#ended up looking like how I draw Neptune

[dimetrodone]

Tried to draw the Toremi with how little there is about them

[smimon]

Käärijätober day 29: It's Crazy, It's Party

This took way longer that I expected but I regret nothing 😎

[bouquetface]

ASTRO OBSERVATIONS 2

ENTIRE chart will influence accuracy.

Mars Square Neptune.

- Floating - these people tend to easily disconnect from the real world.

- Needing music to workout. Tend to hate silence. Need background music or noise.

- Will encounter disappointing men. Father may be unreliable. Father may not be the provider and/or protector. Father doesn’t fit the traditional father role. For my friend w this aspect, this experience created disgust for “weak men”.

Accuracy for you heavily depends on house & sign.

Mars Trine Neptune.

- Often have an artistic hobby - drawing, painting, playing an instrument, etc.

- Often end up developing a physical hobby that brings them peace of mind - gym, yoga, meditation, etc.

- Dislike for conflict. Not likely to fight - verbally or physically. Avoidant behaviours.

Accuracy heavily depends on house & sign.

Saturn Aspects Uranus.

- Sudden change in relationship w authority. Ex: Following rules when young but rebelling against parents when older. Rebelling against what’s expected when older.

- Preferring and/or creating unconventional ways to do things.

- Good teachers. Simplifying complicated things to be easily understood. Creating new effective ways to be productive.

- Conflicted between desire for recognition from authority and desire for freedom.

Accuracy heavily depends on house & sign.

Mars Aspects MC.

- You or others are competitive in the workplace. You can desire leadership positions. You want to be recognized as the best. Or you simply dislike working with others. Prefer independent work.

- May become known for your body (in a good or bad way). People can assume you are physically active. You likely become physically fit. If you are a woman, you can have a reputation for being a “bitch”. You could be assertive and it’s seen as aggressive. You could prioritize your goals, you’re seen as selfish.

- Often I see these people irl have a bad reputation. IRL EX: People see them as assholes. People discuss their sex lives. People label them as sluts. People assume they have eating disorders. It’s just so weird how every single person ik with this aspect has random & untrue rumours spread about them.

- Entrepreneur indicator. However, not a strong one. Would need to check entire chart.

- Career may involve physical activity. Ex: Walking around a lot, physiotherapy, gym teacher, cleaning, etc.

- Conflict between authority figures like parents. A Parent encourages you to be ambitious. A parent pushes you toward choosing a career or finding a job early on.

- Parents who are forced to prioritize work over children due to financial struggle of the family.

- One strong parent. A single parent or one parent takes on most of the burden.

Accuracy heavily depends on house & sign.

Mercury Aspects Ascendant.

- Good texters. Funny and can keep a conversation going.

- Observant. This can make them anxious and/or very talkative.

- Enjoy nicknames, clever slogans and phrases. The kind of person to say things like “whatever floats your boat” “break a leg” “time to hit the sack”

- Fast talkers. Probably been told they talk too much. Using hand gestures to talk. Moving the body a lot when talking. Fast thinking.

- Difficult to relax. Unintentionally blurting things out. Feeling like you misrepresent yourself.

- Indicator of a popular person. Well connected. Could be a good salesman. Funny people.

Accuracy heavily depends on houses and signs.

Neptune Aspects Ascendant.

- People believe they can read you like an open book.

- Wandering vibe. You look lost. You feel lost. You could enjoy feeling directionless or you wish someone would show you the way.

- Expecting or wishing something would happen to help you. Wishing or expecting someone to help you. Feeling like you’re waiting for your dreams to come true.

- Escapism. Fantasy world in your mind. Wishing to live in a different reality.

- Longing and yearning for people, places and things. Feeling like you’re missing something.

- Prone to giving up. Prefer to give up and go with the flow. Dislike for standing up for yourself. Being assertive is difficult. Letting your presence be known is difficult.

- Feeling like you don’t really belong here.

- Tend to live in their own world. They can be unaware of how things they do or say are perceived. Something they randomly say or do without bad intent can be seen as disrespectful or hateful. They may not even realize it until randomly reflecting on it years later. People can have one sided feuds with them for YEARS. it’s almost funny.

Accuracy heavily depends on houses and signs.

Venus Aspect Uranus

- Relationships begin and end suddenly. ghosting and getting ghosted at some point is extremely likely. Experiencing sudden attraction. Getting close very quickly in relationships (romantic, platonic & business)

- Can experience distance in relationships. Could literally be a long distance relationship or emotional distance.

- Possible problem you could encounter: Partners or you can be awkward when expressing love. Lack of physical affection, lack of sincerity, not very romantic. Mostly jokes to avoid serious conversations.

- On the bright side you will have strong initial attraction. Get close fast. Partners can feel like best friends. Likely to be funny and openminded. Partners have unique viewpoints.

- More comfortable expressing oneself over text than in person. All my friends w this have tried dating apps.

- Later in life they develop unique perspectives on love. This is because they end up having non traditional relationships. Ex: poly, long distance relationship, blended families, interracial couples, couple from diff religions or countries, etc.

Accuracy heavily influenced by houses and signs.

MC Aspect Sun

- Desire recognition and praise. May secretly or openly want to make a parent proud. May secretly want to prove themselves to people through career success.

- Desire leadership positions. Secretly can desire fame. They want to be respected and known in their field.

- If negatively placed, it can manifest as being a sore loser. Being envious when others are praised or succeed.

- In squares and oppositions, people can be willing to bend their morals for fame/recognition and success.

- Career can become a big part of your identity. Entrepreneurship indicator.

- Fear of being gossiped about. Fear of people perceiving you in a negative light. People’s opinions matter deeply.

Accuracy heavily influenced by houses and signs.

MC Aspects Pluto

- Desire positions of authority. Desire power over others.

- Later in life, career transforms. Ex: Changing fields, Going to get a higher education later in life, etc. And this is an entrepreneurship indicator.

- Feeling pressure to be successful. Needing to prove yourself to others. May have parents or family members who didn’t support your dreams. Or family with high expectations.

- Hard aspects can end up sacrificing family & relationships for career in some kind of way. Extreme example: Having kids late to advance career. Working long hours or travelling for work. This may not allow you to be with kids or partner that much.

- Be wary these people often end up with a tarnished reputation. They can need to become like a phoenix (rising from the ashes).

- Big indicator of attracting public scrutiny.

Accuracy heavily influenced by houses and sign.

Saturn Aspect Ascendant

- Reserved presence. Observant. Patient & polite. Old soul indicator. Mature. Good mentors/teacher. Indicator of becoming a person in an authoritative position. You may not realize it but people can grow to respect & admire you. Your words have influence on others.

- Good planners. They create long term plans. Good at manifesting. Good at going after what they want. Tough start in life but always get what they want later in life.

- Have a lot of responsibility. Independent person. Difficult asking for & accepting help. Older sibling vibe. Being the forgotten child. Being the child who compromises for their siblings. Attempting to create less burden for your parents.

- Deeply value the opinion of authority (Parents, teachers, etc).

- Tough on themselves. Feel they need to work harder. Feeling the need to earn things. Feeling you haven’t done enough. Feeling you aren’t enough.

- Strong boundaries. You may have high standards and strict “rules” for people in your life especially romantic partners. Will not just accept anybody.

- And one thing I’ve noticed is whether it be saturn trine asc or saturn square asc, these people end up in positions where their partners have to “earn” them. Ex: making yourself difficult to schedule dates with. Making their potential partner prove interest and intent in some kind of way. Partners have to chase you to an extent.

- Also, I’ve seen this as dad disapproving of partner. Partner had to gradually work to bond with the dad. Ex: Helping him at the house, Initiating conversation with him every visit, Telling the dad his future plans and how they involve his daughter, etc. Saturn Asc people’s partners really WORK to prove themselves.

Accuracy heavily influenced by houses and signs.

Mars Aspect Jupiter

- Strong sense of faith. Strong sense of optimism. Strong sense of doing the right thing. Could manifest as being self righteous.

- Jupiter strengthens mars. This creates a strong drive, need for passion and action.

- Ex: Let’s say mars is in scorpio: You will truly never forget people from the past. Strong memory. Grudge holder for sure.

- If in a fire sign, very quick to anger. On the bright side, very funny. Quick thinking. But similar to Scorpio mars, will not forgive easily. An abundance of anger.

- Independent. Ability to lead. Could be a good leader or mentor.

Accuracy heavily influenced houses and sign.

Mercury Aspects Mars

- Fast thinking. This can make them charming. Or opposite effect: Fast speaking. Blurting things out without thinking. Misunderstood.

- They’d make good rappers or a good lawyer. Persuasive. Clever in speech.

- Communication has a strong effect on others. Deeply hurt others.

- Flirty without even trying.

- Might be too clever or too quick for most. Leaving people speechless.

- Fights with siblings. Issues with siblings. May grow to feel bad about how you treated them back in the day. May forever have a rivalry.

- Men may feel competitive with other men. Need to one up others. Competitive person.

- Honest and straightforward. However, if they want to lie, they’re VERY good at it.

- May have scars. Important to check the house you have gemini in. For ex: Lets say you have gemini 2nd house & mercury conjunct mars, you could have scars on the face. Prone to acne.

- Ex.2: Ik a gemini rising with mercury conjunct mars who had plastic surgery done. Mercury rules their body. Mars is “cutting”.

Accuracy heavily influenced by houses and signs.

Sun Aspects Neptune.

- Mysterious. People can’t figure you out 100%. You don’t fit into one specific label or box. Private person especially if you have scorpio placements.

- You don’t try to be a mystery. You are naturally withdrawn. Quiet but not shy person.

- Difficulty expressing oneself. Looking for escape to cope. Driving around aimlessly. Focusing on education and career over personal matters. Or depending on entire chart, substance abuse issues.

- A father who can’t stand up for himself. A father who is taken advantage of by other families members. A father who looks for escape.

Accuracy influenced by house and sign.

Sun Aspects Jupiter.

- Confident person. Many creative outlets. Optimistic outlook.

- Expressive person. Ex: Laughs loud, hand gestures, facial expression, lots of body movement, physically tall or large.

- Father could fit the above description. Father could lecture a lot. Father may be a generally happy person. Father could be a gambler. Father has the tendency to overdo things. Father could either be selfish or very generous.

- Good humour. Usually a kind and easygoing person. Adventurous spirit.

- Can get preachy about their beliefs. Stubborn on their beliefs. Conversations can become one sided - one person talking too much without realizing the others haven’t gotten a chance to speak.

- They want to share knowledge. Help others - humans and animals.

Accuracy influenced by house and signs.

Moon Aspects Venus.

- Feminine & seemingly flirtatious habits. (Twirling/playing with your hair, swaying body movements, etc). It is all naturally not intentionally done. Others, may perceive it as trying to be flirty though.

- Cooperate person. Moms can be very peace loving. Mom who sacrifices in attempt to keep the peace.

- In men, this can result in seeing women through the Madonna whore complex. Men can idealize women - lack of understanding & experience with real women.

- Taking pleasure in nurturing people. Potential to be a good baker & cook.

- Artistic eye. Home design and clothing. However, depending on signs, may prefer comfort over fashion.

- Expensive taste. Potential to overspend and be indulgent. Be cautious of ending up in debt. Sweet tooth.

- You or the mother may have a baby face. Soft and often clear skin. Especially you if your rising is in connection to moon or venus. If in connection to mars, acne & scars likely. But either way, youthful appearance.

- Happier in relationships. Feeling the need to always be in a relationship. However, depending on the signs, can be moody. Inconsistent in what you desire. Inconsistent in likes and dislikes.

Accuracy influenced by entire natal chart.

Sun Aspects Saturn.

- Restricted in self expression. May fear other’s opinions. May fear criticism. Dislike of teasing/roasting. Dislike of comedy in general.

- Being hard on yourself for mistakes. Being fussy about how you look and behave. Self conscious.

- Late bloomers. Become authority figures later in life. Desire respect over all else. Grandparent energy.

- Patient. Good planners. Hardworking.

Accuracy influenced by houses and signs.

[novy2sirius]

LOVE ASTRO NOTES

— volume one

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₊˚⊹ ᰔ I personally consider Neptune to be a love planet because it’s the higher octave of Venus and also because it represents fascination, compassion, and intense spiritual connections. Some people view this as bad for love because of it representing delusion but I think in order to manifest good things into your life and relationships you must have some level of delusion occurring. It’s why Neptune represents both manifestation and delusion. Planets topics typically coincide

₊˚⊹ ᰔ 8th house stelliums have a natural allure that draws everyone in and makes people addicted to being around them. Specifically the planets signs involved (Example: if you have an 8h stellium with the sun, moon, and mercury you will attract lots of leo, cancer, gemini, and virgo placements). 8h planets show who is most seduced, obsessed, and infatuated with us

₊˚⊹ ᰔ Venus in the 8th house people will love the darkest parts of you and the most vibrant parts of you. They wanna know all the horrible things you’ve done and the good things you’ve done. They will love you regardless because they become that infatuated with their partners that there’s nothing that could make them hate them

₊˚⊹ ᰔ People with Saturn in the 7th house don’t always marry late sometimes they just have age gaps in their relationships or marry someone that has Saturn-like qualities/Capricorn or Aquarius placements

₊˚⊹ ᰔ People with strong Venus to Chiron aspects can struggle a lot with their love life i’ve noticed. They tend to get divorced at least once in their life unless there’s placements or multiple aspects contradicting this energy

₊˚⊹ ᰔ Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good your synastry or composite chart looks with a person you’re in love with. If someone takes on a bunch of challenging energy from their chart and is at a low vibration/low point in their life then the relationship won’t last regardless. This is why i always say there is no “perfect synastry/composite charts”. I also don’t believe having a ton of “challenging aspects” (squares, oppositions, and sometimes conjunctions depending on the traits taken on) will make a relationship doomed to end. These only show problem areas or tension/confusion that can be worked through and being rewards (similar to Saturnian energy)

₊˚⊹ ᰔ A lot of oppositions in synastry indicates twin flames. This is because the universe is hypothetically yin yang, so naturally opposite signs will always attract. The oppositions aren’t complete opposites though (and yes i know the name of the aspect can be misleading) they do have differences, but are quite similar in their core as well as mirrors of each other in a way. Example: Opposite signs Gemini and Sagittarius are both energetic, curious, and intelligent but still have qualities that differ at the same time

₊˚⊹ ᰔ People view Saturn as something scary in composite charts and synastry and tend to forget that Saturn isn’t just the planet of challenges but also the planet of endurance and longevity. Many people in long term relationships (of all kinds) will have strong Saturn synastry or prominent Saturn energy in composite; Example: Capricorn stelliums, Aquarius stelliums, Saturn in the 1st house, etc (in composite). Sure Saturn can show obstacles in a relationship in composite/synastry, but it also shows areas where you both endure hardships and can show whether a relationship is likely to last long term

₊˚⊹ ᰔ An 11th house stellium in composite charts can indicate soulmates. This is because due to derivative astrology this house represents soulmates. It’s often looked at as a friendship placement but people forget this is also the house of soulmates, desire, and companionship

₊˚⊹ ᰔ Having Fama synastry with your partner can mean you are likely to gain more popularity when around them (Example: Hailey Bieber has a Pisces Fama and didn’t get famous from Justin Bieber but did blow up a lot more when she started dating him and he has a Pisces stellium)

₊˚⊹ ᰔ The Groom and Briede asteroid can tell if you’ll marry someone or not. The method I use has never failed for anyone i’ve tried it on. I made a previous post about it if you want more information — 🌷

₊˚⊹ ᰔ The Klytia asteroid (73) can tell if there is unrequited love in synastry. Example: Klytia conjunct Venus synastry can indicate that the Klytia person has unreturned love for the Venus person — of course this can be counteracted by opposing energies such as a strong moon to venus aspect

₊˚⊹ ᰔ The Valentine asteroid (447) in the 1st/7th house in composite charts can indicate being each other’s true loves. Even if you broke up this would be a relationship you never forgot and that stuck with you forever. With this placement in composite you would do absolutely anything for each other and sacrifice anything for one another

₊˚⊹ ᰔ The Yosakoi asteroid (10547) can tell about forbidden love in synastry and composite charts. Example: if you have yosakoi in the 4th house in a composite chart with someone it can mean your family tries to keep you away from each other and doesn’t approve of your relationship

[hazellvsq]

hazel drawing her friends

she doesn't draw leo's face bc she's drawn that same face before and its very weird for her but she'll draw faraway shots of him steering the ship like an 18th century sea captain

she drew festus too, asleep but still frightening

piper's self conscious about being drawn but hazel loves her and loves how she looks and spends a lot of time trying to capture what makes piper so magnetic

she herself is kind of self conscious about drawing reyna or annabeth but she draws them in each other's clothes - reyna in jorts, annabeth in a toga and cape - and they both think its funny as hell

hazel draws reyna's dogs too. they pose for her and everything.

obviously arion is her top model

she draws frank all the time and it makes him blush. she'll draw frank drinking juice and caption it "frank drinking juice"

she drew frank in a world war one uniform for childhood crush reasons but felt like something was missing so she drew him in a plane that was about to crash and ended up getting super invested in the plane detail so its a very dramatic drawing. frank was like "uuhhh why am i getting shot down?" and she was like "clearly you don't understand art???"

she draws nico and gives him better hair bc she's nice

she also gives him a cool vintage car in some pictures. or a vespa.

she won't do a self-portrait

she draws percy destroying the glacier, like if the son of neptune cover was drawn by a non-professional artist.

she had one drawing of jason based on the day that she met him at camp jupiter. it was not a good day for her bc she was newly resurrected and very scared. it is a very good technical drawing of jason, and he looks powerful and strong, but he has intense eyes with no expression behind them and there is a very unnerving feeling to the drawing itself.

to piper and leo it reminds them a little of when jason had amnesia, but this is a drawing of him before that, which is not quite accurate to how hazel perceived him or to how he really was. its probably hazel's best work but it makes her and everyone a little uncomfortable.

[esoteriamaya]

12th house and the inner alchemist

I notice people with this placement become deeply aware of what frequencies they want to be around. Like if you want something that is more 'jolly, fun, and whimsical' you might search for it in your mind , and then you start to find it in your body. It starts with the spirit first, then you go into meditation to connect with this energy through the art of imagination. That 'jolly, fun, whimsical energy' could end up taking you to a cool coffee shop, end up taking you into a colorful shop with weird looking food , or hell may take you to the circus ! because what youre looking for is the feeling/energy not the 'thing' itself.

I love to say 12th housers are like the boy in this book called 'The Alchemist', where he wanted to look for a treasure to make all his dreams come true, ends up going on a long journey before he finally finds the treasure that was in his hometown all along. In the end he realized what he wanted wasnt about the treasure, the treasure was a symbol to what he wanted to do in his reality which he eventually did without the treasure itself. The treasure is the idea of the energy he wanted in his life, not the thing itself.

Because the imagination brings things to us, and all though we aren't able to explain exactly what it is we are looking for, we go into meditative states to jump into this reality (manifestation) and then follow it with our bodies. And one by one, piece by piece, we enter into the worlds of our psyche through the physical reality.

One thing I can say about 12th housers, you have to let go of the IDEA because it is just that, an IDEA. it is useful for when you are looking for the spirit/energy of the thing you are looking for.

Also since I brought up the alchemist. The story was about making a way for yourself no matter what obstacles you go through, no matter if you dont have that 'thing' you need to get there. You create your reality as you go.

the boy had a simple intention to go find this treasure because he believed it would allow him stop talk taking care of sheep (he was a sheep boy), he could travel all around the world, find a wife, and live the life of his dreams. He evidently did all of that without the treasure! He made a way without even thinking of it, because he knew since he had left his hometown and the sheep there was no other choice but to make something happen!

I believe 12th housers have that inner alchemist inside them, which is why they are so good at painting, drawing, and whatever other art you can name cause its a lot (lol).

12th housers are great at using these things to attract what they want in their life, they follow the frequency/energy knowingly and unknowingly. I call them he universes messengers because they rely messages to the collective without having to explain to us whats the message.

I notice 12th house individuals show this with their music. like I said with frequency a lot of them know the type of energy they wish to convey in their songs because thats the vibe they want to keep with them as they journey through life.

think of sza, a fellow 12th houser with 4 planets (venus,uranus, saturn, and neptune) and she is known to connect to a certain frequency that sounds like 'fairies, sirens, and anything magical' (im honestly referring to ctrl and her older works from 2013/14)

It can also be a 'curse' one type sza tweeted how singing 'supermodel' off her ctrl album 'summoned' the guy she was talking about in the song.

12th house rules over the subconscious, so sometimes your art can attract what you dont want to you. you have to move around it, learn how to use it as a repellant as it can attract fleas (I say this about pisces/neptune peeps a lot, y'all do tend to attract flies).

using your mind to control your reality can be mastered if you continue to heal the shadow. your shadow is just what you've been accustomed to believe that it is shameful, and cant be seen in the light.

the shadow is who you are, dont be ashamed and run from it.

blessings to all my 12th house individuals you guys have a wonderful gift inside that interesting brain of yours! keep it up.

[sky-scribbles]

Playlist for my Aeor longfic

I failed to figure out how to do a fancy spotify embed like the kids do but uh. Here's the playlist for Gravity!

I listened to this while planning and writing, and there are even a few shout-outs to the songs in the fic... Songs are arranged chronologically, so you should be able to hear the story happening, hopefully :'D

Further yelling about song choices under the cut!

A Matter of Time - This one is... sort of the fic's opening titles in my head? I wanted to start out with an instrumental, to capture the vibes of the months before the fic opens - Essek and Caleb apart, thinking about the T-Dock, and each other. Wondering. Waiting.

Horse to Water - Essek in Chapter 1, knowing his life as the Shadowhand is ending, waiting for Caleb to come and take him away to whatever comes next. (I'm normally very picky about not putting songs that reference modern day stuff on fantasy playlists but this one's vibes were too perfect)

Dear Fellow Traveller - Two wizards heading into Aeor together.

Conquest of Spaces - A song for Aeor. A dark, beautiful city, the remains of a people who lived by greed and power. (And two wizards in the ruins, trying to draw closer to each other.)

Neptune - This is mostly for Essek's breakdown in chapter 5, as he worries he'll never break out of his Shadowhand manipulation, wanting to be closer to Caleb and not knowing what that would even look like. And it's a little for Caleb in chapter 6, too, grappling with his feelings for Essek and his fears that they'll ultimately be bad for each other.

Please Don't Say You Love Me - ... and as they move past those fears, this song is for them tentatively acknowledging what they might be to each other. Not yet. But maybe soon.

Woodwork - This is for the chapters 6-9 span, as they learn more about Brashaar's plan. The pressure of a crisis has an odd way of making them realise just how deep their trust and care for each other runs.

Two Evils - Since we're at the point where Brashaar shows up, she gets a song now! This is pretty much her internal monologue during her confrontation with the wizards (though she really should have paid attention to 'if you're not careful, you will lose her' in reference to Quaera...)

Winter - Travelling northward, and yearning. Wishing they had more time.

Mind - A song for a young Quaera, slowly forming a personality, wondering about who she is and how her identity forms...

The Tower - ... and having their own breakdown.

What Could Have Been - I love me a good villainous breakdown, and this is a song for Brashaar's. This is how I imagine she feels during the final confrontation, raging against the gods, against Caleb and Essek, against Quaera after they turn from her. Not quite able to let go of what she thinks Aeor could have been. What, in her eyes, the world is meant to be. (As a bonus, I think the second verse sounds a bit like a retort to her from Quaera...)

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - This is such a fun cinematic cover, and I can't tell you how many times I've imagined a mental AMV of the final battle with Brashaar set to it :'D

Ori, Embracing the Light - I wanted an instrumental here too, because... Essek is dead, Caleb is in shutdown, and Essek and Quaera are communing with the Luxon, a being that doesn't really speak with words. Also, 'embracing the light' is exactly what Quaera does at this point.

Would That I - I know we all use this as Caleb's 'learning to live and love again' song... and I am no exception. This is for him after the T-Dock, finally fully acknowledging his grief, and his love for Essek.

First Day of my Life - Just two wizards realising that they have a future, and agreeing to slowly work at what's between them.

Ready to Call This Love - This one speaks for itself, honestly.

Five - Both of the wizards in the final chapter, but especially Essek realising how isolated he's been from the world, and letting it all in so he can feel it. (Also, studying the universe is a love language - )

Gravity - Gravity is a metaphor for love!!!!

[thunderroseses]

I wrote this instead of sleeping but here’s another angsty story to feed on <3

~The death of a red Giant~

It was the end. By now all the other planets had been swallowed up by the red giant ready to explode at any moment, Uranus was the only one left in the solar system after Neptune drifted away to who knows where, a part of Uranus is glad that his cousin wouldn’t have to die such a painful death like the rest of them, like poor mercury who’s death was long and drawn out, the only thing he was able to do was scream from his body burning apart from the star he once’s loved, his scream could be heard from across the solar system, giving everyone a insight on their up coming doom, at lest Mercury had other planets around to comfort him while he died, Uranus wasn’t so lucky, he was now the last planet in the solar system, the last to carry its memory of those who once live there, Neptune was still alive, he thinks at lest but Neptune doesn’t remember the countless wars they’ve been through together he hardly remember his own names on the good days, that were fair and few between during the end.

Neptune always told him he focused to much on the bad things in his life, but now Uranus has the opposite problem, the past was his only distraction from his upcoming doom, as the sun grows hotter every orbit, his once iced surface was now reduced to nothing but water even if most of it was absorbed by the sun, and soon he will be nothing, only a planet that once’s lived in a now forgotten solar system forgotten by history as his body is reused to make new planets that will never know he existed, that’s how it works after all, Uranus wish he knew the past lives of the space dust he was created from, he wish he could carry on the memories of those who came before him, but they were forgotten by history with no proof, they ever existed beside they dust they leave behind and soon Uranus will join them, he didn’t want to be forgotten, no one dose but you can’t decide you will be remembered and who will not.

Uranus could only hope in his dying breath that maybe Neptune does remember him even if it’s in a passing thought, so his memory could be passed on, so someone would remember him, no matter how hopeless the thought might be, it’s not like anyone is left to care about him, their is nothing to care about, maybe they would about earth, the only planet who had living beings on its surface, that’ll be a spectacle for all eternity, it’s a amazing feet and extremely rare compared to Uranus, he is just like all others, another ice giant who’s about to die. There is nothing cool or interesting to talk about, his not even worth remembering by those who did know him, after all he was just an ice giant.

Uranus could feel his core begin to melt as the sun grew closer, it’s about to die a fantastical death,with bright colours and explosions for those around it, but for those caught in its cross fires it’s a slow and painful death that draws out for years on end, for the planet who used to orbit the star have to see their friends die one by one as the star slowly devours them. Uranus is not looking forward to his turn, the scream of his friends still ring in his ears when he tries to sleep, a part of him wishes he could be like Sun, fast asleep unaware of the destruction of the solar system that he used to hold so dearly, Uranus doesn’t blame him though, it most be hard knowing your the cause of your planets deaths, with no way to stop it, all you can do it wait until your time comes too, but the process is long. Uranus could feel the heat burning up his surface, his time has come, and now all Uranus can do is close his eyes and hope there’s something on the other side to look forward too

Part two

[yermes]

Hello my beautiful step children; I was irresponsible and had an absolute stupid fuck moment ngl. its not a big deal. BUT CHILDREN It doesn’t pay to be irresponsible lets do a reading about over coming an irresponsible moment. Bc what type of parent would I be if I didn’t teach you responsibility using myself as a bad example 😵‍💫. Maybe now you will think twice about reading these damn Wattpad stories when theres all these damn dishes in the sink 😩

Pick a meme

Pick a card

Debauch 🫗

Seven of cups, Venus 3. Scorpio, Netzach through water

It looks to me that in attempts of running away from reality you may have accidentally ran a bit to far and now you’re stuck up to your tits in the swampy waters of delusion represented by the seven of cups. You had a drive for the unknown and the human desire to know more and instead of actually touching the hand of god you’re drawing crayon pictures with ur cell mate at the looney bin. It is really such a fine line though. You need to be more responsible with yourself and how much you let your day dreaming get the better of you. Find. Your. Anchor. You owe it to yourself to be responsible for your mental well being.

The Universe 🫀

Can represent Neptune as in its awareness, Pluto in creation, and Saturn, Malkuth through Yesod, and Earth

Thinking of this card in terms of irresponsibility this card is representative of an end goal. The zenith of completion. While the more negative aspect is basically the road to nowhere. You followed a path and while yes you completed the goal you personally ignored all the red flags and while yes you did complete it you feel empty as if you didn’t do exactly what you wanted or it didn’t end exactly as you set out to do it. While you reached the end since you were irresponsible within yourself yourself you cannot bathe in the abundance at the end because you didn’t actually want this ending. You wanted pacifist but ran genocide and you got an ending but because of your own personal irresponsibility and negligence it wasn’t the ending you hoped for. Now you are back to square one. The best part about square one is this time you can be true to yourself.

Ruin 👠

Sun 3. gemini, Malkuth through air, ten of swords

This card represents development of human intellect which in how life imitates art is basically a endless fight. The ten of swords basically shows that fighting from beginning to end caused a lot of chaos and destruction in your wake. In terms of the reading: you flew to close to the sun and mother fucker; you just got burned. All this fighting for the cause left an abundance of collateral damage but the good thing about 10 is you can start back with the ace and use your lessons from the war path to help better it for the next time.

Story time:

Theres a big concept in sports and athleticism called base building. Basically you need to do it slow and you need to do it right and keep that heart beat between X and Y (different for everyone) for you to be successful over the season. Now I think this is just as important with magic. Lots of kiddos (myself included) want to dive right in without learning and theory or basics. While you can do some harder things in a base building stage there is always a big focus on fundamentals. You won’t be afraid of jumping in the deep end if you know how to float if you catch my drift. But sink or swim (and holy fuck do I know what its like to sink) have fun!

[jomiddlemarch]

on the cold earth under the cold sky

“Your feet are cold,” Joel said.

“You said you hated it when I wore socks to bed,” Grace replied. “And I don’t love it either. My feet get too hot.”

“It wasn’t a complaint, darlin’, just an observation,” Joel said.

“It seemed like a complaint,” Grace said. She wiggled her toes, which were cold, and let out a breath, which floated above her in a brief cloud. It was frigid in Jackson far earlier than expected, either a cold snap or the beginning of a long, hard winter, which reminded Grace of the Little House on the Prairie book where they spent the snowed-in winter grinding wheat in a coffee-grinder and she’d skipped to the end because it was so boring. Maria had asked everyone to conserve resources, bundling up instead of stoking fires. It worked okay during the day, but the nights were difficult.

“C’mere,” Joel said, pulling her even tighter to him.

“You don’t—sorry,” Grace mumbled. “Sorry for being a cold bitch.”

He laughed, a rich, warm sound like the Kenyan coffee she desperately missed though she’d never admit it, and jostled her into putting her feet between his shins. He was wearing a set of faded Black Watch tartan flannel pajamas over a white tee shirt and she should have found it hilarious when she saw him or almost homely, as close to sexy as Neptune, but should didn’t seem to apply since she’d left Before for Now.

“Never met anyone who’s less of a cold bitch than you, Gracie,” he said.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked. She would have used all her willpower to keep from rolling her eyes if Ellie had said something similar, but she’d slept poorly since it got cold. It reminded her too much of the first winter after Kian was killed. Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone ran through her mind on a loop, the loop preferable to any other memory.

“It’s the truth. You can take it however you want it,” he said, completely unoffended by the sound of his voice and the gentleness of his embrace.

“No matter what I say, I’m wrong and you’re right,” she snapped. I think you’re a cold bitch and kind of mean at the moment, if that’s worth anything, dead-Lauren offered. Grace was well aware she was being surly and rude and why? Because she was tired of going to bed with cold feet and waking in the night with her nose and cheeks feeling half-frozen, because there wasn’t much she could do when people came in with frost-nip and fucking Dickensian chilblains, because she’d once tried to go back to where she’d buried Kian that brutal winter and she couldn’t find his grave, couldn’t remember where she’d first pressed the shovel into the barely yielding earth, putting all her weight on the metal, in a hurry, too full of cortisol to shed a tear?

Because however awful she was, Joel was kind and calm, steady, putting a cup of something hot into her hand when she came through the door, helping unbutton her wool peacoat, even inviting Ted and Beard, Tommy and Maria to come over and sit by the fireplace, Joel with his guitar on his lap, playing when they asked, playing “Father and Son” for Ted without a request, without looking up from the guitar’s belly.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Joel answered.

“I’m tired,” she said. She wouldn’t explain, didn’t need to; let him draw his own conclusions.

“I think bears have the right idea,” Joel said. “Find a den, hibernate. Wait ‘til spring comes. Sounds good, now, for all that Ted has his winter wonderland plans cookin’.”

“They starve,” Grace said. “All winter, the bears use up their own bodies to stay alive.”

“That’s nothin’ new,” he replied.

“I already feel used up,” Grace said. It was an admission—of guilt? Weakness that he wouldn’t be able to stomach or respect? Ellie had started telling stories about Tess, how indomitable the woman had been, how determined. The admiration in her voice had been unmistakable. If Joel was around when Ellie talked, he nodded along, and there was sometimes something in his dark eyes, a gleam not unlike tears.

“I know. You just need a rest. Sarah’s mother could get like that,” Joel said.

It was a shock to hear him speak of her and so easily. Grace didn’t even know the woman’s name, whether they’d been married, together, exes who got along for the sake of the child, who hadn’t loved each other enough to break each other. Joel knew little more about Kian and not at all about the perpetual background conversation Grace had going with dead-Lauren. She supposed they were even.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t whisk her away to Aruba either,” he said.

Grace made a conscious choice she might later deeply regret not to pursue the her in favor of  Aruba.

“That’s where you’d take me? Where we’d go?” In another life, Before or the Before when cordyceps never happened, the mutation milder, stronger, ruining the grain before it could be consumed by anyone, Chicxulub taking a left turn. In a world of planes and flying coach but never standby, fluted red paper umbrellas, lemons, buying Joel a fancy white guayabera, glaring at the woman on the lounger with her crocheted bikini top untied at the back who was staring at him too long, too obviously.

“Yeah. Or the Keys. Somewhere your feet couldn’t get cold,” he said.

It would be easy to tell him she loved him there. To feel it, think it and speak, to leap without looking behind her or beyond him, a world crazed with a tiny thousand cracks, without the devastating fracture they’d somehow survived. She didn’t have to look at him to know grey he was getting at the temples and scattered throughout his beard. She didn’t have to reach up under his tee-shirt to feel the scar on his belly.

“They’re better,” she said. “My feet. They’re not cold anymore.”

She started to move away or tried to. Joel held on.

“Stay,” he said. “Keepin’ you warm keeps me warm.”

Another fic for @pedrostories​ 1K celebration, using AU, hurt/comfort and the quote “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

[stvnmvrsh]

wish you'd ask me - matt maltese

Valentine's Day was inescapable, it seemed. It was just another cash-grabbing holiday, but It's all everyone at school's been talking about for the past few weeks. School announcements over purchasing Valentine's grams, holiday bake sales, and the student council asking for volunteers to decorate accordingly. He's been dragged everywhere from the store to the mall, even to the shopping center by his various friends, each of them trying to find the perfect cards and gifts. He thought everyone was a fool scrambling around like wriggling worms. He'd already bought a pack of Terrence and Phillip Valentine cards and hastily written them all out for his friends. He suddenly found himself a hypocrite when Kenny offhandedly asked him a question.

"D'ya get anything for Kyle yet?" Kenny asked as he mashed the buttons on the controller.

They were sitting in Stan's living room on the couch playing Mortal Kombat for the nth time. Stan flushed hard, his Neptune eyes not leaving the screen. Ever since Kenny's deduced Stan's major crush on Kyle, he'd been teasing him about it to some degree. But of course, he'd drummed it up quite a bit recently because of the nature of the holiday.

"Quit your cheap tricks, Ken. I almost got you!"

"That's real cute, Stan. Forreal though."

Stan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What about you? What are you getting Marj?" Stan could see him smile softly at the mention of his long-time girlfriend.

"I'm halfway through making her a paper bouquet of white roses. I've already got a Hello Kitty plushie picked out and a huge bag of peach ring gummies. Then, I'll take her someplace to eat."

"Fuck. You've got it figured out, huh?" Stan says glumly and tosses his controller to the side of the couch. Kenny's won.

"Scorpion wins!" The TV announces.

"Nice one." Stan offers his fist to Kenny.

Kenny smiles broadly and fistbumps him. "Gg, bruh."

"Y'know someone might confess to Kyle, right?" Kenny presses his back against the couch arm, tossing his feet into Stan's lap.

"If I were you, I'd get my shit together and ask him out before someone else does. I'd hate to see you regret it~" Kenny singsonged.

Stan's stomach dropped so far it touched his asshole. He hadn't thought of that.

"Fuuuuck." He whined, lightly punching at Kenny's mismatched sock-clad feet. The left one was white with a grey toe and heel. The other hit mid-calf and was green with marijuana leaves.

"Well, you could get him something that reminds you of him. Or maybe write him a nice letter along with some flowers. You could even bake him something. I'll help you if you want. " Kenny suggests while scrolling on his phone, squishing Stan's thighs with his feet.

Stan sprawled out further onto the couch and considered.

"S'okay. I'll figure it out soon." Stan replied, pulling his hat over his bleached strands, wondering how to successfully ask his best friend out.

---

Stan gawps at the red and pink hearts coating the walls. Glittery streamers were strung up and absurd posters depicting crude drawings of Eric as Cupid were plastered around. It looked like Valentine's Day exploded and no nook or cranny was spared. He could hear girls gossiping about their crushes and quiet whispers of boys betting on each other to get kissed by the end of the day.

"Woah, dude, who's that for?" Stan questions timidly as Kyle shoves a red, heart-shaped box into his locker.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, Stan." Kyle feigns ignorance as he tries to compose himself, pushing his wire-framed glasses up his nose. Stan thought they were cute.

"No way. Someone gave it to you?" Stan looks at him, bewilderment on his face.

"Who's it for, Kyle?" Stan presses on, confused as to why he didn't want to answer.

"No one's, alright?" He groaned in embarrassment, blood rushing up his neck already. Before Stan could get another word in, the bell rang for class.

"Just drop it, okay? We have to go to class anyways, and I don't want to be late."

"Okay, bro, whatever you say," Stan holds two hands up in defeat.

"C'mon then." He takes Kyle's hand and pulls him along the hallway, failing to notice Kyle's lovesick smile.

"You're still coming over after work, right?" Kyle implored, mumbling at the back of Stan's head.

"Count on it."

It's hard to focus on Mr. Garrison's lesson on quadratic equations when Stan's stomach feels like a bunch of frogs jumping around.

He's always felt like this around Kyle. He was always happy to see him, the sight of this green hat was familiar, comforting. It made the glacial early mornings a little more tolerable. This morning, however, was a little different. Stan was dying to know who the box was for. The thought of Kyle giving his love away was hurting him. Furthering his distress was the thought of someone confessing to Kyle and him accepting.

Oh god. Stan thought, burying his head into his notebook.

---

Stan was relieved he didn't drop the vase of pink carnations due to his sweaty palms as the door swung open.

"For you, Sheila." Stan greeted her, presenting the flowers.

"Oh, goodness, Stan these are just beautiful! Thank you! Come inside, sweetheart, Kyle's just in his room." She smothered him a hug and ushered him inside. He almost wondered what it would be like to be her son-in-law, but he hastily shoved that thought from his mind.

He stepped inside, taking his sneakers off and setting them by the door. He said his hellos to Gerald and Ike before heading up the stairs to Kyle's room.

"Hey, dude." Stan poked his head through the door before opening it fully. Kyle's head lifted from his homework. The room was lit only by his green banker lamp and a vanilla-scented candle on his dresser.

"Hey Stan, how was work?"

"Pretty good. Someone adopted that golden retriever I was talking about last week." Stan replied. He'd been working part-time at the local pet shop.

"Aw, how nice. Glad they've found a home." Kyle's eyes were twinkling gems in the lamplight as he shoved his homework away. Stan wishes he could ogle at them all day long.

"You're nicer." Kyle's head snapped to him, wondering if his ears were damaged, if he really heard him right.

Stan thrust his hand into his coat pocket before he could weasel out.

"I got something for you. I know it's a little late, but I didn't want Cartman to see it. Happy Valentine's Day."

Abashedly, he handed him a thin, rectangular box.

"Holy fuck, Stan, you didn't have to! The card you gave me in class is enough for me."

Stan stayed silent as Kyle's fingers traced around the black crushed velvet. He opened the box and let out a soft gasp. It was beautiful. A 14k gold Star of David pendant. It was shaped like a coin, the star embedded in the center. The round edge was braided like a rope. The chain was was a thin cuban-link. Kyle was at a loss for words. He quickly swiped at his eyes, not wanting the tears to drop.

"Flip it over." Stan urged.

"SM & KB?" Kyle's voice trembled as he traced the engraving on the delicate surface. He refused to blink, he didn't want the tears that were stored to cascade down his cheeks.

"Us." Stan finished as he walked over, taking the pendant from his hands. He twirled Kyle around in his office chair.

"May I?"

"Please."

Kyle felt Stan's fingertips dance at the nape of his neck, and his breath caught in his throat. Stan made sure to keep his touch sparse and gentle, in fear he might scare him away.

"I got it because it reminded me of you," Stan confessed, remembering Kenny's various suggestions. "I thought it'd look nice on you. I was sorely mistaken,"

A sound escaped Kyle's mouth as he whipped around with a hurt expression, but Stan quickly finished his sentence.

"You look stunning, Ky."

Kyle could have sworn he had died a kind death and was levitating towards heaven if not for Stan tucking a stray curl out of Kyle's vision. He was close enough to see the candle's flame reflecting in his eyes. Kyle always thought Stan's eyes were so blue it was fucking ridiculous. Like the ocean, he could feel the water pulling him under, a powerful spell.

Their noses were almost touching now. Kyle could smell the delicate rose scent of Stan's laundry detergent. Stan braced both his hands on the chair's armrests, effectively caging Kyle in. There was no way of escape, but he didn't mind.

"Kyle." Stan's breathy tone made his body tingle.

"Yes?"

"Recently, I found that I love you. But, I think I always have." Stan stepped back only to pull Kyle up from his seat. He grasped one of his hands and placed it up where his heart was.

"You feel it?" Stan's heart was thrumming under his fingers.

"I feel like it's always beating for you. I didn't know why my heart always went crazy when you said nice things to me, or when we'd have dinner with our families together, or when we'd go stargazing, just you and me. But, now I know it's because you're important to me and I want you in my life forever."

Kyle raised his unoccupied hand to cup Stan's cheek. "Promise you want me?" He thought his heart was beating just as fast as his, too.

"Want you? I need you."

Their yearning lips met, ravanous for one another. Stan's hands found themselved roaming underneath Kyle's loose Greatful Dead sweater, pulling his lithe waist as close as possible. Kyle's were threaded in Stan's hair, desperately, so much so that they didn't hear Sheila come in.

"I bought you boys some cookies-" She started, but she was frozen mid sentence, astonished.

"MA!" "Oh shit!" The two exclaimed, flying apart from themselves like they were burned.

Guilt and embarassment were clear to see on their faces, Sheila saw quite well even in the dimly lit room.

There was a lenthy stillness in the room that felt like forever when really it was more like a minute. Stan refused to look at anything but the floor, Kyle was trying to ge Stan to look at him, and Sheila was looking at them both. She decided to break the silence.

"Do you boys need condoms as well or-"

"Ma!" They were all in varying degrees of embarrasment and apology.

"We can talk about this whenever you're ready, bubie." She said patiently, giving her son a peck on the forhead. She gave Stan a knowing smile and set the plate of chocolate chip cookies on Kyle's desk, leaving the room. It was just the two of them again.

They examined eachother, both smiling ear to ear. No words were needed as Kyle grabbed two cookies, one for him and the other for Stan. They were eating the cookies sitting on his bed when Kyle remembered.

"Oh!" Kyle went over to his backpack and rummaged a bit before he pulled out the red box. He held it out to Stan.

"For me?" Stan was dumbfounded, cookie crumble on the corner of his mouth.

Kyle giggled and rolled his eyes, "Yes, dumbass, now open it!"

Stan couldn't fucking believe this. God, he's perfect. Stan was ready to thank every god for Kyle. In the heart-shaped box was a golden chain bracelet. It had two charms; one was a heart with a key hole shape in the middle, another was the left size of a heart.

He thought he could conbust into tears at any moment. He looked towards Kyle who beamed at him and held up his right arm. He pulled his sleeve down to reveal another gold chain bracelet. A key charm and the right side of a heart to match with his own.

"They're magnets," Kyle bought their bracelets together and the two halves connected forming a full heart.

"My other half." Stan grew teary, interlocking their hands.

"You're so sappy." Kyle said before kissing him again.

Valentine's Day was inescapable, it seemed. It was just another cash-grabbing holiday, but It's all everyone at school's been talking about for the past few weeks. School announcements over purchasing Valentine's grams, holiday bake sales, and the student council asking for volunteers to decorate accordingly. He's been dragged everywhere from the store to the mall, even to the shopping center by his various friends, each of them trying to find the perfect cards and gifts. He thought everyone was a fool scrambling around like wriggling worms. He'd already bought a pack of Terrence and Phillip Valentine cards and hastily written them all out for his friends. He suddenly found himself a hypocrite when Kenny offhandedly asked him a question.

"D'ya get anything for Kyle yet?" Kenny asked as he mashed the buttons on the controller.

They were sitting in Stan's living room on the couch playing Mortal Kombat for the nth time. Stan flushed hard, his Neptune eyes not leaving the screen. Ever since Kenny's deduced Stan's major crush on Kyle, he'd been teasing him about it to some degree. But of course, he'd drummed it up quite a bit recently because of the nature of the holiday.

"Quit your cheap tricks, Ken. I almost got you!"

"That's real cute, Stan. Forreal though."

Stan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What about you? What are you getting Marj?" Stan could see him smile softly at the mention of his long-time girlfriend.

"I'm halfway through making her a paper bouquet of white roses. I've already got a Hello Kitty plushie picked out and a huge bag of peach ring gummies. Then, I'll take her someplace to eat."

"Fuck. You've got it figured out, huh?" Stan says glumly and tosses his controller to the side of the couch. Kenny's won.

"Scorpion wins!" The TV announces.

"Nice one." Stan offers his fist to Kenny.

Kenny smiles broadly and fistbumps him. "Gg, bruh."

"Y'know someone might confess to Kyle, right?" Kenny presses his back against the couch arm, tossing his feet into Stan's lap.

"If I were you, I'd get my shit together and ask him out before someone else does. I'd hate to see you regret it~" Kenny singsonged.

Stan's stomach dropped so far it touched his asshole. He hadn't thought of that.

"Fuuuuck." He whined, lightly punching at Kenny's mismatched sock-clad feet. The left one was white with a grey toe and heel. The other hit mid-calf and was green with marijuana leaves.

"Well, you could get him something that reminds you of him. Or maybe write him a nice letter along with some flowers. You could even bake him something. I'll help you if you want. " Kenny suggests while scrolling on his phone, squishing Stan's thighs with his feet.

Stan sprawled out further onto the couch and considered.

"S'okay. I'll figure it out soon." Stan replied, pulling his hat over his bleached strands, wondering how to successfully ask his best friend out.

Stan gawps at the red and pink hearts coating the walls. Glittery streamers were strung up and absurd posters depicting crude drawings of Eric as Cupid were plastered around. It looked like Valentine's Day exploded and no nook or cranny was spared. He could hear girls gossiping about their crushes and quiet whispers of boys betting on each other to get kissed by the end of the day.

"Woah, dude, who's that for?" Stan questions timidly as Kyle shoves a red, heart-shaped box into his locker.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, Stan." Kyle feigns ignorance as he tries to compose himself, pushing his wire-framed glasses up his nose. Stan thought they were cute.

"No way. Someone gave it to you?" Stan looks at him, bewilderment on his face.

"Who's it for, Kyle?" Stan presses on, confused as to why he didn't want to answer.

"No one's, alright?" He groaned in embarrassment, blood rushing up his neck already. Before Stan could get another word in, the bell rang for class.

"Just drop it, okay? We have to go to class anyways, and I don't want to be late."

"Okay, bro, whatever you say," Stan holds two hands up in defeat.

"C'mon then." He takes Kyle's hand and pulls him along the hallway, failing to notice Kyle's lovesick smile.

"You're still coming over after work, right?" Kyle implored, mumbling at the back of Stan's head.

"Count on it."

It's hard to focus on Mr. Garrison's lesson on quadratic equations when Stan's stomach feels like a bunch of frogs jumping around.

He's always felt like this around Kyle. He was always happy to see him, the sight of this green hat was familiar, comforting. It made the glacial early mornings a little more tolerable. This morning, however, was a little different. Stan was dying to know who the box was for. The thought of Kyle giving his love away was hurting him. Furthering his distress was the thought of someone confessing to Kyle and him accepting.

Oh god. Stan thought, burying his head into his notebook.

Stan was relieved he didn't drop the vase of pink carnations due to his sweaty palms as the door swung open.

"For you, Sheila." Stan greeted her, presenting the flowers.

"Oh, goodness, Stan these are just beautiful! Thank you! Come inside, sweetheart, Kyle's just in his room." She smothered him a hug and ushered him inside. He almost wondered what it would be like to be her son-in-law, but he hastily shoved that thought from his mind.

He stepped inside, taking his sneakers off and setting them by the door. He said his hellos to Gerald and Ike before heading up the stairs to Kyle's room.

"Hey, dude." Stan poked his head through the door before opening it fully. Kyle's head lifted from his homework. The room was lit only by his green banker lamp and a vanilla-scented candle on his dresser.

"Hey Stan, how was work?"

"Pretty good. Someone adopted that golden retriever I was talking about last week." Stan replied. He'd been working part-time at the local pet shop.

"Aw, how nice. Glad they've found a home." Kyle's eyes were twinkling gems in the lamplight as he shoved his homework away. Stan wishes he could ogle at them all day long.

"You're nicer." Kyle's head snapped to him, wondering if his ears were damaged, if he really heard him right.

Stan thrust his hand into his coat pocket before he could weasel out.

"I got something for you. I know it's a little late, but I didn't want Cartman to see it. Happy Valentine's Day."

Abashedly, he handed him a thin, rectangular box.

"Holy fuck, Stan, you didn't have to! The card you gave me in class is enough for me."

Stan stayed silent as Kyle's fingers traced around the black crushed velvet. He opened the box and let out a soft gasp. It was beautiful. A 14k gold Star of David pendant. It was shaped like a coin, the star embedded in the center. The round edge was braided like a rope. The chain was a thin Cuban link. Kyle was at a loss for words. He quickly swiped at his eyes, not wanting the tears to drop.

"Flip it over." Stan urged.

"SM & KB?" Kyle's voice trembled as he traced the engraving on the delicate surface. He refused to blink, he didn't want the tears that were stored to cascade down his cheeks.

"Us." Stan finished as he walked over, taking the pendant from his hands. He twirled Kyle around in his office chair.

"May I?"

"Please."

Kyle felt Stan's fingertips dance at the nape of his neck, and his breath caught in his throat. Stan made sure to keep his touch sparse and gentle, in fear he might scare him away.

"I got it because it reminded me of you," Stan confessed, remembering Kenny's various suggestions. "I thought it'd look nice on you. I was sorely mistaken,"

A sound escaped Kyle's mouth as he whipped around with a hurt expression, but Stan quickly finished his sentence.

"You look stunning, Ky."

Kyle could have sworn he had died a kind death and was levitating towards heaven if not for Stan tucking a stray curl out of Kyle's vision. He was close enough to see the candle's flame reflecting in his eyes. Kyle always thought Stan's eyes were so blue it was fucking ridiculous. Like the ocean, he could feel the water pulling him under, a powerful spell.

Their noses were almost touching now. Kyle could smell the delicate rose scent of Stan's laundry detergent. Stan braced both his hands on the chair's armrests, effectively caging Kyle in. There was no way of escape, but he didn't mind.

"Kyle." Stan's breathy tone made his body tingle.

"Yes?"

"Recently, I found that I love you. But, I think I always have." Stan stepped back only to pull Kyle up from his seat. He grasped one of his hands and placed it up where his heart was.

"You feel it?" Stan's heart was thrumming under his fingers.

"I feel like it's always beating for you. I didn't know why my heart always went crazy when you said nice things to me, or when we'd have dinner with our families together, or when we'd go stargazing, just you and me. But, now I know it's because you're important to me and I want you in my life forever."

Kyle raised his unoccupied hand to cup Stan's cheek. "Promise you want me?" He thought his heart was beating just as fast as his, too.

"Want you? I need you."

Their yearning lips met, ravenous for one another. Stan's hands found themselves roaming underneath Kyle's loose Grateful Dead sweater, pulling his lithe waist as close as possible. Kyle's were threaded in Stan's hair, desperately, so much so that they didn't hear Sheila come in.

"I bought you boys some cookies-" She started, but she was frozen mid-sentence, astonished.

"MA!" "Oh shit!" The two exclaimed, flying apart from themselves like they were burned.

Guilt and embarrassment were clear to see on their faces, Sheila saw quite well even in the dimly lit room.

There was a lengthy stillness in the room that felt like forever when really it was more like a minute. Stan refused to look at anything but the floor, Kyle was trying to get Stan to look at him, and Sheila was looking at them both. She decided to break the silence.

"Do you boys need condoms as well or-"

"Ma!" They were all in varying degrees of embarrassment and apology.

"We can talk about this whenever you're ready, bubie." She said patiently, giving her son a peck on the forehead. She gave Stan a knowing smile and set the plate of chocolate chip cookies on Kyle's desk, leaving the room. It was just the two of them again.

They examined each other, both smiling ear to ear. No words were needed as Kyle grabbed two cookies, one for him and the other for Stan. They were eating the cookies and sitting on his bed when Kyle remembered.

"Oh!" Kyle went over to his backpack and rummaged a bit before he pulled out the red box. He held it out to Stan.

"For me?" Stan was dumbfounded, cookie crumbles on the corner of his mouth.

Kyle giggled and rolled his eyes, "Yes, dumbass, now open it!"

Stan couldn't fucking believe this. God, he's perfect. Stan was ready to thank every god for Kyle. In the heart-shaped box was a golden chain bracelet. It had two charms; one was a heart with a keyhole shape in the middle, another was the left side of a heart.

He thought he could combust into tears at any moment. He looked towards Kyle who beamed at him and held up his right arm. He pulled his sleeve down to reveal another gold chain bracelet. A key charm and the right side of a heart to match with his own.

"They're magnets," Kyle bought their bracelets together and the two halves connected forming a full heart.

"My other half." Stan grew teary, interlocking their hands.

"You're so sappy," Kyle said before kissing him again.

[sorrow-already-spoiled]

Neptune's Throne

Ahhhh, I apologize for this being so short, but honestly it's been so busy I'm just amazing I finished anything at all. Please ignore the "to be continued" style ending 😖 NGL, southern sirens should be a thing

(ALSO this isn't late, I shared it with y'all yesterday, I'm just posing it here now)

Sometimes, Alveyn missed the days he was just a fisherman. 

The late October night was chilly, the sea breeze nostalgic. He sat reclined against a rocky outcropping, with a sharp edge digging into his shoulder blade, but he doesn’t dare move and disrupt anything. His life had turned upside down after his narrow escape from the Lusca off the coast of Curacao. He’d washed up on Playa Jerami, a changed man. Since Sally had vanished from his life, he’d been aimless. Hunting monsters that stalked the night seemed as good a task as any. 

When there was suddenly a number of young men disappearing in Willemstad, rumors of haunting singing in the night, and increased incidents involving sudden mania? That was a recipe for a siren, far away from Greece or not. Maybe sirens were migratory? He was hardly an expert. 

He’d been staking out the beach for the last few nights, waiting to hear some sort of music starting in the distance, but so far he’d seen or heard nothing. He knew it was a risk, of course, but he didn’t exactly know how to find a siren with his ears plugged. He took another long swig from his flask, absently rolling a piece of pale green sea glass across his palm. 

“Howdy.” A sudden chill ran down Alveyn’s spine, turning his blood to ice. He turned in the direction of the voice, seeing a figure standing where the waves were breaking along the beach, not ten feet away. Their eyes were the color of sea glass, unnaturally bright in the dim moonlight. They had certainly not been there even a few seconds before, and yet Alveyn had not heard them approach or seen them move, nor did they show any signs of having moved quickly. There were no footprints on the beach, only the ebb and flow of the tide. “Are you planning on making a habit of drinking alone on my beach? It’s rather irritating.”

“Since when do sirens sound like they should be wearing a cowboy hat?” The figure laughs, and Alveyn feels his chest tighten against his will, weak human heart reacting to the sound. 

“Meet a lot of sirens, do you? I’m surprised you even know what I am. Most humans don’t.” The figure took a few steps forward, away from the water’s edge and towards Alveyn. 

“Unfortunately mate, what you are is what I came here for.” Alveyn stands up, pulling the buried rope with him, and triggering the weighted net to drop, knocking the siren to the ground. It had taken the better part of an afternoon to get the weight distribution for the mechanism just right, but it had worked even better than he had planned. “It’s nothing personal, I just got a bit tired of you eating my community members. It’s bad for morale and all that.” He approaches the flailing creature, drawing the silver dagger from his boot. 

The siren flips over, piercing green eyes looking up at him. Now that the creature isn’t entirely in the shadows, Alveyn gets a good look at their face. The face is covered in jagged fading scars, their shoulders broad and muscular, webbed fingers, sharp nails. They were handsome. Unsurprising, considering what they were. Alveyn crouched to push his knee against the creature's chest, preparing to slit their throat. 

“I got tired of hearing women screaming for help and no one answering them. Those men deserved to lose their hearts.” The siren’s voice had taken on a desperate edge, but it was truthful. “If I was truly going to hurt you, I could have done so last night, or the night before. You wear no protection, it would have been easy.” Alveyn hesitates. A siren with morals wasn’t the most unreasonable thing in the world. Some myths featured sirens as young people drowned or betrayed at sea, seeking a misplaced vengeance. 

“What’s your name?”

“I call myself Jem.”

“Why are you here?”

“Curacao is protected water, and has been for over a century. The Throne of Neptune keeps the big creatures at bay. It protects us.” Alveyn knew the throne. Had seen it, sat on it. It was a popular dive location off fisherman’s wharf, not even 60 feet down. Not exactly a likely candidate for a great talisman of oceanic power, but he was the first to admit he was no expert. That being said, if it really had that much power, it could be usable.

“You want to earn your freedom? Show me.”

[kaguya-muneuji]

hello hello

demigod au... I was gonna wait until I actually drew it out... but am too tired to draw + headache urghh

so Tatsumi... was thinking that his pocket watch's ability is not to actually turn back time but to turn into any object from Tatsumi's past.

He has to visualize it very clearly so it ends up that it feels like he's reliving his past (it only feels like it; for example, if he's reliving watching a past performance, he could watch the whole thing but only a few seconds have passed in reality)

After pocket watch has turned into object, he has a limited amount of time (thinking one minute) to use it before it turns back into watch. Despite having turned into another object, Tatsumi can still hear the ticking of the watch and that's how he keeps track of the time that occurs.

well tbh it kinda feels like miraculous ladybug's ability except with a time limit...

but also if Tatsumi is blessed by Hestia, am thinking that the pocket watch would have a fire decoration or smth

welp that's all I've got. Hope you're doing well, Neptune :D

oh god the thoughts................. eueueuueueue im so sorry for replying to this so late i literally forgot about this :')))) more under the cut bc. rambles again. no drawings this time im so tired rn

well...... okay. maybe the artifact is blessed by chronos (which i dont believe is part of the greek mythology circle... eh i dunno) but tatsumi himself is blessed by hestia?? hm.... maybe this isnt working but i currently cannot find / think about a replacement :')

ooooo i really like the fact that he has to "relive" his past. like.. he has to remember what he has done and never forget? sounds like a curse to me, but hey, arent blessings and curses the same but it just depends how you look at it?

you have no idea how badly i want to draw a fight scene with this concept. tatsumi takes in a breath, breathes out. the pocket watch transforms into a sword or another weapon of the like. the clock begins ticking. cue fight scene with an overlay of a 60 second countdown- and when the countdown is up it returns to a pocketwatch. this entire time tatsumi's face is like. a cold calm btw. i have no idea if this makes any sense but. yeah. i dont actually know tatsumis character well enough to say that this would be good for him ebcause i dont know a thing (thats a lie i know some thigns but not as much as id like to know </3)

[redbootsthetimetraveller]

share more info of your ocs :) when did you start creating them?

hmm that's a question. I've always been creating little characters to draw, mostly because I never really wanted to make true fanart but making fan characters and so on was so much more interesting to me. though original character wise I have been making little stories, or actually really big stories since I don't know when to stop. one of my earliest ones was this conflict between these kingdoms and I called the people there wolves even though they. weren't wolflike in the least. (there's a deeper story to that but to keep things concise, I won't get into that) and I am genuinely considering making that into a story, but we'll see. I'm not really a high fantasy person and I have another high fantasy story that I keep thinking about a lot at the moment so I'll see

I'm gonna stick the rest of this under the cut to keep this post a bit shorter because that seems polite lol (note: this will be longwinded and rambly)

the first of my original characters who I have now would be keith.

he's been around since about 2013. coming up on ten years in april, actually! the story is, keith's a fan character. he's a doctor who oc. as you may or may not know, I have been a dr who fan (on and off) since 2003/4. I watched the first few series of new who, then stopped watching because I didn't see any episodes for a long time til 2010 and then didn't want to watch it after that, but one day in april 2013 my cousin sat me down and made me watch the snowmen and I got hooked. so hooked that I ended up having a dream about it within a few days, and I drew that dream.

the character in that dream would eventually become keith, through a few twists and turns. at first I drew him similar to how I looked at the time, but later he would become ginger whereas I am not, though at the time my hair was very reddish. funnily enough, the incarnation of him that I later turned into my oc nico was also inspired by a dream, though not a dr who related one. but a year later in 2016 I would start writing keith's story, and his appearance changed again, but I never actually drew him.

I think I might've drawn the very early stages of his current form back in 2017, but it wasn't til 2018 that I actually drew him and settled on the name 'keith neptune'. he also travels with a nebulous 'next' incarnation of the doctor so I don't have to try and get the doc's character correct lol.

keith's a bit of a nervous wreck though he's got the excuse to be one since he does get technically kidnapped about four different times within the space of about four months for him, but he's also reckless and dives into things headfirst.

the next lot of original characters I came up with are my (main) oc band, the starstrucks

the members of this band are davey, charlie, roger, snowy, pete (not to be confused with peter) and also rory and mick. there are a few characters connected to them, like sylvia, holly, mary and james (not to be confused with jimmy), though I won't get into them because that will quickly snowball into explaining every single character. I probably ought to draw up an affinity chart xc1 style!

davey's the lead singer, though he gets kicked out in 1970 because he steals some of roger's tracks to use on a solo album that he didn't tell anyone about til it released. he starts out as an arrogant, kinda spoilt nepo baby - and he is a nepo baby, the band unfortunately allows his uncle gerald to manage them and he says 'you need a singer' and he puts davey in the band. davey is actually quite a good singer, so initially they can't be that mad at him, but most of their personalities clash horribly. part of davey's problem is that he's a repressed bisexual, so hanging around with two aspec gays, another bisexual and a polysexual for four years does bring him out of the closet. he's not exactly the villain, because there isn't a villain, but he's definitely the antagonist

roger is the actual leader, and the keyboardist. he's shy, but he does have a bit of an arc where he learns to beat his social anxiety. he's still shy, but he's able to stand his ground. he writes a lot of their music, too. I can't really talk too much about him because a lot of the stuff I have worked out about him is spoilers, and I am genuinely working on presenting the story

snowy is the youngest and also has the most anger issues - davey has them, yes, but he expresses his deeprooted problems by being annoying whilst snowy sits in the corner and simmers in anger. he doesn't have the best control over his reactions, because he is autistic (though davey's meant to be the only nt, so...) and he really didn't come from a good home. in fact, the scene in which you first see him, he's literally running away. he does learn to mellow out, but it does take not being around davey for that to happen lol! he's a bit of a stereotypical resting bassist faced... bassist.

charlie's the golden retriever of the group. snowy and he have been best friends since they were kids - snowy being the type to have one friend and only that friend, meanwhile charlie just. likes people. anyway he's probably the happiest of the group; he graduates his arts degree while being a full-time musician, he marries holly and is all 'I LOVE MY WIFE!!1!', and is a positive anchor. he's the guitarist for the band.

pete is the most laidback member, and also the (original) drummer. he's been roger's best friend for years, and he's incredibly observant. he's very good at de-escalating situations, as well as being very good with emotions. he's the oldest, the most serious, but also has a very good sense of humour. he also marries his first wife, mary, at the start of the story, and part of his story is him realising he's falling out of love with her - they remain friends, it's not bitter or anything, but I feel like it's an interesting dynamic that I want to explore.

rory and mick i'll put in one paragraph. pete leaves the band in 1972 because he realises he doesn't want to be absent from his kids' lives (he has two kids with his second wife, isabelle) so the band needs a new drummer. so along comes rory, who is super similar to charlie so they get along excellently! snowy, uh. doesn't have a happy ending. about eight months afterwards, roger gets the band back together, but he needs a new bassist and he doesn't want to just have a session musician after trying that. whilst he was producing another group, he comes across mick - a session musician, and after a bit of persuasion, he joins. mick's very deadpan, but he's also rather warm when he opens up. he's not in much of the story, because the 1980s-on chapter is an epilogue of sorts, but he's significant enough that I felt the need to mention him

the other oc band I have is the midnight delusions, who I feel have more outside characters than the starstrucks do, but the characters you need to worry about most are jimmy, peter, arthur, teddy, stevie, lucky, and also katherine because she is important too.

jimmy is the on-again off-again frontman/lead guitarist for the midnight delusions, and I made him visually and name-wise similar to a certain member of led zep because I hate his guts and wanted to make someone better than him out of spite. therefore, james rafferty jade came into existence. he could genuinely be an incredible musician, but when he's not too mentally ill to leave the house (something his partner christopher gets extremely worried about) he's clashing with teddy, arthur or stevie too much to get much done.

teddy is incredibly similar to jimmy, in the sense that they're both stubborn, headstrong musicians who have similar mental illnesses. unlike jimmy, who manifests this as silent rage, teddy is similar to davey in the sense that he's annoying, slightly immature, and arrogant. but teddy's more... balanced... and there's a definite harrowing depression to him. can you tell what mental illness he might have. anyway teddy's got really complex family history but what you need to know is he was born in post-war holland to a large family where his mother was busy looking after his ever so slightly older cousins so he was neglected a lot and not treated well, and eventually he ran away to his estranged uncle who runs a boutique in london. his uncle tried to make up for his childhood by spoiling him a little, but honestly teddy has such crushing guilt all the time that it didn't turn out the same way davey's spoiling did. he's sort of the jack of all trades musically. keyboard, bass, guitar, whatever needs doing.

arthur is one of my favourite ocs if I can say so! he's the bassist, and he's also got a really complex family background, but he's very grounded. he's also completely done with everyone, which sometimes manifests as anger, but he likes to be in control, so he doesn't have the anger issues snowy does. he's a bookworm, which is how he met peter, and he's otherwise very chill, or... aloof.

peter is also one of my favourite ocs... he's laidback, incredibly hardworking - like arthur - protective and probably the most put-together of the group. he's been in charge of his sibling, morgan, since he was about sixteen/seventeen. his story is again really not something I can talk about without spoilers, but one last thing about him is that he's the rhythm guitarist.

stevie is a character I think about a lot. part of peter's story is that he has some friends ditch him whilst on a trip to america, and he'd met stevie whilst in houston, texas. they travel across the usa after stevie runs away from his awful family, inspired by peter, and eventually they both end up back in the uk and stevie, having decided to take up piano, gets dragged into the band. he plays on their first few albums but eventually he decides to leave and I don't know exactly what he does after that, but he's still a part of the story.

lucky is the ray of sunshine of the group. he's the drummer, having joined an amateur orchestra as a young teen as a percussionist and learning a lot of percussion instruments. he then played in a jazz band, before getting snagged by the band. him and stevie get along really well, despite stevie kinda hating people. his real name is either gonna be luke or lucas, but I haven't decided yet. he's more in the background like mick in the starstrucks because I don't think there is enough room to fit another angsty character with personal issues in the story, and besides. there needs to be a mediator.

and lastly, katherine is an artist, a writer, and a vital link between the two bands. so, katherine is a fellow art student with pete, roger and charlie (though he's younger than the others) and they sort of interact, but later in late 1965 roger decides to commission her for some record sleeve artwork, and they become friends. however, her housemates (who sort of form an artist collective) are either the older cousin of one of morgan's friends - how jimmy, teddy, arthur and peter know the collective - or a friend that holly has, and later works with teddy's uncle which leads to the others working with him. so I feel like she's the most important link between the two sections

anyway at the end of 2018 I wanted to come up with my own oc band, because several of my friends had their own, but it took until early 2019, a trip to my dad's and a trip interstate to housesit plus a sprinkling of extra energy for me to come up with the starstrucks. I feel like they're my best designed characters, because I used a shape for each's face (where a lot of my design variation goes to, especially when the characters don't have 'set' outfits to distinguish them by) for example, charlie used a heart, snowy used a diamond, roger a rectangle, davey an oval, and pete a pentagon. I was quite happy with them, but whilst I was too overwhelmed with my grade twelve portfolio I came up with another band; who were the midnight delusions. the only ones who remained of that were teddy and stevie. teddy originally had a doppelganger, but I dropped that character. priscilla kinda took the helm of another character, now that I think about it. but once I finished college I repurposed arthur from my english writing folio into, well, arthur, had my moment of spite and created jimmy, and lucky existed in my head but wouldn't get drawn til february 2020 lol. most of the rest appeared later, or like nico, were redesigned from older characters

anyway that was incredibly long but I hope that it was not only intelligible but also answered your question!

[freedformwriter]

Slow holiday

The thing about superlatives is that they build expectations. If a tourist board bigs up a place as ‘the longest lock system in the United Kingdom,’ I get ideas. Then there’s the name: Neptune’s Gate. With a title like that, I expect some sort of neo-classical architectural flourishes. Perhaps a statue of the god’s chariot drawn by a team of dolphins. What we find is an entirely functional and wholly unpretentious bit of old timey civil engineering. A canal lock looks the same no matter how many occur in rapid succession. Aside from a brief flutter of excitement when a steam train chugs by –What? A nineteenth-century canal and a train? This is definitely a holiday paradise for a certain type of person – there is a pall hanging over the place. An efficiently coiffured woman in a waterproof coverall appears to share my impatience with this inactivity. A man in an official looking jacket promises it will be ten more minutes. ‘They are going to open the lock in ten minutes,’ I whisper to my mother. She is sceptical, and rightly so.

Nothing happens quickly on a canal. When Britain imported the Slow Television trend from Scandinavia a decade ago, programming featuring wood carving and forest song was fine, I guess. But the star was a real-time and unfiltered two-hour journey down the Avon and Kennet Canal. When we return from inspecting the recreational barges with kayaks about bikes lashed to their sides, the decisive woman still stands waiting on the embankment but a small hive is forming at the lock mouth. Like the rest of the tourists, we are drawn, phones out, by the ineluctable pull of something happening. The craft of the efficient woman – I reckon it’s a thirty-foot sailboat – moves into the lock, only to be followed by a sister craft. This one’s crewed by three young men in the requisite overalls with the life vests snapped between the legs, but up top they are stripped down to the single layer. A mesh top in once case. A third boat come into sight, flying the Norwegian flag. The presumed husband and wife crew look the part: tanned and fit with weathered skin and impressive weatherproof gear. A smaller craft tucks itself in at the end. Room for one more.

The last boat is not distinctive, not in build or allegiance, but the crew’s summer civilian clothing stands out with glaring inappropriateness. A portly older gentleman steps gingerly onto the concrete embankment in his leather Oxfords. Ah, now we have the star of our show. He carries rather than wears his life preserver but, really, it’s how he caries himself that marks him out as an Englishman of very recognisable type. He projects a blithe confidence; his own common sense will win through despite any little inconvenient gaps in his knowledge. He promptly flubs his guideline, making a fixed rather than the necessary looped mooring. His partner on the boat quietly panics as the boat slides from the embankment. He leaves her to haul in ineffectually on a static line and looks about at his audience, doling out nods and smiles for us all. His careless conviviality has the benefit of drawing out the Norwegian couple and we get a full itinerary of the four-week tour while the boats descend with surprising rapidity. The next gate opens, and our Englishmen leads his boat on to the next lock like he’s taking a trusted horse out on a rope bridle.

Sitting on the cast iron black-and-white mooring at the next lock, I give myself over to this slow experience. The pace is perfect, the boat hands moving with patient economy to perform their repetitive task. They have long since settled into their roles – one half on the ships and the others on the shore – and have given themselves over to canal time. I’ve experienced this shift on my canal trips. What’s fascinating is how, by creating this slow spectacle, they pull in bystanders. Like sitting around a campfire at night, watching people perform this kind of work connects us to an almost primordial human ritual. What else have people done to pass the time for vast stretches of our history? Fine, we are all holidaymakers susceptible to a bit of time wasting, but people’s willingness to watch hours of glass-blowing on the televisions suggests spectatorship can feed our souls. It will take our sailors around two hours to complete all eight locks of Neptune’s Staircase. Had I thought to bring a picnic lunch, I would watch the complete show.

[drifterjo]

Te o Toriatte

Chapters V, VI, VII & VIII

V.

Thinking back, I’m pretty sure those first hands I won were a mix of a lot of luck and a little bit of merit.

I got two pairs four times straight, if you can believe that, followed by a successful bluff and an ace-high. Enough to keep me well ahead. In a matter of minutes I tripled the money Vex had loaned me.

As for the guy, he remained apparently unperturbed by my winning streak.

I soon realized his mind was elsewhere. As it turned out, he had a story to tell and he was eager to talk. All he had been doing, it seemed, was waiting on a sympathetic ear willing to listen.

His name was Damien Hurst. He was a self-made man, a big business tycoon whose monetary health did not come from the cradle.

“I like to think of myself as a fortunate intergalactic entrepreneur,” Mr. Hurst said. “I got lucky with my initial investments. Afterwards, the right opportunities presented themselves one after the other. To be honest, the whole thing just snowballed.”

I listened.

“I’m but a merchant, really!” he went on. “There’s an abundance of precious minerals out there. I dig them and sell them, wherever and whenever. There’s nothing to it: just your basic law of supply and demand!”

“Do you own mines?” I asked, trying to mask my incredulity.

“Several of them, yes!”

“Where?”

“All over the solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, the moons of Neptune.”

“How many?”

“Hum… thirty or so!”

I was fascinated. In all fairness, Mr. Hurst didn’t strike me like the typical rich jerk. He seemed a decent guy. Little by little, I started to like him.

“What are you doing here then, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Damien sighed, “I get lonely, you know!”

“Still… you sit here all by yourself!” My voice trailed off.

“These people… they know who I am, most of them! I come here often, you know?”

I didn’t know that.

“So?”

“They are intimidated by my wealth. That’s why they refuse to play against me. Also, they won’t keep me company!”

I reflected about this for a moment. “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? They reckon that with all the dough you have, you’ll eventually end up emptying their pockets.’

Damien nodded.

“I guess.”

“Well… I don’t fear your money, so I’m staying right here.”

“Thanks!”

“Don’t thank me,” I grinned. “I’m winning, remember?”

He nodded again.

Our game proceeded in silence. The quick succession of good hands I’ve mentioned earlier - and my fortunate bluffing -, made my chutzpah grew exponentially.

VI.

My turn to deal came. I lit a cigarette before dealing us five cards each. Damien received his and eyed them one by one. He stiffened - a slight move, barely perceptible, but a reaction just the same.

I ignored it… don’t ask me why.

As for me, I got a couple of tens, a jack, a four and a two. Enough to win again, I thought.

I said, “How many cards do you want?”

Damien shook his head. Another sign; either I had given him a very good starting hand or he was bluffing.

“And you?” he asked.

“I stand pat as well!”

“Really?!?”

I stood my ground, defiantly.

“Okay! This should be interesting!”

His first round of betting was three hundred thousand woolongs - half of what I had won so far. I regarded it as a reasonable amount, which was absurd, really! An hour earlier I would have considered it a small fortune. I equaled his three hundred thousand, going blindly for the draw.

Damien took off his shades and looked me in the eye. He watched me closely.

“How much money have you got left?”

His question caught me off guard. I felt a whiff of unease. “Three hundred thousand.”

He studied me. “My bet is three hundred thousand, then!’

“You’re forcing me to go all in, uh?” I know… a childish thing to say.

“You can back down! It’s your decision!”

I felt trapped. How did it happen so fast? I should have read the signs properly and backed down earlier. Any poker player worth his salt would.

Yet, three hundred thousand woolongs seemed like a lot of money to go to waste just like that. Even if for now I got to keep the remaining three hundred - which could be gone later, anyway!

What if Damien was bluffing? He could, couldn’t he?

All of a sudden the air felt muggy. I gulped down half my whiskey, but still I remained hot. I loosened my lose tie a bit more, unbuttoned the front of my shirt and wiped the sweat from my face.

Typical player-in-trouble demeanor.

“Allow me a moment, will you?” I said.

“Take all the time you want,” he clenched his cards tightly. “I’m not going anywhere!”

VII.

I convinced myself my adversary was bluffing. I can only describe my idiocy like that. Riding high on pretension and self-deceit, I guess I was trying to impress the bigshot mogul.

I should have known better, of course.

For barely a minute I probably managed to look like I was giving the matter some serious thought. I wasn’t. I wasn’t thinking at all. Then I held back no longer.

“All in,” I heard myself say.

Damien stared at me in silence. In retrospect, his attitude was not surprising. I had already figured him a decent enough fellow. In his quiescence, he was giving me a chance to own the error of my way.

“All in,” I repeated.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Damien showed his hand.

At first I didn’t look at it. I felt his quiet empathy instead. And even before I saw the cards he was now showing me, I knew I had lost.

“I’m sorry,” his voice was but a whisper.

I looked at the cards at last and I noticed right away that they were all of the same suit: hearts. Not a flush, though. Not even a straight flush. I blinked, looked again. The cards were ordered in a neat sequence: ten, jack, queen, king and ace.

A royal flush.

It was there, in front me. It was real.

Yet the reality of what I was witnessing was so immensely absurd that it took a while to sink in. Any poker player in all the planets and moons knew they had a higher chance of dying at the poker table than getting a royal flush handed to them.

And I was the one who had given Damien Hurst his royal flush of hearts. The odds of thathappening seemed unreal, impossible even.

And yet…

VIII.

Loosing that hand meant I was broke once again - not to mention deep in debt also.

“Christ,” I said.

“I know,” Damien said apologetically, “I can’t believe it myself!”

I got up, flustered.

“Where are you going?” he said.

“What do you mean? This game is over!”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Ponder my options.”

As if I had a lot of them…

“Sit down,” Damien was pointing at the chair I had just vacated. His sorrowful eyes were more than I could bear.

“Look, I really have to g-”

“Sit down,” he insisted. “Please!”

I sat back down.

“Finish your drink and light up another cigarette. Better still, have another whiskey. On me. Do whatever you need to do to calm yourself. You’ve just lost an awfully large amount of money.”

I exhaled loudly, “Tell me about it!”

Damien was silent for a moment then said, “Do you even have a next move?”

I browsed the place. Vex was nowhere in sight. To hell with him! At this point any other vulture would do!

“I need to get myself a loan!”

“Don’t do it,” he said at once. “You’ve already got a rather substantial one under your belt.”

I focused on him.

“How do you know that?”

“I watched you when you came in, engaging with a bookie; the one with creepy eyes!”

“Well, I didn’t have a choice then and I don’t have one now. It’s Christm-”

“Let me help you!”

“What? How?”

“You’re a bounty hunter, aren’t you?”

“You know me?”

Damien ignored my remark. “It so happens that I’ve been looking for someone with… your skills!”

“Is that so?”

I lit up one of my Marlboros, gazing at him. This guy was full of surprises. “Why?”

“Someone has been robbing me. Big money. I want you to find out who’s doing it.”

“What about the Inter-Solar System Police? Have you gone to them?”

“The ISSP has proved unable to find the guy so far.”

“What makes you think it’s a guy?”

He shrugged, “Maybe it’s a gal. Maybe it’s a bunch of gals, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want you to hunt down who’s doing it.”

“And if I do?”

“Name your price first! We’ll settle the details later.”