#I've been wary of him

[waningwithoutwaxing]

Wow. He's really asserting that poor people are willing to do any kind of horrible thing to get money. Do you want to know who really can do anything to get more money? Who has no qualms about crushing people and skirting laws to get more of it? Corporations. The unfathomably wealthy. The ones who don't even need more money to live. That's who.

[dont-offend-the-bees]

Fuck I hate being an adult. I need a more adult adult to help with the volatile emotional situation.

[yuseirra]

Coming to think of it, Aqua and Ruby becomes considerably darker and twisted when they have the black star eyes/are under the black star's influence. They become depressed, a bit unstable, lash out sometimes and cause the others around them to worry because their personalities change for the worse

But Kamiki still manages to sound pretty kind as he has these eyes, for instance, he had them when he talked with Ai in 154 and he was so soft even though what she said would have occurred as a shock. It was something really hurtful. If you think about it, do we ever see him treat others in a cruel way? It's quite the contrary, isn't it? I think he was always very polite in terms of the way he spoke and we never see him being aggressive even in terrible situations. We don't know what he actually did behind the scenes, but when we see him actually do something in present time, he doesn't seem too bad aside from the ominous aura he has.

Then just how kind is this guy without the black star? I think this guy's inherently really sweet. I think it's safe to say he used to be that way, and the more I examine his behavior, he's still retained that part of him. When someone makes a movie out of the worst nightmares of his life, he cares about them for having acted out something that painful. When someone says something very cruel, he says that was only natural. He's generally still polite, and he really is prepared to carry what he thinks is his fault and "rot away"(what does this mean.. Is going to jail all there is to it?;;)

I think he's supposed to be a really tender guy... It's just that the initial idea we got about him was too far from it and it overrules what he actually is. If Ai loves a guy, that is a lot. He must have been really nice to her and have had given her a lot of happiness in order for her to believe 'yes this guy's it. I want to stay with him forever' because it's really difficult to achieve. Ai leans on the avoidant type, and it's so hard for someone like that to find someone to feel that strongly about and wish to settle together with. I feel she was able to love her children with affection due to the positive experiences she's had with him.

It's not depicted so much in detail but they are both smiling in the flashbacks and the imaginations, they were pretty good together.

I wonder just how kind he would have been if his life wasn't so tormenting, and even while it being that way, he still??? Does manage to appear to be sweet at least outwardly? I think that IS indeed a glimpse of his true nature?? Which makes me believe he really is inspired from/an incarnation of the god who directs people to goodness?? I was very wary about this guy but he seems selfless. I feel like he'd have been an angel if things weren't so messed up. Is he still? He actually may be?? He was a good kid. I think Ai wanted to help him, willingly, because he was one and she didn't want to see someone like him suffer. She must have opened up to him because he was good to her.

Yeah.. That's my passing thought for now. Oddly enough, I can't think of things he did that are "evil" except for the things he "claims" to have done or are ambiguous at this point. When that gets revealed, my thoughts may change. For the time being, he's been mild and considerate and kind and even timid. That was so interesting because it contradicts what was being suggested before he made his appearance. It's been so fun and intruguing to look into, but it'd make sense for me if this is really it because what Ai's said... That can't just sprout from nowhere. It doesn't happen unless he's been really good to her.

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[bam-monsterhospital]

gotta say, i looooove chetney's "with all due respect, fuck you guys" speech in episode 94. i know the npcs and the narrative and everything shut it down immediately, but chetney is absolutely right and i appreciate someone daring to say it.

[saints-who-never-existed]

Look, I know this is very random but thinking about Manson and his Shetland origins brought me back to this video concerning Shetlandic/Shetland dialect, and I thought perhaps others might be interested to see it too.

It features Christine De Luca, who not only has an incredibly lovely, mellifluous voice but is also a celebrated poet who was made Edinburgh's Makar in 2014 and has long been an advocate for Shetlandic.

[dbphantom]

maybe i should have gone into practical effects instead of computer science...

[citrus-cactus]

I wish I wasn’t so obsessed with this GI Joe-ass looking man, but here we are

[fideidefenswhore]

Did most of Henry's court dislike Elizabeth just because she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn? Do you think that she was bullied by them growing up?

No, I think very few disliked her, for that reason or otherwise (Observant Friars, the Aragonese and later Marian, factions, notwithstanding). She was literally a child, and after 1544 she was officially third in line to the throne, & once Edward VI became King, second in line. There's the argument that most would have revered Mary more, for at least habit's reason (she had been acknowledged Princess for the first seventeen years of her life, versus Elizabeth's scant three); but Elizabeth would have probably been revered, too. All the reports of her as a child, both when Anne was Queen and after her death and disgrace, spoke of her 'towardness', her gravity, her intelligence, her grace, politesse and charm...even Chapuys, after the death of his bete noire, admitted she was a pretty child.

Who would have been brave enough to bully a King's daughter (who wasn't exiled, wasn't in disgrace, see, Mary 1533-36), later, a King's sister, really? What would it have gained them? There were probably some sidelong glances and speech in Edward VI's reign, but that would've had more to do with the drama with Thomas Seymour, and there was outright hostility towards her in Mary I's reign, but that was likely courtiers emulating their sovereign.

[wild-wombytch]

Healthy anxiety coping mechanism ✅:

using the sophrology exercises I learnt today before tackling the call with my brother

My toxic chosen anxiety coping mechanism 😈 :

Sending a seething reply with thinly veiled threats to my ex harassing me/being creepy + filling it with radfem propaganda before having a 1min monologue with my brother's voicemail

[dudeshusband]

i should watch some more interviews of dean because they're kinda nice

[baladric]

one of my friends predicted a long time ago that i would end up married to a rat man, and i’ve been like nah i like pretty and fashionable people but now i definitely have what feels like the most fruitful crush i’ve had in a long time on a quintessential rat man and i’m like. äh, the ordeals of being known.

[just-a-hopeless-wanderer]

.

[hedgehog-moss]

Last spring my neighbour asked if I could let Pirlouit mow the grass around his barn from time to time, which Pirou was happy to do at first but if I left him there several days in a row he got pretty sad about being alone (lots of wistful, melancholy braying). So this year when my donkey was hired for this job again, I went for a different formula: for the past few weeks I've been bringing all the animals to the neighbour's barn for an hour of landscaping services now and then at apéritif time.

The fence is extremely not Pampe-proof so I have to have my apéritif while sitting on the road in a strategic position from which I can toss a stick in her direction if she tries to escape, but other than that I've been really enjoying this peaceful evening ritual, just sitting there reading and watching the animals while feeling like I'm doing my neighbour a favour. Pirlouit doesn't get all the grass to himself anymore but I've learnt that he prefers to be rich in friends than in food.

You'll notice that Merricat is present in every photo, looking alert. She too has been hired, but for the thankless job of Thought Police. She may look like she's just napping on the warm asphalt with not a care in the world...

... but she is working! Keeping an eye on the llamas, always.

I've discovered that in a specific context my three cats can act as precogs and warn me of Pampe's future crimes. My theory is that they developed this skill because of Poldine, who loves cats. Any cat who enters the pasture will soon be noticed and (lovingly) chased by Poldine, who wants kisses. Cats not only do not want llama kisses, they don't differentiate between individual llamas. They are all potential kissers. So even if it looks like she's all relaxed, Merricat is constantly monitoring where the llamas are and what they seem to be planning. If we are on the other side of a fence and Pampe approaches it a bit too slyly, Merricat will jump to her feet, ready to flee (and I will toss one of my anti-Pampe sticks, and say NON.)

Merricat and I are a very good team! We've foiled several of Pampe's plots, but we need to be on the road for Merricat to remain wary (if we were in the pen Pampe's escape attempts would involve getting away from us and the cat wouldn't care.) Cars are rare so it's okay (plus it's so quiet you can always hear them coming), and on the few occasions when someone showed up and asked why I was having apéritif on the road, I pointed at Pampe and they were like, "Ah! Didn't see her here. Good luck!"

"Hedgehog-moss, you're exaggerating. Pampe can't be that—"

She is! She is. And she always seems to notice when Merricat is on a bathroom break and I'm absorbed in a book.

There was one evening though, when she got distracted by a fascinating new idea. I don't claim to know what's going on in this llama's head (except when she's looking at a fence, then it's easy) but as you can see, once I brought the animals to the barn Poldine started eating flowers, Pirlouit started eating grass, and Pampe started eating the wall.

After a moment she slowly circled the barn, then stopped and lay down right next to it, settling down in a comfortable position but with focused ears and her head still turned towards the wall. It was suspicious behaviour, but on the other hand she now looked so uninterested in the road that I decided to take a risk and run home to bring back some dinner—and she didn't move while I was away! I even brought Pandolf, who is usually banned from these soirées because he would disturb my Merricat alarm system. He was happy to be finally included.

It's unclear if Pampe was eating the wall, talking to the wall, or carefully examining various parts of the wall as Step 1 of 27 of a complex plan only she understands, but she stuck close to the barn all evening instead of lying in wait by the fence so I was able to have a picnic in the grass rather than on the road, which felt more bucolic. I know that "Pampérigouste has a new, mysterious project" is a worrying sentence but at this early stage (feasibility study) it felt to me and Merricat like a little holiday!

[lavendertarot]

Finally watched Cube (1997) and I think I have another contender for favorite movie. It's so hopeful and says everything you'd need to about the police without explaining it to you, all while perfectly encapsulating the feeling of the 90s sociopolitical climate. It has a message and it says it effectively!

[inkspiredwriting]

A Life Worth Fighting For

Five Hargreeves x Fem!reader

A/N: It's time we all got our five back. Five needs y/n, in every timeline. If I'm honest, I don't want to read anything more about this Five/Lila relationship. For me that never happened. From now on I'll be posting the stories that I've already finished writing

Warnings: spoilers for season 4 episode 5-6

The air shimmered with energy as Five and Lila landed in yet another timeline, they found themselves in a cozy, well-kept house that radiated warmth and comfort. The scent of fresh coffee hung in the air, mingling with the subtle fragrance of flowers from somewhere nearby.

Lila glanced around, her brow furrowed with suspicion. “This doesn’t look like any of the timelines we’ve been to,” she muttered, her hand instinctively moving toward the handle of the knife strapped to her thigh. “Too quiet, too… perfect.”

Five didn’t respond immediately. He was scanning the room, his sharp eyes taking in every detail. The polished wooden floors, the cushy furniture, the family photos lining the walls—it was all so domestic, so ordinary. It felt like the calm before a storm, and after seven years of battling against the odds in a timeline where everything was wrong, he couldn’t trust it.

“We need to be careful,” Five said finally, his voice low. “This place looks safe, but it’s too familiar. We could be in one of those timelines where something’s just a bit off.”

“Like that time where your younger self shot at us??” Lila quipped, her lips curving into a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Exactly,” Five replied, the memory flashing through his mind. “Let’s find out where we are and who’s running the show here.”

Just as he was about to suggest searching the house, the door to the living room swung open. Both Five and Lila instinctively tensed, ready for whatever was about to step through.

But what they saw caught them completely off guard.

Another Five stood in the doorway, looking just as surprised as they were. This version of Five was dressed casually, in a button-down shirt and jeans, a far cry from the suits that the time-traveling Five was used to. He looked… settled.

“What the—” the other Five started, his eyes narrowing as he processed the scene before him. “What are you doing in my house?”

Five stepped forward, his gaze locked onto his counterpart. “We’re from a different timeline” he said, his voice steady.

The other Five’s eyes widened in recognition, then narrowed again with suspicion. “A different timeline? What do you want?”

Before Five could respond, Lila spoke up, her tone laced with annoyance. “Listen, mate, we don’t want to be here any more than you want us to be. We’re just trying to get back to our own timeline, but we’ve been stuck in the wrong one for seven years. Seven years!”

The other Five’s expression softened slightly, though the wariness didn’t leave his eyes. “Seven years? What happened?”

Five took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as memories of those long, grueling years came rushing back. “We got trapped,” he explained, his voice quieter now. “No way out. We were stuck there for what felt like a lifetime. And… well, we ended up together.”

For a moment, there was silence. The other Five’s eyes flicked between his counterpart and Lila, his expression growing darker with each passing second. “You ended up together?” he repeated, disbelief coloring his tone. “You and her?”

Five nodded, bracing himself for the reaction he knew was coming.

The other Five’s jaw tightened, and without warning, he stepped forward and smacked his counterpart on the back of the head. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he snapped, his voice a mix of anger and incredulity. “Do you even know what you’ve done?”

Lila’s eyes flashed with anger, but Five raised a hand to stop her from retaliating. “I didn’t have a choice,” he said, though even as he spoke the words, he knew how weak they sounded.

“There’s always a choice!” the other Five shot back, his anger unabated. “You’re telling me that in seven years, you never once thought about the consequences? About Diego? He’s her husband in our timeline, for Christ’s sake! They have three kids together!”

Five flinched at the mention of Diego, a pang of guilt stabbing through him. “I don't have a girlfriend or wife,” he said defensively, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. “I have no one.”

At this, the other Five’s anger seemed to shift, turning into something more like pity. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Because you gave up,” he said quietly. “You gave up on yourself, and you gave up on your family.”

For a long moment, Five couldn’t find the words to respond. The weight of what his counterpart was saying pressed down on him like a lead blanket. Had he really given up? Had he allowed himself to lose sight of everything that mattered because he was too tired, too lost, to keep fighting?

The silence between them grew heavy, filled with all the unspoken regrets and what-ifs of a life that could have been.

“Look,” the other Five said, his voice softer now, “I know how easy it is to get lost in this mess, to lose sight of who you are and what you want. But you can’t just throw everything away because things get hard. You have to fight for what matters.”

Five looked down, his hands curling into fists at his sides. He wanted to believe that it wasn’t too late, that he could still find the life he’d always wanted, the love he’d convinced himself was out of reach. But the last seven years had left him scarred, beaten down by a world that had taken so much from him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from outside. He looked up and saw that the other Five was gazing out the large bay window, a small smile on his lips.

Five followed his gaze and felt his heart clench at the sight that greeted him.

In the garden, a beautiful pregnant woman was playing with a little girl, who looked to be around four years old. The woman’s laughter was like music, her face glowing with happiness as she twirled the giggling child around in her arms. The little girl had a mop of dark hair and eyes that sparkled with mischief—eyes that Five recognized all too well.

“That’s Y/n,” the other Five said softly, his voice filled with warmth. “And that’s our daughter, Maddie.”

Five stared at him, his mind reeling. “I want what you have,” he said finally, his voice barely a whisper. “I want… her.”

The other Five nodded, his expression firm but not unkind. “Then fight for it,” he said. “Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on her.”

Five’s throat tightened as he watched them, his heart aching with a longing he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in years. This was it. This was what he had wanted, what he had fought so hard to protect but had never truly believed he could have. A family. A home. A life filled with love.

He could have had this. He could have had her.

“I can’t believe…” Five started, but his voice broke, and he had to swallow the lump in his throat. “I can’t believe I gave this up.”

“You didn’t,” the other Five said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Not yet. You still have a chance to find her. You still have a chance to make this life your own.”

Five closed his eyes, trying to block out the overwhelming tide of emotions threatening to drown him. He didn’t deserve this—this kindness, this hope. But he wanted it more than anything. He wanted to find his y/n, to have his own Maddie, to fight for a life worth living.

When he opened his eyes again, he found the other Five watching him, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Go,” the other Five said gently. “Find her. Fight for her.”

Five nodded, and then turned to Lila, who had been watching the exchange in silence. She looked at him with a mixture of sadness and understanding, knowing that whatever they had shared was over.

“We should go,” Five said softly, his eyes meeting Lila’s. her expression unreadable, and with a final nod to the other five, he teleported them both away, leaving the other Five standing alone in the quiet house.

A few moments later, the front door opened, and Y/n and Maddie walked in, their faces flushed with happiness from their time in the garden. Y/n smiled warmly at Five, the love in her eyes undeniable as she approached him.

“Everything okay?” she asked, a note of concern in her voice as she noticed the tension in his posture.

Five looked at her, his heart swelling with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he kissed her gently on the lips.

“Everything’s perfect,” he murmured against her lips, his voice filled with emotion. “I’m just… so happy that I have you. You’re my one true love, y/n. No one else. Just you.”

Y/n smiled, her eyes shining with love as she leaned into his embrace. “I love you too,” she whispered, resting her head against his chest.

Five held her close, the weight of everything that had just happened slowly fading away as he focused on the warmth of her body against his, the sound of her heartbeat, the soft rise and fall of her breath. This was his life, his family, his everything.

And he wouldn't give that up for anything in the world...timeline or not.