#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)

[motthe]

@crocgirl929 : Heyyo! Hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to ask what your thoughts would be on how Viktor would treat his Lumen after evolving into his final form. Clearly he was past the point of caring about humanity. Do you think he would discard the reader’s lumen, or maybe even destroy it? Or would his change manifest in his lumen with the reader flying away and abandoning them?

god that’s so many good questions… lemme split this into a hopeful route and a tragic route as to reach all points!!!

for both ideas i’m going to assume your lumen survived not getting sucked into the hex core when it melded with viktor!!

the angst could start as early as viktor refusing to let you follow him to the undercity where he’ll later create the commune. perhaps he excuses that he needs space after going through such a transformation, or that he refuses to be around you after the hexcore killed Sky. he does keep your lumen—that part of him that holds that affection is still there if not a bit muffled.

eventually he’d send word to you through one of his followers which scares the hell out of you, but you go to his commune and see the peace he’s created. there is something odd about him, in the way he holds you as you both talk about the last time you saw one another. when he explains what he’s trying to do, you’re wary of the consequences it might bring. you’d always been scared of the hexcore, even more so after learning it killed sky.

tragic route:

there’s plenty that can happen here. he could use his newfound powers on you out of sheer belief that he’s helping you only to leave you as a puppet of your former self that’s still somewhat there but not and you can’t even be angry. i fully believe after he’s “cured” people their lumens have disappeared, showing just how empty they become. Viktor will not find fault in this, but Jayce will when he finds out!!!

but before going down that hole, it could also go another way as far as Viktor knowing deep down you don’t trust the world he wants to build but still following him out of sheer love. he won’t question that, but after Jayce shoots him (of which you could very well just die here too, just saying) and he persists it’s not just him losing Sky in that last evolution—it could be your lumen too. it could be that your lumen leaves or that it actually disappears and he could justify it too easily that in order to reach that perfection he has to leave behind this fated tie and so it just vanishes and perhaps you don’t die (or you do this is tragic ya know) but you’ll feel this profound heartbreak of this bond just snapping in two and his lumen not dying but disappearing as the last bit of humanity that makes up his soul and his lumen vanishes to return to him and his version of “perfection.”

if you cross paths in his new form, he’ll apologize for sacrificing your bond, but he’ll do his best to explain why it was necessary in the grand scheme of things and it’ll just destroy you to hear. you’ll truly believe he’s gone, then.

hopeful route:

this route would consist of Viktor always keeping your lumen on the outskirts of his newfound power, his evolution with the help of Singed. Even in his “perfect” form he will still recall his affection for you and your lumen even if you do not agree with what he’s done. still he keeps your lumen with him at all times, perhaps even his new body morphs in a way to keep your lumen caged to him idk 🤷🏼‍♀️

it’ll be a key to talking him back to his senses as he refuses to give up your lumen and perhaps after curing his past followers he’s seen their lumens disappear and that’s why he refuses to turn you into one. you’ll be his one exception to perfection and Jayce will use that weakness as well as you to make him understand!!!

[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.

[talesofmoony]

“family line” by conan gray represents the black brothers entirely. let me elaborate.

scattered ‘cross my family line, i’m so good at telling lies

they both became so good at hiding their emotions from their parents and others, it just manifested in a different way for each of them. sirius became more brash and outspoken, playing himself off as a boisterous person who was always happy and making jokes, but was hurting. regulus became closed off and sequestered himself to the ideals and influences of those around him, but in the end still fooled those around him because he became so good at lying.

god, I have my father's eyes, but my sister's when I cry

this but esp w/ trans reg hc. sirius never really getting a chance to know regulus. both of them hating what they see in the mirror because as much as they try to remove themselves from their family they share physical similarities that aren’t easily changed. sirius can grow his hair, but he’ll always have his fathers eyes. regulus can try to adjust his mannerisms, but he’ll always have his mothers high cheekbones. when they see themselves in the mirror on a particularly bad day it’s all they can see and it just makes everything worse.

i was a kid but i wasn’t clueless, someone who loves you wouldn’t do this

self-explanatory. they were only kids when they were being put through literal hell, having unforgivables used against them and food withheld when they were less than perfect. it’s so normalized for them that when they get to school and talk about it like it’s the most normal thing in the world, everyone else is like “what the fuck?” and they’re like. oh. wait. this isn’t normal.

i can’t forget i can’t forgive, ‘cause now i’m scared that everyone i love will leave me

sirius found that love and security in remus as a lover and james as a brother, but regulus never didn’t have that security after sirius left.

might share a face and share a last name, but we are not the same

regulus feeling resentment towards sirius for leaving and sirius feeling resentment towards regulus for staying and conforming to their parents. they might look very similar and have the black family name, but their upbringing’s and places in the family drastically changed their personalities and survival instincts and self-preservation reactions. sirius had to get out because staying was killing him, so he left in self-preservation because he had james, which made regulus resent sirius. regulus didn’t have a place to go to, so his self-preservation tactic was to double down and become the ideal son his parents wanted in sirius, which made sirius resent regulus.

[adverbally]

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Written for the @steddiemicrofic December prompt “time” | wc: 485 | rated: T | cw: pregnancy, reference to nausea and vomiting | tags: future fic, established relationship, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, alpha Eddie, omega Steve, pregnancy test, mpreg

I know this is late but I’m still posting for the sake of keeping my personal microfic streak alive 😬

———

The timer ticks loudly, the sound bouncing off the tile in the otherwise silent bathroom.

Three minutes isn’t so long to wait. The time will fly by.

Steve paces in front of the sink. He bites at his already-ragged thumbnail. He tries to ignore the weight of Eddie’s gaze, following him around the room from his perch on the counter. He looks at the timer again.

It’s hardly budged.

“Watching it won’t change anything,” Eddie reminds him gently.

“I know,” Steve sighs. He bites his lip, worrying at a piece of dry skin until he can taste blood, and keeps pacing. It’s better than listening to the seconds count down or looking for the slightest hint of a blue line on the test.

“Steve.”

He turns to see Eddie’s arms spread wide in invitation. Steve accepts it without hesitation, instinct guiding him to step between his alpha’s legs and into his embrace. As Eddie’s warmth and herbal scent surround him, Steve breathes deeply for the first time that afternoon.

“We’re gonna be okay,” Eddie murmurs. “Either way.”

Steve doesn’t respond, instead burying his nose in the crook of Eddie’s neck. He can feel the scar tissue over the scent gland there, the twin of his own mating bite. Their bond has survived worse, Steve tries to remind himself. It will survive this, too.

Another minute and a half. Then they’ll know.

The prospect makes Steve’s stomach churn. He still isn’t sure if the nausea is an actual symptom or just a manifestation of his anxiety, but the cause won’t matter much if he pukes on his mate. “I don’t… will you check, when it’s time?”

“Of course, sweetheart. What am I looking for?”

Steve swallows hard. “Blue line.”

“And that means it’s positive?”

He can’t speak over the lump in his throat, so Steve just nods against the soft fabric of Eddie’s shirt. When he closes his eyes, he can hear the thump of Eddie’s heartbeat, smell the fresh rosemary of his scent mixing with Steve’s own sour citrus. It’s enough to keep him grounded, as much as Steve wants to let himself float here in his alpha’s arms.

“Stevie,” Eddie begins softly, “do you want it to be positive?”

He does, God help him, but he’s terrified to get his hopes up. It feels like if he tells Eddie he wants this, if he tries to explain his fears, he’ll jinx it. Steve bites his lip again and doesn’t say anything and waits.

The metallic clang startles him when the timer goes off, but he doesn’t move. He feels Eddie lean over to grab the plastic wand.

“Oh my god,” Eddie breathes, and there’s only one result that would prompt that reaction.

He raises his head and sees Eddie’s grin. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Eddie holds up the pregnancy test with its little blue line. “Congratulations, Mama.”

Steve beams through the tears streaming down his face.

[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.

[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!)

[teine-mallaichte]

Autumn Hawke and Anders - Family Timeline (Post-DA2)

Because Anders and Autumn deserve happiness… or at least some family chaos.

💥 9:37 Dragon – The Chantry Explosion

Autumn Hawke is about 3–4 months pregnant but hasn’t told Anders yet. His secretive behavior and growing distance have left her unsure how he’d react to the news.

Anders blows up the Kirkwall Chantry, and everything goes to hell.

Amid the chaos, Autumn might have screamed, “YOU IDIOT, I’M PREGNANT!” at him.

Timing, 10/10.

After the chaos they flee Kirkwall together.

🌩 9:38 Dragon – Baby Storm is Born

Storm Hawke is born during a violent thunderstorm

Autumn is TERRIBLE at names and may have gone a little bit literal.

Anders becomes the epitome of anxious parenting, haunted by memories of mages children being taken from them at birth at the Circle, the knowledge of families being ripped apart when children's magic manifests, and the horrors he likely saw in Darktown - I can imagine child mortality was high there.

Justice is weirdly obsessed with the “pure and innocent” baby.

Autumn struggles to hold her family together at first, afterall she has lost people so many times at this point part of her expects it to happen again.

✉️ 9:42 Dragon – The Inquisition Calls

Varric writes to Autumn, asking her to join the Inquisition. She agrees, leaving 5-year-old Storm with Anders. (He’ll be fine, right?)

Autumn doesn’t know she’s pregnant (again), but she realizes while at Skyhold.

Varric finds out before Anders does.

When she gets home, Anders does a health check and discovers TWINS.

Cue even more overprotective dad energy.

🍃 9:43 Dragon – Holly and Rowan Are Born

Autumn gives birth to twins - Holly and Rowan.

The family relocates again to keep the kids safe.

⚡️ 9:44 Dragon – Storm’s Magic Manifests

At age 7, Storm accidentally starts summoning lightning during a tantrum. Anders starts training him immediately, and Justice becomes even more overbearing.

Storm’s magic cements his role as the big brother trying to protect Holly and Rowan.

🌟 9:51 Dragon – Holly’s Magic Manifests

At 8 years old, Holly heals an injured bird, showing a natural talent for healing magic.

Anders begins training both Holly and Storm, while Rowan learns rogue skills from Autumn.

💀 9:55 Dragon – The Blight Incident

Storm (17), Holly (12), and Rowan (12) explore some caves near home and encounter darkspawn.

Storm is injured and contracts the Blight.

Devastated, Anders and Autumn turn to Bethany (now a Grey Warden) for help.

Storm survives the Joining and leaves home, though he stays in touch.

Holly and Rowan are shaken but become determined to protect each other.

🌀 9:58 Dragon – Veilguard (here is where the timeline diverges as to make it work I have pushed Veilguard back by 6 years)

Storm (20) is now a Grey Warden and is roped into some shit by Varric.

[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

[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.

[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