#i’m manifesting it he’ll survive

[autumn-opossum]

Dr. Hemlock @ CX-2 before sending him off to find Omega: Start breakin bricks, wet nips. blblblblpbplp

_____________________________

Dr. Hemlock while interrogating Crosshair about finding Omega: YOU’LL CALL HEEERRR

_____________________________

Omega: Where’s Nala Se?

Dr. Hemlock: We just stepped out of the shower, she’ll be here in a minute

Omega: I just wanted to ask her some- wait did you just say ‘we’?

Dr. Hemlock: hmm?

Omega: Did you just say ‘we just stepped out of the shower’?

Dr. Hemlock: ……………. I said ‘she’.

_____________________________

Dr. Hemlock @ Tarkin after the 12th time he complained about funding: *stab* THAT’S WHAT YOU GET WILHUFF! YOU GET FORK STABBED!

______________________________

*Omega wearing her usual clothes but with a clone helmet as a disguise*

Dr. Hemlock: Who’s this guy?

*Omega takes off the Helmet*

Dr. Hemlock: OMEGAAAA

______________________________

Dr. Hemlock with his crew of clones standing around Hunter and Wrecker: Scorch, stab somebody!

Scorch, running out from behind Hemlock, screaming: *stabs Hemlock in the arm with a vibroblade*

Dr. Hemlock: *shrill screams*

______________________________

Dr. Hemlock walking out after the summit: Later bitches

(^ Alternatively: Dr. Hemlock after escaping with his life at the end of season 3)

[villain-crown]

heart | @jegulus-microfic | words: 855

* I’m running late on the prompts whoops

critical care, part 6 (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 7, part 8, part 9)

a Jegulus nurse!AU

“Wow, he’s mean.”

“I’m meaner,” Regulus replied and holy shit James believed him.

He could picture it now: Regulus, a relentless, demanding little thing on top of him, sinking onto James’s cock with a vicious hiss and riding him until he was spent. He would be so small but a force of nature all the same, wrapping James’s heartstrings around his little finger like a leash.

Bloody hell, he’s going to look amazing on our Christmas cards.

“Were you just waiting for me to get angry?”

“I was waiting to see if you could,” Regulus corrected, licking a bit of cream from his spoon. James watched the pink tongue dart out, give a good, long lick and disappear past plush lips once more.

I’m not meant to survive this lunch.

“So you and Riddle used to…?”

“Used to,” Regulus replied carelessly.

“What happened?”

“He asked Sirius if he could fuck the both of us at the same time. Not a good look.”

James gaped at him, thoroughly distracted from his lascivious thoughts. “What!?”

Regulus set his spoon to the side. “It was before Sirius got together with Lupin. He was sleeping with half the hospital and every now and then one of his conquests would decide they wanted the matching set. So now Sirius loses his shit at anyone that looks at me sideways and I get the pleasure of sneaking around behind his back like this.”

That… made a lot of sense actually. James had just assumed that Sirius was being baselessly paranoid but there was something a bit bittersweet about it now. Sirius loved Regulus more than anything or anyone. He must have felt very guilty for putting his little brother in that position.

“I’m sorry.”

Regulus frowned. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

“It’s just… what you say.” James cleared his throat, switching topics. “But why did you want to see if I could get angry?”

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t wrong.”

“About?”

“You manifesting the right attitude to fuck me.”

Even though James had very blatantly been hoping for it, the direct statement made him choke hard. “What!?”

“I like it rough,” Regulus explained calmly, making James work hard to will the beginnings of arousal away. “With teeth and nails and words. I don’t see anything wrong with it, but I understand that not every guy can deliver.”

James suddenly pictured a naked, sweating, panting Regulus on all fours under him with James’s teeth digging into Regulus’s smooth, warm shoulder as he took him from behind in harsh thrusts. It wasn’t James’s usual style—he liked looking at his partner; liked a bit of connection. But he was only human and what else was he supposed to do but agree if Regulus wanted a little pain with his pleasure?

There was something else that concerned him, however.

“Do you think Riddle’s angry enough to tell people?”

Regulus looked disinterested. “Riddle doesn’t scare me. He understands that the only power he has over me is whatever I decide to give him. If he turns me in to HR, I’ll turn him in too.”

“Mutually assured destruction.”

“No, actually, because I can get another nursing job tomorrow. He’s in a competitive program that lasts two years. He can’t afford to get kicked out. He wouldn’t get another cardiovascular fellowship with a sex scandal on his record. If anything, he’ll try to protect me to protect himself.”

Gorgeous, vicious little thing, James thought admiringly.

“I’m not being unreasonable. If he doesn’t want any problems, he just has to keep his mouth shut. It’s not that hard.”

“And you’re good at that sort of thing, are you? Keeping your mouth shut?”

Regulus just looked at him. “I make a much better impression with it open.”

“I bet you do.”

“So?” Regulus picked up the spoon again, idly pressing it against his tongue. “I already know you’re interested, so let’s not kid ourselves there. The real question is if you’re too scared of my big brother to fuck me the way you obviously want to.”

And that really was the question, wasn’t it? Sirius would lose his mind if he found out, that was a given. If he didn’t take a hit out on James, he’d at least refuse to ever speak to him again.

Objectively, this was a very obvious choice.

He should be running away screaming at the very suggestion of engaging the Slytherin like that.

…But fuck, Regulus was fit.

Like, expensive fashion magazine meets dirty wanking material fit.

This is really sort of Sirius’s fault, he tried to convince himself. The way Remus had told it yesterday when James had struck up a very ulteriorly-motivated conversation on the subject, Sirius had practically raised Regulus and had no spine whatsoever when it came to denying him anything.

“He’s never even heard of the word ‘no,’” Remus had concluded with a fond roll of his eyes. “Sirius spoils him rotten.”

And James would be out of his fucking mind to say no to him too.

��…You know what? Fuck it. I’ll fist fight Sirius every morning in the parking lot for the rest of my life if I have to. We’re doing this.”

[no-gorms]

Steve/Tony, Hanahaki, UST, open ending

It is an unfortunate fact of Tony’s history that he’s familiar with the longing disease. Lung gardening. Hanahaki, or whatever other euphemisms they’ve come up with lately to describe it.

Naming conventions aside, Tony’s knows well enough what the affliction feels like – the warning sting at the back of the throat that’s followed by the pressure of something more personal, more vicious than mere phlegm. The body’s breathing apparatus has decided to betray its owner, and Tony’s had it enough times that he could be embarrassed, if he were the sort of person to be embarrassed by that kind of thing.

A cough, a heave, and then petals are cascading in a disgusting shower onto the tabletop. At least the tabletop is glass, which is easy to clean, and Tony’s reflexes were fast enough that he’d pushed Hill’s paper folder of printouts clear away.

Most people would be grateful to have their symptoms manifest in privacy. Those who do not, get used to the shocked silence that follows.

“Oh no,” comes Bruce’s voice from Tony’s left. Quiet, worried.

“Maybe—” Natasha clears her throat, businesslike, “—we can take five?”

“Ah, shit.” Tony straightens up and dabs at his mouth with a handkerchief. He eyes the pile of petals with a scowl, noting that they’re bright-colored blooms, as if he’s twenty years old all over again and doesn’t know any better. “Fantastic. Just what we needed today.”

“Yeah, we can take five—” Clint starts.

“As if we don’t have enough to do.” Tony sighs. “Goddammit, Steve.”

“What?” Steve says.

Being an old hat at surviving Hanahaki also means that Tony knows the faces he’ll see when he looks around the table. There’ll be surprise, concern, empathy, and discomfort in various combinations, and Tony gets all of that and then some, because the Avengers have so far rolled with a number of far greater inconveniences with grace.

“Look.” Tony takes one last cleaning swipe of his face with the handkerchief and drops it on the pile. “It’s not your fault, I’m not blaming you, but you gotta step up on this if we’re gonna make the flight out in time to follow Thor’s lead.”

“I, what—” Steve blinks twice, quick and robotic, before those same eyes widen.

Ah, so this is a surprise to Steve, which might be even more irritating than the Hanahaki itself. Tony could try to be half-full-cup about it and take it from the angle that this means that he hadn’t been too ridiculous openly about his burgeoning crush on the good Captain. But that would take more effort than he’s willing to expend.

It was supposed to be just admiration. Idle feelings to be nurtured like a baby bird of a side hobby. Good fucking going, Stark. What had Steve even been doing to make it tip over? Squinting at Natasha’s slide with that stoic yet judgmental purse of the mouth that usually has Tony internally clapping his hands with glee?

That could do it.

“Yeah, I know, it’s stupid,” Tony says, waving it off. “You don’t even like me as a human being, but I’m a masochist that way sometimes. Good news is, I’m also fickle, so it probably won’t be that hard to make me hate you. By this afternoon, hopefully? Or whenever you’re ready, I’m sure you’ll figure something out, but anyway this is still…” He eyes the pile of petals. “This is way early stages, we’ll have weeks, but the sooner the better.”

“What do you mean I don’t like you as a human being?” Steve says, as though that’s the most important part of what Tony just said.

“You need to be mean to me, okay?” Tony says.

Bafflement animates Steve’s normally poster-handsome face. Bafflement, and then offense, as though Tony just asked him to kick puppies, which Tony would never do, and anyway Tony isn’t a puppy. Steve can be mean, sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose, and those glimpses of candid moments are so rare – for Tony, at least, since the others know Steve far better than Tony ever could – that Tony has and does treasure every single one.

Unfortunately, this thought sends a wave of affection rolling through Tony’s brain, which is followed by a wave of petals rolling out of Tony’s mouth. And this time they do destroy Hill’s folder of printouts.

He recovers faster this time, which may or may not be helped by Bruce patting his back gently.

“Sorry, correction.” Tony wheezes through an inhale. “You need to be mean to me, and not in a sexy way.”

“What—?” Steve starts.

“Stark means that you need to be cruel to him to stunt his feelings for you,” Thor says, nodding solemnly. “But to not use language that he’d find appealing. ‘Tis a fine line, indeed, I understand the challenge there.”

“Thor,” Bruce says.

“What?” Thor says.

“Right,” Clint says, “I think we should not be here for this.”

“We were finishing up anyway.” Tony stands up and shoves all the petals into the folder that will be going into the trash pronto. “I need to do a health scan but you guys can keep going with that entry route, and let me know what you’ve decided before suit up, yeah?“

“Tony,” Steve says. “You’re—that’s dangerous—”

“Yes, yes, I am aware,” Tony says irritably. “Romanoff, have my back?”

“We do face death on the regular,” Natasha says. “This is manageable.”

“See.” Tony points at Steve. “I’ll work on my part, but you have to do yours. Mean. You can do it, I believe in you. Just maybe… don’t use Howard?” He sighs. “No, you should probably use Howard. Anyway, I’ll be in lab, give me a buzz if there’s anything.”

Tony goes with a careless wave over his shoulder, and waits until he’s out of the room and the door is closed before he lets himself wince.

Could’ve gone worse, actually.

[theofficialpresidentofmars]

not super thought out but atla au where Lu Ten survives, and Zuko is the royal child to die and haunt the narrative.

Not entirely thought out in terms of how it happens, because I still want it to be the result of Azulon’s order to Ozai carried out, rather than his mother saving him from it. Unfortunately because that order is a direct result of Lu Ten’s death, I’m still working out the details, but the gist is that Iroh gives up on Ba Sing Se for some reason or other, Ozai tries to pinch the throne again, and for whatever reason, Azulon decides that it’s still a fitting punishment for Ozai to kill Zuko. But this time, Ursa doesn’t overhear Azula, she doesn’t get there in time, and Zuko is slain by his father in the dead of night.

(Azula tried to warn him. It was his own fault that he didn’t believe her.)

Perhaps Ursa retaliates, killing Azulon and attempting to do the same to Ozai before her banishment, perhaps Ozai twists the story but banishes her anyway, perhaps she simply lives with unbearable grief in the palace and shuts off from the outside world.

Iroh doesn’t go on his massive spiritual journey, but the corruption within the palace walls does inspire him to reconsider many things he considered to be truth. He starts off down a similar path, albeit slower. Lu Ten is a few steps ahead of him, but he’d always sort of been anyway.

Lu Ten is probably hit the second hardest, behind Ursa, at his little cousin’s death. It was unfair and injust, and unfortunately, not above what he’s come to expect of his own nation. Something needs to change, and he’s starting to think that maybe long term diplomatic solutions with the other nations as the war proceeds isn’t quick enough or good enough at all.

Azula has to deal with this funny thing called grief, which manifests unexpectedly and in odd ways. She didn’t expect to grieve for her brother, and constant suppression makes it more unpredictable than most. She’s not radicalised by it, but she starts to become disillusioned with her father and palace life as a whole. She’s still open to murder for power, but something about killing a child in the dead of night without even an Agni Kai to sanction the violence seems… unrefined. Barbaric, even. Beneath her, in any sense. She’ll have to do better when she sits on the throne.

When the Avatar cracks out of the iceberg, Lu Ten is the first to take his side. Not quite so dramatically as his little cousin would have had the flair for, but secretive work from within the castle walls. Calls for meetings on grounds of diplomacy. Lightened military in areas the child might traverse through. Perhaps even a captive exchange with a certain stronghold where the cage meant for the Avatar was not quite up to standard, just weak enough for the bars to break deep enough into the forest for a quick escape to be made… his methods raise eyebrows for sure, but Lu Ten knows that sooner or later he’ll have to make a bigger move.

Iroh sits on the fence, and is often the one to raise an eyebrow, but does nothing to reprimand or encourage his son’s increasingly borderline treasonous acts. He has not made up his own mind yet on how he himself shall proceed- the game has begun, but his tile is still behind others, waiting to see how the board will look before it makes its first move.

Azula enjoys the company of her cousin more than she would like to admit- he’s teaching her everything he knows about how to become a good Firelord, and he’s a much better teacher than the ones her father picks. Of course, the way he values her emotions and wellbeing is a glaring weakness, but it’s one that she’s willing to let slide. Lu Ten isn’t a very good liar either, and she loves to know more than people think she does, so she’s also willing to not say anything about the fact that he’s very clearly hiding something. She likes the feeling of control that poking at this mystery gives her, when he has no idea she’s doing it.

Lu Ten is wondering how easy it would be to bring his little cousin over onto the right side of history. He knows he’s not being subtle, she has the glint in her eyes that she gets when she’s learning more than he means to let slide, but what she doesn’t know is that that’s his plan: it’s the best way to keep her interested, and she’ll be more open to any idea she comes to her own conclusions about.

Eventually, hijinks ensue, the two get kicked out of the castle to go participate in the actual war, and meet the actual Avatar, to which more hijinks ensue when Team Avatar starts receiving incredibly mixed messages from the Fire Nation’s special forces: there’s the friendly one, who they’ve met, who seems to possibly be actually working in their best interests, and then there’s the smaller one who might want to murder them, and they’re… on the same side? They just can’t seem to figure out, and it seems the two of them have no clue either, which side that is.

The time away from home also ends up opening old wounds, and both of them get to finally process some of the repressed grief that didn’t get to see the light in the suffocating environment of the Fire Nation palace.

———

Lu Ten learns something he didn’t know about the night Zuko died.

———

She knew.

She knew, and she didn’t tell anyone, didn’t try to help him, didn’t try to protect him.

She knew, and she made fun of him, wound him up, left him on his own.

He’d spent years wishing he’d been home, instead of somewhere in the outskirts of the Earth Nation, so he could have maybe done something, anything about it, but he’d always known that there was nothing he could have done, because he hadn’t known and wouldn’t have in time.

But she had known. And she had laughed, and left him to die.

[bestworstcase]

…a thought occurs to me.

the most significant gap in the general thrust of my theories regarding what went down between summer and raven that night is the question of raven’s status as the spring maiden being unknown to salem—if summer and raven fought and the spring maiden was mortally wounded in the crossfire, and summer then fled and joined salem, one presumes that raven would be high on the list of possibilities even if summer didn’t stay long enough to confirm spring had died.

and if it were unclear whether the last spring maiden had died or not, it surely wouldn’t be surprising for the spring maiden to stay with her mentor after this incident, thus the branwens should have at the top of salem’s list of places to look.

there is a simple solution (summer flees knowing that spring is too badly wounded to possibly survive, but before she dies, and raven manages to hide it well enough that a few years’ distant observation satisfy salem that the magic must not have gone to her), but… rwby does like its curveballs

and if raven’s primary allusion is indeed the morrígan and ‘all things must die’ is indeed about summer then at least in theory – in this context that makes summer cú chulainn.

(WHICH IS HYSTERICAL GIVEN. THE HOUND.)

so in that case we have some – again, strictly theoretical but interesting narrative beats; the insult cú chulainn gives to the morrígan, their foretelling of how she will try to sabotage him while he fights in single combat and the wounds he’ll give her in retaliation, and the way she tricks him into healing those wounds later.

from what little we know about that night, it seems like the plan was for summer to confront salem alone. and the somewhat acrimonious back-and-forth between them prior at least loosely suggests the hostile prelude. (very loosely, but within bounds for how rwby utilizes character allusion.)

which leaves open the interference, woundings, healing and the element of duplicity in the last; you told me once you would never heal me/had i known it was you, i would not have. before they leave patch raven is tangibly uneasy about this plan ("and… you’re just going to leave them?" + "let’s get this over with," not exactly votes of confidence).

and raven has that one save rule. the general expectation is for that "rule" to come into play as raven’s justification for abandoning summer to die, but – the rule isn’t real, it’s empty posturing. how does summer react if raven gets scared and tries to pull summer out before summer feels it’s necessary? they’ve only got one chance to take salem by surprise. and what happens if summer insists on trying again anyway?

it just seems, now that i’m thinking about it, like an interesting mythological narrative to mine for the summer-raven drama. the recurring pattern of the morrígan appearing to cú chulainn in disguise, culminating in a deception which tricks him into healing injuries he inflicted upon her himself… raven using vernal as a decoy in the present… hm. a reverse situation of raven being the decoy-maiden back feels a little implausible; raven having pushed her shape-changing magic further than anyone realizes, less so. both conceptually interesting. with or without magic, raven’s skilled at misdirection.

i’ve just been circling on “if i’d known it was you, i wouldn’t have” coming into play, somehow, in the last spring maiden dying and raven inheriting the magic without summer or salem becoming aware of the latter. ironwood knows right away that winter received the magic, and it looks very dramatic when cinder gets the second half of the fall maiden… but cinder doesn’t notice penny’s become the maiden until snowflakes start drifting around, so it’s not… that far of a stretch to think the visual ‘tell’ is really just the magic itself manifesting, and raven (being a shapeshifter) already had experience with magic – maybe enough to suppress any visible sign.

[hom3landr]

Nightmares are no strange occurrence in your household but you’re knocked off kilter when one finally happens to you. Luckily John is there to assist.

It doesn’t hurt exactly, despite the blood dripping down the wound in your chest. It’s a phantom pain, your body manifesting the sting it knows should be there. Or maybe the pain in your chest doesn’t compare to the sheer animal panic on Homelander’s face as he watches you bleed out in his arms. His hand trembles as he attempts to staunch the wound, desperately trying to apply enough pressure without accidentally caving in your chest cavity. You can tell from the manic gleam in his eyes that it’s a lost cause. He’s watching your body fail in front of him, his x-ray vision now a curse as it rips away any hope he might have had that you’d survive this.

Your tongue is thick and heavy as you try to sooth him. The words are tumbling out raw and strained. You try to comfort him but you can feel him drawing away with each moment as he descends into madness. The scent of iron on his hands makes him want to wretch knowing that he’ll have to wash it off alone.

He’s going to destroy everything. Humanity’s fate is sealed as much as yours is. At the moment you don’t care. You suppose that in softening his edges, you’ve developed some of your own. The world can burn but the thought of him alone in the wreckage is what fuels the terror in your gut. You clutch at him weakly as your vision blurs and you sob, pleading for him to let you go, to not let your ghost drag him somewhere he can’t return from. He’s crying out your name as his grip tightens, growing louder and louder until…

Your eyes fly open in a panic as you wake choking on tears. You grapple wildly in the dark until your hands meet warm skin, the sensation grounding you even as your mind remains halfway in dreams. You feel damp but in your flustered state you can’t distinguish between blood and sweat. In your mind, you’re still bleeding out.

A warm red glow lights up the room just enough for you to make out John’s features in the gloom. His eyes don’t scare you. You know his tells and while anyone else would be paralyzed in fear, it’s obvious by the slump of his body and the furrow of his brow that he’s worried and not angry. He can’t tear himself away from you for a moment even if just to flip on a light switch. His touches are tentative and awkward as he pulls you close and strokes the tears from your cheeks. He shushes you softly, trying to coax you out of your panic. He’s never been in this position before and it’s a learning curve. His actions are a simulacrum of the comfort you provide after his own night terrors. Still, despite his inexperience, you feel your consciousness being tugged back to reality.

Satisfied that your heart rate is starting to slow, John rolls onto his back and cradles you tight against him. His eyes fade until the both of you are wrapped in darkness again. You rest your head over his heart and try to match your racing heartbeat to his steady one. He doesn’t speak, not out of disinterest, but out of the anxiety beginning to pool in his own stomach. He heard you cry out his name in your sleep and for once the assurance that he’s in your dreams is not a comfort. He doesn’t like it when you’re scared but especially not when he isn’t sure of the cause. There is always that deep-seated worry that what you fear is him. He doesn’t know if he can survive that happening for a second time.

“I’m sorry.” You squeak out, ashamed of your outburst. Your sweat slicked skin is growing clammy now as the adrenaline subsides. He still doesn’t answer but his hand travels up to rub the tense muscles of your neck. His movements are slow but he grows more confident as you begin to relax. You can feel from the slight thrum of his body that he is holding something back but you wait for him to speak in his own time. It doesn’t take long.

“Were you dreaming about me?” He asks, his tone casual despite the weight of his hand now resting heavy on the back of your neck. You bite your lip, unsure of how to respond. You were dreaming about him but not for the reason that you know he fears. You smooth a hand down his side, feeling his muscles jump when your fingertips hit a ticklish spot.

“Yes and no. You were in my dream but you weren’t…” You trail off, trying to answer the unspoken question hanging in the air. His grip tightens almost painfully on the scruff of your neck but to his credit he doesn’t push. You can feel the restraint running through every fiber of his body as he lets you collect your thoughts. “Someone hurt me to get to you.”

Homelander exhales sharply, every muscle in his body going slack with relief. His hand resumes massaging your neck now that the uneasiness in his stomach is gone. It’s not that he’s glad that is what haunts you in your sleep but the alternative is too painful to bear.

“Y’know I’d never let anything happen to you. I’ll keep you under lock and key if it ensures that you are safe” He says in an attempt to comfort you, not realizing that anyone else would see that as a red flag in itself. You hum in reply as you snuggle closer. It’s not that you doubt his conviction but you’re only human. One lucky shot and you’ll be gone.

“I’m not scared of dying.” You confess. He scoffs in response.

“You seemed pretty terrified to me.” He replies, all too aware of the stink of fear that woke him before you even started screaming.

“I’m scared of leaving you behind.” You admit. Homelander’s heart gives an unsteady thump in his chest. You can hear it crystal clear from your position. You wonder if this is what it’s like for him all the time. You understand now why he listens for you so often. He’d tug you closer if there was any space left between your bodies but he settles for burying his face in your hair so he can inhale lungfuls of your scent.

He loves you so much that it terrifies him. He’s been avoiding mirrors as much as he can when he’s alone because he can hear his oldest friend taunting him for his weakness. He’s considered dosing you with compound v but the images he once scoffed at of the failed human trials now haunt him. He wouldn’t be able to bear losing you. He couldn’t.

“I’d burn it all down.” He whispers harshly.

“I know.” you reply. He tilts your chin up and leans down so he can give you a proper kiss. You melt into it and allow yourself comfort in his warmth. The unspoken truth hangs heavy in the air, known only to you.

That’s what I’m scared of.

[nonbinarypirat]

Spoilers for Iruma (manga and show)

I recently got into Iruma through the anime and fell in LOVE with it to the point where I started reading the manga since it’s going to be a bit of a wait for the next season (which I’m fucking excited about because more singing, performance Iruma, more irumi (or iruminati??)). But I have gotten to Walter Park in the manga and fuck dude, I really resonate with Iruma grappling with understanding his feelings.

Throughout the story, it’s iruma trying to break free from the mental and emotional abuse his parents put him through on top of the fucking crazy situations he was forced into. He only had time to think about survival, he never had the chance to even fully develop his own emotions and thoughts. We see this throughout the story of him struggling to develop a normal life in the netherworld despite never having a normal childhood to begin with.

Anger is typically one of the easiest emotions for us to understand. It’s something we just primitively resonate with. Even if all else fails, anger is something we can fall back on. However, Iruma (not only because of his more easy going personality spawned from his parent’s manipulation) has never had the opportunity to feel this because he has already felt like most situational outcomes are hopeless to change anyways so why get mad about it.

That outlook, while it could be healthy depending on the context, is downright dangerous to always feel. If you can’t even let yourself freely understand your anger, you simply let things go without even trying to defend yourself. We see this manifest in season three with Bachiko (though I DO love Bachiko even in the beginning because I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs).

I just find him a curious character to study because while the show is silly goofy most times, so many reaction videos I have watched ignore his deep-seated trauma, mostly because of how cartoonish they make it. But take the cartoon silliness out, and you get a character his is deeply hurt and grasping at understanding his own feelings now that he is finally given the time to experience them.

I’m curious how the romantic relationship stuff will develop because he hasn’t been given the proper time to even interact with kid’s his own age much, especially not people he could be attracted to. As well as seeing his struggle with more complex emotions that he’ll be forced to confront as I read more! (Also please no spoilers in the comments past season three events, I am catching up quickly on my own!)

[crumbsssscookie]

i adore girl! logan, like if she has zero fans then i'm dead! so seeing the update made my day amidst midterms season, so thank you!

but yes, i looooooove hearing logan's thought process and i also love how quickly she soaks in all the information that she is given. because logan isn't taken seriously and probably doesn't get the same attention from other people as her male counterparts. so i feel her hunger this chapter— that hunger for good advice especially from someone like jenson; that hunger to get her name out there by taking a chance with an upstart hire and her hunger to be on top of the podium. god, i am so excited for her to take the world by storm (even more because she is already an icon).

and also, having logan have the (potentially but probably) backing of nico and jenson is perfect. especially nico, who has been an advocate for women in sports and a certified girl dad. i think having them, two world champions, as an immediate well of knowledge is making me so giddy. i think nico will be her biggest defender (besides her family and sister ofc), will not let journalists or the hosts to doubt or discredit her in typical rosberg energy.

ALSO THE TRIO <\3 MY BELOVEDS </3 liam and yuki coming to her defences ):

and yes, i can imagine yuki's excitement at the arrival of L² in f1 esp since he probably mentions them like ... all the time ... (which he does with liam which is so sweet). but NOT TO MENTION THE PREMA TRIO ??? very excited for oscar to give the heart eyes energy towards logan; her being blissfully unaware ("omg new bestfriend!) and fred being an unwilling third wheel.

thank you again for this new chapter because ugh its so good. also are you surviving the break or are you also going insane? AND ALSO LOGAN TO INDYCAR POTENTIALLY? a win for us i think

— sunnie ☀️

Sunnie, I missed you ♥️ So happy, that I could brighten your day :3

If I didn’t have fem!Logan I’d probably gone completely insane tho, but the break is generally treating me well. Nevertheless I’m ready to watch this gaggle of men drive in squiggly circles again. Also manifesting for Logan to get an Indycar seat, I was sooo happy when he finally posted on Instagram again today about his whereabouts 😍

You’re right, if boy Logan felt kinda lonely and starved for attention, it’s unfortunately ten times worse for fem!Logan. She has to be a sponge in that regard, because even though she knows the future, she cannot say if the people that helped her along the way the first time, will do it this time around too. That’s why she hit up Nico, because she knew that since he’s that champion for women in sports, the likelihood that he would help her, would be high.

I don’t want to diminish the role he’ll play in the story, but he was a kinda fail-safe for Logan in the case Jenson would’ve said no. Again, with Jenson too, she knew the likelihood would’ve been high that he would help, but this Logans fail-safes have fail-safes have fail-safes. The prerequisite for her taking revenge at James is getting into F1 which is currently her highest objective.

Also, on the topic of Logan’s grid parents. You’ve nailed it completely. Nico has birthed Logan himself and he will not accept slander of any kind towards her. That’s his daughter for all he is concerned, the heir to the Rosberg dynasty, nobody will discredit her 💅And Jense is the quintessential proud father. He’ll do anything to make his daughter happy. Also he’d definitely put Mark and Nando on babysitting duty if he’s off racing Le Mans or something 🤭

2020 will bring the rise of the Prema Trio™️ and probably a little bit of jealousy by our resident Kiwi bc social distancing bans him from seeing Logan as much and Yuki’s off to F2 (so he doesn't even have anyone he can cry to in person about it). But I’ll make up for it with them trying their hand at streaming, since the pandemic will still be a thing

[outtoshatter]

Hello this is hours late for "Friday" but here is a rec list made up of SEVERAL fandoms, brought to you by the DnDoods fanserver! :D

Young Root, Old Rock | T | 90k+ | incomplete | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)

Summary: Twenty-two years in the future, someone sets bait. It’s digital, manifested onto a computer anonymously and covered in as many guts as a real fishhook. Twenty-two years in the past, a file pops up on Donnie’s desktop. He's nothing if not curious, so he bites. Or: How do you crack spatiotemporal egg?

early-morning emergency | G | 3k | The Batman (Movie 2022)

Summary: “Um,” asks the little voice at the other end of the phone, “are you Selina?” Selina pulls the phone away from her face to check the screen again, making sure that she’s not going crazy. No, the phone calling her is definitely Batman’s. “What,” she says, “the hell?”

only the deepest love | T | 40k+ | 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

Summary: From a young age, Wei Wuxian has told himself and anyone who will listen that he’s never getting married. Then he gets off on the wrong foot with the cold, aloof, wealthy, irritatingly pretty Hanguang-jun. After that, Wei Wuxian tells himself he’s definitely never getting married. (A Pride & Prejudice-inspired AU.)

Viridian: The Green Guide | T | 272k+ | 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Summary: After his dream is finally crushed, Izuku isn’t quite sure there’s anything left for him to live for, but…he can’t exactly kill himself either, not without hurting the people he cares the most about. So, when he realizes that the quirkless can’t technically be vigilantes, it seems like the best of both worlds. He’ll be able to save people even without being a hero and, if he happens to die while he’s at it…well, like Kacchan said, maybe he’d be born with a quirk in the next life.

Made With Adrenaline | G | 2k | Teen Wolf (TV)

Summary: “Do you still have your name?” His face scrunches, “Do I still have my name?” But - the words come out before he’s even considered the question. Instantly, he’s back in that edgeless cavern inside his head. He calls out for his name, but no noise leaves his lips. He doesn’t know it. He doesn’t know his name.

🔒The Benjamin Franklin Key-and-Kite Experiment | E | 122k | Supernatural (TV)

Summary: “Thank you for stopping by, Dean,” Emmanuel says, holding out the jacket. “I hope to see you in church on Sunday.” The tips of Dean’s fingers accidentally brush over the back of Emmanuel’s hand when he reaches for the jacket. “Probably not,” Dean laughs as he pulls Dad’s jacket around him. “Like I said before, I’m not exactly a believer. You?” Emmanuel doesn’t answer immediately. Then, without really looking at Dean (more like looking through him,) he whispers, “I will be.” - Or 1.12 but Dean's faith healer is Emmanuel!Cas

There is No Ethical Consumption | NR | 4k | Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)

Summary: Henry Oak, druid and lifelong vegan, doesn't want to eat meat, even in a survival situation. Darryl Wilson, scared he's going to watch his friend starve, has to try and talk him into it.

I Won't Ever Stop Hating You | T | 18k / 4 works | Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)

Summary: “Dad doesn't give a shit if we’re late,” Glenn says, and Jodie glares at him. Jodie’s an adult now, which is a weird thing for Glenn to wrap his head around. He knows that Jodie is older, a six year difference, and considering Glenn is 12, it makes logical sense. But Jodie doesn't act like an adult, he’s so fucking annoying and whiney it's stupid. Glenn has always hated his brother, he gets onto him about literally everything he does, it's way more annoying than Mom. At least she tries to pretend like she likes it when Glenn is visiting her house. “Glenn, language.” The woman in question scolds from where she stands at the counter in the kitchen. Jodie is standing near the front door, his arms folded over his chest and his satchel bag is on his hip as well as his duffle bag that he always takes to Mom’s house. Glenn still hasn't packed, too busy listening to his new record that he got with money from selling the laser pointers that Dad gave him.

Love is bullshit, except for when it's not | T | 8k | Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)

Summary: Bill always told Glenn that romance was bullshit. Glenn chose to fall in love anyway.

Thank you everyone for participating! That was super fun and I'm super glad we all got to experience some new fandoms today! :D

[razorblade180]

Mind at work

[teapot]

Aether:*stares at Abyss Domain list*…

Kokomi:Trying to figure out a strategy? We did manage to reach the bottom, though I’ll admit are performance was somewhat lacking.

Aether:It’s no one’s fault. You did exactly what you were supposed to. It’s just weird. Our group is pretty big and aren’t exactly slackers. I feel like I’m overlooking something.

Kokomi:For the most part, foes want to get personal so grouping isn’t a problem. I do feel as if something is amiss. *stares at second half* Is there really no team naturally fitted for this.

Aether and Kokomi:Hmmm….!?

Kokomi:Aether?

Aether:Yeah I see it.

xxxxx

Bennett:It’s been awhile since the for of us hung out. I missed you guys!

Xingqui:The feeling is mutual. Though I wish it was for calmer circumstances.

Xiangling:I’m just glad it’s finally over. Never thought I’d be this rusty. *slouches* how many did we get?

Chongyun:*sitting on boss* if I counted correctly, thirty two. That’s progress.

Bennett:Free cheers for a good run. Hip hip-

CXXB:Hooray!

xxxxxx

Aether:I can live in peace now.

Kokomi:I can’t. We’re one star short of another bonus.

Aether:Let it go~ *lays down* this is already better than I hoped.

Kokomi:*looking at list* Technically speaking…do we really need to send a crowd controller when the majority of the foes want to run at people? What if for the first half we asked someone who’s just really strong and willing to face immense danger the majority of the run.

Aether:(I should really help Itto’s development more often. Only other person who might fit that description is-) *sits up* I can call some people. It won’t matter though if second half is too slow. Too bad electro teams aren’t that good on that half.

Kokomi:*scratches head* What a weird group of enemies. Me helping Miko would’ve been perfect along side Nahida and Dehya. We could ask Yoimiya again?

Aether:Do you think she’ll survive?

Kokomi:*sighs* I’m good but I’m not good. The group falls apart with consistent power, but lots of our heavy hitters bruise easily or aren’t suited well enough for a full manageable run. We need balance.

Aether:Who doesn’t care at all about the Thunder Manifestation besides Yoi-….*zips down the hall*

Kokomi:I guess he found the answer.

Aether:*opens door* Hey, wanna go to floor 12?

Yanfei:Where’s Yoimiya!?

Aether:You have a shield and are all pyro attacks.

Yanfei:…Is Kokomi coming?

Kokomi:*yells* Yes!

Yanfei:I’ll do my best.

xxxxx

Consecrated beasts: *unconscious*

Scara:*sitting on one*….

Zhongli:What’s he doing?

Diona:Judging if this went well or not. It’s kinda his way criticizing.

Faruzan:Hmph, the lad is just incapable of actually giving a decent compliment; even after doing so much for him! At best he’ll say “well it looks like you actually can do something.” Ugh, it drives me mad.

Scara:*turns around* ….. *thumbs up*

Zhongli:Looks like he’s satisfied.

FD: (Genuine praise!? What’s gotten into him!?)

Scara, secretly stressed: (That’s it, just play it cool and act like I didn’t almost get mauled to death.)

Meanwhile on the other half…

Baptist: *full nelson* LET ME GO!

Dehya:Don’t feel like. Yanfei!

Yanfei:You sure? *holds fireball*

Kokomi:It’ll be fine. *makes fish*

Nahida:She can take it. *closes one eye* Ready…aim….

Baptist:Nooooooooo!

xxxxx

34 stars

Kokomi:…Y’know-

Everyone:We can’t!

Kokomi:Alright, hit the showers.

[thehighpriestess1]

IT’S ME! I’m back!!!

Okay so I finally sat down and read through all the parts of Be Mine and AHHH!

I gotta say, Y/N’s speech about the inequality of the world was written so beautifully. As someone that ticks off multiple marginalized groups and has first hand experience it’s so nice to see topics like these expressed so nicely. I like that she puts him in his place because he’s literally the FACE of the privileged and has the power to change things… and he does. (i was blushing so hard over that, i would’ve kissed him right then and there but y/n is much stronger than i am)

I wonder if y/n finally gets that she’s the one he’s talking about. I know it’s hard to believe that she managed to make a KING fall for her, especially being in an abusive relationship before? Her self-esteem and general outlook on love must be absolutely destroyed right now. Anyone that has had to deal with NAOYA deserves multiple badges of honor. I’m so happy Gojo put him in his place but like I said in August, he’s a roach and they always manage to survive until you crush them out so I’m sure we’ll see him again. As for his new fiancé? why did she want y/n’s bakery specifically, that’s so CRUEL. hope the absolute worst for them 🫶🏽

Niko 😒 the words he uses when he talks about Y/N are all so selfish. Like she’s an object. He only decides to help around or prove himself to her when she’s upset or when he thinks he’s losing her to Gojo. I hope she sees through it soon but I’m so here for the drama 🤭

Gojo’s approach to let things play out (for the most part) is working wonderfully. I’m clutching my pearls because I have no clue who’s going to break and confess first, part of me hopes it’s y/n since she’s already decided to stick by Gojo for as long as he’ll have her. 🥹 i just know he’s kicking his feet and twirling his hair bc he knows she likes him 🤭

Thank you for the update priestess! the essays are back 😭 can’t wait to read the next chapters and I hope you’ve been well!

I had initially written that rant for myself but it’s nice to see that it resonated with so many others. Y/b at that point was just so tired of people telling her that she is equal when he has never felt equal but Gojo (our feminist king) fixed that!

She is literally traumatised by Naoya so it is going to be hard for her to accept that Gojo is talking about her though in her heart she knows it’s her.

I see it this way, Niko wants y/n but Gojo wants y/n to want him. In Gojo’s head y/n’s perspective on things is his priority and he is letting things play out because he does not want y/n to feel like he is controlling her. He is not Naoya. He is yandere but he is a smart one at that. Can you imagine how would Gojo feel if after all his pinning and waiting it’s y/n who confesses first!?!?!?!? I would pass-out lol.

Gojo is a master manifester lmao. He already believes that him and y/n are going to end up together and no power in the world can stop them.

[shin-meddlesome-hero]

Mini review: Gundam 0079 Episode 13: Coming Home

When I watched the preview of Gundam 0079 episode 13: “Coming Home” I thought that I had the general idea of what to expect: The young hero would reunite with his mother and experiment again the joys of his sheltered childhood life, he will even be tempted to remain home and stay safe. However, he has a duty to fulfill, so at the end of the episode he would leave his mother in order to continue his heroic quest while promising that he would come back once the world is saved. This type of episodes used to be common on stories depicting a young hero’s journey (off the top of my head I can mention one episode from the Saiyan Saga where Gohan manages to get back home but decides to train with Piccolo before getting to see his mom or that episode from “Remi” where the titular character leaves Mrs. Milligan -who was willing to adopt him- to continue his journey with Mr. Vitalis).

As you can expect, by the time I watched the actual episode, my expectations where upturned. If there’s something I’m starting to learn about “Gundam” is that it uses the narrative of the Hero’s Journey to hint at more bleak aspects of reality. So this particular story isn’t really about the boy who becomes a Man and therefore has to leave his mother’s side. Instead, it’s about a mother who realizes that her child has changed into someone who is able to kill without remorse, while the child doesn’t understand why his mother rejects him for doing what he knows he has to do to ensure his survival and the survival of his peers. At the end, Amuro goes on with his journey not only because it’s his duty but because at that moment, that’s the only place he belongs to. Even if his mother still lives, there’s no longer a home he can return to anymore.

The episode is a poignant story about the death of innocence. Amuro comes back to his childhood home only to find that his house is being ransacked by soldiers. Shortly after, he learns that one of the girls he used to play with when he was little has died, and his hometown is desolated. He gets to find out that his mother is alive and reunites with her only to feel her rejection after he shoots an enemy soldier in order to protect himself and the other refugees. He later goes on to vent his frustration by attacking a nearby enemy base (and presumably killing even more people).

Meanwhile, Kamaria asks why such a sweet child like his son grew up to become someone who has no regards for human life. She wonders if it’s because Amuro was raised by a man (which is preposterous because we all know that women can also raise their children into murderers #feminism /j), of course what this actually means is that she feels terribly guilty for staying on Earth instead of following her family to space, and now she doesn’t know how to face the grim reality of seeing her son turned into someone she can’t recognize anymore.

We as the audience, have seen that Amuro’s not a heartless soldier yet. His transformation has been gradual and it has taken a toll on him that manifests in severe stress and trauma. He knows that he’s killing people and has great trouble to do so when the enemy doesn’t take the form of faceless Zakus and battleships that he can destroy without any conscious remorse. But he’s unable to articulate what’s happening to him, so any chance to communicate with his mother is nullified. Mother and son are unable connect with each other and thus, they can’t be together. Amuro goes back to the only people that may understand him and Kamaria is left alone with her guilt and regret. From then on, Amuro would have to go on wherever his journey takes him even if there’s no hope that he’ll have a normal life ever again. And that’s what happens to everyone that gets involved in war.

Overall this was a great episode offering an excellent character study and a reflection of how war irrevocably changes people and the horror of seeing a loved one turning into the opposite of what once they stood for.

Also this happened to be the Swimsuit Episode for some reason, so there’s that…

[apureniallsource]

Niall Horan tends to greet strangers with a compliment — which would be charming enough even if it weren’t delivered in a rich Irish accent and from the smiling mouth of an international pop star. “Love the glasses!” he cheers over Zoom, before eyeing my jacket: “And that, too!” I’m far from the only recipient of such warmth: In videos archived across the last 14 years, Horan greets loyal fans like old friends, eager to see them again, and treats journalists with a reverence that never comes across as hollow. Return the favor and he’ll hit you with cheeky bashfulness, like an exemplary student of the music industry’s best media training.

In 2023, Horan is far from his bottle-blond days spent in the world’s biggest boy band, One Direction, but the honest wholesomeness that made him America’s onetime favorite member and inspired some equally deranged and delightful memes (like the one that goes, “Imagine Niall Horan crawling inside your ear. You tell him to stop but he is in there”) still remains. And lately, everyone seems to want a piece of it, from world leaders — in March, he performed for President Joe Biden and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at a White House event — to the millions of people who watch The Voice, where Horan serves as a coach and recently guided his mentee Gina Miles to the top prize. The Voice marks his first time working as a competition-show judge, but not his first time appearing on such a program: One Direction famously finished third on the United Kingdom’s X Factor in 2010 before going on to forever reshape boy bands as we know them.

For Horan — who will release his third album, The Show, on Friday — joining The Voice meant reconnecting with his 16-year-old self: the ambitious and courageous teen who toldThe X Factor judges back in 2010 that he was “ready to fill arenas around the world” before having sung a note. No wonder he was the first one selected for 1D after the boys were put together following their solo eliminations. (On the recent dearth of big pop groups, Horan thinks the future is all about the ladies: “I love Blackpink. All four of them have such individual personalities. That’s what made people love them.”) “I didn’t have anxieties then,” Horan laughs. “I was just having a great time.” That informs the advice he gives contestants. “On The Voice, you see a lot of technical singers who are very serious about what they do,” he says. “I’m just trying to get them to enjoy what they’re doing. You’re on one of the bigger shows in the country. Millions of people watch every night. Enjoy it.”

If there was any hesitancy in joining The Voice, an arena so similar to the one that kick-started it all for him, it was that he “wasn’t sure [if] it was going to be an overproduced thing where I get told what to do, say, and when to turn.” He smiles. “It’s absolutely not.”

Who can blame him for wanting some semblance of control? In the 1D days, cleanliness clauses threatened career consequences for any unsavory behaviors, and the band’s sheer popularity meant limited freedoms, a life of stalling in vans or rolling deep with security. “I couldn’t really go many places,” he says. “So I try to keep my private life as private as I possibly can. There’s a tendency in the world to take your arm off when you offer a handshake, you know what I mean?” He pauses. “But I’m not hiding.”

Niall Horan’s story is a master class in manifestation. The first voice in the 2013 documentary One Direction: This Is Us is his: “When I was small, I had a desk. It was weird because I wrote on it, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a singer,’” he says. “I scribed it in! It’s still on the desk.” Born and raised in Mullingar, Ireland, the only member of his group not from England, Horan describes his childhood self as both a prankster and a natural performer — he’d get in trouble for singing traditional Irish songs in the back of geometry class, embodying the same kind of irreverent playfulness that came to define 1D. (There’s a moment in the doc where Horan reveals he recorded “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction’s breakout hit, in his boxers, and another where he puts on prosthetics to disguise himself as arena security, unbeknownst to fans.)

One Direction sold 70 million albums and filled arenas and stadiums around the world before going on hiatus in 2016, but solo success wasn’t preordained. Horan’s first single, “This Town,” an acoustic slow burn, performed modestly but didn’t make it past the Top 20 in the United States. The funky follow-up “Slow Hands,” inspired by Eagles member Don Henley’s solo work, righted the ship. (Horan now calls Henley a close friend: “He’s always been very big on me being myself, not trying to chase anything that doesn’t exist — and he’s always there if I want to send him something and get a reaction,” he says.) Horan talks about the song with an air of relief. “The success of ‘Slow Hands’ and the first album felt like a big moment,” he says. “And the first tour — learning I can go around the world and still play to thousands.”

Another curveball came three years later, when he released his second album, the synth-pop-flavored Heartbreak Weather, on March 13, 2020 — the day the United States declared COVID-19 a national emergency. It was “a kick in the stomach,” as he describes it. “I was, like everyone, angry at the world for allowing this to happen,” he says. “And then the stillness took over for a second.”

Today, it’s hard to fight the impulse to eye-roll when celebrities talk about the pandemic, but Horan believes he, like everyone else, has been irrevocably changed by it. “I think I might be the eternal optimist,” he says. “I hadn’t had any time off in 10 years. I [thought I] might as well get fit and put the suitcase away in the closet for a little bit. Because at that point, my life was so rat race-y.” He spent his days working out, playing golf, and getting really into Formula 1. (Ask for his favorite driver, and he’ll give you the most Niall response of all time: “I’m a fan of nearly all of them.”) “The pandemic was horrific,” he says, but also: “It was boring! As a guy that travels the world on a regular basis, I was so bored.”

So he got to work on a new album sooner than he planned, writing the majority of The Show in Joshua Tree, without the kind of illicit substances musicians may be inclined to experiment without in the desert. (“No, jeez! No. Thankfully not,” he laughs.) The Show is Horan at his most adventurous, a kaleidoscope of pop-rock sounds of decades past, amped up for arena-sized grandeur. “I’m not just the fella with the acoustic guitar all the time,” he laughs. “I put my neck on the line.” The lustful track “On a Night Like Tonight,” for instance, starts off with a dreamy singer-songwriter intro before detouring into anthemic prog-rock — like Muse doing ’90s Britpop. “If you asked me to release a song like that seven years ago, I would’ve laughed in your face,” he says. “I’ve grown into it a bit. I gave myself permission. It’s probably not what people are expecting of me — and here’s my fingers crossed as tight as you can possibly get them.”

He describes the album as tackling “big life thoughts,” not just the kind you have after history-altering world events but also the ones on your mind as you approach your 30s. The first song he wrote for The Show was the title track, an ode to the gratitude he felt in a time of deep unrest. “You have to swim through the sh*t water to get to the clear stuff,” he explains. “Everything will be OK if you just see it out.” During the pandemic, he couldn’t help but think about how much better life was before, and how he should be thankful for it — or, at the very least, that he’s got to learn to take the good with the bad. The chorus goes like this: “If everything was simple, how would we know / How to fix your tears / How to fake a show / How to paint a smile / Yeah, how would we know / How good we have it, though?” “There’s a façade to most people,” Horan says, addressing the “how to fake a show” line. It’s not about going through the motions at a concert, but about the everyday performance of being a person. “I’m not saying we’re all going around faking everything, but there are parts of yourself you don’t give away.” He pauses. “I’m finding it hard to explain… In some ways, you’re always trying to be the best version of yourself.”

When Horan talks, he often punctuates vulnerabilities with a joke or a folksy aphorism. “The phrase in Ireland is ‘if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,’” he laughs. But he doesn’t veer away from the hard stuff in song. “Meltdown,” the second single from The Show, was written as a balm for someone having an anxiety attack: “When it all melts down, I’ll be there,” he sings to the sufferer in the song’s chorus. “It’s at 180 BPM, which is a good representation of the heart rate [when beating fast],” he says, “but I also like to have a silver lining in my music.” (While he says he experiences anxiety on occasion, contrary to previous reports, he does not have severe OCD. “That got misconstrued,” he clarifies. “I’m not saying I’m fully OCD. [...] I’ve definitely had overwhelming moments.”)

When he does experience anxiety, he has a few grounding tactics. “I literally say to myself, ‘It’ll all be over in a few minutes. It’ll all be over in a few minutes.’ The thing to do in that scenario is try and keep yourself as calm as possible, and tell yourself that it will all be OK,” he says. “And weirdly enough, most of the time, it turns out OK.” Get this man a Calm app endorsement deal, stat.

That unrelenting optimism is a core facet of his personality. “I’ve always been like that: ‘This is sh*t, but I’m sure it’ll be OK soon,’” he says. But it perhaps accounts for just how well-adjusted he seems after going through the boy-band ringer and half a lifetime in the spotlight. He’s never been at the center of controversy, with the exception of dropping a curse here and there as a teen, which he does so now judiciously. (Recently, Horan enjoyed a pint of beer in a Guinness-branded documentary with singer Lewis Capaldi and was shown getting into a car and driving. His mum came to his defense, saying it was a nonalcoholic beverage. The debate ended there.) Even when I half-jokingly ask for his opinion on cults, a nod to The Show ballad “You Could Start A Cult,” he laughs. “It definitely worked as a metaphor for me! I don’t… no strong views on cults. At least, no public ones.”

That song, as he tells it, is about being so in love with someone that if they started a cult, you’d follow them into it. Is he madly in love right now? “That’s dead right.” He doesn’t mention his longtime girlfriend, account manager Amelia Woolley, by name because “if everyone knew everything, [my songwriting] wouldn’t be as candid, would it?” he says. “There’d be all these theories, and I’m not in town for that. I’m here to write what’s on my brain, and love happens to be one of those things that’s flying around me.”

Horan is staying accessible to fans in other ways, fully embracing the expectations of being a very famous person: He’s dropping skin care routines and goofing around on TikTok. This summer, he’s making his way across the festival circuit — good practice for 2024, when he’ll launch into the biggest solo tour of his career to date, which includes a headlining spot at Madison Square Garden, 12 years after 1D did the same. After a few disruptive years, he’s returned to the lifestyle that feels like home, now as a veteran professional and soloist in his own right. He’s the same nice guy, just with some life experience. And he’s enjoying the ride: “Looking at arenas full of people — it’s the best view in the world.”

[wellthebardsdead]

So Wyrm is basically a manifestation of a lot of my neurodivergent traits I’ve masked over the years due to well, feeling unsafe in various ways and needing to adapt to survive.

One of my self regulators is the zoomies. Now I just pace about my house, sometimes pulling my hair if I’m particularly stressed but if I’m happy and just need to get the energy out I put on some music and just walk and get whatever I need out. But, I used to run and jump and bounce around before stopping due to constant reprimanding, even if I was outside.

But, Wyrm is too sweet and cute for me to even think of calling what he does zoomies. I think of his little energy bursts as that thing rabbits do when excited, a binky.

Just imagining how his hair moves with the energy and movement makes me so happy.

Like I can picture him in very fluffy flowy robes listening to voryn and neht tell him stories about his past life and answer his questions on the dwarves and he gets so excited he just jumps up and runs about before hopping and landing on some cushions before getting up and zipping about again while exclaiming in excitement. All the while Urag and Enthir are just there nervous parents worried their son will be judged poorly for just being himself and then suddenly all it takes is for voryn to gently pat his lap and Wyrm comes running over before resting his head there while begging to hear more and they’re just like “Ah he’s surrounded by loved ones.”

Other stims he has include, ‘grabby’ or Jazz hands, where he’ll wiggle his fingers while trying to focus, he likes the click sound his finger joints make on his mechanical hand.

Vocal stimming with noises he finds amusing or are just stuck in his head.

Pulling his hair, a bad one but I still do it too under stress, it’s a miracle I’m not bald.

The leg bouncy, yeeeep still do this one too.

And Biting his knuckle or fingers when under extreme emotional distress. I have a permanent callus on my right knuckle.

But by far his energy bursts are the my favourite.

And to add to his Bnnuy like nature. He stomps his foot when upset.

[died-but-not-dead-propaganda]

Goro Akechi Propaganda

He’s Not Very Happy About It

He dies in the bowels of ship that is the manifestation of his fathers distorted mind, killed by his father’s representation of himself, sacrificing himself for the protags right after boss battling them. And then he comes back to life in third semester when a perfect reality starts because as eventually revealed his being alive and being free is the One True Wish for a perfect reality by the protagonist.  And then he dies again because he doesn’t want to be a puppet under control of this false reality. And then he comes back to life again implied at the very end through the power of loving really hard

Imagine coming back for ur living bf in a perfect reality u dont want id go crazy. And the true end implies he comes back AGAIN

MASSIVE spoilers: He was revealed to be a serial killer with no friends and got so attached to the main character he sacrificed himself to save him. In the remastered version, Persona 5 Royal, he comes back a little while later. However, that’s because the party was locked in an alternate universe in which everyone’s deepest desires comes true, and the main character’s wish was to see Akechi again. Once they fix the timeline he dies again (maybe…?)

Ok so technically you gotta squint to say he came back in the real world, but a version of him came back and even after that, the devs say it’s up to interpretation if he came back or not, so I’m interpreting he did come back from the dead

Disclaimer out of the way, my god I love this fucked up little guy. Has an absolute sad life where his mom dies and he’s forced to become an assassin for his dad who doesn’t even know it’s him, and does so with the single minded goal of revenge. He has a tragic “totally platonic” (read “homosexual”) relationship with a guy in similar circumstances, but got to make the best of it instead of losing himself to revenge. In his final moments, he realizes that he had made friends who would’ve been there for him, and both he and the protag wish things could’ve been different. He dies leaving an unfulfilled promise with his rival, and a massive “what if?” had the two been able to have a relationship outside of all the bullshit life had thrown at both of them.

AND THEN

An egomaniac gains reality altering powers and tries to convince the good guys that he should be allowed to reshape the world by granting all of their deepest wishes. And Akechi is just sorta there. He doesn’t remember how he survived or how he got there, but he reconnects with his rival and the two immediately start working on fighting the egomaniac. It’s not clear what wish the egomaniac had granted the two of them, and it remains this mystery. The two continue to have a complicated relationship, but it’s revealed: Akechi was brought back by the egomaniac as his rivals greatest wish. He wanted Akechi back more than anything else in the world. And if they defeat the egomaniac, Akechi will leave as well, he’ll go back to being dead. But the two believe too strongly in free will and oppose the egomaniac anyways. There’s a heartbreaking scene where Akechi convinces the protag to let him die again, because he refuses to have his life controlled by people he hates any longer. And so, the egomaniac is defeated, and Akechi disappears. Leaving our protag to mourn and constantly wonder what if. And in the final cutscene of the game, we see a flash of akechis outfit in the reflection of a window. Was it a hallucination? Us Akechi truly back? It’s unclear, but the the protag has a lot of feelings about it anyways.

For the tragedy of both his death and his revival, Akechi truly deserves the win here. His life was a sad one, leading to a tragically preventable death that fits into the themes of cruel adults exploiting children and of free Will being above all. And his revival is more of the same, just under the guise of magnanimity. I love this character with all my heart, and both his two deaths and ambiguous revivals pull at my heartstrings constantly

[superseal76]

My thoughts on the Manifest series finale…

My biggest disappointment is that they didn’t stay in 2024. I wanted to see Ben reunite with Olive, Cal and Eden and live life happily as a widower and single dad. Maybe Jeff Rake should’ve just had the stupid government lose their memories of Flight 828🤷🏼‍♀️

Also what was with Benvi?? Saanvi admits she’ll always have mad love for Ben Stone (I mean who wouldn’t) and Ben Replies with “Same.” only for them to share countless hand holds, kisses, a bed, and a forehead touch in the plane after Saanvi survives? But yeah I mean they’re only friends🙄 STU-PID.

No one’s gonna explain what happened to Cal and what Cal saw on the plane that he knew how to save them all?? I mean I know the ending had to be rushed but I’d really like to know that answer.

Don’t get me started on TJ and Olive. My only hope is that TJ somehow runs into Ben in like 6-7 years and Olive falls in love with him again

Jared and Michaela were always soulmates and I refuse to believe she and Zeke were since the beginning 😤 also since they’re not in 2024 anymore I’m mad they erased Hope and Eden from existence🙄 let’s just take away all of poor Jared’s happiness shall we🙄also what happened to Lourdes??

Last but not least Angelina…yeah she was awful and she killed and she was super annoying at times, but I feel like she could’ve been redeemed if said characters said the right things and explained to her what was going on. I mean Ben forgave her🤷🏼‍♀️so why couldn’t she forgive herself and the other passengers.

At least Ben Stone had a good ending. I mean I never saw the chemistry between him and Grace but at least he was able to help Angelina onto the plane and forgive her🥰Ben’s always been my most favorite character on Manifest! He’s come a long way and at least he’ll get to be happy, even if I don’t like that they went back to April 7, 2013

There’s my thoughts on the Manifest finale that no one asked for. 😂