#going to start making at least 1 post a day

[boobertronian]

EPISODE 1 : CYAN

Wonyoung's Episode - HENSHIN : A KAMEN RIDER STORY

Proofread by @vorrentis, big thanks to @kise15 for the ideations with Kamen Riders-related contents Word counts : 12305 words All works are fiction

ENJOY !!

EPISODE 1 – CYAN

“Ok, let’s start. It’s me, Tyler Nakamura, video log today is Tuesday, time is 23:00, the day is 03/04/2171, location is Ichijou Hotel.”

“I’m back, back with some news. And this news will either shock you or make you. A few weeks passed by after my clues and leads, even though they weren’t much, but they led me to the small town of Godai Town.”

“Never heard of it my entire life, but worth a try, I’m in for the thrill anyway. Took me a long drive for this, about an hour? yeh, something like that, my lower back was sore thanks to that. But my curiosity backed me up for it, so it was worth the drive, at least the scenery is quite nice.”

I finally got to this town. It’s a small one, near the coast.

The weather is quite nice, cool and windy, not very sunny, but the sounds of the coals waves is music to my ears, reminds me of those fishing trip with my granddad back then.

But I’m not here for sightseeing or for a vacation, I’m here for that goal, to find those mysterious beings.

I started to walk around to look for some clues.

The town seems like a peaceful one, not many activities here, people is going on with their normal daily lives, doesn’t seem like a place with “dangerous” situations.

The local shops around the blocks are quite nice, lights being decorated around the area, some banners for local events, some outdoor markets, seems like your normal small town.

I stopped by a diner, name’s Amadam. Not many guests here, but the owner seems friendly enough to say hi.

“Welcome to Amadam’s Diner! How may I serve you young man?”

“Bacon & egg please! With apple pie and milk please!”

“Anything else? How about our local’s treat, it’s on the house today!”

“ I’ll take that too! Thank you!”

“Be right with you in ten minutes!”

Nice lady reminds me of my elementary school teacher, Ms. Kent.

I started to settle myself to a table near the window. I took out my notepad and laptop to search for some info about the locals, while waiting for the food.

My workaholic self didn’t let me eat in peace.

“There you go! Bacon, eggs, apple pie and a glass of milk!”

“Thank you so much! I’m quite starving!”

“Enjoy your meal! I will be back with our local treat!”

“Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome!”

I started to chow down my food. Man, good old bacon & egg, nothing more high protein than that. Gotta fuel my energy first before anything else happen.

“Here’s our local treat! Home grown chicken salad with  teriyaki sauce!”

“That’s dope!”

“Say, you’re not from around here aren’t you, young man? I live in this town longer than anyone here, well not everyone but yes, long enough to remember some faces, and to recognize some new ones!”

“ You’re a natural detective! Yes, I just got here!”

“Why here in all places? This town surely isn’t the most famous tourist spot!”

“ I’m a journalist! A freelance one! And I’m here for some clues to my story!”

“Oh?”

“Have you heard anything about some mysteries, about … strange creatures?”

The owner squints her eyes a bit

“Huh... never seen anything like theses before … too blurry? Is this some of those cryptid photos that the kids normally post online?”

“ I… read some info online . I saw pictures, and some news about mysterious events happened here. My curiosity led me here because I want to know about them, let’s just say, I’m a thrill seeker.”

“ Really? well Sorry I can’t help you with that young man “

“How about these things, you ever heard of them before?”

I showed her some pics of the round-eyes beings but seems like even them are a mystery to her.

“ I ... don’t know about these things, but ... I think Old Bill from that art shop knows more. The guy seems to be into these sorts of stuffs more than anyone here, you can ask him, I think? He’s down the road a few blocks!”

“But thanks for the info.”

DING

“Starship Delivery! I have some parcels for you Ms. Kent!”

A women came in, quite tall, holding onto some big boxes and in cyan-colored uniforms.

“ Yujin! Thank you so much dear !! You can leave it next to that corner please! I’ll be right with you !!”

The owner then walked back to her counter, man, that lady sure was fast for her age.

“How are you Ms. Kent? You sure have lots of packages today! take two of us to bring it here!”

“ Thank you for helping this old lady out! Those are gifts for my grandkids! I wish they can grow up as you two! Care for something to go?”

“Sure! I would love those apple pie! Hey Wonyoung, you care for something to go? Gonna be a long day!”

Another woman walked into the diner. She’s, well, I would say very pretty, both are, but this one sure has a different vibe.

“Oh hi Ms. Kent. Here are the rest of your packages.”

“Wonyoung! How are you? Love your new hair!”

“Oh, thank you Ms. Kent. I just redo my hair a bit that’s all. I would like an apple pie like Yujin too “

“Two apple pie coming right up!”

The two women stood there a bit. Gotta say, I’ve never seen visuals like that in real life. I probably should make a move, but they might think I’m a creep.

“Here you go! Two apple pie!”

“ Thank you, Ms. Kent! Man, I always love these cuties you did!”

“Say Yujin & Wonyoung, you two will attend that dance night?”

“ Yes, I will! Not sure about Wony here though, it’s a true challenge to get here ANYWHERE ha-ha”

“ I think I’ll pass. I have things to do.”

“See Ms. Kent? This girl is quiet in everything!”

“Oh well, guess I’ll see you there Yujin! This old lady still has some moves!”

“ Right on Ms. Kent !!”

“You should get to places sometimes Wonyoung! It’ll be fun !!”

“Oh thanks Ms. Kent, I’m doing ok, I like quiet places more anyway.”

“Suits yourself ! But I won’t mind familiar faces at the dance!”

“Alrighty! Well, we must get going for our next locations! See you here Ms. Kent!”

“See you girls!”

Such a nice convo, I like it. For a town this quiet they need that energy, if not everything will be bored don’t you think ?

But oh, look at the time, seems like I need to go too, that new clue seems interesting, got to pack myself up and go. No time for too much chit chat.

As I was about to reach the door, Ms. Kent then stopped me a bit

“Hope you’ll find what you’re looking for young man! Come here again if you want more of our delicious meal!”

“ I will, and thanks for the meal!”

I then walked fast past several blocks. The rain started to fall as soon as I enter the antique shop.

“Bouken Antique” I read the sign

DING

“Hello, is anyone here?”

AN old man slowly walked out, his hands were dirty with dust from craft works. Wiping his fingers on his pants, he gave me a smile

“Eyyy welcome to Bouken Antique, how can I help ya? Ya looking for some treasures? or some souvenirs? We have it all here with a decent price!”

“ You are old Bill right sir?”

“Old? Young man, I can break that tree out there with my bare hands ha-ha!”

“ Ms. Kent from Amadam’s Diner showed me the place . I’m here for some information actually . Have you seen theses?”

I took out the photos and gave to old Bill . Suddenly, his face changed

“Where… where did you get this ??”

“ Many sources. Mostly internet. Took me a while for theses ones? You’ve seen them before?”

Old Bill then ran fast to the door, closed the windows, turn the signs into close. Then he ran back to me with full speed, quite surprising for a man his age

“Come here, I want to show you this.”

Old Bill then guided me into his workshop. To my surprised, it was full of equipment, laptop, cameras, PC, like … those superhero’s secret cave? If you know what I’m talking about.

“ I know this, because … I took it.”

“What?”

“Yes. I was the one uploaded all these pics.”

“So... were you also the one who gave me the location?”

“Yes . That was me, and I’m surprised you came here, no one did before.”

“So... you’ve seen ... it, the creature.”

“Yes, I’ve... seen It many times. But I never knew what it was. One night, I was closing my shop, then I heard some noise nears those bushes & trees over there. I thought it was just some small animals but then I heard larger sounds, like something being crushed. I rushed to it because I thought someone might got into trouble. And then I saw…”

“That thing?”

“ Yes, it was that … creature, it … looked like a human, and its eyes were glowing. The moment it noticed me... it…. jumped & ran away. I could barely take a pic, hence the blurriness, but it wasn’t human, that I can be sure. And I saw it many times more, but I couldn’t catch it nor approach it. It was like, it was looking for something... or it just ... had a fight with something.”

“Do you think, it involved in many of the missing cases?”

“Yes, I think so too. A few months ago, police noticed us about some missing people, the only thing left they could find were their clothing. Then those cases stopped for a while, then they resurfaced again, more missing people with the only thing left were their clothing, or even worst, being either hung or fell from the tree or coastal cliffs over there. They gave it a try to figure out what it was, but then they couldn’t find any for a while, and since those cases weren’t happening too often, and with this small town, don’t think the police force around here could do anything much.”

“And these cases, from what I’ve been researched, partially from your info online, are not only in this same area, but many other places too.”

“Exactly, don’ you think … there’s something in common about this? like... do you think that... thing is making people disappear all over this country?”

“That’s what I want to find out.”

“Ok, then update me if you have something, be careful young man”

“Will do.”

“Strange isn’t it. I thought things like this only happened when I was younger, but now, I’m about to hi 10 feet below ground and we still have unsolved mysteries in this time. People around here none of them believe me, well, except Ms. Kent, she’s always nice.”

“She is a nice lady. But yeh, you’re not the only one into mysterious things old Bill. That is in my blood too. I will try to find a place to stay around here for some days, will let you know”

“Sure, please do take care, things aren’t like what it seems around here.”

I exited old Bill’s antique shop. The rain didn’t seem to stop.

I managed to find a small hotel, like you already know, Ichijou Hotel, near to where Ms. Kent’s Amadam. I settled in for the night, but I hardly slept thinking about that … thing.

The next day I woke up, it was already 10 am in the morning. I quickly rushed down to the streets to see if anything happened over the night.

Nothing

People were still going on with their days.

I took my brunch over Ms. Kent’s again, same meal, nothing changed. The day just went by fast. I barely had anything to do beside ... waiting for something to happened.

I went to the coast to look for some clues. Nice views, the waves, the scent of salt, the wind was breezing through my body. I went up to the hill, the trees were quiet and such, some birds, some squirrels were running around. I guess the day would pass by quietly just like usual.

I passed by Ms. Kent for some food and just to say hi, she still greeted me just like how I first came. The delivery girls were there too for some reason, so I put myself up and said hi

“Good evening Ms. Kent, you seem to have some companies ?

“Hey there young man! Tyler, right? Did I remember your name correctly?”

“ Yes, it’s Tyler, good memories though!”

“Who’s this one Ms. Kent? Seems like a friendly one!”

The girl with the shoulder length haircut suddenly stood up and greet me

“Hello there stranger! Who would you be? The name is Yujin btw! Nice to see some new face around here!”

“Tyler, Tyler Nakamura! I’m a freelance journalist, been here since yesterday for some scoop!”

“Ooooh !! Sounds exciting! What sort of scoop? This town is rather though?”

“Well, I want to keep it a secret, will let you know if I can ever publish though “

“Mysterious guy huh? I like it! You have any plans beside being here for your gig? Oh, btw here’s my bestie Wonyoung!”

“Hello.”

“Hello there!”

The girl with longer hair nods with a small smile.

“I’m sorry she’s a bit of a quiet type but don’t worry about it! Anyway, Tyler you’ll go to the festival tonight?”

“ Uh… I’m not sure I should go honestly ...”

“Come one it’ll be fun! I’ll go with my friends and all, you should join !! Maybe you’ll find someone you’ll like hehe.”

“Oh, ha-ha thanks Yujin, guess I‘ll go then, haven’t been to festival that much in my life.”

“Then no reason to not go right ?? well then, see you there! We’ll  be there at 6:30! Now me & Wony here going to be off for our last shipments and ready to partyyyyyy!”

The two girls then stood up and left, onto their daily duties, leaving me with Ms. Kent again

“Such beautiful young girls aren’t they, back in my day I used to have that energy too ha-ha”

“ I trusted you on that Ms. Kent.”

“Btw, I heard old Bill told me, you met him. Were you able to find what you need?”

“ I did yes, not too much but I got what I need.”

“Ok, I don’t want to stop you but be careful young man.”

“I will Ms. Kent.”

A few hours later, I finally dragged myself onto the festival.

I must say, for a quiet town, they really do know how to decorate the streets . A totally different vibe from the usual quiet and rather bland town during the day.

Kids are running around with their treats, people are dancing and taking food courts, if I’m telling you this was the exact town during the morning you might think I’m bluffing.

“Heyyyy Tyler !!”

I suddenly turned myself around, a group of people men & women were approaching me in colorful attires.

“Oh hey… Yujin, nice outfit!”

“Heyyy everyone, this is Tyler !! I met him this morning !! Here are my buddies : Gaeul, Rei, LeeSeo, Liz, Chad, Eddie  and Jimin!”

“Oh, hi everyone, you guys look prepared!”

“Of course we do !! It’s party time !!!!!”

“Come join us, Tyler !! Let’s go, don’t want to waste our time here !!! Gotta take some boozes and goooooo!!”

I followed the crew, damn, they were loud, or maybe I was being too quiet? I kept following them through the food courts, got some good ones myself, then ended in a barn where they had loud live music.

“Good evening, folks !! Welcome to Godai’s Town festival !! This year is our 50th Anniversary so we’re going to hit it big !!! Foods are all here for you with any cultures and any flavors from Ms. Kent right there, and be careful, don’t drink too much !! We still have some safety laws here! But other than that, have a great night folks, enjoy !!”

The mayor seemed like a jolly one, not that much different from Ms. Kent. I guess this town is more interesting than I thought, more than meets the eyes, I guess.

The festival went on for a while, surprisingly an introverted like me lasted that long with that many noises, so was my bladder.

“Is it fun Tyler ??? You like it ???”

A girl from Yujin’s group asked me, her name was Liz, I guess?

“Oh, yeh it’s fun! I can’t believe this place can be this loud!”

“Glad you like it !!! Now come, you can go there and dance with us !! “

“Oh, I think I need a bathroom break a bit! Would you know where it is?”

“Ohh, down to your left !! Hurry !!, The dance competition is about to start !! “

“ I’ll be right back !!”

Little that she knew, something even more eventful, or, even worst, something terrible would occur that night.

I got out to the bathroom and done my ”duties;” man, I drank a bit much than usual. At least I got some break from the loud noises. If I stayed there longer my head might exploded.

Then I heard some sounds while walking back. Something rather … well, erotic over that empty space behind the barn.

“Hey, you are sure this place is empty? No one is going to go back here?”

“Hehe yehh, now come on baby give it to me.”

Ok…. What was that? Some teenagers were doing something silly.

My curiosity self then walked over the bushes, slowly and quietly. Then I saw two people are standing around that big tractor.

What were they doing there? Too much booze? Needed some private times, or... oh no, I think I know what they were getting into

“Come on baby show me your asses, fuck I want to see those cheeks  !!! “

“Gimme that big cock of yours and I’ll do that.”

Well, now that was something I was surprised I bumped into . This was not the “mystery.” I was looking for sure.

“See, I showed you my dick, now how about you make me feel good baby, you’ll love this big meat hehe.”

“Oh, really, ok, I’ll suck your cock, you better fuck me good later if not I’ll drop you off got it?”

That … was wild

Like those pornographic stuffs I occasionally look at sometimes, well, excuse-me for that, single life could do that to you

But yeh, better leave those two to their … “activities.”

I turned my head back the other direction, giving those two some “privacies.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!1”

A loud scream was tearing up the sky where those two were

I ran back fast, as fast as I could to give some help

“What just happened ?? You’re, ok ??”

That scream did not sound erotic at all, it was a scream for something terrifying, something straight from those horror movies

Once I leaped over the bushes, I saw Yujin screaming her entire lungs out. Her face was full of shock, sweats and full of terror, looking up to the sky

Then I looked up

The sight, I can’t describe you, how horrifying it was

A creature

Yes, I wasn’t joking

A creature, crawling from a giant web, with the man’s body being entangled in the middle of it

That creature, looks humanoid, with big red eyes.

At first, I thought, did I finally encounter those creatures in the photos ?

But something … was different

The creature kept on crawling towards the man, with him also screaming while being muffled, barely forming any words

“Mppphhhh... Helppp… Mpphhhh… someone…. Help meeee.”””

“Barry !!!!!!! NO Let him go !!! “

The woman screamed in horror, in desperation

The creature, in full speed, bit onto the guy’s neck. He screams in pain, the most feared scream of the night. Then, in matter of seconds, his body … melted down to the ground, with his remains burnt the grass below into a dark spot, only his clothing left.

No bodies, no blood, nothing, just a dark spot was what remained of his poor fate.

“OMGGG !!! BARRY NOOOOOOOOO !!! NOOOOOOO !!!! “

The woman cried out, she scared, shocked, crying with full tears, hurrying back towards my direction, running at fast as she could

“Miss, I’m here !! Come on !! I’ll cover you!”

“OMG !!!  That thing… omg … that thing killed Barry… !!! “ The woman cried out while did her best to form some words

“Come on let’s get out of here!”

I helped her on her feet, and we both ran as fast as we could

But it was in vain

The creature, swinging over the trees above, caught up to us in a few leaps. It jumped right in front of us, eyes wide open, fangs were full of dark venom liquid dropping down to the ground as its was approaching us slowly.

“OMGG STAY AWAY !!! STAY AWAYY FROM ME PLEASE !!!! “

I took my courage, I grabbed a log from the side of the street, and in a desperate move, I swung at it, with the best of my self-defense knowledges.

“Get away you fucker!”

SNAP

That was the dumbest thing I ever did tonight

The creature wasn’t phase at all; he broke the log like a toothpick once I swung at his face.

At that moment, I thought maybe my curiosity really killed me

The creature then grabbed onto my jacket, then threw me away to the grass like I was a small baseball, let me fly away a few feet and crashed onto a mudhole next to it.

That hurt a lot, I could barely get up for a while.

The creature then kept on walking towards the woman, now dropped on her knees and crawling away in fear

“STAY AWAYYYY !!! PLEASEEEE !!! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME !!! ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!”

The woman was screaming her heart out; she was crawling backward till her back reach the tall tree behind. The creature didn’t stop, it kept approaching her, like an apex predator cornered its prey.

The creature literally shot a giant web net into her body, then, it snatches its mandible onto her.

“PLEASE... plea-ea-...”

The woman’s body fainted to the ground, shit. Poor girl, she couldn’t handle the shocks.

And I couldn’t do anything; I guessed my useless self couldn’t be the hero today

SMASH

Something smacked towards the creature’s head, made it fall back a bit

Immediately, a figure ran towards the creature, then kicked to its body, hard. The impact made the creature flew a few feet away to the ground.

I finally got myself up from the mud, and to my surprise

The figure, in humanoid shape, with glowing pinkish eyes and cyan-colored upper body,  same with his leg armors, or … “skin”.  

It was him, the one I saw in Old Bill’s blurry photo.

I wiped the mud on my face to see it more clearly, and it was him.

The figure was more of an insect like, but the color was the same from the pictures. On his arms were a pair of weapons, looked like tonfas ?

The creature rose up from the ground, it seemed angry from the sudden hit, leaped towards the figure, as the two engaged in combat.

They traded blows with each other, with both launched punches and kicks towards each other violently, but it seemed like the figure somewhat got the upper hand.

The creature was no slouch, it used the webbing substances to evade and strike back at the figure, hence made it more difficult. Its venom melted the grass or any objects it touches, making the figure had to dodge left right.

The figure was able to fend back with his weapons, landed many strikes towards the creature. Each swing of his weapons accurately hit the creature in many areas on his body, making it growled in pain.

In a careless moment, the creature aimed its webbing and venoms towards Yujin, still lying unconscious over the tree, making the figure had to rush towards her to block the attack, ended up injured himself on his left arm

Taking the advantages, the creature charged in and repeatedly punched the figure, leaving him in defense mode while doing his best to wrestle it away from Yujin, still unconscious.

He was struggling for a while, as his injury seemed quite a severe one, as he seemed to be slower than few moments before

“Gotta help him” I said it in my head, then quickly pull my butt up and ran towards where woman was, with all my might carry her up and ran towards the side

“ I got her! Kick that thing ass!” I shout out

The figure, seemingly understood what I said, taking it as a cue to strike back. He used his left weapon and hit straight into the creature’s abdomen, then his right one slammed hard into the creature’s jaw, breaking the left side of its mandible.

And with a quick move, he kicked the creature away from himself and let it roll over the grass in pain.

The creature seemed to grow more feral and angrier; it created a giant web to cover the area and climbed to the top of it. In a feral move, it dove down from the top web and lunged itself over the figure.

The figure, got to his stance, his body then glow up with hazy cyan aura, his eyes were flashing, and the circle around his waist were charging some sort of energy that I couldn’t believe in my own eyes, somewhat powering him, like those finishers in video games.

In a quick movement, as the creature were close to kill the figure, he then immediately used his weapons and slammed it from both side of the creature’s body

“BAAAAAMMM”

The creature was being stuck in midair, growling in pain with the two weapons around his waist, burning him, as blue light running all over his body and ended up with an explosion.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM”

The creature’s body engulfed in blueish flame and reduced to dust, falling down the grass.

Holy bloody hell

What did I just witness ?

A fight between … two paranormal forces? Like how my grandad used to show me in his old tv series?

I couldn’t believe I just witnessed that

As I let the women’s unconscious body down to the soft grass, the figure slowly turned towards us, kneeled from where he stood, right arm covering his left one, seemingly in quite painful moment.

A blue light ran from the top of his “antenna,” slowly dissolved the “shell,” or the armor on his body, down to his leg, reavealing a person whom, caught me in full surprised.

“Wait. wait a minute ?? You’re... you’re that girl ?? That delivery girl with Yujin ???? Wonyoung ??”

The girl then slowly looked up to me, still having hard breathing out of tiredness from the battle.

“Worry about me later, that woman, how is she?”

“She was just too shocked I think, I think she’s ok. Wait, oh no ....”

The woman’s body melted right in front of me.

“She’s gone isn’t she.”

“That was… no… I thought we saved her...”

“There’s nothing we can do about it. It happens ... Ah...”

“You look injured, we need to get you to the infirmary.And we should report to the police ”

“No, don’t go there, there’s nothing they can do for me there, police or hospital. They won’t be of help. I … must get out of here, I mean it,  ah...” Wonyoung talked while still covering her arm

“But let’s cover your injured arm first, it looks dangerous, quite infecting …”

I then took my jacket and made the torn pieces into a makeshift bandage for her. Once things done, Wonyoung then insisted me again

“ I’m ok now, go, get outta here,  ah …” The scar on Wonyoung’s started to spread throughout her arm darkening her biceps and forearms.

“Ok, but we need to treat you too, that injury seems to be serious, if you’re heavily injured that would be even more troublesome. If you can’t go to hospital, where should we go? And I don’t think you can get there alone in this state.”

“Ok... Guess ... I have no choice... follow my lead, I have a place, it’s outside of the town “

 “My car is near here, I can drive you there, can you hold yourself up to it?”

“I can.”

We took the shortcut path towards the bushes through the parking lot. We had to be very careful not to be spotted by the partygoers. Once we got into my car, I pushed the pedal in speed just to get out of there

“Ok, go straight down that road, outside the border of the town and then make a right turn “

“ Is it, some sort of secret hideout?”

“ It’s a place where we can hide her from those creatures, for now”

“Those?”

“Just drive...”

“Ok sure.”

We got to a lodge deep inside an abandoned factory.

Wonyoung then pushed the buttons next to the fences, and an old elevator then pulled up from the ground, arm was still covering the wound while I was doing my best helping her out of the car.

As the elevator descend the underground, we got into a room, full of martial art gears and sandbags, some wooden weapons on the walls.

As we walked past it, we got into a computer system, looked quite high tech for the place.

There were some notes on a giant board, with pictures that looked like those from the online sources I saw.

Wonyoung’s wound seemed to take its toll onto her, as her body started to loosen balance, dropped down from her knees again.

Until a small totem, looked like made from stone, started to glow in blue light. The light then started to flow onto her wounds, slowly nullifying the poison running through her veins.

The process seemed to be quite painful, as she had to hold down herself just to get through it for a few moments, her eyes squinted and her teeth grinded to themselves until it stopped completely.

“You’re, ok?”

“I’ll recover soon.”

“You mind telling me… what just happened?”

“It’s hard to explain to you, things are complicated.”

“At least, well, let me know why all this happened . I mean, I just witnessed two people being killed, and you in your ... transformed state just fought off that creature, and that magical stone just “cure” you. I think I would like to know what I was dealing with?”

Wonyoung stayed quiet for a bit, then she opened her words.

“How can I trust you? We just met.”

“Well, I think it’s up to you then, at least so far, I did everything you’ve been telling me right? I guess I’m partially involved into this debacle now.”

“it’s hard for someone to believe in what just happened, and I can’t trust you that fast.”

“Well, I do, because I was looking for this this entire time here. I followed the rumors and information, pictures I could find online about this mystery, I’m just surprised You are the one I’m looking for.”

I then showed Wonyoung pictures, info on my phones, my notes, everything I could tell her about my trip until now.

“Even with your information, I still don’t know if I could fully trust you to tell you what happened.”

“I think if I even spill this out, hardly anyone going to believe a total stranger not from this town too, right? And according to you the police didn’t do a good job Like I said, I’m involved in this already and, I do want to help too, if not I already ran away after you got injured from the monster and I didn’t . So please, you can trust me on this, even if it’s just a little.”

Wonyoung stayed quiet again for a few secs, then she started her explanations.

“It was a healing process, the stone used its power to cure the poison, and it can only be cure by that light.”

I sit down to the bed next to me, then walks towards Wonyoung who was still in the process of catching her strength.

“That monster, it ...”

“That wasn’t the first one, I defeated many before.”

“Woah... ok, like, only you?”

“Yes.”

“And … that form, is it... some sort of armor? or … are you a human being?”

“ I am a human, and that was part of my body, I change into it at will”

“Oh... ok, but… how did you find us?”

“ I can sense the creature, but I should’ve got there earlier, now that Chad was being killed, it will cause some more rumors . We cannot tell the local police about this, they won’t believe us, believe me I tried before.”

“Oh ok, so, I mean, what now, what should we do now?”

“We must find the last one, so others won’t suffer the same fate. I know that thing is still out there.”

“There are two of them?”

“3, counting the one I defeated today, was 2, so the last one is still out there somewhere.”

“That sounds dangerous, should we notify the police.”

“The police won’t help you much, believe me, I tried. They listed them as missing people or someone playing pranks.”

“But we could let them know to protect people, right?”

“I can protect them; with my abilities I will do at all costs. This isn’t for debate.” Wonyoung looked at me with fierce eyes

“Ok, I guess we have to keep it to ourselves then.”

“That was also a risky move you did there, two risky moves actually.”

“But … You were struggling and I was trying to fight back”

“ I get your effort, and thankfully it did work out, but do not be that risky again. Those things won’t hesitate to kill a bystander”

I then sat down to a chair, stayed quite a bit, then I opened myself again

“So... that creature, what was that thing?”

“They’re called the Gara, they’re creature from a long time ago.”

“How do you know?”

“The belt here talked to me.”

Wonyoung showed me the belt forming around her waist, then it disappeared

“So, you transformed into that … form, through that belt? Is it some source of magic?”

“ I don’t know about it, it seems to come from ancient time, and to my understanding, there are some links between it and the monsters.”

“So, this belt, it gives you powers to transform? how long have you’ve been doing this.”

“Nearly a year, I hunted down many before the ones targeting Yujin. Keeping it a secret to people, until I recognized Old Bill were able to take pictures of me, so I had to do my best to deter the attention of others from his posts.”

“You ... hacked into his network?”

“Sort of, I used ghost accounts to stray his information, I guess, I doesn’t work with you.”

“Well, to be fair, my curiosity nearly killed me if you weren’t there, but hey at least I met you.”

“You got thrown off hard by that Gara, you good?”

“A few scratches and bumps but I’ll be good, don’t worry.”

“Good.”

“But Wonyoung, that thing it can track people, how are we going to get there faster than it can?”

“I have my ways; I’ll beat him for sure. I will make sure I will get to him being anyone being killed.”

As Wonyoung finally eased down Yujin and taking care of her, Wonyoung then turn up her PC system, then opening some files.

On the screen, there are multiple sightings of those creatures, with some videos, blurry photos from different sources online.

“You told me, you got the information about the Gara online, right? Have you seen theses too?”

“Yes, I did. and some of theses old Bill gathered online.”

I then showed Wonyoung more pictures through my tablets. She squinted her eyes at some of them, then zoom in and out on three specific photos

“These 3,they look similar to me.”

“They? I thought they were all you?”

“No, my belts and colors do not show these colors.”

“So ... does this mean, there are someone else ... with the power like you?”

“Possibly. I’ve never seen anyone around here with similar power like me. I can’t sense their presence.”

“So maybe theses are from different places outside of here? Do you think we should look for them?”

“The belt did give me a premonition about it.”

“Oh really?”

“The first time I got this power, when it awakened in me that day, I got a premonition about other people with powers like me, but it was blurry. Since then, I’ve been looking around here but I couldn’t sense anyone.”

“Should we look for them? I mean, I can help you more since now there’s two of us?”

“Why are you so interested about this?”

“Because my reporter’s blood is boiling to find the mystery, but, after today, I think, you need some companies, to help you fight back these things. And I think the other three are part of that solution. These “Gara” thing, they are dangerous, and I think we need more hands to protect people.”

Wonyoung stays silent a bit before letting out a deep breath.

“Ok, I trust you on this part, no further. Once we’re done with it, we’re also done with everything, you got me? I don’t want to drag more people into this mess. But I warned you, any sign of double-crossing, you know where it will end ” Wonyoung stared at me with a stern voice.

“I don’t think I dare to do that after seeing how capable you were today honestly.” I tried to calm her down.

“Okay.”

“So Wonyoung, do you know why they only target some people, like, not on a large scale?”

“I’ve been wondering about it for a while, and from I’m seeing, there’s a... pattern.”

“Pattern? Like they ... only kill specific people?”

“I noticed by the way I could sense them. The victims, they often had a larger aura of energy projecting from them. The Gara seems to target only those. And ...”

“And?”

“I was one of the victims too. The day I awakened my power, one of them found me, and I could sense it when that Gara attacked me, right here.”

“How did you survive?”

“I managed to defeat it, since then, I take these responsibilities seriously to not letting anyone suffer that same fate. I saved some but also lose some too.”

“Must’ve been hard for you, all that time.”

“I’ve toughened up over time. There’s no room for weakness.”

“But you can use some help, right? I mean, even if you’re capable, I think you should let others help you too. Not like you cry for help all the time don’t you think?”

“For now, I’m doing the best I can, and I want to keep it that way. Once we’re done with finding the others, and hopefully we do, we part ways.”

“Sure, whatever you say, won’t argue with you on that.”

Wonyoung finally healed from her wounds. She stood up and did some shadowboxing to test her strength. Quite impressive movements I would say, for someone her frame

“You sure trained a lot huh?”

“Since before this power in me, I’ve been training my entire life.”

“Very hardcore I see, I guess I can… spare with you sometimes? I got some moves on my own!” I tried to loosen up the tension with Wonyoung, but she seemed unfazed.

“I’ve seen your moves, very lacking.”

“Ouch, that hurts.”

“If you have nothing else to show me, I suggest you leave. I can take care of my own now”

“Sure Wonyoung, but do you think tomorrow we should get to old Bill’s, for more evidence? I think we can dig up some more there?”

“I told you I don’t want any more people involved.”

“Look, I get what you’re trying to say, but I think we should get some more leads to this, I mean, some of his leads helped me to find you, and now his photos helped us to know there are more like you in different place, I don’t think it would hurt if we check with him.”

“Old Bill, is an old friend of my late father, I want to keep him safe from all this.”

“So, you haven’t told him about any of this?”

“I want to but could never find a proper occasion.”

“I think, well, I think you should let him know. He can be the best help we can get around here.”

“I ...” Wonyoung startled for the first time that night talking to me. She paused her moves for a few minutes, then, she took a deep breath again with her decision.

“Then, if that’s the way, I’ll meet you in front of his shop tomorrow after my work” Wonyoung sounded a bit reluctant.

“Will do, I’ll see you tomorrow”

I then left the place back to my motel. The party were still going on, so nobody noticed my presence, of course beside the receptionist

“Going back so soon? The party is still on my friend! Go enjoy!”

“Oh no thanks, I feel like I need to hit the bed. Night!”

I lied.

I couldn’t sleep well that night.

So many thoughts in my head.

“Where will this going to go, what is going on, who is the Gara really is anyway? etc.”

My thoughts were running wild through the night

The morning finally came. I kept going on through my day, acting as normal as possible: loitering around, chatted to Ms.Kent about the festival last night without telling her any of those “eventful” details

I even saw Yujin and Wonyoung again, but she seemed to not noticing my presence much

Until the evening

The town seemed like it had a bit more fun than usual, lots of cleaning were on the way from the aftermath.

I rushed myself to Old Bill’sshop, and Wonyoung was already there with her motorbike, right at the door, not in her usual delivery outfit, but in a university jacket and jeans.

She looked ... well, amazing. She made me kept looking at her for a bit until she woke me up with her voice

“You’re late.”

“Got here the best I can.”

Both of us entered the shop, while Old Bill was in the process of setting and packing his stuffs and brewing his drinks.

“Ohh hey you again young man! And ... Wony, my dear, been a while seeing you here.”

“Hey Bill, you’re doing good?” Wonyoung greeted him with a smile and softer tone.

“Very well my dear, look, I just got some new collections !”

“You’re always the same Bill, reminds me of my dad all the time.”

“He sure was a fine collector himself too! So, what can I help you two? Seems kind of odd you’re in here together?”

“Remember those pics you gave me Bill? We want to talk to you about it.”

“Oh ... What happened, did you find anything else about it?”

“Actually, we do.”

“Bill, there’s ... there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you, since the day my dad passed, I... discovered something.”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Something I’ve been hiding from you for a while, that was why I didn’t meet you much. I think it would be dangerous for you to know.”

“My dear, you’re like a daughter of mine. Your father entrusted me to look after you even if we don’t have many interactions, I want you to know you can trust me with anything.”

Wonyoung stays quiet for a bit.

“Then Bill, this is what I wanted to show you.”

Wonyoung stepped back a bit. She held her palms around her waist, forming a cyan light turning into the belt, with the cyan ring glowing around the circular gem in the middle.

Wonyoung then raised her right arm in diagonal across her body, palm pointing towards the left side of her body. She then spelled out a word in a calm but powerful tone.

“HENSHIN!”

As Wonyoung swiped her right palm over the circular glowing ring, the armor started to manifest from the belt, spreading across her limbs like forming a shell all over her entire body, then finished with a “melting down” process, revealing the armor from the molten shell, finished with a glowing action from her rounded bug-like eyes.

It was... unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Her body, now cladded in some sort of exo-skeleton armor, with a dominant black color, cyan over the breast plate, arms and legs. Even the “Face,” or helmet I think, is in cyan, with two antennas formed from the forehead, like an insect, and glowing pink eyes, almost if a grasshopper and a human cross-species.

Around her neck is a scarf-like piece folding down like wings behind her back, created the visual of those dirty bike rider.

“My word... Wonyoung, you’re... you’re that one, the one I saw that night!”

“Yes.”

“And the one in the pics, it’s you ... right my dear?”

“I know Bill, this is why I kept a secret. I’ve been fighting... monsters, monsters that attacked people. I use this power to protect them. They targeted people, only specific ones, and... you were one of the targets too. That night, I was protecting you from one.”

“Woah Wonyoung, so … Bill was one of the victims too?”

“Yes, luckily, I beat that one before it could get to him”

“So, the rumors online are true, there are monsters attacking people. And this, I never thought, it would be you my dear Wonyoung, who’s been protecting me and people all this time.”

“I am not sure if I’ll be able to protect everyone, but, I’m willing to carry that burden.” Wonyoung de-transforms immediately.

“My dear Wonyoung, you shouldn’t hold this to your own, I’m here for you. I won’t tell anyone about this. You can trust me, like how you dad did.”

“Promise me you will Bill.”

“I will my dear, until this old man out of his breath.”

“So Old Bill, you told me, you got more info online, right? The pics that you found, the other three humanoid creature.“

“isn’t that you my dear Wonyoung?”

“No Bill, that’s what we’re trying to find out today.”

“Come here you two, let me close the door.“ Old Bill hurried himself to close the door, then open his PC to show us his files

“According to what I found, these photos are being taken from different locations, this magenta colored one, it’s in … yes, San Wataru town. And the yellow-ish one right here… hmm, Arakawa town. And this one, huh, this one doesn’t seem to be a known location.”

“So, we located two, the last one, is still a blind mystery.”

“Yes, I’m still finding sources for the last one. But to no end. But I can keep going on.”

“While we’re going to find the last monster from this town.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes Bill, I think from what I can sense, that one will be dangerous. Don’t go anywhere much until I defeat it. Even though I already defeated the one targeted you, there’s no promise that new on will not targeting you. I must find the other victims too.”

“Sure, my dear, anything else I can do for you?”

“No Bill, please stay safe, I can .”

Suddenly, Wonyoung turned her head over the door in suspense

“The Gara, I can sense it.”

“What the, where is it?”

“I got to go, stay here.”

“Wonyoung I’ll go with you “

“NO, just stay here.” Wonyoung rushed through the door

“I can’t let her go alone Bill, she got injured yesterday, she needs help”

“Go, take this thing, go help her”

Old Bill then pulled out in his closet, a blaster, then gave it to me.

“Pull this lock, and it will activate the bullets for you.”

“What the, how the hell you have this?”

“I’ll tell you later, now go help her!”

“Ok!”

As I rushed out, Wonyoung already hopped on her motorcycle, speeding up towards a direction as I also did my best to follow her in my car.

“Wonyoung wait for me!”

I hit my pedal and speeding up after her.

Wonyoung sped up towards the direction of the coast, took me a few moments to catch up with her, but no way I could match her side by side.

Once we both reached the coastline, Wonyoung ran fast down the hill to the sand beach, where we could see a Gara monster, looked like the last one I saw, but with some noticeable difference.

This one, while visually similar, had some sort armored texture on its torso, bigger mandible and spider-like eyes, carrying a claw weapon from its right arm.

When we’re close to be there, the Gara almost attacked a small family, scared them running away and on the verge of killing them, if not for Wonyoung’s interruption by jump kick on the side.

“Run! All of you run!”

“Ok … kids, get away from here!!!”  The parents yelled out to their kids.

The Gara enraged, it growled a loud sound before lunging towards Wonyoung, in which she dodged to the side, with the Spider Gara hit his claw to the sand, poisoning it wit its venom, making a dark spot in the sand.

Without hesitation, Wonyoung then striked her pose, like how she did in front of me and Old Bill.

Her belt appeared on her waist, glowing in cyan color. Swiping her palm towards the belt, she spelled out her word

“HENSHIN!”

And with that, her body started to glow in Cyan light, transformed into her full suited up, or armored up state, eyes glowing in pinkish color.

The two then engaged in a brutal fight. The Spider Gara were full of strength, delivered huge blows towards Wonyoung

“BAAM”

“WHACKK”

Wonyoung wasn’t afraid of any of its strikes, she countered his moves with her weapons, giving him hits after hits with her kicks and from her weapons.

Her hits were raw and brutal, aiming to its face and torso, with its blood bled out to the sand.

“WHACK”

“POW”

The Spider Gara even more enraged, shot out his webs to block Wonyoung’s strike, neutralized her weapons and her arms.

It repeatedly slashes its claw towards Wonyoung, as she did her best to counter with  her legs by doing some kicks.

“WHACK !! BAMM”

The Spider Gara countered back, it caught onto her legs, making her lose some balance, then it slammed her down hard to the sand.

Wonyoung struggled to get up due to its left arm pinning her down, even if she did her best using her now freed left arm to hit its mandible.

I rushed it, pulled the lock from the blaster, then aim at the Gara’s head.

“BOOM”

The recoil of the blaster shook my hands a bit, therefore the shot hit its thigh instead of its head, making the Gara turned its head towards me immediately in full anger.

Taking the chance, I kept shooting at it, giving Wonyoung the chance to break free from its grip.

She used her leg to kick into its abdomen, enough force for her to escape its claw, then with her now freed right hand, hit its face in full force

“WHACK!!”

The Spider Gara fell back a bit, but it recovered right await due to its stamina.

It then delivers a shockwave through the sand by punching its fist, creating an avalanche, with Wonyoung had to shield herself by doing the same with her weapon, slamming them to the sand and created a cyan colored force field.

The shockwaves clashed into each other, knocking both down and flew away a few feet, with the Gara stuck in a sand hole while Wonyoung rolled her body down to the seawater.

I then rushed towards Wonyoung to help her the best I can without caring about the danger we were having.

“Come one Wonyoung! Let’s bail! That thing is too strong for you! We need some plans!”

“I told you to stay back! Why did you follow me ??”

“Call me stubborn, whatever, but that thing we need a plan to beat him, you’ve been fighting him for that last 15 min, and it still didn’t even feel much, come on let’s hide inside those caves over there !! We need to figure something else!”

I hurried up Wonyoung as we both escape the Spider Gara, about to escape the sand hole, angrier and full of rage than ever. I shot back at the Gara with my blaster, distracting it enough for us to hide.

“Come here Wonyoung! We should hide there!”

Me and Wonyoung ran into the hidden part of the cave, where the Gara couldn’t see us. Then we cowered down behind a large rock, with the Gara was still lurking around looking for us

“Ok, what’s the plan, should we trap it here? Lure it inside here?”

“This one is probably the strongest I ever faced. The ferocity is dangerous; I couldn’t beat it with my usual strikes like the others.”

“Then that’s the reason why we need a plan . What do you have Wonyoung?”

“I think it has a weakness.”

“Can you pinpoint it?”

“I noticed, when you shot into its thigh, I could feel that it felt something more painful  than the usual hit. If I can strike a harder hit towards that same spot, I can beat it.”

“Then you need a distraction, me. I’ll distract it while you wait for the time to strike.”

“No, I will do it, you stay here.”

“Again Wonyoung, if you keep going with this pace, the fight will get longer, and that won’t end well. This one like you said, it’s way stronger, we need a teamwork, and we need it now”

Wonyoung stays quite a bit, then she peeked out towards the rocks nearby the sand, in which she found something.

“Ok, you see that part of those rocks.”

“Yeh, I see that, there’s a slump down.”

“If I. .. I mean, if WE can lure it to be trapped in between those rocks, I could hit it with my strikes. Can you distract it long enough until then?”

“Sounds like a plan, a daring one, but it’s a plan, let’s go!”

We both got out of the cave and proceed with the plan. Once I saw the Spider Gara, I gave him a few shots just to get its attention

“Fuck you asshole !! Come here and get me you piece of shit !! “ I screamed out and ran fast towards the rocks while the Spider Gara, using its spider-like abilities to swings and pursued me in full rage and growl.

Luckily for me, I had a good record of stamina to run as fast as I could, if not, I might turn into dust by now. Never thought one day I would encounter such vile creature.

Once I ran over the rocks, the Gara caught up with me. It shot the webs to my foot, made me stuck there.

“Oh shit.” I thought my life would end right there once its approached me with its poisonous claw and venoms.

Suddenly, Wonyoung, from the side, lunged herself towards its thigh.

With her charged up weapon, she hit it with the hardest hit, breaking it leg.

Dark blood spilled out to the rocks, as the Gara’s other leg were being held from the lump of the rocks due to the impact.

“GRAAGHAGHAHAHGHAGAAGGHA!!!!”

The growl of the Gara pierced through the sky. The plan worked.

Wonyoung then continue her strike, repeatedly hitting it with her weapons, weaken its strength, then in one blow, she hit it down to the sand below.

“WHACK !! BAMMM !!!! POWWW !! WHACCKKK !!”

The Gara, now severely weakened, crawling down towards the beach with its limping body just to hide from her.

But Wonyoung, in one final move, charging up the energy from her belt into her right leg.

The energy from the belt glowed in cyan, running down her ankle, making her right foot condensed of energy.

And in quick succession, she jumped up in the air, did a marvelous forward somersault towards the Gara. Then, she delivered a flying side kick towards its body, sending the Spider Gara feet away to the water.

“BAAAAAM “

A giant explosion came right after the final blow, finally destroyed the Spider Gara

“KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM”

Its body engulfed in Cyan flame, created a huge explosion, signaling our victory.

I finally get rid of the web comb on my foot, then ran fast towards Wonyoung down the sand.

“Did... did we ... did we win?”

“It’s done.”

“You beat it Wonyoung!”

“No, WE beat it. Thank you.”

Wonyoung then reverted and gave me a slight smile, the first one since we met.

Some bruises and such were visible on her body, with her trying to catch her breath from the tiring encounters.

“You’re the heroine Wonyoung, you saved everyone!”

“And... I couldn’t beat it without your assistance, you... did well, Tyler”

“No biggies, I’m glad I can help . Now come one, let’s get you back to your hideout. Can you ride back there, or you need a ride.”

“I can, let’s go, we shouldn’t stay here long.”

The two of us then walked out of the beach, then quickly getting back to Wonyoung’s hideout.

A moment later, I was helping her with some bandages for her wounds and bruises. Surprisingly, she was also a bit more open to me

“Ok, I think this is pretty ok, the wounds will heal later on.”

“Glad I can help you out Wonyoung.”

“I’m sorry I was being quite harsh and distant with you. It just, I’m not used to have companions

“Non-taken Wonyoung.”

We then settled down a bit until the night comes in.

“So, Wonyoung, you think there will be more?”

“I couldn’t sense any of the Gara’s Presence here anymore. Since we beat that one, their “senses.” were quite gone.”

“Huh, maybe that’s a relief. I hope we won’t encounter any of them anymore.”

“I hope so.”

“But Wonyoung, why are you so determined to work alone like this?”

“Because…”

“I’m sorry I asked.”

“NO, because… Because my father, he was the one who awakened the power before me.”

“What?”

“My father, he was the first one that … the Gara attacked in front of me. But his body couldn’t handle it over time, and ... he did his best.”

“So, you, and your dad, were supposed to have the power together?”

“I... think so. People thought my dad passed due to illness and such, and I wanted to keep it that way. Once it was my turn awakened my power, I worked through it, I trained hard for it, I kept it a secret from everyone, because I wanted his passing wasn’t in vain.”

“So, if your dad could awaken his power, does that mean, there were more people that could awaken their powers  than just the other three we’ve seen on those pics?”

“And they might suffer that same fate as my dad too. Maybe not everyone can control the power”

“Do you think, the Gara attacked the people, who could... you know, have the power?”

“Could be, because I can sense the energy, through the victims, but not as strong as mine. I never encounter anyone with similar energy sense, or power like me.”

“Well, I guess now we’re kind of know why they were attacking only a few people.”

“And now, with the premonitions, I think, I should find the other three. We might solve the secret of my power even more.”

“I think that’s a plan, we should meet old Bill again tomorrow before we go. I’m with you Wonyoung.”

“Sure”

We stayed quiet for a moment, then I did my best to break it

“You know, for a handmade cave, you sure packed a lot of stuffs!”

“I invested in everything here, I like it.”

“It looks cool though! Man, I wish my place is this big ha-ha. Say, you want to spar with me a bit? Since, you know, you’re... kind of healed physically.”

“Are... you sure?”

“I mean, I might either get wiped by you, or I wipe you off the floor aha “

“Sounds like a challenge.”

We both stood up and walked to the mat, where I tried to impress Wonyoung by doing some shadowboxing

“So, you know how to do that.”

“Of course, I learned through some classes myself!”

I then face Wonyoung, then trying to strike a pose

“I can go easy on you.”

“Nope! Go hard on me if you can Wonyoung! I can take it!”

I surely did not know what was in my head that moment. Imagine trying to beat the person who could beat a vile creature with her bare hands.

I tried to give her some jabs, she blocked it with some counters

“Nice punches, but not good enough for me.”

“Oh, then you will love this !!”

I then lunge myself towards her, giving her a flying punch.

But, with a swift move, Wonyoung used her skill to pin me down with her arm-lock technique, pin me straight down, face up the ceiling, with her sitting on top of me.

“WHACK”

“Ouch, that hurts.”

“Told you so.”

For the first time ever, we looked at each other eyes to eyes. She looked beautiful, even with her slightly messy hair. Her features were mesmerizing during that moment; her round eyes and lips were sexy and alluring.

Something sparked between me and her while we were locking eyes

Something that made us kept staring to each other for a long while, before…

Before… this happened

In an unthinkable moment, our faces reached each other, then we gave out a kiss.

Then one kiss after another

Our kisses were slow and sensual, urging us to do more.

“What… are we doing?”

“I don’t know Wonyoung.”

“But... you seem to like it?”

“And you too Wonyoung.”

“So... are we doing this?”

“What if we do?”

“If we do this, no strings attached between you and me, got it?”

“No strings attached.”

We continued our kisses. She pinned me down with her hands, while I held onto her back, my hands moved along the silky smoothness of her dark hair, then ran down along the length of her waist, down to backside.

Clothes were starting to be removed while we were making out. I kissed her along her neckline while she was removing my long sleeve shirt, then I proceeded to remove her jacket, top and sport bra, kissing her breasts passionately.

Her scent was addictive, her skin was smooth, made me eager to do more.

Wonyoung didn’t go easy on me either, she kissed me along my chest, down to my abs, then quickly removed my pants, with my bulge couldn’t stop protruding to the heat of the moment. She didn’t wait for any sec to remove the last piece of clothing on me, then taking my hardened “friend.” and her beautiful lips.

Her movements were slow at first, and she took it deeper, made me let out a sound

“Ahh... shit... Wonyoung... that’s very good ... ahhh”

I gave her signs, she understood quickly. Then she stood up, remove her lower pants, then her thin strap undies, leaving us both naked on the mat.

We got in too far now; there was no going back.

She got to my face, then slowly dropped down her lower body onto me, letting me taste the sweet scent of her vagina, while she continued with my erected rod. My tongue ran along the softness of her folds, while her tongue was swirling around my rod in faster pace.

Her walls were tight, and sexy, my tongue couldn’t stop taking her deeper, with the help of my fingers, while Wonyoung also didn’t leave my shaft a break with her mouth, taking mine down to the base.

“Ahhh... fuckk... Wonyoung... you ... you suck me deep... fuckkkk that’s … so good…”

“Ahh... your tongue… ahh… I… I feel good... so good down there … ahh. Oh shit... ... it’s so good “

We did not stop there, not like that

She once again rode on me, this time, with my rod slowly entered her tight wet walls, leaving us both an erotic moan in unison

“Ahh… that’s... shit... that’s so tight... Wonyoung you’re so tight….”

“Ah….shit… that’s ... so big and hard... inside me... ahh...”

Wonyoung started to bounce on me. Seeing her like this, breathing in and out through the motion while having my hardened shaft inside was a sight, a beautiful sight. Her face was reddened through the bounce, her breathes were harder with her paces, while me down below enjoyed the moment with pleasure. Sweats were forming from both of us, our breathings collided with each other, so were our louder moans

“Ahhh… fuckkkk… Wonyoung… holy fuckkk... you’re… so good with this… ahhh fuckk you’re so hot… ahh fuckkk…. You’re soo tight… you’re wrapping me good... ahhhh”

“Hahh… ahhh..., fuckk. I couldn’t stop… ahhh bouncing… ahhh. … I couldn’t stop my body anymore… ahhh fuckkk …. yours are piercing me hard …fukk ahh…”

Our lips joined each other again, then I pounded her hard upward, making her moan louder, arched her body, face up to the ceiling, hair was defying gravity.

Our bodies kept on slamming into each other, our moans and pleasure reached its maximum, before we had to come to an end, at least, for this round.

“Ahhh fuckkkkk... Wonyoung… I’m … I’m gonna cummm… Oh fuck I’m gonna cummmm !!! I... can’t hold it any longer!!!”

“Hahhh… Me... me too… Oh fuckkkk … ahhhh... I’m… reaching it !! Ahhhhh”

There was nothing that could stop us at that moment anymore

Our liquids shot into each other, loud and full. My cum and hers blasted into each other, filling her up with both of ours. I couldn’t stop myself from cumming, with some of it leaking out of her, as Wonyoung stayed in the position there, enjoying her orgasm, once she didn’t have for a long time.

That was the best thing, beside this “Adventure,” that I had for a while in my boring life. My mind went blank from it.

Wonyoung then dismounted from me, lying next to me, with both of us breathing in and out like we had some hard sparring.

Sweat was running on our bodies, our skins were reddened post-orgasm, making us lie there for a while, before we were able to form some words.

“That was… woah... that was… great.”

“I ... couldn’t believe... we just ... did that.”

“Yeh …”

“You... did better than the sparring…”

“Hah... I guess... I did something good then… don’t you think?”

“Yeh... but... I don’t want to stop... not like this.”

“ME neither… I want more ... Wonyoung… it’s too good not to.”

“No, we won’t stop... not until we both want it to ...”

And we didn’t stop.

We grabbed onto our sweaty bodies again, with sloppier kisses, as if we didn’t care of anything anymore.

Sex was the only thing in our mind at that point.

I let Wonyoung in an all four position, kissing along the back of her neck, then her sexy backline, down to her backside. There, I saw her vagina was still throbbing, still leaking with my cum. The way she arched her back in this position, her sweaty body, her erotic scent, made me feel even harder and wanting to try more.

My hands then grabbed onto her butt cheeks, kneading and kissing them, then I opened them out, revealing her pinkish and small anal hole. I then dove in with my tongue, licking and circling it around her tiny entrance, with Wonyoung let out a moan

“Ah… that place... ahhh...”

“Hmmm... you’re tasting so good Wonyoung… I… I want to take you here…. Can I …”

“Hah... at this point... just do it... take me in there...”

That was erotic, even for her.

I lined up my hard shaft towards her tight entrance, then I slowly entered her.

It was too tight, tighter than I could imagine, but that didn’t stop me to keep trying.

I could feel her breathing were getting harder once I finally put my tip passed her entrance, and even harder and more lewdful once my inches went deeper inside her crazy hot and tight hole.

“Ahhh... ahhhhhh… ahhhhhh... oh fuck… … so.. so tight…”

“Fuckkkk. Omg…. Wonyoung…. Soo tight... so warm…”

“Go... go for it…Don’t stop there.”

And I didn’t stop

I thrusted into her, letting her use to the penetrations. The slow motions made me feel like heaven, her warmth were killing me with pleasure, her walls wrapped tightly around my shaft. I went deeper and faster, pounding her with the best of my abilities from behind, with Wonyoung letting out the loudest sound that I ever heard of her.

“HAHH... AHHHHH… Oh shitt... ahhhh … so hard… so hard and big in me…. AHHHHHH... Oh fuckkkk … Oh…. Aahhhhh... oh FUCKK IT’S SO HARD … AHHHH... that… so good… AHHH”

“FUCKKK Wonyoung… ahhhhh...  FUCKK THIS IS FUCKING GREAT… AHHH Fuckkkk I couldn’t stop…. Ahhhh”

I pounded and pounded harder ; I didn’t want to stop this sensation. I was fully enamored into it, I couldn’t think of anything but breaking her tight anal hole. Her moans were once again colliding with mine, echoing around her hideout.

I grabbed my hands tightly on her waist, leaving some handprints, while my lower body were attacking her non-stop. I gave her kisses from behind, stimulated her vagina, pulling her hair a bit while pounding into her.

Wonyoung’s palms gipped hard down to the mat, her head curved up and down through the pleasures, her breathings were mixing with her loud moans. AT this point, we were close to our climax once again, and our bodies erotically confirmed it.

“FUCKK ... WONYOUNG ... I’M CUMMINGGG !!!1”

“AHHHH... GOOO… DO ITTT.”

My cum shot out again.

My hot cum filled her whole.

Once again for the night, I filled the beautiful girl in front of me

My cum again blasted inside her in shots, made me lose the counts.

Our minds gone really blank with the orgasm

Her juice was also leaking down the mat, so was me cum from her tight hole once I pulled out.

I gave her kisses, and so did she.

We did not waste any moment that night.

We continued our heated moments together through the night, any positions, anything we could think off with each other, until we ran dry.

 We let ourselves wrapped inside our lustful desires with each other, until we couldn’t do no more.

Me, and Wonyoung, both lying on the messy mat after our “battle”.

We just stayed there, until she opened the convo

“That... was ...”

“Yeah... I ... seriously couldn’t believe... we went this far...”

“But... I like it…”

“Me too...”

“All this time, fighting alone, … I closed off to a lot of people… I didn’t want any to get close to me... even my close ones. Sometimes, I like it that way… but some days… I wish I could tell them...”

“Well... at least now... you have my help... and I’m willing too... So… don’t close off to me, ok?”

“I’ll try… but... not that fast... like I said... no strings attached.”

“Got you … on that.”

“Tonight... I like it… but... just keep it that way. Nothing further than this, deal?”

“Deal”

“I also been thinking...”

“Yeh?”

“We must find the other 3. The more this being delayed, the more stakes are rising. And, I feel like, this is only getting started. The Gara, they may be gone from this area, but I don’t believe they’re done for.”

“Sure Wonyoung, I’m with you. Any plans?”

“We will go tomorrow, it’s time I look for the others, let them know, that there are others like them, and we have to do this, together”

“We can do that Wonyoung, like I said, I’m already into this, so you have me as your ally.”

“Thanks Tyler”

“You know, the way you fight, how you look in that ... armor, reminds me of something.”

“Something?”

“Actually, not something, but someone. It’s a superhero show’s character, and my grandad was very into it.”

“Oh?”

“You might find it’s silly but, would be cool if you have that codename, just like that character!”

“And what would it be.”

“How about... KAMEN RIDER? How’s that sounds?”

Wonyoung stayed silence for a while, with myself thought it was a dumb idea to tell her, but to my surprise

“I like it.”

“Well then, from this day on, you will be known, as KAMEN RIDER, sounds cool?”

“Cool”

EPISODE 1 : END

[mehiwilldoitlater]

Your horus x very stressed reader post is rotating so much in my mind.

So have some scenarious that have popped into my mind.

-----------------

The serfs going through different stages of opinions:

"ugh she is so incompetent. At least she isn't mean"

"oh she is trying. Why was she put in charge without anyone to guide her."

"Oh no, our lady is going to die from stress at this rate."

And more.

-----------------

Horus decides to have a few 'vacation' days with his wife.

Day two she is very sick because after so much stress all the possible bugs her body might have accumulated but was unable to deal with from stress are now being dealt with.

-----------

Horus takes his wife on a date. She is performing the being a good wife but slowly relaxs

Horus ends ups mentioning off hand that she should try a bit harder, while talking about different things.

Lady yn goes back to performing the act of being a good wife, now uncomfortable, unhappy and self-conscious. And wanting to leave.

Either Horus doesn't notice or when he notices he doesn't know how to fix it because he doesn't know what was the thing he said that caused that.

Following this. Lady yn trying to work through exhaustion or the start of being ill and just fucking collapsing on her desk.

------------------------------

Horus trying to play with his wife's hair and different possibilities:

a bunch, not a lot, falling off.

Him seeing grey hairs, I'm sure he wouldn't know that stress causes grey hairs.

The hair texture is different.

The scalp feels weird?

All of the above

-------------------------------

Somehow horus learns what prolonged high amounts of stress can do to a human and panics.

------------------------------

Lady yn just missing home so much, even if she still loves her husband she starts to resent the relationship itself, and maybe him too just a tiny bit, and regretting meeting him.

One dat Writing down her thoughts on a diary of sorts, or a sparenotebook, that se may or may not feel bad about.

Horus finds it and starts snooping. Even if it is clearly private.

---------------------

THIS! ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE FREAKING LEGIT!

Geez, I'm so glad you shared these with me, because these things are the ones I wanted to point out!

Horus wife is becoming miserable that even waking up and realizing that no, it is not a dream, you are indeed Lady Lupercal, and yes, you still need to fix all those monetary issues that are, in fact, part of your job.

I'm going to go on all of these because they are GOLD:

1) Yes, like YES YES YES. The serfs know that she was struggling with this position from the beginning, and this can cause some trouble for them. But she's trying, okay? She's trying to be a good lady, acting nice to them, trying to mold and play the act, but everyone can see that she's slowly crumbling.

Also, 100 points if she's hearing all of this and just walks away because she knows that this is just true.

2) It's a cute thing, okay? a small escapade, a small run away in some nice place (Fulgrim suggested it, helping to bond more with her)—enough to forget! But the situation is already so bad that a few days on a beach is not like that can help. Also, as soon as she sets foot back on Terra, the problems will come back, so…

3) On his part, Horus did try to make a nice night for both of them. Again, was this maybe suggested by his sons? Like, "You should need a small date! Clear your evening, spend time with your wife!"

I would go with the option that he did not notice it because, in his mind, he just wanted to help her! He didn't mean anything bad! I mean, of course he knows that she's doing her best; she just needs to try a littleharder!

But he will notice, of course...when she collapsed like a dead body in front of everyone, like her brain just shut down in front of all his sons, while he still held her hand, still trying to process the event.

4) ALL…ALLLLL. Things went wild when he heard her crying in front of her vanity, a bunch of her hair stuck in her brush, and the clear view of her scalp.

She'll start wearing some veil on her head, while he'll try to present the issue with some apothecary, hoping for a solution.

5) The realization, when he realizes that all of these are not some strange illness, is not something that you could have gotten on that vacation; this is all happening because you're struggling with your work. He'll start to ask questions, asking about her personal serf and people around her. Then he remembers that date, and his brain just goes wild.

6) He'll do it. He knew about that diary, the one you kept on yourself, that no one touched.

He took it, and he read it, because he wanted to know how deep the thing was going.

He learned about your true emotion, how you started to develop some resentment about everything, about him, and he doesn't know how to react to it.

He failed you? But how come? He did everything right.

How could it be that he was the cause of your pain?

[shadamyheadcanons]

Total Recall

For the 2025 Shadamy week prompt: Forgotten. Kindly beta’d by the lovely @shadowsfascination.

Shadow wakes up in an unfamiliar bed with amnesia and finds that a vaguely familiar pink hedgehog took him in, promising to take care of him until he remembers everything. He keeps a journal while he’s there so he can at least remember some things over time. 5.8K words.

Cross-posted on AO3.

Day 1

I woke up this morning with a splitting headache, a bump on my head, and not a single memory of how it happened...or who I was. Who anyone was. I must’ve grunted in pain, because a pink hedgehog dashed into the room to check on me. She was fretting and worrying over me, but I couldn’t really focus.

She introduced herself as Amy and said we were friends, but I don’t know. She feels more important than that, somehow. She must mean something else to me. Whatever it is, it must be positive, because I instantly felt better once I saw her. Safer.

Amy promised she’d take care of me until I got my memories back, and she gave me this journal so I could write things down as I remembered them. When I asked her why she’s helping me, she said she’s always there when a friend needs her. She also mentioned she felt guilty, but she wouldn’t tell me why.

Day 2

The stabbing pain in my head this morning was just as bad as yesterday, maybe worse. I couldn’t even leave bed, so she fed me soup and pet my head for a while. It felt...nice. I kind of want to fib and tell her I need to stay in bed more often, but the idea of lying to her makes me feel sick for some reason.

Day 3

I tried walking around the house today, but I was too dizzy to make it far. Luckily, Amy was there to help guide me to a seat in her kitchen, and she talked to me while we ate lunch, telling stories about all our friends. A couple of names sounded vaguely familiar, but the details escaped me. She didn’t seem to mind.

When I asked if looking after me was a nuisance, Amy instantly denied it, saying it’s nice to have someone else around for a change. Apparently, she used to live with her friend Cream, but then Cream moved back in with her mother, leaving Amy by herself.

It looked like she was trying really hard not to look sad. I wonder if she’s lonely. Maybe I’m lonely, too.

I told her I liked being with her here so far, and she looked really happy. I think I’ll mention that more often.

Day 5

I remembered something today. She was playing music while she made us breakfast. I recognized the chords, the words, the tone...I spoke some of the words, then sang a few lines as the lyrics came to me.

Amy was thrilled. She instantly perked up and started talking a mile a minute about the band—Hot Honey, she called them—and how she’d brought me to a concert with her, how much fun we’d had together, how much I liked it. She played song after song of theirs, excitedly chattering away.

But I didn’t understand. I told her that although I recognized the songs, I didn’t like them.

I wish I hadn’t done that. She went quiet and looked really sad.

I wanted to make her feel better, so I admitted that although I didn’t really like the songs, they felt meaningful. Important. She smiled a little.

She hasn’t played Hot Honey since then.

It was grating. It was sappy.

But I kind of miss it anyway.

Day 6

Not too much happened today. My head’s been feeling better and I can walk now, so Amy said we can go out tomorrow.

I noticed she had blankets and a pillow set up in another room, so I asked if she always slept there. She said it was just temporary, that she usually sleeps in the bed I’m using. She told me she was fine sleeping there and it wasn’t a problem, but I don’t know. It looks uncomfortable to me. I told her there was probably enough room for both of us in the bed if we slept close enough, but her face went bright red, and she got all flustered and said no.

Not sure what that’s about, but I kind of want to see her do it again.

Day 7

I’m apparently a fan of flowers, so she took me out to a public garden today. She must be right, because I remembered all of their names—lilacs, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias. It’s weird what my brain hangs onto; little facts are fine, but whenever I try to think of details about people or my past, it’s like there’s this weird bubble in the back of my head stopping me. If I try to push it, I get this sense of wrongness, like I’m snooping somewhere I shouldn’t be.

But flowers are easy. I even told her scraps I remembered about their supposed “symbolism,” whatever that means, and she looked happier and happier the more I shared. Memories came back in bits and pieces: times when I’d seen each flower for the first time, the books I’ve scoured to learn more, the feeling of soil passing through my fingers, and the joy of raising my own flowers and watching them bloom. Upon remembering I had a garden myself, I immediately stopped and asked Amy about it. Luckily, she’d asked a friend of hers, Silver, to look after it while I was under the weather. She really does think of everything.

Halfway through, she spotted some bright yellow daffodils and gasped. She brightened up and told me I gave her a bouquet of them once to cheer her up. I can’t remember doing that, but the smile on her face was warm and familiar. If she always looks that way when she gets flowers, I’ll have to get them for her more often.

At the end, she lamented that it was too early in the year for lavender, saying those were my favorites. But I don’t think they actually are. They aren’t right now, at least. I pointed to a patch of roses we’d already passed and said those were my favorites, especially the red ones. She looked confused, but then she smiled again and told me she loved them, too, and that “Rose” is her last name.

It suits her.

On a whim, I asked if I could call her that, and her eyes widened. She smiled shyly and agreed. Her cheeks were pink.

Rosy, even.

Day 9

Today, Rose introduced me to two of her friends, a fox with two tails and an...echidna? I think that’s what he’s called...named Tails and Knuckles.

Two people named after body parts. Not exactly creative, but it does make me wonder where my name came from. What am I a shadow of? I tried to think back, but all it gave me was an unsettling sensation in the back of my mind: a gentle voice, followed by a stabbing pain.

I decided the answer could wait.

I’m not sure why Knuckles was there. It seems like Rose doesn’t always have a reason for bringing people over, she just does it. He mostly lounged around and pestered me about what I did and didn’t remember and seemed disappointed with how little I knew. But when I called Rose by her last name, he lit up and started hounding me about her instead—how “close” we were, how much I liked her, how long I was staying with her—smirking obnoxiously the whole way through. Rose eventually got him to back off.

Tails asked about my headaches. How frequent they are, what triggers them, that kind of thing. He talked to me about amnesia, too, saying this kind usually only persists for a couple weeks in Mobians and my memories will probably be back soon. The others seemed relieved, but I’m not sure how to feel about it.

After checking on my health, Tails showed that he’d brought a two-wheeled vehicle with him, saying he’d been in the process of tuning it up when my...incident happened. He encouraged me to take a seat and start it up, explaining that I’d been built with what he calls “vehicular intuition,” so I’d know how to ride it even without my memories. He’s awfully smart for a kid. Smarter than Knuckles, at least.

At first, I didn’t recognize it. The striking jet black and sharp angles called out to me faintly, but it wasn’t until I sat down on the seat and started up the engine that it clicked.

Powerful sensations and images flashed behind my eyes—wind whipping through my quills, scenery blurring past, the growl of the bike beneath me, the simple joy and freedom of it all—and my heart pounded.

My bike. Mine.

I almost shed a tear. I’ve missed it that much. Luckily, I regained focus in time to blink it back. I think I’d be okay if Rose saw me cry, but the other two? Not a chance.

After they left, Rose begged me to take her on a ride with me, and I immediately said yes. She’s a difficult person to say no to.

The familiar thrill of racing returned to me, but the feeling of someone clinging to me was fresh. I don’t think I’ve ever given Rose a ride before. I’ve been missing out. The way she held me made my chest feel warm and light, and whenever I sped up or turned a tight corner, she’d let out a cute little squeak.

I kept driving her around until the sun set. Once I brought her home, she finally explained why she’s been feeling guilty about my amnesia. She said I was helping her build a new addition on her house and she accidentally knocked me on the head with a hammer. Said she felt awful, should have been more careful, all of that. I didn’t like seeing her so unhappy, so I hugged her and told her it was alright, and she calmed down.

To be honest, I bet there’s more to the story than that. Tails mentioned I’m supposed to be some kind of “Ultimate Life Form,” so I highly doubt a sweet, silly, petite girl could knock me out with a hammer, especially by accident. She’s probably being too hard on herself for something. She does that a lot.

But she does have a hammer she keeps by the door, this giant yellow and red thing. Just looking at it does make my head hurt.

Day 11

Rose invited over an obnoxious blue hedgehog this afternoon—Sonic, I think? He wouldn’t shut up and kept sprinting around making dumb jokes, saying he ‘would race me if I were feeling better.’

As if I’d need to be at full power to beat that buffoon in a race.

Rose seems...fond of him. She has terrible taste. I didn’t tell her that.

She asked me if I remembered anything about him, and I told her that she must have hit me pretty hard if I managed to forget someone that annoying. I thought she’d be upset, but she laughed instead and said that some things never change.

Day 14

Today

Day 15

Yesterday I

Day 16

Rose and I went to a city two days ago called Westport Westopolis to run a few errands. While we were there, we ran into a man in a military uniform with two differently colored eyes. He started to snap at me about my “extended vacation.” Rose got mad and stepped between us, maybe to defend me, but I couldn’t hear what she said to him because I caught sight of a weird logo on his chest that spelled out “G.U.N.”

It felt like my head was splitting in two.

Unsettling, terrifying noises ricocheted in my mind—panicked voices, pleading, screams—ending with a deafening bang.

I don’t know what that sound was, but it made my stomach turn.

After the bang, my vision went black, and my legs gave out. I don’t remember hitting the floor, though. Maybe Rose caught me. She did say she carried me home, and I’ve never caught her in a lie. She must be stronger than she looks. I couldn’t even leave bed until today, so I’m sure I was no help.

I think something bad happened to me, and I’m scared of finding out what it was. Is it possible to just bring back the good memories? Am I wrong to want that?

I hope I never run into G.U.N. again.

Day 17

Rose thought we could use a nice day off after what happened, so she brought me to the city park with some food and a blanket so we could eat outside on the grass. She said it’s called a “picnic.” The word wasn’t familiar, not even a little. Rose got really sad when I said so. She thinks I’d probably never been on one, even before I lost my memories. She immediately turned determined, scrounged up some food—bread, strawberry jam, peanut butter, chips–and brought me to the city park.

I don’t think this will help me regain any memories, but I don’t mind. She’s cute when she gets all determined like this. Are all female hedgehogs as pretty as she is? I asked her, but she told me to stop embarrassing her. She was as red as the strawberry jam.

I figured Rose would find us a table somewhere, but instead, she spread out the blanket right on the grass. We were halfway through our meal when Rose’s friend Cream hopped over to us with a small blue creature in tow who she calls “Cheese.” She let me hold him. He has an odd texture, warm and soft but jiggly. Not sure what to make of that, but it’s comforting somehow. A few other Chao stopped by, too. They’re clingy, but I like them.

The afternoon passed with no discussion of who I used to be; Rose, Cream, Cheese...all they cared about was who I am now. The temperature and breeze were relaxing, and it was nice to see them laughing and enjoying the comfortable weather. Their voices and the natural sounds of the park were gentle. I would’ve gladly spent all day there.

Rose once told me I’d promised her years ago that I’d keep everyone safe, that I’d made it my life’s mission to protect the Earth and everyone on it. I think I’m starting to understand why.

Day 20

We went grocery shopping in some square today—Station Square, I think it’s called. She had a pretty long list. She’s going to teach me how to make cupcakes. It’s another one of those things I know I’ve never done before. Is she still avoiding my past because of what happened with the commander, or is she just as reluctant to dredge up my memories as I am?

Taking a look at the list, I recognized enough items that I’m sure I could have dashed around the store and cut the time in half; I’ve experimented with my strength and speed here and there, and they’re both returning to me. Even as I thought of it, though, I lost all desire to rush. If I ran, I wouldn’t get to walk by her side. I’d miss the cute way her nose wrinkles when she’s comparing prices. I wouldn’t have gotten to reach the cake mix she was too short for and enjoy the smile it earned me.

Maybe you don’t need a reason to spend time with someone. Maybe the right person is worth it all on their own.

Day 25

Today, Rouge and Omega stopped by. I don’t remember everything about them, but their names are the only ones I’ve known right off the bat so far, and I felt better having them here.

Before they came in, Rose poked her head out the door and whispered something to them about not mentioning “assignments” around me right now, and every so often, she or Rouge would steer the topic away from something. Omega didn’t like that very much. They cut him off when he started mentioning something about target practice, and his internal motors made this disgruntled rumbling noise.

I get the feeling Rouge and Omega—and me, by extension—don’t visit Rose. Rouge didn’t know where the bathroom was, and Omega was analyzing the house’s structural integrity like he’s never been here. I can apparently teleport when I’m at full strength, so distance isn’t an issue, and she clearly needs the company, so why don’t we visit her?

Rouge apologized for not checking up on me sooner, saying they’d been really busy. Whichever “assignments” they’re being sent on must be stressful; Omega was grumpy, and there were bags under Rouge’s eyes. I told them to look out for themselves.

When Rose stepped out to bring in the cupcakes we’d made together, Rouge asked me about her—whether I felt comfortable here, if I wanted to stay somewhere else, all that. I told her I was happy here with her. When I called her “Rose,” though, Rouge stopped. She didn’t respond like Knuckles had. She and Omega exchanged a nervous glance. I asked what was wrong, but they both stalled out. Rouge just said that I was welcome to come back to live with them anytime, especially if I “needed some distance” after I got my memories back. Rose came back with the cupcakes before I could ask what she meant.

Distance from what? From Rose? Why? I like her. I like her smile. I like her cooking. I like how she laughs, even if I don’t always understand why. I like the warm feeling I get when she holds my hand to lead me places. I like hearing her hum when we’re doing chores around her house. I like how she says my name. She puts an extra...something into it that no one else does.

What miserable version of me would want to avoid her? What was I afraid of?

Day 31

It’s been a month now, and I think I need to talk to Rose.

The longer this goes on, the less and less I want to know about whatever darkness is lurking in my past. Every time I think back, all I feel is pain and dread, and I can’t help but wonder if I was ever as happy as I am now. I like the world I live in. I’m not sure I always did.

It feels like almost everyone wants to pull me backwards, but I’m tired of looking back. Why can’t I move forwards instead? Why can’t this be me?

Rose has put in so much time, so much effort into helping me regain my memories, but if anyone will accept my decision, it’ll be her.

I’ll tell her tomorrow.

Day 32

I did it. I told her...and she accepts me!

She said she’d noticed how nervous I was about it, and she understood why. She even told me she loved me—every version of me—memories or not, and that she’d be happy to let me stay here no matter what I choose to do about my amnesia!

But...something odd happened. I can’t explain it, but she said this one phrase that echoed in my mind, and my brain...lurched, as if something was settling into place. She said, “I don’t care what you choose, Shadow. I want to give you a chance to be happy!”

My head’s been spinning ever since. Hopefully I’ll feel better in the morning.

I don’t know how I’ll break the news to everyone else, but with Rose by my side, I’m sure I can do it.

This is who I am.

Shadow sat on the edge of his bed—Amy’s bed—feeling his muscles shake. His jaw clenched harder with each cheesy, embarrassing, lovestruck journal entry his ignorant self had written over the past month.

The immense weight of his agonizing past had lifted for scarcely a moment, allowing him just enough room to drop his guard...and let her in.

And by the time he’d awoken that morning, the entire world had crashed down on his head once more. Raw and honest and unforgiving, leaving him broken like a neglectful Atlas.

His fingers tightened, wrinkling the pages, and his chest clenched. All the years I spent keeping my distance, and she breaks it all down in an instant. And as if that weren’t enough...

Vivid images of the massacre flashed behind his eyes, the gruesome tragedy that had taken everything from him.

Shadow’s heart pounded in his chest, and his breathing grew rough and unstable. His eyes went wide and his expression strained as he stared at nothing, but no tears dared fall.

Energetic footsteps, heavier than expected for a silly, petite hedgehog, bounded around the corner. Amy poked her head in. “Shadow, do you want—”

Shadow choked and threw the journal aside, feeling his face shift into that of a cornered animal. “A-Amy—!”

At the mention of her first name, Amy gasped, and her brow wrinkled in concern. “Shadow? Are you...”

He tore his gaze away.

Shadow heard Amy’s footsteps grow closer, and the bed sank next to him. Her hand hovered for a moment, then rested on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Her light reached out to him. He panted and tried to pull away as he always had, only to fall even further.

The ARK.

Gerald.

MARIA.

Amy wrapped her arms around his shoulders, desperate yet reassuring. “Shadow, it’s okay! You’ll be alright! I’m here.”

Shadow clenched his jaw until it hurt, and he grasped the sheets on either side of him. He could see Amy’s expression pinch out of the corner of his eye, and she rubbed his back. “Is there anything I can do?”

He met her gaze. Try as he might, Shadow couldn’t lock out her warmth, not the way he could just a month ago. He stared for a long moment at the woman he loved—the one he could never have because she was so enamored with someone else—and he sighed. Shadow looked down and shut his eyes. “Take out your hammer.”

A baffled noise escaped Amy’s throat, but she summoned it. “Um...okay...?”

Shadow took the hammer from her hands and held it to his forehead. “Right here. Just...”

After a moment of silent confusion, Amy gasped and ripped the hammer from his hands, throwing it aside. “SHADOW! That’s not funny!” There was a pause, and then her vitriol faded. “Shadow...?”

He felt the tears hit his knees before he even knew he was crying. “Take it back,” he croaked, voice cracking. “Take it all back.”

“Oh, Shadow.” Pain was evident in Amy’s voice, too, and she wrapped her arms around him fully, gentler this time. “I know it’s hard. You’ll be okay.”

“I was h-happy...for once...” he managed through shuddering breaths.

“Shh...it’s alright.”

Shadow turned in Amy’s hold and clung to her, letting himself break down in the arms of the only person left who was allowed to see his tears. He wept for Maria. He wept for Gerald, flawed though he was. He wept for the Shadow of yesterday who’d never known pain or loss or inhibitions, and he wept for the innocence he’d lost yet again.

Brainwashing, amnesia, time travel, and now I almost forgot all over again...only to remember every time. How many times will I be forced to lose them?

Shadow wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, mourning pain both old and new. Amy didn’t falter, not even after his breathing slowed and his muscles stilled.

At last, he lifted his head, vision bleary and head aching. Amy was gazing up at him, eyes watery with tears she’d shed on his behalf. “I’m so sorry!”

Shadow pulled back, baffled, but he held onto one of her hands. “Why?”

“Because I’m the reason you got amnesia in the first place!” she insisted. “I feel awful.”

Shadow was shaking his head even before she finished. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Amy glanced back at the hammer she’d left on the ground, then shot him an incredulous look.

“...Not on purpose,” Shadow added.

Amy groaned and hid her face. “You told me to use a regular hammer, but I got impatient and used mine!”

“In your defense, it was faster.”

“But you told me to be careful!”

“I got in the way,” he fibbed.

Amy yanked at her quills and scrunched her eyes shut. “I should’ve just done the job myself! If only I’d—”

“Amy.”

She peeked her eyes open a crack. Shadow threaded his fingers with hers and pulled them away from her quills. “Stop trying to make me blame you. It’s not going to work.”

Amy stared up at him and sniffled, but she remained silent.

“You’ve been taking care of me. Feeding me. Housing me. Helping me. Making me happy. And it worked.”

As he said that, though, he felt his face fall. It worked...just not forever.

Amy squeezed his hand. “I don’t know everything you’ve been through, and I know it can’t be easy, but you have good memories, too,” she insisted. “Whenever I hear you talk about Maria, it never sounds like you regret meeting her.”

“Of course I don’t!”

Amy jumped, so he averted his gaze and quieted down. “I would never regret meeting her. I couldn’t. Not for a second.”

Amy nodded, encouraged. “And think of all the adventures you’ve been on! Think of your friends! What about Rouge and Omega?”

Shadow’s chest warmed, then instantly tightened. “They’ve been covering for me. All this time. That’s why they were so exhausted.”

“Huh?”

“They’ve been keeping Team Dark going without me this entire time. How much longer would they have kept doing that? A month? Two months? Forever?” All so I could keep playing house with you, happy and ignorant?

I nearly threw away everything we’ve been through together.

The thought repulsed him.

“Because you would have done the same for them,” Amy countered, learning forward to get a better look at his face. “You’re kind. You’re dedicated. And if this had happened to either one of them, you wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.”

There was silence for a moment. Shadow just stared, sensing she had more to say.

Amy’s lower lip trembled. She held on for a few moments before blurting out, “You shouldn’t have been here in the first place!”

“What?!”

“No, no!” Amy spluttered, holding her hands up defensively. “I mean you shouldn’t have been there the day I...” She glanced back at her hammer and cringed.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “You were putting another wing on your house, and no one else would help. Of course I showed up.”

Amy scratched the back of her head and looked down at her feet. “Ah...not quite.”

Shadow’s ears perked up.

Amy bit her lip. “See, I actually...didn’t ask anyone else,” she murmured. “I had it handled. I could have called Tails if I needed help with construction, and I could have asked Knuckles if I needed more strength...but I didn’t. I can do all that by myself.”

With anyone else, Shadow would have snapped in irritation. He kept his tone gentle. “Why did you ask me?”

Amy looked up at him, fidgeting with her fingers. “Promise you won’t get mad at me, okay?”

Shadow nodded. I don’t think I could if I tried.

She paused, then let her head drop, resigned. “Because I wanted to get to know you better.”

Shadow’s heart pounded. “Really?”

Amy nodded, peeking up at him shyly out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve wanted to get to know you since we talked on the ARK, but you’ve always kept your distance. I could never get close.”

Shadow’s heart ached. I never meant to hurt you. He opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat.

Amy twiddled her thumbs in her lap. “But I knew one thing that would work. No matter how busy you are, you’ve always found time to help me. Every single time I’ve asked you for help, you’ve been there.”

Memories of Amy’s voice drifted into his head.

“Thank you so much for coming with me to this concert, Shadow. I never could have gone alone. It’s so much better with you here!”

“Ah, Shadow, I’m so glad you’re here! Cream went into this weird-looking castle, and she hasn’t come back out! Will you go in there with me to look for her?”

“Shadow, please help us! Give them a chance to be happy!”

She’s right. I really will do anything for her.

“Shadow!”

He didn’t know he was grasping at his chest until Amy threaded her fingers with his. Her voice pulled him out of his stupor. “I’m sorry! I know it was wrong. It’s just...you’re so sweet, and brave, and kind...and you don’t hear that often enough. I wanted to know more. I—”

Shadow stalled out as she rambled, at a loss for words. His heart fluttered.

Does she...?

Every word died in his throat. Instead, he grasped her hand with both of his and held it to his chest, letting her feel his racing heartbeat. Her ranting immediately stopped, and one solitary tear faltered, nearly falling from her eye. A voice from fifty years ago, quieter than Amy’s but clear, floated in from the back of Shadow’s mind.

“You have a big heart! It may be difficult for you to express it, but I know that deep down you really do care. About me. About everyone! What you do is what defines you. I know you’re having a hard time finding answers, but I’m certain you will one day. Then, you’ll find even more people you can trust.”

Shadow found his voice at last. “I really wish you could have met her.”

Amy’s confusion lasted for only a moment before melting away, but she remained silent.

He brushed away the tear she’d almost shed, breathed in deeply, and let it out. “She would have loved you almost as much as I do.”

Amy’s eyes bugged out. Shadow slid his hand onto her cheek, making his intentions clear. He waited for a few terrifying seconds that felt like years, praying he hadn’t misinterpreted.

Finally, Amy glanced at his lips...and leaned in to meet him.

Her lips were warm and soft, and Shadow’s eyes fell shut at the pleasant sensation. His motions were tentative from nerves and inexperience, just as hers were, and he lingered for only a few seconds before pulling back. Amy leaned in to follow him, apparently just as reluctant to end the contact, and he pressed their foreheads together to stay close. Her breath tickled his lips, and a shy smile spread across her face. He couldn’t hold back a small grin of his own.

“So does this mean you’ll forgive me?” Amy asked, hesitant but hopeful.

Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. “The girl I’ve had a soft spot for since the beginning resorted to subterfuge to spend more time with me, then pampered me for a month? I’ll live.”

Any last trace of hesitation vanished from Amy’s face, leaving behind cheeks dusted pink. Shadow tilted her head down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before aiming a smile her way. “Thank you, Amy.”

“Ah—”

She snapped her mouth shut. He raised a brow. “Hm?”

Amy pursed her lips, deliberating, and then her expression turned sheepish. “You know...you can keep calling me ‘Rose,’ if you want...” Her eyes shot open. “I mean—you don’t have to, but...”

Shadow perked up. “I can?”

Her smile was small and secretive. “It’s...nice. No one else calls me that, so...it feels special when you do.”

Shadow smirked roguishly. “No problem. ‘Rose’ it is.”

A happy little noise escaped Amy’s throat, and he knew even before looking that her tail was wagging. As he kept looking around her room, though, Shadow’s stomach churned with nerves once more. “So...I know I’ve recovered by now, but...is your offer from last night still valid?”

She cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

Shadow tugged absently at the blanket underneath him. “I know you’re lonely, and I’ve found a lot of happiness here. More than anywhere else.” He squeezed his eyes shut, ignored the way his stomach flipped, and met her eyes. “I don’t want to leave.”

Amy’s face barely had time to light up before he was pulled into an enthusiastic embrace. “Of course I want you to stay!”

Shadow choked from her strong hug, then laughed and quieted down when she loosened up. He listened patiently, happy just to hear her rant excitedly about all the new ideas she had for the house.

At last, she retreated, showing the exhilarated, post-rant expression he knew most were never patient enough to see.

Their loss.

Shadow ruffled her quills. “In that case, you’d better have supplies ready when I get back.”

Amy frowned. “What do you mean?”

Shadow stood up and adjusted his gloves. “I really do need to talk to Rouge and Omega, but if I’m moving in, then you’ll need that extra wing on your house more than ever.” He smirked down at Amy. “And it’s been established that you can’t handle that yourself, right?”

Amy leapt to her feet and gave a grumpy pout, cheeks puffing out in irritation. “That wasn’t—! Oh, you—!” He chuckled, and she crossed her arms. A few seconds later, though, she stood up straight and snickered. “Are you sure about that? You’re not just going to ask me to sleep in the same bed with you again~?”

Amy giggled, clearly expecting him to get flustered just as she had. Shadow raised a brow.

There’s nothing you can say that’s more embarrassing than that journal.

Shadow snaked an arm around her waist and cradled the back of her head, showing his own smirk when her eyes shot open. He pulled her close, closer than before, and pressed their lips together. He lingered longer this time, deepening the kiss and feeding more passion into it. He tilted his head and lightly scratched her scalp. Inexperience be damned, he kept going even as her fingers dug into his biceps, only pulling back when she whined quietly against his lips.

Shadow broke contact, unable to hold back a smug smile at her wide eyes and flushed cheeks. He leaned up to whisper in her ear.

“Not yet.”

Amy squeaked quietly. He released her and stepped back, unable to hold back a lighthearted laugh. She briefly stumbled, face even redder than before, and he felt his smile turn more genuine.

“I’ll see you later, Rose.”

She held a hand up to try and hide her face, but her bashful smile showed through. “O-okay.”

He took a moment to enjoy the sight before teleporting away.

I never want to forget this day.

[cipheramnesia]

Being wrong on the internet in an imperfect world doesn't have a perfect approach, but sometimes things can help.

1. Does it even need a response? Take awhile to think about it. Let your heart rate slow down. Save large amounts of energy by just waiting 30 minutes and figuring out it doesn't matter what you say. Maybe it's not an important topic, maybe you lack knowledge, maybe someone is clearly just angry or having a bad day.

2. Ask if myself if I was wrong, unclear, careless or so on. Shockingly easy to go damn, my bad. I can't control making mistakes 100%, but I can at least offer an apology if it was a full blown error or correct mistakes or whatever. Someone correcting me or getting mad at me doesn't make them a dickhead, and being a dickhead back generally doesn't fix a mistake or make someone less angry. Now there's two angry people. See item one. I can't un-angry someone, I can recognize a fuck up and step away.

3. Was it really malicious or just annoying? Neither person actually needs a response, but damn it really sucks burning someone's house down just because they commented about their favorite annoying pop music start on a ten thousand note post.

4. People be excited. Between different languages, different dialects, slangs, tones, writing styles, etc it's a pretty solid guarantee we will all read innocuous statements as intentionally hurtful. If you must reply, consider it might not be meant as hurtful. Worst case scenario you do something hilarious being sincere and kind to someone who hates you. It's 100% of the time a better response because it enrages the malicious and stops you being too much of an ass.

5. Damn this argument is so long. Yeah. You gotta let them go. I know what they said you said. I know what they said. And what I said. And what you said. Our participation in arguments stops mattering at a certain point. They are gonna keep saying as long as you keep saying, it's okay to just... leave. Just quit. Take the whole mess and cut the They Said and Their Bad Takes out of it. Nothing requires contextualizing your ideas in the framework of people who think everything you say or do is wrong.

It's really subjective and imperfect and stuff but it's like reblogging misinformation, it gets a lot easier if you stop and ask if it's worth the effort of getting stuck into it, and also just making an effort not to tell people they're stupid assholes in the process. It's not even necessary to be especially polite or tiptoe per say, huge leaps can be casually taken by resisting the urge to make up creative insults.

[retrieveire]

i think i will post the wednesday characters making twitter posts i’ve done except they are all in the universe of my au fanfiction so it won’t make sense to the wider audience (they still make me laugh)

[sysig]

Is this small and pixely enough that it’s not a spoiler

[connormoving]

i think itis funny in the past when i would list my interests as if i post abt them i donot post abt the shit im into rly Mainly bc im not rly Into Into anything anymore i occasionally watch or read or play something but i dont do fandom stuff rly much.... just sometimes i get brainworms

[serv0z]

Can we wait at LEAST two days or more? Some people are getting the game a day later. Or at least tag your spoilers appropriately people!

can the entire community prommy to do the thing where we waited a day to talk about deltarune pls....

[synthetic-sonata]

love when im in my bi-daily social media scrolling sometimes when im on tumblr i type t in my searchbar and go back to tumblr on accident . like ok we're back here again i guess

[cloverapple]

How I Shift On Command + How You Can Too

I don’t plan on posting anything other than this or starting a blog, so I don’t need anyone to “believe” in me. The only person you should trust is yourself—trust yourself to resonate positively with what you see online and click away if it doesn’t serve you. This is here for you to take from if it resonates. I literally only made this blog to post this here. My hope is that it reaches at least one person who can take something from this and apply it to their shifting journey. If not, and this post ends up here untouched, I’m just glad to finally get everything down in words and off my chest. 

Jumping straight to the answer because I’m not going to make anyone sit through a long post for it. The rest, the "advice," is here if you want to read it.

The "method"

I figured out what works specifically for me as an individual instead of following everyone else’s journey. Everyone has their “thing” that makes shifting click, a sweet spot that makes reality shifting possible. For me, it’s a combination of the law of assumption and inducing an altered state of consciousness.

During the day, I spend time affirming—or sometimes just reminding myself or keeping a little note nearby—things like:

I can shift.

I know how to shift.

I could shift tonight.

Shifting is accessible to me.

At night, I watch videos, look at Pinterest boards, or listen to music that reminds me of my DR. This ingrains where I’m going in my brain. Sometimes I do this for fun, and other times I skip it entirely.

When I lay down, I always lie on my back and stay somewhat still because I like the feeling of my body going numb. This isn’t necessary to shift, but I enjoy it—it lets me feel the symptoms of hypnagogia (that in-between state of wakefulness and sleep).

To meditate quickly, I count from 1 to 100 with a few affirmations in between to remind myself of what I’m doing. I do this until my body goes numb, and I start messing up the counting. Usually, the mistakes or random, nonsensical thoughts are my signal to start shifting.

At this point, I begin affirming the things I affirmed during the day:

I could shift right now.

I have the ability to shift.

I have the power to shift at any moment.

While I do this, I focus on the feeling of being in my DR—not my surroundings, not my senses, just the internal feeling of being there.

This is where “brazen impudence” comes in. I hard-force myself to feel like I’m in my DR. It’s not about imagining my surroundings but purely about embodying the feeling of being there.

Hypnagogic imagery and sensations like floating often kick in at this point. These are symptoms of your body falling asleep so your awareness can take shape in that sweet spot for shifting.

I continue this, then stop and start counting from 1 to 100 again, with affirmations like:

I can shift.

I know how to shift.

I could shift right now.

Then I repeat the process: using brazen impudence to force myself to feel like I’m in my DR.

Eventually, I reach that threshold between sleep and wake—a liminal state of pure consciousness. Body asleep, mind awake, I call this the “rabbit hole” which is honstly just a deep state of hypnogogia. It’s a state where anything is possible: lucid dreaming, astral projection, slipping into the void, shifting—anything.

When I’m in this state, I use brazen impudence to force myself to feel like I'm shifting to my DR and don't take no for an answer (I tell myself I'm in Barbados and shut the door in my own face). This can involve affirmations or just talking myself through it, either way I wake myself up there. Occasionally, I simply relax, expect to wake up in my DR, fall asleep, and wake up shifted.

Does all that sound complicated? Let me simplify:

Lay down and get comfortable.

Count from 1 to 100 on a loop with affirmations in between until you mess up the counting, get sleepy, or have your mind wander. Like this:

Me: *counts from 1 - 100* Me: *says a few affirmations/askfirmations* Me: *counts from 1 - 100* Me: *says a few affirmations/askfirmations*

On a loop until...

Persist in the feel of being in your DR—not focusing on surroundings or senses, just the feeling. Feeling is the secret.

Alternate between steps 2 and 3 until you’re in that relaxed body asleep/mind awake state, OR just straight up hypnogogia tbh. (That is, if you don’t already shift lol)

From there, choose what feels right: shift from a lucid dream, affirm, slip into the void, or just feel yourself in your DR like I do, convince yourself that either you shifted and are there, or are shifting and will end up there.

One thing I’ll tell you now—regardless of your circumstances, how long you’ve been trying, how long it’ll take, who you are, etc—is that you already know how to shift. You, reading this right now. You know how to shift, and there’s nothing you did to learn it. There’s nothing you can do to unlearn it. It’s something that will stay with you until the end of time.

Why do you think people shift randomly without prior knowledge of shifting? Even people who don’t believe in it? It’s because everyone can shift. You can shift.

Right now, stop reading this post and say in your head or out loud, “I already know how to shift.” Or, if that doesn’t feel right, “I already have the ability to shift,” “No matter what, I have the power to shift,” or “My mind knows how to shift no matter what.”

Can you argue that? No, you can’t. And if your mind starts throwing out “buts,” go back and read that again.

Shifting isn’t difficult, and no one struggles to shift. I’m sure you’ve heard it before—that shifting is simple and happens in seconds—because it does. You don’t struggle with shifting. You can shift; everyone has the power to. What you “struggle” with, so to speak, is figuring out what works for you, what your brain likes, how it operates—because everyone is different.

What ended up working for me more than anything was figuring out how I operate and modifying shifting to fit me—not forcing myself to fit shifting.

Will my method work for everyone? I have no idea. Unless you assume it will work for you, this is what works for me. I’m me, and you’re you.

Before you say “Oh, but I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked so far” and expect me to sit here and ask you “but have you really tried everything? <3” , listen to me. 

I could shift perfectly well with my own personal method before I started shifting regularly. I knew it worked well for my brain, but the thing that “blocked” me (so to speak) were my assumptions. 

When you sit there and say “I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked” that’s your assumption about yourself. You believe that nothing works for you, that you don't know how to shift, that you’re this powerless, lost baby shifter who needs guidance. 

There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s not your fault, and theoretically you could shift even with your “blockages” (I really hate that term), as shifting waits for no one.

This is why so many people shift randomly and with poor assumptions without meaning to. But you clicked on this because you want to know how you can shift consistently + on every time, and this is the answer I’m giving you. 

You find out what works better for you, be it affirming, visualizing, scripting, shifting awake, shifting asleep, shifting with hypnagogia, shifting with hypnopompic, shifting through lucid dreams, shifting with brazen impudence, through SATs, robotic affirming, through letting go, through putting your DR on a pedestal, through listening to music, through law of assumption alone, and many more. 

If that sounds overwhelming, please note that all of these are the same vehicles that get you to your destination. Just in different shapes and colors. Like how some people drive a car, others drive a motorcycle, others walk, others swim. The movement forward is always the same. 

What you’re doing, no matter how you’re doing it or in whatever state of consciousness you’re doing it from, will always be:

Assume it's true, feel it, receive it. “Assume and persist,” “ground yourself in the assumption,” you’ve heard it all before. 

How to Find What Makes You Shift On Command

You could either test different techniques (affirmations, visualizations, scripting, lucid dreaming, etc.) and see what feels natural to you. 

You could (and I love this one because it’s a cheat code) Assume you already know what works, and let the law of assumption guide you. “Manifest it” so to speak. 

Pay attention to your life, because you already shift on command, you've been doing it your whole life, but I guarantee you haven't noticed it. Pay attention to you, like how easily you slip into hypnagogia, your dream recall, or how strong your intuition is, maybe you put too much emotion into a scenario you don’t want in your life and it inherently manifests, things like that. Pay attention to the thing that makes you go “huh, that was weird”

“But Clover, I tried everything you mentioned above and still haven’t found my method!” 

My darling. Listen up. Come closer—I’m about to let you in on a secret. The way you apply the law of assumption isn’t one-size-fits-all, because assumptions and beliefs are not linear. It's the same every time, yes, it's a law. But just like you, the way you can use it is unique to each person.

Let me tell you how easy it is so you don't think I'm over-complicating it

You could, for instance, believe you’ve got $1000 in your bank account right now and act like it, fully living in the end. Or you could believe you’re going to have $1000 in your account and act like it’s already on its way. Or maybe you believe something’s going to happen that’ll bring you that $1000.

The same applies to shifting. It’s been a game changer for me. I used to struggle so much with things like:

“You’re already in your DR, just act like it.”

“Ignore the 3D.”

“You’ve already shifted.”

Do those methods work? Absolutely, they work beautifully. But like I said, if it doesn’t feel good or true to you, don’t force it.

My dearest, darling reader. If the story you see in your 3D is that you can’t shift, can’t find what makes you shift, are you just going to sit there and accept it? What is more satisfying? Think with me here: accepting that you don’t know how to shift and cannot shift, or persisting that you do know how to shift? 

“Clover, but I’ve been trying for 4 years! I’ve tried everything and I still haven’t shifted”

So that's your story? Your story, your assumption is that you’ve been trying for 4 years and haven’t shifted? If you’ve resonated with the phrase above, that’s your story. And there’s nothing wrong with it, but! there will be no magic solution for shifting. Or a magic method. Or a person like me giving you advice, that can make you shift without you changing your assumptions first.

“But I don’t want to reprogram my mind! It doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to do robotic affirming 24/7, I want results now!” 

I know, right? It’s annoying having to do these 100-step methods, and drink charged water, and have to beg the universe for your desire, and loop affirmations in your mind that directly contradict what you’re experiencing in the 3D.

“Oh ignore the 3D, the 4D is your only real imagination!” they say, as you sit there, clutching your phone, rocking back and forth in bed, repeating affirmations you don’t resonate with while dreaming of being railed by your S/O.

Believe me, I've been there, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I asked myself why couldn't these basic steps that worked for everyone else work for me. I blamed myself for not trying hard enough, for being lazy, for inconsistent. When all that time, the answer was me. I needed to manifest/shift in a way that felt good for me.

Just remember, the law of assumption isn't complicated, and the way you apply it is not one-size-fits-all. Reprogramming the mind through continuous repetition and affirmation works, and if that resonates with you or feels effective, you should absolutely go for it.

However, at its core, you don’t inherently need to reprogram your mind. It’s as simple as assuming your mind has already been reprogrammed and watching it unfold before your eyes. You do what feels right to you.

For example, if person A does better with visualization and listening to music, why on earth are they affirming and listening to subliminals?

If person B feels better scripting in a notebook, why the hell are they reprogramming their mind?

If person C feels good reprogramming their mind, why are they taking the simple route?

Funny, isn't it? Which is why if you've read all of this so far, and you have not resonated with it, just click away. Go find another post or advice that feels true to you. The words I'm writing right now are not universal, they're not the absolute truth. That's the beauty of the law of assumption. Whatever you believe to be true, becomes true.

I didn’t feel good with the affirmations “I’m already in my DR” and “I already shifted.” Do they work, are they true? Yup, but I didn’t feel good ignoring the 3D, even when I knew the 4D was the true reality. So I swapped them for affirmations like "I'm shifting to my DR", “I’m going to shift to my DR”, swapping things like “I already shifted” to “I’m shifting” because those are the kinds of affirmations my brain loves. 

I've heard a silly bit of misinfo that these affirmations stating future events put you in an infinite loop, and that they don’t make you achieve your desire. That’s not true? At all? Makes me laugh, really. Because here I am, “master shifter” or whatever name people give it in this reality, shifting as much as I want to wherever I want with these types of affirmations.

Yet here I see every day on the internet, people implanting stubborn little rules and regulations to a practice that has been done for ages, a universal law that will work even when you don’t care for it to work. 

How I Shifted The First Time

The law of assumption is what made me shift in the end. Initially, I surprised myself at the beginning of my shifting journey because I shifted three months after starting it. I woke up one morning in my DR room, felt it was real, knew it was possible, but accidentally shifted back because it was too good to be true. 

What followed was a period of losing my mind; I shift back to my DR for a few seconds (mini-shifts), fully shifted to different rparallel ealities, and filled the hell out of shifting journals with my discoveries as I went along. But I never fully shifted to my DR and stayed there. I wanted to permashift. I was so focused on leaving my CR and going to my DR permanently, frustrated because I knew I could shift, knew how to in theory, but was stuck in this endless loop of assuming I couldn't make myself shift and had to rely on spontaneous shifts.

And then one night it clicked when I was reflecting on the law of assumption and reality shifting. I knew shifting was real. I knew I could shift. Everyone can shift. I had shifted before. I would continue to shift even if I gave up on shifting. I could shift that night if I wanted to. I could shift that night even if I didn't want to. I knew how to shift. And so do you.

These are all assumptions I went to sleep with in mind, laying there, feeling like an idiot as it all clicked for me. 

If there was no doubt in my mind that I could shift that night, why wouldn’t I be able to shift? 

What followed was an overwhelming sense of peace washing over me. I let go. What more was there to be done? I could shift. There was no crying or screaming that could make me shift more than I could right then. 

I laid there and started my process. Just like I mentioned earlier. I began counting from 1 - 100 on a continuous loop. With affirmations that I could shift, I knew how to shift , I could shift that night.

And then I reached hypnagogia, and began inducing the feeling of being in my DR, just like I mentioned earlier. That liminal space rabbit hole shortly followed. I could go anywhere I wanted then. I could lucid dream. I could astral project. I could slip into the void. I could shift, and I did. Just…letting go and inducing the feeling of being in my DR. Not the surroundings, not the 5 senses, no affirmations. Just knowing that I was in my Dr. 

It was peaceful. 

I was at ease. 

And then I was woken up by a violent crack of thunder because my dumbass scripted my DR wakeup scenario to be in the middle of spring, and it was raining -_- 

I woke up in my DR, fully grounded, fully there, pinching my skin purple because I couldn't believe I was looking out the window at my DR city.

I wish I could tell you that I remained cool, but I so didn’t. I sat in bed for a good 10 minutes, mouth agape, repeating “oohh fuck it’s real….ohhh my god it’s real…whaaat the hell.” 

And then I paced around my room panicking, giggling like an idiot, checking my DR phone because all my friends and DR life was on there as evidence, opening drawers, looking at myself in the mirror, and straight-up freaking out. 

What followed after that was incredible, something I lack the words to describe. I spent a few weeks in my DR before shifting back, spending a few weeks here and then shifting back–here, back, here, back and forth, spending more time in my DR then my CR to the point where I consider my DR my true reality, and this one as my “other” reality. 

I shifted back here in early December of last year, and I’m here now before I shift back permanently—meaning, I’ll shift there, and then the next time I shift will be to another DR or a waiting room somewhere in the multiverse. I’m taking a "break" so to speak and hanging out here until events I scripted in my DR start to happen, and my life changes (positively, all good things I assure). 

I’m not sure if the person or people who find this post will care, but my other reality was originally called my “Witch DR”, where, as the name suggests, I’m a witch :) But not the fun kind, with a broomstick, a cauldron, and a pet cat though 😂The kind where I have to be up early for work in the mornings, can’t keep a cat because the building I live in doesn’t allow it, and have more responsibilities there than I do in this reality. 

One thing I didn’t expect about shifting before I lived there the first time is that—it’s life. You will have good days. You will have bad days. You will fuck up. You will laugh so hard that soda comes out of your nose. You will cry more than you ever have. And the people you once saw on a TV screen are very real, and can be very annoying lol. I miss my DR friends dearly right now, but I can’t go poking around the internet for videos and pictures of them because it feels so weird. 

Gut feelings are strange. I use them as a compass in both realities whenever I have to manually flap the butterfly’s wings and take a route. I felt compelled to write this post, and I’m not sure why. But if what this post has the power to help one singular person and help them realize their power, I'll be beyond happy.

[erinwantstowrite]

Halloween AU!!!

hey so. i put SOOOOO much effort into this au and for what? at least it ended up looking cool? anyways Halloween is my favorite holiday and i just HAD to make something for them!

i had a LOT of ideas for what everyone would be, but i really wanted to stick to a certain theme cause it's based around Halloween. i knew i had to have a vampire, werewolf, and a witch. cause like... obviously. iconic Halloween stuff!! but i took some liberties with everyone else and i think they turned out pretty cool!!

Jason was originally a fox shifter (which i still love and might draw art for some day) but i went with a bear in the end. is that because i thought about tiny bear cub Jaybin and wanted to cry? yeah. yeah it is. i KNEW Steph was going to be my werewolf though i started doubting myself when i went to draw her. turned out to be my favorite drawing on here which makes sense cause she is my light my love my daughter my will to live and all that jazz

Tim was actually gonna be a harpy but thank god i didn't go for that in the end. Duke was the one that was a bitch and a half trying to figure out BUT!! comments on the post asking what y'all thought led me towards Psychic so THANK YOUUUU everybody that commented!! (specifically those who thought of ghost!! Duke and Tim ended up being a perfect duo in this au)

Babs was pretty easy to figure out what I wanted for her. I read somewhere that they are seen as protectors of forests/ are considered spiritual authority figures and also.... she looks cool as fuck. Did not expect how easy it was to find a ref for a deer in a wheelchair though? I can never find the right hand or face angle reference but that was super easy???

For Bruce there was literally no question he HAD to be human. it's literally so funny that everyone who knows Batman thinks he's a spooky vampire but he's human. his first son, however?????? THAT'S the vampire. I knew Dick had to be a vampire too. A little nod towards that one comic run but in my au nothing bad happens ever 🥰 Damian also being a bat shifter is very on purpose because how funny is it that he's a bat man. Literally not a single person in the League thinks that Bruce is telling the truth about being human. Bruce you are NOT beating the secretly a vampire allegations.

adding in Jay's hilarious joke it's so fucking funny:

Alfred is actually a demon. I CAN NOT remember who made this post so if someone can help me find it, it would be appreciated!! because this was inspired by them!!! but somewhere i saw someone talk about Alfred being a demon that Thomas and Martha made a deal with (i think it was for an au idea?) and I just HAD to put it here. Alfred looks so human and everyone expects it, but he's definitely not. I put the ??? because it's so fucking funny. see if you can spot the 1 hint i put on his drawing that something is amiss!!

Peter is from an alternate dimension still, but it is not a world of creatures like him, it's just the same as LoF canon except Peter grew some extra limbs and eyes. He finds that it's actually pretty easy to fit in with the Waynes. Hard to feel like a freak when a guy can turn into a fucking bear, or your dad is a vampire, and the teenagers in the family are trying to summon ghosts or make potions.

additional doodles for this au:

i am still debating whether i am going to draw something for this au or write a oneshot, but i DO want to do something with these for Halloween

[allsteddie]

Actor!Steve and Singer!Eddie AU where they have some sort of rivalry going on. But, here’s the thing, the whole thing is made up by the press.

It starts when a reporter, during an interview, asks Steve what kind of music he listens to in his free time. Steve names a few artists, mostly pop with a few classic rock bands in between, which leads the reporter to ask if he’s a Corroded Coffin fan. They’re not classic rock, but they sure as hell are popular, but Steve just looks at the reporter and says, “never heard of them in my life.”

And he honestly hasn’t! But the press gets this out of context and of course Corroded Coffin fans are pretty pissed off, offended that someone as famous as actor Steve Harrington, king of period drama shows and romcom movies, is belittling their beloved band like that.

Another reporter, then, after a concert, asks Eddie what he thinks about Steve Harrington’s last interview, where he basically says Corroded Coffin’s music is shit, and Eddie just says, “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

And he also hasn’t! Because they have been on tour for months, then they were working on new songs, and it’s been at least five fucking years since Eddie had enough spare time to watch a show. He’s also no fan of romcoms or period dramas, so even if he had had the time, there was no way he’d have watched anything Steve was in.

That’s enough for the press to go wild with stories about disagreements that never really happened and thousands, maybe millions, of people on the internet discussing Steve and Eddie’s rivalry and distaste for each other.

Neither Steve nor Eddie tries to explain the whole misunderstanding because, really, they both think it’s so funny how so many people are buying all this crap. Tabloids talk so often about their ‘rivalry’ that Steve does end up listening to Corroded Coffin and enjoys them a lot; he adds lots of their songs to his playlists. And Eddie finally caves and starts watching one of Steve’s period drama shows; he gets pretty addicted to them, and Steve is hot as hell, so that’s kind of a bonus.

One day, a couple of months after this started, Steve is scrolling his feed and sees a post on a gossip page about someone who said they heard someone telling some other person that they heard Eddie Munson threatening to beat Steve Harrington up if the actor didn’t stop saying shit about his music. The post is so obviously lying that Steve spends a good five minutes laughing. Then, on a whim, he DMs it to Eddie’s official page, with a message attached saying “Just please don’t beat up my face, I need it for work”.

Ten minutes later Eddie replies by sending a second post, this one also from a gossip page that claims their sources might have overheard Steve Harrington saying to his friends that Eddie Munson’s hair is the worst thing he’s ever laid eyes on, followed by a message saying “Sorry, but nobody says shit about my hair. It's hard work making these curls look so good.”

That’s how Eddie and Steve start talking, first just sending each other posts and articles they find funny about their made up rivalry. Somehow, this evolves into an actual conversation about other stuff, like their works, their lives, themselves.

They never really stop messaging each other, their weird work hours and busy schedules preventing them from actually meeting, even though they are dying to.

Then, four months into their unexpected friendship, Steve is in New York shooting a new romcom and Corroded Coffin is expected to play on a charity event there as well. And that’s how Steve and Eddie finally meet; at 1 a.m., on a Thursday, just after Steve wraps up shooting his new movie and Eddie finishes rehearsing for the concert he’s playing the next day. They go out for pizza, even though is freezing outside and they’re both tired as fuck.

The press and their fans are in shock when, a couple of months later, their official accounts announce, on a joint post, that Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson are happily dating and planning on going on an extended vacation together as soon as Corroded Coffin wraps up their tour. The couple also asks for people to respect their privacy and states that they don’t intend to give any interviews to discuss their relationship.

They spend the whole vacation laughing over the hundreds of posts and reaction videos their friends send them daily.

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Poems: Day 1 (January 1st)

Sharp Stomach

A knife point

digging into the thin stretch of organ

Not pushing inward from the outside

but rather emerging small

as a hunger

deep in the pit

that grows and twists and evolves

into a never-ending ascension

like bile rising in one's throat

The stinging and burning and prickling

a cousin of the cold edge of steel

as it slices through pink muscle

until it forges something new and terrified

and hungry itself:

A starvation

- - - - -

Here's the link for the corresponding writing prompt post

[niennanir]

Listen to your elders

So last week I posted abut the importance of downloading your fic. And then three days later AO3 went down for 24 hours. No one was more weirded out by this than I was. But while y’all were acting like the library at Alexandria was on fire I was reading my download fic and editing chapter eight of Buck, Rogers, and the 21st Century. And also thinking about what I could do to be helpful when the crisis was actually over.

So first off, I’m going to repeat that if you’re going to bookmark a fic, you really need to also download the fic and back it up in a safe place. I just do it automatically now and it’s a good habit to get into.

But let’s talk about some other scenarios. Last October I lost power for over a week after hurricane Ian. Apart from not having internet or A/C I did find plenty to do, I collect books so I had plenty to read, but maybe, unlike me, your favorite comfort reads aren’t sitting on a bookshelf. So let’s do something about that, shall we?

In olden times many long years ago around 1995 we printed off a lot of fic. It was mostly SOP to print a fic you planned to reread and stick it in a three ring binder. And that’s totally valid today too, but you can also make a very nice paperback with a minimum amount of skill and materials.

Let’s start with the download; Go to Ao3 and select your fic, we’ll be working with one of mine. This method works best with one shots, long fic tends to need a more complicated approach. Get yourself an HTML download

Open up the HTML download and select all then copy paste into any word processor. Set the page to landscape and two columns, then change the font to something you find easy to read, this is your book, no judgement. This is all you have to do for layout but I like to play a little bit. I move all the meta, summary, notes to the end and pick out a fun font for the title: 

No time like the present to do a quick proofread. Congratulations, you’ve just created your first typeset. On to the fun part.

Now you’re going to need some materials:  8.5x11in paper ruler one sheet of 12x12 medium card stock (60-80lb) scissors pencil pen or fine tip marker sheet of wax paper white glue two binder clips 2 heavy books or 1 brick butter knife

You’ll also need a printer, if you’re in the US there is almost a 100% chance your local library has a printer you can use if you don’t have your own. None of these materials are expensive and you can literally use cheap copy paper and Elmers glue.

Print your text block, one page per side. Fold the first page in half so that the blank side is inside and the printed side out:

use the butter knife to crease the edge. Repeat on all the sheets. When you’ve finished, stack them up with the raw edge on the left and the folded edge on the right. I used standard copy paper, because you’re only printing on one side there’s no bleed to worry about. Take the text block and line everything up. Use the binder clips to hold the raw edge in place.

Wrap the text block in the wax paper so that the raw edge and binder clips are facing out. I’m going to use my home built book press but you don’t need one, a brick or a couple of books or anything else heavy will work fine.

Once the text block is anchored down, take off he binder clips and get out the glue.

You can use a brush but you don’t need one, smear some glue on that raw edge.

Go make a margarita, watch The Mandalorian, call your mother. Don’t come back for at least an hour

In an hour smear some more glue on there and shift your brick forward so that the whole book is covered. This keeps the paper from warping. While glue part 2 is drying we’ll do the cover. Get out your 12x12 cardstock

Mark the cardstock off at 8.5 inches and cut it. Measure in 5.5 inches from the left and put in a score line with the butter knife (the back edge not the sharp edge)

Carefully fold the score line, this is your front cover. You have some options for the cover title, you can use a cutting machine like a cricut if you have one, you can print out a title on the computer and use carbon paper to transfer the text to the cardstock. I was in a mood so I just freehanded that beoch. Pencil first then in pen.

Take your text block out from under your brick. Line it up against the score mark and mark the second score on the other side of the spine

Fold the score and glue the textblock into the cover at the spine. Once the glue dries up mark the back cover with the pencil and then trim the back cover to fit with your scissors.

Voila:

I’m going to put this baby on the shelf next to the Silmarillion.

The whole process, not counting drying time, took less than an hour.

If you want to make a book of a longer fic, I recommend Renegade Publishing, they have a ton of resources for fan-binders. 

[springismss]

ᱬ ࣪𖤐 thoughts of rockstar! sukuna turning into rockstar boyfriend! sukuna.

had this thought while listening to v.a.n earlier when working.

general swearing but this part is sfw.

f! reader. as always, reblogs/likes are always appreciated! enjoy ᱬ ࣪𖤐

part 1 word count: 1.2k | series word count: 4.9k

links: jjk masterlist | masterlist | part 2 | part 3

rockstar! sukuna who stood pouting like a child with his arms folded, not caring to listen to what his bandmate had to say about the tickets currently being waved in his hand.

rockstar! sukuna who’s currently standing backstage at a concert for a new and upcoming band, one that shouldn’t have that many fans but judging by the crowd that was still gathering, he was wrong.

rockstar! sukuna who’s still tuning out his bandmate when they chatter on about how they got the passes thanks to connections and this new band was going to make it big, all thanks to the main star - their lead singer.

rockstar! sukuna who’s now paying attention to what’s said once he hears that the lead singer is a girl. things have just gotten interesting, it was rare to have a female in such a male-dominated space, he had to see this for himself.

rockstar! sukuna who’s not impressed when he first sees you walking past his group. you looked so shy and meek while quickly offering a “hello” and a wave. clearly the idiot was mistaken when he was yapping earlier.

rockstar! sukuna who’s eating his words soon after when he hears the sounds that come out once you open your mouth after getting the crowd going. the singing, the screaming, the growling? you were far from meek.

rockstar! sukuna who watches you carefully, the way you jump around the stage, the bright smile on your face as you enjoy the buzz around you as you continue to perform for your fans - a buzz he understands all too well.

rockstar! sukuna who finds himself tapping his foot to some of the songs your band plays, it’s totally because he’s a musician and not because he’s starting to enjoy himself.

rockstar! sukuna who finds himself clapping along with his bandmates once your set ends and the lights come back on, watching the bodies on the stage filter backstage again. the look of pure joy on your face is cute. wait did he actually think that?

rockstar! sukuna who offers a grunt when you finally take the time to talk to the group, offering a thanks for coming and watching. who doesn’t miss the way you tilt your head and smirk at him before turning your attention to his bassist. he’d strangle the fucker if he tried anything.

rockstar! sukuna who follows behind the big group back to the dressing room for a drink because, let’s face it, it’s the least you could do to thank them for coming along even when they didn’t have to.

rockstar! sukuna who finds himself alone on a couch before you plopped yourself down, offering another drink before leaning back, talking away to yourself about something he couldn’t quite hear.

rockstar! sukuna who leaves an hour or so later with the rest of his band, not before he had your personal contact details and socials in his phone - after all, he might fancy a collab one day with you.

rockstar! sukuna who turns into fanboy! sukuna for a while when he gets home, hopelessly stalking your insta to get a glimpse into your life. who found himself smirking at the picture of you and your new puppy you’d posted a day before he met you, double tapping to lock in that like. of course, it would be from his own private and personal insta and only a few special people would have that account.

rockstar! sukuna who, one night, in his semi-drunk state, might have sent you a message detailing what he would do to you if he had you alone and you were his. not caring that he was being too out there, cause fuck that shit, life is for living right?

rockstar! sukuna who nearly drops his phone at the message you sent back to him, who knew you kinda enjoyed stranger danger? he was way in over his head but he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.

rockstar! sukuna who attended quite a few more of your shows after that message, thanks to bagging backstage passes from you much to his delight, not that he cared to admit that. he did have a tough guy image to uphold after all.

rockstar! sukuna who spent more time talking to you via dms before moving to texts - after all, he was adamant that arranging a collab would be easier that way, not that he wanted a more personal way to talk to you.

rockstar! sukuna who starts adding lyrics that have to do with love and crushes into his future songs, much to the amusement of his bandmates and fans, some loved the subtle changes while others hated it.

rockstar! sukuna who ends up inviting you into the studio to talk ideas and start his band's next single with your help and vocals. he was sure it would be a hit, plus he wanted to spend more time with you outside of the bands. not that he would ever care to admit that to you.

rockstar! sukuna who suddenly feels like a teenager all over again when you get closer to him, lingering touches and looks making his heart thump in his chest - he was a performer yet this is what caused him to grow clammy?

rockstar! sukuna who ends up relaxing on the sofa in the room, you sat in his lap as you hummed out a tune, jotting it down. enjoying your weight on top of him, even if it wasn’t how he’d usually like it.

rockstar! sukuna who grows bored after a while and pulls his phone out, only for you to grab it and take a selfie with him, placing a kiss on his cheek as you capture the pure bewilderment on his face. just a little something to remind him of you when all of this ended.

rockstar! sukuna who starts to find new ways of hanging out with you, when not working on a track together - may have guilt-tripped you into letting him meet your puppy because who couldn’t resist his bad boy charm?

rockstar! sukuna who ended up becoming rockstar boyfriend! sukuna before too long, proudly showing you off to the world the night after you agreed to be his, when the new song debuted and you appeared on stage, taking your place beside him with a cheerful wave to the roaring crowd.

rockstar boyfriend! sukuna who pulls you into him in front of the sold-out arena, planting a wanting deep kiss onto your lips before pulling away, smirking at the dazed look before announcing that you were both together, and everyone better get used to it before the combined roar of the crowd and his band kicked up, the two of you performing the song you’d created together.

rockstar boyfriend! sukuna who now uses every opportunity to show you off to the world as the girlfriend of the man who didn’t want to be seen with anyone else - may or may not have went on quite a few photo dumps on his personal insta with photos of you both and what you were up to in between performing and recording.

let’s not talk about the other folder he has on his phone of pictures of you and the two of you together just yet yeah?

permanent tags;

@ani-net

© springismss 2025 - don’t repost, copy, translate, steal or modify.

[damnyousubdermalirritants]

UPDATE: NOVAVAX NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Hi everyone, it's been about a year since I posted about updated COVID vaccines and it's time for another update if you are in the US:

THE BRIDGE ACCESS PROGRAM IS ENDING!!!!

If you are uninsured or your insurance does not cover covid boosters, please schedule a new booster appointment before the end of August because the Bridge Access Program (the way the government will still pay for your booster) ends in September. The updated mRNA boosters from Moderna and Pfizer are available now. Go Go GO!!!

Shitty, I know! If you can call your congressional reps, the FDA, the CDC, whomever to tell them you want this program to continue/be reinstated, that would be great. Also, while you're at it, call the FDA to tell them to expedite the approval for the updated Novavax booster (3017962640).

The new Novavax vaccine is designed for the JN.1 strain which is one of the most recent mutations of the virus going around. If you have insurance and can afford to wait, I highly recommend getting the Novavax booster when it becomes available.

We are currently in the largest Covid summer surge since 2021

If you haven't had a booster in the past six months you are essentially unvaccinated. New strains with different spike proteins keep evolving faster than vaccine development and distribution can keep up. All that said, getting Covid is not a moral failing. If you do feel sick, take a rapid test! If it's negative, test again a day or two later. It is better to know than not to know. Here's a refresh on how to take a rapid test correctly:

If you do get Covid, it is worth getting on antiretrovirals within the first week of symptoms to reduce the overall viral load your body has to fight. If your insurance doesn't cover Paxlovid or Remdesivir, here are other low/no-cost ways to access it:

If you get sick, rest radically even after you stop testing positive on rapid tests. Avoid exercising for at least eight weeks after the fact to reduce the risk of developing long covid.

Regardless of your vaccination status, masking with a KN95 or N95 respirator (or equivalent standards in your country i.e. FFP2/3 in the EU) is the most reliable way to protect yourself and others. If Covid protections are a financial burden, there is likely an active Mask Bloc near you doing free distribution of respirators and tests that would be happy to help you. Here's a global map of them from covidactionmap.org

Some quick tips: if you're wearing a bi-fold mask, flatten the nose-bridge wire completely, then mold it to your nose on your face for a better fit. The best mask is the one that you will actually wear regularly to protect yourself. I really like the selection of styles, sizes and colors from WellBefore:

As school is starting, getting you and your family boosted is one of the best things you can do to protect yourselves. Masking is perhaps even more important. If you can advocate for updating and regularly changing the HVAC filters at your local schools to MERV-13 or higher to keep the indoor air cleaner, that can also make a big difference. Better indoor air quality in schools helps protect kids from illness, allergies, wildfire smoke, and more per the EPA's website.

These are steps you can take to improve air quality at home as well. Corsi-Rosenthal boxes are low-cost and highly effective for cleaning the air indoors.

Here's a map of clean air lending libraries for getting access to air purifiers for events from cleanairclub.org