#and also to make conspiracy theorists seem crazy

[redheadedbrunette]

Cool so I reread the series and I noticed a lot more than I did the first two times I read it which is fun. The relationship between Ben and Erica is more explored than I remembered which is good and I can definitely see her character arc a lot clearer.

X is still my least favorite book and there’s absolutely a corner that Gibbs wrote himself into on that one unless he’s entirely giving up on the idea of having Ben and co. be secret agents.

Ben’s a lot more of a competent spy than I remember too, which is refreshing.

I also completely forgot that all 10 of these books happen in the span of like a year and a half which is hilarious.

Oh and the age gap seems like something that would be a lot more of an issue if there weren’t only like 300 people in the world they could have contact with. Even Erica and Josh had a bit of a gap since she had to have been 14/15 or so while he was 17/18. A gap of 2.5 years would be problematic for normal kids but I think different rules would apply.

I'm so glad it was clearer on a second go around! Honestly, I didn't even really see it all that clearly until I reread the series a couple years ago (SSAS came out my first week of college) and had a lot more experience with how stories work on a fundamental idea. Erica's development is very much in the background, but when you're looking for it (excluding SSPX, but that's a different rant) it's so clear and interesting and I love it.

SSPX bothers me for SO MANY REASONS the biggest of which is that Mr. Gibbs puts the message before the overarching plot of everything, and then! It's not even a relevant message! Like, what twelve year old is hardcore believing QAnon (it's pretty obviously meant to be that or something similar). I feel like something could have been achieved and a message about privacy, like Murray makes getting a video of Ben part of some TikTok knockoff challenge, because that seems like a much more likely thing kids would do, but gotta make fun of people who remember what the news said two years ago and comparing it to what they say now! Can't have people with good memories! But yeah, it does shoot the series in the foot kind of, and I understand the reasoning behind why things were done the way they were! I just don't agree with it most of the time.

It's even funnier when you realize that it's not a year and a half evenly spread out, it's one mission his first year with five months before summer, one that summer, and seven his second year. Eight if you want to count SSGS and SSBI as different missions (I go back and forth as to whether or not I do). It's so funny. Please give poor Ben a break.

And yes! Ben is actually so much more competent than people seem to give him credit for sometimes. It's just that his skill set tends to be less flashy and useful in battle scenes, but he's very much the chess master of the group. He's the one planning and strategizing, and all the karate moves in the world aren't going to do you any good if you can't actually foil the plans.

My reasoning for why I'm okay with the age gap is because the narrative treats them as equals who are more or less in the same place in life. Like, yes she's two classes ahead of him, but for all intents and purposes, they're teamed up together constantly with others in Ben's class and I think Erica is the only one we really know about in her class (can't remember Chip's age, but he might be? idk, doesn't really matter). It's never dwelt on, and it bothers me when people try to make a deal about it! Like, they're not going to be in the same place in their lives forever. It's high school. Almost no one marries the person they dated in high school. I've long held that they'd break up sometimes after Erica graduates and starts her adult life while Ben is still in school (or something similar depending on how Mr. Gibbs decides to do things moving forward).

[grimalkinmessor]

At the risk of revealing that I'm a Crazy Conspiracy Theorist I really do think that the biggest reason Hollywood seems to hate youtubers and wants nothing to do with them is because they are infinitely harder to control. People usually have to pay their dues to become famous, usually have to sign their damn soul away or do crazy awful shit in order to get a hand up—but you can't threaten obscurity to someone who already has a large fan base. Who is, in a lot of ways, already famous. A while back Mark talked about his time at a red carpet gathering and how no one would look at him or pay attention to him; almost like he was getting deliberately snubbed for being a youtuber. And yeah a lot of it is probably also the fact that "real" actors and directors don't see youtuber creations as valuable or Real Art, but I also think that a big part of that hostility is that he's not tied to it like they are. They can't make him do anything. Which, again I'm theorizing, is why I think Iron Lung is getting clotheslined. Because you know damn well that if Mark has enough money to produce it himself, then he has enough to advertise and release it himself. But he can't. For Some Reason. He's got to jump through hoops first because, well.

It really is all about control.

[ylangelegy]

I WANT YOU MORE THAN ANY BLUE SKY .ᐟ 🌧️

In a version of Seoul where it's always raining, eight boys navigate what it means to live and love despite the crazy weather. This STRAY KIDS x READER series is inspired by Makoto Shinkai's Weathering With You (2019).

LATEST: 0/8. TAG: #ylangelegy blue sky. SKZFLIX GIFS ARE BY MINHO-KNOWS.

THIS IS THE STORY ABOUT THE WORLD'S SECRET THAT ONLY THEY AND I KNOW . . .

SILVER LINING ☔︎︎ FEATURING CHAN.

This is probably the worst time in history to be a meteorologist. Chan feels dissatisfied in his job as a weatherman─ that is, until he meets you. He has a lot of questions about the world, and you seem to have all the answers.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

HIGH WATER ☔︎︎ FEATURING MINHO.

The thing about following your passion is that it doesn't always pay the bills. Minho tells himself that, over and over again, as he works part-time just so he can keep on performing guilt-free. The most challenging part of his side job, though, is going through flood-prone places─ like yours.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

FAIR-WEATHERED ☔︎︎ FEATURING CHANGBIN.

A lot of people consider Changbin to be something akin to a modern-day Prince Charming. Even though his firefighting has since been rendered moot by the downpour, he continues to find purpose in his work. If only he could also remember to save you sometimes, too.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

CAT & DOGS ☔︎︎ FEATURING HYUNJIN.

When Hyunjin's favorite fashion designer hosts a contest, he knows that it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He will stop at nothing to secure the prize of apprenticeship. And, yes, that includes beating out you─ his closest rival in the industry.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS ☔︎︎ FEATURING JISUNG.

Rookie cop during the day, conspiracy theorist during the night. That's Jisung. He's pretty convinced he can find the solution to this [shit]storm. Somehow, you find yourself roped in to his antics.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

BEFORE THE STORM ☔︎︎ FEATURING FELIX.

There's something wrong with the co-owner of the bakery down your street. Scratch that. Not wrong. Felix is a sweet enough guy who makes the best baked goods in the city. It's just─ he always seems a little bit sad, doesn't he?

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

RAIN CHECK ☔︎︎ FEATURING SEUNGMIN.

A large part of Seungmin is stuck in the past. He dreams of days gone by, of dry baseball fields, of the sun beating down on him as he pitches. And, of course─ he dreams of everything that he could have had with you.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

UNDER THE WEATHER ☔︎︎ FEATURING JEONGIN.

There isn't a time where Jeongin hasn't been sick. This terrible weather hasn't been doing him any favors, and he's seen you─ his neighborhood pharmacist─ more than he's seen some of his friends. Oh, well. At least you're cute.

⛈️ TAGS & WORD COUNT TBA.

DON'T SWEAT IT. THE WORLD HAS ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY, ANYWAY.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first ever series! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و I think it's worth noting that characters will not be published in age order. Updates will come as inspiration does (lol), but I'm aiming to have this all done before the end of the year. I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I enjoy plotting and writing.

WANT TO BE TAGGED FOR UPDATES?

Leave a reply indicating which members you want to be tagged for! If you want to be tagged for all stories in the series, that's also welcome! ☀️

[the-phoenix-heart]

okay so I've been spending a lot of time thinking about Harry Potter recently and trolling the wiki for reasons and I have the weirdest observation about the series.

What is JKR's deal with Ravenclaw women?

I mean consider our main Ravenclaw girls: Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang (and Marietta Edgecombe). Luna in the movies is portrayed as whimsically queer, and that's not inaccurate to the books, but in the books she is more often a punchline than anything. She's a parody of the Ravenclaw ideals of creativity and openminded-ness to the point where she believes crazy conspiracy theories.

But she's our most positively portrayed Ravenclaw. Which is more than I can say for Cho and Marietta. Cho is portrayed as a pitiable character, someone so emotional and loyal that she is sympathetic, but the narrative portrays her overemotional nature and loyalty as bad traits. She's so emotional she'll blow up over perceived threats, and dwells on trauma, and it makes her a drag to talk to. And her loyalty is a bad thing because she chooses to be loyal to Marietta. Marietta is ESPECIALLY treated awfully. Marietta is scared for her mother's job that she rats out the DA and for her choice she is forever branded a traitor at 16, and this is completely justifiable. Like, if Hermione can jinx a paper to disfigure a person's face than couldn't she just jinx the paper to make it physically impossible to reveal the DA, except perhaps under the influence of veritaserum? Like the film did? But no, Hermione is instead more preoccupied with punishing than preventing (an insane thing for me to say, I'm sorry Hermione it's not your fault that your author is kinda insane about women).

(And just as a sidebar but Marietta is also given an illustration that makes it clear she was kinda ugly before the pimples which is so rude, but also so like JKR.)

Then you have very minor characters like Padma who are just generally portrayed as kinda bitchy. Padma gets off better than her sister in terms of being treated as bitchy, but it seems like Padma always carries the stigma of being disappointed by Ron at the Yule Ball.

But this goes back even FURTHER, to the oldest Ravenclaw student we are introduced to, Helena Ravenclaw.

In the films, again, Helena's scene with Harry is haunting. She's treated with respect and tragedy (almost all of the dialogue in the film is original). But in the books, yes we actually get her tragic backstory, but she is portrayed as haughty, vain, and prideful.

You can also add in Trelawney there as a Ravenclaw who is treated like a joke (crazy* and alcoholic).

And consider that the two women we know were almost in Ravenclaw, Hermione and McGonagall, end up going to Gryffindor and are portrayed as better off for it.

And like there is more to explore here. The four Ravenclaw men we really get to know are Filius, Ollivander, Xenophilius, and Lockhart. Xenpohilius is a conspiracy theorist (and a death eater sympathizer I just know it) and Lockhart is a buffoon who only really upholds the Ravenclaw wit and is skilled at memory charms.

(There's this crazy part of the Ravenclaw wiki page that actually compares Lockhart to Cho Chang because they both wanted to be popular. WHAT.)

Meanwhile you have Ollivander who is a positive Ravenclaw character, but is also barely in the books and Filius Flitwick. And Filius is a positive character but it is also canon that the Sorting Hat almost put him in Gryffindor, which seems like a pointed attempt to make it clear he's better than most Ravenclaws. Because he's got something of a Gryffindor edge to him.

I don't really know what the whole point of me going on this rant was about, other than just to point out that JKR is weird about Ravenclaws and the women in general. Almost all of them aren't allowed to actually uphold the actual values of their house: Wisdom, Intelligence, Learning. The only traits they ever really uphold is Wit if they are popular and Creativity, which seems to be a nice way of saying they're crazy conspiracy theorists. The only characters that really get anything good out of the house are Minerva and Hermione, and them being hatstalls is only meant to emphasize their intelligence in comparison to their Gryffindor peers. Otherwise Ravenclaw seems to just be JKR's go to bitchy/we need a villain who isn't Slytherin house.

*When I say "crazy" in this post I am referring to how JKR treats the characters. Babbling, loony, conspiratorial, and not in their right minds.

[xxskyethetiredemoxx]

Honestly I don't wanna get my hopes up about MCR5, in case it really isn't real. The more posts I see on here, the more likely it seems. But also it might just be a bunch of fans being crazy conspiracy theorists, and knowing the mcr fandom, that's very likely.

Also like if they don't wanna release new music, they shouldn't have to? Like the whole point of the band is that they do what they want and what makes them happy. Not just what the fans want from them. That's why they split up in the first place — they weren't happy with the way things were going.

Still, hope they release new music, cause holy fuck.

[blood-orange-juice]

Other characters about Arle.

Scaramouche:

Childe:

From what I've seen she does seem unhinged but in a, uhm... reasonable and tolerable way? What she does seems like necessary cruelty. Both guys are not exactly reliable narrators but I'm still curious if there's something about her that we will find out later. Or maybe her crazyness is a performance for colleagues and nothing else.

There's the Commedia dell'arte trope of Arlecchino serving two masters, but if she simply wants to save Fontaine it's a beautiful and relatable goal, there's nothing wrong with that. Alternative theory: she's loyal to Narcissenkreuz, not Fontaine.

(Narcissenkreuzers are everywhere, just like Rosenkreuzers irl. consider me a conspiracy theorist)

I'm also fascinated by the things she says to the House of Hearth kids. "True understanding can only be found, not sought" to a neurodivergent girl trying to fit it. "No one needs self-satisfied concern" to a guy with a savior complex. These are all not things intended for tying people to her, these are things to make them stronger and set them free. Their loyalty to her comes from a place of gratitude, not fear, they weren't coerced into it. Before the siblings' appearance I contemplated whether she could be a yandere, sweet to her followers and horrible to everyone who dares abandon her. This is something more interesting.

Siblings' lines about her.

Lynette:

Lyney:

Also Lyney mentioning somewhere in the 4.1 quest that she has a very unique view on what can and cannot be sacrificed.

Freminet:

Also she personally saved each one of them.

Their loyalty is so beautiful and genuine, and so sick and twisted at the same time. I want to see more of this.

So far she seems like a character who values survival over everything with a bit of a "strict asian parent" mixed in. Ruthless but not crazy. I wonder if it changes in next patches.

(I have an undestroyable headcanon that Childe has good intuition about people. he would have loved someone acting like a strict dad and he would respect a focus on survival. if he doesn't like her it means she is something else entirely)

I also wonder what happens to kids who are unfit for military/spying. I mean, there's Freminet but he's an engineer and a diver. Would a simple cook do all right in HoH?

[multifandomfanficss]

Stuck With You

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: When the team sticks their newest member with Vigilante, everyone feels bad for you, but you’re grateful to have him around when you run into something from your past and lose your cool.

Warnings: panic attacks, human experimentation, referenced child abuse

A/N: I found a couple lines of dialogue in my drafts that I never did anything with and I had the writing bug today so I decided to finally make something with it! I’ll crosspost it on my AO3 adriansglasses as well. Hope you enjoy!

“(L/N), you’re with Vigilante.” Harcourt says, at the beginning of the meeting.

“You’re really gonna stick the newest person with that psycho?” John asks.

“You don’t need to be mean to Adrian just because he’s not here.” Leota starts.

“I would say it to his face too. He’d probably just laugh and call me his 4th best friend.” John retorts.

You hadn’t been with the team for long. This was your first mission with them. After a mission gone too out of control, Waller sent you to the middle of nowhere Evergreen, Washington. You thought she’d sent you here because the environment would be less hectic, but the longer you’re there, the more you realize she probably sent you here because everyone on this team is either highly traumatized or in need of more experience. She was trying to put the training wheels back on. From what you’d been told by the team’s top conspiracy theorist, Christopher Smith, this team was originally supposed to be an expendable scapegoat, but they ended up saving the world. You had no idea what to believe at this point.

“What’s up with Vigilante?” You ask, wondering why this was all such a hot topic. You hadn’t known him for long. He seemed a little odd, but overall fine. If you were being honest you actually kind of liked him. He was sweet and funny, often without trying. There was this comforting air about him and you didn’t really know why. He was a good fighter and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t think he was at least a little bit cute.

“He’s a little…” Chris started moving his finger in a circular motion, trying to insinuate that Adrian was crazy.

“He can’t be that bad.” You smile.

Suddenly Adrian comes running into the old video store tripping over one of his shin guards that wasn’t on properly. He sits down and fastens it.

“Sorry I’m late, guys. They kept me late at the restaurant and then when I was trying to put on my suit in the car I accidentally ran a red light and usually I would kill somebody for that, but I mean I think the more important thing is that I didn’t run over the old lady crossing the street! She was totally fine and I know she’s alive because she screamed at me…I’ve never seen an old lady use to many swear words. It was kind of awesome! Anyway what did I miss?”

“You put on your suit while driving?” Leota asks.

“Yup.” He gives a straight face nod. Adrian often had a way about him, as if what he was thinking should be obvious to other people, when in fact, it was not obvious to most people most of the time.

“You amaze me.” Harcourt says, sarcastically.

“Thank you.” Adrian smiles, not catching her sarcasm.

She rolls her eyes, sighing.

———————————————————————

Later on that night you and Adrian found yourselves walking through a series of tunnels.

“John, I think we might be lost.” You spoke into your coms, hoping he can help you from the van.

“I can’t even hear you in my earpiece and I’m right next to you. I think we lost the signal.” Adrian walks in silence for a few seconds before adding, “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” He looks at the ground, sad.

“What are you talking about?”

“I know they stuck you with me. Nobody ever really chooses to be my partner.” He lightly kicks a rock, pretending not to be bothered.

“They did pair us up, but that doesn’t mean I was disappointed.” You smile.

“Really? Why would you want me?”

“Well first of all, you’re a great fighter. You were also the first person to attempt to be my friend. I’d trust you in the field over anyone.”

“Really?” You can hear the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah.” You let out a soft giggle. “Why are you so surprised that I like you?”

“Usually everyone just tells me to shut up or fuck off.”

“Well I’m not everyone.” You nudge him playfully as you walk.

Soon you come upon a door. It’s a little rusted, but Adrian shoots the lock off and you’re able to break in.

“What is this place?” He asks.

As soon as you walk inside you see the tubes, the files, the devices, the tables, the symbols. You know exactly what this is. This is an old facility for the for the group that made you leave your old job, the mission that ruined your life. You see files on the table, files no doubt full of details on the children they were experimenting on. The group would take orphaned children or children who were abandoned and unwanted, kids who had no one to protect them, and they would experiment on them. They were human trials to try to find new ways of making superheroes. This must have been one of their old abandoned facilities. Despite the lab being inactive, just the sight of it was still enough to send you into a spiral.

Your heart starts beating rapidly as you grow dizzy. You look down at your shaking hands. You’re starting to lose control of your breathing.

“I- I can’t-“ You walk backwards out of the room, starting to hyperventilate.

“Woah. Hey, what’s going on? Are you having a panic attack?” Adrian slowly puts his hands out towards you. He’s a little unsure of what to do.

“I’ve seen this before!” Your entire world is spinning as your start to cry. You can’t stop thinking about the awful things you saw when you snuck into their active facility earlier this year. Those poor children. Part of you was starting to wonder if Waller put you on this team for a reason. You should have known better than to think she was giving you a break. Waller always had some sort of fucked up motive that only worked for herself hidden up her sleeve. “I can’t fucking breathe!” You sob, sucking in air.

“Tender nice touching.” Adrian slowly approached you, patting your shoulder. You needed pressure on your body. You felt like you were slipping away from earth and you needed to be held down.

“Can I have a hug?” You asked, quietly.

“You want a hug?” He asked, his voice just as quiet. He was speaking softly to not startle you further.

“Yeah…”

“I think I can do that.“ He smiles, slowly bringing you into his arms. A little loose at first, he tightened the hug as you melted into him.

“I’m sorry- I- I just…I know what the did here and- and-“ Adrian shushes you as you begin to stutter, your mind moving much faster than your mouth is able to.

“You’re okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Just breathe with me. Don’t focus on anything else, but your breathing okay? Can you feel me breathing?” He rubs your back as you cry into his arms. You nod. “Okay, good. Just…just follow that.” He sighs and then focuses on making his own breathing something you can follow.

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to know what people on the team want because I know Chris doesn’t wanna look weak and Harcourt would kill me if I touched her, so I try to be careful. I just don’t wanna upset you guys more, but if you want me hold you I can keep doing that. Just let me know what you need and I’ll do it.” He says, softly.

“Can you just keep talking?” You ask. The sound of his voice is soothing and grounding.

“You want me to keep talking?” He smiles. “You’re in luck. I’m actually really good at talking. So good, in fact, that people are constantly asking me to shut up. So uh… What can I talk about? Oh! I know. So I have this friend at work. His name is Taylor. Well, he says we’re not friends, but he texts me all time time asking me to help cover his shifts and I would only trust a friend enough to ask them for that, so I think we’re friends. Anyway, so Taylor walked in this morning and…”

The longer Adrian rambles on the better you feel. The pressure of his body on yours and his voice slowly bring you back to earth. Eventually you find yourselves walking back through the tunnels, hand in hand, retracing your steps as he guides you back to the van to regroup. He keeps you distracted with silly stories the entire walk back.

You don’t know what the rest of your team was talking about. Adrian was the best partner you could have had.

[georgiapeach30513]

I'll be honest, while Deuxmoi always and still does post a ton of BS, thanks to the development of this never-ending saga...I'm starting to really feel like she's been used intentionally to push this narrative along all the way from the very beginning. Aka 2021.

A very out there theory but hear me out: Early on, the fandom had the general consensus DM was BS. Especially in regards to CE. Because DM was the one that first started spreading his super secret GF nonsense back in 2021, right before the introduction of Soba Saga. Her almost nonsensical rants about her having legit sources on this secret GF - while doing weekly podcasts where she insisted she never got any intel on him because his circle was so tight knit (interesting how that suddenly changed out of nowhere when someone showed up) - just made her seem like crazy cat lady gossip conspiracy Marjorie Taylor Greene on steroids.

She was the first to post that "dating Soba for over a year and everyone in PT/her circle knows about it" in early 2022.

They go public in late 2022. 2023 There's some Sunday Spotted (I could be wrong) vDAY post about CE and "fiancé" being seen in town at dinner (sounds very similar to the most recent vDay sighting). That was about 10 months before the super secret wedding and there had been no announcement of being engaged, minus the Tumblr blogs and random third rate tabloids and troll twitter accounts passing on the rumors. DM starts spreading around the same time some Tumblr blogs get the intel about secret engagement, wedding, rift in the family, people on his side not liking Soba, etc. Eventually it is revealed DM was right all along???? In a complete turn of events her credibility goes from zero to 1 (grudgingly of course, while she continues to spill BS daily)

Meanwhile, DM gets the first RPatz sighting with Scarlett and crew at dinner. Nobody believed it - as Nancy mentioned, it just seemed too farfetched with the way that restaurant was set up.

Then in early 2024 we get an actual RPatz sighting with with Soba/CE, and separately, sightings with Scarlett and Colin. Now there's more "credibility" to that random other sighting even if it still can't be proven.

Now...possible project with RPatz and CE's name circulating. Maybe just gossip fodder, maybe some truth to it. Time will tell. Coincidences once again.

DM gets the sighting of CE in LA with Russos. He actually confirms that one himself a month later.

Simultaneously, DM gets random sightings of CE doing other stuff where soba is not mentioned. Nobody knows really what to believe anymore.

But for every 15 BS things she posts, she actually gets 1-2 right. It starts to completely make her a hit or miss source but enough to get people riled up and worried if/when she gets something related to CE/Soba.

In a way, this strategy, if it were to have any salt to it, is kinda interesting. It also sort of enforces the idea of possible foul play. Because if CE is truly in such a happy, private, loveful relationship, why use somebody as uncouth as DM to throw out breadcrumbs? Especially since, in the past, his fanbase and most Tumblr blogs believed it was only legit if it came from someone like People Mag (his team's go-to). Ironically, Page 6 has been getting most of the exclusive scoops this time around, in addition to weird low rate tabloids that eventually make its way to the top.

I know I sound like crazy qanon conspiracy theorist, but I guess people see what they wanna see. But for the people who believe this relationship isn't as genuine as some want to believe, it kind of tracks that somebody's PR team pushing this out in ways to sort of make you wonder, question, and push back on the validity. Just enough to make you think, maybe, maybe there's something going on BTS that they're not saying but they're kinda telling. But you'll never know what the truth is. At least not for now.

I do find DM’s role since 2023 to be very interesting indeed. You missed nothing. Not one thing. She’s made herself be credible enough during this, but also, she’s questionable. So of course, take everything she says with a grain of salt.

I made this comment a bit ago to someone else, he still uses People. Who got the Jinx articles first. Think about that for a moment. He. Just him.

As far as the last paragraph, what I will say is celebrities need to be talked about. Good or bad, they need the press. They need to be in the front of people’s minds. What better way to have them in people’s minds, and to have fans talk about something long past their expiration date than by playing a game. PR has become such a hot topic word, and I think very few people even understand it. But to me, if you’re having to play so many games, what really is real? Live your life. Isn’t that what we continue to be told they’re doing?

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

sooo nick neopia's poll ended a bit ago and he lost so allow me to yell a bunch of anti-propaganda about this guy to everyone who doesn't play neopets (mostly copied from this earlier post). this is the third time i'm posting a big infodump about him, i feel like a blorbo evangelist or something.

SO BASICALLY there’s this one neopets characters. the thing that makes him unique is that he exists outside of canon sort of, in the form of april fools pranks. he’s sort of become the neopets’ april fools mascot since he’s appeared in 3 pranks so far (2003, 2020, and 2023).

nick makes his debut as a kid in april fool’s 2003, where he serves as the tour guide for the new, revamped, totally radical NEOPETZ!!

the image speaks for itself i guess. unlike in later pranks, nick is sort of just a one-off joke here, but instead of being forgotten he became a small joke within the fandom. you might find a few neopian times (neopets’ online newspaper written by users) articles mentioning how the author (jokingly) despises him.

then 2020 rolls around, and nick finally makes an actual reappearance in april fools 2020! he’s now older and apparently knows more about web design. it seems like Neopetz might’ve been his idea, because he wants to redesign the site again, only this time he wants it to be more modern and exciting. which his idea of is apparently backwards text, randomized links, and the elusive “13D.” check out his press release (ft. comic sans and showcard gothic).

during this prank, the site would spin around, go upside down, etc. as nick redesigned it behind the scenes. could find any videos of it though </3

and finally, april fools 2023 (my favorite part!). nick has gotten pretty salty over his amazing ideas getting rejected by TNT, so he spent 3 years turning into a crazy conspiracy theorist, his main goal being to uncover whatever horrible secrets TNT has been hiding. so he launched a little “website” called the sceptic tank! you can still view it here but during april fools day, his ads would cover the site:

featuring a delightful always sunny reference ^_^

clicking on the sticky notes will present you with a different theory. you can read them all written out and look at his ads here.

he also guest starred on episode 3 of neopets’ podcast at the time, nosy neopians. click here to listen to him scream at two TNT members.

to sum it up he’s a crazy insufferable bastard man who thinks he’s a genius and i need him desperately despite that. he could have been a horrible sexyman if we tried hard enough. thx for reading yaayyy <3

Fascinating. And now I will know what you mean when you tag the wildest posts with "nick neopia"

[confuselibrarian]

Haunting Adeline is bad.

It only gained hype because of the controversial themes because the construction is crap. A poorly written book with shameful dialog and characters shallower than the drain in my sink. The book makes an effort to be profound, showing how cruel and dark the world is, but in the end it tries so hard that it's more like those One Direction fics kidnapping Y/N. Adeline herself as the protagonist seems to have come straight out of a Wattpad self insert. It's also unnecessarily long. There's no justification for this story being 600 pages long, let alone a sequel. If you take away all the unnacessary bullshit, the whole duology could fit into a single book.

Such a long book, but it still fails to introduce us to the basic concepts of the characters. So many things are poorly explained that they basically expect readers to accept just “because...”? For example, Zade's motivation? I finished the book without understanding his backstory and why he would go so far to do what he does. “That's because he's angry about the existence of child trafficking”, congratulations Zade, you're a normal person who is outraged by child violence, so what? One person finding abuse wrong (which in itself is ironic when it comes to Zade, given what he does to Adeline) isn't enough to justify everything he does. He ends up being the author's puppet for action and smuty kinky scenes, rather than a complex character.

Speaking of kinky, I see a lot of people (including the author apparently) who don't know the basic difference between fetish and abuse. All fetish and kinks, including cnc, needs to be done in a healthy, safe and consensual way. These are the basics of the practice and are non-negotiable. Practically all the sex scenes in this book that take place between Adeline and Zade fall into the dub-con (dubious consent) spectrum. Whether it's because he's forced himself on her, coerced her, manipulated her, etc., from the lightest to the heaviest, all the sex between them has a non-consensual aspect in addition to the disparity of power in the relationship that was not negotiated between them. So you can't use the excuse that it's a fetish so anything goes, because that's simply not the reality. If you let go of the dark romance for a second and actually research how this works, you'll quickly realize that the way this book deals with fetish is extremely off the mark.

Lastly, there's the issue of human/child trafficking. I see a lot of people criticize how graphic the scenes are, which for me wasn't a problem, but very few people talk about how the vision portrayed in the book refers to a line of thought that connect whit the crazy right-wing american conspiracy theorist mentality . Whenever there was a scene involving violence against children, I had the impression that H.D Carlton had studied the subject on the QAnom forum. Anyone who does the slightest bit of research on the subject knows that the main victims of this kind of violence are not the white suburban American children of the traditional family, as we see repeatedly portrayed through Zade's missions. It's not a black van that springs up in an upper-middle-class neighborhood and steals away a beloved child while their parents cry copiously over the loss. Those who are targeted are usually non-white, disabled children from very poor areas who are generally forgotten by the system. Not to mention that the book kind of implies that most of the guys involved in the dirty work of kidnapping the children are Mexicans and mestizos. These are the people we see Zade, the white guy, fighting against to save the day. Also I'm not Jewish so I can't say 100%, but the way the author constructed the secret society plus all the strange and conspiracy-oriented things in the book gave me an anti-Semitic vibe. The secret society in this book is literally a ctrl+c ctrl+v of Blood Libel. Maybe I'm going too far with my interpretation, but considering that the author literally had to put a disclaimer at the beginning that she has no connection with conspiracy theory groups, I don't think I'm so wrong to notice parallels.

[anonymous-dentist]

AU where:

Roier is the Federation’s newest agent, recently drafted out of Quesadilla Island’s police academy. He’s young and inexperienced and kinda super new to being a government agent.

He’s also the guy sent downstairs to work with the Federation’s least favorite employee, former genius and current crackpot conspiracy theorist Cellbit, who has spent the past six months of his employment holed up in the basement looking into things the Federation just really doesn’t need to be bothering with.

See, Cellbit believes in aliens. And the supernatural. And the existence of shady government agencies working from the shadows. He believes in them to much that he quit his old job working as a detective and joined forces with the Federation so he could prove the existence of the unexplained, so-called ‘enigmas’. Or, as the Federation labels them, ‘X-Files’.

But, recently, he’s kinda stopped going on missions. Instead, he’s been in his office, and he won’t leave his office.

But, well. Now he has Roier, doesn’t he? A plucky younger agent ready to go on his first field missions, what else could a crazy researcher ask for? So what if they’re going out investigating the impossible? It’s getting Cellbit out of the office, isn’t it?

(And perhaps Roier isn’t as inexperienced as he seems. Maybe he’s actually a psychologist brought in undercover and finding his morals very compromised because… well. Cellbit is very nice to look at. And he isn’t even crazy, he’s just sad and lonely, and if that makes someone insane, then Roier needs to be investigating himself, too.)

Or: the q!Cellbit Federation Arc/Project Bluebird X-Files au I’ll never end up writing

[breakonthroough]

One Piece Chapter 1126. Thoughts about Shank's expression.

Spoiler alert!

Well, I suddenly have a little theory about Shanks. More precisely about his reaction to the act of Bartolomeo, who prefer to drank poison instead to harm Luffy.

I'm generally talking about this expression on Redhead's face.

Some saw in this an irritation at Barto's unpredictable reaction, others saw boredom. But I saw in Shank's eyes sad thoughtfulness and absorption in his thoughts. Something like sad memories. Perhaps about some similar situation from his past. When he also faced a difficult choice and unlike Barto made it not in favor of the person he loved and respected. For some reason.

Now I will explain what I mean.

We all remember how very young Shanks cried bitterly next to Gol D. Roger, who had returned from Laugh Tale. And later suffered, seeing how the new Pirate King was getting worse from a mysterious illness. And we all remember about the origin of Shanks — that he is Figarland, according to the movie Red.

What do I want to say? If we put these details together, we can imagine a crazy conspiracy theory. What if Shanks (???) somehow poisoned or infected Roger (!!!), who just became a King of the Pirates. Poisoned his captain and possibly benefactor with something.

Sounds too crazy? Maybe.

But what if he was also offered a similar choice: to poison the most famous bearer of the initial D, a dangerous person who poses a real threat to peace and power? In exchange for what? Unknown. But presumably for freedom and the opportunity to live his own independent live, separate from the fate of God's knights, gorosei and tenryubito. But, most likely, there may be something personal here that we cannot even imagine yet.

And what if by committing this act at a young age Shanks doomed to an untimely death the man who most likely raised him and became his role model of real honor man? Who even having become the King of the Pirates and having learned the secrets of this world still could not take advantage of this, because he fell ill and preferred execution to a slow painful death.

However Roger outwitted everyone here too, marking the beginning of the era of Pirates.

I think Shanks must regret about this for the rest of his life. Because almost all of his further actions and the entire lifestyle that we were shown seem to be attempts to correct the terrible mistake of his youth and make amends to the world, at least through helping individual islands and peoples.

Of course all this is my personal speculation.

But such a terrible test for Bartolomeo could hardly have just occurred to such a supposedly kind and fair person like Shanks. Just out of a desire to test Luffy's most ardent fan and supporter for loyalty.

After all we have absolutely no idea yet of Redhair’s true goals and his true relationship directly to Luffy, Joyboy and Nika. I logically separate them, since Shanks may really be attached to the first one and beware the others. Since we don’t yet know what kind of threat they are may represent themselves in reality.

This leads to the second idea that Shanks tests the Straw Hats' supporters and friends (as Kuma tested Zoro) for loyalty and strength. So that in the likely future, when Nika is finally absorbed by Luffy’s personality, and only his strongest and most devoted friends will be nearby and help him cope with the uncontrollable will of the deity.

Also, developing the theory of poisoning, it is worth remembering about Whitebeard, who was slowly dying from some equally mysterious illness. He was also the strongest of people. And also, according to some theorists and their speculations, he was one of the last surviving buccaneers like Kuma.

If we assume that the World Government tried and is trying with all its might to prevent the most powerful and dangerous pirates from reaching Laugh Tale (the way to real power over the world), then the version of the mysterious poisoning (or infection) seems quite realistic. After all we already know about the variety of poisons and strange deadly diseases of this world.

Of course all of this is just my thoughts and assumptions, however something in new chapter prompted me to have this idea. So let's wait to see what Oda has in store for us next.

Just let him cook :)

Rus 👇

1126 глава. Мысли о Шанксе.

Что ж, у меня тут внезапно появилась небольшая теория насчёт Шанкса. Точнее, насчёт его реакции на поступок Бартоломео, выпившего яд, только чтобы не навредить Луффи.

Вот это выражение лица Рыжеволосого.

Кто-то увидел на его лице раздражение реакцией Барто, кто-то - скуку. А я увидела в его глазах печальную задумчивость и погруженность �� свои мысли. Что-то типа воспоминаний. Возможно, о какой-то схожей ситуации из его прошлого. Когда он также оказался перед сложным выбором, и, в отличие от Барто, сделал его не в пользу человека, которого любил и уважал. По каким-то своим причинам.

Сейчас поясню, что я имею в виду.

Все мы помним, как совсем юный Шанкс горько плакал рядом Гол Д. Роджером, вернувшимся с Лафтейла, и мучился, видя, как новому Королю Пиратов становится все хуже от загадочной болезни. А ещё все мы помним о происхождении Шанкса, о том, что он Фигарленд, согласно фильму Рэд.

Что я хочу сказать? Если собрать эти детали вместе, то можно предположить безумную теорию заговора. А что если когда-то Шанкс (???) отравил/заразил чем-то Роджера (!!!), главного претендента на статус Короля пиратов, действительно ставшего им впоследствии.

Но что если ему также был предложен похожий выбор: отравить самого знаменитого носителя инициала Ди, опасного человека, представляющего реальную угрозу миру и власти? В обмен на что? Неизвестно. Но, предположительно, на свободу и возможность жить своей независимой жизнью, отдельной от судьбы Божьих рыцарей, горосеев и тенрьюбито. Но, скорее всего, тут может быть что-то личное, о чем мы пока даже предположить не можем.

И что если, совершив этот поступок в молодом возрасте, Шанкс обрёк на преждевременную смерть человека, который, скорее всего, его воспитал и стал образцом для подражания? Который даже став Королем пиратов и узнав тайны этого мира, все равно уже не смог этим вос��ользоваться, потому что заболел и предпочел казнь медленной мучительной смерти. Однако Роджер и здесь всех перехитрил, подгадив мировому правительству и положив начало Эре Пиратов.

Думаю, Шанкс потом сожалел об этом всю жизнь. Ведь почти все его дальнейшие поступки и весь стиль жизни, который нам показывали, кажутся попытками исправить ужасную ошибку молодости и загладить вину перед миром хотя бы через помощь отдельным островам и народам. Разумеется, все это мои личные домыслы.

Но ведь такое жуткое испытание для Бартоломео вряд ли могло просто так прийти в голову такому якобы доброму и справедливому человеку, как Шанкс. Просто из желания проверить на вшивость самого горячего поклонника и сторонника Луффи. Ведь мы совершенно не представляем себе пока что истинных целей Рыжеволосого и его отношения непосредственно к Луффи, Джойбою и Нике (я их логично разделяю, так как Шанкс может действительно испытывать привязанность к первому и опасаться остальных. Так как мы пока не знаем, какую угрозу они могут из себя представлять в действительности).

Отсюда вытекает вторая идея, что Шанкс испытывает сторонников и друзей Мугивар (как Кума испытывал в свое время Зоро) на преданность и прочность. Чтобы в вероятном будущем, когда Ника окончательно поглотит личность Луффи, рядом оказались только самые сильные и преданные его друзья и помогли справиться с неуправляемой волей божества).

Также, развивая теорию отравлений, стоит вспомнить и про Белоуса, который медленно умирал от какого-то столь же загадочного недуга. А также являлся самым сильным из людей. И ещё, по мнению некоторых теоретиков, был так же, как и Кума, одним из последних выживших буканьеров. Если предположить, что мировое правительство старалось и старается всеми силами не допустить, чтобы самые сильные и опасные пираты добрались до Лафтейла (пути к реальной власти над миром), то версия загадочного отравления (или заражения) видится вполне себе реалистичной. Ведь мы уже знаем о разнообразии ядов и странных смертельных болезней этого мира.

В общем, все это разумеется мои размышления и предположения, однако, что-то в новой главе меня натолкнуло на подобные мысли.

Так что ждем, что Ода будет готовить дальше!

[hetalian-veteran]

Could Hetalia's Knights Templar still be alive?

Alright, bear with me. I'm going to go a little bit into conspiracy theory territory here.

So, I was beginning to wonder about the Knights Templar in Hetalia. While I don't believe it was ever explicitly stated that he died, it does seem to be implied in the comics. And while I can totally understand the idea of him being dead and gone, I'm not inclined to believe that this is exactly canon. This is partially due to the fact that I personally don't see something as canon unless it is explicitly stated in the text or shown through clear visuals. (i.e. someone literally telling us in the series that he's dead or seeing the Templar's dead body).

But I was thinking, what if he's somehow still alive and out there somewhere?

Granted, the Knights Templar were all hunted down, excommunicated, and in many cases even outright executed by the Catholic Church. This leads many to believe that aph Knights Templar went with them. And seeing as he was never a country, and rather a Christian military order, it would make sense for him to disappear with the order itself.

But here's the thing. There's a chance that the Knights Templar never really died. And I'm talking about both the aph character and the organization. And no, I'm not talking about revival movements that people have made. I'm talking about different groups that supposedly branched off of the Knights Templar after they were officially disbanded.

Some say the knights regrouped outside of Europe. Others say that there's evidence that they went and found sanctuary within Ireland or Scotland, and it was there that the Templars ended up establishing the Freemasons, which was, according to conspiracy theorists, just a rebrand. It was their way to live on and do their work without the Catholic Church butting in. And while I won't get into it now, there's at least some evidence out there to support these theories. But going into those will take way too long, and I fear I'm already sounding a bit crazy.

So, my conclusion is this; if the conspiracy theories are true, that would mean it's possible that aph Knights Templar could still be alive. As for where he is, no one knows. He's not a country, so he could really be anywhere. And if you think that he's no longer here because the name of the Knights Templar is no longer recognized as an organization, I should remind you that Prussia still existed as just the Teutonic Knights. A group that was also a Christian military order. And if the Teutonic Knights could change their name to Prussia, then wouldn't that mean others could do the same? I think so.

Any thoughts? I'm curious as to what other's think.

[fictionkinfessions]

ok. ok i do feel a little bad about this on the off chance that my guy is reading this and wondering why tf im putting him on blast. but also. i gotta get this off my chest holy f-

ok chat AITA? i (55 m) met my best friend (52 m) when we were both still in college. we really hit it off and were a crazy crime solving duo. i wouldn't have turned out a hero if it wasn't for him, and i definitely wouldn't have been able to do all the crazy awesome shit he helped me do. he pulled a kind of mad scientist trope, but made it classy and ethical. dude was kind of a full stop genius, and not only was he an engineer, he also was a groundbreaking dna scientist and a medical doctor. we got close, like, really close, but he was tragically straight. like, really straight. world's most heterosexualest man. i tried to take it gracefully, not pushing things, altho we had a few incidents that i can only really describe by saying, "eh it was college." 🥴

so, he's straight.

fast forward a bit and basically we both have crazy successful careers and he wins a nobel peace prize and is recognized for his genius and we both get super rich and mad famous. we're living fabulously, right? regular meetups, long letters, gifts in the mail, the whole nine.

he calls me up one day and is like, "hey, come visit, i have a daughter."

im like "YO" and i get my ass on a plane, and i meet my best friend's beautiful bouncing baby girl. my foot in mouth self asks about the kid's mom, and he seems really sad, and gives an evasive, nonspecific answer. i let it lie and kind of assume that the kid's mom died horribly, that it's too painful to speak of. in my line of work, tragic shit like that happened to people all the time. so i started visiting way more often, especially when the baby started crawling. now here's where it gets. confusing.

the kid popped out quirkless, which is really rare. it's a recessive trait, and something something the environment, it's like ridiculously rare for a quirkless kid to be born, ESPECIALLY if even one parent has a quirk. i talk to the kid about her lack of quirk status as she grows, she's chilling, has great resources and good self esteem. sometimes she asks about her mom, says she doesn't know her mom's quirk. i can only tell this kid that i never met her mom, never saw a picture of her, david has a wedding ring on but i never heard of no wedding. again, not the most uncommon, but it gets to be weird that there's no pictures. when i accidentally asked again, best friend shows me a bunch of childhood pictures of the kid, no mom, no wedding. best friend's parents are pictured, grandparenting this kid's situation up, but there's no inlaws or extended family of the mom. and this kid is bright, she asks some serious questions. so chat here's the real kicker.

the kid kinda looks like me.

like, not a ton, i guess, but she's got my hair color and kinda has my eyes. but it's subtle, and i assume im a conspiracy theorist for years. like, how and why, right?

so, fast forward again, im functioning as this kid's uncle, hauling a ton of gifts out for her every time i saw her for birthdays or holidays, and she gets old enough to start making jokes and Suspicious Comments. im like lollerskates wut. wut do u mean. but she never clarifies, she just keeps up the running gag that like, her dad is closeted crushing on me, and that she's potentially a test tube baby cloned from my dna. which would explain the quirkless thing btw. but i assume it's not serious like that, you know how being fifteen can feel, sometimes it really seems one way and then it's another. i don't take the jokes seriously, and i kinda don't wanna Start Something or Be Really Weird. i tell the kid she can think of me as a parent and that i think of her as my own, with quite a bit of guilt because despite not having parents i was with it enough to know that being in another country the majority of the time is kind of a poor way to show up for a kid you're claiming as yours. but if she wants me and feels the connection im definitely not about to just rip that away from her either!!! who am i to say who's parent i am or am not? that's a matter of the heart. anyways i tried my best to be available and present and a good role model. but chat. chat if she was thinking it too then what the fuck does that mean.

chat AITA for having a situationship that situationed so hard a kid was birthed. should i have asked for a paternity test like IM LAUGHING MY ASS OFF but also wtfffffff. im sure there's a timeline where im just being insanely self centered and making things about myself that had nothing to do with me. BUT ALSO WTF THE FUCK. did i asexually spawn a kid by sheer force of fanboy? is it weird this isn't the only time this happens in mha canon??? does bruno mars is gay???????

#✴️💙🦸‍♂️

[broodingheroine]

tmagp 18 thoughts

solo work...... lonely...... hmm.....

humming??

TEDDY!

didn't recognize??

HES AT THE OIAR???

is he coming back..... pls no.......

alice let the man speak

yk I'm a little scared that teddy keeps coming back

oh he's definitely avoiding her for some reason

lena and sam moment !!! love it when sams all awkward

"why would I need to talk to you" lena I'm obsessed with you pls be MY boss

AUGUSTUS!!!!!!

malnutrition...... like when darrien dimension hopped???

yk I think this is why ppl record their autopsies. in case smth weird happens.

SPIDERS?????? SPIDERS??????

TURNING PASSAGEWAYS?

UH UH UH UH

wasn't there a house in the eyepocalypse that was a lonely domain or smth

FOG

A HOUSE INSIDE OF YOU??? LIKE THE HALLWAYS ARE A PART OF YOU?????

oh my god oh my god oh my god

DISTORTIONNNNNN

ASKING QUESTIONS?????? WHAT THE FUCKKKKK

ON THE STAIRS.... THERE WAS A MAN UPON THE STAIRS.......

also uhhhh speaking after theyre dead? seems like a trend

mayhaps an archivist is asking victims abt their experiences and they spout it out AFTER they're dead

sam you are suuuuuuuch a manipulator I love you

jonathon sims needed an alice.

gwen <3

"not fun" gwen you're so detail oriented

alice you have no right to not believe gwen rn after you just saw a drowning victim speak after death

SAM....... what the hell man

GEORGIE............ GEORGIE BARKER........

um. taking whose what?

I'm sorry until she's already GONE?

oh she sleep walked again rip

GEORGIE WHAT?

god she's such a conspiracy theorist

are they both dimension hoppers and don't realize the other is???

okay this episode was a doozy

most importantly: GEORGIEEEEEE

second most importantly: distortion????

third most importantly: spiders hhhh

so sams theory of someone being able to make you live your worst nightmare is....

shit got crazy at work so I can't fully articulate my thoughts rn but pretty much: jesus christ

[mama-qwerty]

Prime S3 Thoughts - Gnarly

Let's round out the last of the Shatterspace Knuckles.

Let's talk about Gnarly.

This guy. Right here. Lookit him. He's so adorable.

Gnarly is essentially the Sticks of Sonic Prime. And Sticks was kind of a fun character for a show like Sonic Boom, which in itself bent more toward the "wacky sitcom" end of the scale in terms of feel of the show.

But in Sonic Prime, it's a schtick that doesn't quite stick.

I've theorized in the past that Gnarly represents Prime Knux's sensitivity to chaos energy, and that's what he's sensing from the trees and vegetation around him. Which is why he's anxious and nervous. Hearing all that ambient noise in your head 24/7 would be enough to make anyone jumpy and twitchy.

But the writers seem to want to play with the aspect of "What if Knuckles was crazy and paranoid and a borderline conspiracy theorist?"

Which, yeah, I guess that would be a very sharp departure from Knuckles' usual personality. If Ren is in the middle of a spectrum, being more balanced with how Prime Knuckles usually is, and Dread is on one end with a lot of over-confidence and bravado and self-interested intent, then Gnarly would be on the other end, feeling anxious and nervous and like the world is a dangerous place. He's timid and fearful whereas Dread is confident and forceful.

So, yeah, I get that he had to be very different from Prime Knuckles. But there were other ways they could have taken him that didn't reduce him to a one-joke gag character.

Gnarly was the least fleshed out Knuckles, which is fair I guess, considering the Boscage Maze scavengers were the least developed of the three groups we see in the Shatterspace. Their entire plotline felt like a side quest--the hero goes there to complete some little quest so he can continue on the *real, more important* main quest. Thus, the people he encounters there are generic NPCs who aren't all that memorable or important in the grand scheme of things.

Not to mention, there's only so much time in a show like this, and it's not like they could have cut out about half of that looong fight in the 3rd season to replace with actual character interactions and growth.

Ahem. Back to Gnarly.

This adorable little echidna was delegated as the gag character. The one joke "ha ha, he's so crazy" guy who spouted weird things and trusted no one. Used sparingly, that may have worked. But the writers made it his entire defining trait, which I guess goes completely against the whole "Knuckles is a trustful soul" thing, so makes a certain degree of sense.

His role as "dude completely removed from reality" was practically shoved in our faces with this scene:

Not gonna lie. This gave me Boom Knuckles vibes. And maybe that's what they were going for? It's like they had no idea what to do with Gnarly.

But bear with me. This is how I would have handled him.

He's still nervous. Still anxious. Still jumpy and twitchy. He hears and feels and sees things the others don't, thanks to his incredibly high sensitivity to chaos energy. He doesn't understand why he's so different, why he senses these things, and it low-key scares him a bit.

BUT, he is also very alert. Very much a detail person. He notices things the others don't, alerts them to danger, and gets 'vibes' when something doesn't feel right. He's their early warning system, and they look to him when faced with unusual situations. He's not the plan guy, he leaves that to Prim.

The scene above could have been handled using this characterization, by having him pause for a moment when Prim asks for ideas, to which he would respond with something like:

"The Birdbots average 62 seconds between patrols around the citadel. I saw an alcove about twenty feet diagonally to the right of us as we were climbing, so if we hide in there until the Birdies pass, we should be able to make it to the next outcropping before their next pass over if we hoof it."

And, as is customary in these types of shows when a character displays any kind of competence that goes against their usual personality, Prim and Hangry would stare at him for a few blinks before Prim would smile and say "You heard the echidna. Let's get a move on."

He's still a Knuckles. He's still clever and good at using his environment to his advantage. And honestly, Gnarly would be especially good at using the environment to his advantage, considering where and how he grew up. Thorn's rampage meant his environment was the danger, and he would need to figure out ways to survive it on the fly.

I'm disappointed we didn't have more scenes with Gnarly, or with all three Knux interacting. That would have been fun. But I suppose that's what fanfic is for, and I've put them together plenty of times in my Knucklesverse au ficlets.

This echidna is just damn adorable in all his iterations.