#also he probably has depression

[sandrockers]

The Man, The Myth, The Legend… my man haru 💖

#the way we rarely know anything about this man but I’m obsessed #pls pathea make him romanceable AH #like he wants to go back to sandrock so bad BRING HIM BACK HOME #Ima beat the shyte outta that duvos spy >:( #my time at sandrock #gameplay #mtas haru #should I even say we rarely know him? #just with the lil we know #we know he’s responsible and smart makes me go uwu #tho he’s gotta be a lil dorky given he hangs w Logan lol.. #they gotta make stupid jokes together xD #also he probably has depression #the way he kept feeling bad about the temple incident.. #I’ll do my best to help you 😤 I WILL make sure y’all win against duvos and come back to sandrock

[rosey-tta]

me waiting for blade fics to tone down the abusive and toxic elements to more reasonable/fluff so i can read them peacefully even though i'm so attracted to him and his design is gorgeous cuz my bisexual feminist ass wouldn't tolerate the disrespect and i know nether would he i'm sure

(he reminds me of xiao and how he too was terribly characterized by the fandom)

#no offense to the fanfic writers but yall see a guy with red eyes and black hair and immediately make him a horrible abusive #like chill and read his voicelines he ain't THAT bad #he's just a depressed guy doing his job #blade hsr #hsr blade #blade x reader #blade smut #man looks like kafka pegs him #he just wants some love and cuddles trust me #he also probably has mommy issues look at him #hsr x reader #honkai star rail x reader #thank god character ai exists

[sesamenom]

some ideas from an au where maglor just keeps living in britain (/himring?)

especially in the earlier eras he had to put a lot more effort into styling/dyeing his hair to cover his ears & the blueness/Elf Sparkle. he also wore glasses for a while to dim the Treelight Eyes (because even as badly faded as he is, it's still really obvious with how old he is).

#silm #silmarillion #maglor #seventh age stuff #<- adjacent au #weirdly modern maglor feels the closest to maglor-maglor? #but he also looks like a lawyer in a tv show for some reason? #like edwardian maglor's outfit is pretty similar structure wise (high collar/waistcoat/long coat) but the hat & hairstyle really affect it? #but modern maglor has roughly the same silhouette with the jacket and definitely the most freedom with the ear and hairstyle #early 1900s maglor has a sort of beard thing to not look too young but it looks weird on him i think #it probably wouldnt look as out of place if his hair was shorter but he needs to cover his ears somehow #honestly merovingian maglor looks pretty maglor-y the hairstyle is just not blue enough #the front curly bits on baroque maglor are very maglor-y despite being even less blue #...huh i guess maglor is just 80% Hair #the rest is just fancy clothes; sad harp; and depression #baroque maglor did turn out really well though #maybe because maglor-maglor already borrows a lot from the baroque composer style outfit wise? like he is for unknown reasons #the only YT-FoA elf with a waistcoat i think #through all of this he has remained mysteriously wealthy #(probably because he knows where all the treasuries are in himring)

[flowercrowngods]

i need someone (steve) to take one look at mike wheeler after being told that this kid readily walked off the quarry at twelve years old, and see past his walls and his bullshit and see the kindness and bravery that lies beneath the trauma and depression (and puberty). i need someone to take one look at him and see that he’s not doing fine at all — and hasn’t for a while.

#i have this thing in my drafts where steve finds mike at the quarry after dustin told him mike essentially jumped down there #and all steve hears is ‘my friend was ready to die at 12 tears old’ #‘my friend was deeply depressed before trauma even got to take a hold of him’ #and steve thinking years ago ‘when i first liked a boy i came here too. thought about jumping’ #and mike just. looking at steve and suddenly falling apart because yes sure he did it for dustin but he also just. wanted to. #has been wanting to. and then will was gone and people always say bad things happen to boys who like boys and mike has been feeling guilty #back then yes but also ever since. it never stopped. just like his love for will didn’t stop. and asking steve if everything is his fault? #for liking will and then liking el only to fall for will again #and steve hugs him and tells him that he’s going to be okay and that the world ending isn’t mikes fault at all. #and that if he ever thinks about jumping again?? he needs to tell steve and they’ll find a way out. #idk it’s like. very heavy to think about but please i need. i need more steve and mike bonding #and this has probably been done before bc it’s been years but yeah. uh. #internalised homophobia internalised biphobia and impressionable kids who think all the wrongs of the world are their fault #yknow yknow the usual

[witchofthemidlands]

i am still battling through my young dracula hyper fixation so to anyone who even still thinks about young dracula have this balls to the wall unhinged thing my brain spawned that if i had the energy (& if i actually thought i could do a decent job of writing vlad) would butcher into a fanfic:

vlad goes back to the dreamworld except he gets yeeted through a dracula multiverse where he meets versions of count dracula from 1931-2023 & after being scarred for unlife & after realises just how good he's got it.

#he would see some things he would never be able to unsee #1931!dracula is so over dramatic and bizarre to him but in a familiar way #1992!dracula is interesting for him to witness #sees garyoldman!dracula gets questionable vibes and sits there facepalming and valuing his own father's escape plans #vlad gets so confused by 2004!vanhelsingdracula #vlad sees richardroxborough!dracula and just has so many questions #thinks that 2013!dracula is probably what would have happened if they lived with uncle ivan #first question vlad asks if he saw jonathanrhysmeyers!dracula as alexander grayson is why are you american 😅 #probably feels bad for 2014!dracula #lukeevans!dracula is even more depressed than vlad himself he feels bad for that one #vlad gets absolutely traumatised by 2020!dracula #vlad sees claesbang!dracula in his modern clothes and think 🥹 a normal dracula for me ? 🥹 only to get traumatised and more depression #2023!renfielddracula reminds him of home in a weird way #he sees nicolascage!dracula and nicholashoult!renfield going off at each other and probs thinks this isnt that different 🤷🏻‍♂️ #also he would meet so many different renfields and van helsings so many cleaner renfields and less unhinged van helsings #at least one of the other draculas want to adopt him #vlad dracula #young dracula #dracula #kat’s thoughts 🍄

[mothric]

having a weird al moment

#i've always liked weird al. he's always been in my periphery culturally speaking #in middle school i had one of his polka medleys memorized. along with White and Nerdy #(if i give myself a minute i can still recite 90% of it) #LOVE Hardware Store #but i've never like... sat down and listened through a weird al album #until this week?? i've listened through two and will probably listen to more #a friend and i were listening to poodle hat in the car the other day and genuinely cracking up #the man's a treasure #and for whatever reason my brain has decided to fixate on him this week #it's keeping me in good spirits tbh!! #there are certainly worse ways to combat seasonal depression #also just found out about the insane biopic he made of himself in which daniel radcliffe plays him #so obviously i need to watch that at the nearest opportunity #nov 2023 #weird al #music

[transfemgeorgecostanza]

finished the new walter moers book last night, and i loved it. it is not flawless - some of it feels a bit too familiar within the series - and he may perhaps never again reach the heights of Rumo, City of Dreaming Books, and whatever Der Schrecksenmeister is called in English, but it feels like a return to form. it's less about plot and more about dabbling in the sending up of northern german island culture/tourism, but more focused, more engaging, more Zamonien than, say, whatever Prinzessin Insomnia und der albtraumfarbene Nachtmahr is called in English, or the two thinner volumes of Zamonia novels that felt more like writing exercises than actual writing.

#walter moers #german stuff #zamonien #SOME people have the theory that Moers is not Moers but rather a collective / someone else writing and the writer of the first five novels #as stopped writing them #which i find very weird #and dont believe #MY theory #and this is really nothing but a theory #is that moers has some sort of mega writers' block perhaps brought on by 'external' reasons like illness (or depression or sth) #which is why he a) had someone else draw Prinzessin Insomnia and write sth that is definitely not Zamonien #b) afterwards wrote those two thin books which as mentioned felt like exercises of trying to get back into it #and c) also sorta why the second part of his two part Dreaming Books sequel has still not made it out after what. 12 years? #including i think changing publishers after the first of them? or around that time at least. #we will never know probably #but this makes me hopeful for a future of the series #maybe even that sodding second part.

[phonematthew]

im in the point of my hyperfixation where looking at matt virginia makes me actually scream and cry, i love him so much and i wish i could put into words how much i enjoy him i wish i knew how to explain how much i adore him, i get so so so so sad when i see people be scared of him or dislike him because like, aw man!! he’s not even scary. i love matt💔💔💔💔

#dsaf #dayshift at freddy's #matt virginia #dsaf matt #explosys rambling #also i wish i could explain my own headcanons of him but i get too scared like i hc that he probably has a personality disorder #i also think he has depression aswell #i love matt so much i wish people could understand him like i do #i wish i could be matt’s friend #im the number one matt fan guys i adore matt #i think matt would like going on walks and watching sunsets and looking at stars #i doubt anyone will actually read this post #i also doubt they would read the tags actually #if anyone reads this please do not be mean about matt on my blog #especially on this post

[priceofreedom]

rebirth is gonna destroy us i just know it

#as a zerith stan knowing aerith dies in zack's timeline is messing me up #like... they cannot meet unless they 'fix' the timelines or whatever #there's a chance the characters are not actually dead in zack's timeline but idk... #so yeah in the original timeline zack is dead of course #but in zack's timeline they are ALL dead. allegedly #so essentially it's like. if zack gets to live the others die instead?? #what is zack's timeline gonna be like? i'm so curious and confused and lowkey scared aksjhkahlds #it's too soon to assume things but it doesn't look good for zack 🥴 #he only has cloud atm and he's still in a bad condition apparently #he wasn't anywhere in that last scene in the DLC so either zack left him resting somewhere #or something else happened? #idk about y'all but i'm kinda going insane thinking about theories #the more i rewatch the trailer the more i realize how depressing it could potentially be... #also sephiroth might be travelling between the timelines #and i'm thinking... zackseph reunion maybe? 👀 #he was also calling genesis but the trailer was from Ever Crisis right? #so what's going awn....... #i've seen ppl saying the tornado which potentially killed the party probably let weiss nero AND genesis out... #out of the deepground i mean #so does that mean zack will have to face the three of them at some point? that happened in HIS timeline #anyway i'm rambling ajskhakjs i HAVE TOO MANY QUESTIONS

[fedoraspooky]

Do you remember your sycamore blog?

Yep, that wasn't all too long ago in the grand scheme of things. XD Started that one back in college, I believe. Hyperfixation's not really there anymore but like most past ones I remember them with fondness! He was very fun to write. (Technically I was RPing as Xerneas as well, since it was an AU blog where he was secretly Xerneas larping as a human. XD)

And of course there was also the offshoot Sharkamore AU, bc I'm a sucker for baleful polymorph and monster/lab experiment AUs and I am nothing if not horrendously predictable. .w.;;

Not gonna lie I miss the days tumblr rp was still a thing, I always wanted to make an ask blog for OCs but ask culture has really fallen off since then and idk if enough people would be interested in OC stuff to begin with. ;w;

#asks #Anonymous #if anyone's curious its professordeerest #it ran for a few years and is a LOT to read and idk if threads have been broken or not but i do have art on there i never posted on main #it's under the tag 'mun art' #also there's probably some sorta suggestive stuff on there and dark themes if i remember right so consider that a warning #for if u wanna avoid that kinda stuff #he's a fae deity that threw big parties back in the Old Times and now he has depression so yeah there is also alcohol involved at times .w. #not TONS of it but here and there #thats as much as i remember so enter at your own peril .w.;

[todayisafridaynight]

would it be okay if u told me why u like aoki😭/gen😭😭😭😭BEEN TRYNA LIKE HIM FOR SO LONG I JUST CANTT but i love ur art so much so i still consume it otherwise lol

i liked tohru adachi in high school and tbh i think that alone is enough of an explanation for why i ended up liking aoki

#snap chats #haha see i told you last post's tags were relevant #anyway vLKVJEVLKAEJVLKJ IM CRYING ANON youre so funny. this is the funniest ask i coulda got thank you so much #i dont know why i like him either <- yes i do #fine lets get Real Talk about it #well first off all i thought he looked hot rolling out the elevator and i was playing the eng dub and i think his voice sounds hot there #and thats like. not athing that happens to me ever <- literally thought sawashiro was hot two frames into the game but anyway #i like politician characters. or characters that are in a position of power ESPECIALLY if they have to act like they dont suck balls #like i very much love the idea of the power of charisma and that type of thing not to mention the 'strategizing' as aoki puts it #that comes with politics. LIKE HE SUCKS DONT GET IT TWISTED HE SUCKS BUT //shrug emoji// #like its why i love the mine rggo stories i like seeing mine's thought process and how he uses his intelligence #smart's sexy to me idk what to tell you but moving on #its fun watching him lose his cool too ESP IN HIS FIGHT LMAO HE STOMPIN HIS FOOT LIKE A TODDLER SHUT UP #i also really love the arakawa family in general and thinking of aoki's relationship with each of them makes my brain explode #especially him and sawashiro that shit is painful to watch and i love it so much #i also thought him going from goth to republican was the funniest shit in the world like i howled at that AND i was distraught #aokis so interesting to me from the notion that he IS loved by his family but he has so much hatred for himself it eats him up #and as a result he cant be happy no matter what he does- how hes constantly seeking validation even if it's nothing meaningful #his lil. Dog-Eat-Dog world world belief to ichi also appealed to my edgy depressed high schooler brain. sorry. #his speech at the lockers also got to me. unfortunately. sorry everyone i empathized too hard it got too real it wasnt funny anymore #like as much as i complain bout the very end the ending is what solidified me liking aoki if not also cause of ichi's impact in those scene #plus... analyzing him and the environment around him is so much fun too.... #idk reasons for why i like aoki also boil down to personal reasons. he still sucks tho so i cant be upset when people hate him LOL #i probably have more reasons or could elaborate more i love rambling but i mean. who really wants to read all that 💀💀 #maybe for a character that WASNT the worst but. aoki is so LMAO #thank you for loving my art regardless :) im sorry i have to be attached to the worst guys ever

[lastwave]

the amount of self restraint (or self hatred) harry has for not immediately punching jean when he says he didn't help harry out during a politically charged shoot out where harry had severe amnesia because he (jean) has depression is astounding . i wouldve actually lost my shit i think.

#hugh txt #disco elysium #LIKE IM SORRY W H A T. #you have verified he has actually lost all his fucking memory. #i really think jean wanted harry to die out there #ignoring all the layers to their relationship depression and being forced to work through amnesia episodes are not comparable. #my god. i knooow i know jean has layers. i know i should appreciate that #but he also makes me a bit violently angry #LIKE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUUUUU #DEPRESSION SUCKS. HARRY PROBABLY ALSO HAS IT. BUT JEEESUS CHRIST #DONT YOU HAVE AN OCCUPATIONAL OBLIGATION OR SOMETHING #i would quit on the spot. you mean i have to go back to work with this asshole that wants me dead??

[beanghostprincess]

Just thinking about the fact Sora died because of the poison she drink to save her kids, because she is gentle and kind. And her only son who the desesperate act work is as kind as her.

But the StrawHats don't know she did that, this is something he don't have the courage to tell. And they know even less that Sanji is ready to do the same.

He isn't pround of that, but he ends up discovering the poison she drink and even have the recipe of how to do it. Because the germa soldiers teached them this and others poisons.

And this little fact is like a silent threat, a thing that if the crew discovers this, would be attentive about anything he drinks until they're certainly he's not gonna do the same thing his mother did.

And when the StrawHats learn about this fact, the exactly thing he expected happens, he notice Chopper and Robin always near the kitchen with the excuse of how's there was calmer, Nami and Usopp start to do his drinks for him or always are looking him while he's doing it, the others does things too. And Sanji notices all of this.

It's needed months to calm the crew, but still after they stop, all of them always have this fear in the back of they're minds (Luffy even goes as far as asking Law to do a check up on Sanji the next time they meet), that he will do this, but they want to believe he will not. They really want to.

(Just a thought that come to my mind yesterday, and I wanted to share, y'know? Based on some headcanons)

Oh, damn. This honestly hits close to home and it's really interesting so I wanna talk about it. But, you know, it's a serious topic so:

TW // Suicide, poison, self-harm, depression, etc etc you know the drill about Sanji and his issues. I don't go deep, tho, so It's not THAT explicit but could be triggering.

I think that after WCI and Wano, they'd all be worried. Sanji has always been pretty self-sacrificing with everyone and he doesn't value his life in the slightest. He doesn't show signs at first of being actively suicidal but the way he treats his own life makes it clear that he gets into self-sabotaging situations to the point of it being considered self-harm or even passive suicidal behavior. He just- Doesn't care about dying because he puts others first all the time. He has been doing that forever and Skypiea is just one of the times he does that. But, y'know, they never notice that. At least not everyone. I think Zoro is the first to know because of Thriller Bark, honestly. That's one of the biggest signs imo. But then they're separated and it's not like they can talk about it. Then two years happen and uh, shit goes downhill after that because WCI is just utterly traumatizing for Sanji and Wano makes everything worse to the point of asking Zoro to kill him if he loses himself. And we always say that's really gay (because it is) but we ignore the whole point of Sanji genuinely asking somebody to kill him without any fucking hesitation. And he spends all of Wano having the biggest crisis of his life wondering if he's human enough or worthy of being in the crew and???? What the actual fuck. Anyway, I think the crew ends up finding out about everything and I don't believe Sanji is well mentally after all of this. I know they don't write it like this because things are happening and they have to go to Egghead, but I think Sanji would end up really fucked up after WCI and Wano to the point of being worrisome.

If they do find out about the poison thing and Sanj's suicidal thoughts (honestly, I don't know how they would even find out about it unless Reiju tells them or Sanji snaps and yells about that, but, y'know. The point is that they know and Sanji is getting worse) I think you're completely right and they'd be all over him. Because that's exactly what happens when somebody acts this way. They look after him to a suffocating extent and watch his steps. They take turns to watch him. They prepare his drinks. They even make up something so he doesn't have to be on night watch so he can sleep, because he's probably not sleeping either. Or eating well, for that matter, which is what makes them all worry even more in the first place.

And hear me out, because I think he would try to do it. Like- Commit, I mean. Not gonna get into the topic too deep but I think he'd try and I think it wouldn't work because somebody would help him right away and I think he'd try to play it off as a mistake and a misunderstanding, but everyone would know. And he'd just try to ignore their pep talks and interventions.

This is projecting from personal experience and everyone goes through these things differently, but God, I think he'd fucking hate it if they looked after him. Because he knows he won't do it again. At least he doesn't want to do it again. But everybody keeps looking after him like he's about to break at any moment and it's so damn annoying to not have any type of privacy because they think he's gonna off himself the second he's alone. And he gets why they're doing it and appreciates their efforts to look after him, but acting this way is not the answer to his problems. It's just asphyxiating and it isn't helping him get better. You know how the crew is, they're NOT subtle and careful with anything and they're just-- They have good intentions but it's suffocating and he can't handle it anymore.

And I think he'd snap. I actually want to write a fic about this if you let me use your idea (I will credit you, ofc) because I think it'd be great to make him snap at Nami, specifically, and then regret it completely.

Long story short because this is getting long: I think Brook and Robin would end up talking things out with him because they're the ones who understand him the most in this situation. He'd apologize to Nami but also everyone else would apologize too for acting this way, they were just worried and wanted to look after him. I think, after this, the only ones watching Sanji would be Brook and Robin and they'd do it carefully, supporting him and helping him get better. And the whole crew would be next to him along the way but doing it with less assertiveness and just gentler.

I think the concept of Sanji thinking about death so often is great because it adds depth to his character and it's not a crazy thought. I think it's pretty damn canon, actually. At least him being careless about his own life.

#so i never talk about these things here bc trauma but i've gone through shit like this and people don't let me go near medication alone #and it's been YEARS #and it's only stressful because they don't let you do anything on your own once shit like this happens and you lose all sense of privacy #like your whole identity and intimacy you could have fades away and i understand why sanji would snap at them #i think he'd regret it right away and he'd apologize and nami would understand perfectly but damn it hurts anyway #i could go deeper on this analysis but idk if it's a topic i should talk about on tumblr bc it's triggering for some #i think you understood what i wanted to say tho #he gets better dw #robin and brook are like- obviously the ones who have gone through shit like this ofc they'd understand him #anyway i always love to talk about sanji's mental health issues #he's very depressed has anxiety and probably bpd and an ed but that's a topic for another day #and he's also a sweetheart and deserves to be happy #we're all about positive thoughts here and i swear he gets better #one piece #black leg sanji #straw hat pirates #tw self destructive behavior #tw suicide #please be aware of the tags it's a really sensitive topic and i don't want any of you to be triggered :(

[icedteaandoldlace]

K, so as much as the rest of season 1 and the entirety of season 2 would suck with Cisco being dead, now that this thought is in my head, I can't stop thinking about how wild that would be if they literally killed him off for just that period of time, with the intention of bringing him back via Flashpoint and keeping him on for the rest of the show, but making the audience think he was gone for good for a whole entire season. That would've been CRAZY, yo.

#The Flash #Cisco Ramon #Barry Allen #obviously the whole thing with Dante would have to go out the window #because we didn't meet Dante until after Barry time traveled the first time #so there's no significance in killing him off if he hasn't even shown up yet #and because the big thing that Flashpoint changed about Cisco's life is now in fact Cisco being alive #so now instead of Barry returning from Flashpoint and finding Cisco depressed because his brother is dead #he's returning from Flashpoint and finding......Cisco? Alive??? #and Cisco's probably his usual bubbly self and like that's a good thing but also #Barry is freaking the fuck out because CISCO'S BEEN DEAD FOR OVER A YEAR AND NOW HE'S BACK LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED #and obviously has no idea he was murdered in another timeline and also!! neither does anyone else!! #Barry has gone overnight from being on a team full of other people grieving for Cisco #to being the ONLY person with memories of learning that he was dead and all the shock that came with that #and the funeral and the supporting each other and the trying to grow around grief #and now it's all just gone but he's still affected by that death even though it's been undone now and NO ONE understands what he's feeling #and of course he's probably also really worried about losing him again #and since Dante's death was one of his big motivations in canon for not altering the timeline again after Flashpoint #(because causing that and irreversibly hurting Cisco was the biggest and worst consequence of altering the timeline) #in THIS version it's kind of the opposite #in canon he vowed not to change the past again because he saw the harm it could do to people in the present #but this time it's because he accidentally made his life in the present better by bringing Cisco back #and now he's terrified that if he changes another detail from the past Cisco will go back to being dead #and he can't risk letting that happen #it was hard enough going through that the first time #and he's just been through having to let Thawne re-kill his mom which led to Zoom re-killing his dad #and maybe getting Cisco back is a fluke in the universe and it wasn't supposed to happen #but if life will let him have this one bit of relief by gosh he's not gonna do anything to mess it up #(then of course Cisco's gonna piece it all together eventually when his powers finally kick in and hooooo boy is THAT gonna be a ride)

[transgenderfivepebbles]

gabriel yesod lobotomycorp loves winter i think. can stay fully covered and no one questions it. being able to focus better because cold weather clears his head. no getting wet and gross from sweat. crisp, clean white snow everywhere. excuse to stay in and chill without having to deal with the noise and irrational standards of other people. no bug bites to worry about getting infections from. it is his natural habitat

#ramblings #yesod lobcorp #definitely not projecting rn <3 #he probably refuses to attend holiday parties though #my boy would rather die than share a room and food with so many people at once #i think daniel/chesed would also be a winter enjoyer. he would love to sit inside with a warm cup of coffee and look out the window #malkuth is 100% an autumn fan though shes like if the smell of cinammon were a person #netz hates the heat but he also has seasonal depression so he ends up just being kind of sad year-round :( #chesed would invite him over to hang out to cheer him up though #this has been my sephirot season opinions ted talk thanks for watching like and subscribe

[sage-nebula]

Notes: I've been replaying Night in the Woods and I'm unable to get this little crossover idea out of my head. Set after Sonic Frontiers and after the main storyline of Night in the Woods, and slight AU where Tails is 11 or 12 instead of 8, so he can be closer in age to Lori, who is canonically 14 (I want him to have a friend closer to his own age). The idea here is that Tails has happened upon the tiny town of Possum Springs in his travels, and for some reason or another decides to crash there for a while, both literally and figuratively. For those who haven't played Night in the Woods, all you have to know is that Lori is a 14yo mouse who loves horror movies and lives out by the train tracks, on Chestnut Street.

- - -

It was weird, how peaceful and comforting just lying in the dirt could be. Tails stretched his legs out, letting his heels thump against the metal rail of the train tracks, and a similar thump from behind him told him Lori had done the same on the other side. They stretched out between the two sets of tracks, facing opposite directions, their heads next to each other. The sky above was grey and thick with clouds. Every now and again, a drop of rain fell and splattered against Tails’ forehead. For some reason, he didn’t mind much.

“I like going to sleep out here sometimes,” Lori said. Tails tilted his head to look at her, but she was staring up at the sky above. He tilted his head back to do the same. “The excitement of the trains rushing by makes it easier to sleep. I just pretend like I’m homeless, and go to sleep.”

“I was homeless once,” Tails said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, for a few years when I was little. My brother and I just . . . wandered around.” And fought badniks and Eggman’s mechas and— “It took a few years for us to get my first workshop.”

“And then you lived in a workshop?”

“It has a house area too, with a bed and a kitchen and stuff. But I really wanted a place to be able to store my tools and work on my inventions, and we needed a hangar to keep the Tornado out of the rain so she wouldn’t rust.”

“I thought your plane was called the Cyclone?”

“Mine is. Sonic’s is the Tornado. She’s back home, unless he took her out recently.”

“Oh, gotcha.”

The ground rumbled, the vibrations cruising up Tails’ spine and through his ribs, and he pulled his feet off the tracks. Moments later a train rushed down them, and from the gust of wind that kicked up behind him, he knew one was passing by on the other side of his head, too. It took a few minutes, but when the train passed, both Tails and Lori stretched their legs out again, letting their feet clatter against the train tracks.

“Was it hard?” Lori asked after a moment.

“Was what hard?”

“Being homeless. I’ve always wondered what it was like. You know, when I’m laying out here sleeping.”

“Not really? I was really little, so I didn’t do too much. Sonic took care of everything; I just followed him.” Because even back then, he was a follower. He just tagged along, not a thought or care in the world about the burden he was imposing on Sonic by doing so. Sonic had never complained—at least, not to Tails directly. But then, he wouldn’t, would he? Even though he had only been eleven himself. Even though they’d had to hustle pool to get enough money for food, something Tails had thought had been fun at the time, although it must’ve been stressful for Sonic, far more than just caring for himself had been. Tails laid his arms across the coiling guilt in his stomach, and closed his eyes as a raindrop splattered against his forehead. “Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“Why did you?”

Tails shrugged, as best he could while still lying on the ground. “It was just . . . better than where I was, I guess. And I wanted things to be better. I wanted to be better.” And he still did, and still wasn’t.

“It was better being homeless?”

“Yeah.”

“What about your parents?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Oh.” A beat of silence, then, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be prying. I won’t do it again. I’m sorry, I’m—”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Tails pushed himself up on his elbows to look over at her, but Lori was very determinedly not looking at him, staring up at the sky as she took in shallow breaths. “I don’t mind, it’s fine. They disappeared a long time ago. I don’t even remember what they looked like. It’s okay. Okay?”

“Mm.” Lori gulped down a few more breaths of anxious air, still not looking at him, her whiskers twitching as her fingers toyed with the zipper on her jacket. Tails laid back down, figuring it was probably better to let Lori calm down on her own, rather than try to force her to.

It never helped when people tried to badger him out of panic attacks, after all.

The ground rumbled beneath them again, and as one they pulled their feet back from the tracks. The wind that gusted over them was nice; it ruffled through Tails’ fur not unlike the wind that teased it when Sonic sprinted past, although thinking of that made a bittersweet pang take root in his chest. He pushed it away.

When the trains passed, and they had their feet on the tracks again, Lori spoke again. “My mom’s gone, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My dad’s still here, though. When he hasn’t been drinking.”

Tails frowned. “That’s . . . not great.”

“No. But it means I can go wherever I want, at least. That’s kinda cool.”

“I guess.” Tails scuffed the heel of his shoe against the rail of the train tracks. “Is there anywhere you want to go? Away from Possum Springs, I mean. I could take you in the Cyclone.”

“I’ve got school tomorrow.”

“We could be back by tomorrow.”

Lori hummed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.”

Comfortable silence fell again. Tails could hear birds twittering in the trees nearby, and the distant woosh of cars driving down the street.

“What about you?” Lori asked. “Where do you want to go after this? Back home?”

“No,” Tails said, even as he had to swallow against the yearning he felt to fall asleep to the sound of the Mystic Ruins waterfall, or the comforting smell of metal and oil from his workshop. “Not yet.”

“When, do you think?”

“I don’t know.” When I’m better.

“Hm. Well.” Lori shifted, and when Tails looked over he saw that she was looking at him from the corner of her eye. “I think it’s cool if you want to hang out here for a while. It’s nice to have someone to talk to when Mae’s busy.”

“Yeah.” Tails smiled a little, despite himself. “You’re fun to hang out with.”

Lori grinned, and pulled her feet back off the tracks. Tails did the same, and they watched the trains rush by on either side of them.

#night in the woods #miles tails prower #lori meyers #sonic frontiers spoilers #(vague spoilers at least) #this boy has depression and anxiety #so what better place for him is there than the dying town where everyone else also has depression and anxiety #(and sometimes bipolar and psychosis) #therapy. therapy is probably the better place. but this works too #i just think that Tails and Lori M would make good friends #(and like I know he's canonically 8 and she's canonically 14 but) #(i've played both games. they ACT the same age) #(so I'm just nudging their ages closer together to make it make sense) #(because I think they could have a sweet friendship even tho she doesn't have much interest in STEM and he doesn't have interest in horror) #(they can still appreciate each other. they've got similar vibes in common) #(let them be pen pals when he leaves) #fic fix #Tails: ''maybe I shouldn't have imposed myself on Sonic. that was wrong of me. I made his life more difficult'' #Sonic somewhere in the distance: ''what the fuck are you even talking about'' #sth