out of time and into all of this space.

I love how gentle the tone is and I love that, despite this, the bassline starts to feel groovy and danceable by the second verse. There is no change in pace or tone or emphasis inspiring this, it just happens when you tap in. I love the funky little instrumental breakdown that requires no lead up or comedown to fit right in (rooted, of course, by our tambourine). I love that after the breakdown we go right back to the simple instrumentals that made me float away in the first place.

Trip To Japan / The Shacks

I can’t mention spacious music without bringing one of my favorite songs of 2024 into the conversation. I thought I’d listen to it less now that the hot, bright summer is over, but I’ve continued queueing it with surprising frequency. I think there’s something in the underbelly of the music that allows the track to fit in with the darker toned tracks I crave this time of year.

The Promise / When In Rome

RIGHT off the bat this song reminds me of the Alien franchise, which I OBVIOUSLY love. I have yet to discern why this is true - I’ll revisit this when I crack the code. The Peter Gabriel In Your Eyes type drum riff that occasionally pops up in the background delights me. I’m just generally a sucker for the whole 80s synthpop thing going on here. I quite enjoy the whole album, and because I know little about the form at this time (I’m working on it), I can’t tell if it’s “good” or “bad.” I just know it’s working for ME!

S P E Y S I D E / Bon Iver

This song makes me teary every single time, and TRUST there have been many times. The guitar is so sweet but so melancholy. His vocal melody is so gratifying, particularly right before at the end of each verse when he switches to a chord with a darker tone. The sound, the Ahs and Ohs, are SO For Emma, Forever Ago. And these lyrics…my GOD!!!!

“I Know now that I can’t make good / But how I wish I could …Nothing’s really something now, the whole thing’s soot.” And he says soot as he’s switching to that lower chord at the end!!!! It’s THE EXACT right thing!!!!

“As I fill my book / Oh what a waste of wood / Nothing’s really happened like I Thought it would.” I’m upset.

“Man, I’m so sorry / I got the best of me / I really damn been on such a violent spree / But maybe you can still make a man from me.”

It’s the best song from SABLE, without question.

For the record, Bon Iver is the core player in my most comprehensive theory/ideology/insight related to the modern music landscape, but diving into this properly requires some research on my end. More soon!

MY albums of the week (idk whats going on with the spacing)

The Kick Inside / Kate Bush (OBVOUSLY)

Imaginal Disk / Magdalena Bay

Heart of Stone / Cher Bookends / Simon & Garfunkel To Live & Die In Space & Time / Lynn Avery, Cole Pulice

Tried Flying Lotus’s Cosmogramma (a few times, actually) and it wasn’t clicking for me. Sorry!

As per usual I find myself wishing I could listen to music and watch TV and read and write at the same time.

[sukepami]

Dear S,

Before you start reading this, I’ll need you to promise me something. It is not the hardest thing to ask of you, nor it is the simplest, but please, hear my plea: do not ever mention any of the things I’ll write further down this e-mail to anyone else, not even me. Don’t remind me of it. Don’t make me think about it. Do not ever, ever show even the barest inkling of knowledge about whatever it is that festers in these pages. If you can’t do this, please stop reading right now and simply send it to your junk mail. 

I’ve been thinking of writing to you ever since I asked if you remembered your old address. I didn’t do it because I forgot; I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten even the tiniest detail about you. Much on the contrary. I remember it all, in painstaking clarity, all your thoughts and opinions, what it is that makes you tick, what you hate, what you love. I know every single thing that once appealed to you and you let it go as years went by, how your world changed with your age. How, little by little, you forgot me too, like some infant dream you were finally ready to part ways with. As you may or may not know, things didn’t go the same for me.

Between the two of us, you were always the most level headed one. While you from time to time entertained my childlike wonder for the world and all the things I discovered as I grew up, you stood focused, not letting anything stray you from your path. You fought hard not to let the crackling energy housed inside you explode and, in turn, you had to find a different approach when it came to life. Your intensity made you sullen on the outside, expressionless. Even then, it could never make me admire you any less. In fact, it did the opposite: the more you pushed people away, the more I wanted in. To this day, you are still my most hard-fought over friend, the most special of them all. I never wanted to understand you. All I wanted was to stay close and bask in your light, even if only for a while.

What I’m trying to get at is that talking to you again is making me revisit some of the most bittersweet memories of my entire life. I could cope fairly well if you never made yourself known, but having you day in, day out in my line of sight and texting me out of the blue is doing things to me I can’t even understand. It hurts me, yet I’m still desperate for it, and maybe that is the reason why I entertain each and every one of your unsympathetic chimes, breaking me with the absolute disinterest with which you talk to me. If you don’t want to, why do you keep doing it? Why won’t you let me be?

Somehow, in this whirlwind of chaos, I still find a thousand reasons why I should never cut the cord. Knowing your whereabouts is vital to me, tranquilizes me in the most sickening way. A few weeks ago, I passed by your training room and peeked at you fighting like a man possessed, no light in your eyes. Days later, you walked past me on the street, but yet again I didn’t have the heart to say hello. Your air scares me, makes me want to pull away. How much of a coward does it make me, to hide whenever you’re around? Will I ever be able to face what you have become and not break down when I realize you’re not the friend I cherished so terribly anymore?

I just wish there was a way to know you’re still doing somewhat fine. You told me your dad’s been well and your mom’s fought depression again. What problems loom in your life? I’d do anything to be able to help. If you could spare me the tiniest bit of attention, the smallest of kindnesses, this selfish thing that beats for you inside me would finally be put at ease. If not, to forget you would be the immediate second desire I tend to so fiercely. To have my friend the way I do now is pure despair. To not have you wouldn’t change much about it. Still, I’d take your hatred over invisibility any day.

I missed writing to you too much. I hope you forget everything about this e-mail. 

Love, ten 

[revellier]

Some observations rewatching Good Omens S1 in prep for S2:

Even after 4 years of watching Sheen and Tennant becoming Sheen&Tennant, I’m happy to say that I still just see Aziraphale & Crowley when they’re on screen

That said, there are moments when I still see Tennant as the Doctor — mostly when he’s yelling. Still got that Oncoming Storm energy.

The special effect of them taking their escalators to reach heaven and hell still wows me every time

I love all the side characters and am a little sad we won’t revisit some of them in S2

On the other hand, the female characters in S1 leave something to be desired in terms of agency (and having any scenes that pass Bechdel?) so I’m hoping that changes with so many new ones being touted as prominent in the new season

I hope we eventually get to see the origin of Crowley and the Bentley. Maybe not a 28 minute cold open, but at least a good 10-15

There’s a whole post in my head analyzing Aziraphale’s thrill-seeking tendencies, but I’ll abstain until after S2

Despite a dozen+ rewatches, I still don’t understand why “You go too fast for me” is viewed as a romantic moment. Sure, it’s a great, dramatic line and sums up how Aziraphale views himself (inaccurately; did I mention the thrill-seeking thing? 👀) and their relationship, but I just find it sad

One of the most impressive things about the Hard Times cold open is how effectively it grounded and fleshed out characters that had spent most of the first 2 episodes feeling quite fantastical and at times even cartoonish. They did more in 28 minutes than what some shows manage in a whole season

[lowpawly]

6) hellscape

SO this is kind of an honorable mention but hellscape was a comic i did when i was 19-23 and that feature characters i made when i was 17. it was a project i cared about a lot and that i’d like to revisit one day but i got in WAY over my head by jumping into my massive multi part story instead of starting and learning with smaller projects. i used to have a website but i eventually couldn’t pay for the domain while i was unemployed and it got taken by some…scam chinese dating site i think? in a way that was kind of a relief because it became a big source of stress in my life, but one of these days i’d like to come back and refine my story once i’m a more experienced writer and comic artist. here’s some stuff from it i did back in the day

ANYWAYS that’s all i can think of for now but i’m sure after this i’ll remember more little projects that i’ve been developing. i’m really excited to finally have the time and energy to hoooooopefully actually get something done in the next few years (maybe even multiple things LOL) i’m glad that there are people out there who enjoy my silly little cartoons <3 ty ty ty

How many comics do you have? and where can I find them?

thank you for asking!!!!

sadly right now i don’t have any finished comics to show off as I only recently got the time to seriously work on my art BUT i do have a variety of projects that i can show off! there’s some stuff i’m actively working on and other stuff that’s more of a back burner thing but let me list out everything i’ve done/have planned on doing

1) angel bites

ok so my current project i’m working on right now is called angel bites and it’s actually going to be a fun lesbian erotica comic about an angel girl and devil girl who are bandmates and who secretly hook up on the side. i’m currently in the process of thumbnailing this one and i’m guessing it’s gonna be around 60 or so pages. once im done i’m gonna have the comic up on patreon/have it for sale digitally on a platform like itch.io BUT the first 20ish pages are sfw so I will post those publicly for free so i can show off my work and characters.

i designed these in universe pin ups that i haven’t posted publicly yet and even though i wanted to wait until i finish the third one in the series that’s a little sillier theyre my most recent and best looking art of the characters

2) sacrificial lamb

sacrificial lamb was my main focus for a bit but i’ve taken a break from it for the time being to work on other projects. it’s a more serious project than anything else i’ve been doing but it’s one i’ve been planning out since 2021 and that i do want to seriously look into getting published when it’s finished. it is a lesbian horror comic about a butch lesbian rabbit whose femme cat girlfriend gets sucked into the darker side of new age spiritualism. here is my WIP of the cover and a finished page

3) claw wrench

this is a lower priority project of mine but one i still want to make exist in some form one of these days. it’s about a teenage cat named milly going to live with their estranged super genius mad scientist half sister named mindy and her robot assistant mr. rogato. it would be a newspaper strip style comic with a few larger plot threads. i might start it up one of these days after i’ve gotten some other comics under my belt and i feel like i have a better mental image of what i want the writing to be like. here’s some designs i did in 2021

4) be mine, valentine

this is a project featuring characters of mine who i’ve had for a few years but only recently decided i wanted to turn into a short story. it’s about a peryton coder named cupid who is unbeknownst to herself a trans girl egg discovering her identity after being hired by a trans girl sex worker unicorn named valentine to help build a website for her work. it’s a short but sweet little love story that i have to plan out better before i seriously work on it but i can see it being something i make in the near-ish future. there will be some nudity and sexual themes but nothing pornographic so i will upload it for free online when it’s done ^_^ sadly i um…don’t have a sfw drawing of valentine yet LOL so you’re just gonna have to deal with a cropped pic

5) thalassophobia

this is probably most relevant to peoples’ interest who follow me and something probably remember. thalassophobia is a really big steven universe fan comic i started writing to give lapis a more complete arc. i had a lot of passion for it back in 2022/23 but steven universe hasn’t been on my mind as much recently so it’s gone on the back burner. still i put a ton of work into it so i’d like to come back and finish writing it one day, although for the actual comic process i might see about getting some help on pages and colors and such since considering the scale i think it’s way too big for me to do solo. here’s a cover and a few test pages i did

I HAVE ONE MORE COMIC TO TALK ABOUT BUT IVE USED UP THE IMAGE LIMIT i’m gonna finish in a reblog so give me a second

[1driedpersimmon]

I’ve been a bit too tired lately to finish things so here’s just a few Lights (and L) that I’ve doodled

[shadamyheadcanons]

Headcanon #274

My buddy shadowsfascination tagged me in a post asking which song I’m “vibing to” right now. I didn’t know who to tag and it’s a song that reminds me of Amy, so I wrote this weird, meta headcanon involving the song instead. Heads up: contains the probably misplaced optimism of a starved Amy fan.

--

“Maybe...hmmm...no, not that either!”

Shadow poked his head around the corner of his living room when he heard Amy’s grumbles. “Everything alright?”

Amy, Rouge, and Omega turned toward Shadow when he spoke, and Amy perked up. “Hey, Shadow! There are certain ~rumors~ floating around Sega that I might be getting a more important role in something soon,” she stage-whispered with a cheeky wink. “I’ve been needing a new theme song for years. I liked ‘My Sweet Passion’ by Nikki Gregoroff at first, but the more I listen to it, the more it feels...” She cringed.

“‘Dated’?” Rouge suggested, trying to be diplomatic.

“’MY SWEET PASSION’ IS A BIZARRE SONG WITH EVEN STRANGER LYRICS.”

Rouge gawked at Omega’s blunt statement, but Shadow and Amy both laughed. “No, Rouge, he’s right,” Amy managed through her giggles. “It’s just...not me.” She stared down at the blank piece of paper in front of her on the coffee table, then snapped her head back up. She clenched her hands into fists, and her eyes shone with determination. “This is supposed to be Sega’s job, but they’ve been no help, so I’m taking matters into my own hands! Once they see me take initiative, they’ll have to realize my potential!”

“You’re damn right,” Shadow agreed with a nod.

Rouge looked at him a little funny before turning back to Amy. “I still think you should go with ‘Follow Me’ by Kay Hanley. It really suits you.”

Amy shook her head fiercely. “No can do. That’s Team Rose’s theme. I wouldn’t feel right taking it for myself without Cream and Big by my side.”

No one bothered to point out that Team Rose hadn’t been properly reunited in a game for ages. It was a sore spot for Amy, and the others felt it was wasted potential, too.

“AMY. YOU MUST REVISIT MY SUGGESTION.”

“Absolutely not!” Amy laughed. “My theme song is not going to be ‘U Can’t Touch This’ by MC Hammer, and that’s final!”

“BUT THE LYRICS SAY ‘HAMMER TIME.’ IT IS A FLAWLESS MATCH.”

Shadow shook his head and sighed. He walked farther into the room and took out his phone. “None of you know what you’re doing. Watch the master.”

Amy looked confused, so Rouge explained as Shadow scrolled through his music. “Shadow has fourteen theme songs.”

“He has how many?!”

Shadow shrugged at Amy’s exclamation. “I’m a complicated man.” He tried to stay serious, but a soft snort escaped eventually, and the others laughed. “Aaaaand...here we are.”

He propped his phone up on the coffee table and waited as the peppy beat of a pop song emanated from his phone. Amy immediately hopped a bit and let out an excited little “oo!” at the song’s energy. Subdued vocals chimed in, contrasting with the mood at first, but they rose in pitch and volume as the song reached its joyous, hopeful chorus.

An off-season Swallow So that’s me Non-stop love song I’ll follow you Wherever you go!

I can’t wait to Catch up before the sun sleeps Not if you’re short of breath I’m the Disaster of Passion

By the time the second verse rolled around, Amy’s grin was as radiant as Shadow had ever seen it. Every lyric suited her perfectly, from the overzealous crush to the singer’s unwavering dedication, so much that she’d chase her beloved everywhere. Even Rouge and Omega looked impressed. Amy bobbed her head along happily.

The energetic beat finally faded out, and Amy immediately jumped into the air and squealed, “I love it! It’s perfect!” She pulled Shadow into a tight hug. “Oo, thank you Shadow! Now I can’t fail!” While Shadow recovered from the unexpected hug, Amy hurriedly scrawled down the song name and artist on the piece of paper and dashed for the door. She opened it and waved to them one more time, her smile brilliant. “Thanks, guys! I’ll see you later!”

Shadow looked after her fondly as the door swung shut. He didn’t see Rouge glance at his phone, perplexed.

“Since when do you listen to music like that? You normally stick to jazz, rock, and metal.”

“SHADOW HAS GROWN QUITE FOND OF THAT SONG IN PARTICULAR,” Omega cut in before Shadow could answer. “I RECOGNIZED THE WAVEFORMS FROM OUR APARTMENT’S AUDIO SYSTEMS. HE SELECTS IT FROM HIS PLAYLIST MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY.”

Rouge only looked more confused. She glanced back and forth between the phone and the door. She looked up at Shadow’s eyes, and then sadness crossed her face as she figured it out. He nodded in response to her unanswered question, seeing no reason to lie or feel ashamed of his feelings. Rouge winced. “You’ll listen to a song like that on repeat to remind you of her, even knowing who those feelings are really for?” she asked, her voice going quiet and strained at the end.

Shadow stayed calm and unfazed as he gazed in the direction Amy had left. “I’d never ask her to stop being her. Amy’s passion is what I love most about her.” He smirked wryly. “I just wish she had better aim.”

“BETTER AIM?!” Omega chimed in, straightening up in his seat. “PERHAPS I CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE AFTER ALL.”

Rouge snorted, then gave Shadow a reassuring smile. “Someday.”

He nodded in agreement and showed a true smile, inspired by the hope he always saw from his favorite hedgehog. “Someday.”

--

“The Disaster of Passion” by AKIRA is the theme song of May from Guilty Gear Strive. Given that, I know they couldn’t/wouldn’t actually use it for Amy, which is a real shame. It’s perfect for her.

It’s possible Amy could have a role--a sizable one, even--in one or two upcoming pieces of Sonic media, but it’s probably just wishful thinking on my part. And yeah, Shadow really does have fourteen theme songs. Can’t Amy have one more, Sega? As a treat?

[addicted-to-dc]

Red Hood’s Little Monster (Part 7)

Hello! I decided to revisit some unfinished works after my complicated relationship with writing improved a little. My plan is to have one last part for this, ending on chapter 8. IDK when I’ll get to it, but it’s my goal to start writing more often. Fingers crossed it’ll work out this time.

Warning: brief mentions of torture, scars, pain, etc. Turned into angst and sort of fluff. 

You simmered in silence as you walked beside the Outlaws, your nerves on high alert as they guided you to whatever transportation that they had available. Everyone was on edge, waiting for you to do something to slip away once again. That idea had popped in your head a few times, but you were exhausted. Three shifts in a week were unheard of, and you were lucky that you could still function at this point. Even after tossing aside the useless luggage that you had wasted a good three-hundred dollars on, you wouldn’t make it a minute without being caught again.

The Young Justice most likely surrounded the area, keeping their distance after what happened to Miss Martian. With them in the picture, escaping was impossible. Your eyes and limbs felt heavy, your exhaustion beginning to get the better of you. The others seemed to realize that as well, noticing how your pace started to slow.

“Heads up.”

In your exhausted daze you didn’t realize that the familiar voice spoke through the earpiece you forgot you had, but you would recognize the shift in the wind anywhere. Stopping, you finally gave into your exhaustion and dropped to the ground. The Outlaws tried to catch you, but Kara already scooped you into her arms and flew past them as a blur. You smiled in relief, your arms wrapping around her as she flew higher into the sky.

“Looks like I finally owe you one,” you tiredly say, closing your eyes. “Maybe two.”

Kara chuckled, pulling you closer as she increased her speed, “You won’t have to if you just accept my help, (Y/N).”

“You know why,” you sigh, opening your eyes to see her worriedly looking you over. “Your cousin wouldn’t take kindly to you helping a villain.”

She nearly flinches at the word, sighing, “You are too quick to label yourself.”

“It’s what I was created to do,” you mutter, staring off into the horizon as she finally lands at a… farm?

“Where are we?” you ask her, analyzing the area around you.

“My family’s farm,” Kara responded, placing a hand on your shoulder. “This is an important place to Clark, no one would come here and risk disturbing the peace.”

“You don’t know what he will do to get me,” you frown, folding your arms. “No matter how much I try to convince him to leave me alone, he comes back more stubborn and stronger than ever.”

Kara laughs lightly, guiding you to the house, “Quit overthinking things, we’ll have some peace for a little bit before moving on. I know someone who owes me a favor, and we won’t be bothered as long as we stay there.”

You allow her to guide you to the house, wondering who she referred to, “Fine, but this form is compromised. I’ll need a new identity soon, but I don’t know if I’ll have the energy tonight.”

“There’s no rush, (Y/N), and Clark’s parents aren’t here. They’re at a festival near town, so we won’t be bothered. You get changed, I’ll get everything sorted for tomorrow,” she smiled, guiding you through the hallway.

She gently maneuvers you to her room, but stops as you double over in pain. Your heart beats faster and faster as you feel your body begin to rearrange itself. Kara drags you into the room and holds you close, not knowing what else to do.

With shaking hands, you watch as the pigmentation of your skin changes. It shifts from the dark brown skin to pale, and continues to cycle through too many to count until it stops at a gray. You didn’t even realize you weren’t breathing until you were close to passing out.

“(Y/N)?”

You take in a deep breath and realize that you’re on her bed, your suit long discarded on the floor. Thankfully you wore underclothes this time.

“I’m fine,” you reply, trying to even out your breathing. “This hasn’t happened in awhile, that’s all.”

Kara grabs your chin and directs your eyes to hers, “This doesn’t look like you’re fine.”

Your attention moves to the mirror on her dresser across the room. It’s you, the real you. Shutting your eyes, you finally let out the tears you’ve been holding for who knows how long to escape. You worked so hard to never return to this form, to never let the memories resurface and doom you to another relapse. The scarred gray skin and hair was nothing, but the black, soulless eyes that stared back at you tore you apart.

The League left their mark on you and made sure that you would never forget it. Your true form always healed from the torture at first, but each cut soon became so engrained in your mind it became permanent. They broke and rebuilt you so many times you don’t know where they end and you begin.

The sudden involvement of Jason and all the other heroes triggered your flight response, and it seems that’s the only thing you’re good at. You feel Kara wipe away the tears, and you nearly flinch from the unexpected skin contact. Hesitantly, you open your eyes and look at Kara. It’s not a look of pity, but it’s something you can’t quite place.

“I never wanted you to see me like this,” you whisper, looking into her eyes, “never wanted you to get this close.”

She smiles, “You did.”

A sad laugh erupts from your throat, “I did, but I didn’t want you to get tied up with me.”

“You’re the one who took the bullet for me.”

“Well,” you begin, “you’re the alien who is weak to kryptonite. Plus, it was just a bullet. I’ve been through worse.”

You both go silent.

“I want to at least try,” she says, firmly grasping your hands. “If everything goes up in flames, then we deal with it. If it doesn’t… then we’re happy. Not scared of the future or constantly looking over our shoulder, but happy.”

“But what if-”

You cut yourself off, squeezing her hands to remind yourself.

“Okay,” you agree, feeling relief flood into your system.

She pulls you close, closer than anyone has ever gotten in your lifetime. Your hands hesitantly wrap around her, finding a place to rest as you just take everything in.

“No more running,” you promise, looking out the window. “Never again.”

[logically-asexual]

my first attempt was totally ripping off of thomas’s. like it was literally the same four and just tweaking their interests a little.

my second attempt was a little different, but still not enough. i tried to base them on eeveelutions to force myself to come up with something different and it was cute but still a copy of thomas’s and not totally me.

and then my third attempt was inspired by something my psychologist told me about myself. she was trying to point out positive qualities about me and she said something about my morality which was weird to me because i never thought of that as something that affects my personality or how i’m perceived.

so in that attempt i thought about how i always do this thing where whenever i’m presented with a new perspective or new information or a dilemma i sit with myself and figure out my opinion on it, what arguments support it, and how this opinion ties in to the values i have, and if i need to shift any of my other opinions a little so i can make it all coherent.

i also related to Daria from the show with the same name because of this. she has all these strong ideas but she’s so convinced of them because she came to those conclusions through a similar analysis. in a couple episodes you can see her mind shaken by a new perspective and she has to reevaluate everything to make sense of her thoughts.

and so i realized that my morality was more like… rational and logical than anything else. she’s just not emotionally involved in many of these things. also a reason why i am no activist or someone who speaks out. most of this stays in my thoughts and shows up in action only when a situation calls for it.

and then i thought that the part of me that likes science is way more emotional about it. there’s a lot of anxiety there because i want to like science to feel intelligent and worthy etc etc but i also just like the aesthetics of it. i don’t dream of doing science as much as i dream of the image of it. the labcoat, the professionalism, being called dr., filling notebooks with diagrams and equations, all that.

so that was enough for me and i didn’t keep going because it was the first time i had actually thought about my own self who i am and what are my motivations and feelings and it was too much. barely have energy to unpack all of this, and it would only be two sides of who knows how many? no thanks i’ve had enough lol.

maybe one day i’ll revisit it.

i haven’t tried to figure out what my sides would be in a while because last time i came to a shocking conclusion with the first one and then i never continued.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Thoughts on Wednesday ep. 1

I don’t have time or energy to binge anymore but I did watch the first episode of Tim Burton’s Addams Family update series, Wednesday, and I have some thoughts.

Spoiler break ahead, but the tl;dr is I bloody loved it.

Thing gives somebody the finger. That pretty much is Exhibit A that this is a far cry from the John Astin/Carolyn Jones TV classic of the 1960s, or for that matter, Tim Burton’s own 1990s reimagining with Raul Julia that made Christina Ricci a star with her own version of the sociopathic Wednesday.

As can be expected from an updating, there are a number of ... updates to be had. Wednesday at times shifts from being pure evil (did she really kill 2 fellow students or is she just playing up? That’s left unclear but one bully does get his private parts chewed on by a piranha after he makes the mistake of bullying her brother, Pugsley) to being simply disturbed, in part due to an incident when she was a young child that is as close to an origin story as we’re likely to get. At the same time, Wednesday’s relationship with her parents (Catherine Zeta Zones as Morticia, revisiting her accent from The Mark of Zorro, and Luis Guzman, whose casting was a bit controversial, as the first-ever comic strip-accurate live-action Gomez) is strained, to put it mildly. So after the aforementioned piranha incident, she is sent to a boarding school called Nevermore, which is basically Hogwarts with the training wheels taken off.

At Hogwarts, she remains a bit of an outcast though in the episode she does begin to form friendships (or, at least, aliiances) with some of her classmates including Enid, a werewolf who is upset that she can’t actually change into one, and a guy who tends a coffee shop in the town, who bonds with her.

Jenna Ortega is absolutely amazing as Wednesday. Her unblinking performance as the troubled Wednesday (the series makes no attempt to hide the fact she’s messed up, though the question is left open whether Wednesday likes it that way or not), who in this more supernatural-tinged series has begun developing psychic powers, is absolutely amazing and if she isn’t nominated for an Emmy I’ll be surprised. Even in the first episode there are some moments that may come to be considered iconic in the future: her fencing (dressed in black), the piranha pool scene, and an absolutely incredible cello performance of Paint it Black. 

There are also some surprises. After being omitted from all the promos, we actually get to see Lurch again (at least in the first episode there’s no indication of him being any more than a background character, though) - Uncle Fester arrives later in the season according to the “coming soon” trailer that ends the episode. Gwendoline Christie is enigmatic as the headmistress, who might be more than she appears. Christina Ricci - the original Tim Burton Wednesday - is also in the series, playing another administrator at the school who, while clearly not meant to be a riff on Wednesday, still shares some of the traits of Ortega’s version (she’s last seen feeding venus fly-traps). 

There are some nice touches - details the original series and even the movies never went into - like having Thing apparently communicate at one point by what appears to be a form of (or maybe the actual) sign language. Which makes perfect sense, though the only thing I wasn’t a big fan of in the episode was how Wednesday treats Thing. That felt a little off to me.

The first season of eight episodes dropped all at once (I hate that - kills a show’s momentum and results in spoiler reviews coming out before the show has even been online for 8 hours), so whether it maintains the strengths of the pilot remain to be seen (I have seen a clip from an amazing dance routine Ortega does later in the season). Right now the show also has a bit of a early Riverdale feel to it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since that show in its early days was the closest TV got to replicating the Twin Peaks esthetic I’ve seen. 

I’ve written before about how remakes and updatings of old shows generally suck. Either they get bogged down in present-day politics (in order to “make things right”) or they forget what made the show popular in the first place (Ving Rhames, you’re amazing, but Kojak can only be made with Telly Savalas) or they approach the original with some level of distain. Burton we know respects the source material, and he has chosen well in casting Jenna Ortega, who (with all respect to Christina Ricci and Lisa Loring) is already the best Wednesday Addams ever based on a single episode.

And we get to see Thing give somebody the finger. It’s a win for everybody!