#bedtime reads

[odettecarotte]

I will tell you about a satisfying ritual I've been doing.

I pull a tarot card about my vexations (as usual)

Instead of looking to Biddy Tarot (lol) or even Rachel Pollack, I look up the card on Spotify

I then usually listen to a Between the Worlds podcast about the card. Amanda Yates Garcia is brilliant and very grounded in reality but also folklore IMO. Her hour-long lectures or conversations devoted to a poetic understanding of one card are SYNCHRONICITY FACTORIES. She pulls so many associations from Greek myths, native California plants, geologic history, current political sentiments etc that always something sticks and illuminates!

I pulled the Devil for my sister, and there's a very reductive way of looking at that (nahhh your addictions and attachments nahhh)

But Amanda invited a Milton scholar on to talk about the political context of Paradise Lost, and they provided a sympathetic portrait of Satan. The seductive invitation to read the book being that Satan felt so betrayed that God would favor his only begotten son Jesus more than him, that he felt separation from God (which of course is the true meaning of sin), causing him to rebel and be cast into a lake of fire that God created just to punish him, but actually it's a good thing, since God is such a dick. Family matters!!!

(My daughter is in Scotland now, writing papers about Satanic Feminism, so we have a lot to discuss.)

[uglygreenjacket]

*reads child a bedtime story*: I wonder when and why I stopped needing one of these.

*pulls up ao3 in bed like I’ve done every night for years*: Oh. OH.

[ask-spiderpool]

[guraveetee]

I am a young maiden desperately waiting for her husband to return from war. AO3 is down. I can't live laugh love in these worrying times. Please come home.

[mikeslawyer]

[earlgreytiefling]

My dearest love has once again returned to war (ao3 is down), and I am left with no tales of sweet loves and adventure to regale (no bedtime stories for me)

[femmefatalevibe]

Femme Fatale Guide: Best Sleep Hygiene Habits & Tips For Better Sleep

Daytime Habits:

Stop drinking caffeine at least 8 hours before you want to go to sleep

Move daily: A 30-minute walk or a short pilates video is enough if that's all you can manage

Get some fresh air/natural light and/or supplement with vitamin D

Ensure you're getting adequate magnesium and vitamin B12 in your regular diet or through supplements

Nighttime Habits:

Tuck your phone in at its "bedtime": Leave your phone in the charger across the room. Out of sight, out of mind.

Have a physical book beside your bed to start reading at a certain time. Around 30-60 minutes before you actually want to go to bed. Find a book that puts you in a calm mood. A book that's too engaging will be counterproductive.

Have some "sleepytime" tea around 30 minutes before bed (Chamomile tea is a great choice. I love the Yogi Soothing Caramel Bedtime tea).

Limit the lights on for an hour or so before you want to go to bed. Only keep the light on near your bed if possible. Keep your curtains closed if necessary.

Practice deep breathing in bed: You can do a full 5-10 sleep meditation or just do a few sets of belly breaths (one hand on your chest and the other on your diaphragm or upper stomach)

Use meditation or a self-pleasure practice to relax enough to fall asleep.

To get on a proper sleep routine & fight insomnia:

Allow yourself one day to be exhausted, so you go to sleep "on time" and give yourself enough time to get (at least) around 6 hours of sleep. This helps your body "reset," at least for a few days.

When you close your eyes, picture one of your favorite memories and re-experience it without allowing other thoughts to enter your brain. This helps calm your mind, so you more easily drift off to sleep (I've been doing this for around 15-18 years and it's golden)

Have a journal or notebook with a pen by your bed: This allows you to write anything down that you forgot about or need to do, sudden inspiration that arises before you fall asleep, or a place to write out your feelings to help relax before going to sleep. It's better than having your phone and gives you no excuse to go pull it out.

Have a bottle of water by your bed, so you can have a few sips if you can't sleep from being (even a little) dehydrated.

[randomminty]

If pokemon wont give me bea and allister siblingisms ill just make it MYSELF

[squishbug]

@strawbubbysugar

I literally couldn’t sleep after reading chapter 54 so take this frantic 4am fanart <3

(featuring my y/n cuz I’m weak)

[staghunters]

zombie jackie fic got me in the artsy feels again

[fatuismooches]

HIII!! First of all I wanted to say that i love your blog and your writing! it brings me so much comfort :(( ANYWAY I WANTED TO REQUEST SOME CUDDLING HEADCANONS AND MAYBE A SMALL SCENARIO WITH DOTTORE?? fluff!! yknow just sleepy cuddles <3

It wasn't often that you woke up to your husband in the same bed as you. Of course, at this point, you were used to Dottore's absence, but nothing could quite fill the void that you felt when you rose from a cold bed. And although you did bother the other segments for affection to your heart's content, even they found themselves many times too busy to entertain sleeping in with you. Still, you were just happy to be with them and cherish the soft moments that happened whenever they did.

However, a habit of yours that had developed whenever you were feeling the lack of attention, was slipping into your husband's (or a segment's) room and snuggling on his (not very comfortable) bed. If you were being honest, Dottore's bed, much to your dismay, didn't really smell like him very much, for a simple reason - he rarely ever lays on it. An easy remedy to this, however, was just to steal one of his shirts. The scent was very... Dottore-like, something that oddly brought comfort to you.

On this particular day, you easily made your way into his office - empty, unfortunately, but not too surprising. He was probably in that lab of his as usual. Regardless, as you entered into the connecting (very bland) bedroom, you immediately made yourself at home on his bed. In fact, it was exactly how you left it a few days ago, messy and tussled, meaning that Dottore certainly hadn't slept on it again. Perhaps he didn't even enter his own room for that long. Your urgent words for him to rest only got through his thick skull once in a blue moon. Regardless, you pulled the blankets up and curled into them, eager to preserve the warmth, and too tired to fluff the pillows a bit more before you fell asleep.

When you woke up, the first thing you noticed was that you were a lot more warmer than usual. And then, when you tried stretching to pull off a bit of the blanket, your body's movement was strangely constricted by something else. Plus, it felt like it was a lot earlier than when you usually get up. Your sleepy mind had just barely begun processing the situation when a sudden voice abruptly woke you up a lot more.

"Go back to sleep." The voice was a bit deeper and gruff than usual, but undoubtedly, it could only belong to one person, which made your heart start racing with excitement.

"Dottore!" You immediately began wiggling in his arms, trying to turn around and see him, sleepiness still holding your body hostage, not to mention how tight his arms were. "Let me see you," you complained.

"Stop moving around," he grumbled some more. "Now is not the time I wish to entertain you." And yet he languidly began to nip at the nape of your neck. But that reminded you - for him to be in bed was already a rare occurrence, and from his voice, it sounded like he was genuinely sleeping. This was... excellent news, so you probably shouldn't push your luck.

"Fine," you complied, relaxing your body once more. A wave of sleepiness hit you despite your energy from a few moments ago, but you ignored it. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Dottore parroted, as his sharp teeth continued to dig into your skin. "I come back to my room and find my bed occupied by someone who wasn't invited. The question should be, what are you doing here?" You could only sheepishly laugh as you remembered everything.

"Well... you should know your room is mine too, you know! Besides, to make it even, you're welcome in my room anytime too!~" Dottore clicked his tongue, but it was obvious to you he didn't mind your intrusion in the slightest.

"Regardless, go back to sleep. You are tired." Despite your attempts to stifle your yawns and hide your drooping eyes, your husband had noticed it all too well.

"Don't wanna," you quickly protested. Before he could open his mouth again (and perhaps teasingly threaten to help you sleep) you spoke again.

"If I go to sleep again now, when I wake up, you won't be here anymore, will you?" You didn't need to see his expression or wait for a response to know the answer to that.

"So let me do as I please, Zandik. Let me be with you." Let you bask in this moment, fully conscious of what is going on, being able to feel and process his skin against yours and more, for you would hate to be unable to remember this gentle encounter.

"... Do what you wish, but don't bother me when you're too tired to do anything." His seemingly annoyed statement was betrayed by his arms tightening around you.

"I will." Your response ended the line of conversation, a comfortable silence now taking over. Needless to say, you wallowed in his strong back pressed against yours, his callused hands against your own, a long lock of blue hair tickling your neck. You made sure to take note of even the most minuscule details before it was time for life to resume.

What existed at this moment was merely two human beings, so similar yet so different, with their troubles and masks discarded to savor the presence of each other.

[poppitron360]

People who read Percy Jackson as innocent children, how confused were you by the “Percabeth in the stables” scene in MOA? I’m curious to know what you understood of it, particularly as it’s meant to be a book targeted for kids and tweens.

[shittysawtraps]

Can you help me to animate again? I've been feeling unmotivated and I don't honestly like myself so it's probs fair that I get a push from someone

hey, speaking as a former animation major, animation is hard as hell. for me, it was always a struggle to work on a project that slowly, to put consideration into every frame, rather than blowing through it as fast as i could in order to finish it before i lost motivation. it can be very frustrating to commit yourself long-term to something that will only be a couple of minutes long.

that being said, you're not animating for current you, you're animating for future you. for the you who looks at the finished project and says, "wow, i made THAT?" it's like with any art form– you write or draw or animate or sew for the version of yourself who has forgotten how hard it was and only sees art that's cool as hell. just make something that excites you a lot, even if it's not as polished as you would want it to be, because rewatching/rereading/re-looking/re-wearing the final product will continue to excite you a lot. it's free serotonin. i still look at the archvillain animatics i made when i was 14-17, for an audience of maybe five people, and get HYPE.

idk if this helps, but you should make something that makes you feel like you just snorted coke, because even if you get frustrated making it, at the end of the process (and every time you revisit it) you will get that !!! feeling again.

[sketchy-entertainer]

From a person who had unfiltered access to the internet as a kid growing up, I can tell you if I was told I could have a PC friend, I would install that with little hesitation. So, I'm hard pressed to say some random kid would install Kinito seeing how silly he looked. I doodled some of that for y'all today.

Some more spoilery things down below, mayhaps.

We love to see cute platonic stuff of a lad and their virtual assistant axolotl friend.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Gun and Goo with Reader: Manga Raws

G/N. Silly.

Gun has a headache. The type of throbbing that starts at the temples before spreading across his entire skull, his ears and jaw and neck, that would leave a weaker person debilitated.

Fortunately he is not weak. Unfortunately, he still needs to put up with you and Goo.

"Please?"

Goo takes one look at you, and mimics your expression, "Yeah, please?"

Gun peers, features not indicating any discomfort, impassively into yours and Goo's face. Both batting your eyelashes at him, mouth pulled down, bottom lip jutting out in a way some would describe as cute and pitiful.

He takes one drag of his cigarette then blows the smoke in your direction.

It has the desired effect.

Goo reels back, spluttering and waving the fumes away and pulling you back with him.

"Say something!" He stage-whispers into your ear.

"Like what?"

"Anything! I don't care. Do whatever. Get on your knees and beg or blow-"

"Stop if you don't want me to pluck out your tongue," You shove the blonde roughly, eyes narrowing at his words.

There's a huff of amusement behind you and you seize your opportunity.

"Gun," you coo, whirling round, "The manga raws are out, the translations are always shit and delayed. You're fluent in Japanese. Of course we were gonna ask you. It's gonna take five minutes, tops."  Your reasoning falls on deaf ears, charming smile ignored, and Gun raises an eyebrow in your direction.

It's time for your trump card.

"I know you have a headache. You know that we won't stop being annoying until you help us. And we all know that that headache can get much much worse."

Goo nods enthusiastically in your peripheral vision.

Letting out a sigh of defeat, Gun begrudging caves, "Fine-"

"Oh!" You weren't sure it was going to work, "Thanks-"

"Except," Gun throws Goo a smirk, "You can't tell Goo what happens."

You give Goo a thumbs up behind your back at the same time as you grin and say, "Deal!" 

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: WELCOME TO YOUR WORLD: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives by Sarah Williams Goldhagen.